January 17, 1990
Mickey's POV

This assignment was an interesting one. I had to pose as a freshman in high school because the main concern with the assignment was the school bus. There had been constant threats of bombs going off on a particular school bus, but they had all been empty. The school district thought it would be easier and cheaper to just assign an undercover cop to make sure nothing happens. That lucky cop was me. I had to transform into Mickey Hyland.

My job had been to only ride on the bus, but it manifested into going to Metro High School as well and ask around if anyone knows any information about the bomb threats. I talked to a kid named Robert Kemper, and he was a very quiet, sullen, and smart sophomore. We became partners for an English project for the book Animal Farm, which we had been working on together for as long as I have been at the school.

I walked on the yellow school bus, noticing a kid in a wheelchair in the back reading a book. She looked like a grade schooler, with curly red hair and thick glasses. I took an empty seat, and the bus rolled to the next stop. The bus was almost completely full of students of all grade levels. I've had to go to school by bus for over a week, and nothing has happened. I talked to Fuller and yesterday was supposed to be my last day on the case, but for some reason it was pushed back one more day.

I dug through my bag, unable to find one of the papers I wrote for our project. I mentally kicked myself, because it was my job to bring it to class. Even though it will no longer be my problem at the end of the day, I felt guilty because it would become Robert's problem. Maybe I could drop it off in the morning before work.

The bus began chugging up a hill, then it started to fly down. Some kids were excited by the speed, but others were commenting that we weren't slowing down. I got concerned too, so I ran up to the front of the bus and asked the bus driver what was wrong.

He was pumping the breaks like it was no tomorrow. He was frantic but tried to remain calm for the kids. I crouched down beside him and flashed him my badge, and he seemed more relaxed that I was there, but not enough. The bus was still traveling down the large hill with no sense of stopping.

"The breaks must have been cut," I said. The bus hit a small bump but from our speed, I felt the bus leave the ground and we all fell when it landed again. Kids screamed at the terrifying motion. I fell to my butt from the impact but the bus driver managed to keep us driving straight. I frantically looked around and said, "we need to get out of here, now."

"The lake!" A kid shouted. I snapped my head toward the window and saw that we were driving along the Evergreen Lake. The only thing keeping cars from driving off the road and into the lake was a flimsy highway guardrail.

My head was clear and so were my instructions, so the panicked bus driver did not think twice when I told him to switch with me. I figured out how to open the doors and told the bus driver that everyone needed to jump into the lake for safety. I drove as close as I could to the railing. He was compliant, and we managed to get everyone to jump out of the speeding bus and into the nearby lake.

As soon as the bus driver jumped, I kept the doors open to prepare for my own escape. I threw off my windbreaker, leaving just my pink loose knit sweater with a grey abstract pattern along the bottom tucked into my faded high-waist jeans. I tossed the windbreaker onto a nearby seat, and I readjusted my brown belt to prepare to get shocked by the freezing cold lake water. As I clung to the handrail of the bus, about to jump, I heard a voice in the back of my head telling me to look back. I glanced back, and had to do a double-take because the girl in the wheelchair was still there, trapped at the back of the bus. She was calling out to me, but it was impossible to hear her from the sound of the intense wind.

I gasped, and ran to her to release the breaks on her wheels. She pointed to the front of the bus and yelled, "look!"

The road was coming to a turn, so I rushed to the wheel and was careful about how quickly I needed to get the bus to turn. It was a small turn, but we were going so fast that any flinch of the wheel could make us flip. The interstate was right by the road, and I knew that we would be safer there. I told the student to hold on, and I rammed us through a bush to get us onto the interstate before straightening us out on the straight road.

My heart was pounding out of my chest, and I tried to swallow the fear in my throat. I was still pumping the breaks, but the bus was only getting faster. We were going nearly a hundred miles an hour and increasing by the minute. There was also more than likely a bomb on the bus, set to go off at any moment. I would have jumped in the lake if the girl wasn't there. Luckily I saw her, otherwise she would have died terrified and alone.

I looked around frantically and noticed a two-way radio. I managed to get a hold of 9-1-1 about the run-away bus, and they said that they had units coming.

