Edge of the Heat 2 (Westwood Harbor Corruption) (10 page)

“
Thanks doc.”

The doctor left and Emma ran back over to the bed.

“You heard what the doctor said, you need someone to take care of you. I volunteer.”

“
OK, but I plan on spending a lot of my recovery time in bed.” He pulled her onto the hospital bed again and kissed her hard, deeply, giving her a taste of what was to come.

She nibbled on his bottom lip and
ran her hands across his broad, sculpted chest, leaning over to straddle him but careful not to tangle in his IV wires. His heart monitor had long since been removed. “The doctor said you were in fine physical condition. I’ll have to check that out for myself.”

The phone in her pocked buzzed. “
Argh.” She looked. “It’s Vivian, she’s on her way up. This will have to wait some more.” She swung her leg off of him and climbed down.

“
So is she really your twin sister Emma?”

“
Yes, she is. Our mother died in childbirth and the hospital didn’t know her name so we were made wards of the state. Vivian was adopted but I entered the foster system.”

“
Wow, I can’t believe the family who adopted your sister didn’t take you both.”

Emma hadn
’t even considered that. Who does that? For an instant her vision darkened with thoughts of what could have been. But then she shook her head.
No reason to go down that path
, she chided herself.
I’m sure they had a good reason. Maybe they couldn’t afford more than one baby.
But wait, Vivian had said her parents were loaded. She actually had a trust fund and didn’t have to work a day in her life if she didn’t want to. But she did want to, because she was innately driven and curious and she loved her job.
Maybe they just didn’t know. Maybe the state had only offered them one baby.
That seemed more likely.

Emma shook her head and focused on Craig.

“Yeah, that’s weird, but maybe they didn’t know about me.”

A knock on the door caused them both to look up. Vivian pushed it slightly open and peeked
in.

“
Hi Viv, come in! Come in!” Emma was so excited to see her. She finally had a family member. She turned to Craig. “Think they’ll let you go down to the cafeteria? Or should we bring you up some food?”

“
Bring me up some food? A huge plate of meat and eggs would be great with some juice. I need to wait here for Hawk. He said he had something he needed to discuss with me.”

At the mention of Hawk, Vivian blushed and looked to the door as if she were hoping to see him. Emma
’s eyes grew wide and she laughed to herself,
boy she’s got it bad. “
Vivian can we go get some food? I haven’t eaten yet either.”

Vivian nodded, smiling, relaxed again.

The door opened again and Hawk strode in confidently, heavy boots eating up the tiled floor, clipboard under one arm. He flipped on all the light switches, smiled at Emma, completely ignored Vivian, and gruffly said “Good you’re up,” to Craig.

Craig raised an eyebrow. Hawk moved on to the window and threw the curtains wide, letting in the light. He took one of the room
’s two chairs and pulled it close to Craig’s bed and sat down, pulling a pen from the clipboard and beginning to scribble furiously.

Emma looked at Vivian. Vivian wore an irritated look and was looking at Hawk with fire in her eyes. “
Good morning,
Hawk,”
she said.

Hawk
’s pen stopped scribbling and he looked up briefly. “Morn,” he grunted and went back to his clipboard and papers.

“
Wow, some people” Vivian breathed under her breath, and turned on her heel, heading for the door.

Emma shot Craig a questioning
glance. He raised his hands to his shoulders in an I-don’t-know gesture. Then he motioned for her to come over to him. When she got there he hugged her and kissed her on the cheek and whispered “I’ll ask,” in her ear.

She pressed her lips to his, then ran
after her sister.

***

“What was that about man?”

Hawk raised his head and looked at Craig, feigning ignorance. “
What?”

“
Why were you so rude to Emma’s sister?”

“
Was I rude to her?”

“
It looked like you were from here.”

“
Hmph, sorry.” Hawk turned back to his papers.

Craig studied him for a moment. What was going on here? It wasn
’t like Hawk to be mean to anyone.

“
No really, do you know her or something about her?”

“
Look, we really have to talk about business,” Hawk snarled, leaving no room for argument.

“
Ok, great, so just clear this up and then we can.” Craig had been friends with him for too long to be scared off with one of his distancing tactics.

Hawk sighed heavily. “
No, I don’t know her, but I know her
type
. Everything about her screams rich, spoiled brat. From her designer shoes to her expensive hair cut and diamond earrings. I spent most of my childhood with girls like that, and dated a few when I was older. There ain’t nothing good about them. I don’t like to hang out with trust-fund babies.”

“
Lucy was a trust-fund baby.”

“
Yeah, but Lucy was different. You of all people should know that!” Hawk stood up and threw his clipboard on his chair. “I’m getting a drink.” He stormed out.

