By "get the supers' side of the story," I mean "listen to them ramble about how it's not their fault." One falls out of the sky and barely manages to avoid hitting the ground, but the other one recovers more quickly and flies away. Crosswind, the one that fell, looks like he's tempted to flee. Before he can get off the ground, though, he sees me watching and hangs his head.
"Hi, Crosswind. How are ya?" I ask through a yawn as he floats over. All the supers—at least the ones who can fly—hover a few inches above the ground, like it makes them better than the rest of us. They also wear their underwear on the outside of their clothes; never could figure that one out. Anyway, he's the only person I've met who's taller than me, and that's because he's cheating.
"Fine. She started the fire, by the way." And we're already hearing how Crosswind's totally innocent in all this.
"Okay, and who is she?"
"I don't know. Wildfire. She's new."
"Why were you fighting?"
"She wanted to save this lady that was getting mugged, but I got there first." He crosses his arms. "Fair and square."
"Wait, where's the lady now?"
"Oh, shit." Crosswind covers his mouth. "I forgot to give her purse back."
I look at Frankie, who's about as impressed as I am. "So she got mugged by a regular guy and two supers. Nice," she sighs. "Can you tell us which direction they all ran?"
"I don't know. I was fighting...Wildfire."
"Give us the purse, then. We can track her down." I hold out my hand, and Crosswind, a little grudgingly, gives it up. I'm guessing he would have argued if there weren't a building smouldering behind us. Taking out my citation pad, I sling the handbag over my shoulder.
"What are you writing me up for?"
I try to ominously click my pen, but there's really no way to make that work. "Disorderly conduct. Unless I find out that you started the fire." Dammit—I should have waited. The pen click would have been so much more ominous there.
"I didn't. It was her. I swear."
"Okay, buddy. Don't oversell it." I tear a sheet off the pad and hand it to Crosswind, then motion him a little closer. "By the way," I whisper in his ear, "Your underwear goes on before your pants."
***
"It's Lacey's," Frankie tells me, holding up her driver's license. It's the only government-issued photo I've seen that actually looks like a human, and believe me, I have seen a lot. Tells you how pretty Lacey is. "Bernie and I will head out and look for her."
"Bradshaw and I are gonna help you."
"Uh, no you're not." Frankie shows me her watch. She's had the same little Casio for about ten years now. "Your third shift just ended."
"Shit, is it that late?" Bradshaw's perfectly-timed yawn confirms it. "You need another unit."
"I don't want to drag a zombie around with me all night. Just drop that purse off at the station and head home. It'll be fine." She points to Crosswind with her thumb. "Plus we have Faulkner's finest on the job."
"Yeah, just make sure he doesn't commit arson on your watch. For the second time tonight."
"No promises." Frankie clicks her tongue and climbs into the Charger. "Night, Fisher."
YOU ARE READING
Unsung Hero
Science FictionNo one has any idea what it's like to be a cop in a city full of superheroes. It's being last to the crime scene and first to fall under scrutiny, but it doesn't stop Cody Fisher from doing his job. Er, most of the time. Faulkner is the best-pro...
