spark

Chapter 17 : Kids Today

"God, that is a beautiful car." Stiles mutters, holding onto the bracing handle in the passenger seat. "What was the last speed check?"

"105 in a 65-mile-an-hour zone." Athena states, a whistle escaping Stiles at those words. "He passed us about three miles back."

The vehicle in question, a yellow sports car, was weaving in between the vehicles going the speed limit, almost in a panic. "Is the suspect male?" the dispatcher on the line questioned. It sounded like Josh, so he was probably still waking up based on how groggy his voice was. They rounded a corner under a bridge, trying to keep pace with the yellow blur as they navigated between the law-abiding citizens.

"Suspect was a blur." Athena sassed, a snort leaving Stiles at her joke.

"Could you tell if anyone else was in the vehicle?" Josh inquired, a scoff escaping Athena.

"The only way we're gonna see who's in that car if we get a whole lot closer." Athena proclaimed, the Sergeant continuing the chase as Stiles groaned in his seat. "What're you groaning about, Stilinski?"

"Sorry, this isn't how I imagined I would spend this shift." Stiles says, a curious look overtaking Athena's features. "I mean, I thought we'd be arresting at least two felonies today."

"Well, hold onto your drawers, we may end up getting at least one." Athena declares, making Stiles chuckle. Their line with dispatch suddenly became active again, causing them to focus in on their line.

"727-L-30, I have Tony Bryson on the line with Maddie. He's claiming to be the driver you're chasing." Josh states, the two officers glancing at one another in confusion as Athena returned her attention back to the road. "Tony's saying that the clutch on the vehicle is broken, and that it keeps speeding up. Though, he did refer to it as a 'gear shifter thing'."

"You think the kid's telling the truth?" Stiles queried, figuring it would be best for him to focus on the communication part while Athena focused on driving and keeping them alive at this speed.

"I think children, as a rule, are pathological liars." Josh said, a chuckle leaving Stiles.

"I know when my kid's lying, so he doesn't even try." Stiles replies, a chuckle leaving Athena this time.

"Who actually knows? But this one seems pretty scared." Josh continued, clearing up the jovial air so that they could get back to helping Tony.

"15-years old? He probably doesn't even have his learner's permit." Athena guessed, glancing at Tony's information that Stiles had brought up on their monitor. "All right, send us every unit you can spare. We're gonna need to shut down this freeway."

Tony suddenly swerved in front of them to avoid a vehicle, Stiles gasping in surprise as the yellow car continued on its route, wherever that was. "I think he's getting tired. We may have even less time than we thought." Stiles theorized, an agreeing nod being received from Athena.

"Is there any other way to stop him?" Josh asks, the concern in his voice showing.

"He's going too fast for a PIT maneuver. We could try spike strips, but if those tires don't hit just right, he could lose control, flip the car." Stiles responds, listing their options, which honestly weren't viable to begin with.

"It's a convertible." Josh sighs, getting on the same wavelength as Athena and Stiles. They couldn't let the vehicle flip or roll in any capacity, if they did, then Tony would surely die in the crash. "Um, maybe if he aimed for the strips?"

"An inexperienced driver in a car doing triple digits? There's no way he could hit a target that small." Athena denies, an eye roll leaving Stiles at Josh's idea. But an idea suddenly formed in the back of Stiles' mind, causing him to look to Athena, who probably had the same one. "But he could probably hit something bigger."