Chapter 194: A fight betwen partners...1
Liwu was teleported back into the precinct after the meeting was ended. The weight of her suggestion was still weighing heavily on her shoulders. Hopefully, her suggestions had been the right ones. Her goal had been to ensure that legally, they could explain their actions to the public if this came out someday. At least, she could rest easy knowing that this was the logical path, the humane one.
Even if the rest of the team did not agree, she would stand firmly behind her decision.
The precinct was buzzing with its usual chaos--phones ringing, suspects groaning or shouting as they faced detectives. Detectives shuffling papers, handcuffed criminals being dragged into interrogation rooms or processed before being sent off to holding. At every desk, there was some coffee, tea or snack of some kind.
Liwu headed straight for the break room, craving fresh coffee more than clarity.
The door clicked shut behind her. Linlin had followed, her eyes blazing. Without a word, she trapped Liwu inside.
"Hey..." Someone knocked on the door.
"Go away." Linlin barked.
Liwu input her order into the coffee machine, trying to ignore the sparks in her partner’s eyes. But Linlin would not be ignored.
"You betrayed me." Linlin hissed. "I am your partner. Do you still know what that means? I have stood by you in everything--the bad luck, the chaos, every case, every chase, every fight. I even offered to run way with you the day after your wedding because I was worried your family had forced you to marry a play boy. And now, when I saw the boy’s fate because you asked me to look into it. When I knew what he would become, you turned your back on me."
Liwu set her cup down on a table carefully. "I didn’t betray you. I was asked for my opinion and I gave it. I disagreed with your opinion, I didn’t betray you. There’s a difference."
Linlin’s voice rose, sharp and trembling. "A difference? Is this one of your ’logic is the simplest answer things?’ You think logic can erase what I saw. You think it can stop what will happen to those women. That boy is a monster waiting to happen. And you want to give him parents, put him in a school with normal children, send him to movies and amusement parks like some normal kid. You want to watch him? Strip his system> That’s like a declawing a tiger and hoping it won’t bite."
Liwu’s jaw tightened. "And killing him now makes us what? Executioners of children? We are the police Linlin." She raised her voice angrily. "We don’t punish futures. We punish current crime. If you want to punish future crime then I suggest you start another team for that purpose and take the helm."
Linlin huffed. "There she is. The arrogant side of you that thinks you are always right. Well too bad. You are wrong."
Liwu rolled her eyes. "And there she is, the overly dramatic side of you which falls back on insecurity the second you get stuck in a pool of mud. Stop the pity party, pull yourself out because I am not always going to do it. I am not wrong, you are. You are not thinking clearly."
The argument escalated, voices ricocheting the break room walls. Outside, detectives paused mid-step, ears straining. Officers stood around, like they had nowhere to go. Suspects in the bull pen shifted nervously, sensing tension brewing behind the door.
Linlin slammed her fist in the table. "Why are you pretending not to understand. My visions are not guesses. They are fact. They are fate. I have seen it. He will kill. He will destroy. And when he does, that blood will be on your hands."
Liwu’s voice cut like steel. "And if we kill him now, his blood will be on yours. Do you want that? The be the one that signed the warrant for the murder of a boy because of something that might happen?"
Linlin’s face twisted, her reasoning unraveling. "You are blind! You are soft! You are letting your conscience cloud your duty. It has always been your blind spot. You have a hero complex and think you have to save everyone. Go around and ask everyone...they will tell you this. Well they won’t because they are afraid of your background, but I am not.
I stood by you when everyone else doubted if a woman with such bad luck would survive as a police officer. I volunteered to be your partner. Half of your work injuries, I received too. I defended you when the commissioner questioned your methods. I threatened the chief when it was rumored that you would be replaced as team leader. I have your back. I have had it from the beginning. And now you leave me alone in this--like I am the mad woman screaming at shadows."
Liwu’s patience snapped. "Do not make it seem like I have not stood by you as well. I have done a lot for you, but out of respect for both of us, I won’t mention those things. Yes, you are screaming at shadows. Fate is not law. Vision is nor verdict. We are detectives Linlin, not prophets. If we start arresting criminals basing off visions alone, then we might as well invite every seer, monk, fortune teller and charlatan with a third eye into the precinct and hand them badges."
Their voice thundered louder, rattling the breakroom door. Outside, whispers spread.
"What are they fighting about?"
"What’s happening?"
"Who is inside?"
Even the criminals in the bull pen were very interested in the fight. They could only hear muffles, but the sounds were angry. It seemed as if a fight would break out at any moment.
CRASH!!
The sound of broken glass came from inside.
Linlin had broken Liwu’s cup, spilling coffee on the floor. "You will regret this. When they are fishing barrels of dead women from the sea, you will remember this moment. And you will regret making the wrong choice."
Liwu’s hand trembled, not from fear but from fury. "Enough" She barked.
