The Recovery Assignment

by Alison Roberts

  Both were marked ‘Confidential’. He opened and read first one and then the other letter. He read them again. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and let out a long, loud and very exasperated sigh. Then his eyes snapped open again and he snatched up his telephone.

  ‘Get hold of Hawkins and Laing,’ he snapped at the operator. ‘I want them both in my office, pronto!’

  ‘They’re out on a job, sir. They got despatched ten minutes ago to a fatality on Birches Road.’

  Currie made another exasperated sound. ‘Page them, then,’ he ordered. ‘And the minute they set foot back in this building they can march themselves straight up here.’

  He shook his head as he shoved the letters to one side of his desk. The job involving the Serious Crash Squad had better not be too time-consuming. This needed sorting out.

  Just what the hell did those two think they were playing at here?

  ‘This shouldn’t take too long.’

  ‘No.’ Charlotte gazed at the scene of devastation in front of them. An ordinary little car that no longer looked at all ordinary. Instead, it looked as though it had been pierced by a giant set of spreaders, ripped open and then stretched apart on the driver’s side until it had bent back and virtually snapped in half.

  Beside the widened space that should have been the driver’s compartment, a crumpled figure lay face down on the grass verge. An ambulance crew were packing up their gear and their expressions left no doubt that there was nothing they could do to help this victim.

  Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad walking away from this job. At least as a paramedic the fatalities Charlotte had to deal with would not be an intrinsic component of every callout. She would be helping more people who were sick rather than severely injured and the sight of mangled vehicles would only represent a tiny percentage of her workload.

  She was feeling slightly sick herself right now, having read the message on her pager. She could guess why Lance was demanding an immediate interview when they returned from this job. Hawk had read the message as well but, instead of making some kind of joke about the trouble Charlotte might have got them into, he had simply turned and walked closer to the wreck on the side of the road.

  Charlotte followed more slowly. She was beginning to think that dropping that envelope on Currie’s desk that morning had not been the right thing to do after all. The decision to do so had been impulsively made as she’d driven home from Hawk’s house early that morning to find the clean uniform items she needed for the day. The glow that the aftermath of a night’s love-making with Hawk had left her with had also prompted a wry smile as Charlotte remembered telling him with such conviction that there was no chance of anything coming from their mutual attraction because there was no way she would risk losing her job. Right then she’d have given her job up in a flash if it could have meant keeping what she had found with him, and that was what had made her intended course of action seem so obvious.

  She would resign from her job.

  ‘You can see the imprint of the power pole on the middle of the driver’s door.’ Hawk didn’t need to point out the obvious to Charlotte but she merely nodded. ‘Looks like the car’s rotated and then hit the pole again just above the B pillar.’

  ‘The pole’s shattered at the base.’ Charlotte took a photograph of the unstable base of the concrete pole. ‘Lucky we haven’t got any wires down, isn’t it?’ The question was as redundant as Hawk’s observation but a question of some sort seemed like the best way of catching his eye.

  ‘The road’s still icy.’ Finding something to look at rather than Charlotte seemed deliberate. ‘And it doesn’t look as though it’s had any grit put down recently.’

  ‘Nobody expects frosts at this time of year. This would have melted well before now if that hedge wasn’t shading the road.’

  ‘Road surface is good.’ Hawk scuffed at the chip seal with the toe of his boot. ‘If she hadn’t either braked or accelerated there shouldn’t have been any reason to skid.’

  ‘Maybe she was speeding.’

  ‘Speedo’s locked at eighty.’ Hawk was turning away again as Charlotte glanced up from the camera’s view-finder. ‘I would have thought you’d have spotted that.’

  Charlotte ignored the criticism. She probably would have spotted it if she hadn’t been preoccupied by Hawk’s odd mood. He’d been shut up like a clam ever since she’d arrived at work that morning. Sure, the callout had come within minutes of her arrival but their interchanges since had been more strictly professional than their game of pretence called for. And there was no reason to have kept it up in the privacy of the squad car. But maybe his avoidance of anything as personal as a touch or eye contact was not so odd at all. His letter had still been on Lance Currie’s desk when Charlotte had delivered hers. Was Hawk thinking about how she was going to react when she learned of its contents?

