Patrolling had always been one of Izumo's favorite parts of the job, fresh air and sunshine, with that lovely added bonus of getting out of the stuffy precinct and away from prickly overworked professionals that were inside of it. Behind the wheel was the place to be today, radio blasting, windows down, a couple of ice cold monster slushies in the cup holders. It seemed that Kotetsu was feeling similarly.
"I just don't understand how that asshole keeps getting us mixed up, y'know? It's not like we look the same at all..."
"Try and forget about it, will ya? It could be a lot worse, we could be stuck working on his task force."
"I don't know how that new detective puts up with him, she actually punched him in the stomach a couple weeks ago y'know. She's so pretty, too. Iit's such a waste to have her paired with a jackass like Hatake."
"She's a bit of a spitfire from what I hear, the two of them brought in about ten perps last week alone for distributing bijuu..."
"Shit, they got ten already? That's impressive. Still nothing from the serial killer task force though, right?"
"Nothing yet, it's only a matter of time with those two on the case. Almost like they've got too many leads to follow up on-" Izumo was cut off by the crackling sound of the police radio, immediately he shut off the music.
"10-9, unit 25 respond, over"
Kotetsu picked up the radio with a side glance to Izumo. They were in the kind of area that had a lot of rich school kids playing hooky, truancy and petty theft was usually the tune of their patrols.
"10-3 Dispatch, patrol unit 25 responding, over."
"Reports of a 10-50 in your area east on State Highway 16, no information on state of persons involved, over."
"10-2 Dispatch, en route now, over."
"A 10-50? Isn't that a vehicle collision?" Izumo's interest was piqued now.
"Vehicle accident, we can radio in for an ambulance if needed, you think it'll be worth the sirens?"
Siren questions were always rhetorical. Izumo would have preferred the radio blaring but the sirens were a fitting substitute.
"Who could get into an accident on this sorry stretch of road? It's straight as an arrow and sunny out."
"Never doubt the stupidity of motorists, Izumo, they always manage to find a way."
Without any other cars on the road it seemed pointless to blare the sirens any longer, Kotetsu settled for just the lights and they sped onwards in silence, the deserted highway bathed in sunshine. It wasn't as if accidents were uncommon within Konoha or the outskirts of the city, it was just seldom seen in these conditions. There was a first time for everything, especially in law enforcement, new and disturbing things had a habit of popping up when you least expected it.
The road began to curve past the lone gas station on this stretch of motorway. It was one of those strictly if you were desperate enough to stop places, it held little more than two gas pumps and a fridge filled with various kinds of blue liquid that long haul drivers used to sustain themselves. Izumo hadn't paid much attention to it, but after patrolling this route for a year or two you got to know where the emergency pit stops were. Today they had a job to do, they weren't desperate enough to stop there.
"Izumo, what the hell is going on over there?"
Kotetsu sounded urgent and it broke through any of the existing thought processes. At the speed they were travelling the scene came into view more clearly by the second. At first it had appeared to be two blurry lines in the middle of the road, the blurs eventually became recognizable as human shapes, and then Izumo realized who they were in an instant.
They were uniformed officers.
Without much more thought his foot landed more heavily on the accelerator than before, the car surged forward and Kotetsu let the siren blip once to alert them. They weren't facing the windshield at first, they were running down the road in the opposite direction, once they heard the noise the pair stopped and began to wave them down.
"This is fucking weird..." Kotetsu preemptively picked up the radio receiver.
The pair were a man and a woman, both out of breath by the time the patrol car came to a stop beside them, Izumo dropped the windows.
"What's going-" Izumo never got to finish the sentence, the female officer beat him to the punch in between short gasps for breath. She was in far better shape than her partner at least.
"Officer 83... 682, 4E... Secure prisoner transport... Stopped for gas... Turned around and the van was heading off..."
"Someone stole a secure prisoner transport van?! You've got to be... Have you radioed in-"
"Radios were in the van, and cellphones, the gas clerk was phoning in when we took off in pursuit on foot-"
They were interrupted by a crackling sound, Kotetsu's eyes dropping to the radio in his hand.
"10-9 unit 25 respond, we have officers in need of assistance, repeat, officers in need of assistance. Code 10-10, repeat code 10-10, over."
"10-7 dispatch, unit 25 receiving officers, we have a 2110, repeat 2110, police vehicle stolen on a 4E, prisoner on the loose, over."
Kotetsu continued to rattle off the required numbers to dispatch while Izumo shouted for the officers to get in the back.
"We got reports of a vehicle accident up ahead, what's the bet that it's a stolen prison transport van?"
"Oh shit, Chouji you just had to stop for a goddamn snack didn't you?"
"Hey, we needed gas as well, Tenten, you're the one who didn't fill up before we left the holding cell-"
"You two, cut if out!" Kotetsu had hung up the receiver and any of his remaining patience. "What a fucking mess you've gotten us into. Not only have you blatantly ignored standard procedure, we have a criminal on the loose. Who were you transporting anyway?"
"Mizuki Tsubaki, the guy they got for chopping his girlfriend up into little bits." Chouji's face had been red from exertion but it drained to sheet white as he spoke. His partner looked just as destitute beside him.
Izumo didn't want to take his eyes off the road ahead but couldn't help the impromptu side glance to his own partner. Kotetsu had reciprocated and he didn't need to be a mind reader to know what was going through his thoughts. They were all going to be in deep shit if they didn't recover this guy. He tried to ignore the nagging questions of who might have taken him in the first place, tried to ignore the growing feeling of dread in his stomach at what may lie ahead on this road, waiting for them.