Love Between Law and Life

Chapter 8: What on Earth Made you Think I’m a Morning Person?

            Footsteps on the ground, mud between toes. A branch snaps and a cry of terror is heard. The rain beats down on the leaves. The jungle is loud. The moon is high in the sky. The hunt was well on its way.

            She ran, heart beating too hard in her chest. A branch scratches at her face and vines hook around her arms. She was supposed to be with a friend, they were supposed to be at a party, and now she didn’t even know where they were or if her friend was alive. An angry voice echoes through the trees.

            Her foot hooks on a root, sending her tumbling painfully to the ground. She just wanted to go home, to wash off this mud and pretend it was just a bad dream. Terror clutched at her throat and wrapped around her heart. Her hair is plastered to her face and her clothes torn, but she gets to her bare, thorn-scratched feet and stumbles off into a new direction.

            Sobs make it through her mouth without her permission, rain washing away her tears.

            Flashes of lights in the trees, the sound of a van ripping its way through the overgrown track.

            Lighting flashes above her, thunder cracking like a gun shot.

            Sharp pain erupts in her neck. The sound of excitement and relief.

            Her limbs grew weak against her permission, sending her crashing to the ground in a graceless heap.

            Boots blur in front of her vision as she’s rolled to her back, a smeared face looking at her, a gun in their hand. Bright green eyes etched themselves into her mind.

            The world fades around her, the rain on her skin is a comfort.

            It’s like going to sleep.

            Florence sits up in bed with a gasp, hand clutching her chest as it feels like her heart finally restarts. The world clears into view, her eyes sweeping over the room to look for her foe as her heart struggles to calm down. The feeling of rain and cold wind feels etched in her skin, feet rubbing against each other to reassure herself that they weren’t covered in mud.

            The terror and pain fades away, the clutches of the vision going with it. The psychic pushes herself back against the bed frame, sighing heavily as she tries to get back her bearings, the emotions in the foresight releasing its hold on her. Her hands are shaking, knees knocking together.

            A loud beeping startles her again, causing her to yelp and jerk, her back hitting the bed frame hard. Her phone, her phone is buzzing, and it had been for quite some time. The screen blanks out and the call ends before she could get to it. Her hearts settles a little to a more manageable pace, cold sweat making her shiver.

            Florence takes a couple breaths to settle herself, rubbing a hand harshly over her eyes. The phone starts buzzing again, sparking a level of anger in her chest. She picks it up roughly, “What?”

            “Ooo, not a morning person I see.” Bobbie’s voice is far to cheerful this early in the morning, it only serves to irritate her more.

            “No, I’m just not a you person.” She growls, getting to her feet and cursing silently as she stumbles on legs that refused to obey her.

            “Oof, I’m hurt. News for you, I’ve already had my exercise, followed up a new lead and on my way to you to check out something. You’re gonna love this.”

            “Nooooooo. We are not talking so chipper and well so early until I’ve had at least two cups of pure caffeine and two hours of peace away from you.” She hisses as she pulls her jacket on to block out the cold. Hawaii is almost never cold, but she couldn’t get the feeling of the forest off her long enough to hold a proper conversation.

            “To late, I’m ten minutes out.” Bobbie chuckles at the pained, irritated groan Florence let out. Clearly she was enjoying this a little too much. With an odd hop to get her limbs in working order and a hand through her hair to comb out the bed head, the psychic throws together an outfit on her bed and hurries into the hall.

            “Are you mad? Are you forgetting I have to drop Kaleo off to school?” She knocks on said eleven-year old’s door in a rush as she notices the time on her phone, a little later than she would have liked.

            “I know, but I wanted to get to you before our lead decided to skip town…or country, really.” The detective carries on, unbothered by the background noise of her greeting Kaleo with a hug and orders to get ready for school. “Tell the kid I said good morning. Plus, consider it pre-payment for your services by me dropping him off for school.”

            “You can’t just call me out of nowhere and tell me you’re taking over my day.” Florence puts the call on speaker and drops it on the table in the kitchen, small satisfaction coming from the muffled curse coming from the detective at the loud noise. She shuffled around to pull together a breakfast for Kaleo. Thankfully, she’d had the fore thought to make his lunch and put it in the fridge. “Now I have to call Kahula and Leo.”

            “Don’t worry, I already did-”

            “What? You can’t just go around doing that. Those two idiots happen to be my workers.” She growls, mind half on the conversation as she puts a plate to cover the sandwich for Kaleo when he finally made it to the kitchen.

            “I know, and I told them the same thing, but they insisted I called them first.” Florence could hear the shrug through the phone as she hurried back into her room to clean up. “They mentioned something about a fanfiction?”

            “I’ll kill them.” Florence hangs up the phone and tosses it on her bed.

            Bobbie couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, one hand holding a bag of malasadas in one hand and the other knocking on the door. The back of the bookstore was a lot neater than she’d expected. A single set of stares led to the upstairs, the top covered by a little by a neat shed and simple wooden panels around for privacy.

