Page 89 of Shadow Operative

She hoped Gage was right, and the change of clothes would buy them some time.

But as soon as they exited the elevator on her floor, her employees gave her strange looks. This was not Nia’s normal attire. They probably thought something was wrong.

Add Gage walking beside her, and people began whispering to each other.

The first person to approach her was Graham. He rushed from his office and fell into step beside her as she headed to her office.

“I’ve been trying to call you, and you’re not answering your phone,” he complained.

“I’ve been busy. Sorry.”

“I would think taking my call would be high on your priority list considering I’m in charge of operations and this is your company.” His voice sounded terse and almost accusatory.

“I appreciate your opinion, Graham, and I’ll get right on that.” Nia didn’t want to sound snippy, but she didn’t like Graham talking down to her. As founder and CEO, she expected a certain level of respect.

“What have you been up to?” He remained in step beside her. “With Rob’s death, we have to figure out how we’ll handle this as a company.”

She paused, Gage beside her. “I’m well aware that we need to handle that. I’ve been working on some things.”

Graham stared at her. “Are you sure about that? Because I don’t feel like you realize the gravity of this situation. We have obligations. We’ve already signed the deal with Apple, Google, Amazon, even Blackberry.”

“Like I just told you, I’m aware and I’m on it. When I have an update to give you, I will. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She continued past him.

Graham started to say something more, but Gage cleared his throat, and the man suddenly retreated a step.

Before Graham could badger her anymore, Nia continued toward her office. She nodded at Melissa. Her assistant must have taken one look at Nia’s face and known better than to ask any questions. Nia was most definitely not in the mood to talk right now.

Instead, she led Gage into her office. As soon as they were inside, Nia shut the door and let out a breath.

“He’s a real peach.” Gage crossed his arms as he positioned himself near the door.

“Isn’t he, though? He’s in charge of operations around here, but sometimes he gives himself a little more power than he should. Unless I stand my ground, people will walk all over me. Being a woman in business has its challenges.”

“I’m sure that’s true. But I think that you handled yourself well back there.”

She offered a grateful smile. “Thank you. I caught that little exchange you had with Graham. I appreciate that too. Saved me some time having to argue with him.”

Then she turned and looked at the wall of filing cabinets in her office.

“This is where I keep paper copies,” she told him. “I know it’s old school, and most people want to store information on their computer. I usually keep digital copies as well, but I always worry they could be altered in some way. Our best bet will be to look at the hard copies.”

She began to rifle through the files, trying to find what she needed. Then she paused and let out a heavy breath before continuing to search the filing cabinet again.

“What’s wrong?” Gage stepped closer.

She shook her head and paused, resting her hands on top of the rows of manilla folders. “They’re not here.”

“What do you mean they’re not here?”

“I mean, this is where the files on Rob and his app should be.” She looked up at Gage and shook her head, not bothering to hide the frustration in her gaze. “They’re gone.”

Gage cocked his head in thought. “Maybe they got filed in the wrong place.”

Nia twisted her lips into a half frown and cocked her head to the side. “It’s a possibility. But I put them here myself so it’s highly unlikely.”

“You said there were electronic versions of the files too, right? So we couldjust check them.”

“That’s right.” She rushed to her desk and unlocked her computer using a special facial scanner her company had helped broker a deal to sell to high-security companies.

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