“
OK then,” Craig said into the empty room. Sore subject apparently. Craig’s family didn’t have near the money that Hawk’s family had and the two had not been in the same social circles or even went to the same schools. Craig worked summers as a lifeguard at the country club Hawk’s family frequented. They met when they were both 16. Hawk had seemed to go out of his way to befriend Craig, and Craig was thrilled to be his friend. Most of the boys in the club treated Craig with disdain. They had become fast friends, doing everything together, including joining the Army at 18 for a four year stint. Craig and Hawk had taken all their leave together, spending these vacations at Hawk’s place. Craig had always had a crush on Hawk’s little sister, Lucy, but it wasn’t until she turned 18 and Craig and Hawk were 20 that Craig finally asked her out. Hawk never had let his parents give him anything, always wanting to work for it himself. Always seeming to have something to prove.

Craig wondered if there was something about his friend that he didn
’t know very well. He tried to think back to girls Hawk had dated from back home. He could only think of a few, and none that were serious. He’d had a girlfriend in the Army that got pretty serious, but when she switched duty stations they had broken up. Since then, Craig couldn’t think of one serious girlfriend.

Hawk interrupted his thoughts by coming back in the room with a Coke and retrieving his clipboard and sliding back in the chair.

“We are moving on Foster tomorrow.”

Craig sat up straighter, all musings driven from his mind.  “
What time?”

“
4 a.m.”

“
Do you think he is going to expect you?”

“
We hope not. But we are going to assume he is. I’ve made Miller disappear so Foster doesn’t know for sure what happened. I hope he thinks he chickened out. He’s got a day off and we hope he’s planning on sleeping in.”

Craig nodded, thinking hard. “
What are you arresting him for?”

“
We only have hard evidence on his involvement with the Shroedinger scandal. That’s the one where his department stole the guns, drugs, and money they were supposed to turn in. That, and whatever we can get Miller to say about his second attempt on your life. I’m hoping we can convince Foster to talk once we get him in custody. I’m also hoping the Senator doesn’t get too spooked. We are going to leak to the press exactly what he is being arrested for so Senator Oberlin knows it has nothing to do with him.”

“
I bet he won’t talk.”

Hawk nodded. “
That’s what I’m afraid of. I wouldn’t be arresting him at all if he weren’t trying so hard to get rid of you. He’s becoming a real liability.”

“
What are you going to do if he doesn’t give up any connection to the Senator?”

“
Not sure.” Hawk looked down when he said it. Craig hoped he wasn’t thinking of doing something that would put him on the same level as Norman. Like torture him. Craig hoped he was well enough to be there when Hawk started questioning, just to keep his old friend in line.

Hawk looked in Craig
’s eyes, hardness in his face. “Make sure you and Emma don’t leave the hospital until I call you and tell you Norman is in custody.”

Craig nodded again. He couldn
’t believe he was going to miss arresting Norman, but he knew he couldn’t go. He knew Hawk would do the best job that could be done. His mind turned to leaving with Emma the next day. He was going home, and she was going with him.

Dark and dangerous, Norman
’s mood caused people to scatter away from him without even knowing why. He hadn’t been to the mall in years, but the only radio shack in this part of the city was here. He kept watching for a tail but he didn’t see one. Either those FBI assholes were better than he thought, or he just didn’t have a tail.
Bad move guys, it’s going to get some of you killed.

He had left work early, as soon as he had his shopping list finalized. This afternoon he would se
t it all up, and then he would leave his house for the last time. He hadn’t heard from Miller and that meant either Miller had chickened out and fled, or Miller had been arrested. Norman was betting on the second, especially since the volunteer who answered the phone at the hospital now said “There is no information on a Craig Masterson, sir. No record at all.” They were getting smart. Plus, Dr. Paloma hadn’t returned his calls over the last two days.

If Miller had been arrested, they would be coming for No
rman soon. Norman was determined not to be caught with his pants down. He was determined not to be caught at all.

Norman entered the radio shack. The only two employees here were both scrawny, pimply-faced teenagers. Norman hoped they knew their shit. Sinc
e they were teenagers, they probably did.

He gave the kid behind the counter his list. “
I need all of this and a way to operate it remotely.”

The kid raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth like he was about to make a joke, but one look at Norman
’s face killed that joke in his throat. He walked to the shelves and started pulling off products.

