Chapter 54: Friends

The lawyer and the rider talked inside for a few minutes before the lawyer stepped out and called Jimmy in.

“You’ve already discussed everything, right? Then let’s start the statement.” Jimmy took out paper and pen, sitting opposite them.

“Name, address,” he prompted.

“Alexander Djerentyev, Russian-American, from Kansas City.”

“Destination? What brings you here?”

“Tourism. Destination is Orlando, Florida.”

“The Arkansas Non-Highway Company and the Interstate Highway have a speed limit of 45 mph. Your motorcycle was going 80 mph, which is a serious speeding violation. You will be issued a speeding ticket that must be handled within 20 days. If you dispute the ticket, you may initiate a judicial process. Understand?”

Jimmy handed the pre-prepared speeding ticket to the rider. The rider glanced at the lawyer, who nodded in approval, then took the ticket.

Jimmy had finished processing the speeding ticket; now it was time to address the matter of fleeing from the police.

He pulled out a map, pointed to the exact location of the apprehension and the chase route, confirmed each point with him, and signed the report in front of the lawyer.

After that, Jimmy’s role was done. The subsequent procedures would be handled at the prosecutor’s office, where bail would be set. If the bail was paid, the rider could be released; if not, he would stay in the detention center for some time awaiting trial. But with a lawyer present, he certainly wouldn’t remain in the detention center permanently.

Jimmy took Alexander to the detention center for registration, then returned to continue patrolling.

Around 5 p.m., Jimmy received a call.

“Jimmy, it’s me, Jacob. Are you working?”

“Yeah, I’m patrolling the highway, Jacob. What’s up? Is it urgent?”

“Very urgent. Jon’s neighbor just called me saying they heard gunshots at Jon’s house and have already called the police. Then they informed me. Jon didn’t come to the restaurant today.”

“Give me the address. I’m heading there now.”

Jimmy noted down Jon’s address and sped toward the city. While driving, he called Kager to explain he had to temporarily leave his post, which was a serious matter, since the city wasn’t under county police jurisdiction.

Because this wasn’t an emergency call, Jimmy didn’t turn on his siren or flashing lights. He obeyed normal traffic rules but sped considerably.

County police cars are marked with “Sheriff,” while city police cars say “Police.” Locals can instantly tell where a police car is from and what jurisdiction it covers.

After entering the city, Jimmy slowed down due to heavier traffic. It took him twenty minutes to reach Jon’s home.

Jon lived in a middle-class neighborhood, where each house was a detached single-family home, usually one story of hollow brick with a wooden second floor.

Four police cars from the LRPD were already parked on the street outside Jon’s house, with five officers positioned around the property, all avoiding the front doorstep.

The LRPD officers looked surprised when Jimmy’s county police car arrived—county officers rarely showed up for city cases.

A police sergeant approached, and Jimmy got out to shake his hand.

“Brother, what are you doing here? This isn’t your case.”

“Sergeant, the homeowner is my friend. His neighbor called my friend, who then informed me. You handle it; I’m just here to check.”

Jimmy glanced at the police deployment and asked, “What’s the situation now? Is Jon safe? And his family?”

“We don’t know yet. We’re waiting for SWAT. The suspect is armed and holding the family hostage. The call came from the neighbor. The suspect fired from a window earlier, so we’re taking cover nearby. We can’t approach from the front.”

“Has anyone from the house appeared? Any confirmed casualties?”

“None so far. We must wait for negotiators and SWAT support before proceeding.”

“I understand. Can I take a look from the back of the house?”

“Okay. We have two brothers back there; I’ll notify them.”

Jimmy circled around to the back of the neighboring house, where two LRPD officers were on guard, mainly to alert everyone if the suspect tried to escape through the back door. The main assault direction remained the front.

Jimmy pressed himself against the wooden fence in the backyard and peeked halfway over to check the back door.

The house was roughly fifteen meters wide, a large house with an estimated floor area over 200 square meters. The rear wall had two back doors. Based on typical American house layouts, the left side housed the living room and bedrooms, the right side the kitchen and storage. From the rear, the left door likely led to a utility room or kitchen, the right door toward the living room or stairs. Next to the left door was a window, approximately 100 by 70 cm, sliding vertically.

Jimmy was about seven to eight meters from the house. He closed his eyes, activated his “mind’s eye” ability, but could only see a small portion of the house’s rear facade, about two meters wide, with no human shadows detected.

He glanced at the two LRPD officers and raised his hand to signal he wanted to enter for a closer look, but they held him back. They were unwilling to take the risk, and frankly, it was clearly against protocol.

Jimmy had no choice but to explain again his relationship with Jon and earnestly request permission to scout.

One city cop stepped back and quietly radioed the sergeant in front of the house. Finally, Jimmy got permission. He pushed open the wooden gate and moved along the right side of the backyard flowerbeds, cautiously approaching the house while scanning with his mind’s eye.

By the time he reached the right side of the backyard wall, he realized the house was larger than he’d imagined. His mind’s eye had a radius of about ten meters; in a straight line, the maximum scan distance was roughly ten meters. Yet, he hadn’t detected the front door at all.

He’d already detected two figures on the second floor, one large and one small, likely Jon’s wife and child. When Jon worked at the restaurant, he never brought his family there; Jimmy didn’t know them or how many children Jon had. Now, only one adult and one child were visible; Jon himself was nowhere to be found.

He continued moving leftward, hoping to scan the entire house with his ability.

Approaching the house’s center line, he spotted a shadow on the left side—a large belly suggested it was Jon. Jon was sitting on the floor, not leaning or collapsed, indicating he wasn’t dead or seriously injured, which was good news. His hands were in front of him, together—likely bound.

Moving further left, Jimmy noticed someone walking. Based on the earlier position near the front window, this person was inside the living room, behind the window. Because he couldn’t scan the front wall, he was unsure how far from the window the person was. Jimmy continued left to the window, peered inside without seeing anyone else. From the current situation, it seemed there was only one suspect.

Jimmy returned along the left wall to the backyard’s edge, picked up an LRPD radio, and contacted the sergeant at the front.