PROLOGUE
Officer Lainie Jensen yawned as she patrolled her downtown Long Beach beat. The early morning darkness had a hypnotic effect when the police radio was quiet. Her partner had called in sick, so she would be alone for the entire shift. It was the first time in her brief career that had happened.
At first, fears of inadequacy about performing her job without having that safety net of an experienced officer next to her threatened to overwhelm.
What if something crazy happens?
Will I make the right decisions should I need to act fast?
Will I do my job right?
But in the squad earlier, when the teasing started, she knew she’d be fine.
“Hey, rook, you want us to put some training wheels on your cruiser?”
“Maybe give you the nice, quiet academy beat?”
Lainie still smiled a bit when she recalled the jibes. The ribbing in squad meetings didn’t bug her. The older, seasoned cops only wasted their teasing on peers. Though technically a rookie until the next academy class graduated, she was off probation and a peer now—a part of the team.
Once seated in her black-and-white, nervousness spread through her gut like melted butter on dry bread. But it was an okay feeling. It meant she was alert and paying attention. Her duty was to search for trouble—and head straight for it. Lainie wanted to keep a little edginess.
The novelty of being by herself wore off quickly. Being solo on graveyard patrol meant she was a Robert car—a car dispatched only to report calls, of which so far there had only been four. She wrote some tickets and assisted on a few calls, but overall it had been a boring, uneventful night.
Around 6:00 a.m., with two hours left in her shift, more traffic began to roll as early risers headed to work. Lainie felt more alert, hoping to write some traffic violations before she went EOW, end of watch, to the station.
She’d imagined that a career in law enforcement would be a little more exciting than it had been tonight. Training officers warned recruits that real police work was not like what they watched on television—95 percent adrenaline and 5 percent downtime—but rather the reverse. Once field training began, Lainie learned right away how true that was. Officers on cop shows hopped from one hot call to the next. Real-life police work just didn’t move at that frenetic pace.
Still, Lainie wouldn’t be doing any other job.
After a few circuits around downtown, even ticket writing didn’t pan out—everyone was driving according to the rules. Today was her Friday, so she considered heading in early. Then a black Lincoln Town Car ran a red light right in front of her without even slowing.
Lainie activated her light bar, turned right, and accelerated after the vehicle. It wasn’t speeding, and she caught up in about half a block.
Ignoring her lights, the driver continued rolling, running a stop sign.
Though adrenaline surged—a vehicle failing to yield could be a stolen car—her instincts said the guy was probably drunk. He didn’t seem to be evading per se; he just wasn’t stopping. She grabbed her radio mike and asked dispatch to run the plate for wants and warrants.
“Robert 8, 28/29 on license plate 4-David-Tom-William-987. Northbound Chestnut Street approaching 7th.”
“10-4, Robert 8, stand by.”
They continued rolling north, and the vehicle ran another light. Lainie beeped her siren and got no response.
“Robert 8, 28/29 returns no want or warrant, application in process.”
Lainie groaned. It wasn’t stolen, butapp in processmeant she couldn’t know who the car truly belonged to. Time to let everyone know the guy wasn’t stopping and that she thought the driver was drunk.
“10-4, be advised I’m following the vehicle north on Chestnut, just crossing 10th. He’s failing to yield, probably deuce.”
She hoped her voice was steady. Her adrenaline had ramped up, but she didn’t want any of the older guys accusing her of being hysterical. Traffic stops could always go wrong; every training officer had instilled that lesson.
“Any unit in the area to assist Robert 8 with a vehicle failing to yield, northbound Chestnut crossing 10th.”
Lainie muttered her standard prayer, “Lord, I pray for wisdom and safety—for all involved in this stop.”
Several units answered up to assist.
Lainie turned her siren on, hoping that a bunch of units didn’t show up just to watch her wrestle with a drunk driver.
