Jack waved a finger back and forth. "No, no, no, don't ask me for advice on this. I'm a devil, I only corrupt hearts. You're better off keeping your distance."
"And while we were treating the wounded, there was a guy hiding behind that big tree over there. He thought he hid well, but the sound of handcuffs and leg irons didn't escape me. Don't you want to score some points and end your rookie phase early?"
At that moment, Hannah and Angela emerged from the bushes, dragging a large black man between them. He had been sprayed with pepper spray and was groaning in pain.
"Hey, boys, you should've been quicker. The credit's ours."
John shrugged and motioned for the ladies to go first.
The ambulances had started arriving, and the injured county police and prisoners were being taken to the hospital. The prisoners who were unhurt and didn't try to escape were being taken back to prison.
Inspector Gray was in front of a police car, assigning search tasks to the arriving officers from various districts.
"As far as we know, there are still seven prisoners at large."
"Six." Tim and Lucy appeared, escorting a bald white man who had come out of nowhere.
Inspector Gray's previously stern expression softened a bit as he nodded at them.
"Good job. So, six prisoners still at large."
"Five."
Hannah and Angela struggled to pull the large black man up the slope, presenting him to everyone.
Inspector Gray grinned, showing his neat, white teeth.
"Excellent. At this rate, we'll be home for dinner. But, fugitives without transportation move at four miles per hour, and they started twenty minutes ago."
"So we've set up a blockade a mile out and have helicopters patrolling continuously. If all goes well, the rest is house-to-house searches to root out these guys."
"But," Zoey stepped forward, "if the fugitives escape the blockade, the search area will expand to the whole city, which will be a big problem for public safety. So, here are the assignments."
Tim, Lucy, Angela, and other groups, along with K9 units, would search house-to-house. New officer Neela Harper and John, along with reinforcement officers, would check vehicles at the blockade. Hannah, Jack, and two other groups would patrol the roads, ready to provide backup.
Soon, good news came. Tim and Lucy captured a prisoner on a community street, and Angela and another officer caught another in a parking lot.
This fool tried to steal a car from the parking lot, but he chose a high-end Mercedes with keyless entry.
Then Jack and Hannah received a call for help from John.
While John and Neela Harper were checking vehicles, they noticed a white driver looking overly nervous. He claimed he was just back from preschool, but although there was a child safety seat and half-eaten snacks in the back, there was no child.
John stopped Officer Harper from opening the trunk, suspecting a prisoner had taken a child hostage and was hiding inside.
"What's your plan now?" Hannah asked over the car radio.
John sounded anxious, "I handed my phone to the driver. He confirmed his five-year-old daughter was kidnapped and hidden in the trunk."
"But the driver can't stop. The fugitive has a gun and demanded to be taken to a safe place before releasing the child. We're out of ideas."
Jack chuckled and chimed in, "A safe place? What's safer than the Wilshire station garage?"
Jack had already spotted John's police car following a red Camry.
"John, I see you. We'll speed ahead. It's too easy to be exposed back here. Tell the driver to follow us. I'll notify the station to prepare."
Fifteen minutes later, the red Camry drove into the garage. The door closed behind it, leaving the space dimly lit. The driver got out, nervously walked to the trunk, and tapped it lightly, trembling as he spoke.
"We're safe now."
He opened the trunk, revealing a skinny Latino holding a handgun, huddled in the back with the gun pointed at a small girl of about five or six. The prisoner glared at him.
"There's no one around. I did everything you said. Now give me back my daughter. You can take my car."
The driver reached out with the keys. The skinny man waved his gun, signaling him to take the girl.
The driver quickly grabbed his daughter and moved aside.
Suddenly, the lights in the garage blazed, and a loud voice shouted, "Drop your gun!"
Officers Neela Harper and another black officer emerged from camouflaged positions, guns trained on the prisoner. Several more officers approached from the front of the car.
Seeing no escape, the prisoner, still in his orange jumpsuit, dropped his gun and was handcuffed.
The driver, clutching his daughter tightly, almost collapsed. John quickly supported him while Jack took the little girl.
The girl, cute and not at all frightened, smiled sweetly at Jack and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Jack almost kissed her chubby cheek but remembered he was in the USA and held back.
"Wow, what a cute sweetheart. Let me give you a kiss."
Hannah, with no such restraint, leaned in and kissed the girl's cheek.
The girl shyly ducked her head, looked at Jack, then hesitated before copying Hannah and giving Jack a big kiss.
Seeing the father had recovered with John's help, Jack handed the girl back.
"You're a very brave father, and your daughter is adorable."
"Thank you, thank you so much." The father sincerely thanked everyone present.
Officer Neela Harper hurried back, calling out, "Inspector Anderson and Inspector Gray are summoning everyone. We need to return quickly."
The group drove back to the accident scene, where only firefighters and some workers were still busy around the overturned bus.
A modified command bus was parked nearby, and everyone boarded.
Inspector Gray, seeing everyone had arrived, began speaking. "Three more fugitives have been arrested."
"That leaves two. It's been six hours. We must assume they've escaped the blockade."
___________________
Read Ahead
P@treon.com/Mutter