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

screen. “Nothing. If anyone actually knows who Al Shabah is, they’re not talking. Ghost believes he keeps his identity known only to his top advisors.”
    “Well, that’s not a fucking lot of help,” Marc muttered.
    “I’m sending you the rest of Alpha team,” Blackwell said.
    “Hold off, sir,” Zach said. “The agent in charge has us running on a hamster wheel. If we can tap into these networks, then we can do our own search.”
    “Probably more efficient,” Marc said.
    “Agreed,” Blackwell said. “I have a team waiting. Just give the word and they’ll be at your hotel in two hours.”
    Zach scrubbed his face with his hand. “We’ll check in again tomorrow, sir.”
    “Good hunting.”
    They signed off. Time to go grab some sleep. It had been a long and fruitless two days. Maybe tomorrow they’d find a lead on Al Shabah.
    And maybe tomorrow Alyssa would respond to him again.
----
    A lyssa watched the early morning sun glint off the building’s windows across from her apartment. It had been three days since the box bomb. They needed a break in this case. Soon.
    She decided to stop by Rob’s cardboard lean-to, since she hadn’t seen him in the last two days and she wanted to check on him. She bought her latte and his caramel macchiato, but he wasn’t sitting out front like he usually did.
    “Rob?”
    His lean-to had fallen to the side and a dirty blanket lay in the middle of the alley. A newspaper blew by her ankles. The wind must have knocked his home over. She wondered if that happened often.
    She glanced back at the busy street before walking further into the relative quiet of the alley. She stopped beside a full dumpster. The scent of urine and rotting food made her nose wrinkle. “Rob?”
    Had he gone into hiding? Dammit, she should have gotten him help. She set his coffee down in front of his lean-to. His signal to come back, though she really hoped that he didn’t take the cup as a sign to show up on her doorstep tonight.
    Had his paranoia made him move on? Guilt weighed on her. She should have done more to help him. Did she really think a caramel macchiato was doing anything? She sighed. Now wasn’t the time to beat herself up over this. With a last look at the deserted alley, she left.
    At the office, Masters drove them hard. She couldn’t fault his expertise or logic in his search for Al Shabah, no matter whether she liked him personally or not. He followed all leads on the box bomber, using information about the flashbang, camera footage, DAS, flight manifests in the two weeks previous, train manifests, and even informants on the street. He paced the office like a bear just woken from hibernation, but she could understand his frustration. They all felt it.
    She leaned back from her terminal, where she was double-checking flight manifests for the last two months with anyone traveling to the Middle East. It had been a couple of long days with not much to show for them. She rolled her neck to get the kinks out.
    “Here, let me.” Zach’s warm, calloused hands shifted her braid aside and he rubbed his thumbs up her neck to the base of her skull. Her body instantly responded by turning into a limp pile of urges and sighs. It took her too long to pull away.
    “It’s okay. There’s no one here,” Zach said. “Riley brought in bagels and everyone’s mowing down in the conference room.”
    She leaned back and, without having to ask, Zach lifted his hands back to her neck.
    “Just for a minute,” she said, unable to resist the magic of his touch. Her head dropped forward as he massaged the stiffness from her muscles.
    “Why are you so worried?” Zach asked.
    She didn’t bother to pretend not to know what he meant. “It’s not appropriate,” she said. “Neither is the way you look at me.”
    His touch lightened and he stroked his fingers down her neck, sending shivers through her. “Neither is the way you look at me,” he said.
    She cleared her throat and pulled away. He