  With a sigh, Charlotte turned back to taking photographs of the car. The floor pan had been ripped apart and the bottom of the A pillar torn away from the front of the vehicle. No wonder it looked far longer than normal. Hawk was taking notes as he spoke to the ambulance officers and other police still on scene, and he was being shown the victim’s driver’s licence and other items from the young woman’s handbag.

  It had to have been the right thing to do. Things certainly couldn’t carry on the way they were. If she and Hawk continued working together and continued their affair, it would be discovered eventually and cause trouble that might have repercussions on Hawk that could only lead to resentment. If they continued working together and their affair ended, Charlotte would find it unbearable to be so close to the man she loved but couldn’t be with.

  The necessity to force Hawk to choose between her and Cam as a permanent partner would be removed by her resignation. It would, in fact, be giving him a far more important choice as far as Charlotte was concerned. If she stayed in the same city but in a different job then there would be no professional restraints on their relationship. Hawk could choose whether he wanted it to continue or not, and if he did choose to continue then Charlotte would know that there was some hope for the future.

  But was she taking a gamble she couldn’t afford to lose? It was possible she could continue working with Hawk and that their affair could remain secret and continue long enough to develop into something strong enough to overcome Hawk’s prejudices. For him to share her belief that what they had was special enough to last a lifetime. Was she throwing that opportunity away needlessly? Would he find out what she had done or would Lance simply take her resignation and Hawk’s request to have Cam as his partner as a neat solution to his current personnel problem? The hiccup would be in finding someone to fill in an extension to Cam’s leave of absence. Charlotte had requested that her resignation become effective immediately.

  Well, they could sort that out themselves. Hawk would probably be as relieved as Elsie to have her gone. His withdrawn professionalism this morning was really starting to get on Charlotte’s nerves in a big way. Good grief, all she wanted was a smile or even a look that didn’t make her feel like her presence was as welcome as rain on a picnic. Charlotte’s inaudible mutter matched the scowl on her face as she marched down the road to take a photograph of the permanent advisory sign warning that the road would be slippery in frosty conditions.

  Hawk watched Charlotte’s purposeful journey towards the road sign. It was a relief to allow his eyes to rest on her for more than a second or two. He wasn’t used to feeling nervous and he didn’t like it. Charlotte was behaving oddly as well. Had she picked up on his state of mind? Given their love-making of the night before, it seemed inevitable that he had revealed more about how he felt than he’d intended.

  Maybe she had guessed and was looking for a way out. That would explain the rather intense stares he had been deliberately avoiding all morning. If that was the case then he’d made a big mistake in that letter he’d left on Elsie’s desk yesterday evening. He had taken a huge gamble and Hawk had a horrible feelin
g that he wasn’t going to win.

  The sense of foreboding congealed into a heaviness that was far deeper than disappointment, but Hawk wasn’t going to try and analyse the unpleasant sensation. There would be more than enough time for that later. Right now they had a job to do. And when they had finished here they would have to go and face the music in their senior sergeant’s office. This was possibly degenerating into the worst day in Hawk’s life. He could feel his face settle into determined and probably sour lines as he strode towards the squad car to collect the equipment he needed to measure the surface friction of the road.

  The atmosphere deteriorated further on the trip back to the city.

  ‘How high do you reckon that hedge was?’ It was Charlotte who had broken a rather uncomfortable silence.

  ‘A good three metres.’

  ‘It shades half the road. It’s a death trap.’

  ‘That’s why the skid warning sign for frost is on the road.’

  ‘There are regulations about growing hedges that shade the road. This one needs cutting down.’

  ‘The limits only apply to plantings made after the regulations came into force.’

  ‘So you’re saying the farmer should be allowed to keep it?’

