Finally (A Law Enforcement Romance)

Chapter 3

I woke up to a distant ringing sound, somewhere I just couldn’t quite reach to shut it up. “s**t,” I mumbled as I fell off the couch and onto my back on the cold floor. I sat up and looked around, trying to locate my phone. I saw it lying on the floor a few metres away from me and pushed myself up, lazily crawling over. I sighed at the time on the screen: 05:00.

I didn’t have to keep fit, as being a Cyber Crimes detective didn’t require a lot of fieldwork but I’d always been active growing up and you never know when you’ll have to run from danger, like a bomb.

I got dressed and headed into the cool air for an easy run. It was refreshing, and as much as I was dreading it, I applauded myself for getting out. Slowly, the tension from yesterday melted away, the dream I had about yesterday’s events going sour disappeared and I felt a sense of renewal. It sounded like I was going through a spiritual awakening, but I just felt grateful. I was still here. As were all those people that went home safely yesterday. The couple with their newborn flashed through my mind and I slowed down, catching my breath.

I looked at the rising sun and smiled. Although no one else gave me a real appraisal, at least I could. “The silent hero,” I whispered. I turned around and headed home. Life goes on.

*****

Sleep did not come easy. I tossed and turned the whole night, all different scenarios playing through my head about what would have happened if that bomb had gone off. Jodi would be gone. She wouldn’t be walking through the door with a huge coffee in hand and she certainly would not be looking at you with that same fire in her eyes like yesterday. I sat up straight and nodded at her. She paused then nodded back and sat down. She still looked pissed.

The Captain was going to speak to her later, give her a great speech about her selfless acts and then be on his merry way. I shook my head slightly, she deserved so much more. I had already decided that I would at least say a little more in the meeting, without getting too sentimental. The Captain might not like it but I would deal with that later. He didn’t have an issue with women on the force, in fact, he encouraged it, but like others, he didn’t see the Cyber Crimes unit as anything more than IT nerds, nor did he believe in ‘over-praising’ as it may lead to ‘fatal arrogance.’

I took a deep breath and calmed myself down. I got up and walked over to Jodi’s desk, she was so focused on something on her screen that she didn’t see me standing in front of her. I took the short opportunity to admire her face, soft, and feminine but always with an expression of determination. She bit her lip and I quickly looked away. s**t. I hated when she did that. Kind of.

I cleared my throat softly and spoke, “Detective Hearthorn, Captain Rayes would like to speak to us in 20 minutes.”

She jumped slightly and looked up, the grey in her eyes especially prominent today with her dark grey jersey on. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly and nodded. “Thank you, Sergeant. I’ll be there.” Her eyes remained on me and I could tell she wanted to say more. I raised my eyebrow slightly, waiting for her to speak up.

“Sergeant, there was something else I wanted to discuss, um...” she shifted and stood up. “About yesterday, I understand why I was asked to help but...”

She was uncomfortable and struggled to finish her sentence but I knew exactly what her concern was. She was put into a life-threatening situation without any prior knowledge of the situation and basically no consent. It pissed me off, too, but again, Captain’s orders. She was our most convenient choice as we did not have time to bring in another bomb squad.

“Detective, I understand your concerns. We can bring it up in the meeting.” With that, I walked away. What else could I say? I sucked at portraying emotion, especially when the person involved stirred up more feelings than I could handle.

I sat down and risked a glance. I saw her discreetly wipe under her eye and sat up straight. Fifteen minutes until the meeting. That should give me enough time to get my mind together.

*****

I was in a good mood until I walked through the doors. It fouled immediately. I got a few greetings and a ‘well done’ from the new guy, but other than that, it was business as usual. I sat down and saw an update on my case had been sent to me. Some sick f**k was posting and selling child pornography and we were trying to pinpoint his location for an IP address to hopefully make an arrest.

According to Andrew, my colleague and good friend, he’s definitely in the city. Oh, my word, what a revelation! I rolled my eyes and made a note.

After hearing about the Captain wanting to talk to me and Gabe acting aloof again, I seriously needed something to brighten my mood. My prayer was answered.

“The hero, the legend! The one and only, Jodi Hearthorn!” I looked up and saw Andrew holding a huge bouquet of flowers and a massive balloon that said ‘Get Well Soon.’

“Is there something wrong with me?” I giggled and stood up to take the flowers. They were beautiful and bright and just what I needed. Andrew tied the string of the balloon around the leg of my desk and sat down across from me.

I sat and placed the flowers down, they took up nearly my entire work area. “So? Is there something wrong with me?”

Andrew looked at the balloon and then put his hands up. “It’s all they had. I was at the hospital checking in on Madison so I was a bit pressed for time.”

“How is she?” Madison was Andrew’s wife of 5 years. She had surgery after she fell and broke her foot on their vacation last weekend. Apparently, neither one of them was guilty, depending on who you asked.

“Oh, getting better every day. The physiotherapist is doing great work, too.” He took my coffee and had a sip. Sometimes he had no shame, but I loved it.

