by Ladew, Lisa
“I can’t think of anyone who has a motive to do something like this so late in the game. There’s not one person involved in the Oberlin investigation who hasn’t already been charged with something. It’s almost over! All that’s left is the senate committee hearing,” Craig said, his voice heated.
Hawk didn’t speak for a moment but he nodded slowly. “It’s not the Oberlin case then. It’s the corruption. Maybe a cop or firefighter. Or that mercenary case we helped the local office with last month.”
Craig shook his head. “We handed all of the corruption over to Roberts. We haven’t worked on that in over a year. And the mercenary? He’s dead. His team is all in prison.”
“The mercenary case does seem like the least likely. But the corruption case, maybe our guy doesn’t know we’re off of it.”
Craig snorted. “I thought you said he was smart.”
Hawk held up a hand. “Maybe it has nothing to do with my job. Maybe this is a personal thing. Someone wanted me dead.”
“Who, why? Outside of the job, no one has a reason to hate you.”
Hawk nodded again but his eyes were far off.
Emma settled back against the seat and closed her eyes. Before she knew it, Craig was parking in front of their house.
Hawk turned around to look at her and Vivian. “You two stay here.”
Emma felt irritation run through her. “Excuse me?” she said, the annoyance showing clearly on her face and in her voice. Her fuse was non-existent. “I’m going too.”
Hawk pressed his lips together. “No you’re not. Craig and I will do a sweep of the house and then—”
“Are you out of your mind?” Emma interrupted, hating herself for talking to Hawk like that, but too tired to care at this point. Besides, if there was anything she should be a part of, it was this.
“Look, Emma. It’s not a man-woman thing. We’re FBI agents,” he said, motioning to himself and Craig.
Emma almost laughed. “Oh, and you both are experts in explosives. That must be true if you think you know more about incendiary devices than say, I don’t know, a Lieutenant in the fire department?” Emma tried to keep her voice calm. Hawk had no right to tell her she wasn’t coming in her own house, but she loved him, and he’d just been through something awful. “Look, I know you are just taking care of business, but this is my home. And I know I’ve had more training along these lines than you have. I’m coming.”
Hawk looked at Craig, exasperation clearly set in the lines of his face. Craig half shrugged and looked away.
“Fine,” Hawk growled, his jaw clenched. “Vivian, you are staying here.”
Vivian held up her hands weakly, as if to say, No problem.
Hawk turned and jumped out of the truck, then spoke over his shoulder, not meeting Emma’s eyes. “It might not be a bomb, you know.” He stalked off.
Emma’s eyes searched Craig’s. “What does he mean?”
Craig looked toward the house, his mouth set in a grim line. “He means whoever this guy is, if he’s as smart as he seems, it’s unlikely that he’d do the same thing to me that he did to Hawk. If he’s after me too, he might not try to hurt me at all. Maybe just throw me off, or discredit me.”
Emma thought about this but her tired brain couldn’t tease any more meaning out of it. Craig caught her hand and pulled her to the house. “Just look for anything out of place. Anything at all, no matter how small it is.”
Emma nodded and followed her husband inside.
***
Thirty-five minutes later, Craig ran his fingers across the top of the doorjamb to his bedroom. He knew he was grasping at straws but he hadn’t found anything. Neither had Emma or Hawk. Either their theory had been wrong, or whatever was coming his way hadn’t found him yet.
From the corner of his eye, Craig saw movement outside the window. He crossed the room and looked out. It was Emma, walking stiff-legged to the shed in the backyard.
Dread filled Craig as his mind’s eye saw Emma open the shed, then be blown across the yard in an explosion triggered by the opening of the door.
Craig lifted his hand and rapped sharply on the window. Emma stopped moving and looked up at him. He slid the window open. “Wait for me, okay?”
Emma nodded and Craig rushed out of the house. He met Emma at the door to the shed just as Hawk exited the back door and came their way. Craig wanted to tell Emma to stand back, but he knew that was silly. If the shed was wired in that way they were all going to die, unless he sent Emma out to the car in the front of the house. He didn’t think she would go.
