Chapter 12

chapter

twelve

Tension stretched across Gage’s chest.

Rob had definitely never mentioned a girlfriend. Gage would have remembered.

In fact, Rob would have sent Gage pictures if he had a girlfriend, especially one as beautiful as Brittany.

Gage saw the confusion on Nia’s face. Saw the lack of outrage and jealousy.

In fact, she almost looked compassionate as she stared at Brittany sobbing against his chest.

Maybe he could rule out the idea that Nia was a jilted lover. That theory hadn’t been at the top of his list anyway.

But something more was going on here.

He needed to figure out what.

Even though he’d seen Nia go into his friend’s apartment building last night and she made the most sense as the murderer, he needed to get a better sense of the situation .

Brittany looked up at him, tears still flooding from her eyes. “You’ve got to figure out who did this.”

“Me?” He tried to keep the tautness out of his voice. But he halfway expected Brittany to blurt what he did for a living.

“He said you were the best.”

More tension imbedded itself in between his shoulders. Exactly how much had Rob told this woman?

Rob was one of the few people who knew what Gage really did for a living.

But his friend knew better than to share that information with other people.

Was that what he’d done? Gage just couldn’t see Rob blabbing anything about Gage’s background to others.

Still, he’d need to be very careful how he responded to this woman.

He cleared his throat. “I’m not sure exactly what I can do for you. I repair computers for a living.”

“Repairing computers or not—I don’t care. Rob always spoke so highly of you.” Brittany ran a manicured nail beneath her eyes. “You have to help. Please.”

Gage remained pensive before asking, “Who do you think may have done this to him? Do you know of any enemies he might have had?”

“Yes,” she stated without even blinking. “Darius Miller.”

“Who is Darius Miller?” The name didn’t sound familiar to Gage.

“My ex-boyfriend. He hated Rob with a vengeance. I think he may have done this. ”

Gage stored that name away.

Detective Duncan stepped outside and glanced around before his gaze stopped on the crying woman. “You must be Brittany. Thank you for coming.”

“Of course,” she murmured, her gaze fluttering up to meet the detective’s. “I came as soon as you called.”

If Gage had to guess, the police had found her contact information in Rob’s cell phone, maybe even as one of his frequent calls.

“We need to ask you some questions,” Duncan said.

“You can ask me anything if it means finding who did this.” Brittany cast one more glance at Gage. “Please, stay in touch with me.”

“I don’t have your number.”

“Let me give it to you then.”

Gage pulled out his phone and typed her information there.

Then she lowered her head and walked inside with the detective.

Gage turned to Nia.

He needed to think of the best way to proceed from here.

Was that what this was about? Nia wondered. Had Brittany’s ex-boyfriend killed Rob in a fit of jealousy? Could it be that simple?

The theory seemed far-fetched, especially considering everything else she knew .

But it was another idea to explore.

She remembered that text she’d gotten. Would Brittany’s ex-boyfriend have sent it?

The pieces just didn’t seem to fit. Then again, she needed to know more before she could draw any conclusions.

“What are you thinking?” Gage studied her expression.

“I’m . . . I don’t even know what to think.” She glanced up at him. “You?”

“This is all crazy,” Gage said. “I’m not an investigator. I don’t even pretend to be one. But . . . maybe I should track down this guy Brittany mentioned. The police will probably do the same thing because Brittany will most likely give them his name also. Right now, I have a head start. I don’t want to interfere with a police investigation, but . . . I want to know who did this.”

Her thoughts raced. Gage’s idea was excellent . . . but she didn’t want to be left out. “It . . . sounds like a plan. I . . . I could go along if you’d like.”

“I don’t want to put you in danger.” His voice held a touch of concern.

Nia glanced down the street where the car had disappeared after nearly hitting them. Danger was already all around her.

But she didn’t want to tell Gage that yet.

“I’m no good for the rest of the day,” she finally said. “I already texted my assistant that I was taking the day off. There’s no need for me to go to the office. I won’t get a thing done anyway.”

Gage continued to study her face as if trying to figure her out.

Finally, he said, “I don’t even know where this guy lives.”

Nia was already doing a search on her phone. She found the man quickly. “He owns a club in downtown Miami. It’s only about a mile from here.”

Gage raised his eyebrows. “Good to know.”

“So what do you say?”

He frowned before turning away. Then he raised his hand to flag a taxi coming down the road. “I’d say I would drive, but it will take too long to get to my car. It’ll be faster this way.”

He ushered Nia inside the cab.

She didn’t know exactly what she was doing right now. All she knew was that she had to find the real killer . . . and Gage seemed like a good person to keep close.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Which category did Gage fall into?