Chapter 2: High Speed Pursuit

Cliff had a quiet night patrolling the streets of Clearwater. He'd had one case of public drunkenness to deal with, around ten-thirty, but apart from that he did not have much to do. The dispatch caught him a little by surprise.

"Cliff, this is HQ, do you copy?"

"HQ, this is Cliff, I read you," Cliff acknowledged.

"Les Cramer just called. Some drunk fellow in a Porsche is about to drive from the high school reunion over to the motel!"

"I read you. I'll lie in wait on High Street."

Probably nothing. In two years, Cliff had seen a lot of crazy calls, although Lesley Cramer was a bright kid. Plus, she was the Sheriff's daughter. He drove over two blocks to High Street and placed his cruiser under an oak tree, at the intersection of Peak Drive and High Street. He killed the headlights but left the engine in idle. He opened the window and listened into the night.

He heard the Porsche before he saw it. Then two headlights pierced the night coming nearer fast. Too fast. The Porsche rushed past the parked cruiser.

The transmission in Drive already, Cliff stepped on the accelerator and switched on the headlights. He peeled out of the side street chasing after the speeding Porsche. He caught up quickly and switched on the red and blues, tipping the siren briefly.

The reaction caught Cliff a little by surprise. Already going at around fifty, the Porsche accelerated so violently that it fishtailed a little and sped off, already past the motel. Breathing deeply Cliff switched on the siren and pushed down the accelerator. With his right hand he changed the engine settings from economy to performance and immediately the souped-up V8 whipped the cruiser forward.

"HQ, this is Cliff. I'm in a high speed pursuit after a late model Porsche Carrera, Montana plates, heading down High Street towards Templeton. We're getting close to the town limits and we're going at over 90 miles an hour."

He knew his voice sounded agitated.

"Cliff, this is Cramer. Just keep up visual. We're blocking the road at Templeton. All units, let's roll. Frank, Eric, block the Rock Valley Bridge on the Templeton side. Boys, keep your cool! We don't want this to end badly!"

Cramer, of course, was Sheriff Cramer, Cliff's boss and Lesley's mother.

"Roger, boss. We slowed to a little over 80 right now. It looks like he figured out he can't shake me."

"You can't pass him either on that road. He probably figures that behind Templeton, on the State Highway, he can unleash all those horses and cream you."

They were racing towards Templeton and the valley bridge. Cliff noticed that the Porsche was not driving straight but swaying a little. 'Please, don't crash!' Cliff thought. The radio came alive again.

"Boss, Cliff, this is Eric. I'm in position and here comes Frank. We're blocking the bridge."

Cliff was driving perhaps two hundred yards behind the Porsche. A quick look in the rear view mirror showed another set of flashing lights coming from behind.

"Cliff, this is Chief. I'm behind you. We'll seal off the Clearwater side."

Chief was Senior Deputy Sheriff Chief Running Elk, the shift supervisor. He was the oldest of the deputies, with his daughter already on the force too. Janet Running Elk had been Cliff's high school class mate and a fellow member of their band. She was at the reunion of course, but her father was on duty.

"All units, let's do this right from the book!" Cramer advised them over the radio.

"We read you, boss. Let's box them in," Cliff answered.

The Porsche was driving up the ramp of the bridge now and Cliff readied himself for blocking the road. This was his first real pursuit, but he had learned what to do while training at the State Trooper Academy. There! The brake lights of the Porsche lit up as it crested the bridge. Two hundred yards in front of Cliff, tires squealed as the sports car skidded to a halt. Cliff braked sharply, coming to a stop fifty yards behind their quarry. Chief Running Elk stopped his cruiser on Cliff's left side. Now the bridge was sealed. Cliff grabbed for the microphone and switched on the bullhorn.

"Sheriff's deputies! Switch off your engine and step out of the car with your hands raised over your head! I repeat, step out of the car and surrender yourself!"

Nothing happened but Cliff thought he saw movement, some sort of fight inside the Porsche. Unlocking his Remington pump action gun from the dashboard, Cliff stepped from the cruiser and advanced on the Porsche at a 30 degree angle from behind. Closing in he saw a struggle inside.

"I'm moving in!" he yelled. "Crime in progress!"

He yanked open the passenger side door in time to see the driver elbow the passenger, a young woman, into her stomach trying to pry something from her fingers. The woman grunted with the pain. With a serene smile, Cliff reversed the shotgun and smashed the butt across the passenger's lap and into the driver's chest. He heard a satisfying "Oomph!" from the man; then he quickly unbuckled the woman and pulled her from the car.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! It was Kylie of all people! What were the odds of that? And he would be the arresting deputy of record since he initiated the pursuit. Fuck!

Chief had followed Cliff and he stuck the business end of a Remington inside the Porsche and chambered a cartridge.

"Step out of the car, Mister!"

