Page 75 of Shadow Operative

Mario narrowed his eyes at them before nodding. “Yes, you’re free to go. But watch yourself.”

Watch yourself? Was that a friendly warning?

Or was it a threat?

chapter

thirty-five

Gage didn’t askNia anything about Mario. Not yet.

Instead, he scanned the inside of Avenue 12 one more time. He didn’t see anything of note. With his hand still on Nia’s elbow, he directed her outside.

It was dark . . . well past midnight. People lingered on the sidewalk. Cried. Comforted each other.

That wasn’t to mention the numerous police cars and ambulances parked all along the street.

A couple of news vans had even shown up.

Gage quickly turned away so his and Nia’s images wouldn’t be caught on camera. As part of his job, he avoided having his image on TV or in the newspaper even. It was too risky.

Right now, it could be risky for Nia also.

He scanned everything around him, needing to make sure they were safe as they walked.

He hadn’t seen anyone following them from thehotel to the club. No one should know they were staying at the Royal Oasis. He’d covered all his bases going to and from the place.

But he still needed to operate on the side of caution.

Once they moved away from the crowds and toward Austin’s car, Gage turned to Nia. “You want to talk?”

“Not here.”

He couldn’t blame her. He’d much rather talk somewhere more private where he could give his full attention to the conversation.

They climbed into Austin’s rental car and headed back to the hotel, which wasn’t far away.

When they walked into the hotel room, he spotted Austin sitting on the couch. His colleague closed his computer and turned to them.

“I heard what happened at the club,” he murmured. “It’s on the news. You two okay?”

Gage nodded, instinctively reaching for Nia’s back as if to steady her. But maybe the truth was that he found comfort in that touch as well.

“We’re fine,” Gage told him. “Just shaken up.”

“I can imagine.” Austin rose. “I won’t keep you up too late. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Did you find out anything?” Gage stepped closer.

“I’m still looking, and it’s going to take a while. I spent a lot of my time just tracking down information on where the various cameras were located. Then I needed to figure out server information and . . . you know the rest of the drill. Anyway, I’m still working on things, but I was able to obtain one video feed.”

“Which one?” Nia stepped closer, joining him on the edge of the living area.

The muscles on Austin’s face pulled tighter, almost as if he had bad news. “I was able to get one of you and Rob leaving the restaurant that night.”

She sucked in a breath. “And?”

He shook his head, a frown tugging at his lips. “The two of you were alone. And you looked happy and normal as you stepped outside.”

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