บท 16: Chapter 16: Warning
In the following weeks, the Wilshire Police Department was quite tumultuous. Tim Bradford's drug-addicted wife, Isabella, was hospitalized due to an overdose. In the room she shared with her current live-in boyfriend, at least 1 kg of high-purity drugs was found.
Given her past as a DEA agent, exposure in prison would be a death sentence for her, leaving her no choice but to accept the DEA's offer to become an undercover agent once more. The DEA wanted to use her boyfriend's connections to uncover the entire drug trafficking network.
Jack had a hard time understanding Tim's naive thinking. Even after being utterly humiliated, Tim still planned to send his wife to rehab once the matter was resolved, hoping to mend his broken family. Jack really wanted to punch him and loudly tell him to give up; Lucy was his true match.
John, on the other hand, had terrible luck. One day while patrolling with Talia Bishop, they encountered two armed robbers at a small convenience store. Bishop apprehended one, and John chased the other into a residential house, ultimately having to shoot the resisting robber in a second-floor bedroom.
Despite having body camera footage, the deceased's brother filed a formal complaint against John, forcing Internal Affairs to intervene. John received a week-long administrative leave.
As a rookie still on probation, and without his training officer Bishop present at the scene, Internal Affairs grilled him intensely. Adding to this, his first shooting leading to psychological stress prompted Jack to take John to see Maureen.
That evening, Jack called Lucy, and the three met again at the small pub.
"How did you recover so quickly after shooting twice? Am I too sensitive?" John asked Jack, puzzled.
Jack glanced at Lucy guiltily, thinking to himself that he couldn't exactly suggest sleeping with a girl as a solution since the two of them had broken up.
"Or maybe, you're more worried about your career? After finally deciding to start over in middle age, you're now questioning your choices because you're being doubted for following protocol?" Jack attempted to use his rudimentary psychology skills.
John shook his head. "I'm not that fragile. I just think that person didn't deserve to die. Maybe I was too hasty in pulling the trigger. Perhaps I could have subdued him without shooting. He was so young; he might have just acted on impulse."
"Hey!" Lucy couldn't take it anymore and slapped him on the shoulder. "I don't want to attend your funeral. Thinking like that will get you killed."
"I think you'd be better off being a cop across the Pacific. I hear their police are criticized if they don't shoot to wound first," Jack joked, smirking at John.
"The police are part of the state's machinery of violence. We're tools used by the ruling class to maintain their interests. If you can't accept that, becoming a cop was the wrong choice for you."
Seeing their bewildered expressions, Jack shrugged. "Forget I said anything."
"Didn't you major in psychology? How do you know so much about political terminology?" John asked, puzzled.
Heh, there's no way I can tell you that in my previous life, certain countries included dragon-slaying techniques in their nine-year compulsory education. Jack shook his head, planning to brush it off.
At that moment, a hot beer girl sashayed over with three bottles of beer, leaving a napkin with a phone number on John's table as she left.
"Wow!" Lucy's face instantly turned interesting, teasingly saying, "First time I've seen a badge chaser girl. Be careful."
Seems like there were still lingering feelings. How did they despise me last time when they broke up?
Jack had invited Lucy tonight to cheer John up, not to watch the two of them rekindle their romance. If something did happen, causing them both to get fired, not only would the plot get messed up, but it would also be incredibly boring for Jack to be alone at the Wilshire Police Department.
Thinking of this, he slapped his waist. "Not necessarily. My badge isn't hidden either. Maybe she's into older guys, like you."
"Shut up!" Lucy, both angry and embarrassed, threw a French fry at him. The three of them laughed and talked about Tim and his wife. It seemed widely known that undercover agents often weren't treated as humans, constantly facing pressure from both ruthless criminals and suspicion from their own colleagues. Cases like Isabella's, where undercover agents ended up as addicts, were not uncommon.
Jack recalled that Lucy later underwent undercover training as well. However, since he had traveled through time before "The Rookie" ended, he didn't know her final fate. But since they were talking about it, he deliberately steered the conversation toward the police's inhumane aspects, as a sort of preemptive warning. When Tim and his wife finally broke up, Lucy could pair up well with Tim as bickering partners.
Apart from John, Jack's favorite character in the show was Tim. This retired veteran was loyal and affectionate, with a tough exterior but a soft heart, always longing for a complete family. Only he could handle Lucy, the unreliable older guy enthusiast.
That night, only Jack drove his Chevrolet, so he didn't drink much. After dropping Lucy off at her apartment, he took John to his new house.
Watching John stagger into his home, Jack turned around to head back. The headlights swept past a black Mazda parked by the road, and a fleeting shadow inside caught his attention.
It was already past 10 PM, and John's new house was a standalone villa with the nearest neighbor a couple hundred meters away, making the Mazda particularly suspicious.
Jack pretended nothing happened and drove three or four hundred meters away. Seeing no cars on the road, he turned off his lights and slowly drove back while calling John's phone. There was no answer. Thinking for a moment, he dialed 911, reported his badge number, and requested backup from nearby patrol officers.
Since he was off-duty, not in uniform, and had no authority to search the suspicious vehicle, and considering he had been drinking, it was better to have more witnesses to avoid trouble.
Just as he ended the call with 911, John's call came in. "I was in the shower. What's up, Jack? Did I leave something in your car?"
"Grab your gun. You might have a visitor."
Jack's Chevrolet was already close to the Mazda. About 20 meters apart, he suddenly turned on the high beams, only to find the car empty. He hurriedly warned John on the phone, "Be careful, they might be in the house already. Find cover. I'll be at your door in a minute. Don't shoot by mistake."
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