Psycher Chronicles

Reset and Restart

(Officer Frederick "Freddie" Pearlman)

Freddie sat behind the wheel of his vehicle, expecting something to come through. At first Frederick Pearlman had been opposed to these types of positions.

In fact, the old version of Freddie used to be an emaciated weakling to the Freddie that now sat confidently in his cruiser. The old Freddie would have been intimidated by the very idea of going after cartel members, chasing down their fancy cars and confronting them.

That was all before the change. A change that caused him to bulk up in the course of a period of five years, no injections, no elevated testosterone levels that so many get busted for. Nope this was pure and natural, better still, with this change Freddie finally felt like he belonged to something larger, something greater than he could ever achieve on his own.

Before he became a police officer, and even during his time at the police academy he often felt lost and alone. In fact, it wasn't until his posting here that he truly began to belong to an organization, a pack of the craziest and most loyal members of law enforcement that ever existed.

There were times, especially at first when he doubted the process, but now he was a full believer, ready to follow the orders he had been given.

His task was simple, pull over speeding cars, sniff the air a few times and he could swear he could find some type of drugs, alcohol, or prohibited substances. He could call the K-9 unit, Sanford, but they would only prove what his superior senses told him, that there were drugs or paraphernalia in the vehicle.

This was when, he would take a commission. It wasn't a bribe, never a bribe, but a commission. One that he would only take if he never actually saw the drugs hidden in their respective hiding spots. That said, if the runners wanted to push back and tried to play stupid games, he would give them stupid prizes.

With his heightened sense of smell, he could all but tell that people used different products in the seats, nice plush leather seats that melted away like butter to his knife. This invasive process would always yield live results, no shock to anyone not in the unit for everyone in the special Drug Enforcement task squad could smell just as well or better than he could.

Freddie was the newest, and likely the last for the moment. In a way Freddie was lucky to have been the last accepted into the group. The only problem was that he would often be put on the bad details, ones that could land him in the most hot water if he was found. Well if he was found and turned, there were a few times when he was arrested, held in custody and interrogated. But he didn't snitch, which was a good thing, as it had all been a test to prove his loyalty to the others.

Once it was clear that he would not snitch on the others, that was the day he was fully initiated into the pack. A long ceremony that started with being held in custody for up to twenty-four hours of constant torture and questioning, only to be released and invited to the most sacred organization within the force.

For him and those of this select fraternity of fellow officers, he was a bastion of hope. That last line of defense against the true evils of the world. As a member of that last line, it was his job to cut away at crime.

Freddie argued with himself that he was slowly taking away the joy of crime by placing these transportation taxes that the squad called on these encounters. If they did enough of these, then either their drug running would become so cost exorbitant that they would end their venture all together. Or better yet, they would stop dealing their product through his territory, honestly, he was okay with either outcome. That was what he told himself at first. Then the fact that he got to pocket 10% of any tariff received only made the process of sitting out here and waiting all the more bearable. At least that was what Freddie told himself, he had bills to pay after all, and it was something that needed to be done. Besides, who would they complain to? The police? This entire corridor had members of the pack involved. No, they were untouchable and they knew it, which only made the task even more enjoyable.

Vrr-ROOOM!

The purring of a powerful sports engine sprang to life, its sound cutting through the thick winter air in the way that could only be heard due to Freddie's enhanced hearing.

Smiling to himself, Freddie began getting ready, making sure that all his instruments were working correctly, as he prepared to stop this vehicle.

"Every time," Freddie spoke to himself as he aimed his recently calibrated speedometer and pointed it in the direction of the loud purring motor.

VRROOOM!

Rather than slowing down at the slight turn and obvious speed trap. That's when the car accelerated, proving that they weren't a local as no local would speed up at that particular hairpin turn. Still, the sign to slow down was clearly posted a few hundred yards back from the start of the turn, making it so the act of speeding up doubly expensive for a tariff tax.

The speedometer flicked to life as numbers flashed across its screen.

55.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

57.

61.

Click.

Freddie clicked the gun, locking the speed in place.

Flicker.

At the exact moment that he clicked the speedometer in place, he saw a flicker but was distracted by the fact that he was turning on his lights and merging quickly into traffic.

RREWWW-RREWWW!

The siren blared to life as Freddie felt the thrill of the hunt awaken within him.

VROOM!

Better still, the car seemed to speed up for a moment, but then they seemed to realize he was there as the brake lights finally came on, and began pulling over quickly to the shoulder of the road that Freddie mentally noted as the drug graveyard, where dealers went to die.

As he pulled up, this had all the hallmarks of being another run of the mill possible bust, or possible future college fund for his children. Well future children, he would either have to have the children first, or at least claim them as his own to have true children. But the sentiment was there, easy cash.

Click.

As soon as they both came to a complete stop, Freddie instantly flipped the switch in his mind that let him shift into officer Pearlman mode. This was his upstanding officer mode, the one that the world and community recognized as being a valued member of the force.

"Officer Pearlman calling into dispatch," Freddie chimed in.

Silence.

There was a pause as he noticed that his police scanner was silent as the grave. Concerned for the moment, he tried clipping through other channels, including the backup, only to see that they were all down.

Pausing for a moment, he pulled out his cell phone, only to realize that this was the dead zone, which was part of why this was part of his pack's hunting grounds. The few calls for help that could be made, the easier it was to control the narrative of a particular stop. The fact that the cartel members would not be able to call for help, while he could radio in backup was part of why this was the perfect stopping point, normally.