            She grins as Florence opens the door with a cranky huff. The detective takes her half-dressed appearance, a soft pants, and a vest under her still unbuttoned shirt. The psychic’s grey patch of hair is sticking up on all sorts of directions, tempting her to reach out a smoothen it out for her, but she wasn’t willing to lose her hand so early in the morning.

            Instead of a greeting, she raises the bag of sweets and shakes it. Florence rolls her eyes and grabs the bag, moving aside to let her in. “You give me this. I’ll have you know, I won’t be sharing.”

            “That’s fine, I’ll just have the cup of coffee still in the van for you all for myself.” She shrugs, tucking her hand into her jacket with a smile.

            “…I hate you.” Florence sighs and gestures to the couch. “I have to check on Kaleo, help yourself to anything… If your break anything, you’ll be sitting on the steps until I’m done.”

            “Understood.” Bobbie nods her head sincerely as she watches the tired mom make her way by to the corridor of rooms, taking the time to look around the home. It was small but comfortable, pieces of home in every direction, well lived in.

            There are two couches position in a way that it makes area distinctly the living room, colourful afghans on the back . A low table sits in the middle, littered with books, stationary, colouring pages, and a couple figurines . Against the wall is a television on a small table, the underneath shelf filled with little trinkets. Another sits near the door with a bowl holding keys and a picture.

            Bobbie picks it up, smiling at a picture of Florence with a lei around her neck, on her lap is a handsome kid she assumes is Kaleo. He had her brown eyes and kind smile. The detective puts it down gently and threads a little further than the door, taking in the large table to the back surrounded by chairs. The window to the side lights up the painting of a field to the back of the dining area, the wall which created a cordoned off area of where the private rooms began.

            To side, hardly ten steps from the entrance is the kitchen. A curtain replaces a door, the cloth tied together with a ribbon. She looks around and sweeps her eyes over the simple set up of the area, brought together by the table in the middle. “Hey Bobbie, meet Kaleo. Kaleo, this is the friend I was talking about, Bobbie.”

            The detective looks in the direction of the voice, pushing down the surprise of not hearing the approaching voices. Florence is fully dressed with a tinier, male version of her standing almost shyly behind her legs. Bobbie immediately kneels down to make herself look a little more friendly, letting a big smile maker her way across her face. “Hi, nice to finally get to meet you.”

            “Nice to meet you to, how are you?” Kaleo puts on a brave face and steps out from behind Florence, holding out his hand for her to shake. The expression and gesture was so much like his mother that her heart hurt from the adorableness. She resisted the urge to shake her head at Florence beaming like a proud mamma bear.

            “I am fine, thank you, how are you?” She takes the offered hand and shakes it respectfully, nodding her head in greeting. Kaleo grins, his excitement rising up now that he was finally pass the introduction stage.”

            “I’m great, mahalo.” He returns the nod, hand pulling away to clutch at the bag on his back, “My mom said you’re like a superhero, do you really get to fight bad guys?”

            “Okay, that’s enough for now, wait by the door for me.” Florence snort, tapping her hand on his shoulder as she walks into the kitchen. Kaleo groans but follows the command, attention off Bobbie as fast as she’d gotten it. The psychic exits with a lunch bag slung over her shoulder and taps Bobbie’s shoulder as they made their way out the apartment.

            “I’m getting to drop you to school today, little man. You okay with that?” The detective pulls the attention of the quiet Kaleo as Florence busies herself locking the door, head half turned to show she was listening in case they called her. Kaleo hums a soft ‘yes’, clearly wanting to ask more questions, but not wanted to bother the adult beside him. Bobbie glances at Florence at the top of the steps before whispering. “And yep, I’m kind of like a superhero, I guess.”

            “That’s so cool!” He whispers back, bouncing on the heels of his feet. “You get to save people and stuff, right?”

            “Yep.”

            “What’s it like?”

            “Honestly? It’s kind of terrifying.”

            “Really?” Kaleo tightens his grip on the straps on his bag, quiet for a few seconds before asking her a serious question. “Do you think I can be a superhero like you some day?”

            “You really want to be?”

            “Mhmm-hmmm!”

            “Then I think you’re already one. Superheroes help others in need all the time, and they’re super nice. From what your mom has told me about you, I think you’ll make a great hero.” Kaleo’s grin s almost blinding, growing even brighter as Florence catches up to them and rubs her hand on his head, leaving his hair sticking up in all sorts of directions.

            “You’ve got a really good kid.”

            “I know, I raised him.” Florence shoots back as she watches the tiny human meet up with the rest of his friends, immediately chattering away. Bobbie waits a few more seconds until Florence waves her hand, pulling out onto the road and heading to their next destination.

            “Something he said, I wanted to ask.” Florence turns her attention to her as she sips on her coffee, prompting her to continue. “If he decided to become a detective, would you approve of it?”

            “Truthfully? No.” Bobbie glances at her with an odd look crossing her face. “But, I won’t stop him. All my life, I’ve been surrounded by cops. I’d hate the idea of sending him out there in all that danger, worried sick if he were going to come home unharmed, but I won’t let my opinion hold him back from his dreams. It’s my job to support him, not hold him back.”

