The real life of an American police officer: Winning over others with virtue

Chapter 256 The End
Eric also noticed the two men approaching. One was a familiar face, Detective Costa, covered in blood and with a complicated expression.

The fact that the other person was covered in blood confirmed his earlier guess.

The other was a fully armed man I had never seen before, but since he was with Detective Costa, he was probably the commander in charge of the operation.

The guy had curiosity in his eyes.

Eric thought to himself, "Buddy, you're in trouble for letting this happen."

“Officer Stevens? We meet again.” Costa’s gaze first fell on Eric’s mangled police car, carefully examining the distribution of bullet holes, especially the horrific state of the upper half of the car body, torn apart by the metal storm.

Eric nodded obediently, "Yes, Detective."

"Did you handle the interception all by yourself?" Detective Costa looked at Eric, whose demeanor had suddenly changed, a strange glint in his eyes.

Eric stood up and shouted, "Yes! Detective! They tried to break through the checkpoint and even shot at me! I was forced to use lethal force."

At this point, Eric added one last sentence: "And my commander, Superintendent Daves, has authorized me to use lethal force!"

Detective Costa was stunned for a moment, and finally realized where this strange feeling came from. This kid was definitely faking it, and he was a master at using this tactic of shutting people down.

"He's not here to interrogate me!" Costa thought to himself, glaring at Eric's righteous expression.

"Prior to this, I had issued a notice instructing people not to intercept alone, but to wait for instructions."

When Costa was speechless after Eric's words, Rafe, who was quite curious, asked from behind.

So what are your thoughts?

He already knew Eric; he was on the investigation team during the previous investigation into Eric's rescue of the girl, in which he accidentally killed the suspect.

They couldn't make the decision to decisively kill the target in the room based on subjective judgment in such a short time.

I just felt that this young patrolman was quite professional, and his subconscious counterattack was very quick. He just accidentally killed that black guy. He's a good prospect.

He had mentioned to Inspector Grey that he wanted to recruit the young patrolman, but Inspector Grey refused.

The West Canyon Police Department is said to be understaffed.

But now it seems pretty impressive, huh?

However, Rafe suddenly noticed that the young patrolman was looking at him like he was an idiot.

"you are?"

Judging from the tone, it clearly means "Who are you?"

"Uh..." Rafe was stunned, and it took him a while to realize what was happening.

"SWAT Team Two, Captain Rafe Thompson."

As a result, the young patrolman simply responded with an "oh".

Rafe was even more embarrassed and speechless for a moment, feeling as if a thorn was stuck in his throat.

Fortunately, Eric didn't make things too difficult for the SWAT team captain, even though the captain had no authority over him and Detective Costa was primarily responsible for the incident.

His direct supervisor remains Superintendent Daves.

"They fired at me, and I tried to fight back. If I could prevent them from causing more trouble, that would be best. If not, I would just let them break through. Fortunately, the result was not bad."

Costa and Reeves exchanged a glance. For some reason, they suddenly felt that this kid was... well, they didn't know how his boss could put up with him.

“Officer Stevens.” Costa’s face was expressionless.

"You did a very clean and efficient job, but since you are a key person involved, I would like the report to be written in more detail later, is that alright?"

Eric nodded, wanting to say something more, trying to describe his actions as flawless as possible, leaving no room for criticism.

But the noise that followed interrupted him.

"Your direct supervisor is here." Costa looked at the command lane, which was different from the patrol cars.

As he spoke, he patted Rafe on the shoulder, gesturing for them to go over to Pikachu.

The Los Angeles Police Department has a very detailed division of responsibilities, and different departments are independent of each other. For example, it is common for people from other departments to yell at their superiors.

Although there are very few such hotheads.

Regardless, this young patrolman wasn't directly under their jurisdiction; relevant personnel would naturally liaise with them afterwards. Eric looked back, and Daves, who could solve everything for him, had finally arrived.

His command vehicle drove directly to the edge of the cordon, and Daves ran in after getting out of the car.

Seeing the scene, especially Eric's horribly mangled police car, Daves's face paled. He only breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw Eric standing unharmed and walked over.

"Sir!"

Eric stepped forward and said, "You've come!"

"You..." Daves looked at Eric and saw that familiar expression on his face. He opened his mouth, but after looking at the terrible scene around him, he finally reached out and patted Eric on the shoulder.

“You really are…” Daves shook his head, all his words condensed into one sentence.

"I'm glad you're alright. Get some rest and leave everything to me."

I'll go take a look over there.

As Daves walked towards the pickup truck and connected with Detective Costa and the others, he naturally resumed his role as commander, and Eric's voice came through the walkie-talkie:

"This is 10-Adam-1. The scene has been secured by SWAT and detective departments. Patrol units are assisting SWAT in securing the perimeter and evacuating all citizens within three blocks."

Notify the medical center and the SID (Special Investigations and Identification) staff that they may come in.

Inform the Media Relations Department to prepare for dealing with reporters.

Repeat: Unauthorized personnel are not permitted to enter the core area.

Following his command, the subsequent vehicles began to work in an orderly manner.

More patrol officers began setting up roadblocks a few blocks away to guide curious citizens away.

The forensic team's van also arrived. Hope, dressed in forensic uniform, led a group of technicians carrying cameras and evidence bags, and carefully entered the scene under the guidance of SWAT team members.

When he saw Eric and the wrecked police car in front of him, he instinctively opened his mouth, not understanding why Eric was there or what was going on.

"What's wrong with you?" Hope gestured to her team members to go ahead, then leaned close to Eric, who was doing nothing, and whispered.

"Standing as punishment? What did you do?"

As he spoke, he glanced at the pickup truck and saw the body lying on the ground.

"Is this also because of your 'Grim Reaper' constitution?"

“That’s blatant slander, Hope!” Eric said.

"Based on that statement alone, I could sue you!"

Hope looked speechless: "So what exactly happened?"

“It’s a long story, Hope!” Eric said earnestly.

"It's hard to say, you'll find out later."

Eric paused for a moment, then continued, "You still haven't told me what's going on with the scabs? See that bald driver? That's the guy I ticketed."

Hope didn't hide anything and told everyone the whole story.

Eric finally understood what the bald driver had done to warrant the entire SWAT team being eliminated.

As if remembering something, Eric asked in a low voice, "You're not going to tell me about picking at my scabs, are you?"

Hope nodded and said, "Of course, buddy, I won't forget you."

Eric was stunned. Now his strange abilities probably wouldn't just be known to the West Canyon police chief.

But then Hope suddenly said something that put him at ease: "Eric, if there really is a spirit, the victims will thank you!"

After he finished speaking, he patted Eric on the shoulder and walked towards the pickup truck.

“Alright.” Eric watched Hope leave, remained silent for a moment, and looked up at the cloudless sky.

"Do me a favor and tell God to get rid of this bad luck on me."

(End of this chapter)