Edge of the Heat 3 (3 page)

“Norman, stop that!”

Norman opened his eyes and let go of his lip, looking alarmed. His tongue snaked out and tasted the blood.

“I’m going to go get you a nurse. Will you think about what I said?”

Norman nodded, once.

Hawk left the room, hoping he’d just gotten his big break.

V
ivian sat in the patio swing on Emma and Craig’s back porch, enjoying the fading summer sunlight, and watched her sister work the party. Emma was a true social butterfly. She loved people and people loved her back. Men, especially, softened around her. Craig stood at the grill, flipping the burgers, and Emma stood near him so she could sometimes put a hand on his arm or kiss him on the cheek. Craig listened intently to every word she said, laughed at all of her jokes, and frequently looked at her with all the love in the world in his eyes.

Vivian sighed. They were such an adorable and sweet couple. So obviously in love, and so obviously right for each other. It was hard not to be jealous. Her own track record with men made her sad. She was 31 years old and her longest relationship had been in college, but it had fallen flat like all of the rest of her relationships. The problem with her was she liked her men big and brawny and smart and sweet and that combination was hard to find. She liked the feeling of a solid wall of man pressing up against her. A man she knew could protect her against anything. But a man who would never, ever hurt her. She watched Craig nibble on her sister’s ear. Craig was that type of man. Big, strong, smart, protective, kind, gentle. He was too fair-haired for her taste though. She liked darker hair and smoldering eyes. Like Hawk. Where was he anyway?

She looked around but didn’t see him. Maybe he wasn’t coming. She didn’t know whether to be glad or sad at the thought. On the one hand if he came she could enjoy watching his muscles move under his shirt. But on the other hand if he didn’t, she didn’t have to be worried about his constant rejection. It hurt.

The patio door opened and Jerry came out with a blond woman Vivian hadn’t seen before. Vivian smiled. She got the idea that Jerry was something of a playboy. If he was, he was certainly sweet about it. Not in a nasty, misogynistic way. He just liked women. A lot.

Jerry kissed Emma and shook Craig’s hand, then saw Vivian and waved. He made introductions to the woman all around and Vivian thought she overheard ‘sister’. Jerry’s sister?

She got up and walked over, wanting to meet this sister.

As she got closer, she could tell that Jerry’s sister’s hair was pink, not blond. It was a light pink on the top and to her ears, but the last 4 or 5 inches were a fluorescent, in-your-face pink. Emma was already picking up a curl and exclaiming over it.

“Wow, your hair is gorgeous,” Vivian told her.

“Thanks!” the bouncy, gorgeous, surfer-girl said. She stuck out her hand and grabbed Vivian’s, pumping it a few times. “I’m Jen, just Jen not Jennifer. Jerry’s my big brother.” She snuggled into Jerry’s chest at this and he smiled down at her.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Vivian.”

Jerry interrupted. “Ooooh Emma, you’ll never guess who I saw working with the rest of the peasants down in the E.R. yesterday after work.”

“Who?” Emma asked.

“Reece! Apparently he got a DUI and lost his head of department status and may even lose his job altogether!”

Vivian saw her sister exclaim in surprise but she quickly swiveled to watch Craig’s face. His jaw tightened and clenched, like he was trying to chew nails. He didn’t like Reece one bit.

Jerry turned to his sister. “Reece is a doctor who is a big fat jerk. He took Emma on a couple of dates and decided that meant he could help himself to her body. She had to set him straight with a head-butt to the nose.”

Jen’s eyes grew big as saucers and she put her hand on Emma’s arm. “Ohmigod that must have been so scary!”

“Serves him right,” Craig said. “I keep meaning to go and visit him. Maybe on Monday.”

The group was interrupted by the patio door opening again. Three men came out to the porch at once. Vivian didn’t recognize any of them, but guessed immediately they were the leaving FBI agents. Everything about them said FBI. She was introduced to all of them but forgot their names as quickly as they were spoken. Her mind just wanted to know where Hawk was and it wouldn’t focus on anything else. She didn’t dare ask, not wanting to tip anyone off to her desperation.

The night wore on and although Vivian kept watch for Hawk, she stopped expecting him to show.
It’s just as well
, she sighed inside her own head.
With my luck I’d see him steal off with young, lovely Jen and make out with her in the corner.
The thought made her want to cry.

