Chapter 32

chapter

thirty-two

After Brittany went back inside, Gage made sure the brick still kept the door open so he and Nia could also slip back in when they were ready. But it would be easier to talk out here than inside.

He turned to Nia. She’d done a fantastic job questioning Brittany. She almost seemed like a natural, an expert at reading people.

He’d been impressed.

For a moment, he’d thought about recommending her for a job at the Shadow Agency.

Then he realized he’d never put her through that.

Living the way he did wasn’t easy. Always on the go. Never knowing the assignment. Sometimes arguing about the ethics of what they’d been asked to do.

The truth was that he’d had memory lapses before also. That he had scars from the experiments done on him. That he wondered if there was more to his time being a military lab rat than he ever realized .

He’d been programmed for a solitary life. Yet the essence of who he was and what he’d wanted had never gone away. It had just been shoved to the recesses of his mind.

“What do you think?” Gage studied her face.

Nia shook her head, a weary look in her gaze. “I think that woman is a hot mess. But I don’t think she’s a killer.”

“I don’t think so either. And I honestly don’t think that Darius is involved with this either.” Gage paused. “But what about what she said concerning Rob looking upset that one time? Any idea what that could have been about?”

Nia shook her head. “He was a perfectionist. If he found anything wrong with his app it would have upset him. But he never mentioned anything to me up until our dinner last night. Even then, he still didn’t give me any details.”

“Is there anyone else you know of whom Rob might have talked to about the app? Who could have given him feedback on it?”

“Cormac is the only person I can think of.” Nia shrugged almost apologetically.

“We really need to find this guy.”

“Yes, we do.”

“Let’s give it another shot.” Gage opened the door and the two of them walked inside.

But as soon as they reached the dance floor, a bullet sliced the air, cutting through the sound of the loud, pulsating music.

Nia’s heart ratcheted with fear.

There was a gunman.

Inside the club.

Gage grabbed her hand and jerked her to the floor behind a table.

Then he looked up, searching for the gunman.

But chaos erupted as people ran for their lives and tried to escape.

As the dance floor cleared, one person remained.

Lying on the floor.

With blood on his or her chest.

Nia raised her head, desperate to see who’d been hurt. But she was too far away to make out any details. Too many people were around.

“It’s Darius,” Gage muttered.

Fear rocked through her.

Who would have shot Darius?

It couldn’t have been Brittany. She wouldn’t have had time. And Nia didn’t think she had it in her to do something like this.

But there was always Cormac. Could he be the one behind this?

Even more . . . was he here somewhere, lurking in the shadows?