Edge of the Heat (Westwood Harbor Corruption)

by Ladew, Lisa

  Craig introduced her to Hans, the operator, and Steve, their instructor. Steve got them suited up. Emma’s loose suit fit easily over her tight yoga outfit. Once they had helmets and eye protection on Steve gave them a briefing. Craig already knew what he was doing, but Emma learned the most important things were to stay relaxed and arch her back. She could do that.

  When their briefing was done they had to wait 2 more minutes for the guy inside the tube to be done. Emma watched him closely, trying to pick up pointers. The big tube, or vertical wind tunnel, was easily big enough for 3 of them to lay down end to end across all ways. The floor was a metal mesh or net that the air blew through. The entire outside was clear plexiglass so people could watch. The guy inside was about 5 feet off the ground, making it look effortless. He was doing somersaults and flipping his body every which way. She didn’t care if she could do that, but she sure was excited to fly.

  Steve signaled to the guy and he dropped to the floor, giving a thumbs up. Emma was ready. Craig told her go ahead, enjoy herself.

  Steve stepped in first, and held his arms out, signaling Emma to jump in the way he had showed her. Her body tightened with anticipation and she willed it to relax. She took two deep yoga breaths, and fell-jumped in the door into Steve’s arms.

  Wind whipped by her, lifting her body and twisting her face. She felt like she were thrust into a hurricane. The sound in the tunnel was huge, making conversation impossible. She immediately tipped forward and thought she was going to end up on the floor, but Steve caught her and positioned her. He pushed down on the small of her back. She arched and relaxed as much as she could. She stabilized a bit. He let go of her with one hand and gave her a thumbs up with the other.

  Steve moved her around the floor a bit while she got used to the flying sensation. She could imagine this was exactly what it was like to fall to Earth from an airplane, just with no view. Emma’s heart sang with joy. What an incredible experience! Her whole being concentrated on relaxing and arching and flying, and her thoughts were still and quiet. Nothing existed but her and the wind.

  Steve positioned her arms and hands a bit farther apart and she felt the difference that made with her balance. He poked her leg and she knew that was the signal to relax. She was trying to hold herself in position, but she needed to relax and the position would happen naturally.

  Steve showed her a way to tip her hand and suddenly she was veering right. She tipped her hand back and stabilized again. Amazing! She tipped the other hand and veered left and Steve came with her, pulled off his feet a bit as he wasn’t expecting it. She saw him laugh and put his legs out. They both floated up 4 feet higher, with him holding on to her suit.

  Emma’s senses were flooded with wind and liberation. She wanted to fly forever. She had never felt like this before and was amazed at the giddiness.

  Steve pulled them back to the ground somehow and stood again. He motioned for her to dip her head and she did a headstand, feet flying upwards. That was amazing! She laughed and gave him a thumbs up when she recovered. He showed her more tricks and eventually she was able to fly straight up to the ceiling and back down again with precision control.

  Steve gave her the sign for finished and pulled her towards the door. He pushed her feet down and she stood up and walked out to the waiting area. It felt strange to be on solid ground, like she didn’t belong. Her smile felt like it was going to split her face in half. She ran up to Craig, waiting at the outside door and threw her arms around him in an exuberant hug.

  “Did you see me?” she whooped.

  “You are a natural. It must be all that yoga you do. I wasn’t able to flip until the third or fourth time I had done this.”

  She gave him a big smile and sat down on the bench. “Let’s see what you got.”

  Craig gave her a thumbs up and dove in the door to the tunnel, immediately flying up out of sight. She ran to the plexiglass and peered up at him, laughing. He had some moves and Steve didn’t even spot him, he just stood to the side and watched.

  After he showed Emma every move he had Steve came out and asked if she wanted to tandem dive with him.

  After a short safety briefing Steve brought her in, floating her across from Craig who was practically holding still waiting for her.

