Chapter 27

chapter

twenty-seven

Gage saw Nia’s reaction and placed a hand on her arm. “It’s okay. It’s just my colleague.”

Her shoulders fell as she let out a breath. “I thought . . .”

He squeezed her bicep. “I know. I’m sorry. I should have mentioned he was here.”

Austin stepped toward them just then, his arm outstretched. “Austin Greenwich. Sorry to scare you.”

Nia studied him a moment, took in his short beard, his broad shoulders, his brooding gaze. Then she extended her arm and shook his hand. “Nia Anderson.”

Gage double-checked the locks on the door before turning back to his colleague. “Have you been back long?”

“Ten minutes. Everything okay with you guys?” Austin glanced back and forth between them.

Gage stole another glance at Nia, remembering their earlier conversation, before nodding. “We had a rough go of it for a while, but we’re back here now, and we’re fine. Why don’t we all sit down?”

He strode toward the couch, Nia and Austin following.

“I’d offer you something to drink or eat,” Gage started. “But all I have is what’s here in the hotel room.”

“I already ordered a pizza.” Austin offered a goofy grin. “It should be here any minute. Splurged and got some soda and a cookie pizza to go with it too.”

The man was fit and muscular. But no one should ever stand in the way of Austin and food.

“Perfect.” Gage sat on the couch but didn’t relax.

His thoughts still raced too fast. He had too much on his mind. Too many questions about Rob. About what Nia had told him.

He glanced at Nia as she gingerly lowered herself onto the couch. Questions brewed in her gaze, and Gage knew she was uncomfortable with Austin’s presence here. He needed to set her at ease.

“Austin and I work together, and I asked him to check out a few things for us,” Gage explained.

“A few things like what?” She rubbed her arms as if chilled.

“I checked out Brittany and Cormac.” Austin sat in a seat adjacent to them.

“And?” Gage asked.

“Brittany was out with her friends partying, just like you said. ”

Nia’s gaze swerved toward Gage. “How did you know she was out partying?”

He filled her in on the conversation with Brittany’s mom.

At that update, Nia let out a quick puff of air. “Why would Brittany say she and Rob were dating and act so upset that he’d been killed if they hadn’t even dated that long and weren’t even still together?”

“That’s what we need to figure out.”

“I looked into Cormac also,” Austin said. “He’s not at his house.”

“I heard he was on a trip,” Nia said.

“That’s where this gets a little weird.” Austin shifted. “A neighbor said that he saw Cormac yesterday. He was acting strange. Came out from his house with a bag, glancing around everywhere like he was looking for someone.”

“So the neighbor talked to him?” Gage asked.

“Yeah, he said something like, where’s the fire? Cormac tried to laugh it off. Said he was late for a meeting and that’s why he was in such a hurry. But if you ask me, it sounds suspicious.”

“Considering everything that has happened, it sounds suspicious to me also,” Gage said. “We need to figure out where he went because he might just have the answers we need.”

The pizza came a moment later. Nia grabbed a piece as she shared what she’d learned.

She wasn’t hungry but nibbled on a piece of pepperoni then sipped on a bottle of water that cost almost as much as an entire meal.

Then she told Gage and Austin about how she’d used a program her company had to search Rob’s phone records. She shared the printouts with the unknown caller’s number. Pointed out Cormac’s number. Hector’s number. Gage’s number.

Nia couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw a spark of admiration in Gage’s gaze. He hadn’t expected her to take such a risk, had he?

She’d always liked surprising people.

Kind of like when she’d started her business in a male-dominated tech world. She’d gotten lots of skeptical looks. So many people had doubted her.

But she’d been determined to succeed anyway.

Now those very same people came to her asking for advice. One had even asked for a job.

Throughout that whole process, Nia had tried to learn to be gracious.

Grace was something she needed in her own life, so it seemed as if she should offer grace to others as well.

Including Gage.

Even though the man hadn’t been totally honest with her, she hadn’t been totally honest with him either. They were both dealing with a murder, and doing the best they could to muddle through it .

She placed her half-eaten slice on the box top of the pizza and then wiped her mouth with a napkin.

“What do we do next?” Nia asked. “If we don’t find this killer, I’m afraid I’ll go to prison for this. It’s only a matter of time before the police discover I was in his apartment. I know how this looks.”

It looked like she was the killer.