I NEED A HERO (𝓒𝓞𝓜𝓟𝓛𝓔𝓣𝓔)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"Good Morning." Tau sat a cream cheese danish and a hot cup of chocolate coffee with a touch of cinnamon next to Nemera's elbow. "You're early."

"Just a little," she replied, looking up. "I've only been here about ten minutes. Thanks for the goodies."

"Don't thank me," said Tau with a chuckle. "It's Orr's treat. I dropped him three out of five."

"Really?" She opened the cup and sniffed the wonderful aroma. "How did I benefit from your win?"

"It was coffee and danish for the unit."

"So where's Orr?"

"He went to grab the interdepartmental mail drop." Tau sat and opened his terminal. "I found the perfect coral sculpture for your Mom. I sent her a fire lily cut from scarlet coral. It's absolutely gorgeous and very lifelike. That way when her plant dies over the winter, she can still have a blossom to look at."

"She gave you the entire lily saga, did she?" Nemera chuckled. "She's nutty over fire lilies. That was very sweet of you."

"I think it's a lovely sentiment, keeping the first plant your Dad gave her all this time."

"Yeah, sentimental describes my Mom pretty well."

"I don't suppose you're sentimental, though."

"Me?" Nemera turned to face him, ears and whiskers forward. "Of course not Zuberi. I'm the Polar Pussycat."

"Seriously?" Tau wrinkled his nose, setting his whiskers back. "Who saddled you with that moniker?"

"I don't know." Nemera shrugged, but inwardly she was cringing. It wasn't a complimentary nickname and she wished she hadn't brought it up.

"Probably some jerk who got presumptuous and you shut him down," said Tau. "It sure sounds like sour grapes to me."

"What's that?" asked Orr as he walked in, a stack of mail in his hand.

"That stupid nickname," grumbled Nemera.

"Oh, that." Orr shook his head. "I've always suspected Pawar had something to do with that, but it could have been Jones, too."

"I got called Patrolman Priss when I was in Uniform Division because I didn't want to go out drinking or hit the strip clubs like most of the recruits," said Tau. "I guess it made them feel better about their stupidity. Half of them washed out for coming in late or hung over. A couple got arrested."

"Good riddance," said Orr. "Attitudes like that don't belong in Law Enforcement." He looked at the first envelope. "We've got a catalogue from Eamon Security." He dropped the catalogue on the table. "And an official announcement." He opened the message. "Wow! Punzie Ramar is finally retiring. They're throwing a formal party in her honor."

"She's actually stepping down?" Nemera grinned. "I hope they promote Mirena McCloud." She turned to Tau. "Inspector Ramar is the head of Detectives. She's a LuTav, all of three feet ten with a gorgeous coat - medium long, stark black and white. Cute as a button and tough as nails. She started in vice and worked her way up."

"Sounds like quite a gal and a great cop," said Tau. "One of your heroes?"

"Actually, she's my Godmother," Nemera replied. "She went to police academy with my Mom. Mom made her Detective Inspector when she was Commissioner. People tried to scream favoritism, but Punzie's job performance shut them all up."

"I'm sure she's awesome," said Tau. "So who's Mirena McCloud?"

"She's Punzie's assistant," explained Orr. "McCloud's Hrael, but she was adopted and raised by a Mota family. Tall, with an all white coat with the palest hair you've ever seen. She's got upright, pointed ears and a good nose, literally and figuratively. Mirena's strong, smart and a good cop." He looked at the next piece of mail, a large, stiff envelope. "Hey, this is from Veral Casta." Orr walked over and handed it to Tau. "See what he's got for us." He leafed through the rest of the mail and found nothing else that was pressing. "The usual memos and reports."