The Girl Next Door (Shadow Agents 6)

He cleared his throat and gave a shrug. “Vacation time,” he told her with a too-jovial tone in his voice. “Got some coming, so I thought I’d head out for a few days.”

Bull. She glanced at Cooper. He shrugged. Raindrops clung to the sides of his hair.

Gabrielle marched into Hugh’s office. “Come in and shut the door, Cooper.” Because this conversation wasn’t going further than the three of them.

She slapped her hands against the surface of Hugh’s desk. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he watched her.

“You don’t run from anything,” she told him. “And you taught me not to run.”

“I’m not running.” That false jovial air weakened. “It’s a vacation, I told you that.”

The door clicked shut.

“Who got to you? Did the cops put pressure on you because of that call I—”

He reached across the desk and grabbed her left hand. “You’re in too deep.”

Gabrielle shook her head. “I’m a reporter. You taught me that there can never be a ‘too deep’—this is our job. To follow the truth, no matter where it might take us.”

“What if it takes you to the grave?”

“Hugh...”

He freed her and rolled his shoulders. “Feds confiscated my computer. They told me they believed that the killer had hacked into the system here at the Inquisitor, that he’d been using my own intel to get close to you. That was how he knew where you lived, knew your phone number... The Feds said they traced him, they found evidence he’d been in your personnel file. Every bit of info I had on you...” He paused and his chin lifted. “The killer’s got it now, too.”

“How do they know that?” she demanded. “They can’t know! They—”

“Were they just trying to come up with a reason to take my computer? My files? Maybe,” Hugh allowed, “but they had a court order, so it wasn’t like I could stop them from taking everything.”

Cooper, standing just behind her, remained silent.

“Why the trip out of town?” Gabrielle asked.

Hugh’s gaze slid away from hers. “I’ve made a lot of enemies with my stories over the years.”

“And you never ran from any of those enemies.”

His head inclined. “But I’d leave in an instant if it meant I could keep my people safe.”

He’s leaving for me. The knowledge was twisting her insides into knots. “What did they tell you?” Gabrielle demanded.

Hugh reached for his bag. His attention shifted to Cooper. “Should have realized it sooner,” Hugh mumbled. “But maybe it’s a good thing that you’re here.”

Her blood iced. No, no, no.

Hugh’s

smile stretched across his face. She knew that smile. It was his fake smile. One he gave when he was in the presence of an enemy.

She wasn’t Hugh’s enemy. That just left...Cooper.

“If anyone can keep her safe, I guess it will be you, bodyguard.” Hugh walked around the desk, clutching his bag. He paused for just a moment beside Gabrielle. “I’ll be seeing you again. You can count on it.”

Her heart felt like it was about to burst from her chest.

Hugh didn’t trust Cooper. She sure got the message he’d sent her—loud and clear—should have realized it sooner.

Hugh reached for her. He hugged her—and slipped a small flash drive into her hand.