He took a deep breath and grasped the shed door, turning the knob and pulling it open. Nothing.
Craig blew out the breath that he had been holding and peered around in the gloom. Emma crowded in behind him.
“Well fuck me sideways,” Craig said darkly, anger flooding behind his breast bone. Somebody had been in his yard. Somebody was fucking with him. Somebody had tried to kill his best friend and now was trying to do something to him too. Craig’s hands clenched into fists as he imagined what he would do to this somebody when he found him. This wasn’t business anymore—this was personal.
“What?” Emma asked, crowding in behind him, her voice on edge.
Craig lifted his chin at the four red cylinders along the side wall. “See the butane containers?”
“Oh,” Emma said softly and fell back a step allowing Hawk to crowd in next to him. “What in the hell?” he said.
Craig looked at him. “I’ll take pictures and dust for prints. I know we won’t find anything though.”
Hawk nodded and huffed out a breath, looking as tired as Craig felt. Craig caught Emma on his way to the house for his equipment. “Go get Viv, set her up in the guest room. You guys get some sleep. Hawk and I will take care of this.”
Emma nodded dully and disappeared into the house.
Craig gathered his fingerprint kit and his camera and returned to the shed. Hawk stood at the door to the shed, his eyes far away past the back fence of the yard.
Craig was right, he didn’t find any fingerprints. He let light into the shed and took his pictures, then turned to Hawk, interrupting his reverie.
“Should we call the local cops? Or—”
Hawk shook his head. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. We’ve made some enemies here.”
Craig made a sour face. “Some friends too.”
“True.”
Hawk looked at the back yard again, then spoke with finality. “I need to talk to the big boss anyway. We’ll see what he says.” Hawk turned and headed into the house, presumably to use the house phone.
Craig shut the door to the shed, hating to leave the butane in there, but not wanting to move it until they got some instruction on how to proceed, and followed Hawk inside.
He found Vivian and Emma in the kitchen. Emma was talking and trying to get Vivian to eat something. Vivian stared at her plate of fruit, but didn’t touch anything.
“Come on Viv, you’ve got a baby to grow. Want me to make you an egg?”
Vivian didn’t answer. Craig thought he saw a tear leak out of one eye. Ah, crud. Where was Hawk when you needed him? Emma hadn’t noticed yet. Craig stepped forward and put a hand on Vivian’s shoulder. “It’s gonna be OK, Viv. You’ll see.” Emma stopped what she was doing and came to the table to put her arms around her sister while Craig stepped back. His phone rang in his pocket.
He answered it. “Masterson.”
“Craig, hey, it’s Braden. There’s something you gotta know.”
Braden’s voice was pitched low and urgent, demanding Craig’s full and immediate attention. Hawk entered the room and spotted Vivian, but Craig held a finger up, stopping his progress to her.
“Shoot.”
“We had an anonymous tip come into the station today that you’re cooking hash oil at your house. Sergeant Gagne has a hard-on for you. He wants to bust an FBI agent bad. He’s pulling a search warrant right now.”
Craig felt his heartbeat speed up. �
��No judge is going to give him a warrant on an anonymous tip.”
“Nah, I know, but the note said you and your partner cook it together and you are probably going to dump your stash now that his house exploded. Gagne’s jumping up and down to serve you in the next hour. He thinks someone will sign it based on what they found at Hawk’s house last night. The note said you have butane in your shed and a tub of mary jane buried under a big rock in the northwest corner of the yard. They’re coming out with shovels, man.”
“Ah fuck,” Craig said, dropping his head back. Emma’s face swiveled to him at the profanity, her eyes wide. “Braden, someone’s fucking with us. Bad.”
“I know, man, that’s why I called. Do what you gotta do. But you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Thanks. I owe you one.”
“Nah man, we’re even.”
“Ok then, even.”
Craig listened to the phone go dead in his ear, then looked at Hawk. “That was Braden, that police officer I helped when his wife disappeared. He says the cops are going to be on their way here soon with a search warrant.” Craig spun on his heel and headed out the back door, knowing Hawk would follow.
