"Are you alright?" Angela handed Jack a cup of coffee.
Jack shook his head as he took the coffee. "It's really awful to forcibly take someone away from their child. I checked, and this guy really didn't have any record. His actions yesterday were just a momentary lapse. Before this, he was an honest and decent person."
Angela shrugged. "I never said being a patrol officer was easy, either physically or mentally. He might have been a good person once, but that doesn't change the fact that he committed a crime."
Jack quickly finished his coffee and shrugged. "Maybe. Poor kid, damn world." However, he had an idea forming in his mind.
That afternoon, everyone was summoned back to the station. While Jack and Angela had been arresting a father in the morning, John and Officer Talia Bishop had captured a fugitive who had escaped from court.
This fugitive had fled to attend his daughter's coming-of-age ceremony. John, being the good guy, didn't arrest him in front of the crowd, which made the fugitive grateful enough to provide a significant drug trafficking tip. Commander Gray gathered everyone in the briefing room to plan the operation.
"The deal will take place at 3 PM in the parking lot behind Stone Home Goods on Sunset Boulevard. A car carrying 80 kilograms of cocaine will arrive from Mexico and park there."
Lucy, taking notes, raised a question. "So, the drug dealers are meeting in broad daylight in a parking lot?"
Tim, experienced, explained, "A department store parking lot is actually a great choice—busy traffic, open exits, and plenty of people make it the perfect cover."
Commander Gray continued, "The transaction process is simple. The driver will leave the car with the keys inside. The buyer will then enter the car and drive off. The whole thing takes less than a minute."
"According to the informant, the drugs are hidden in a red Honda Civic with Nevada plates. There are only two exits from the parking lot. Here's the plan."
After hearing the assignments, Jack, who hadn't been mentioned, raised his hand. "What about me?"
Commander Gray pointed at him. "You'll follow me in a patrol car. I'll be undercover in the parking lot, and you'll provide backup."
At 2:55 PM, Jack parked his patrol car behind Commander Gray's old Buick, pretending to issue a ticket. Gray, using binoculars, surveyed the parking lot, then picked up his radio. "The buyers have arrived in a blue Dodge Ram with three Latino suspects inside. No sign of the red Honda Civic yet."
John and Lucy, along with another team of Hannah and Angela, hiding in nearby alleys, confirmed their readiness.
Five minutes later, a red Honda Civic with Nevada plates drove into the parking lot. A man wearing a wool hat got out and walked quickly toward an empty Toyota pickup on the other side.
At the same time, a man from the blue Dodge Ram entered the Civic, started it, and prepared to leave.
"Go!" At Commander Gray's command, two police cars, sirens blaring, blocked the parking lot exits. Hannah and Angela's car emerged from the underground parking, trapping the wool hat man in place. Meanwhile, the Civic, loaded with drugs, tried to escape over the landscaping. Lucy and Tim's car sped after it.
Commander Gray started his Buick and followed the Dodge Ram, with Jack right behind him.
The Ram, blocked by John and Talia Bishop's car, had a passenger jump out, using parked cars for cover, and started firing a semi-automatic rifle at them.
The Ram then screeched in a tight turn, its tires squealing. With a loud crash, it rammed into Gray's Buick, deploying the airbags and knocking Gray unconscious. The driver of the Ram, looking crazed, got out with an AK-47, aiming at the Buick's driver's seat.
Seeing this from 20 meters away, Jack was terrified. There was no time to grab the M16 from the backseat or even to get out of the car. He kicked the door open, drew his Glock, and aimed at the drug dealer.
Time seemed to stand still. The sound of gunfire and shouts from the nearby shootout with the other suspect felt distant. Under the influence of adrenaline, Jack's focus had never been sharper. The suspect's expression was magnified in the Glock's sights, every detail of his bloodshot eyes visible.
As the suspect raised his AK, Jack fired, emptying his magazine in rapid succession.
Dropping the empty magazine and inserting a new one as he approached, Jack saw the suspect was already dead. Kicking the AK aside, he moved toward the other suspect still resisting arrest, shouting, "Drop your weapon! Hands on your head!"
Seeing John handcuff the surrendering suspect, Jack finally relaxed. As his colleagues gathered around, he pretended to be shaky, leaning on the car and dry-heaving.
Commander Gray, now conscious, patted his shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Jack feigned weakness. "I'm fine. Just a bit too tense, I guess."
Gray, rarely smiling, gave him an approving grin. "Good job, kid. You saved my life."
The radio then announced that Lucy and Tim had successfully captured the last suspect.
Hannah, still shaken by the scene, and Angela, unfazed, approached Jack. Angela playfully punched his chest. "These weeks of practice at the range paid off. You're the best rookie I've ever seen in a real situation. I've never seen anyone land all 15 shots from a Glock in a live firefight at over 20 meters."
Startled, Jack looked at the corpse. It was riddled with bullets, including multiple hits to the abdomen and neck, and the chest was almost obliterated. He wondered how Angela could tell there were exactly 15 shots.
Despite remembering every detail of firing, Jack felt uneasy. Was his performance too perfect? Even missing a couple of shots would make it easier to explain later.
Suddenly, he thought of the system. Opening it in his mind, he saw a new notification: "Congratulations, host, for successfully using mental strength in combat. Handgun marksmanship upgraded to Mastery."
So it was the mental strength enhancement that linked to skills. If he hadn't upgraded his mental strength, not only would his marksmanship have remained the same, but Gray might not have survived.
This system never explained anything clearly, leaving everything for him to figure out. It was a real pain.
The aftermath of the parking lot shootout was a three-day administrative leave for all officers involved in the shooting, pending confirmation of the legality of their actions by the district attorney. Before leaving for the day, Jack privately approached Commander Gray with a request.
"You bailed out that guy who stole the evidence?" Zoe, lying exhausted on Jack's chest after another intense session, traced circles on his skin as usual.
"Yeah. The bail was five thousand dollars for less than two thousand in stolen money. I just got my paycheck, and most of it's gone. I'm going to be eating scraps this month." Finally relaxed, Jack joked, hugging Zoe.
Rookies in the LAPD earned around seventy to eighty thousand dollars a year, about six thousand a month. Paying five thousand in bail had hit Jack hard, and he prayed the guy didn't screw up again during the bail period.
Fortunately, he didn't have the American habit of living on credit, with a pile of bills waiting at the end of the month. Living with Hannah, he had minimal expenses except for the cost of bullets for practice.
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