Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Jia yawned as she stepped into her bedroom. The surprising chase earlier had led to an otherwise routine day becoming a dangerous adventure. That seemed to be happening more and more with Erik as her partner, but she couldn’t say it bothered her.

All that excitement, though, was hours in the past. There was no adrenaline left to battle her fatigue.

Jia sat down on the edge of her bed, picturing what it would be like to slip under the dark blankets before another realization filtered into her mind about her allegedly routine day.

Routine was a ridiculous word to use now that Erik was her partner. There was no routine in her life anymore, but rather, the uncertainty of actual police work. They were investigating crimes, and their efforts had ripped back the veil concealing the sickening corruption festering in Neo SoCal.

She looked at a pile of papers, some of them notes from friends congratulating her on her successes with her last large set of cases.

“We made a difference,” she murmured aloud. “We actually made a difference.”

She tried to remind herself of that fact every day. She refused to deny the truth about the world around her anymore, and she worked to face the situation in the metroplex without any more leftover naïve preconceptions, but that wasn’t always easy. “We can continue to make a difference.”

Erik might not always do things the way Jia preferred, but that same unpredictability and defiant attitude were necessary to change the status quo for their enforcement zone and, arguably, the entire metroplex.

The question remained where they would go from here.

Jia found herself thinking more like Erik, which was both worrisome and exciting. The fact that it was exciting was another kind of worrisome.

Even something as ridiculous as using a pistol to shoot a moving vehicle no longer bothered her, nor did the idea of a blatant vehicle theft Uptown shock her. Would she end up like Erik eventually? And was that a good or a bad thing? She honestly couldn’t say.

She could use fewer shootouts in her future, but she understood that not every crime was going to be about identifying irregularities in financial records.

No one ever cleaned anything without getting a bit dirty. Would she hold to her integrity in the process?

Could she?

Jia’s PNIU chimed, pulling her out of her reflection as her heart rate kicked up. “Now what?” It was that kind of day.

She gasped as she sent the caller ID to her smart lenses. “No way. This is impossible.” It wasn’t her partner, the acting captain, or anyone calling to tell her about a case or a criminal.

It was something far more dangerous.

INCOMING CALL: LAN LIN.

It was her mother.

Jia would have been less surprised if the UTC prime minister had called her. She tapped her PNIU. Her mother didn’t like to be kept waiting.

“Is everything all right, Mother?” Jia answered, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. Her parents were in good health, but accidents happened. Wealth and money couldn’t save someone from circumstance or the will of the “Lady” Erik liked to talk about.

“Of course, everything is all right,” Lan replied in a crisp tone. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because you’re calling me so late,” Jia explained, thinking “calling me at all” would have been a more appropriate response. She placed a hand over her pounding heart and sucked in a breath. Even if her parents didn’t approve of her career choice, she loved them, and she hated that she couldn’t personally do more to help them, even if they didn’t need it. Faint guilt lingered over the idea that she had disappointed them. Perhaps it would remain until she capitulated to their wishes.

“Oh, it’s not that late,” Lan insisted. “I know you’re up this late all the time, and I often work late, too. It’s not as if you’re a child who needs to go to bed early, Jia.”

“It’s just been a long day. The criminals are feisty lately,” she explained.

“Feisty?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Jia kicked off her shoes and laid back on her bed. “But I’m happy to talk to you. It’s been a while.”

A few beats of silence passed, as if Lan were crafting her response before offering it. “We’ve both been busy with our respective careers. There’s nothing

wrong

with that, and there’s no shame in not being able to chat for a period of time.”

“I’m not saying there is, Mother.” Jia sighed. “But let’s be honest. We both deserve that much.”

“I would like to think that if I can pride myself on anything, it’s on my honesty with my children.” A quiet scoff followed. “An honesty that has produced more than an insignificant amount of strain between the two of us. If I

weren’t

honest, you would be less nervous when I call.”

“Fair enough. I don’t want to fight with you. What did you want?”

“I wanted to congratulate you,” Lan explained with a hint of condescension her voice.

Jia refused to rise to the bait. Even if the call wasn’t intended to be a positive experience, she would make it into one. “Thank you. Congratulate me for what? Mei told me already that you were happy with what I’ve accomplished lately.”

She saw no reason to doubt that report. It wasn’t as if her sister would go out of her way to shield Jia from the truth. Such feeble sentimentality accomplished nothing useful for anyone in their family.

