Edge of the Heat (Westwood Harbor Corruption) (16 page)

It was night-time. Orange light filled the sky from the forest blazing beside them. Craig ran towards her, stopping in front of her. He looked down into her face, his eyes threatening to spill tears. His hair and skin were smeared with dirt.

His strong hands grasped her upper arms almost hard enough to hurt. His voice, husky and strained and weak, not sounding like him, broke and cracked as he said:

"I thought you were gone.

I thought I had lost you.

With God as my witness I swear I will never let you go again."

He fell forward onto her chest and slid down her body. He grabbed her around the waist and squeezed her in a bear hug. Now his sobs did come.

Tingles danced up and down her spine, radiated outward along her back, and wrapped around her body.

She felt ready to explode with love and happiness and relief.

He had forgiven her.

Her own tears slipped down her face and she hugged his head to her middle, loving
the feel of him.

Craig was the man in the vision all along. Emma couldn't believe it. Her brain felt ready to burst with joy. She didn't feel her injuries, she didn't feel anything but her own exploding emotions.
It's Craig, Craig is the man in my vision. Sweet, strong, dependable, sexy Craig.
How could she ask for anything more than that? She felt blessed beyond belief, like the Heavens themselves had opened and set this man down, made especially for her.

She pulled him up, peered up into his face and whi
spered, "Craig, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what I did."

His face crumpled with emotion. "Don't speak another word of it Emma. I understand why you did it. And it doesn't matter. You're OK, and that's all the matters."

He pressed his lips to hers, gently. Emma's mouth thrilled at his touch. Her happiness turned to sweet, sweet wanting. She had turned this man out of her bed once, but now she couldn't wait to get him back in it, for good.

The whoop whoop of the second chopper filled the air.

He broke the kiss. "That's your ride," he smiled sweetly at her.

"You called in a helicopter for me too? I can drive down; I don't need a helicopter."

"Emma, you were unconscious for at least 10 minutes, you can't drive down. You need to be x-rayed and I'm sure they will want to watch you overnight for a concussion."

"Well you drive me then!"

"I'm needed at the firebreak. I was on my way up there for the night shift when I found your truck."

Emma looked downcast. It looked like her celebration would have to wait. Besides,
her head did hurt a little - well a lot.

He lifted her chin with his hand. "I'll be there first thing in the morning. I'll check you out of the hospital and take you home. Would you be willing to move in with me? I don't want to spend one more second apart
."

Emma laughed. "Move in with you? Maybe you should move in with me."

He leaned forward and kissed her on the ear. "Maybe I should. I promise I'll be there by 8 and we'll talk then. You go and get some rest.

The helicopter moved in, making any further con
versation difficult. When it landed, they walked up to it together and Craig helped Emma climb in to sit on the gurney.

"I can't wait to see you my love," he said in her ear before slipping out onto the ground, walking out of the way of the blades and givi
ng the pilot a thumbs up.

My love.
Emma touched her hand to her ear, feeling the tingle his breath left there.

She watched as they lifted higher and higher, Craig waving the whole time.

She blew him a kiss, even though she knew he couldn't see it.
You are my love too. I love you.
She thrilled at the thought.
And our new life together begins in the morning.

Emma blinked heavily. Light flooded the window. She checked the clock on the wall. 10:00! Where was Craig? Maybe he had come and left because s
he was sleeping. The doctors had woke her every 2 hours all night long to be sure her brain wasn't swelling but for some reason no one had woken her since 5.

The door opened. Craig? She sat up straight in bed, a wide smile instantly on her face.

The smile withered as she realized who it was. Norman.

"What in the hell are you doing here?" She had no patience for Norman today, or ever again.

He looked honestly surprised at her outburst. "Emma, aren't you happy to see me? It doesn't look like you have many other visitors to speak of."

"No I'm not happy to see you, get the hell out of here. I'm done with you Norman."

"Ahh but Emma, don't you understand, I really just want to be your friend."

"I don't want to be your friend Norman. Leave now or I will have you t
hrown out."

Norman laughed. "Who is going to throw me out Emma?" He leaned over the bed with an evil grin on his face. "Your boyfriend?" he sneered, sounding like a two-bit villain in every crappy movie ever.

Fear spiked Emma's heart. Craig. Ohmigod. Craig!

Emma jumped out of bed and grabbed her only clothes, her wildfire-fighting uniform on a table in the corner. She
ran to the bathroom and locked it, dressing quickly.

When she came out, Norman was gone.

<<<<>>>>

Edge of the Heat 2 is available
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Think Emma, think! Calm down and breathe.

