Chapter 9

They were at a small diner in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in between Oregon and Nevada. The drive from Philly had been excruciatingly long and even taking turns with driving Bette and Tina had to stop. They were aware that they were staying in a little motel in the middle of a desert next to a truck stop diner and that they were hours away from the nearest city. Vegas was probably 8 hours away, and from Vegas L.A. was 4 or 5 more hours. Neither one of them was willing to drive that.
 
The diner was quaint and there was only a few truckers there eating dinner before hitting the road again. Tina and Bette were sitting in a booth in the corner. "Hey Bette?" Tina said glancing out the window.
 
"Yeah?" Bette responded.
 
"Let’s eat fast and get to our motel soon yeah?" Tina said.
 
"Why?"
 
Tina looked at Bette, "I’m a cop, all my instincts are telling me this place isn’t safe."
 
A large cargo truck parked beside Tina’s truck and two large men stepped out. Tina looked at Bette worriedly. "I’m almost done," Bette said eating her hamburger faster.
 
"We’ll take it to go, I don’t like those guys," Tina said motioning the waitress.
 
"Yeah?" The waitress said obnoxiously chewing her gum.
 
"Can we get like a to go bag or something?" Tina asked.
 
"Sure toots," the waitress responded walking away.
 
The door opened and the two men stepped in immediately looking at their table. "Bette sit closer to me," Tina hissed.
 
Bette inched closer and grabbed Tina’s hand. She was trembling so Tina gripped her hand tightly.
 
The waitress handed them two styrofoam boxes and a bag then walked away.
 
"Hello ladies," one of the men said walking to the table with the other man behind him, "care for some company?"
 
"No thanks," Tina responded, "we’re leaving."
 
"Oh come on beautiful, just stay a while," the man insisted gently.
 
"I appreciate your offer but we really gotta get going," Tina declined putting the boxes in her bag.
 
"I was asking nicely but you’ve left me no choice," the man growled pulling out a large swiss knife. Bette flinched and whimpered. Tina knew that was the exact knife Bryon had used on her.
 
She showed no sign of stress as she moved her other hand to her hip where her gun was on it’s holster.
 
The second man opened a bag, "just give us all your money, now!"
 
Tina glanced behind them and noticed that the bartender was calling the cops. Tina didn’t know if the second guy had a weapon or not and she couldn’t risk anyone’s life, especially Bette’s. She released Bette’s hand and moved her hand away from her gun.
 
She stood up slowly with her hands up and said, "okay, let me just get my purse."
 
"Move slowly," the armed man warned.
 
Tina stepped out of the booth slowly, and Bette let out a small whimper as the man pressed the knife against Tina’s chest. What Bette didn’t know was how big of a mistake that was. Tina’s arm flew up, gripped the man’s wrist, and twisted it so hard everyone heard the loud pop.
 
The man screamed and fell to the floor in agony while Tina expertly turned the knife so that she could hold the handle and faced the other guy. Just as she suspected the man was armed. He dropped the sack he was holding and pulled out a small gun.
 
"Drop it now!" He yelled.
 
Tina immediately dropped the knife and raised her hands. The sirens of the cops became audible and the man yelled, "fuck! Who called the cops?"
 
He turned towards the bartender menacingly and cocked his gun, "you called them? You did?"
 
Tina moved immediately. She reached for her gun exposing her LAPD badge that was mailed to her. The first man who was still holding his broken wrist on the floor yelled out, "John she’s a cop!"
 
John turned around and fired. Tina jumped to the side as Bette screamed in terror. The bullet grazed her forearm slightly and Tina hissed in pain but she left no time for a second chance. She lifted her weapon expertly and let out two shots.
 
"John!" The first man cried as the other fell to the floor.
 
"Tina!" Bette cried scooting out of the booth.
 
"Stay!" Tina shouted turning and pointing her gun at the first man, "lay on your stomach and put your hands behind you head now!"
 
The man hesitated.
 
"I said now!" Tina yelled walking towards him. The man rolled over and put his hands behind his head groaning in pain at moving his injured hand. Tina crouched over him and cuffed his hands ignoring his cries when she cuffed the bad hand.
 
The door flew open and two cops with gun ran in yelling "NPD hands in the air!"
 
"LAPD, I stopped these guys," Tina said showing her badge. She winced as she moved her right arm where the graze was starting to burn.
 
One of the cops spoke into his walkie talkie, "we have an off-duty cop on the scene, she’s wounded."
 
"Are you alright?" The other cop asked.
 
"Yes, it’s just a graze I’m sure I don’t need stitches," Tina said.
 