“That’s great. So have you decided who’s to blame, yet?”

“We both know the answer to that.”

I giggled and looked at the flowers again. “Thank you, Andrew, relevant message or not, this is wonderful.”

“You’re the computer nerd who saved the day. Not often you hear that.” He looked around and then leaned closer as if to let me in on a big secret. “I also got you a slice of cake but it mysteriously disappeared on the way here.”

I threw a piece of paper at him and checked the time. “I better go. The Captain and Sergeant Matthews want to speak to me - probably getting a huge promotion.” I didn’t bother hiding the sarcasm in my voice and Andrew picked up on it, too. “See what else we can find on this guy’s location. We need more than ‘in the city.’

“Why are we doing this and not the assholes at HQ?”

“Because they want us to do the dirty work so they can take over just as the arrest will be made.”

He cursed and then started typing furiously. I shook my head and smiled. He was my saving grace in this place sometimes.

I knocked on the Captain’s door and waited for a response. This was the last thing I wanted to do. I know would have to fight back tears, why do I have to cry so easily?

A few seconds later, the door opened and I was surprised to see Gabe standing there. I relaxed slightly and walked in when he moved aside. Captain Rayes sat at his desk, talking on the phone. He held his hand up and continued listening for another 30 seconds before he simply said ‘OK’ and put the phone down.

Gabe stood close to me, his cologne clouding my senses and his proximity raising my temperature. I suddenly felt very hot and I slowly shifted a few inches away, hoping he didn’t notice.

“Detective Hearthorn, Sergeant Matthews, thank you for coming in.” He stood up and came around to the front of his desk, standing with a wide gait and his hands behind his back. I tried not to laugh at the clear assertion of dominance.

“Yesterday, a bomb was found at Rosa Park, where thousands of people were enjoying a sunny day. We were put into quite a predicament when we realised the robot would not be able to disarm the bomb.” Gabe took a deep breath next to me. I could feel the tension he radiated. I resisted the urge to look at him and pretended I hadn’t noticed a thing.

“I had to make the difficult decision to bring in our bomb technicians. They showed such courage and without hesitation, went to assess the situation. The area to work in proved to be too small for our team.” He paused as if trying to create suspension. All it did was irritate me.

“That brings me to my point for this meeting. Detective Hearthorn, with your extensive knowledge of electronics, you managed to figure out the complicated layout. You took the initiative to further your knowledge outside of your field and take classes on disarming bombs. Because of this, you were the only one who could save all those people.” He paused again. He sat on the edge of his desk and relaxed his stance.

I shifted my weight and tripped slightly. I felt a gentle push on my back and turned my head slightly to look at Gabe. He didn’t return my look but I felt a gentle squeeze as if to assure me and then he discreetly removed his hand.

“Jodi,” Captain Rayes said slowly, “What you did yesterday was beyond exceptional and thousands of families can continue their lives because of your bravery.”

I was so shocked that he’d used my first name that his high praise went unnoticed at first. Then it all registered and I was left speechless. I cleared my throat and spoke confidently, “Thank you, Captain Rayes.” The surprise was evident in my voice. I had no idea what else to say.

Gabe stepped forward and turned to face both of us. “Captain, I hope you don’t mind if I say a few words?” The Captain shook his head and gestured his hand forward to give him the floor. “Jo-Detective, I would like to extend my gratitude to you and thank you for helping without asking questions. You were put in a difficult situation, a dangerous one,” he turned his head and gave the Captain a meaningful look. “But you held your own and shut everyone’s doubts down.”

I looked at the Captain, shocked that Gabe was so forward with his comment. Before anyone could react, he continued. “The people, the city and this precinct will always be grateful for what you did and I’m sure the Captain agrees when I say we do not see this level of merit often.”

Captain Rayes looked at Gabe with a blank stare. He nodded and then looked at me. “Indeed, Detective. You showed outstanding moral service and, yes...” he paused. There was a war going on in his head, it was evident. “You definitely shut down people’s doubts, including my own.”

I stood in silence. Say something! “I, um, thank you, to you both for such, uh, high praise.” God, I sounded ridiculous. I steadied myself and stood taller. “I appreciate the recognition and that you understand the magnitude of the situation I was put in. I’m just glad everyone is safe.”

The smirk on Gabe’s face didn’t go unnoticed. Where the hell this confidence came from, who knows? However, I held on to it and kept my chin up.

“Well, then.” Captain Rayes made a show for us to leave. “If you two don’t mind, I have a call to make to the mayor.” He nodded at me and smiled. He actually smiled. “I’ll be sure he knows of your actions performed yesterday.”

I walked out and waited for Gabe. He said a few things to the Captain and closed the door. He stood in front of me and before I could say anything, he said, “Let’s go to the roof.”

I followed without hesitation. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I was still in shock that I hadn’t thought about being alone with Gabe. On the roof. Away from everyone. Alone.

Crap.