The chase began, with Jaxon and Peter running hard trying to keep up with Johnny. Peter began to fall behind as he was intently calling for backup. At one intersection, Peter lost sight of Jaxon and figured he would have to wait for others to arrive. Every turn that Johnny made, Jaxon was right there on his tail. Jaxon could only think to himself that he wasn’t sure how long he would be able to keep up since he was in his fifties and not in great condition like he used to be, while Johnny was obviously in great condition and most likely would be able to outlast Jaxon.
Chapter 4
As Jaxon was chasing Johnny Markus, he was beginning to run out of breath and noticed that he had lost Peter but refused to stop and figure out why. He could see Johnny in front of him and was concerned, knowing that Johnny was not slowing down, but that Jaxon was struggling, showing his age and lack of daily exercise (secretly thinking he needed to start using the department gym). Trying to push himself past the point of stopping and giving up, suddenly, he was blocked by a woman who decided to step in front of him.
“Get out of my way!” Jaxon yelled while waving his hand at her to move.
“Do you need my help?” she replied in a very gentle, warm, relaxed style.
Jaxon stared at her for a second, completely confused by what she was saying.
“Move, you are interfering with police matter!”
“I know I can help you,” she said and proceeded to place her hand on Jaxon’s shoulder, while blocking his progress and slowing his momentum.
All of a sudden, Jaxon had a weird sensation that he needed to move forward and turn left. The feeling of exhaustion was suddenly eliminated, and his physical being felt better than ever. He sidestepped this middle-aged Caucasian woman wearing her blond hair short and sporting an athletic build, and continued running, maintaining eye contact, temporarily taking a mental picture, frustrated that he could no longer see the criminal. Jaxon figured he could return later and have a nice long conversation about interfering with police work and also, he really wanted to get to know her. He knew he was definitely going to need some time to process these feelings later.
When he got to the end of the block, he made a left-hand turn; not sure why but felt compelled to do so without even looking at any other direction. His years of training and reasoning were suddenly diminished. It was the strangest feeling he had ever had. Unfortunately, he was no longer able to see who he was chasing. He began to slow down but then had a need, or call it a desire or urge, to continue on to the next block, maintaining his unwillingness to concede defeat. He didn’t know where he got the stamina, but he was able to stretch himself, both mind and body, beyond reason.
Coming to the end of the block, he began looking in all directions for this guy. With no visual, he wasn’t sure where to go, but then just felt again the urge to turn right. This was the strangest sensation he had ever experienced. How long can he anticipate it lasting? This was a mistake in his mind because he just turned down a dead-end street. There was no way Johnny would have turned this way. He could not avoid his unabated need to just slow down and check this street out. He began moving trash cans and looking in all alcoves and behind other items scattered in the street. Suddenly there was movement from behind an old metal trash can. Johnny could be hiding behind it, but then out of nowhere, something came jumping out toward him and took off running to the left. His heart felt as though it had stopped right then and there. Using his eyes while slowly turning his head and taking a slow relaxing breath, he realized it was a raccoon that had surprised him. He thought about calling Peter and telling him where to meet up, but then he knew that Johnny would be long gone by the time he could get there. He was on his own to follow through with this part of the investigation. So he slowly moved forward. There’s only one large trash dumpster nearby. Feeling as if he was chasing air, he opened the lid, afraid a giant rat would be glaring at he with its big beady eyes, and believing no one would hide in this kind of filth. After the raccoon, he took a deep breath and prepared himself for anything.
“Oh, crap!” Jaxon screamed as Johnny jumped up and tried to escape. He grabbed him and threw him against the dumpster, flipping him with a single move of his hand. Johnny rolled and tried to get up, but Jaxon tackled him, flipped him onto his stomach, grabbing both wrists and securing them tightly in one hand while he grabbed his handcuffs. He couldn’t remember how long it’s been since he so easily exerted that type of muscle with that much success. He placed Johnny under arrest, reading him his Miranda rights while picking him up and slamming him onto the brick wall and flipping him around so they were eye to eye. Jaxon then pushed Johnny down into a sitting position and called Peter to tell him where he was. Within five minutes, backup showed up and quickly took Johnny, placing him in the back seat of the police car. Peter jumped out of the car and verified that Jackson was okay and then explained why he had slowed down and how he had lost sight of Jaxon and had been driving around until he heard from him. One down, many more to go, Jaxon thought.
A second cop car showed up with Billy Mack driving. Having worked with him before, Jaxon took a few minutes to see how he was doing.
“Hey, Billy, how are you doing?”
“Hey Jaxon, been doing pretty well. How ’bout yourself? Someone called 911 just before we heard from Peter.”
“Cool, after this run down, I think I might need a nap,” Jaxon stated with a chuckle. “It wouldn’t happen to have been a woman that called 911?”
“I’m not sure. You’d have to ask dispatch. But great job keeping up with that one. He has always been a wily one. How did you manage to find him?”
“I finally made an uncanny connection between his victims and his transportation means. Just got lucky.”
“Lucky is not a word I would ever use to describe you. Your mind has a unique wiring that is beneficial to the job and causes envy among your peers.”
“Sometimes, I think it’s cross wired.”
Jaxon slapped Billy on the arm and then asked for a ride for both Peter (who rode with another officer) and him back to his car. On the short drive, Jaxon and Billy promised to schedule a lunch date to catch up. Jaxon silently wondered if this promise would ever come to fruition.
As the squad car pulled away, Jaxon finally felt like he could take a breath. He desperately wanted to find this woman who interfered and find out what it is about her that he couldn’t let go. The three drove by the area where he had run into her, but she was long gone. Jaxon had Billy pull over so he could look around and saw no sign of her, even taking time to look in the shops right near there. Unable to shake this woman from his mind, he reluctantly returned to the car and, ultimately, back to the station where he made a note of her description before heading in.
Back at the station, Jaxon and Peter walked into a joyful group congratulating them on a job well done. They sat down at their desks, facing each other, and communicated quietly and somewhat privately. Jaxon told Peter he needed to talk privately and recommended they go to the corner coffee shop. Looking confused, Peter agreed and followed Jaxon’s lead.
They meandered slowly to the corner coffee shop and ordered themselves a drink. Jaxon liked his coffee straight black, while Peter ordered a tea.
“I’m trying to cut down on my caffeine,” he stated after seeing the bewildered look on Jaxon’s face.
Oh, well, to each his own. Though it will be interesting to see how long this lasts, thought Jaxon.
The two found a table in the corner near the window where they could see everyone passing by on their lunch hour, some rushing