"Tina!" Bette cried jumping from the booth with her awkward limp and hugging Tina.
 
A medic ran in with a first aid kit. Bette helped her sit down even though Tina insisted that she was okay and the medic quickly disinfected the wound and wrapped it in a small protective gauze. By the time the medic finished the cops had already handcuffed both guys to stretchers and sent them away.
 
"Thanks officer…"
 
"Kennard," Tina said standing up and shaking the cop’s hand.
 
"Take it easy, it’ll only burn for a few days," the medic said.
 
Bette immediately grabbed her other arm, "please sit down T."
 
"I’m okay Bette, really," Tina said smiling.
 
"Well thanks Officer Kennard we’ve been searching for those guys for months," the cop said.
 
"It was an honor," Tina said, "may we go?"
 
"Yes, but if I may get your issue number?" The cop said, "I would like to report this to the LAPD as a thank you."
 
"Oh you don’t have to," Tina said.
 
"Come on you’re a hero!" The waitress chirped from behind the counter.
 
Tina said and showed him her I.D. The other cop wrote down the information then handed it back. "Thanks again, drive safely," the cop said shaking her hand.
 
The other cop did the same then followed his partner out. Tina handed Bette her cane and said, "let’s go?"
 
"Are you sure you’re okay? I can drive us back to the motel…"
 
"Bette I’m fine," Tina said cupping Bette’s cheek, "I promise."
 
"Sure?"
 
"Sure," Tina said.
 
As Bette and Tina walked out the waitress, bartender, and truckers gave her a round of applause. "You really are a hero," Bette said as they climbed in the car.
 
"It’s part of the job," Tina said.
 
"Your job is also risky I didn’t realize how much until now," Bette said. "What if there’s more dangerous people in L.A?"
 
"I’ve been a cop for years Bette, plus Jake is an excellent partner he’ll have my back," Tina said.
 
"I know why Carolyn is always worried now," Bette commented as Tina parked the car in front of the motel.
 
Tina helped Bette down the car then they walked into the room. Bette immediately went to the bed and sat down. Tina made a beeline to her duffel bag and took out her pajamas since her shirt had blood on it.
 
"Do you need help?" Bette asked.
 
Tina chuckled and said, "I love that you’re so worried about me."
 
"Well of course I am, I…"
 
Tina glanced at Bette as she trailed off.
"You what?"
 
"I l-love you,"
 
Tina smiled as a blush crept up her cheeks. "You already know I love you too."
 
"I just got so scared when that guy shot you…" Bette trailed off as her lip trembled.
 
"Hey, hey," Tina said walking to the bed and cupping Bette’s cheek, "don’t cry okay? I’m alright, I’ve been shot before."
 
"You have?"
 
"That’s how Jake and I became partners," Tina said. "We were both rookies at the time and we didn’t see much action other than setting up speed traps and giving out tickets. But that day there was a bank robbery with a hostage situation and they needed reinforcements. Jake and I were placed in the infiltration team. We were to sneak into the bank from the back and take the guys out.
 
"Everybody had a partner and Jake was mine. We went in quieter than the fucking S.W.A.T team if I may say so myself, but there was more guys then we anticipated. There was about ten of them and they were stationed in a position that left no room for error, we couldn’t let any of the hostages get killed.
 
"So every team targeted a man, the problem was our man was hidden behind a pillar we couldn’t get a clear shot. So Jake and I planned it out. He would run in and move the hostage out of the way while I shot the only available part of the guy we could, his arm. Then Jake would take the second shot before he fired back.
 
"We ran out right at the same time all the other teams fired. They were very precise and every single one died on the spot. I hit my guy in the arm and Jake moved the hostage away. And just when I saw Jake raise his gun to fire the second shot, the guy fired back. The bullet went right through my vest. He had a damn rifle. Jake got him though almost immediately after he got me.
 
"I barely remember anything after that. I woke up in the hospital with this big ass hole in my stomach getting prepped for stitches and Jake was by my side. Carolyn was my nurse, that’s how they met.
 
"Anyways after that Jake felt guilty because he thought he let me down. We were both promoted to do field work and he insisted on becoming my partner so he could set things right. We’ve been partners ever since."
 
"Wow," Bette said letting out a breath, "you could have died."
 
"We didn’t think he would react so fast seeing as he was shot in the arm mere seconds before," Tina said shaking her head, "God knows how he managed to sift through the pain to grab the rifle with both hands and fire. That shit hurts like a mother fucker."
 
Bette kissed Tina’s cheek and said, "you’re so brave. I feel so safe when I’m with you."
 
"So you should," Tina said pulling Bette into a hug, "I would never let anyone hurt you."