Edge of the Heat 7 (9 page)

Craig's phone rang and he plucked it out of his pocket just as Dani and Vivian came into the room, laughing.

Craig answered his phone but couldn't hear well over the girls. He thought he heard West Shepherd say he was in trouble. He strode into his office and shut the door.

"Sorry about that. I had to step into my office for privacy. What's the trouble?" he said, even as he wondered how much more trouble he could handle.

***

Craig left his office, his mind spinning. Hawk was still sitting at the kitchen table, his plate empty and his eyes full of questions. Other than him, the room was empty. Craig sat down across from him. "Do you know anything about Operation Arma?"

Hawk stared at him for a long time before answering. "Yeah, it's just a rumor though."

Craig felt his face twist. "What's the rumor?"

"It's supposed to be a secret base somewhere in Nevada where the military is developing some sort of super weapon. Maybe even experimenting with weapons they took off of alien spacecraft," Hawk said, his voice betraying his disbelief.

Craig felt a stone weight roll onto his chest. "That was West, the firefighter who used to work with Emma. He said it's not a rumor. He and his girlfriend just escaped from there and now they are being hunted. He says he needs my help."

"Hunted," Hawk muttered. "By our government?"

"Yeah," Craig said softly.

Hawk made a face. "That's bad business. Ten times worse than Oberlin."

"Yeah."

"And it sure is coming at a horrible time," Hawk mused.

"I know." Craig sat heavily, feeling like he weighed a ton.

"Is this the guy who helped you with the mercenary case last month?"

Craig nodded, his expression placid, almost sad.

Silence stretched through the room as a secret conversation passed between the two friends. They both knew what an awful thing this was to get involved with. They both also knew that Craig could never turn the other way and pretend he knew nothing about it when an innocent person truly needed his help.

Hawk finally spoke. "Emma would want you to help if you could."

Craig stood up, decision made. "I'll be back this evening," he said roughly and disappeared out the front door.

Hawk watched him go and said a small prayer.

Within a moment, Craig came back in. "Can you take Emma to lunch at noon?"

"Yeah."

"And can you pick her up from work?"

Hawk nodded.

Craig nodded. "I'll text her and let her know the change of plans."

"Wait, I have to check in with the judge at noon. Tell her it will be 12:30 or 1 before I can get there."

Craig grunted in acknowledgement, his fingers flying over his phone as he backed out the door.

Hawk watched him go again, knowing he did not need to say any more. Craig would be as careful as he could, and he would call if he needed something.

Emma walked up the stairs of the fire department, on her way to her big meeting, her notes and her laptop under her arm. She pushed open the fire exit door and walked into the large open area where her secretary sat. "Sylvia, I can't believe you're still here," she said.

Sylvia leaned back and rubbed her pregnant belly. "I know, this baby is never going to come."

"When is your due date again? Soon, right?"

"It was the day before yesterday," Sylvia said with a sour grin on her face.

Emma winced. "You should just go home. You look..."

Sylvia raised an eyebrow.

"You look great, but you have to be uncomfortable."

Sylvia laughed. "I just want to save all my vacation for after the baby comes out."

Emma nodded, wondering how much maternity leave lieutenants were allowed.

Sylvia waved her towards the meeting room. "You better get in there. The chiefs are already gathered. You're up first because the fire inspector is running late."

"Great," Emma grumped. She pointed her feet towards the room and forced herself to head in.

The new chief sat at the head of the long table, eyeballing her. She wasn't late— she was early actually, so she wasn't worried about that, but he always seemed grumpy. She hadn't had too much experience with him yet. He reminded her of a scary Johnny Cash and had some weird thing about all their phones.

"Phone," he barked as she entered the room. Emma took her phone out of her pocket and slid it onto the table in front of the chair she would be sitting in. The chief opened his hands in an expectant gesture that caused her to hurry to the front of the room and pull out her laptop.

