Detective Rose Yuen, currently on administrative leave with pay following a shooting incident that was absolutely justified, noticed that her carpet was dirty. It would take another week at least until the investigation arrived at that same conclusion, much to Rose’s annoyance. She was good at a lot of things, but vacationing was not one of them. When was the last time she vacuumed? She could have sworn it was just last week. However the carpet offered a convincing counter argument every time her face almost touched it.
Twenty pushups later, fifteen of which she did on her knees, she collapsed onto the aforementioned carpet. After thirty seconds she rolled onto her back and did as many leg raise crunches as she could. It was hard, even though she had short legs.
She was ten minutes into her cycling session when her phone chimed. Rose ignored it until she was finished almost twenty minutes later. When she did look at it her heart skipped a beat.
This is a message from Canadian Revenue Services alerting you that your social security number has been compromised. Please contact us as soon as possible at the following number.
Rose wiped sweat from her face with a towel. Then she cursed. She had hoped never to get another text like this now that their business had been concluded. Rose almost preferred that the text was in fact from Canadian Revenue Services. Almost.
She wondered if she should shower first or just get this over with. Better to just rip the band-aid off, she decided. Rose went to her room and opened the drawer in her bedside table. It took her a second to get the false bottom out and grab the phone beneath it. The phone flashed its greeting as it powered on. Rose went into the contacts section and dialed the only number.
It took two rings before someone answered.
“What took you so long?” A male voice said. Rose recognized the voice, even if she had never met the man who owned it. He had said that his name was Lucas but Rose suspected it was a lie.
“Was in the middle of something. What do you want? I was pretty clear that our little relationship was over.”
“And I was quite clear that it wasn’t. You still owe us.”
She sat down on the edge of the bed with a sigh. “So what do you and your wizard friends want now?”
“Nothing too difficult. We need to know if anyone has been taking an interest in the Day Street Massacre case.”
Rose frowned. “Um, what?”
“Should I speak slower?”
“Only if you want me to hang up.” Rose snapped. “That’s a ten year old case, what do you want with it?”
“Not part of the deal.”
“I can ask around,” Rose said, “but I want something in return.”
“Let me guess. You don’t want to ever hear from me again?”
“You’re smarter than you sound Lucas.”
“No deal. This is not a very big favor we’re asking for. You’ll still be in our debt, detective.”
“You know I broke the last guy’s nose who strung me along with empty promises.”
“I’m willing to risk it.” Lucas said. “Get the information as soon as you can, it's urgent, and don’t draw attention to yourself.”
“No kidding.” She hung up before he could. Rose groaned in frustration. She had known at the time that accepting the assistance from Lucas and whoever he worked for had been a bad idea, but she had been angry and in desperate need of help. The voice on the phone had come to her at a weak moment and offered her the thing she needed. In the back of her mind at the time she had known she was making a deal with the devil and some day the bill would come due. What she needed had been so important at the time however, and even with the benefit of hindsight she was not sure she would do anything differently.
Rose had been intending to take a quick cold shower like she usually did after her workouts but she opted for a long hot one instead. She let her mind wander while she enjoyed the cascade of warm water. It wandered farther than she wanted, all the way back to the hospital two years ago.
She had felt heavy, as if each step down the gleaming hallway was through water flowing against her. Each breath cut like a cold blade
It should not have happened the way it did. The suspect was unarmed, except for magic, apparently. The sound Daniel’s body made when it hit the wall still made Rose shudder when she thought of it. One second he was running after an unarmed suspect, and the next he was being thrown through the air by a chain of red magic. The shock at seeing the otherworldly weapon still made Rose feel a little sick to her stomach, even after all these years.
The hospital was brighter than Rose thought was necessary. Lisa waited outside Daniel’s room. Rose had not expected that. For a moment she wanted to turn back, but with a sigh she realized she would have to face her sooner or later. Might as well get it over with now, she thought grimly.
Lisa stood up when she saw Rose. Rose braced for the rage. Rose knew it was her fault Daniel was hurt. She should’ve done better, so she fortified herself to take whatever Lisa had to throw at her. She deserved it after all.
Lisa hugged her.
It took Rose a moment to get over her surprise. Then Rose put her arms around Lisa. At first Rose thought it was Lisa that was crying but she realized with some surprise that it was her.
“You’ll get him? The man who did this.” Lisa said.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
Those three words lifted a heavy weight from Rose’s mind. She was still wiping tears from her cheeks when she walked into Daniel’s room.
