Edge of Dreams Read Online Free

space if you get mauled on their watch?” she grumbled.
    “I lost them on purpose,” I reminded her.
    “So? If they were worth a damn you couldn’t have done it.”
    “Maybe I’m just that good,” I suggested.
    “Maybe you’re just that stupid.”
    “You really think I can trust them?” I asked, startled.
    “I think you don’t have a choice. For fuck’s sake, Riley, you almost got yourself killed today. Again. What’s it going to take before you realize you need a little help?”
    I thrust my fingers into my copper hair, pulling it loose from its ponytail. “Dammit, Patti.”
    “You know I’m right.”
    “I—”
    Patti glared at me, daring me to argue or maybe just because I was playing with my hair in the diner and she was worried it would go flying off into the food. Her blue eyes sparked with anger. Nope. This was about putting myself into too many dangerous situations. I wasn’t going to win this argument. Not while I was still bleeding from the surgeon’s attack, anyhow. I decided to save time and irritation and give in now rather than after a long argument.
    I gave an exasperated sigh. “Okay. Fine. You’re right, as usual. But that doesn’t mean I can trust them.” I hooked a thumb in the direction of Dalton and his two companions.
    “So don’t. Find your own people, but stop acting like you’re Wonder Woman. You can die , Riley. Quit fooling around.”
    I glanced at Dalton. He held his coffee cup between his palms, his silver gaze locked on me. He had to have heard every word. I turned back to Patti, refusing to feel embarrassed or guilty.
    “Okay. I will. Later. Where’s this new client?”
    “Right here.”
    A black woman with iron-gray hair rippling along her scalp in elegant cornrows stood up out of the booth behind Patti. She wore a navy-blue suit with an ivory turtleneck and heavy black boots. Underneath her jacket on her hip was a holstered gun. On her belt I could see the gold shine of a police badge.
    I stretched out a hand. “I’m Riley Hollis.”
    “Good to meet you, Riley. I’m Lauren Morton.” Her voice came out in a husky Southern drawl. That was about all I had time to register before she hit me with the big guns. “I’m here because rumor says you’re about the best tracer around. I need your help. I’ve got five teenagers lost inside the mountain, and if you can’t find them, they’re going to die.”

Chapter 2
    The mention of missing kids woke me up like nothing else could. I motioned for the other woman to sit. “Tell me about it.”
    She hesitated, her gaze flicking at the door. “They don’t have time.”
    “I’ve got to know more before I can help you,” I said, sliding into the booth.
    She gnawed her bottom lip and finally sat opposite to me. “You’ll be paid, if that’s what’s concerning you,” she said in a rolling Southern accent.
    I examined her. Her skin was ashy, like she’d not slept for a while, and her eyes were sunken with bags around them. She linked her hands in front of her, weaving her fingers together. Her nails were oval and polished in a lilac color. She wore light makeup, and her lips matched her nails. I guessed her to be around forty-five or fifty years old.
    I ignored the financial reference. I didn’t trace kids for money. I traced them because I hadn’t been able to trust anyone else to do their jobs and find them.
    For a fleeting second, my mind fled back to the last time I’d helped recover a kidnapped little girl—named Nancy Jane Squires. It made me think of Price. He’d been the cop I’d taken my anonymous tips to. Now that I’d kicked him out of my life, I didn’t know who to tell. Even if I were still talking to him, he’d left the force. Most cops were corrupt. I couldn’t trust them to actually go after the kids.
    I ignored the ache of emptiness that came with thinking of Price. I’d get over it. I pretended to believe the lie and focused back on the woman sitting opposite me.
    “Tell me what