CRYPTO: Infidelity (Book 1)

CHAPTER 62: CHASE

"Nitro's not slowing down so we'll have to cut him off before he gets to the main road," my partner told me.

"We're not gonna crash into him, are we?"

"No, but he might crash into us. We're about to find out." He sped up and stopped where the residential street met the main street, blocking both sides of the street with the car.

Nitro's car came barreling down the neighborhood with the detectives' black car on his heels, flashing its lights and sounding its siren to warn the residents to stay out of the way.

"Brace yourself," Dedrick told me. His side of the car was the side that would get hit, but he was still looking out for me.

Nitro took a turn at the last second, trying to get around us. He went over the curb and through someone's front lawn. He tried to turn back onto the street once he passed us, but his wheels slid in the mud and he was going so fast that the whole back of his car spun around and hit a tree. Did that stop him? No.

He got back on the street, but by that time, another cop car showed up, coming up the main street so Nitro drove north which led back to the residential area, but he could still cut across and make it out the other side.

We followed the detectives' car while the other cop car followed Nitro's car and let us know which direction he was going.

"Detective," Dedrick said through the radio, "keep going straight and make sure he doesn't get out of the neighborhood. We're gonna block his right."

"Copy that," the detective said.

"We're coming up on a dead-end to our left," the officer in the other car said. "If you block his right and front, he'll have to turn into it. He's currently headed east."

I looked at our map. "Copy that," I said. "We're closing in."

Ahead of us was the dead-end street. That meant Nitro was going to be coming from our left. Dedrick turned the car to block the whole street. This time, the yards beside us either had a wall or fence so he wouldn't be able to get around us.

The detectives blocked the street to the left of our street.

"We see them coming our way," the detective replied over the radio.

"Careful. He's going nearly a hundred miles an hour," the cop said.

Dedrick turned the siren off and turned the car so we were no longer blocking both sides of the street.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"He can't make this turn at a hundred," he said, "but he could kill someone."

I heard the other cop's siren getting louder and soon saw Nitro's car flying down the road. Just before he got to the intersection, our car lurched forward, missing Nitro's car by mere inches. I was pretty sure I got whiplash from that.

Nitro's car turned left to get out of the way. It spun out and hit a light post, barely missing the detectives' car.

Dedrick hopped out of the car with his gun drawn, using the door as a shield. "Step out of the vehicle with your paws up!"

The other cop and detectives backed him up.

Nitro opened his car door and did as he was told. His head was bleeding from the car crash. He was handcuffed and the detectives had a quick word with him. It didn't look like he was in the mood to talk though.

I realized my body cam was still on so I turned it off. I needed to be more aware of that in case I accidentally recorded something I didn't want others to hear.

Nitro was shoved into the other cop's car and taken away.

Dedrick went back to our car and sat down with a sigh. "What a rush."

"Yeah. You nearly got us killed," I said. "And managed to injure my neck."

"Sorry about that. I couldn't let him hit the detectives. He was going too fast. I knew he wasn't gonna slow down. I was just trying to scare him, and it worked. It's a good thing he had good reflexes."

"Did he say anything?"

"He only complained about the pain. Wouldn't answer any of the detective's questions. Maybe you would know some of the answers. You should talk to them."

"No. I don't know much. There's still a lot I'm trying to figure out. I was hoping Nitro would talk."

"You really should talk to them. You don't really think you can do all this on your own, do you? I mean, let's face it. You're not batdog."

"I can't trust them, Dedrick."

"They helped us catch Nitro. They've been doing this for years. If they were part of the mafia, they wouldn't be arresting their own members. You can trust them."

"But I can't trust that they won't tell others, even by accident," I said. "And I don't know if they'll even believe me. If I tell them, they'll probably arrest me."

"You are in over your head, Crypto. That dog we just arrested today was reckless and dangerous."

"And thanks to me, you were able to find him," I pointed out.

"If that's the type of guy you're working with, you're gonna get yourself killed. Guaranteed."

"Sure it's dangerous, but that's why we do what we do. For the adrenaline, right?" I repeated his words.

"This is more dangerous than being a cop," he told me.

"But I can help more animals this way. The system is corrupt. Somebody needs to change that."

"But not you."

"Why not me?"

"Because you're just-"

"A kid?" I asked.

"You're inexperienced. You said so yourself."

"You gotta start somewhere," I said. "And besides, I don't really have a choice. I already made my decision. There's no going back now."

"You could maybe get into a witness protection program."

"If things get really bad, maybe I will, but I have some bigger fish to fry first."