Chapter 26: A Failed Interception

After finishing the Dolci Mars case, Jimmy continued his slow patrol along the route, eventually heading back toward the station. He spent the latter half of the night on standby at the precinct; with no serious incidents requiring his attention, he was happy to enjoy the quiet.

When the morning shift change arrived, Jimmy returned home to rest. Due to the rotating schedule, he was on the night shift for the entire week. He slept through the day until the afternoon and then went out to find something to eat. This night-shift rhythm left little time to get anything done during the day, as it was primarily spent recovering, so Jimmy didn't bother scheduling any target practice or similar activities.

Come nightfall, Jimmy returned to the precinct to begin his second night shift. Being a night-shift officer was actually quite dull. Most rural roads in the United States lack streetlights; illumination is mostly confined to cities, towns, and their immediate surroundings. Once you leave town and head into the wild, you are essentially left to rely on your own headlights to navigate. Incidentally, large stretches of interstate highways are also completely unlit.

For a rookie like Jimmy who needed to accumulate experience, the easiest way to handle minor cases was to play the waiting game near intersections, especially around midnight. If patrol officers received a commission on every ticket issued, they would surely spend their entire nights staked out at crossroads. Staking out had another advantage: it made it easy to respond quickly to dispatch notifications, as the roads in all directions were usually clear.

It was not yet 9:00 PM—still quite early. Jimmy turned on his police lights, though not the siren, simply to tip off drivers that a cop was around and to encourage them to drive carefully. If drivers failed to see the lights and proceeded to run red lights or commit other infractions, he wouldn’t hesitate to be merciless.

American police officers possess significant discretionary power; whether or not to issue a citation for a violation is left to their own judgment. If an officer happens to be in a bad mood, or just having a rough day, you’re out of luck. Even if they can't catch you in a traffic violation, they might pull you over for having window tint that is too dark, test it, and you'll likely end up in trouble anyway.

Jimmy spent over an hour at the intersection and issued only one ticket to a motorcyclist who ran a red light while turning left. Everything else was minor, so he simply gave verbal warnings and let the people go.

As a side note, back in the year 2000, dashcams were not yet widespread in police cruisers, officers did not carry body cameras, and cell phones lacked video recording capabilities. Unless one was unlucky enough to be caught by public surveillance systems, recording traffic violations relied heavily on cameras and camcorders. Jimmy had a camera in his gear bag, but it was intended for documenting crime scenes, not for snapping photos of traffic violators. He also didn't have a radar speed gun, so he had to rely entirely on his own eyes to determine if a vehicle needed to be pulled over.

After sitting for a long time, Jimmy drove onto a small two-lane road, maintaining a speed of 35 mph. Anyone who overtook him from behind was speeding; this made his judgment both accurate and stress-free. Suddenly, a car approached from the opposite lane, moving at a high speed. As they crossed paths, Jimmy flipped on his lights and siren, made a U-turn, and began the pursuit.

The car ahead accelerated as soon as it saw the police lights. Jimmy had no choice but to speed up to keep pace. On the pitch-black road, visibility was limited to where his headlights reached; the lead car was nothing more than a pair of fading taillights.

Jimmy lacked sufficient driving experience and didn't dare push his car to its 150 mph limit in such conditions. After a few minutes of pursuit, he was forced to turn off his siren and give up. The taillights had vanished. Ahead lay a small town with numerous intersections; if the suspect turned a corner and cut their lights, there would be no way to track them. During their initial pass, he hadn't even managed to note the license plate or vehicle model.

His first failed traffic stop of the day had occurred, and the worst part was that there hadn't even been an opportunity for a PIT maneuver. He couldn't catch up, and Jimmy felt a flicker of frustration.

Jimmy drove slowly forward, burning fuel aimlessly. The department covered the cost of gasoline for the police car, so whether he was chasing suspects or patrolling slowly, he didn't care about the consumption; he only had to keep an eye on the fuel gauge to ensure he could make it back to the station.

County Sheriff's patrols were primarily conducted on the highways between cities, as they rarely entered the cities themselves, most of which had their own police departments. The radio at the dispatch center crackled frequently, but most of the activity was in other officers' jurisdictions. Jimmy’s area remained calm, with no violent incidents, leaving him to only catch a few unlucky drivers to vent his frustration.

"Adam 100, Adam 7, Adam 28, Adam 47, shots fired, shootout in progress. Ady Town Police Department requests backup. Switch to Channel 8 upon arrival."

"Adam 28, copy." Jimmy flicked on his lights and siren and sped toward the scene.

The notification gave Jimmy an ominous feeling. Usually, supporting a town police department only required one or two officers, but this time they had called for four cruisers, plus Adam 100—Sheriff James himself. This indicated that the situation was no longer a simple local disturbance; it might involve inter-city or even inter-county issues.

A quick refresher: the County Sheriff is an elected official, and there is only one per county. They are responsible for all law enforcement outside of city and town police jurisdictions, as well as the security of county jails, courthouses, and government buildings. Typically, a Sheriff does not get involved in specific cases, focusing instead on personnel management, coordination with the county government and council, and handling requests for assistance from the state and federal levels. It was extremely rare for a Sheriff to be summoned directly over the radio like this. Even as a rookie, Jimmy knew this from the briefings Noah had given him regarding dispatch and radio protocols.

Upon arriving in Ady Town, Jimmy realized he was the first on the scene. He switched to Channel 8 and pressed his radio button. "County Deputy Jimmy, I have arrived at the south intersection of the town. Please advise on the destination."

"This is Sheriff Sam. Take the central boulevard to the north side of town. There is a factory on the left side of the road. I'll be waiting for you at the entrance."

"Copy."

Jimmy drove to the location and killed the siren, though his lights continued to flash. A middle-aged man in a uniform with a sheriff's badge stood by the side of the road—that was the local Sheriff, Sam.

"You're the first one here. When will Sheriff James arrive?"

"Not sure. I was patrolling nearby, so I was able to get here quickly. What's the situation inside?"

"Four suspects inside. They've taken one of our own hostage, a woman named Gina. All four suspects are armed with handguns; no automatic weapons have been spotted so far. They ran here after causing a scene at the Green Parrot Bar, but there are only three of us, and we can't handle it alone."

"Why did we need the Sheriff to come? If it's just four people, wouldn't standard backup be enough?"

"I recognize one of them. He's a former county deputy, Sergeant Rayner."