Edge of the Heat 2 (Westwood Harbor Corruption) by Lisa Ladew

temple, marking time with her pounding heart. She had never been in trouble at work before.
    “ Yeah, well, it says that you got arrested?”
    Emma put a hand over her eyes. How did work know about that already?
    “Yeah, does it say that the cop who arrested me did it with no cause whatsoever and then he tried to get me killed?” Emma demanded, yelling.
    “ What, Emma slow down? What are you talking about?”
    Forget it Fielding, it ’s not your fault. How long am I suspended for?”
    “ It says pending investigation.”
    “ Ok thanks. Bye.” Emma pushed the end call button viciously and strode faster down the hall. Suspended! Well fine, now she didn’t have to worry about work for a while. She was going to turn this into a positive if it killed her. Craig was waking up today and she wasn’t going to let anything ruin that.
    Emma turned l eft into the cafeteria and tried to slow her breathing and take deeper breaths. No use staying upset over this. She had some money squirreled away to live on. Hawk would help her clear her name with the department. This would all get taken care of.
    She wal ked around the perimeter of the room looking for Jerry.
    She saw him, entering through the far entrance door, looking handsome in his khakis and pressed shirt. She ’d never seen him wear anything but jeans before.
    “ Jerry,” she called, waving her arm.
    He smi led and walked to her, giving her a kiss on the cheek and then a bone-crushing hug.
    “ So how’s Craig?” he asked.
    “ He’s great. Showing signs of recovery. They are waking him up right now. They wouldn’t let me stay in the room. That’s why I called; I figured we could get some lunch and catch up.” She almost told him she was suspended, but bit it back. She wanted to talk about more happy things right now - not bitch about work.
    They each picked out some food from the cafeteria. Emma ravenous, got a turkey sandw ich, fries, a big salad, some cottage cheese, a large coke, and a brownie for dessert.
    Jerry laughed at her. “ I never thought you’d out-eat me Em.”
    “ I gotta eat now, while I have the chance. Who knows if I’ll come back down for food once Craig is awake.” She smiled at his ribbing. She had missed Jerry. She remembered something. “Jerry, you had news for me the other day? What was it?”
    “ Oh, yeah! I met someone!” His enthusiastic smile pulled Emma right in.
    “ You mean you met someone you really like? And not just one of your bed-buddies?” She asked incredulously. Jerry didn’t seem to ever want to settle down, and he seemed to have an endless supply of women ‘friends’, most of whom had been in his bed at one time or another.
    “ Well, yeah, I do really like her, and I haven’t even slept with her yet,” he joked. “But honestly, it might be over before it really gets started.” He was still smiling, so Emma wasn’t sure if he was still joking or not.
    “ Over, why?”
    “ Well, she’s too classy. I get all self-conscious around her. It’s making me uncomfortable.”
    Emma was confused. “ Too classy?”
    “ She’s a theoretical physicist. An actual scientist! And a genius.” He leaned forward, whispering. “And she’s loaded. She drives a Jaguar.”
    Emma started working on her sandwich and mulled this over. She didn ’t know what to think of this information. She definitely didn’t sound like Jerry’s usual type. He tended towards hard-working, hard-drinking women, and never got serious with any of them. He always seemed out for just fun and he liked women that seemed out for the same thing.
    He sat back, rubbing his bald head. “ I don’t know why she agreed to date me in the first place. I met her at the library - you know, the big one downtown. We had a call there but it turned out to be nothing. Some lady thought she swallowed a bee and she was allergic, but she never had a reaction. We sat around watching her and joking with her for 20 minutes, and then Beth went in the back to talk to