For a moment a spike of fear rose up within Freddie as he thought he would be facing not one but two cartel members alone. Then he relaxed slightly as he saw that the two people in the vehicle were females, which he assumed were either part of the University, or heading to or from a party. Either way he had already made the stop and felt secure in his ability to take on two female college students.

The final deciding factor for why he decided to go out and actually try this stop was not on a drug bust turned into instant profit, but for something more tangential, at least for the moment. Freddie thought that if he played this right, eh could get a date, maybe two, depending on how eager the friend was to help get out of this clear traffic ticket.

Pausing, he checked the rest of his gear, his dashcam was still rolling and uploading to his computer, then looking down he made sure his camera was on, but made sure to accidentally turn the microphone portion off.

Checking to make sure everything was still good, it would be a matter of he said that they did, should this encounter become contested later on. Also, the fact that he didn't call it in, suddenly made his chance to get fringe benefits from being nice to a couple of college girls even easier.

"Going to get me some tonight," Freddie giddily spoke to himself before taking one last moment he checked his hair in the mirror, sprayed a spirt of mint into his mouth. The same spray he used to cover up the fact that he had chewed or dipped from his wife, and got out to make some new friends.

As he approached, he could all but feel the fear and estrogen wafting off the driver, who looked visibly flustered as she kept looking to her right, at the passenger.

Seeing this interaction, Freddie was concerned at first, until he approached and saw one of the tallest women he had ever seen somehow fit into a car seat that was fully slid back. The driver despite being tall was gorgeous, not quite his type, he preferred the smaller and more manageable women, but going exotic, especially for a night wouldn't hurt. At least that was what he thought to himself, particularly as he got closer and could smell her. Yes, she had a scent that was hard to describe for anyone not specifically a pack member, for she exuded strength. The fact that she was taller and in a submissive role made this moment even more intoxicating for him.

Shifting.

The officer watched as a set of blue eyes and long red hair draped over a face that was utterly intoxicating. That's when Freddie shifted his plan of attack, this time not just one, but both females would need to be friends with him, if they wanted to get out of this speeding ticket.

Rap-tap.

Even with the window already down, Freddie made a note to tap on the door frame with his wedding ring. The sound was off-putting for most. For a moment the thought about what the wedding ring represented flashed in his mind, but was quickly gone.

"License and registration," Freddie ordered, his officer Pearlman persona clicking into place flawlessly like a clown mask.

"Yes, here," the driver said, fear and anxiety coursing through her. For someone so big and imposing, she clearly looked out of her element here, this was good.

Looking at the license he read the name, Jasmine just reading the name caused a deeper primal aspect to rise, as he swore he could almost smell flowers. Then looking at the registration he saw that something was off.

"The car isn't mine, it belongs to her," The driver, Jasmine, stated.

"Here officer," the red head with deep blue eyes that seemed to glow responded as she held up her driver's license.

Reaching in, Freddie found himself reaching over and letting his arm inadvertently brush against the chest of the large and muscular driver.

"Oh, excuse me," Freddie said, turning his face so that he was right to Jasmine's face. Their faces so close that he could feel her breath on his cheek.

Of course, this was the moment that the world went to shit in a hand basket.

FWABOOOM!

First there was a deep explosion from behind him. In his compromising position, Freddie tried to lurch back to see what was happening, only to feel a set of hands clasp his and seemingly pull out the items that were there. For a moment he wanted to protest, to resist, but suddenly his mind went blank.

***

KWOONK! KWOONK!

The next thing Freddie knew was he was being awakened by the blaring alarms of a fire truck blaring to life.

Blinking twice.

Freddie looked forward, only to see that the car with the two beauties was gone. The car was a GT, license plate? Well he couldn't remember that, but the cameras had that.

Looking back, he tried to see what happened, only to find that his car had been completely devasted by an apparent fire. The fire truck was on hand to put out the smoldering remains.

"What?" Was all Freddie could say.

For a moment, he thought about what happened, he remembered a loud explosion from behind, but was that his car? If so, what happened?

"You okay?" One of the firefighters asked, coming over to treat a clearly distracted officer Pearlman.

"Yeah, I think?" Freddie began, then taking one step, he felt the world stagger before him as he suddenly felt very weak.

Stumbling.

The firefighter grabbed Freddie by the wrist and then carefully helped lower him to the ground.

"Can you tell me what happened?" The firefighter asked.

"I was at a vehicle stop, but I can't remember what happened after that." Freddie stated, then realizing his phone and all of his personal effects were in the car, he panicked. "Wait, my phone," Freddie wheezed as he got up to try to search the wreckage.

"Wait, you can't go, it's still on flames." The helpful firefighter began.

Freddie watched as the firetruck worked quickly to spray gallon after gallon of water at the vehicle. Only for the embers to finally go out. The spray lasted a few more seconds for safety, until finally the jet of water ceased.

Only once the water stopped spraying did the trunk of his car popping open, out of caution the firefighters went over to the back of the car, only to pause once they saw what was in there.

"Hey sarge, you are going to need to see this," one of the firefighters exclaimed.

"One second," the helpful firefighter said to Freddie as he went over to view the contents that were in the trunk of the car.

For a moment he though what could be so interesting about a few weapons and extra equipment bags, only for reality to sink in as he was using that vehicle.

Staggering to his feet, Freddie wanted to go over to see if his worst fears were true, that's when the switch had been flipped in the helpful firefighter's persona as he was in full control mode.

"I'm going to need you to stay there while we work this out."