The girl was right next to me but with the open windows and doors, it was difficult to hear over the sound of the wind. I told her, "9-1-1 is on its way!"

"I'm scared!" She called out. I tried not to look back at her because I had to be focused on the road in front of me. But, I could imagine the fear in her eyes. I just hoped she couldn't see that in mine. I was honking at cars to get out of our way as we sped past them.

"What's your name?" I asked her loudly.

"Jamie!"

"I'm Mickey," I told her. I tried to keep her mind off the situation by asking, "what grade are you in, Jamie?"

"Second," she said. She was so young, wide-eyed, and terrified.

"I'm a police officer. We are going to be okay."

"Do you promise?" She asked.

My words stopped in my throat. I was trained never to promise anything. To be fair, I had no idea how this was going to end. A million ideas were running through my head, and none of them ended up ending well. I took a deep breath... in through my nose and out through my mouth. I finally said, "I promise."

Pretty soon, the wheel locked on the bus going straight. I tried to jiggle the wheel but it was no use. Jamie asked, "what's wrong?"

"The wheel isn't turning," I said. I couldn't switch lanes to pass anyone anymore so I had to result to only honking. I think that cops were blocking the entrances of the interstate because there were not nearly as many people on the road, and I was certain that this situation was broadcasted on the radio so people were probably avoiding the interstate.

"Mickey..." her voice trembled and she pointed up ahead. I looked up and noticed that the freeway turns. If we were just going straight, we were going to drive through the metal barrier and off the cliff.

"Oh my god," escaped my lips. I had no idea what to do. We could jump off the bus but we would certainly die. We could stay on the bus but we would definitely die. Every idea I had concluded with our deaths. I sincerely believed that these were our last few minutes. There was nothing I could say or do to comfort Jamie, because she knew it too.

I couldn't be selfish and think about everything I was going to miss in my life, because I had a child with me who was going to suffer the same fate. Neither of us had a real chance to live. At least I had the opportunity to experience love, but she was so young, she barely had a chance to do anything at all.

I heard honking which snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned my head in the direction of the noise to see Ioki driving a pick-up truck with Doug and Tom in the bed of the truck, all wearing their dark long sleeve cop uniforms.

"Get in before it runs off the cliff!" Doug shouted to us through his cupped hands.

Since the wheel was locked, I ran to Jamie and lifted her off the wheelchair before racing to the door. Her fingers clutched to my jacket, and I told her to close her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut, and I carefully got down the steps of the bus and I tossed her in the air into Doug's arms. Doug caught her, and sat down to make sure she didn't fly out.

"Now you! Get out, now!" Tom shouted over the sound of the wind. I grabbed the handrail, darting my eyes between the road and Tom's arms. The road was moving so fast. I was afraid that Tom wouldn't be able to catch me. He called out, "don't look down! Look at me! Look right here. Trust me! I've got you!"

My hands were sweating and I was absolutely terrified. My heart was pounding out of my chest as adrenaline and fear was giving me tunnel vision. Suddenly, the bus hit a small bump in the road which made my legs collapse and I fell back. The bump made the bus begin to slowly drift away from the pick-up truck. The cliff was quickly approaching, and I was running out of time. I got back up to my feet and realized that the pick-up was slightly further away.

"Hurry up! I don't want to see someone I love get hurt!" Tom shouted.

I froze, looking at Tom with the wind whipping my hair everywhere. I had almost forgotten that I was in a life-or-death situation. I asked, "you love me?!"

We have said I love you to each other before, but not that often and never in public. Tom had told me that last time he said I love you to his girlfriend, she was killed right in front of him. He always thought it was a jinx, so he always expressed his love in other ways. Hearing it was a surprise, but I knew that he truly meant it.

"Of course I do," he yelled and lifted his arms up, "now get your ass in here!"

"I'm going to have to break!" Ioki called out from the drivers seat.

"Mickey, get in here, now!" Doug yelled at me as he was still clutching Jamie to his chest.

