Edge of the Heat 7

by Ladew, Lisa

  They made it to the Dallas airport and Craig helped the two homeless, countryless survivors into the building, then said goodbye. He didn’t want to know what country they were headed to. It was safer that way for them. Katerina cried the entire time, not looking at him once, but West shook his hand and thanked him.

  Craig walked away from them, his mood black and bleak. Life seemed like quite a trial at that moment.

  Craig checked his watch and realized his own plane would be leaving in less than ten minutes. He ran through the terminal and just barely made it, with no time to spare to even check his phone messages. He settled back against the seat and tried to sleep. He would be in San Francisco in three and a half hours and then the drive home would take him just under two. He could be home by midnight if everything went perfectly.

  Craig’s plane arrived in San Francisco on time and he headed straight to the rental car agency. He’d taken a hop flight from Westwood Harbor to San Francisco but none ran this late at night so he had to rent a car to get home. When he had his car and was ready to pull out of the parking lot his phone buzzed in his pocket, reminding him he still hadn’t checked his messages.

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and immediately the screen glowed brightly, showing him he had one hundred and twelve text messages and twenty-four voicemail messages.

  Dread coiled in his stomach like a snake. His finger shook as he tapped on the text messages.

  Emma was missing.

  Craig let out a yell that shook the windows of his rental. He pounded on the steering wheel in rage.

  He made it back to Westwood Harbor by 11:22, breaking every speed limit on the way there.

  Chapter 15

  Hawk followed Craig down the dark street in front of the fire station. It was just before three o’clock in the morning and he knew there was no way Craig would sleep that night. In front of him, Craig began to yell.

  Craig pointed at the business closest to him. “No fucking cameras!” He pointed at the next building in the row, and then the next. “No fucking cameras, no fucking cameras, no fucking cameras!” He clenched his hand into a fist and punched the siding of the first business hard enough to dent it.

  Hawk rushed up to him. “Dude, calm down.”

  “Calm down! Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down? Emma is missing. She could be… She could be….”

  Hawk dropped his voice and put his arm around his friend. “She’s not. We’ll find her.”

  “How are we going to find her? We have exactly nothing to go on!” Craig whirled around and motioned towards the fire department. “Nobody saw her leave. Nobody saw her disappear. We talked to everybody who was at her work. They don’t know squat. You said you talked to everyone in these businesses and they didn’t see anything. Dani has her picture plastered all across the news stations and none of the hundreds of people who have called me know a thing. She didn’t just fall down a hole somewhere. Someone has her.”

  Craig spun to face Hawk. “What about the Canon Country Industries. Have we found anything on that?”

  “Knox was able to uncover the person who registered the corporation but he says the guy doesn’t exist.”

  Craig scoffed and look up at the sky as if to say why? He turned back to Hawk, a fierce and scary light in his eyes. “What does that mean?”

  “There’s a name and social security number on record for the person who registered the corporation. He showed a driver’s license and a passport as identification but Knox says it’s only a paper trail. No one’s ever gotten any credit under the social security number or paid any taxes on it. He says the guy doesn’t exist. Someone grabbed the social security number somehow and had a couple of fake IDs made.”

  “What about the picture on the driver’s license?”

  Hawk pressed his lips together. “That’s a dead-end too. He says it’s a dark-haired guy who weighs at least three hundred pounds.”

  “That’s unusual,” Craig said eagerly. “Someone like that shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

  Hawk shook his head. “He did an image search on it—the picture belongs to a real guy living in Alabama.”

  “Our guy stole his picture then because he looks like him.”

  Hawk shook his head again. “Come on man, you know he used that picture because someone could look at his ID and even if it looked nothing like him he could just say he lost a hundred and fifty pounds.”

  Craig paced three heavy steps, then turned around and paced three steps back, then kicked the light pole on the sidewalk, making it wobble. When he spoke the venom in his voice chilled Hawk. He’d never heard Craig so angry. “The fucking bastard. He’s fucking clever.”

  Hawk kept his mouth shut. They already knew that. He and Craig needed to be twice as clever now. Emma’s life could be depending on it.

  Hawk’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and read the text.

  I need you here. I think I’ve discovered something about the guy we are looking for.

  Hawk shoved his phone back in his pocket. “Vivian thinks she has a lead. Let’s go.”

  Craig beat him to his truck, then drove home at break-neck speeds. Hawk held on tightly and never said a word. His friend was on a razor-thin edge, and Hawk didn’t blame him for a second.

  As soon as they entered the house, Vivian was waiting for them at the door, papers in her hand that she held close to her chest to keep Craig from grabbing them. Hawk noticed the strain and worry lines on her face. She held up a hand to Craig. “I might have something, but you need to let me explain it in my own way. It’s important.”

  Craig grunted and took a step back, his agitation clearly visible in his posture and stance. He entered the room and stood by the kitchen table, ignoring JT and Dani on the couch.

  Vivian turned to Hawk. “This is kind of a long shot, but I had nothing else to do. I typed Canon Country Industries into Google and went through the results.”

  Hawk shook his head. “I already did that.”