“Good,” Lan replied. “I hoped she would pass that along without too much embellishment. You know how unfortunate indirect conversations can be. But yes, your father and I are pleased with you achieving an unusual level of success in your relatively low-level position. One might even make the argument that the level of attention you’ve received represents a potential peak in your current experience.”

“That’s a possibility.” Jia sat up, her stomach tightening. This was leading somewhere, but she wasn’t sure where. “But there are advancement opportunities in my career. I could be chief someday, or even commissioner. A captaincy is definitely in the future.”

“All true, but let me present a different scenario for your consideration.”

Here it comes,

she thought and waited for a moment before asking aloud, “What’s that?”

“There’s something to be said for leaving a position on a high note,” Lan suggested. She sounded cheerful now rather than annoyed. “When one chooses to leave a job in such a manner, one doesn’t have to deflect suggestions that they were forced out or asked to leave. It’s direct confirmation of a position of strength, not weakness. Surely, you can agree with that?”

Jia shot out of bed, glaring at the wall since her mother wasn’t there to focus on. “You want me to quit after I’ve finally found a partner who will actually allow me to investigate and solve crimes? After we helped take down serious corruption that was threatening the metroplex? Did you really think I’d agree to that? Is that why you called me so late? Did you want to take me off-guard?”

“Oh, Jia, don’t be so dramatic.” Lan let out a bitter chuckle. “It’s undignified, daughter. And let’s again be honest with one another. If I had the grand ability to get you to actually obey me, your mother, the woman who has sacrificed so much for you, then you wouldn’t

be

a police officer, would you? You would be a businesswoman like your sister.”

“We’ve been over this.” Jia snorted. “And as much as I love you, I’m not relitigating that fight. Please.”

“I’m not saying we should. I’m pointing out, as a proper parent should, that you have accomplished something special, and you should take advantage of that. Because you’ve done that, if you were to leave now, it wouldn’t be as if it were all pointless. You could parlay your recent successes into access to good positions outside your currently limited career field, despite your otherwise scant experience.”

Jia’s eye twitched at her mother’s bright tone.

“No, Mother.” Jia’s voice was straining to remain bright. “I’m staying a detective. I understand what you’re expressing and advising, and I understand your point of view, but I am experiencing what it’s like to actually make a difference with my job, and there’s no way I will walk away from this now. Surely you can understand that? I want more than a month to experience being an actual detective, not some woman chained to a desk and prohibited from doing her job.”

“Very well.” Lan took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I won’t lie and say I’m not disappointed, but at the same time, I’m proud you have such steel in you. I always worried that my heavy hand would make you and Mei too pliable as a byproduct of instilling you with appropriate respect, but both of you have proven me wrong. That said, while we’re discussing police matters, there is one thing I want to be very clear about.”

“What’s that?” Jia walked over to her blackened bedroom window. She tapped on the window a few times, and each time, the tint faded. She didn’t stop until the window was transparent and allowed in the nighttime light. Bright rays streamed in from nearby residential towers, and the dense lines of red, white, and yellow dots of head-and brake-lights revealed heavy traffic even this late in the evening.

Night in Neo SoCal was a mere inconvenience.

“I know you’re already aware that we had a potential political interest in Councilman Winthorpe,” Lan explained. “It’s unfortunate that he was so charismatic, and I do hope you don’t hold our lack of ability to sense his corruption against us.”

Jia stared out the window, the busy flow of traffic soothing and familiar. “I don’t hold it against you or Father, no. I don’t care if someone’s charismatic, though, only if he’s a criminal or not. It’s fortunate for you and the entire family that my investigation was able to uncover his wrongdoing before it affected our family in a negative way.”

“True. I have to thank you for that, and I also would have understood that had we been implicated, you would need to do what you could to save your own reputation. As much as I wish you listened to us, I don’t expect you to suffer for our mistakes.”

Jia scoffed. “I’ll never abandon family. You might be pains at times, but I love and respect you.”

Her mother was silent for a moment. “We love you too, and I know we don’t talk enough of late. I also accept that’s partially our fault.”

Jia refrained from pointing out they had barely talked to her over the last year, not just “of late.” It took her a few seconds to come up with her response. “At least Mei keeps us both up to date on the other.”

“Exactly,” Lan replied, a measure of relief in her tone as if she were grateful for the excuse. She cleared her throat, and when next she spoke, the domineering confidence was back in her voice. “To be clear, your sister keeps us apprised of everything that’s going on with you, including your social life.”

