Edge of Control: An Edge Security Novel (Edge Security Series Book 1) by Trish Loye Read Free Book Online Page B

she’d taken everything with her, but the bedside table still held her Kindle.
    The hair stood up on the back of Dani’s neck. Tass would never leave on a vacation without her Kindle. She slowly swiveled her head, taking in the room again. Her friend’s jewelry box rested on her dresser.
    Dani opened it. Tassia’s favorite charm bracelet, the silver one her parents had given her for graduation, sat on top.
    Something was very wrong.
    She called the Public Prosecution’s office only to be told that Tassia had called in and requested emergency leave.
    Dani clenched her fists. There was no way her friend would leave for Europe without talking to her first. She went back to the note in the kitchen. It was in Tass’s handwriting, but upon closer examination the writing had a bit of a wobble to it, as if the hand that wrote it was trembling. And Tass never called her Danielle. Never.
    Dani picked up the phone and called the police.

C HAPTER 4

    Dani had avoided the gym that morning and opted for a long run and getting in early to work instead. She needed to figure out her next step. She’d spent last evening at the police station filling out a missing persons report on Tassia.
    Unfortunately, with a note in Tassia’s handwriting and phone calls to her place of work saying she was going on leave, the police didn’t have a whole lot of options. The overworked detective had told her to contact him if she remembered anything else or heard from Tassia again.
    She’d known the police were a longshot, but she had to try things the legal way first. She owed that to Chuck. Now, though, it would be up to Dani to track Tassia down, and she needed to start with the mysterious Vadim Levkov.
    The elevator dinged as the doors opened on her floor at E.D.G.E. Dani made a beeline to her desk and set to work. But no matter what she tried, she couldn’t find a Vadim Levkov that matched what she knew about him. She only found the four men she’d noted previously, and none of them made sense. One was a teenager on Twitter who lived in Ottawa and two were sixty plus. One was in his forties, but as attractive as a dancing bear.
    A sudden thought stole her breath. She slowly typed Vladimir Levkov into her program. Within minutes she had a lead. A Vladimir Levkov worked for the Volga Group, a company that imported and exported high-end art according to its simple two-page website. She could glean nothing else useful from the site.
    She tried not to worry. Vladimir was a common name. So common that it was also the name of the man with a starring role in her nightmares. She shook off her fear and dove back into the research.
    If this was the right guy, then perhaps the Volga Group was the company the Public Prosecution was building a case against, the one Tass had mentioned. It would explain why Tassia didn’t want to talk about the mysterious Vadim.
    And perhaps that’s why he’d given her a different name. Because if he worked at the company she was helping to investigate, and anyone found out they were dating, it would ruin the investigation. Tass would be demoted or fired.
    Dani chewed on her lip. Her instincts told her Tassia was in trouble. She didn’t know how to prove it, but her stomach churned at the thought of giving up.
    She glanced around. No one was in yet, and she needed more information. She drummed her fingers on her desk, debating the pros and cons of delving past Volga’s firewall while at E.D.G.E.
    Screw it.
    The consequences didn’t matter if Tass was in trouble. Her friend needed her.
    Dani dug into the company’s site and found the firewalls protecting their server. She sat up straight, her fingers stilling over the keyboard. These were high-grade firewalls. Much stronger than a typical commercial company should have. These were something she’d only seen when hacking government or banking sites.
    “Everett.” The rough but familiar voice came from the doorway to the field operators’ lair.
    She jumped and