Dinner was burgers, hot dogs, steaks, brats, and chicken, with some watermelon and cake for dessert. Vivian tried not to eat till she was stuffed but she couldn’t help it. Between courses she caught Emma alone at the dessert table.

“Oh Emma, I got the results back from my DNA test. There were no matches,” Vivian told her, disappointment leaking out in her voice.

“Oh no! I thought for sure you would find something.”

Craig came up beside them for seconds on cake. “What DNA test?”

“Vivian is looking for our family and she sent some DNA in to an online database to look for matches.”

Craig smiled at Emma and pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Oh, what database did it search?”

Vivian shook her head. “I’m not sure. Just their own database I guess.”

Craig frowned. “You should let me test you. I can send it in to CODIS. It’s a nationwide database and it’s huge. Anyone who has ever been arrested in the last 30 years or so is in it.”

Emma and Vivian exchanged a look. If criminals came back as their family, did they really want to know about it?

Emma nodded slightly. “That’s a good idea Viv, I mean you need to know for your tumor right?”

“Yeah,” Vivian said. “It would be best if I could find an entire family line and my doctor could examine it for illnesses like mine and see what their treatment and prognosis was."

Vivian rubbed her stomach directly over where she knew the tumor was sitting, slowly winding itself around her intestines. The tumor didn’t scare her. Her doctor had given her a 95% chance of completely eliminating it from her body within the next 5 years, but he’d said her best treatment would be found only by studying her family history. That’s what had led her here to Westwood Harbor, and partly how she had found Emma.

“Ok Craig, what do you need from me?”

“Let me ask Hawk. He’s the expert. We can go in tomorrow and get started on it. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

Vivian startled at Hawk’s name. She looked around, but she still didn’t see him. “Where is he?” she whispered to Craig.

“Oh he’ll be here. He got some information from Norman and he’s trying to figure out if it’s valid or not.”

“What? Norman’s talking?”

“A little bit. Hawk went out to see him yesterday and Norman seems to be willing to give up a little bit at a time in exchange for better accommodations. It sucks, but right now it’s all we can do. Hawk is bent over his computer trying to see if the information is really true, before he gives Norman what he wants.”

Vivian shivered at the thought of Norman, still out there, still affecting their lives.

E
mma sat on Craig’s lap and watched the fire send sparks into the night air. She snuggled into Craig’s chest and listened contentedly to the crackle of the fire. The party was winding down. Jerry and Jen had already left, and so had two of Craig’s friends. The only people left were Vivian and Dennis, the handsome, dark-skinned FBI agent that Emma had once mistaken for the man in her vision. They were across the fire talking. Emma wasn’t sure what about, but it seemed Dennis was sharing funny stories from when he was on patrol.

“Too bad Hawk never came,” Emma told Craig. “I think Vivian was looking forward to seeing him.”

“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Craig asked, running his hand idly through her hair. “She was all jumpy when I mentioned him before.”

“Well, you know, she likes him, but he doesn’t like her back.”

“She likes him?” Craig whispered, sitting up and looking interested all of a sudden.

Emma laughed. “Yeah, what are you blind? You haven’t noticed that she likes him?”

“Well, no, not really. I mean, when they first met she seemed like she might be interested in him, but I haven’t seen anything lately.”

“She’s hiding it. She’s embarrassed because he doesn’t like her back.”

Craig sat silent for a minute and then asked, “Why do you think he doesn’t like her back?”

“Well he doesn’t does he? He’s always so mean to her.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that. Hawk’s kind of complicated, especially around women. I think maybe that means he does like her.”

Emma laughed. “What, like back in elementary school where the boys pulled your hair if they liked you?”

“Yeah, in a way I guess. Maybe he’s attracted to her and fighting it or something. He hasn’t had a girlfriend in a long time and he won’t talk about it, but I think something happened to really mess him up that I don’t know about. It could have been before we got close at 18 or when he got out of the Army after 3 years. I signed up for another 2 and got sent to Germany so I didn’t talk to him much for 2 years. When my enlistment was done and I came home he was different somehow around women. It’s been 11 years now and I’ve seen him date very casually, but he’s never gotten close with a woman since then.”