  ‘I’m saying he can’t be forced to cut it down. We can make a recommendation but that’s as far as it goes.’

  ‘So it’s all right to keep something that’s killed somebody, then.’

  Hawk pressed his lips together to prevent an answering snap. Why was Charlotte being like this? They’d just spent a night together and as far as he was concerned it had been the most amazing night of his life. He had come that close to confessing how he felt as he’d held Charlotte in his arms after their love-making. Asking her to marry him, for God’s sake. Now she was treating him as though he’d done something unforgivable.

  He knew what it was. Emotional manipulation. He could feel the suck of those tentacles. Charlotte was upset about something. She wanted something from him that he wasn’t providing and she was dealing with it precisely like every woman he had ever known.

  He’d asked what was wrong the minute she’d arrived at work and had given him that strange look. And she’d said, ‘Nothing.’ He knew he was supposed to put the effort into finding what the ‘nothing’ was and he would have done so if that call hadn’t come in. Maybe it was just as well he had lost the inclination as they’d responded to the job.

  It was precisely the kind of wake-up call Hawk had been expecting all along. He’d been here before. This was the time to cut and run. Before those tentacles got enough of a hold to make him actually respond to the manipulation and try and winkle out the cause of the upset and put it right. Jump through the emotional hoops, in other words. Well, he wasn’t playing this game. Hawk’s lips felt glued together by now and they could just stay like that.

  Lance Currie eyed the two stony-faced officers sitting on the other side of his desk and sighed inwardly. He picked up the two letters and looked pointedly at Hawk before transferring the look to Charlotte.

  ‘Is somebody going to tell me what’s going on, here? What kind of game you both seem to be playing?’

  Hawk said nothing and Charlotte licked her lips nervously. Currie didn’t look as though he had been presented with a solution to any staffing problems. He looked…furious. The silence ticked on until it was unbearable.

  ‘I…uh…I don’t feel I can work with Hawk any longer.’

  ‘Why the hell not?’ The tone of Currie’s voice was matched by the expression that replaced the astonishment on Hawk’s face. Now they were both angry.

  Because I’m in love with him, Charlotte shouted silently. And he doesn’t feel the same way. She shut her eyes for a split second to banish the words echoing in her head.

  ‘I…I overheard the conversation you were having with Hawk yesterday.’ Charlotte stared at the blade of grass stuck to the side of her boot. She would have to clean the remnants of that verge off her footwear as soon as this was over.

  ‘What conversation?’ Lance Currie’s eyes narrowed. ‘Be a bit more specific, can’t you, Officer Laing?’

  ‘You were discussing whether or not to extend Cam’s leave of absence.’ Charlotte spoke more confidently now. This was a good tack to take. It made sense and it was safe. ‘You asked Hawk to let you know his preference for a permanent partner. I know how much he’s missed working with Cam and I don’t want to try and take his place.’ She warmed to her explanation. ‘Being seen as the reason such a tight team was broken up would only cause resentment that would not be conducive to a productive work environment.’

  ‘What?’ Hawk spoke for the first time since they’d entered the senior sergeant’s office. ‘What the hell is this rubbish, Charlie?’

  ‘It’s not rubbish,’ Charlotte retorted. ‘You resented me the minute I walked in here. No…you started resenting me even before I set foot on your patch, according to what Laura said.’

  ‘Who’s Laura?’

  Charlotte ignored Lance’s query. ‘You didn’t want someone replacing your best mate. You didn’t want a woman and you didn’t want someone who was trying to do two jobs at once who would waste time fluffing around on scene.’

  ‘For heaven’s sake, Charlie, you’re spouting ancient history here. Sure, I had my doubts about you at first…’

  Currie was looking even more bemused now. ‘Fluffing?’ he echoed belatedly.

  ‘You proved me wrong and you know that as well as I do.’ Hawk’s stare was accusatory. ‘Why do you think I’ve been getting you to give me all those training sessions on paramedic stuff? I admire what you’re capable of. I respect the fact that you’re more qualified than I am in that area. I think the added dimension you bring to this unit has made it unique.’

