EdgeofEcstasy Read Online Free Page A

Melissa’s knuckles rapped and Kelly beamed. Melissa noticed that there was
a serenity and confidence in her friend, an unmistakable glow for which Melissa
guessed Kelly’s lover and partner Matt could claim responsibility.
    Kelly’s usual curtain of warm brown hair remained bobbed
around her ears. Her melted-chocolate-colored eyes were shining happily and
full of genuine welcome.
    “Melissa,” she cried as she rushed over. “It’s so good to
see you again. I’m really glad you’ve come, even if Falconn has been the
cause.”
    The two women met and embraced in the middle of the office.
Melissa found herself holding her friend unusually tightly and for a few
seconds longer than normal. She toyed with the heartfelt words that sat on the
tip of her tongue, but her awareness of Matt seated behind his desk kept her
silent.
    She liked the man, had genuinely enjoyed his acceptance of
her teasing, and he seemed to care deeply for Kelly, and that went a long way
in her personal book. Melissa thought that Matt was a good wizard and a good man,
but she didn’t know him, so her usual reticence held her tongue.
    “It’s really good to see you too, Kelly,” Melissa finally
said.
    Kelly pulled back and appeared to look Melissa up and down
with a laser-bright, knowing eye. Melissa grinned, hoping that Kelly wouldn’t
say something embarrassingly accurate about her state.
    Even though she knew she had not a hair out of place,
Melissa could tell her regular cool reserve had cracked slightly with
the death of her beloved friend. Something inside her had changed and it was still
raw and new enough that even she was not yet precisely sure just how she
had been forever altered by her loss.
    “Don’t be mad at me,” Kelly started, her words rushing
together. Only long years of friendship had Melissa still able to tell exactly
what Kelly said when she spoke so fast, nerves and worry edging her speech.
    “Matt and I decided to prod into the more private Enforcer
files,” Kelly continued, “we knew you’d want to be updated and informed of
everything you could. Honestly, everyone bends those particular rules
when it’s personal, so we didn’t think we were doing anything too naughty or
out of the ordinary. I didn’t know Falconn as intimately as you did but he was
my friend too. This would be personal even had you not asked the favor. Your
call just spurred me on to do what I would have got around to sooner or later under
my own steam.”
    Melissa raised an eyebrow and a tiny smile hitched at the
corner of her mouth in her gratitude for Kelly bending the rules for her. Even
though Kelly claimed otherwise, in her heart Melissa knew she would have
struggled to break the rules on her own account. Melissa asking had made Kelly
a lot more comfortable, and she was thankful for that. She wanted to express
her thanks but was unable to interrupt and spoil her friend’s flow.
    “There isn’t a lot of data to be found anywhere,” Kelly said
all in a rush without pausing for breath. “Indeed, it had to have been a
professional hit because they pretty much have diddly-squat and it looks as if the
case has already stalled, despite the fact that Falconn was one of us. So I
called Will.”
    Melissa felt her heart accelerate. She frowned slightly and,
a little more sharply than she had intended, repeated, “Will? Will who?”
    “Captain Will Allcott,” Kelly replied firmly but with a hint
of placation in her tone. Melissa bit down on the urge to say something she’d
regret. Kelly took her hand and hardly paused for breath before she explained
further. “Technically Will is our boss…or Matt’s, anyway. I’m still only half
signed on. You can trust him, Melissa, I swear it.”
    Recalling what Kelly had already told her about the man in
idle phone conversations, Melissa relaxed somewhat. Part of her remained itchy
and hypersensitive. She needed to do this herself. She didn’t feel fully confident
that she could trust anyone else to