Craig detoured to his shed and grabbed a shovel, then headed to the northwest corner of his modest backyard. He knew exactly which rock Braden had been talking about. It was a large, white, ornamental rock he had placed there himself.
Craig heaved the rock over, his eyes searching for clues as he did so. The dirt underneath it was freshly turned, but also smoothed and there were no footprints to be seen. Craig didn’t think there would be. Whoever this guy was, he was smart, as Hawk had said. He was playing them. Thanks to Braden though, they would not be in jail trying to play back. They had a chance, but only if they were just as smart, and quick.
Craig sank his shovel and turned over the first mound of dirt. He tried to stay neat, intending on digging up whatever was here and then making this corner look as if no one had touched it in ages. Hawk strode across the yard, his face dark and disturbed. Emma ran after him, the strain of the last thirty-six hours showing around her eyes and mouth.
Craig sank the shovel into the dirt once more and hit something dull and bouncy. He changed his technique, clearing out the dirt above what appeared to be a green plastic tub. Hawk reached him and stared down at the container Craig was unearthing, but didn’t say a word. His face took on the thoughtful look that Craig knew so well.
Good. They needed a miracle. Maybe Hawk could come up with one.
Emma reached their sad little party and stopped, swaying on her feet. Craig kept digging, hoping she could hang in there a little bit longer. She was the one who had been awake the longest, having to be at work yesterday hours before the rest of them even thought about getting out of bed.
Emma pushed her hair back out of her eyes and dropped her hand like it weighed a ton. “Craig, what is going on?”
“Someone is setting us up, babe.”
Emma’s fingers curled into anxious fists. “Who? Setting us up? Why?”
“I wish I knew,” Craig grunted and leaned down to wiggle the tub in his hole. He almost had it. Just a few more shovels full of dirt.
“Emma, listen. You gotta get out of here. Take Vivian and go.”
Emma looked more perplexed than ever. “Why? And where? We have nowhere to go.”
“Anywhere Emma. The hotel that Dani and JT are staying at. Or go to Jerry and Sara’s house. I just don’t want you to be here when the cops get here. Sometimes search warrants get rough, and I intend to make sure these guys go away frustrated.”
Sudden fear showed on Emma’s face. She’d dealt with enough rough cops to last for a lifetime.
Craig dropped to his knees and wiggled the container again. He thought they could haul it out. “Hawk, give me a hand here?”
Hawk dropped to his knees and pulled on the other handle. The green tub came out easily. They placed it on the grass and Craig flipped the lid off.
“Oh my God,” Emma breathed.
What looked like twenty gallon size plastic bags of dried marijuana greeted them. Craig groaned. That was at least fifteen pounds of marijuana, enough for them to be charged with intent to sell if they were caught with it. Add in the cans of butane in the shed and they had an instant hash lab.
“What are you going to do with that?” Emma asked, her eyes pleading.
“It’s better if you don’t know, babe,” Craig answered, not wanting to admit that he had no idea. At this point, he just wanted her out of the house and away from the repercussions of this. “Please, Emma. Gather Vivian and get out of here.”
Craig looked towards the house, not seeing Vivian in the window. It felt strange to him that she wasn’t out here also. She had been at the kitchen table with Emma when he got the phone call. Suddenly he felt very worried about her. He pushed the thought away. He had more urgent things to deal with right now.
Emma turned around slowly, as if she were completely undecided that this was a good course of action, but finally she took off across the yard.
Hawk caught his eye. “The cops might be on their way?” Craig nodded. “And the only car we have is your truck?” Craig nodded again as he began to fill the hole. He would have to get extra dirt from the woods behind the house so it didn’t look like a depression when he was done with it. He didn’t talk, preferring to let Hawk ask whatever questions he needed to. Hawk was getting somewhere, thinking out loud, he knew it. “They’ll stop your truck if they see it on the street, won’t they?”
“I’m sure,” Craig said bluntly.
Hawk fell silent again as Craig worked as quickly as he could. Finally, he managed to heave the rock back into place and smooth the area around it. He stepped back and surveyed his work. Not bad. Now to cover the hole he had made in the woods and then clean the shovel off— Craig’s head swiveled towards the street as he heard the sounds of loud traffic in his quiet neighborhood.
