Edge of Danger (Edge Security Series Book 3) by Trish Loye Read Free Book Online

recommended for me.”
    Dr. Martinez leaned forward. “Alyssa, I’d like for you to try some kind of relaxing form of exercise. Yoga, Pilates, meditation. I don’t care what. Pick what feels right for you—”
    “None of it feels right,” she muttered.
    He stared at her.
    “Sorry.”
    “Alyssa, I’m here to help you. And I haven’t told your superiors of your diagnosis because on that first day, you said you wanted help. You wanted to feel alive again. I can’t help you if you don’t try.” He sat back. “And if you’ve stopped trying, then it’s my duty to let your superiors know.”
    “No. Doctor Martinez, please,” she said. “They’ll stick me on desk duty and watch me. I’ll be taken from the case I’m working on. It’s very important that I be allowed to continue.”
    “Then let’s see you making an effort.”
    She counted three breaths, pulling her scattered thoughts close before she nodded. “Fine. What would you like to talk about, Doctor?”
    He smiled. “Tell me about your nightmares.”

5
    A lyssa shoved her hands into the pockets of her pants to hide the slight tremble. She left Dr. Martinez writing notes in her file and made her way back to her desk. She wanted a nap, or better yet a scotch.
    She’d never been much of a drinker before her tour, never understanding why someone would want a drink or two every night. Now she had to fight the impulse to have more.
    She cursed under her breath when she saw Zach sitting at her desk. Straightening her shoulders, she strode over to him. He perused her file on Al Shabah. It had been in her locked desk drawer.
    She stopped, her mouth open. “Why are you reading my file?”
    Zach ignored her question and looked her over. “You look like you’ve gone a couple of rounds with a tango.”
    Her hand started to move to her hair and then dropped. She wasn’t going to let him get to her. Yes, she had pieces of her hair floating around her face, but who cared? She’d been gripping her head at one point during her session with the doctor. So what.
    She lifted her chin. “Why are you looking at my work without my permission?”
    “You disappeared and I was interested,” he said. “You’re the resident expert and we know he’s here. I wanted to see if you had any new information.” He stood up and moved around her desk to stand in front of her. His large frame took up too much room. “I’m sorry if that bothers you.”
    She backed away and sat in her seat, her jaw clenched. She was irritated. Again. How did this man stir so many emotions in her? “You don’t seem very sorry.”
    “Maybe because I’m not,” he said with an unrepentant grin.
    Her stomach flip-flopped at the sight. Whatever showed on her face caught Zach’s attention and his smile changed even as a flash of heat entered his gaze. Her heart thumped hard in her chest.
    What the hell?
    She broke eye contact and tapped her file, not looking at him again. She was too fragile after her session with the doctor. “Ask me first next time. I want this guy caught and will do whatever is necessary.”
    Zach sat down across from her. “I want this guy caught too. Badly.”
    It was personal for him, she realized. Just like it was for her. Maybe she could use that.
    He nodded at the file. “You’ve done a good job tracking his movements over the last two years. You have good instincts.”
    “I know,” she said. “It’s why I work here. And those same instincts are telling me you aren’t just a counterterrorism specialist. Who are you really?”
    He smiled. “Are you always this prickly?”
    She cocked her head. “I like to work as an equal with a partner. Which means no secrets. What are you hiding from me?”
    “Are we partners then?”
    She just watched him and waited.
    He smiled like he knew something she didn’t. “Who says I’m hiding anything?”
    “Me,” she said. “Good instincts, remember?”
    He laughed. “Jake said you were a firecracker.”
    Another evasion.