“In 11 years? Could he be gay?” Emma asked. She expected Craig to laugh and say no way, but he didn’t. Instead his face grew serious, contemplative.

“I’m pretty sure he’s not gay. I wondered that once but I thought about it and it’s not like he’s leading some secret life somewhere that he hides from people. He just doesn’t date anyone. And those women I’ve seen him date casually? They were actually one night stands. He’d meet a woman, bring her home, but never see her again. He doesn’t do it often. Probably only when he feels like he can’t stand to be alone in his bed for one more second.”

Emma nodded. “You’re right, it doesn’t sound like he’s gay. Just like he’s ruined for relationships.”

“Did I ever tell you what he said when I asked him what his deal was, back when he ignored Vivian that day in my hospital room?” Craig asked.

Emma shook her head.

“Well, he didn’t make a lot of sense, but he said something about her being rich and he implied that she was probably not a very nice person because of it.”

Emma sat straight up, a little irritated. “Well that’s just silly. Vivian’s a wonderful person. He’s just not giving her a chance! What does he have against people with money anyway?”

Craig chuckled. “Now I’m going to tell you something that will blow your mind.” He leaned in and whispered into her ear, “Hawk is rich.”

“What?”

Craig leaned back, obviously pleased with himself. “Yep. Like I said, he’s a complicated guy. His family is uber-rich and he grew up with that whole lifestyle. The mansion, the fancy cars, the prep school, the country club. All of it. He’s always wanted to make his own way though, and he always wanted to be some sort of law enforcement officer. His dad used to push him to be an attorney so he could get into politics, but that’s not what Hawk wanted. He wanted to be in the trenches.”

“So his family is rich then? But not him.”

“Nope, he’s rich too, as far as I know. His grandpa set up a trust fund for him and his sister when they were just babies. I’m not sure how much money we are talking about but I think it’s at least a couple of million dollars. He got full access to the fund when he was 25, but he told me once he's never touched it. He could just give it all to charity but I don’t think he’s done that. I’m not sure what his plan is for it. He doesn’t like to talk about it.”

“Well now things really make no sense. So if he’s rich, and his family is rich, then what right does he have to judge Vivian because she is rich?”

“Well, I got the idea that it had something to do with women in particular. Like maybe Vivian reminds him of someone he dated who wasn’t very nice.”

Emma nodded. “Ahhhh, that makes more sense. And if she was rich then he’s just grasping at the most obvious connection in order to not have to examine it or something.”

“You should have gone into psychiatry,” Craig teased.

“Yep, I would’ve made a great shrink. I wonder exactly what this woman did to him to put him off dating for 11 years.”

“If Lucy was still here I’d ask her.” Craig said in a far-off voice.

Emma felt a little pang of emotion in her chest at the mention of Lucy. Was it jealousy? Pain? Guilt? She wasn’t sure. Lucy was Hawk’s sister and had been Craig’s fiance when she was alive. Lucy was the reason Craig and Hawk were here in Westwood Harbor investigating Norman. Their only evidence said Norman had killed her. Emma sighed. Why did life have to be so complicated?

The patio door opened and Hawk, mouth perpetually set in a grim line, stepped over the threshold. He already had a beer in his hand and big bags under his eyes.

“Hey man, good to see you,” Craig told him, holding out a hand.

Hawk shook it, but his eyes were drawn to the far side of the fire, where Vivian’s laugh rang across the yard. Emma followed his gaze and saw Vivian put a hand on Dennis’ shoulder as she laughed with her head thrown back, completely missing Hawk’s entrance.

Hawk’s eyes narrowed as he watched them.

Emma elbowed Craig in the gut and motioned to Hawk’s face. Craig made a shushing gesture back to her.

Dennis noticed Hawk and put his hand in the air. “Hawk! You made it!”

Hawk raised his beer in greeting. Vivian didn’t move. She watched him with her wide eyes, but never waved or said a word. Hawk watched her back. Dennis, oblivious to the tension turned back to Vivian and continued with his story about the guy robbing the 7-11, wearing a dirty stocking over his head. Vivian broke the eye contact and turned to Dennis, drinking in his words.

Hawk sat heavily in the chair next to Craig and Emma.