It was funny when I sat down to think about it. I’d always had a hard time relying on other people. I’d managed to justify living with Aunt Rose because I contributed to the household, but I still felt vaguely guilty over it. And work-wise, I’d always been the unmistakable leader. But Hardwicke challenged me at every move, and I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would. Somehow, this growing partnership made me feel like everything was going to be okay.
Maybe the alien thing wasn’t going to turn out like a TV show, where everything wrapped neatly in sixty minutes minus commercial breaks, and the big bad guy made their appearance known by constantly dry washing their hands and making ridiculous megalomaniacal schemes to take over the world. This was the kind of police work I was used to, where you might never grasp the bigger picture or catch the kingpin—if there even was one—but you’d save lives and that was enough. I’d done that. The fuckwit probably would have killed more people if we hadn’t stopped him. I might not have all the pieces of the puzzle, but I’d stopped him.
I was thinking about this as I left Phillipe’s after a particularly grueling workout. On my way to the parking lot, I saw Tsishe. She stood up from a spot on the bus stop bench outside and waved to me. I approached warily.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” she said.
“Want a ride?” I offered. “It’s hot out here.”
She looked up at the sky like she hadn’t noticed, and I thought she might be smiling behind her veil. “This isn’t hot. My home is very hot. This is quite cold compared to there.”
“Where do you come from, the inside of a volcano?” I quipped, leading the way toward my car. I had questions to ask, but I certainly wouldn’t ask them here.
She let out a muffled laugh. “Not quite.”
I held off on further conversation until we were safely inside Candyass with the doors shut behind us. Then I said, “The fuckwit is dead, right? It was in that plane. I’m sure Commissioner Gordon has told you all about it.”
“Yes, we believe it to be dead,” she said, bowing her head. “Thank you.”
“I wish it wasn’t,” I admitted. “I was looking forward to having some proof that I hadn’t hallucinated this whole thing.”
She cocked her head curiously. “You do not believe it?”
“It’s easy now, because it’s all fresh in my mind. But a month from now, when there are no more aliens? I’m worried I’ll doubt myself. I did it with Ronda, and I expect to do it again. It sucks.”
“Ah. It is difficult work you do.” She paused thoughtfully. “But you are good at it. I hope you will work for the Conciliation, as Commissioner Gordon does.”
I considered this for a moment as I turned on the car so I could get the air conditioning going. The inside of the vehicle, with its dark leather seats, was sweltering. Maybe even worse than the inside of a volcano, although I lacked the experience to know for sure.
“That’s a very kind offer, but I still don’t quite understand what you do.”
“We keep the peace on earth. Protect the people. I like it here.”
“I…don’t understand.”
She looked at me for a long moment. “Very well then.”
Slowly, she reached up to her head. I wasn’t sure what she was doing until she loosened the veil from her face and let it fall.
The eyes were familiar—dark and lashless—but the face took me aback. She had an almost snakelike nose, flat and reptilian, and thin, almost nonexistent lips. Her cheeks were lined with spines that reminded me of when I’d grabbed her wrist and poked myself on something inside. When she spoke, I noticed that her tongue was split, giving her that peculiar lisp that had always made her so difficult to understand.
“You are not insane,” she said quietly, her eyes meeting mine. “Extraterrestrials are real. And there are those of us who do not pillage every planet we visit. I like it here. I would like to keep this place from being overtaken by those who would destroy in order to take what they want. You have proven yourself worthy of my trust, so I place my welfare in your hands. But I am hoping that we can work together, when there are threats I cannot handle on my own.”
“Your English is better,” I said. “And the accent.”
“Yes,” she said, tying the veil back on. “Your people expect an accent because of my clothing, so I give them one. And the poor speech makes people think I am stupid or simple. It excuses me if they overhear things they do not understand.”
“Like about fuckwits and casseroles?” I asked, unable to suppress a grin. “I’m not going to break human laws, you know. I take that responsibility very seriously. But if you hear of any other hostile aliens, maybe named after bobbleheads or Luxembourg or something, you let me know, and I’ll do what I can to take care of them.”
Her eyes crinkled at the corners. “That is delightful! Did you expect that you would become an official alien bounty hunter today?”
“No, I can’t say that I did, but if the shoe fits, I’ll wear it.” I glanced down at the clock. “I should get back to work. I have a bowling pin murder to prosecute. But you let me know if you need me. Assuming another alien will come? Isn’t two a lot for a place like Toledo?”
She shook her head. “No, if any extraterrestrial races come, it will be here. And they will come. Toledo is important in ways you do not yet understand. Be ready, Audrey. This isn’t over yet.”
With those ominous words, the alien let herself out of my car, and I got back to work. Months ago, this kind of revelation would have left me reeling, but now it was my new normal. Aliens were real. Some were criminals. My job was to catch criminals of any stripe, and now I was hooked in. I knew some of the things to look for, and I had a network of support to feed me crimes.
Tsishe had been wrong about one thing. I wasn’t an alien bounty hunter. I was a detective, and alien or human, I was determined to always find my man. For the first time since Ronda had died, I went into work feeling optimistic. I was good at my job, and any criminal who wanted to operate in Toledo would have to go through me. It was the kind of bravado that I’d felt when I first started working for the force, and under different circumstances, I would have laughed at it. But instead, I drove to meet my partner for coffee before we started the day, and that was enough for me.
Unidentified Flying Suspect (Illegal Alien Book 2) Page 21