            “Can I…uh. What happened to his father?” Bobbie doesn’t look at her, nervously tapping her fingers on the steering wheel and it just wasn’t a good look on the fearless detective.

            “Okay, no, we’re not doing that.” She grunts, putting her cup in the little holder between them.

            “I’m sor-“

            “Not that. I don’t care about the questions, I mean about the asking.” She leans forward and catches Bobbie’s eyes for a few seconds. “Ask me straight, I’m not going to be offended in any way. If I don’t want to answer, I’ll just tell you straight.”

            “Okay.” The detective takes a deep breath and Florence could visibly see the tension leaking out of her as she exhales. “So?”

            “Son of a gun left me with kid and the last time I saw him, I broke his nose happily.”

            “What the f- Never mind.” Bobbie snorts ungracefully to hide the unexpected laughter bursting out of her mouth. “Are you serious?”

            “Deadly, and I don’t take that word lightly.”

            “Nice. Kaleo’s eleven, and you’re…”

            “Twenty-eight. Yes, he was a teenage pregnancy, I’ve had my regrets… but none of them of him.” Florence sighs and wrings her fingers in front of her, staring out at the window. “Kaleo is my pride and joy, and probably the only thing that’s kept me sane since I ended up on my own.”

            “Your parents?”

            “They…were a little bit higher than middle class, so they always believed that they had an image to uphold.” Florence couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her tone, “Once they heard, I wasn’t exactly part of the family anymore.”

            “I’m so-“

            “Don’t apologise.” She snaps, clasping her fingers together tightly. “Sorry, it’s just – I made the choice to leave, the choice to find a way to live my life on my own, and I have no regrets about that. Hell, it’s been the most freeing thing I did.”

            “And you did damn good.”

            “Enough about me, what about you?”

            “What about me?”

            “Anything, life home, life as a cop?” The psychic waves her hand vaguely. If Bobbie had built up enough respect for her to willingly introduce her to Kaleo, she might as well take the time to learn a little bit about her.

            “Uhhhh… grew up in New Jersey, but became a New York cop. My parents didn’t like the idea, wanted me to become something more appropriate of my standing, but I didn’t give two thoughts. My brother took over the clothing business, my sister is married.”

            “You have siblings?” Florence interrupted unintentionally, grinning more as Bobbie shoots her an almost excited look. Like a proud kid showing off her things, it was clear she was happy for them.

            “Yep. I’m the oldest, I may not keep in contact with my parents, but I still prefer to keep an eye out for my siblings. You have any?”

            “Brother. When my parents moved to the mainland, I lost touch with him. He would’ve loved to meet Kaleo, but I think he’s in collage at this point, so I won’t get to see him in until the next year or so.”

            “Your whole family is a mess, you know that, right?”

            “Trust me. All too well. So?”

            “Uh, Max runs the business now, has a girlfriend last I heard. Jillian married last year, we’re still waiting for a kid.” Bobbie snorts, a genuine look of joy on her face before despair flashes across it for a few seconds. “I haven’t been in touch much since my partner died and I move out here.”

            “Your partner?” Right, the captain had mentioned it to her, but she really didn’t think about it until now. She didn’t want to bring up bad memories, but experience in this line of work told her it would be a better idea for her to know all the facts Bobbie gave her.

            “Yea, great man, best cop I had the chance to work with. Can tell you definitely that both of you would have been damn good friends between your sass and his sarcasm.” Bobbie huffs, a sad grin on her face. Roughly two years later and it was clear that she still wasn’t quite over his death yet.

            “What happened?”

            “Bad intel one day, made a hasty decision. He took a bullet in the chest for it. Didn’t even have the courage to look his husband in the eye.” The grin turns almost self-deprecating and Florence took that as her cue to change the subject, inelegantly if she must.

            “My coffee’s cold.”

            “Your… coffee’s cold.” Bobbie takes a few seconds to process the statement, jutting her neck out to make sense of it.

            “Yea, I don’t like cold coffee.”

            “Cold coffee? I’ve seen you drink coffee that’s been in my van whole day.” Her voice is a little high pitched, a half-heated glare directed at the psychic.

            “So?”

            “So, drink the damn cold coffee.” She snorts. “I’m not getting you a new one. It’s by my curtesy of being a kind person that you even have something to drink right now.”

            “And need I remind you who was the one who thought it would be a good idea to wake me up at an ungodly hour and claim to need my services for the good of mankind?”

“I wouldn’t take it so far and no, I’m still not getting you another cup.”

“Why noooottt?”

“You go psycho on sugar and caffeine.” She huffs, “The last thing I need to explain to Akamu why his psychic had to be put down by a tranquiliser dart. Besides, we’re already where we need to be.” Bobbie pulls the van over into the parking lot, pointing at Tua and Pika’s warehouse from yesterday.

            “Is this a bad time to ask what the hell we’re doing here?”