  Vivian shushed him. “I know you did. But you only looked through the first fifteen results. I watched you. I went through over a hundred results, combing through each page for anything that could help us.”

  Hawk eyed the papers in her hand. “And?”

  “And nothing. I didn’t find anything that way, but then I started thinking that there must be some sort of a connection between the company and us, so I began typing in the company name and then one of our names.”

  Hawk searched his wife’s face, impressed. It wasn’t often that someone out-thought him, but Vivian had done it before.

  Vivian was still talking, her papers still clutched to her chest. “That didn’t come up with anything either, so I tried to come up with more connections. What is the biggest thing that connects the three of us?”

  Hawk’s brain burned with understanding. “Your parents,” he said, ignoring Craig’s fidgeting at the table.

  Vivian nodded, excited now. “I typed in Canon Country Industries and Frank Oberlin, and searched the two of them together.” She peeled off the first piece of paper and dropped it on to the kitchen table where everyone could see it. It was a print out of a picture of a man. “Eventually, at a fundraising site, I found this.”

  Craig snatched the piece of paper up before Hawk could see it. “It’s that dick from the party—Senator what’s-his-face.”

  Vivian stared at Hawk hard, her eyes telegraphing volumes. “It looks like him, doesn’t it? But that is actually Frank Oberlin when he was thirty years old.”

  Hawk felt his stomach do a lazy roll. He took the paper from Craig’s hands and stared at it hard. The dark hair, slim face, and ice-blue eyes staring back at him could easily be Senator Preston Troy. But it was Frank Oberlin?

  “Your father?” Craig spat out.

  Vivian winced. “Yeah.”

  Hawk looked up over the paper at Vivian, knowing exactly what she was thinking. He looked over to the couch where Dani and JT sat with watchful eyes. He saw kn
owledge of the truth in their faces too.

  “So they are related?” Craig said slowly.

  Vivian nodded. “My guess is that they’re father and son.”

  “So he’s your brother?” Craig said, plucking the piece of paper from Hawk’s fingers.

  “Half-brother, I’m sure.” Vivian said.

  Craig stared at the picture for a long time as Hawk thought furiously. Finally, Craig let the paper fall from his fingers. “He’s got Emma,” Craig said to no one in particular, his face ashen under its layer of waxy rage.

  “What’s his address?” Craig asked, his eyes on the dining room table, his voice soft and deadly. Hawk felt fear spike through him. Craig might just kill somebody tonight.

  “Craig, listen to me man, we’ve got to follow procedure. We can’t just run over to this guy’s house and breakin—”

  Craig turned to Vivian, ignoring Hawk completely. He swiped the rest of the papers out of her hands and rifled through them. He must’ve found what he was looking for, because he dropped all the papers except for one and started for the door.

  Quick as a cat, Hawk jumped in front of him, barring the doorway. “Craig wait, what will you do when you get there?”

  “That depends,” Craig said in that same deadly voice. “If I see any sign that he’s got Emma, I’m going to rip him in half.” Craig dug in his feet and tried to push past his friend. Hawk grabbed the doorjamb and held on, knowing he couldn’t let Craig get past him. Craig lowered his head and caught Hawk under the arm, pushing him to the left. Hawk’s hands slipped.

  “JT, help me!” Hawk cried.

  But JT was already up and moving. He grabbed Craig around the left shoulder and pulled. “Come on, man,” he grunted with effort. “Be reasonable.” Behind him, Dani chanted, “Oh God, oh God.” She bounced up from the couch but didn’t approach the men. What could she do? Craig was twice her size. If Emma had been there she probably would have launched herself at Craig and climbed on his shoulders, but if Emma had been there, none of this would be happening anyway. Vivian watched the men resignedly, as if she already expected Craig’s sheer anger and adrenaline to lend him enough strength to win against two men his size.

  Craig let out a yell then turned betrayed eyes on Hawk. “Let me go! I have to find her!”

  Hawk planted his feet and held on as tightly as he could, trying not to let Craig move him. He shouted, hoping to get through to his friend.

  “We’ll go over there, I promise you, but you have to listen to me. You cannot just barge into his house. It’s three in the morning, I’m sure he’s sleeping. We have to do this the right way or he’s going to have you arrested and thrown in jail! You’ll never get Emma back if that happens.”

  Hawk felt Craig’s determination lag a tiny bit and he redoubled his efforts. “We gotta do this right, man, or we have no chance. Trust me. I swear we can figure it out if you just give us a couple of minutes to think.”

  Craig sagged slightly and Hawk cautiously let up on his grip of the door. Craig dropped his head, a strangled noise erupted from his throat. “What if she doesn’t have a couple of minutes?”

  Hawk and JT hugged him, providing cold comfort as best they could.

  “We’ll find her, Craig. I swear it. Let’s just have a plan before we rush over there.” Hawk knew he was telling the truth, they would find her, he just prayed that when they found her, she was still alive.

  Chapter 16

  Hawk watched Craig warily, afraid he was going to bolt for the door at any moment. When Craig finally sank heavily onto the couch, Hawk darted into the office and retrieved Craig’s laptop, then brought it to the kitchen table and sat down. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he looked up Senator Preston Troy’s history.

