Chapter 55: None of Them Are Good People (Please Keep Reading)

After finishing all this, Ao Xi turned to look at K9. He was sitting on the ground in a daze, blood trickling slowly from his head without him even noticing. Perhaps it was his first time shooting someone at such close range, the adrenaline rush was too much. Ao Xi took K9’s gun and equipment, put them in his own car, grabbed some gauze from the first aid kit in the trunk, and walked over to hand it to him. “You’re bleeding from your head, brother. Press this on it.”

He must have hit his head back in the car during all the commotion and hadn’t realized it. Mechanically, K9 took the gauze and pressed it to his wound, not even registering the pain.

You were so fierce just now—how come you’ve wilted all of a sudden?

“Hey, man, why were you chasing that guy? Did you come here alone? Where are your colleagues?”

K9 said nothing.

If you don’t want to talk, fine. Ao Xi wasn’t one for comforting people anyway, so he just ignored him and reached over to tease the police dog lying nearby.

It was a Belgian Malinois, its body tawny and its head black, looking clever but extremely well-trained. Knowing Ao Xi was trying to play with it, it just lay there motionless, sparing him only a glance.

Everyone knows that playing with a dog that doesn’t react is not much fun.

Ao Xi opened his pepper spray pouch, intending to amuse himself with it a bit.

Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed the K9 officer had raised his head at some point and was staring at him.

“I was just fixing this snap. Needed to redo it,” Ao Xi said awkwardly, getting up and moving off to the side.

The wail of sirens grew closer, and several LAPD patrol cars sped onto the scene.

Five or six officers stormed in with their guns drawn. “Freeze! LAPD!”

Ao Xi greeted them, “Hey guys, your K9 is right here—he’s got a minor injury. The suspect he was chasing is in that crashed SUV. He’s been shot a few times and needs first aid.”

The leading sergeant signaled his men to check on the suspect in the SUV, then walked over to Ao Xi, nodded, crouched down to examine K9’s wound, and said, “It’s not serious, you’ll be fine after a few days’ rest, Jimmy.”

K9—Jimmy—lifted his head. “I know I’m okay. I just… I shot him. He might die. I didn’t mean to kill him. He didn’t obey my orders—I didn’t mean it, I just wanted to stop him…”

“I understand, Jimmy. You did the right thing, don’t overthink it. Go home and get some rest. If you need to, you can see a counselor.”

Ao Xi scratched his head on the side. Look at their sergeant and then look at mine. When I fired my gun, no one came to comfort me. The difference is staggering.

After consoling Jimmy, the sergeant stood up and said to Ao Xi, “I’m Sergeant Wilson with the LAPD. Can you tell me what happened here?”

“I’m Officer Ao Xi, Temple Station, LASD. I was here fixing my car when the suspect suddenly ran in. K9, that’s Jimmy, was chasing him. The suspect jumped into a car and tried to escape. Jimmy and his dog caught up—there was a struggle inside. The suspect refused to surrender and tried to drive off, so Jimmy was forced to open fire. That’s all.”

Wilson nodded. “Do you have Jimmy’s gun and equipment? Can you hand them over to me?”

Ao Xi shook his head. “According to procedure after a shooting, I collected his weapon and gear, but I can’t give them to you now. The shooting happened in our jurisdiction. I need to hand them to my supervisor, who will return them to you later.”

This was the first time he’d dealt with LAPD. He’d heard the two departments got along reasonably well and often helped each other out, but he wasn’t sure how true that was. If he just handed over the gun because Wilson asked, he’d be in trouble with both sides.

The safest way was to refuse and let his superiors decide. He was just a junior officer—no one could hold it against him.

Wilson didn’t press further, just patted Jimmy on the shoulder and went to check on the SUV and question the repair shop employees.

That sneaky dog really was testing him! If it were procedure to hand over the weapon, Wilson wouldn’t have given up so easily. He was just seeing if he could get it off a rookie—if not, no harm done.

The thought made Ao Xi furious. If he’d really given the gun to Wilson, he’d be in for a tongue-lashing back at the station.

Ao Xi gave Wilson a long, hard look, committing his face to memory. He’d get back at him if he ever had the chance.

Then the LASD arrived, led by Captain Green, whom Ao Xi had met before. Ao Xi reported the situation, then handed over the gun and equipment.

Green nodded and murmured, “Well done.”

Then he went over to Wilson, exchanging pleasantries, though not very warmly—Green kept swinging the equipment in front of him, making Wilson’s expression sour.

A nearby officer who knew Ao Xi came over to explain: all American police departments operate at the same level, with no hierarchy—everyone has their own turf. If you come into my jurisdiction to make an arrest, it’s fine, as long as nothing goes wrong.

But if something does happen—shots fired, someone dead, and especially if the weapon and equipment end up in my hands—then I get to call the shots. At the very least, I’ll earn a favor, because relationships matter here too.

Now you owe me one. Next time I’m in your territory, you’ll have to return the favor.

A while later, Green came back all smiles. “Good work, Ao Xi, you have a bright future.”

Ao Xi rolled his eyes and ventured, “My patrol car’s busted again. Can I borrow an extra one from your team?”

“Broken again? Sorry, we don’t have any. Ask someone else.” Green turned and walked off.

It’s a real shame he’s not in politics.

With no luck getting a car, Ao Xi could only call the mechanic over and urge him to get the parts and fix it quickly.

Everyone else was busy too—pulling the suspect out of the SUV, going through the motions of first aid, then waiting for the ambulance to arrive, officially pronounce him dead, and cart him off.

They collected shell casings, marked the vehicle’s path and collision points, bagged scattered debris, and pulled the repair shop’s surveillance footage.

Since this was a repair shop partnered with the police, comprehensive surveillance was required, and they couldn’t refuse to hand over the footage.

A group of officers watched the footage over and over, confirmed there were no issues, made several copies for their own records, and finally wrapped up.

“What! I didn’t even fire my weapon—why do I have to write a report?” Ao Xi jumped three feet in the air.

I didn’t shoot; I was just a bystander. Why do I have to write a report? Where’s the justice in that?

“If you don’t write it, do you expect me to?” Green said matter-of-factly. “If you had fired, you’d be on leave right now. Since you didn’t, you just need to write a quick report and you’ll get off work sooner.”

Just my luck. Left with no choice, Ao Xi told the mechanic to hurry up with repairs, hitched a ride back to the station with others, bought Cokes and donuts along the way to bribe Aunt Susan into giving him a few bystander report templates to copy and tweak for his own use.