Edge of Betrayal Read Online Free Page B

started sparring, you’ve got more stamina than ever.”
    “Maybe I’m just tired of spending my life on work. Ever think of that? I am capable of having a personal life.”
    Bella snorted. “Yeah, right. You’ve spent more time here since leaving the hospital than you ever did before. So. Why all the lies? You know you can trust me.”
    “As much as you trust me?”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “I told you Adam Brink was bad news. I told you what he did to me. And you
still
hired him.”
    Bella’s amusement dried up. “I had no choice. His employment here was part of the contract.”
    “You could have negotiated harder.”
    “You think I didn’t try? Of course I didn’t want the man who’d drugged you and sold you out anywhere near here. Hell, I would have put a much-needed bullet through his dick if it had been left up to me. But it wasn’t. Would you have rather I’d turned down the contract?”
    “We could have found another way to help those people without it.”
    “Sorry to burst your bubble, sugar, but that’s not true. As much as I couldn’t care less about the money, it goes to buying things like shiny new weapons. Not to mention the access to intelligence we’ve gained in the deal. You can’t say government resources haven’t helped.”
    “I do like having access to the toys, but that means Adam has access, too. You know we can’t trust him.”
    “I
don’t
trust him. But I do have to find a way to workwith him. So do you. This is bigger than either of us or our feelings. People out there are suffering. They need all the help they can get, even from Adam. You should hear Gage talk about how badass Adam is. I swear he uttered three whole sentences. In a row.”
    Mira didn’t bother hiding her shock. “That was a lot for a man of few words. But what if Adam is only helping for some nefarious purpose?”
    “Then we stop him. However we have to. At least we know where he is if he’s working with us every day. Dr. Stynger is in the wind, and we haven’t had so much as a hint of where she may have gone.”
    Mira nodded, trying to keep the sick feeling in her gut from showing on her face. “I’ve been searching for her. Scouring the data we recovered last year for any clue as to where she might be.” She hadn’t been spending as much time on it as she should have, though. Too many hours had been spent watching Adam, tracking his movements, monitoring the cameras she’d planted in his house and car. No one else could do the work for her because no one else could know what she was up to.
    Even now, Mira itched to open the program she’d closed so she could follow his every move.
    Bella sighed. “Stynger’s a ghost. It’s why she’s been able to do so much harm. But we
will
find her.” That was Bella’s scary voice—the one she reserved for the people she planned to kill.
    “I have programs running even as we speak,” Mira assured her. “If anything pops up, we’ll be alerted so we can pounce.”
    “Guess that’s all we can do for now.” Bella pushed away from the desk. “Are you sure you don’t want to go a few rounds with me?”
    “Not when you’re pissed off like this. I still have bruises from the last time.”
    A slight smile tickled the corners of Bella’s lushmouth. “I still have a few you gave me, too, honey. You’re getting better all the time.”
    “You haven’t given me much choice.”
    “Now you know how I feel about employing Adam. I don’t like him. I don’t trust him. But he does a hell of a job. He’s found and helped more victims of your father’s experiments than the next two men combined. Think what you want about him, but he is one efficient bastard.”
    Apparently, Adam had worked his charm on Bella, too. If there was one way to worm his way into her good graces, it was by doing his job well. A few weeks from now and Bella would forget all about how her new star employee had come to them.
    “I’ll agree with the bastard part,