  ‘So do I.’ Currie nodded emphatically. Then he shook his head. ‘Fluffing?’

  Hawk was shaking his head. ‘I don’t understand this,’ he growled. ‘If I had to make a choice between working with you and anyone else, you’d win hands down, Charlie. And you go and resign without even talking to me about it?’ His face showed genuine pain now and Lance blinked. There was more going on here than he’d realised.

  ‘So you want to go on working with Charlie, then?’ he asked.

  ‘Of course I do.’

  ‘So why is your letter of resignation here along with hers?’

  Charlotte gasped. Hawk’s letter had been one of resignation? ‘You said you’d worked too hard to get where you are—that you weren’t going to do anything that might cost you your job.’

  ‘I was agreeing with you, if you remember. You said it first.’

  ‘Well, that makes sense,’ Currie sighed. ‘Neither of you intend to lose your jobs so you both hand in your resignation on the same day.’

  ‘I’m allowed to change my mind,’ Charlotte snapped. ‘I’m a woman, remember?’

  ‘That’s not something I’m going to forget in a hurry, unfortunately.’

  ‘Unfortunately?’ Currie’s bushy eyebrows came together in a deep scowl. ‘You said that the problem of Charlie being female was ancient history, Hawk.’

  ‘This has nothing to do with work, Elsie.’

  ‘Aha!’ Currie’s face settled into exasperated lines. ‘I knew it.’ Then he frowned again. ‘Elsie?’

  Another silence was adding to the tense atmosphere in the office. Lance rested his elbows on his desk and pressed the fingertips of both hands together. ‘Personal relationships between colleagues in the same department that interfere with the running of that department are specifically mentioned in contracts as not being permissible.’ He drummed his fingertips together irritably. ‘I’d say having the staff of an entire department resign en masse could be considered interference in the running of that department, wouldn’t you?’

  Hawk shrugged. ‘That’s precisely why I resigned.’

  ‘To cause interference?’

  Hawk gave his superior officer an equally irritated glance. ‘Because of that clause in
the contract. I thought the only way I could continue a long-term relationship with Charlie was to work in another department. I thought I could go back to detective work.’

  ‘But that’s why I resigned!’ Charlotte exclaimed. ‘I was planning to go back to being a paramedic.’ Then her jaw dropped as something else Hawk had said finally sank in. ‘Long term?’ Her tone was one of sheer amazement. ‘But a long-term relationship is the last thing you want.’

  ‘Who says?’

  ‘You did.’

  ‘When?’

  ‘When we had that discussion about falling in love. That night that would have been my anniversary if I’d married Jamie. You said it was just out-of-control hormones and it never lasted.’

  ‘I said you needed time to know whether you had found the right person to spend the rest of your life with.’

  ‘And you said you’d chosen the wrong person and you had no wish to repeat the experience.’

  ‘You were married, Hawk?’

  ‘Engaged,’ Hawk told Currie. The distraction was only momentary. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Charlotte. ‘Maybe I’ve found the right person this time.’

  Charlotte caught her breath. Did that mean…? ‘You mean you’ve changed your mind, Hawk?’

  The hint of a smile teased the corners of his mouth. ‘No. I knew you were the right person all along. I just didn’t recognise it.’

  Charlotte shook her head. ‘No…I meant, have you changed your mind about falling in love?’

  Hawk looked thoughtful. ‘I’ve changed my mind about it being a woman’s prerogative to change her mind, too. Doing well, aren’t I?’

  Lance Currie was resting his forehead against his hands now. Charlotte thought she heard a sigh emanating from behind the desk.

  ‘You resigned from your job, Hawk? So that we could continue seeing each other?’

  ‘There’s more to life than just work,’ Hawk said. He smiled. ‘Somebody that I have the greatest respect for told me that so it must be true.’ His smile faded. ‘Actually, I knew it was true the moment I picked up Sarah’s baby that night.’