His trunk full of electronics, Norman drove home. He would need to work quickly outside before he lost the light. He started laying wire and drilling holes, setting up
and camouflaging cameras and tripods and other, more dangerous things. After 3 hours of work outside he was ready to move inside. He repeated most of the actions inside, but didn’t bother with camouflaging. He broke a pane of glass out of his living room window facing the driveway and pointed a bullhorn at the street, a speaker and a semi-automatic rifle behind the bullhorn. At 7 o’clock, satisfied with his work, he grabbed the bags he had packed the night before, changed his clothes, and left the house for good, not bothering to look back.

***

Norman’s mood was not even lifted by the thought that he got to play dress up again. His dreams of becoming police chief of Westwood Harbor were gone, shattered and scattered to the four winds. He needed a new dream. A new plan. Even if he couldn’t be Norman Foster anymore, he needed to be somebody playing in the big leagues. He needed to be in control of himself and other people. He needed to have a say in how things were run, how people felt. Time to go see the senator.

He was pretty sure he knew where he would
find the senator at this hour. He parked behind the large brick building downtown that housed the Senator’s home offices. He slipped out of the car and walked around to the front. Normally, when he dressed up he went for roles that required as much confidence and arrogance as his normal life did. But today, as a janitor he wasn’t sure how to play it. He didn’t pay enough attention to janitors to know what their mood or persona was. Maybe they had a persona that said under-the-radar, don’t look at me. Norman tried it out as he was walking around to the front. He rounded his shoulders a bit and tried to look smaller. He wasn’t feeling it.
Damnit!
He pulled his gray-green hat over his head low, and tried to shrink into his gray-green coveralls. Maybe he could pull this off better with a tool of the trade. A mop, or a bag of garbage. A prop to help him feel more in character.

At the front of the building he pulled out his keys. The senator probably didn
’t know Norman could get into this office. There were a lot of things the senator didn’t know.

He locked the door behind himself and took the elevator to the fourth floor, most of which was the senator
’s personal office space. After hours, he didn’t need to worry about the building guards, but of course he was on camera. The senator could worry about that detail.

The elevator dinged open. He stepped out and listened. Oh yes, the senator was here alright. Music drifted down the corridor. Norman turned towards the doors, work boots heavy on the polished, glittering til
e. He tried the handle of the large double doors at the end of the hall. Locked. That’s OK. Norman pulled out his keys again and quietly unlocked them. He swung the door open.

The entryway was empty. He heard the senator mutter something Norman couldn
’t make out from around the corner of the large, open office. A tinkle of feminine laughter followed. Norman was willing to bet that wasn’t the senator’s wife. He crossed through the entryway and rounded the corner.

Senator Oberlin looked up immediately. He w
as fully clothed, while his blond 20-something was totally naked and sitting on his desk. Norman noticed strawberries and champagne.
Celebrating something? Or just being a filthy old man?

The Senator
’s eyes narrowed. He drew himself up to his full height. “Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?” he demanded in his most dangerous tone.

“
Relax
Frank,”
Norman offered in a conciliatory tone. He took off his hat so the senator could see his face. “We’ve got some business. Perhaps you should show the lady out.”

Senator Oberlin took a step backwards into his chair, but quickly recovered. “
Barbie, darling, give us a minute.”  He gestured to the door behind him. Barbie picked up something lacy and red and scooted out the door.

Oberlin sat down at his desk
and moved the food out of the way. He motioned to Norman to sit in the dark, leather chair opposite his desk. Norman sat on the arm of the chair and waited to hear what would come out of the old man’s mouth.

“
What the hell are you doing here? You know you aren’t supposed to come here.” Norman grinned and put a shushing finger to his lips. He took an RF detector out of his pocket and swept the room. Clean.

He sat back down on the arm of the leather chair and raised his big, booted foot to the seat.  “
The FBI is on to me. Our deal is forfeit. We need a new deal.”

The senator studied him, eyes narrow, mouth a grim, tight line. “
The FBI is on to you for what?”

“
Who knows what they know and what they don’t. I won’t know till they catch me, but I’m not waiting around for that.”

“
Are you on the run?” the senator asked nonchalantly.

“
Not yet.”

“
What kind of a deal?”

“
I want a position somewhere out of the country until this blows over. When you become president, I want a placement somewhere back here - I don’t care what you have to do, change my name, change my face, fake me a background, whatever.”

The senator nodded quickly, “
Yes, I can do that.”

Norman studied him, concerned about his lack of argument or request for details. “
Look Frank, I know what you are thinking. You are thinking you are going to get me out of the country and then maybe I’ll have a little ‘accident’ and all your troubles with me will be over. Just so you know, it won’t be that easy. If I ever die a suspicious death I have systems in place that will leak to the press every single job I’ve ever done for you.”