  Craig grasped her hands and Steve let go. They were pushed up towards the ceiling and Emma laughed again. This was amazing. Craig smiled at her and pulled her closer. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. She wasn’t expecting it and it only heightened her excitement. Who knew you could kiss in a vertical windtunnel? He smiled again and moved in and kissed her full on the lips this time. Wind screamed in her ear. She was so surprised this time she didn’t kiss him back, her mouth dropping into an O of surprise. He laughed and she moved in this time - too fast, mashing their faces together. She started laughing so hard she lost her arch and started plummeting towards the floor, pulling him with her.

  She recovered neatly, still laughing, but that was it, she was done. She dropped to the floor and walked out into the waiting area, plopping into a chair and giggling madly.

  Craig dropped down too and followed her. When they could hear again a little and her giggles had tapered off he said, “We still have 10 minutes, do you want to use them?”

  She started laughing all over again at the sound of his voice, shaking her head no.

  “Goofy,” he said, but he was still laughing a bit too.

  ***

  After they had taken off their gear and said their thank yous and goodbyes, they walked out to the truck.

  Emma was still giggling here and there. The funnies had gotten ahold of her and wouldn’t let go. All she had to do was think of their faces mashing together and she was off and laughing hysterically again. Her stomach hurt.

  Craig took her hand and leaned back against the truck, watching her giggle, a patient smile on his face.

  Her giggles tapered off and she peeked up at him, trying not to laugh.

  “Do you always laugh at your dates?” he asked.

  “Only when they kiss me while we are skydiving and our faces become one,” she snorted.

  He grinned, flashing those killer dimples at her. Suddenly she felt very serious. This was the most fun she had ever had in her life. This man was awesome. She leaned up against him. “Let’s try that again, here on solid ground.” Her voice was a serious whisper.

  He leaned in and their lips touched gently. He tasted like cinnamon and smelled like hickory wood. Fire started in her belly and whipsawed through her body, every nerve alert. She pushed forward, hungrily tasting more of his mouth. His strong arms circled her waist and pulled her to him. She could feel every inch of his amazing body pressed up against hers.

  She pulled back, gasping for breath. He gazed into her eyes and said “Emma Hill, you are one extraordinary woman.”

  She blushed at the compliment and looked down, not sure what to say or do. No man had ever said anything like that to her before.

  Craig put a hand to her chin and lifted it, lowering his lips to hers again. Emma closed her eyes and surrendered to the kiss, her body melting in his strong hands, her mouth fusing to his soft lips with a gentleness she had never known.

  He pulled back this time and whispered in her ear, “You owe me dinner.”

  ***

  The ride back to Emma’s house was full of giggles and silliness. All Emma could think about was how much she liked this man. How good he was to her. What a kind person he was. She pushed all thoughts of the vision away for now. She was enjoying herself so much she didn’t want to think of it.

  After they got changed and cleaned up at her house, they headed out to her favorite dinner restaurant, Sicilian’s.

  Emma had her usual, the double spaghetti with the large meatball, and Craig had shrimp scampi. After dinner they danced, alone on the dance floor to jukebox music. Emma relished the feel of Craig’s body against hers. He danced with grace and ease, his hands engulfing hers. Had she found a perfect man?


  ***

  Craig drove her home. She was silent for most of the drive, wondering if she should invite him in. She hadn’t had sex in 7 years. 7 years! Was it really that long? What happened to her life? How did she end up this boring workaholic who hadn’t been touched by a man in almost a decade?

  Craig was silent also. He seemed at ease, but Emma wondered if he was also thinking about where tonight could go. She snuck a sidelong glance it him. He looked good, he smelled good, he acted good. I wonder how he is in bed? Is he a good guy in bed too? Or does he get a little wild? Wild I bet. He’s definitely a gentleman, but he’s also all man. Emma’s cheeks colored at her thoughts. She’d only had sex with 2 men in her whole life. Norman, and her boyfriend in the Army. She’d been too scared in high school - too scared that she would get pregnant and ruin her chances of creating a good life for herself. Too scared that she wouldn’t be able to escape the poverty and misery of the foster care system.

