Winner (March 2026) "How Did Yo...Never Mind" (Part 1)

Mike Landon is here wrong.

Reykjavik was aggressively cold.

Aurora stepped into the station, already bracing herself for chaos.

She just didn't expect it to be him.

"... tell me that's not him," she said.

"It's Michael Landon. Your new partner," someone replied. "Good luck with him."

Aurora stared through the glass.

Mike Landon. Leaning back in a chair. Spinning a pen like he had no responsibilities, no stress, and definitely no reason to be in the middle of a police station.

Same as always.

High school flashed in her mind like an unwanted notification:

Fire alarm? Mike was there

Missing exam papers? Mike was nearby.

Teacher's care mysteriously on the roof? Mike definitely witnessed something.

Never guilty.

Always involved.

Aurora exhaled slowly. "... of course."

He looked up.

Saw her.

Grinned.

Of course, he did that, too.

She walked in anyway.

Because unfortunately, she worked hard for this job.

"Aurora Sydney," Mike said as he walked over. "Didn't think you'd end up here."

"I passed the exams," she said. "They let me in."

Risky decision on their part."

"You're a detective."

"Exactly."

She didn't even hesitate. "I give it a week before you drag me into something illegal."

"Wow," he said. "You think that little of me?"

"I think well actually really troublesome things of you."

Later, files spread across the desk, Aurora tapped the paper.

"Seven banks. No injuries. No alarms. No panic."

Mike nodded. "Efficient."

"Suspicious."

"Also efficient."

She shot him a look. "You're not taking this seriously."

"I am."

"You look relaxed."

"That's not comforting."

He leaned over her shoulder.

Too close.

Again.

"He talks to them," Mile said.

Aurora blinked. "That's your big insight?"

"That's the insight."

"That's not how robbery works."

"Apparently it was."

She flipped through the statements again.

Slower this time.

"He was polite," Mike said.

"That's unsettling."

"Not if you do it like you mean it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you'd chat pleasantly with a good-natured neighbor in the middle of the day while taking out the trash but you'd be suspicious of a person asking the same questions in the middle of the night grocery run in a slightly different tone. Understand the difference?" Mike turned to look my way.

She leaned back. "So we're dealing with a criminal who's calm, careful, and emotionally aware."

Mike grimaced. "You didn't have to say it like that."

"You feel threatened?" Aurora raised a single eyebrow.

"I feel judged."

"You should."

The next bank took mike five minutes to pick.

Aurora didn't like that.

"You're guessing."

"Not necessarily."

"That's not evidence."

"It's experience."

"You said that in school, too."

"Uh... Personally? I'd say that was a case of wrong place at the wrong time."

"You got detention."

"Falsely. If I do say so myself."

"You were always near a situation."

"Coincidence."

"Seriously?"

They sat inside the bank the next morning.

Aurora was focused.

Still.

Watching everything.

Mike looked like he might start rearranging the chairs out of boredom.

"You could try looking like a detective," she muttered.

"I am a detective."

"You look like you're waiting for a haircut."

"We are trying to blend in."

"That doesn't mean you have to look like... well..."

"It could be."

Aurora rubbed her temples. "This is a mistake."

Mike didn't reply.

Which meant something was either wrong or he'd fallen asleep.

"He's here," he said.

Aurora went still. "Where?"

"Door."

A man walked in.

Plain. Unremarkable.

Easy to ignore.

Aurora almost did.

Then he smiled at the teller.

And something changed.

Aurora leaned forward slightly. "That's him?"

"Yeah."

"No weapon."

"Yes weapon. Hidden."

"No fear."

He didn't reply.

Aurora watched the teller nod.

Actually nod.

"... is she agreeing to this?" Aurora whispered.

Mike didn't answer immediately.

"Yea," he said finally. "Looks like it."

Aurora stood. "We move--"

"No."

She turned. "No?"

"Not yet."

"He's robbing a bank."

"He's talking."

Mike met her eyes. "If we go now, he runs."

Aurora clenched her jaw.

Because again--

He wasn't wrong.

"I hate this," she muttered.

"Same."

They waited.

Which somehow felt worse than doing nothing.

The robber stepped back.

Smiled.

Took the money.

And walked out.

Aurora stared for half a second too long.

Then--

"Go."

They ran outside.

Cold hit hard.

Street--empty.

Aurora turned on Mike. "We had him."

"We had a moment."

"You didn't even try."

"You weren't ready."

She froze.

"...I... You're wrong."

"I notice things."

"I hate that."

He smiled. "You'll get used to it."

"I won't."

"You did once."

"I won't again."

"Give it time."

A few weeks passed.

"... this is how it starts," she muttered one day.

"What is?" he asked.

"I become you."

He looked genuinely pleased. "That's an upgrade."

"That's a nightmare."

Then one evening--

The station door opened.

Aurora looked up.

And immediately wished she hadn't.

The same man from the robbery they'd witnessed walked in.

Calm.

Unhurried.

Like he belonged there.

He stopped at the desk.

"Hi," he said. "I think you've been looking for me."

Silence.

Aurora blinked. "You came here," she asked him.

"Yes."

"On purpose," he was wearing a tweed jacket and rectangle glasses.

"Yes."

"...why."

A small shrug.

"I have a family. Sometimes you let things catch up to you before things catch up to you when you're not ready," he said.

Aurora turned slowly to Mike.

Mike pushed off the wall like this confirmed something.

"Yeah," he said. "Figured."

She stared at him. "You figured he'd just walk in?"

"He doesn't seem like a runner."

"He robbed seven banks."

Aurora looked between them.

"... I need a transfer."

Mike grinned. "No, you don't."

She sighed.

Yeah.

She really didn't...

"Give it time."

From the Author

I like to write
And read
And sing
And draw
And play the piano

You can find more of Ri's work HERE.