Emma forced herself to take a second to relax and formulate a plan. She was still holding on to the bathroom door, eyes frantically darting around the small Westwood General hospital room to be sure Norman wasn’t going to jump out at her from some hiding place. Which was silly, there
were
no hiding places in this tiny room. Still, she was learning it was better to be safe than sorry with her ex-husband, who she knew was a dirty cop, but who also just might be a sociopath.

Norman was probably the one who had bugged her house. He for sure was the one who chased off every man she had tried to date o
ver the last several years. She was starting to suspect he was really the one who told Reece she ‘liked it rough’, prompting the scumbag doctor to try to rape her but pretend she really wanted it that way. And if the horrible feeling she got when he had mockingly said “Who is going to throw me out, your boyfriend?” was correct, he may have done something horrible to Craig. She couldn’t be her usual naive and rose-colored glasses self anymore. Her eyes were open now, at least when it came to Norman.

She too
k some deep breaths and tried to think what she should do first.

Call Craig.

Yes, call him first. Maybe she would get lucky.

She felt her pockets for her cell phone. She didn
’t have it. Maybe she had lost it in the fire last night. She grabbed the hospital door and whipped it open, intending to go down to the nurses station.

Wait! They are going to give you a hard time about being up. They are going to want to discharge you and that will take forever. Or worse they will want you to stay. Best if you do thi
s subtly. Remember you came in on a helicopter last night after being unconscious for 10 minutes in the middle of a wildfire. Nobody is going to let you just walk out of here if they can help it.

Briefly her mind flashed to the man she had saved, wondering
how he was. No time for that now.

She walked over to the phone by the bedside and dialed the number for the nurses station. A cool female voice answered.

“Hi, it’s Emma in 412. Did I get any visitors while I was sleeping?”

“
No, Emma, none.”

“
Ok, thank you.”

Emma broke the connection without replacing the handle and then dialed 9 for an outside line and Craig
’s number.

She sucked in her breath, counting the rings and silently praying he would pick up. After 7 rings his voicemail answered.

She slammed down the phone, biting her tongue to keep from swearing or screaming, she wasn’t sure which.

What now? Call dispatch and ask where he is.

It was a good idea, but she had to get out of the room before a nurse came in and saw her looking like she was just going to walk out of here, which was in fact what she was going to do.

She went to the door and opened it swiftly, walking towards the exit without hesitation. If anyone challenged her she would just keep walking. They weren
’t cops, just doctors and nurses.

She made it to the stairs without anyone even looking at her. Yanking the door open and swiftly stepping inside she sighed in relief. Once she was off this floor nobody would pay her any attention.

At the bottom floor she looked around for a pay phone. Why weren’t there any around? Sometimes cellphone batteries die or are left in cars!

The emergency room had pay phones!
She broke into a run, feeling like time was already running out for Craig. She had just gotten Craig back last night. She couldn’t bear to think she had lost him again already.

She found a pay phone in the lobby and dug in her firefighter
’s uniform for a quarter. She called dispatch. Lindy answered.

“
Lindy, it’s Emma Hill. I need to know when the last time you heard from Firefighter 465 was.”

“
Hi Emma, how are you?”

The concern in Lindy
’s voice was obvious, but Emma didn’t have time for it right now.

“
I’m great Lindy, please look quickly, I’m really worried about him.”

“
Um well, he hasn’t been heard from on the radio since his in service last night, but the scene commander already knows that.”

Emma was confused.

“What do you mean he hasn’t been heard from on the radio?”

Now Lindy sounded confused.
“Emma, don’t you know that there’s a search on for him right now?”

Emma
’s heart sank. Her worst fears were confirmed.

“
No Lindy, what is going on?”

“
Well he disappeared last night on the line. One minute he was there and the next he wasn’t. They’ve been searching for him since 5 this morning. The helicopters are up and everything. They just called and asked for police dogs, but those are going to take 6 hours to get here from Brickersville.”

“
Thanks Lindy,” Emma said weakly. She replaced the handset, but held onto the phone still. She felt like she was going to fall to the ground in a heap if she let go. She couldn’t get enough air.

Oh Craig, Craig, where are you? What happened?

Emma’s vision went black around the edges. Her life spiraled out of her control in one sentence. She loved this man and he didn’t even know it. Never would know it if he was … she couldn’t say it - couldn’t even think it. He was fine, where ever he was - he just needed to be found.

She was
going to help search. What else could she do?

***

Edge of the Heat 2 is available on Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/Edge-Heat-Westwood-Harbor-Corruption-ebook/dp/B00IKKZTPI