  At Emma’s house, Craig got out to open Emma’s door, but she was already standing. She waited for him and smiled up into his handsome face. He put an arm around her and walked her to her door.

  On the doorstep he faced her. “I had a wonderful time today Emma, I sure would like to see you again.”

  Before Emma could respond, he leaned in, pressing his lips softly to hers in that gentle way he was so good at. Her eyes closed automatically. His masculine smell teased her, pushing her over an edge. Emma’s entire being ached for more, more, more.

  But no, he broke contact with her lips and pulled away, smiling at her. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” He turned and walked down the steps to his truck.

  Emma watched him get in his truck and lift a hand to her. She managed to wave back, screaming inside her head “Stay! Stay with me!” but she never said it out loud. She couldn’t bring herself to.

  Emma entered her house and crumpled onto the couch, hugging herself. She ached for him for just a minute, but pushed the feeling aside. It was a first date. He was a gentleman. She felt elated in a way that she never had before. This was almost as good as the feelings the vision had given her.

  Oh yeah, my vision.

  Emma’s mood darkened immediately.

  I wish I could just forget I ever had that vision, and just date Craig.

  As much as she wanted to do that, she knew it would only end in disaster. She remembered the pull of the man in the vision and it was stronger than Craig’s pull.

  (Wasn’t it?)

  With my luck, I’d date Craig, fall in love with Craig, marry Craig, and then meet the man in the vision and my marriage would be ruined in an instant.

  Emma grabbed a pillow and pouted a little. Again she wished the vision had never happened, but it did, and she knew what it meant for her life. Craig was not the one for her.

  Her phone buzzed on the table. She picked it up. A text from Craig.

  “Working tomorrow?”

  “No,” she texted back.

  “Want to get some exercise with me? Hiking at Soldier Hill?”

  Emma almost cried. He liked her too. A lot. That certainly complicated matters. And he was so sweet and nice, and strong and capable and funny, and sexy, don’t forget sexy - everything she ever wanted in a man. So why couldn’t she just go for it again?

  Emma dug her fingernails into her palms until it hurt.

  What can some hiking hurt? It’s not like he’s asking me to get married.

  Emma sat, fingernails still spearing her palms, mind spinning at mile a minute. What could some hiking hurt? Nothing. But it wasn’t a date.

  “Sure. Meet you there. Time?”

  “2 p.m.?”

  “OK”

  Chapter 11.

  Craig pushed into the building, feeling like he was walking on air. That Emma was something else. Sweet, kind, funny, pretty, strong, smart. Women like her were hard to find.

  He walked down the hallway towards Hawk’s apartment, but detoured at the last minute. He needed to recover from the date a little bit. His life was not all sweetness and light right now, and it just wouldn’t do to walk into Hawk’s place in his current mood. Besides, he had serious news to share.

  Norman Foster. The thought of that corrupt bastard touching Emma took the bloom off his rose. He could not believe that Emma had been married to him. He also couldn’t believe he didn’t know that already. Hawk couldn’t have known either, could he?

  But he and Hawk should have known, if indeed the marriage existed. They were FBI, part of a special task force called the Anti-Corruption Unit, or ACU for short. Craig was working undercover in the fire department, Hawk directed the operation, and they had a few other counterparts working undercover in the police department, the prosecutor’s office, the governor’s office, and even in the state’s legislative offices. The corruption in Westwood Harbor was widespread and went all the way to the top. Something about the city made it a hotbed for dirty operations.

  Their crew had been working on this operation for 28 months now. Some arrests had been made already, but the worst of the corruption was too well guarded and impossible to get to from the outside. So they decided to get on the inside. Most of they task force officers had gone to special training and the FBI arranged lateral transfers for them directly into the worst departments in the city.

  Craig relished the fact that he was working as a firefighter. Before he went to the FBI academy he had taken the firefighters test in his home city of Seattle, but he had never been called for an interview. The competition was steep. He could have kept trying or tried in another city but decided to go to the FBI academy instead. And now he was getting to work as a firefighter anyway.

