Heterodox (BOOK 2)

Chapter 15

That same hour...

~Finley~

First they ruin the Fleming statue.

Then they massacre the highway.

And now they ruin my sleep schedule.

I need them behind bars.

12:32 A.M. It is the abominable hour of 12:32 A.M and I must get up from my warm covers to investigate their next stupid antic.

But hey, anything for that promotion, am I right?

So here I am, still shivering under my coat at the cold bites of the wind, drawing closer to the bottom of Lepper Hill to see the next stupid stunt that seems worthy enough for me to investigate in the wee wee hours of the morning. And what do I see?

Bubbles.

Big Bubbles.

Big, indestructible bubbles.

Stay with me; big, glowing, indestructible bubbles!

All there at the bottom, huge, rolling balls of neon red, green, blue, yellow and pink.

I look around, to see if I'm the only one seeing this and I feel a bit happy that I'm not alone. Just as I am about to go back to my car, drive home, lie in bed again and rethink my life choices, Ethan and Matthias show up, yawning and still looking as sleepy-eyed as myself. We just stand there for a while, gazing at the other officers shuffling the bubbles into one area, questioning witnesses (who happen to be kids that were caught kicking and tossing the balls about in the street) and doing the rest of the miscellaneous.

I sigh, still gazing ahead. "Anybody saw anything?"

Ethan answers, not particularly chatty. "Nope."

As per usual. No doubt these people were proffesional.

"People heard though," Matthias comments, "A shell horn woke them up. Strange, huh?"

"Time of stunt?"

"Reported to be roughly around ten or eleven." Matthias rubs his eyes and then stretches. "I wish Chief let us do this later. Work is supposed to start at eight A.M, not after twelve A.M!"

"First time for everything," I hear Ethan murmur.

An idea suddenly makes me feel awake and hopeful. "What about the drones? They were there, right?  They should have seen something!"

Matthias shakes his head, killing my new bloomed joy. "Already checked. The range of the drones couldn't reach them in time. They only caught when the bubbles were rolling midway."

Useless tech. I am about to groan when another idea pops in my head. "Are any forensics at the top?"

"What?"

"U.N.O must have been at the top of the hill to roll these bubbles. And maybe that is why they were too far for the drones to pick up. Therefore-"

"Footprints!" Matthias and Ethan both blurt simultaneously, jumping awake all of a sudden.

"I'll call the forensics!" Matthias runs off elated, leaving us in the chilly air. I smile to myself, giving myself a mental pat on the back. Good job Finley. That promotion will be yours.

A cough from behind jolts me and I turn around to see Ethan offering me a dimply smile causing me to freeze. I'm so focused on the smile that I almost didn't hear him congratulate me.

"That was a good idea, Finley. Glad you're here to point that out. Not sure if I would have thought of that," he says, scratching his neck.

Cute.