Razor's Edge by Shannon K. Butcher

out that your friend is in trouble, then you’re crazier than the guy who thought you were a flower. We’re in this together, and if that means I lose my job, then I’ll find another one.”
    â€œDo you two need a moment alone?” asked Payton.
    â€œNo,” said Roxanne, seeing certainty in Tanner’s eyes. “I think we’re ready.”
    The truth was, she was relieved to have him at her side. She only hoped he didn’t regret his decision to stay there.
    They filed into Payton’s office, and he shut the door behind them. Roxanne waited until he sat behind his desk before she began.
    â€œI have this friend, Jake Staite.”
    Payton nodded. “I remember him from your background check. He’s in the army, right?”
    Roxanne nodded and clutched the bag of letters tighter to her chest. “You have a good memory.”
    Payton sipped his coffee, ignoring her compliment.
    â€œAnyway, he sent me this journal. I didn’t realize that was what it was. I was in the middle of moving, so it got packed up with the rest of his things.”
    â€œYou two live together?”
    â€œYes.”
    Beside her, she saw Tanner stiffen. “You didn’t tell me that.”
    â€œIt’s nothing romantic. Just pure practicality,” Roxanne hurried to add. “We’re friends. He’s hardly ever home. It seemed silly for him to rent an apartment when I had that huge house all to myself. Besides, he grew up there, too.”
    â€œAh, right,” said Payton. “His mother worked for your family. I remember that now.”
    â€œShe did.”
    â€œWhatever happened to her?”
    â€œShe passed away from a massive heart attack the year Jake went into the service.” Grief made Roxanne’s voice tight. It had been her senior year in high school. Jake was gone, and then so was the woman who had been more like a mother to her than the woman who’d given birth to her.
    â€œI can tell you cared deeply for her. My condolences.”
    She swallowed down the sense of loss and forced herself to focus. She refused to let Jake leave her, too. “Thank you.”
    â€œSo, can I assume that the item you’re clutching in that sack is the young man’s journal?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnd you want to house it in our vault? You know we don’t let just anything get stored there. Storage that secure demands a high premium.”
    â€œI know. There’s more—just hear me out.”
    Payton nodded for her to continue.
    â€œI’ve had the journal for weeks. I’d been moving, and it came when I was working eighty-hour weeks. I wasn’t even sure Jake had meant for me to open the box.”
    â€œSo why did you?”
    â€œYesterday, I went to my parents’ estate because vandals had broken in and torn the place apart. While I was there, I got an e-mail. It was written in a code Jake and I used as kids, telling me to burn everything.”
    Payton set his coffee down and leaned forward, his full attention focused on her. “So, rather than doing as he asked, you read the journal.”
    â€œYes. And I’m glad I did. I think Jake’s in trouble.”
    â€œWhat kind of trouble?”
    â€œHe was recruited into some secret military group. After being there awhile, he started to suspect they may not even be part of the US military at all. And if they are, what they’re doing has to be illegal.”
    â€œWhat kinds of things are they doing?”
    â€œThey’re giving him drugs. He says some of the men are changing, becoming violent. One of his friends killed himself.”
    Even the thought of someone doing that to Jake made her want to scream. He was a good man—the best. He’d committed his life to serving his country, and now someone had tortured him. Perhaps they still were.
    Tanner’s hand settled on her knee as he spoke. “Razor was attacked last night at the storage