“Ah, fuck, that’s them already, I know it is,” he said under his breath.
Hawk swiveled into action, holding his hand out for the shovel. “You get inside. Stall them. Give me as much time as possible.”
Craig nodded and went inside at a run.
Chapter 7
Craig stood at his front door, watching the last of the cop cars disappear from sight at the end of his street. He leaned heavily against the doorjamb, his mind thinking furiously, but his soul immensely grateful the cops had walked away with nothing. Most of them had seemed embarrassed to be there, but Sergeant Gagne had been downright furious when nothing was found in the shed or buried in the yard. Craig hadn’t been able to tell if he’d been furious at the anonymous tipper, or because he thought Craig was hiding something.
Hopefully it never mattered. Hopefully they figured this mess out quickly and put a stop to whatever horrible plan their nameless, faceless, scheming, attempted-murdering, opposer was up to. Craig glanced back at Emma and Vivian on the couch. They hadn’t been able to leave before the cops showed up, but it had all turned out okay. There had been no aggression by the police officers. Emma was dozing and Vivian just look stunned, staring out into the living room.
Craig watched the last police car turn right at the far corner of the street leading onto his quiet cul-de-sac, then moved to head inside. Before he could, another vehicle caught his eye, entering his dead end street. He watched silently, wanting to make sure it was a neighbor, not another cop car, before he retreated inside.
As the vehicle came closer, he recognized it as JT’s gray BMW. As he waited at the door to greet JT and Dani, he heard the back door slam behind him. Hawk. His eyes met Hawk’s and Hawk gave a slight nod. Whatever Hawk had done, it had worked. Maybe he buried the stuff in the woods behind the house. They’d have to deal with it soon though.
Craig turned back to his driveway, where Dani and JT were smiling at each other and laughing at something one of them had said. They had an air of lightness and happiness about them that told Craig they had no idea about th
e explosion or the search warrant.
Craig tried to smile a greeting as they came up the steps but it died at his eyes. Instead he just motioned for them to enter. JT clapped him on the shoulder as he pushed past.
“Look, it’s sleeping beauty and his girlfriend,” Hawk said sourly. “We’re sorry you missed all the excitement.”
Dani crowded close to JT and grasped his hand, noticing the atmosphere in the room.
“Excitement?” JT said. “What happened? We saw all the cop cars. Were they leaving here?”
Craig sank down on the couch next to Emma. “Seriously? Have you guys turned on your phones yet?”
“What is going on?” Dani said, her apprehensive gaze hopping between each of their faces.
“Our house blew up last night,” Hawk said with a sigh.
“What?” JT almost yelled, looking to Vivian on the sofa. Vivian sat quietly, not saying anything. She wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes.
Emma yawned, drawing everyone’s attention. “If I don’t get some sleep soon, I’m going to crack,” she said.
“Me too,” Craig said, not feeling like explaining anything now that they were halfway safe. Bed was calling him. He turned to Hawk. “We know the house is clear, we searched it ourselves, but we still have the nutcase to worry about. What if he shows up while we’re all sleeping? I want to wake up on this side of the curtain.”
“Nutcase?” JT sputtered. He held up his hands, indicating he needed some answers. “Look, give us the short version, then you can all go to sleep. Dani and I will hang out and watch the house.”
Craig stood up and addressed Hawk. “You fill him in. I’ll go get my guns.”
***
JT pulled Dani down on the couch with him. They had just checked every door and window and peeked in on both sets of sleeping couples. The house was secure. All was quiet. Only four hours had passed and he didn’t expect any of them to wake up anytime soon. He and Dani had spent the last four hours prowling through the house and discussing everything that had happened, but they had finally exhausted the conversation. Now they needed something else to do.
He turned to her and kissed her neck, just behind her ear in the spot that made her purr like a kitten. He lifted her hair as she threw her head back and touched her tongue to her lips, shifting her hips and letting out a soft whimper. JT kissed a line of soft caresses across her chin and up to her lips, following a trail of gorgeous freckles to get there.