Chapter 54

chapter

fifty-four

A rush of relief swept through Nia when she and Gage stepped into the diner. The place was fashionably old-timey, though nothing about it was truly hometown, especially not the prices.

The scent of bacon and toast temporarily filled her with comfort.

But the emotion quickly dissipated.

Nia feared they’d run into those men again or that someone would find them. But so far, so good.

Now they needed to get through this meeting with Brittany.

She spotted the woman sitting in the corner with a cup of coffee in front of her. Her eyes were red as if she’d been crying.

A pang of compassion echoed in Nia’s chest.

The woman looked truly upset.

But Nia reminded herself to remain cautious. The stakes were too high for her to let down her guard .

She and Gage slid into the booth across from Brittany.

Brittany sniffled before saying, “Thanks so much for coming.”

“Glad you got here okay,” Gage started. “Have you seen the man anymore?”

Brittany shook her head, strands of blonde catching in her tears and sticking to her cheeks. She raked her hair back, away from her face. “I thought for sure I was going to end up like Rob.”

“Why don’t you tell us what’s really going on, Brittany?” Gage began. “We all know there’s more to the story than what you’ve told us.”

She glanced at a napkin in her hands, one she’d been using to wipe away her tears. She played with the edge, making little rips around the perimeter.

“None of this was my idea,” she said, her voice cracking.

“What do you mean?” Nia’s voice hardened. Brittany’s words indicated she knew something more than she’d let on.

The fact didn’t surprise Nia—but it did cause her distrust to harden even more.

“I mean, I was at Avenue 12 one night, and Darius and I got into a huge fight. We kind of broke up. I was walking to my car when I heard someone behind me. But before I could turn and see this person’s face, I felt a gun against my back.”

Nia hadn’t expected that turn of events. “What happened next? ”

“This guy told me not to look at him. Then he led me to a dark alley. I didn’t know what he was going to do . . .”

More tears flowed from her eyes.

They waited for her to continue, to compose herself.

“He told me he knew how to get back at Darius for the way he’d treated me. Said I could make it work to my advantage.” Brittany sniffled again. “He told me there was this guy, and I was just his type. Said I should hit on him, get him to like me.”

“And this guy was Rob?” Gage’s voice retained an edge of caution.

Brittany nodded, guilt filling her gaze. “He told me where Rob worked, and I ‘accidentally’ ran into him. I’m good at getting guys to like me, so I knew exactly what to do. Act a little bit like an airhead. Act like he was a hero. The setup worked like it always does, and Rob asked me out. We went on a few dates over the next couple of weeks.”

Nia leaned closer, wanting to see Brittany’s eyes when she asked the question. “Why did this man want you to do that?”

Brittany’s expression crumbled again, and tears flowed.

Nia could appreciate that she was upset. But they were also operating on a time crunch here.

She tried to wait. But her patience was waning.

And it seemed like everything this woman said was a lie, so Nia wasn’t inclined to believe everything Brittany told her now either.

Gage felt immune to the woman’s tears.

It wasn’t that he didn’t feel sorry for Brittany. Part of him did. But he thought part of Brittany’s act right now was purely histrionics.

“This guy said that going out with Rob would make Darius jealous.” She sniffled again. “Said he’d possibly run back into my arms.”

“And?” Nia asked. “Certainly, there’s more to the story than that.”

“He wanted me to find out some information from Rob,” Brittany continued. “Something about some of those apps he develops. But the thing is, I don’t know anything about technology. This guy said the information was somewhere at Rob’s apartment, and all I had to do was find it.”

“Did you find it?” Gage’s spine tightened at the thought of his friend being taken advantage of.

Brittany shook her head. “I looked. I really did. Every time I got the chance. But I didn’t find it. One time I tried to ask Rob about it, but he made it sound like he had no idea what I was talking about. I could tell he was starting to lose interest in me. Honestly, we didn’t have much in common. I scrambled to figure out what to do. I got the sense the guy with the gun was serious. He said he knew where I lived. I just knew he was going to kill me if I didn’t find what he wanted.”

“You never saw his face?” Nia asked.

“I never saw his face. I promise. He was very secretive, and I couldn’t really tell much about him at all.” Brittany shrugged. “I’m sorry I can’t be of more help.”

“What about the shooting at the club?” Gage started. “Did you have anything to do with that?”

She hesitated just long enough to make it clear she did know more than she wanted to share. “I think I might know what’s going on?—”

But before she could finish, gunfire erupted.

The windows beside them shattered. Screams filled the air.

“Everyone, get down!” Gage yelled.

Then he threw himself over Nia, covering her as glass rained around them.