  Norman Foster was top on their list of suspects, for worse things than even simple dirty cop tricks. Sure, he probably kept a few guns and some drugs he should have turned in. He probably roughed up suspects weekly. But they had eyes on him for possible murder, extortion, smuggling, accepting bribes and major ties to the mob. Norman Foster was a walking Goodfella.

  As far as they could tell his first few years on the force had been quiet. There were no reports of him doing anything wrong, and indeed much corruption at all in Westwood Harbor before 2007. But something had happened in 2007 and since then Norman had been loosely tied to an ever increasing amount of horrible offenses.

  Feeling sufficiently brought back to earth with his musings about Norman Foster, Craig turned around again and pushed open the door to Hawk’s apartment. Hawk was in the center, behind the rows of computer monitors. His eyes tracked Craig’s movements into the room.

  Craig walked over to see what Hawk was looking at. 6 of the monitors showed empty rooms, 2 showed people sitting around doing nothing much, and 2 showed white body outlines in different rooms. These last two were the FLIR cameras. The FLIR cameras showed thermal heat signatures of anything that gave off heat, even through walls. They used FLIR cameras instead of electronic bugs when the people they were spying on were likely to sweep for bugs. The cameras were mounted outside the buildings, sometimes in trees or on other buildings, and no one noticed them.

  He put down the flash drive with all the information from the Chief’s office on it. Hawk would do the best job figuring out what the files really meant.

  “Anything going on?” Craig asked.

  “Nah, you’re late.” Hawk replied.

  “Yeah, I was on a date with Emma Hill.”

  Hawk raised an eyebrow and turned towards him. “You are dating?”

  Craig knew this wasn’t going to be easy.

  “If we are going to be here for a few years trying to finish this mission I am going to have to live a normal life,” he said.

  “You could compromise the mission.”

  Craig huffed out his breath. Hawk had a one track mind. “Or I could help it. Just dating someone is not going to compromise the mission.”

  “What if she wants to see where you live?”

  “So what? My apartment is normal. All the apartments are normal but this one. We just won
’t come in here.”

  Hawk lapsed into silence and appeared to think about this. He swiveled in his chair and watched the monitors for a few moments, then swiveled back.

  “If this is about sex …”

  “This is not about sex Hawk, I can get sex if I want sex. This is about being a normal person for once. I want a family someday, you know.”

  Hawk’s eyes narrowed. Craig knew he liked to act like a robot, but he wasn’t. He wanted a family someday too. They both knew that someday needed to come eventually.

  “Who is Emma Hill?”

  “She’s a paramedic.” Craig held his breath.

  “A paramedic? In your firehouse? What are you thinking?” Hawk yelled.

  “Calm down, she’s not in my firehouse, she’s out of the main station.”

  “Still, this is a conflict of interest,” Hawk growled.

  “A conflict of interest? Oh, that’s a good one. We aren’t proposing a business deal here Hawk! This won’t affect the mission in any way.” Craig shook his head and started to pace.

  Hawk lapsed into silence again.

  Craig thought about keeping the really bad news to himself. But no, this all had to come out one time. He needed to get it off his chest and he needed Hawk’s approval, even if only for himself.

  “You haven’t actually heard the worst of it though,” Craig said.

  Both of Hawk’s eyebrows shot up and he pursed his lips in a ‘just tell me’ look.

  “She was married to Norman Foster.”

  “What? Married? When? Are you crazy? She’s fucking corrupt then. What are you thinking?” Hawk crossed the room to where Craig stood. He put a hand on his chest and shoved lightly. “Craig, if nothing else will fuck up this mission, that will. I forbid you to see her again.”

  Craig grabbed Hawk’s hand and pulled it off him. “Look Hawk, just calm down and listen to me. She is not corrupt, and I honestly think this can only help the mission, although that’s not why I am dating her. I only found out a few hours ago that they were married. It was 7 years ago, and it only lasted for 8 months, and they were separated for 4 of those months. She hates him. She is the farthest thing from corrupt you can imagine. In fact, you would really like her. She reminds me a lot of Lucy.”