The other two cruisers had driven across the bridge side by side and now the other deputies approached the driver side door, their guns drawn. Frank Hornsby yanked the door open while tall and bald Deputy Eric Downs pulled the wheezing driver out by his collar. Letting go of Kylie, Cliff stepped around the car.

"Mister, you are under arrest for speeding, resisting arrest, reckless endangerment, and assault. You have the right to remain silent. If you give up this right anything that you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney the state will provide a public defender. Did you understand each of these rights as I have explained them to you?"

"Yeah, I understand. Jeezus, you broke my fucking ribs."

"An ambulance is on the way. Will you tell me your name, Mister?"

"My name – argh – is Hugh Dumont. I'm an actor, for God's sake. What do you want?"

Chief Running Elk had stashed Kylie away in a cruiser and stepped up to the group.

"You read him his rights, Cliff?" he asked in a low tone, and Cliff nodded. "He did a number on her. We have to get her to the hospital. He may have broken her cheekbone and her ribs. Cliff, she's the DA's daughter. Drive her down to the ER, will you!"

"Chief, I must stay on the scene. This is my bust. Besides, you know about me and her."

"Cliff, I'm pulling rank here," Chief whispered urgently. "I want you off the scene before the ambulance guys arrive. He may just resist arrest a few more times and given your ties to the victim you shouldn't be on the scene. Now, scram!"

Cliff was not entirely averse to the concept and he shrugged and turned. Kylie was sitting in his cruiser already. He secured the shotgun to the dashboard and radioed in.

"HQ, this is Cliff. I'm bringing in an injured female to the ER; blunt traumata and facial injuries. Over."

"I copy that, Cliff. Who is in charge at the scene?"

"Chief is in charge. Over."

"We read you. Over and out."

He looked at his passenger who was staring at him.

"Why are you a cop now?" she asked, actually mumbled through her already swelling lips.

"Earning money for law school," he replied curtly putting the transmission in reverse and turning the wheel left. He backed against the bridge railing and shifted into drive. Switching on the red and blue but leaving off the siren he sped towards Clearwater.

"I had hoped to see you, to have a chance to speak with you," Kylie kept talking.

"Gee, and I did my best to pull duty tonight to avoid just that," he replied with a trace of humor.

"Wow. That's not encouraging. Cliff, Peter let me play the Ovation tonight. Why did you give it away?"

His jaws set but his voice stayed calm. "Don't worry. If you want it he'll give it to you. Just pay him with a pair of panties."

She briefly closed her eyes under the accusation. "Go ahead, hit me!" she told him, looking at him intently. "You can blame everything on Hugh. Come on, it's your chance! I'm sure you dreamed of beating me up, right?"

"Can't you just shut up? I told you I'm not keen on talking to you. I don't like you anymore, Kylie."

"Okay," she whispered dejectedly. "Sorry."

To his relief she really kept her mouth shut, and to his even greater relief DA McAdam was at the hospital to take care of his wayward daughter. He looked at Cliff with surprise. Cliff shrugged.

"Chief Running Elk pulled rank and had me drive her in," he explained. "Can you take it from here?"

"Sure, Cliff. Thanks for bringing her in. I owe you."

"That's okay. Have them look after her cheek bone. I also saw him elbow her lower ribs."

McAdam's look turned angry. "Where is that shit now?"

Cliff gave the DA a feral grin. "They're bringing him in with an ambulance. He was resisting arrest and we had to subdue him. We'd like a warrant for a full substance test."

"I'll call Judge Herbert. You'll have it in a half hour."

Cliff tipped his hat then and turned. Kylie, who had kept her mouth shut until then called after him.

"Cliff! Can I... ?"

The sliding door closed and cut off her sentence.

He walked back to his cruiser and drove the short distance to the Sheriff's office. Unlike in the cop shows the fifteen minutes of excitement during the chase had to be paid for by hours of report writing. He settled at his desk with a mug of coffee and began to type. Another hour later a grinning Janet Running Elk came in, still wearing a form fitting dress, and planted her trim behind on Cliff's desk.

"Oh, boy, is he going down!" she laughed. "The boys found an ounce of coke in his overnight bag in the motel. Breathalyzer had him at 0.15; they're doing the blood tests right now."

Cliff grinned back. Janet Running Elk wasn't just good to look at but she was also the ultimate buddy, always helpful and somebody to rely on.

"Think he'll do time?"

Janet nodded. "Between Cramer, DA McAdam and Judge Herbert, definitely. Lemme see that report."

Cliff showed her and she corrected a few things to make the case 'watertight' as she said. Janet had joined right out of high school and she had three years seniority on Cliff. Once he was finished it was three o' clock and Cliff posted his cruiser in full visibility on the parking lot of the High School to discourage drunks from driving home in their cars. It worked. A number of – mostly male – reunion guests made a sharp turn when they saw the cruiser and Cliff could see that the one cab company Clearwater could boast made good business that night.

The place shut down at five and Cliff returned to the station. By six his shift was finished and he drove home to catch some sleep.