Chapter 78 - HEROES

''Sophie!'' I call loudly as I make my way downstairs. Leather jacket in arm and Uggs in hand, I rush downstairs and into the living room where I find her sitting down with headphones in her ear, bopping her head up and down to some loud music which I can hear from where I am standing which is in front of her with my arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

She slowly removes the headphones after noticing my presence. ''May I help you?''

''I've been calling you for ages. Is mum home?''

''No. But she did call to say she'd be back in two hours.''

''Cool.'' I settle on the couch next to her and stick my right foot in my Uggs. ''I'm going shopping because school is starting tomorrow.'' Can you believe it? I certainly can't because it seems like yesterday when my family and I were ringing in the New Year and now it's the 14th. Time really does fly.

''Do you want anything?''

''Nope.''

I open my phone to see that Theo is outside and I rise up from my seat. ''Are you sure you don't want anything?''

''Yea, I'm sure.'' She eyes me up and down. ''Who are you going shopping with?''

''A friend.''

''Male or Female?''

''Since when did you turn into Mum?'' 

''Since she's not here, I have to make sure you fall in line.''

I laugh out loud. ''No offence, Soph, but I can't take you seriously. What is that all over your face?''

''It's powder,'' she groans in annoyance. ''White powder to be exact. I've been getting acne and Brittany said that using white powder would help make my face acne-less. She said she used it and worked for her, so I believe it can work for me.''

''It won't work for you if you stole the powder from mum's room.'' I point out.

Her jaw slacks. ''How did you know I-''

''Sister's intuition.''

She shrugs. ''Oh well. If you don't tell mum I stole it, I won't tell mum that you brought a guy home.''

Damn, I thought she forgot about that.

I stretch out my right hand and she shakes it firmly. ''Deal.''

''I'm off.''

''Don't be out too late,'' she cautions. ''And lock the door behind you. I have the spare key.''

''Alright.''

I do as she instructs and quickly put on my leather jacket and head into Theo's Sorento. ''Hey.''

''Hey,'' he answers in return, but it's not in the same cheerful tone he uses when he sees me. I turn to him and he has a scowl on his face. Not to mention, he has bags under his eyes and his hair looks dishelved. ''Theo, are you straight?''

''Yea, I am. Let's go.''

He put the keys into the ignition but I stop him with my hand. ''You look tired and stressed.''

''I'm a cop. We're always tired and stressed.'' he jokes slightly. ''It's not always easy trying to maintain law and order.''

''I'm serious. What's up?''

''Nothing.''

''Oh come on,'' I say with an eye roll. ''I think we're close enough for me to know when you're lying.''

''I'm not lying,'' he denies. ''Truly.''

''Then we're not leaving here until you tell me what's up,'' I look him dead in the eye. ''I'm serious.''

Theo sighs and rests his head on the steering wheel. ''You're persistent.''

''Spill.''

''I'm not meant to tell you any of this, but since it affects you directly, I might as well.'' I nod. ''I re-examined the surveillance footage from that night yesterday. There weren't a lot of cameras around the area and from the looks of things, someone tried to tamper with the cameras but there was a cabin in the woods that had cameras and the owners were kind enough to let me examine it.''

Oh.

''I had a glimpse of the shooter.''

My breath hitches in my throat. ''What?''

''It's just like I said. I had a glimpse of the shooter.'' he confirms. '' He was a white male. The videos were grim and I couldn't see his profile very well but one thing stood out for me. He had on a red cap and looked like he was sporting a beard. I shared the new info with Detective Anderson and Officer Louis and we've been trying to figure out who exactly it is by examining the criminal database but we keep hitting a dead end.'' His knuckles grip the steering wheel in annoyance. ''Whoever it is is always one step ahead of us.''

White male. Red cap.

What the actual?

If it's a man who shot at us, then that eliminates Patricia from the scene from the crime.

''So that means it's not Patricia?'' I whisper. ''It's not her.''

That raises his thick brow. ''You thought it was her?''

I shrug. ''Yea. That was why I said you should run a background check on her. When I first met her at the restaurant with Bob, she was acting suspicious.''

''Suspicious how?''

