Chewing on his hamburger, Luke asked, “Why are you staring at me like that?”
Elsa shook her head. “Captain Marta was even more courteous today after word of your performance yesterday spread. Berit even said good morning to me. Hehe. I always thought that his eyes were on the ceiling.”
Luke said, “I prefer money to fame.”
Elsa chuckled. “There’s no reward money, but it’s easier for us to do our job now. We should’ve been kept for three days of questioning, according to standard procedure, but I’m already done on my end. What about you?”
Luke said, “I think everything is over now. Does this mean we can go back to Los Angeles tomorrow?”
Elsa thought for a moment and nodded. “I’ll ask the boss later. If he says it’s fine, we’ll go back.”
They had completed their mission to apprehend Sergei. Where Sergei would be incarcerated depended on the negotiations between the police departments, and wasn’t any of their business.
It was safe to say that Luke and Elsa’s trip had come to an end when Luke delivered Sergei to NYPD yesterday.
After lunch, Luke went to the Major Crimes Division with Elsa to discuss some things with Marta. He then left with Marta’s card.
Bell was already waiting for them outside the door.
Luke sat in the passenger’s seat and gave her the card. “Here’s a gift for you.”
Bell accepted it without thinking much of it. “A card? Who is this?”
Most detectives of the Major Crimes Division didn’t have their positions listed on their cards; some cards didn’t even have full names, as this could pose a risk.
This was exactly the case with Marta’s card, which only had “Marta” and a phone number printed on it.
Luke explained, “This is a captain in the Major Crimes Division. I told her that you’re good with cars and well-informed. She said that you can be an informant for her if you’re willing.”
Informants were different from going undercover. Bell only needed to provide Marta with intelligence regularly without getting involved with the gangs. Essentially, she would be a living surveillance camera.
Informants like these were paid less, but it was also a lot safer.
Also, they were paid per job, and could withdraw whenever they wanted to stop.
Another benefit for Bell was that she could ask for Marta’s help if her car was impounded again.
After hearing Luke’s explanation, Bell burst into laughter. “Wow, I have an officer behind me now. Thank you, Luke.”
Luke shrugged and was amused by the system notification.
System: You have received Bell’s appreciation. You may now learn all her abilities.
Bell’s abilities: Basic Craft, Basic Car Repairs… Elementary Car Driving, Elementary Bike Riding
He had gone through so much trouble to acquire Vanessa’s abilities, but had won Bell’s appreciation so easily.
But does this mean that you never appreciated me until I gave you the card? Also, what’s with Elementary Bike Riding?
Luke couldn’t help but ask an excited Bell, “Bell, are you a good cyclist?”
Bell eyed him strangely and said, “Of course – I delivered food by bike before I became a cab driver. I still hold the best record for food delivery in Queens!”
Luke was lost for words. Fine. It was an elementary ability, in any case, and was better than nothing.
Elsa called Dustin and made sure that everything had been taken care of. She booked a flight for the next morning.
The next morning, Bell sent them to the airport. She hugged Luke and said, “Come find me when you’re in New York again.”
Luke nodded with a smile. “Alright. Fist bump – it’s time to say goodbye.”
They bumped fists, shook hands, and bade each other farewell.
After Luke and Elsa entered the airport, Elsa teased him. “I’m really worried for Jessi.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “I’m worried for Bell.”
Elsa was rendered speechless.
Luke was insinuating the same thing of Elsa and Jessi, so she stopped poking fun at him.
Forty minutes later, they boarded the plane and sat down.
Looking at the familiar cabin, Elsa couldn’t help but remark, “I hope it won’t be like when we came here.”
What an ill-timed jinx!
Luke could only gloomily examine the plane with his Sharp Nose as he filtered out the fouler smells.
“Relax. Nothing will go wrong this time.” Luke rubbed his nose and started to read a magazine.
Elsa said, “I hope so.”
The flight turned out to be a safe and uneventful one, just like any other flight that Elsa had taken before.
Elsa shook her head and smiled when she got off. “I was too silly. We can’t run into emergencies all the time, can we?”
They returned to the police department as soon as they landed.
Luke wasn’t bothered. It wasn’t bad to check beforehand if Dustin was going to give him any reward money.
When they arrived at the police department, they dropped off their suitcases and went to Dustin.
Seeing them, Dustin immediately put down his pen and stood up with a smile.
He shook hands with Elsa and hugged her first, before he did the same to Luke.
Luke was flattered. Wasn’t Dustin… being a little too friendly?
Dustin asked them to sit down and smiled. “Sergei has been caught, so we can finally announce the outcome of Katie’s case now. The crisis is over. You did a great job.”
Of course, the bank robberies had enabled Dustin to reach an agreement with NYPD which made up for the sacrifices they had made before this. But Luke and Elsa didn’t need to know the details.
“You just got back. Go and rest up. We’ll talk later. Do you need a break?” asked Dustin.
Luke looked at Elsa. He didn’t really care. It was up to his partner.
Elsa said, “I’ll take a break today and come back to work tomorrow.”
Luke said, “Then, me too.”
Dustin nodded. “Alright, you can go back now.”
They left the police department. Elsa gave Luke a ride home before going back to her own place.
Luke saw Elsa’s car off. He finally took a deep breath and stretched. “I finally have half a day off. How rare.”
He opened the door to his apartment and grinned. “It seems that Selina hasn’t been slacking off at all.”
Their stuff from Houston was now all in this new apartment.
He had been away for two weeks, and their things from Houston had already arrived.
Selina had Luke’s car. She had gone to get the items, and then arranged them in the new apartment.
The previously empty apartment now seemed more lived in and no longer felt like a cold dormitory.