Edge of the Heat 3 by Lisa Ladew Read Free Book Online Page A

Hawk’s mind tried to chatter, but Hawk very deliberately put a muzzle on it, determined not to think about either Vivian, or this mess he had just found himself in.
    Emma and Vivian were sitting at the little table in the kitchen, Emma still in her uniform. Emma smiled and got up to give Craig a kiss. “Hi Hon, you brought Hawk, how wonderful. I hope you guys brought dinner too.”
    Craig pulled Emma close and whispered something into her ear. Emma’s brow furrowed. “Ok.”
    “No, we didn’t get dinner, maybe we should order out.” Craig’s voice rang through the kitchen, falsely cheery and loud. Vivian looked around, confused. She opened her mouth to say something and then snapped it shut again.
    The men walked up to the table and emptied their pockets, then did a check of each other’s clothes, looking for small stickers - anything someone could have stuck on them that might be a bug, but neither saw anything.
    Hawk’s phone buzzed and he picked it up among the wallets and change and other things on the table and looked at it. As he read the text message he felt the noose around his neck tighten further. It felt like death to him.
    Don’t text me back. Not my phone. Don’t call again either. I looked up your name and you are on the wire. Meth and Heroin. Smuggling. Selling. Donahue SAC. Can’t tell where evidence came from, files above my security level. That’s all I know.
    Hawk showed the message to Craig. Craig’s eyes went wide. Then angry.
    Craig got a notepad from a drawer and wrote Basement? o n it. Hawk wrote back is there another exit? Craig nodded.
    Craig whispered again into Emma’s ear. Emma nodded and made to follow him. Craig shook his head no and motioned that she and Vivian should stay in the kitchen. Emma’s face tightened and she pointed at the basement and nodded her head yes, forcefully. We are going. Craig sighed, apparently knowing to argue would be pointless. He motioned for them to empty their pockets on the table, which they did, and they all headed downstairs.
    Craig ran the RF detector around the entire basement, checking both rooms also. He didn’t find any indication of any bugs. He turned on the TV and turned up the volume loud and then he sat on the couch, pulling Emma next to him. He motioned that Hawk and Vivian should also come close. Vivian sat on the couch next to Emma and Craig and Hawk went down on one knee in front of them.
    “Hawk’s in trouble,” Craig started. “Someone from the DEA was following him today. Then when we went to get dinner all of his accounts were frozen. He couldn’t use one credit card or bank card. And just now he got a text from a DEA agent we know who said Hawk is being investigated for drug smuggling.” Emma gasped and Vivian covered her hands with her mouth, eyes wide.
    “What does that mean?” Emma asked.
    Craig and Hawk exchanged a glance. “It means someone is trying to frame me for something.”
    “But why?” Emma wanted to know.
    “We don’t know why,” Craig said. “But we can guess, and if I had to guess right now I would say to discredit him and to pull him off of the Oberlin investigation."
    “That’s my guess too,” Hawk growled, his anger clearly registering on his face.
    “But why would they freeze your accounts?” Emma looked distraught.
    “Because then I can’t run. If I don’t have any money I can’t do anything.”
    “Run? Where would you go?”
    “Anywhere. If they manage to arrest me, my career is over, no matter if they bring charges against me or not. If I stay free, maybe I can figure out who is doing this and why and beat them to the punch. Obviously they are falsifying evidence somehow. It doesn’t go all the way to the top. It can’t. If I can point out what this person is doing to his superiors, it will have to stop. Alternatively, I could pull together the final pieces of the puzzle we need to arrest and convict Senator Oberlin. If he is behind this arresting him with solid evidence would