Heat flooded the senator
’s heavily-jowled face. “Now look here,” he sputtered. “I’m not planning anything of the sort! And what if you have an accident that has nothing to do with me? And who has this information? Our current deal is that you don’t share anything with anyone!”

Norman smiled, glad to see a crack in Frank
’s composure. He shouldn’t feel too comfortable. “If you make sure I am well taken care of, no one will ever find out anything.”

The senator rubbed his face in a tired gesture. “
Look, I can get you a police chief job in Mexico tomorrow, is that the kind of thing you are looking for?”

“
Perfect, make it happen. And I’ll need a private jet to fly me over the border.”

“
Done. I have a pilot in Bakersfield who will take you.”

“
I’ll contact you when I am ready Senator, I’ll want to be flying within 24 hours as soon as I give the word.”

The senator nodded wearily.

Norman got up and walked out. Senator Oberlin stared after him for a long time.

***

Norman needed to know where Emma was and what she was doing before he could plan how to get her. He wouldn’t grab her until the FBI made their move first. If he was going down, as many of them as possible were going down with him.

H
e didn’t have any surveillance on her house anymore, but that didn’t matter too much. As long as her new
boyfriend
  was in the hospital he was pretty sure that’s where he would find her too.

He drove to the hospital and parked his car on the street a bloc
k away, still dressed in his maintenance coveralls. He entered through an underground service entrance near the laundry and found a janitor’s cart in a utility closet. Before heading up the elevator he ducked into a bathroom and added some makeup to his face to make him look older and darker, plus some hair darkener and fake, heavy eyebrows. He also put a special padded suit around his middle to change his body shape. He studied himself. He could pass for a Hispanic male in his 50s. Pretty good. He just couldn’t get too close to anyone who knew him.

On the main floor, his first stop was the cafeteria. Only a few tables were occupied and none of them were anyone he knew. He pushed his cart right on by. He was positive Masterson was out of the ICU by now, so h
e headed to the recovery floor where he almost immediately hit paydirt. Outside of room 417, two hulking bodyguards stood, looking completely alien to a hospital hallway.

Norman positioned himself at the far end and made a show of cleaning and polishing th
e floor and everything on the walls. He found an empty room and went in to clean it, occasionally peeking down the hallway. He saw nurses and doctors pass. No sign of Emma or anyone he knew.

When he couldn
’t stay any longer without rousing suspicion he headed down the hallway to the small waiting area. He sat down in one of the chairs, trying to look like he was taking a break. There was not a lot of traffic in and out, but a few nurses gave him dirty looks, especially the second time they saw him. He longed to follow one of them to the back stairs and throw her down them.

When he decided he couldn
’t sit any longer he headed downstairs. It wasn’t late yet, only about 11:15. He’d had the room in sight for over an hour. Maybe it was too late and he was out of luck. Norman decided to head to Emma’s house. If she wasn’t there, he could enter through the back door and catch a few hours of sleep.

He made one final sweep through the cafeteria, slowly pushing his cart. No Emma.

“Hey, hey you, janitor!” a man yelled behind him. Heart beating fast, he put one hand on the zipper to his coveralls, ready to grab for his gun, and turned around swiftly. It was a volunteer, evidenced by the blue vest. “Hey, we have a spill in the main lobby, we need some help.”

Norman nodded
, and turned his cart around. He followed the man into the main lobby. A cart of food had been knocked over by a child near the volunteers station. A volunteer and a cafeteria worker had righted the cart and were picking up all the big pieces of food but a large puddle of soda and water grew underneath the cart. Norman rummaged through his cart and found paper towels to lay down. A giggle from the far end of the corridor caught his ear. His radar went up immediately, but the source of the giggle was too far away. Norman worked quickly and had the spill cleaned up in minutes.

The volunteers thanked him, and he was free to go. He pushed his cart slowly towards the far end of the corridor. Strawberry blond hair tumbled over her shoulders. She laughed and gestur
ed. He had found her. He said thanks to whatever brat kid had knocked over that cart and tried to look inconspicuous.

Emma never even looked up as he pushed by. He busied himself emptying trash on the far side of the large couch she was sitting on with ano
ther woman, straining to hear what they were saying.

“
So Viv, after I take Craig home tomorrow, we have some, uh, stuff to do and then we should come get you! We can all go out to lunch or something if he’s feeling OK. Maybe then we can ask him to help us find out our mom’s name.”

Norman
’s fingers lost their grip on the trash can he was holding. It crashed to the ground with a loud clatter. Emma had found her sister! He hurried to lean over and pick up the trash he had spilled, praying they wouldn’t look over at him.

The other woman was talking now “…
time?”

“
I’m not sure. I guess it depends on when they let us out of here.”