I looked toward the cliff, and it was right there. My chest heaved with fear as I finally jumped off the bus and flew through the air, right into Tom's arms. Almost as if it was in slow motion, he wrapped his arms around me as he caught me and we dropped to the floor of the truck as Ioki slammed on the breaks. Tom held me tight and I could feel his hand wrap around the back of my head while my face scrunched into his chest. The truck skidded to a stop, and I could feel Tom brace for impact by holding me tighter. The moment the truck stopped, we lifted our heads up and watched the bus race off the cliff. It blew through the guardrail and exploded in the air. Parts of the bus flew everywhere.

Everyone ducked for cover, Tom threw me on the floor of the truck bed and covered me with himself as the parts of the bus landed around us. Once all the debris had fallen and it was safe, he rolled off of me and held my face in his hand. 

"Are you all right?" He asked. When I nodded he asked again, "you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I reassured.

"You scared me, don't do that again," he said.

"I don't plan on it," I said.

Ioki had to reverse to pull us over and off the interstate. Cop cars were racing up to us, their lights were flashing and sirens were blaring until they parked. A fire truck and an ambulance came too.

Tom got out of the truck first and helped me down. Fuller came out of one of the cruisers and came up to us. He asked if we were all right, and I reassured that I did not need an EMT checking me out.

"How's the kid?" Fuller asked, nodding toward Jamie. I looked back and saw that Doug was talking and playing around with her.

I smiled and said, "she's good. Probably spooked is all."

Fuller nodded, "I'll be right back," he said and left to talk to the EMT's.

Tom stepped in front of me and said, "I hate having a job where I see people that I care about get hurt."

I nodded, "I know."

"I was afraid that I was going to lose you," he said.

I didn't want to tell him, but I was afraid too. There were at least three times during that bus ride where I sincerely though my life was going to end, and the thought of losing Tom was unbearable. In a split second, either one of us could disappear and lose everything. We aren't promised tomorrow. I wanted to love him without any regrets, and not hide anymore. I was going to treat every kiss like it is our last, because I will never know how many more we have left.

I need his love like trees need the sun. I threw myself onto him and pressed my lips against his. We pulled away, but both of us wanted more so we pulled into each other and kissed again. His kisses were warm and loving, but passionate. I could have died, so just being in his arms made me feel so alive. We heard someone clear their throat, so we pulled away and it was Fuller.

"Oh..." Tom mumbled.

Fuller looked at us for a moment before he asked, "how long has this been... a thing?"

Tom looked down me and said, "a few months, sir."

"Is it official?" He asked.

I peered up at Tom and we both instantly smiled. This told me that we were on the same page. Tom answered, "I don't want to speak for Mickey... but it's pretty official."

We thought he was going to yell, or scold us for breaking the rules. Instead he said, "I ought to fire you... but I'm not going to do that. This hasn't interfered with your work... yet. Will this interfere?"

We both shook our heads, "no, sir."

"Good. These kinds of relationships aren't allowed."

"We know," Tom said.

"However, I'll make an exception. When you come into work tomorrow—I mean, Monday, you'll need to sit with Human Resources and fill out a formal declaration of the Consensual Relationship Agreement. Understood?"

It's only Wednesday, but I can't come in tomorrow or Friday because I have my classes at the university. Monday is the next time that Tom and I will be in the chapel together.

"Loud and clear, Captain," Tom said and I nodded my head.

"All right," he said and left.

We looked at each other and chuckled and kissed again. My heart beat against Tom's chest. Our relationship was finally out in the open, and I have never felt happier.

That moment was cut short when I remembered something that Robert Kemper, my English partner, told me the other day. I called out to Captain Fuller and relayed to him my information.

"I was talking to Robert Kemper and he advised to me not to take the bus to school today," I said.

"And you didn't say this earlier because...?" Fuller asked me.

"Because he played it off by offering to take me to school instead. I did not think it was important at the time," I said.

"We've got our man," Fuller nodded, "it's your bust, Gregg. Let's go."

I said goodbye to Tom, and drove with Fuller to the school. I arrested Robert Kemper for the bombing and attempted murder of everyone on the school bus. The court date was scheduled for February.

Life is so precious. It's not something you can just rewind and watch again and again. When it's over, it's over. Once you realize that you are not going to be around forever, I think that's what really makes life so magical.

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Next chapter is Mickey investigating a serial killer!
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