  Hawk read through a Wikipedia page listing all the senator’s accomplishments. When his eyes lit on the sentence describing him as an ex-CIA explosive expert, Hawk’s blood turned red hot. This guy had tried to kill him. And Vivian. Before the anger could roll its way out into his consciousness, Hawk stuffed it back down. Craig was angry enough for both of them. He needed to be the calming force today or this guy really would end up dead.

  Hawk announced to the room what he had discovered. The silence was deafening, no one choosing to comment on it.

  At the very bottom of the biography information was a mention that Senator Troy had been in the Marine Corps, but it didn’t mention his area of expertise while he’d been in. Hawk searched another website that would give him that information.

  “Huh,” he said as he read what he found there. “That’s strange.”

  “What?” JT said as he sat down at the kitchen table with a steaming cup of coffee in his hands.

  “He was in the Marine Corps for only seven months. He received a general under honorable circumstances discharge.”

  “Seven months is strange. And he wasn’t injured or he would have been given an honorable discharge. Unless he did something stupid like shot himself.”

  “Let me see if I can figure out what exactly the discharge was for.”

  “You can get into the Marine Corps databases?”

  Hawk nodded. “Certain areas of the government are almost completely unguarded. Discharge details is one of them.”

  Hawk did his magic and within a few moments he had what he was looking for. “Get this,” he said. “He went through boot and then infantry assault training, but once he got to his unit it was discovered that he fainted at the site of blood. So they kicked him out.”

  “Unlikely criminal,” JT mused.

  Hawk quirked his head. “He’s unlikely anyway.”

  Craig spoke up from the couch. “You guys have three minutes and then I’m out of here.”

  “Wait, Craig. Just let me look at his house on Google Earth. See what we’re heading into.”

  Hawk searched quickly and found himself once again surprised. “The house certainly isn’t flashy. It’s no bigger than this place. It’s close by, too.”

  “I thought all the politicians out here lived on Millionaire Row,” Dani said, coming in from the kitchen with her own cup of coffee.

  Hawk shrugged. “Maybe he can’t afford Millionaire Row. He’s only been a senator for a few months.”

  Dani set her cup of coffee down on the table. “Not that senators make a killing anyway, the ones who don’t take bribes. Most of them come into the job with money. Did you ever find out how he got the job?”

  Hawk shook his head. “It just says here that the governor appointed him.”

  Craig stood up, making it clear that he was on his last bit of patience. Hawk thought furiously. He couldn’t leave Vivian alone, but he needed JT with them. Craig was likely to be difficult to handle no matter what. He decided they all were going and he stood up to say so when another question popped into his mind. He turned to his wife. “Vivian, what did he ask you?”

  “What?”

  “That night, at the party. What did Preston Troy ask you?”

  “Oh. He asked me when the baby was due and if I knew the sex of the baby.”

  “Did he introduce himself?”

  “No, he talked to me like we were old friends.”

  Chapter 17

  Craig pulled up on the dark and quiet street in front of Preston Troy’s address and killed his truck engine. Dani and JT pulled up behind him and did the same thing. Craig craned his neck to see the house around Hawk, who sat in the passenger seat. The house was dark. Not a sign of life. The bastard had better hope he didn’t have Emma in there. There was little chance of him making it out alive if he did. Craig had never felt such a curious combination of desperation and rage in his entire life. Emma was everything to him.

  Hawk turned in his seat to address Vivian, who was sitting in the back. “Do you want to go sit with Dani and JT or stay here?”

  “How long will you be?”

  Hawk looked at the dark house. “Not long.”

  “Stay here.”

  “OK, Craig leave her the keys. Lock th
e doors as soon as we get out. Drive away if anyone approaches the truck.”

  Vivian nodded and took the keys. Hawk and Craig left the truck, waited until they heard the click of the locks, and then approached the house quietly, but not trying to hide. As soon as they were out of the glare of the streetlights, they walked into the yard, heading down the left side of the residence. Craig tried to notice details, notice what the place looked like, but one word pounded in his brain, drowning everything else out. Emma, Emma, Emma. He had to rely one hundred percent on Hawk to notice the finer particulars.

  No fence. That was good. They peeked in the first window they came to. Nothing. Normal furniture. Gloom. Shadows. No movement. Drapes covered the next window but a small gap showed a slice of bed that appeared to have someone in it. Troy’s bedroom, probably. Craig lingered at the window, longing to smash it in with his fists and drag the man out into the yard, then beat him until he confessed where Emma was. No part of him would let him imagine that maybe Preston Troy was innocent. That maybe this was some kind of colossal coincidence. This man had Emma. Or had done something to Emma. He’d better hope Emma was still alive. Then maybe Craig would let him live too. Craig was fully prepared to give up his life and his freedom to punish the man who had … who had … Hawk pulled on his arm and Craig stopped his train of thought with effort.

  They continued their quiet trek down the side of the house, checking every window. When they had made a complete circuit and arrived back at the front, even peeking into the basement windows and seeing nothing, Craig had to admit that it didn’t seem like Emma was in the house. And if that was Troy asleep in the bedroom he wasn’t doing anything to Emma right this second.