''I don't know. Maybe I was reading too much into her and judging her too quickly because we had an exchange of words,'' I snicker at the memory. ''But there was something about her that didn't sit well with my spirit. Like I said, she and Bob had a bad breakup; she cheated on him with a co-worker and Bob broke up with her. I thought she was a vengeful ex with a vendetta so she shot at us that night at Lakedale.''

He nods. ''Sounds soap-opera ish but that's what I thought. I thought she was the shooter. But now that we know it's a male and you said her record is squeaky clean, maybe I judged her too quickly.''

She may be a bitch but she's a harmless bitch…I hope.

Theo is silent for a while. After a beat, he starts. ''You ever thought about a career in law enforcement? A detective maybe?'' his lips tug into a smile.

''Never thought of that, at least not until recently.'' With everything that has been going on, I have to admit, I have been doing a little detective work. I did discover the dissimilarities between Bob's writing and the alleged note from him that was in my mailbox.

''If you're ever serious about it, I might as well take you under my wing.''

''Noted.''

''Shall we?'' He gestures to the road ahead of us.

''We shall.''

The Sorento revvs to life and we are on our way to Bridgewood's biggest mall-Bridgemall. The mall is actually not far from Bob's Eat 'N' Grillz and is located in the heart of Bridgewood. Want to know why Bob's diner is so popular? Well the mall doesn't have a food court, the only place where you can get food is the diner. The mall is just full of clothing stores like Forever 21, Victoria's Secret and Burlington, furniture stores like IKEA and grocery stores like Target and Walmart.

''Where are we headed?''

''Bridgemall.'' He makes a left at the corner and we pass Aunty Fiona's bakery. ''School's tomorrow.''

''Don't remind me,'' he groans. ''I can't believe the break is over already.''

''Time really does fly.''

''Speaking of school,'' he says and reduces the volume of the radio. ''You'll be graduating soon. Thought of what uni you want to attend?''

''I don't even know the course I want to actually study. I've been a little pre-occupied.''

He bobs his head. ''Understandably so but you know that all this,'' he flaps his free hand. ''would soon be over and you'd get your normal life back.''

My life was never normal to begin with. The shooting, Bob, Patricia, Jason, the mafia, they all just complicated my not-so-normal life.

''I hope so.''

''I know so,'' he says, determinedly. '���So you better start thinking hard about your future, kiddo.''

That sounds like something straight out of Mrs Finley's handbook.

''What made you want to become a police officer?'' It's a noble profession with its hazards of course. People in this country are crazy and I read news reports of how police officers are gunned down by gun-wielding maniacs.

''I had an older sister,'' he starts. ''My parents had me a little later in life so I had a sister who was eighteen years older than me. She was raped and killed by some psycho one night on her way from work.''

Shit. 

''I'm so sorry,'' I whisper sympathetically. He shakes his head but I can't see his face because his eyes are on the road. ''It's not our fault. The bastard is rotting in jail for life.''

It all makes sense now.

''I became a police officer to keep bad guys like those off the street. I vowed on my sister's grave that I'd dedicate my life to making sure that no one goes through what she went through. My parents told me her story when I was a teenager. I was about a year old when she died so I didn't know her very well but my parents said she was the best. I wish I had more time with her but the bastard took her away.''

He continues. ''At least I still have her pictures and my parents try to talk about her as much as possible, you know, to keep her memory alive.''

We get to the mall and park at an empty spot in the lot. ''This may sound weird but sometimes I look at you and I see my sister. I failed to protect her because I couldn't control the situation. Now that I'm older, a little wiser, and I have the means to actually protect, then you bet your bottom dollar I would.'' 

His innate urge to protect me, his not wanting me to go home alone after work, his wariness of Jason, it all adds up. 

He doesn't want what happened to his sister to happen to me.

''That's why when I was offered your case, I jumped at the opportunity. It's more than just a job to me.''

''Now you're going to make me cry,'' I sniff. ''And my mascara would run if I cry because it's not waterproof.''

He hands me a tissue from the glove compartment with a half-smile and I gladly take it. ''You're the best fake-brother ever. You know that, right?''

''I know.''

Not all heroes wear capes.