Forty-five grueling minutes later she had given her report and answered every question they could think of. When nobody said anything for three minutes she sat down and shuffled her notes, waiting for someone to move on. The chief grabbed the intercom phone in the center of the desk. "Sylvia, tell York to get in here!" He bellowed. Emma put a finger to one ear and wondered why he used the intercom at all. Sylvia had to be able to hear him through the door.

A voice came over the intercom that she didn't recognize. "I'll track him down, Chief."

Emma eyed her phone in front of her. Its screen lit up as the text message came across. Her fingers itched to grab it but she knew from experience that the chief would ream her out for it. She looked around at the other lieutenants and assistant chief in the room. They all avoided her gaze, knowing what she was thinking.

Cowards
.

Just as Emma was about to grab her phone for a quick second, Carl York came bustling into the room carrying a large, twisted piece of metal. His eyes met hers and she wondered if he had found out Vivian was her sister yet.

York hurried over and dumped what was obviously a very heavy piece of metal on the table right in front of Emma. It wobbled to one side and fell over and she heard her phone crunch.

Emma sucked in a breath and snatched her phone up. A long, straight crack ran from one corner to the other, rendering it completely useless.

Fantastic.

***

When Emma was finally released from the meeting from hell, she was the first one out into the reception area. A woman she didn't recognize sat at Sylvia's desk. A temp from upstairs maybe. "Where's Sylvia?"

The woman snapped her gum and swiveled her chair around to face Emma. "Her water broke. She's probably already at the hospital," she said like Emma should already know that.

Emma ignored her as excitement filled her. "Oh that's wonderful." She couldn't wait to visit Sylvia and hold the brand new baby.

Her stomach grumbled and she looked at the clock. 12:10. "Any messages for me?"

The woman snapped her gum again and shook her head no. Emma took off down the stairs, hoping Craig was waiting for her in her office. When she arrived there, it was empty. She walked outside and looked in the parking lot. His car was not there.

Emma bit the inside of her lip and look down the street. She was starving. She shouldn't have to wait for him to show up in order to go get a bite to eat. There was a place on the corner less than two blocks away that had fabulous spring rolls. Her mouth began to water. Behind her, her office phone rang. She ignored it for just a moment, then turned and walked back inside.

Just as she made it to her office, the phone stopped ringing. She picked it up anyway and dialed Craig's number but when it went straight to voicemail she made up her mind and hung up. It would only take her a few minutes to get lunch and be back. She'd get some for him too and they could eat in the break room.

Emma pushed out the door into the midday heat and walked quickly to the sidewalk. She'd be back before he ever even missed her.

***

Sylvia's replacement, Candi, swiveled in her chair a few times, wondering if she could somehow switch the chair with the one at her desk upstairs before Sylvia came back. This one was much more comfortable. As she turned back to the desk her eyes fell on a large white note in Sylvia's handwriting.
For Lt. Masterson when she gets out of the meeting. Hubby called. He has business in Nevada. Hawk will meet her for lunch but can't make it till 12:30 or 1:00. Important.

Candi called Lt. Masterson's number, but the phone only rang. She grabbed up the note and stood up, thinking Lt. Masterson was probably somewhere downstairs.
But that was so far, and her feet already hurt in her heels
. She read the note over again and rolled her eyes.
Exciting. Not
. Lt. Masterson would figure it out when this Hawk guy showed up instead of her husband. Candi wadded up the piece of paper and threw it in the garbage then sat down for more swiveling.

The man sat in his car in the alley, the air conditioning blasting, watching the thin slice of the fire department that was visible across the street. This was his favorite spot for thinking, for scheming, for planning his way to the billions that should be his. All his. The only business that had a door that opened to this alley had closed months ago, and he was never disturbed here.

Just the thought of his billions made his heart sink. What now? His foolproof plan, his plan that he had worked on for over six months had gone spectacularly wrong.