“You crying?” He asked from where he was propped up in the bed.
“Your wife squeezed me really hard.”
“She does that to me too sometimes. I also cry.”
“Gross.”
Daniel grinned, but she could see the sadness in his eyes.
“So is it as ugly as you look?” She said.
“Pretty much. Maybe a little more even.”
“Damn.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying.”
Rose sat down and propped her feet on the edge of the bed. She sighed.
“It’s not your fault Rose.”
“That’s what your wife told me.’
“And she’s always right,” Daniel said loudly. His wife waved in acknowledgement from the bench just outside the door.
“So how bad is it really?”
Daniel was silent for a moment. “It’s bad. They say I’ll never tap dance again.”
“Tap dance? I had you pegged for a ballet dancer.”
His laugh was half hearted and it cut off abruptly. He stared straight ahead silently. “Going to try rehab, but there’s no cause for optimism.” He paused pensively. “Probably going to have to deal with severe pain for the rest of my life on and off. It’s going to be hard.” After a moment of silence he wiped a tear from his eye. Grief punched her in the gut, and Rose choked on her emotions.
“Are you crying?” She said eventually. “You better not be squeezing yourself.”
Daniel laughed a little. She had always been able to make him laugh.
“Anyway, it just means you get to be a pencil pusher before the rest of us do.” Rose said for some reason, to fill the silence perhaps.
“Yeah. And you’ll have to get a new partner.”
“Maybe I’ll get one that won’t snack on sunflower seeds and spit the shells onto the floor.”
“That’s usually the wind’s fault,” Daniel protested. “But yeah, maybe you’ll get an upgrade.”
“No such thing,” Rose said forcefully. “I’m going to miss having you around to yell at.” She tried hard to keep the sadness out of her voice.
He still could not walk, and Rose felt the familiar rage rise up inside her. It was the same rage that almost ruined her life. Her desire for revenge and to understand what happened drove many of her friends out of her life, including her fiancé. She was too angry at the time to even consider the consequences of her actions and choices. Lucas came to her when she was at a low point and offered her what she needed, for a price. Rose agreed to his price instantly, and the year since then had made her question the wisdom of that. Rose clenched her fist and let the rage seep out of her. She needed a clear head for whatever lay ahead. Dwelling on the past was pointless at the moment.
By the time she left the shower she had made a basic plan. After consuming a high protein yogurt cup, she called Mike.
Detective Mike Chow answered almost right away. “Hey slacker.”
“At least I only slack when I’m off the clock.” Rose said with a smile.
“So you called because you’re lonely with nobody to insult?”
“My cat ran away.”
“Cats are smart.” Mike observed.
“How are things at the office?” Rose said, imagining the smell of stale coffee as she did and realizing that she missed it.
“Since your gunfight things have been pretty slow.” Mike said. “I’m prepping for the Okawa trial on Thursday.”
“How’s that going?”
“Slow.” Mike said. “I hate lawyers. I heard that your shooting hearing got moved to next week.”
“Yeah I heard that too.”
“So what can I do for you Rose?” Mike said.
“I need a small favor.”
“Small huh?”
“Tiny.”
“Okay, shoot.” He paused. “Probably a poor choice of words.”
Rose stifled her laughter. Mike definitely noticed but did not say anything.
“I need to know if anyone has accessed the Day Street Massacre files recently.”
Her comment was greeted by silence.
“That’s an odd request.” Mike said eventually. “What for?”
“I’m looking into something.”
“On your holiday? Naughty girl.” His voice lowered. “And if you got any new information on that case you need to speak up. It’s way too important to keep quiet.”
“I know I know,” impatience crept into her voice. “At the moment I have no new information.”
“Okay, but if you do you need to bring me in on it. Anything on that case would be a huge break.”
“I will.” Rose said. She felt bad about lying to him. “How soon can you find out?”
“I’ll check as soon as I can. Should have something by the end of my shift.”
Rose glanced at her watch. “Sounds good. Thanks Mike.”
“No problem. Enjoy your holiday.”
After she hung up it occurred to Rose that she was actually very curious about why her wizard friends were interested in the Day Street case. If there was some new information that would lead to a break in the case it would be a huge career boost to her, which she could definitely use after the last year and a half. Maybe she could glean some information from Lucas during their next conversation. It was worth a shot.
Probably a poor choice of words, she thought with a smile.
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