Chapter 41

chapter

forty-one

Gage watched the gator and put his arm out, blocking Nia from getting any closer. He had his gun, but he didn’t want to shoot the creature—not unless he absolutely had no other choice.

“Slowly back away,” he murmured. “No sudden moves. We should be fine.”

The gator continued to eye them.

Gage wasn’t an alligator expert, but he knew they were fast runners. They couldn’t sustain the speed for long—but in this case, it would be long enough.

The beast let out a low sound, almost like a growl.

Then it took another lurching step toward them.

Nia gasped beside him.

“On the count of three, run,” Gage murmured. “One, two, three!”

They darted away from the creature.

Gage looked back. Saw it was following.

It kept following them across the yard .

They reached the garage, and Gage saw some cement blocks stacked there. “This way!”

He scrambled up them, pulling Nia behind him.

The gator paused, started to climb up after them.

It made the hissing sound again.

“Gage . . .” Nia’s voice shook.

“Just wait.”

He hoped his bet paid off.

A moment later, the gator lost interest. He lowered himself back onto all fours and strutted away, almost as if it had only wanted to run them off.

Gage’s shoulders relaxed.

That was the last thing he’d expected.

He jumped down and offered a hand to help Nia.

She landed beside him, and they hurried back to the car.

Once they were safely inside, she said, “I think we should go back to my office.”

Gage cast her a side glance as he pulled away from the fishing cabin. “What is that going to prove?”

“Prove? Nothing. But I have the contract there as well as a copy of the patent for the app.”

“That’s risky going back there,” Gage reminded her. “Those guys are probably watching your office building.”

“I know. But I wonder if there could be some answers there. We could be careful.”

Gage knew there were some precautions they could take. But it was still risky.

“If you think that’s a good idea then I’m game,” he finally said. “Maybe there will be something in there that we missed.”

As they headed back down the road, his thoughts continued to race.

On a whim, he pulled into a department store.

Nia looked up at him in confusion. “Shopping therapy?”

“Not quite.” He let out an airy chuckle. “You’re going to need some new clothes. Plus, the more we can conceal our appearance the better. Maybe pick up a hat. Sunglasses. Something that’s going to make us less obvious.”

“Seems smart.”

“Your hair is pretty unique as well. Maybe pull it back into a bun. It could buy us some time because I’m sure if these guys are still looking for you then they’ll be looking for your long, curly hair.”

“Got it.”

“I have some cash we can use to pay, just in case.” Gage cut the engine. “But let’s not take too much time.”

“I’ve never been a big shopper, so I’ll be quick.”

Gage pulled the keys from the ignition and grabbed the door handle. “Perfect. Then let’s go.”

A half hour later, Nia and Gage had finished shopping and had grabbed some lunch from a fast-food restaurant along the route.

Nia’s hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She wore a black ball cap that formed nicely to her head along with sunglasses.

She’d ditched the designer clothes—and by ditched she meant put them in a bag in the back of the car. They were too expensive to throw away. Instead, she wore some jeans with a plain blue top and some tennis shoes.

Gage had also bought another ball cap and a black T-shirt.

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 could just 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.

Then she searched through her files.

Several minutes later, she leaned back in her chair and ran a hand over her face.

“I take it it’s not good news,” Gage muttered as he paced away from the window, where he was keeping watch, and walked toward her.

“My files are gone.” Nia ran a hand over her face again as tension stretched through each of her muscles. “Both versions of them. Someone’s been in my office. Took my files and got on my computer. Wiped those out too. I need to figure out who.”