It should've been simple. Blow up the house, eliminating Vivian Kincaid, then frame Craig Masterson and when he was hauled off to jail, feed Emma Masterson a vial of sleeping pills and prop her up in the car in the garage with the engine running. Who wouldn't believe she'd killed herself after most of her family was destroyed in front of her.

Those Fucking Brainless Idiots, the two FBI men they were married to, had ruined everything somehow. He still didn't know how they had managed to first escape the explosion and then squirm out of being arrested, but did it even matter anymore? The plans had failed.

He had never had a plan nailed down for Jon Taylor, but something had been starting to form. Maybe something to do with that foreign motorcycle he zipped around on.

He had thought his plans were perfect, and all of them had taken into account his little... problem, so there had never been a chance of him passing out at a critical moment.

What was he supposed to do now? After the Senate commission hearing in two weeks his father's will would be open for contest. He was supposed to be the only living relative by then.

He would have to come up with all new plans, and now they were all on guard. Suspicious. Maybe it would be best if he quit while he was ahead ... gave up. Admitted defeat.

His face heated at the shame of it as movement across the street caught his eye. The door to the fire department opened and Emma Masterson strolled out, alone.

Impulse gripped him as he watched her walk his way. His brain heated with half-formed plans. If he had her, he could lure the others somehow. Get them to come to him. Eliminate them in some way. If he were smart enough about it, suspicion would never fall on him. No one knew of any connection between him and them. If there were no living relatives, the billions would sit in estate for a year before the government was able to get their hands on it. A plan formed in his mind. He could watch the billions grow, as money of that size always did, and then "discover" his relation to the man who had started all of this. He would present himself to his father's lawyer and claim modesty, say he wanted no press releases. By that time, the death of two FBI agents and their wives and brother-in-law would be old news.

He would figure out the details later. He only had a few seconds before Emma passed the mouth of the alleyway, out of his reach.

There was never any question as to how he would get her close to him. She was a rescuer wasn't she? He just had to provide someone that needed to be rescued.

He opened his car door and threw himself on the ground, crying out in apparent pain.

Craig ushered West and Katerina onto the small, empty airplane that would take them to Dallas. He sat back in a seat a few rows away from them, needing space and quiet to process all the information he had received on the drive to the airport.

Their story had been unbelievable, but also horribly believable.

What now? Did he go home and pretend he never heard any of it? Turn a blind eye to keep himself and those he loved safe?

He knew he couldn't do that, but what were his options? The resulting scandal from an investigation of this magnitude could encompass every branch of the government all the way up to the president of the United States. He'd be fired or shot before he ever got past the military branch.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as the small plane taxied towards the runway. This mess certainly couldn't have come at a worse time. He made the sudden decision to drop it. To drop it all, go back to Westwood Harbor, figure out who had tried to kill Hawk and Vivian and frame him. Once that person was behind bars, then he would think about this mess. He'd get West and Katerina to safety, and go back to his fucked up life and deal with this later.

They made it to the Dallas airport and Craig helped the two homeless, countryless survivors into the building, then said goodbye. He didn't want to know what country they were headed to. It was safer that way for them. Katerina cried the entire time, not looking at him once, but West shook his hand and thanked him.

Craig walked away from them, his mood black and bleak. Life seemed like quite a trial at that moment.

Craig checked his watch and realized his own plane would be leaving in less than ten minutes. He ran through the terminal and just barely made it, with no time to spare to even check his phone messages. He settled back against the seat and tried to sleep. He would be in San Francisco in three and a half hours and then the drive home would take him just under two. He could be home by midnight if everything went perfectly.

Craig's plane arrived in San Francisco on time and he headed straight to the rental car agency. He'd taken a hop flight from Westwood Harbor to San Francisco but none ran this late at night so he had to rent a car to get home. When he had his car and was ready to pull out of the parking lot his phone buzzed in his pocket, reminding him he still hadn't checked his messages.