Jia laughed. “I should have known. That’s what this is really about, isn’t it? Me being a cop is a minor annoyance, but me being single? That’s a Lin family tragedy.”

Lan huffed. “Please, you are being hyperbolic. No one is saying it’s a tragedy, but it’s not unreasonable for a mother to want to see her daughter married. If you’re not going to take advantage of your current success to switch careers, you should, at the minimum use it to aid you in dating, especially since you’re so resistant to us assisting you in this matter.”

“’Assisting me’ is code for setting me up with a man who suits

your

needs, not

my

needs.” Jia tapped on the window until it was almost dark once more. “And if you’re so obsessed with getting a daughter married, why not focus on Mei? Shouldn’t she be first in line?”

“Your sister, unlike you, is taking the matter seriously and making sure she’s handling such concerns autonomously. Besides, it’s not the same situation, and needs to be treated in a different way.”

“How is it different?” Jia asked. “I know you’re conspiring with her to throw men at me, but she’s only dating slightly more than me.”

Lan’s weary, disappointed sigh stabbed Jia. It reminded her far too much of childhood mistakes.

“Mei is on the fast track to a vice-presidential position,” Lan explained. “You might achieve some of the promotions you discussed earlier, but those won’t come for years. Once your sister has her vice-presidential status, she’ll be in a better position to assure an appropriate match. That’s why we haven’t pressured her as much.”

“So, all I have to do to get you off my back is earn a series of rapid promotions?” Jia joked.

“That would be proof that more immediate social realities could be delayed.” Lan agreed.

Jia bit her lip to keep from laughing. If her mother had been in the same room with her, she would have never gotten away with the sarcasm undetected. Lan Lin could look at the twitch of her daughter’s eyebrows and all but read her mind, but pure voice communication over a PNIU put them on more equal footing.

Jia was sure this had been true for generations of Lins going back to their homeland, to the very first Lin family who had a mother and daughter.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she replied. A snicker still threatened to slip out. It was time to escape. “I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s been a long day, and there are a few things I’d like to take care of before I sleep.”

“Very well, then,” Lan offered. “I’ll speak to you later.”

“I’d like that.” Jia was surprised by her admission, hoping it would not come back to bite her later. “I miss talking to you, Mother. I’d like to do it more directly, not mediated through Mei.”

“Perhaps I can attempt to adjust my schedule, but there will be numerous issues requiring my attention during the next several weeks, just so you know.”

Jia sighed. “I understand. I just wanted you to know. I love you, Mother.”

“I love you, too, Jia. I hope you remember that, even if you don’t always agree with the rest of what I do. We

will

speak again, and sooner than the previous delay. For now, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Lan terminated the call.

Jia lingered near her window, pondering her family.

Her father, mother, and sister all opposed her working as a detective, but her recent successes had denied them their previous major lines of attack. The Lin family might pride itself on being important in the business world, but more than anything, the family obsessed over being the best, and right now, Jia’s successes pointed to her being on track to being a good detective, if not potentially one of the best.

“I finally got what I wanted,” she murmured. “And all I had to do was expose the disgusting truth behind the city. It’s almost funny in a sick way.”

Jia shook her head, then touched the window to fully blacken it and headed toward the door. A quick jaunt down the hallway brought her to a small brightly lit room. The door slid open, and she stepped in.

A cloud of sweet fragrances settled over her. Jia smiled. Two tables held rows of carefully arrayed earth-tone pots, each containing a different flower. She had arranged them to form a natural color gradient from blue on one end to red on the other.

Messing around with an indoor flower garden used to calm her, but she’d let herself be distracted in the last year and had given up her hobby after six months on the force. With the recent success, she had decided to start up again.

She had cheated a little with plants ready to bloom as a reward.

Being a detective defined her, and she had no problem with that. It was what she wanted, but somehow, being around Erik, with his ridiculous sports flitter and cavalier attitude, reminded her that she wasn’t just a cop; she was a human being who should not be defined only by her job.

Or how viable a marriage partner she might be.

Dancing with her friends was one way to remember that, but she needed beauty and relaxation in her home before she let the job consume everything, and she had pushed away flowers as well.

“If I’m going to continue digging into the darkness in Neo SoCal,” Jia murmured, “I better have something good waiting for me when I get home.”

Her thoughts drifted back to dating. She didn’t object to going out with men. She just didn’t want her mother and sister to set up her dates. Millions of men lived in Neo SoCal. There had to be

one

who would work for her.

So why did the idea worry her so much?