10/18/05

THOSE WHO HUNT THE NIGHT

Chapter 5

I was roused quite abruptly by hands roughly shaking my shoulders and a panicky voice calling my name.

"Mercy, wake up! Please, wake up!"

With a slight groan, I opened my eyes, to find Nick kneeling beside me, holding my shoulders. He was gazing down at me wide-eyed and slightly frantic. Seeing my eyes open, he quickly released me and sat back, running shaking hands over his face.

"Oh, man, I thought you were dead," he whispered into his hands.

I sat up slowly, still trying to shake the cobwebs out of my head. I reached out and touched his arm. I could feel the tension in his muscles. He still wasn't looking at me.

"Nick, what happened? What's going on?" I asked, although I thought I was beginning to understand.

"You weren't breathing," he said softly, confirming my suspicion. "I woke up and I leaned over to kiss you, but you weren't breathing. I thought you were dead."

"Nick, look at me. I'm sorry, I should have warned you. When I sleep, my heart rate drops really low. I know, it may have seemed like I wasn't breathing, but I was, just very shallowly. It happens all the time. I'm sorry," I babbled.

There was a reason why I very rarely ever spent the entire night in a man's bed and this was part of it. Nick was calmer now and I pulled him into my arms, gently running my hand over his head. He leaned his head against my shoulder and slipped his arms around me.

"After everything you've been through, that must have been very uncomfortable for you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," I said softly.

"No, I'm sorry I overreacted. I feel stupid," he said, with a little self-conscious chuckle.

As we sat holding each other, my thoughts started to drift toward an encore of last night's performance, but those thoughts were interrupted by Nick's cell phone ringing. With an apologetic smile, he released me and answered the phone.

"Stokes," he said. "...No, I was awake... Yeah, okay, not a problem. I'll be right there."

Ending the call, he turned back to me and said, "That was Ecklie. One of the swing shift guys got called back into court unexpectedly. I'm going to need to go in to work. I was supposed to have the night off."

"Yeah," I said. "I should probably go in as well and see how the manhunt went last night. Although, since I didn't hear anything, I think we can assume it was a bust."

I reluctantly left Nick as he was about to climb back into the shower and returned to my hotel to take a shower of my own, on my own. Changing into one of my many obligatory, dark, FBI suits, I headed to the police station. I found Special Agent Culpepper and Capt. Brass waiting in my little, borrowed office. Neither looked well rested, but then it was almost 4 in the afternoon and they had both been up all night.

"So, I take it that you didn't find him?" I asked, with some satisfaction.

"No, we didn't," Culpepper said. "Personally, I think he's already left town."

"His pattern it to commit three murders before leaving town," I pointed out.

"His pattern is also to commit a murder, a night, so either way, he's changed his pattern. Signature killers will do that if they're forced to. Frankly, I think he saw the increased police presence at his likely haunts and took off to find easier killing grounds."

"I don't think he scares off that easily, Agent Culpepper. You may be right that the increased presence kept him off the streets last night, but it won't keep him indefinitely, especially if you and your people throw in the towel so quickly."

"I'm not throwing in the towel, Agent Trudeau. I'm just not willing to waste the taxpayer's money on a killer who has most likely already moved on. And I'm not willing to waste any more of my people's time, asking them to chase shadows. We have other matters to deal with. You're on your own."

With that, the federal agent stood and left the room. I turned to Brass, who stood as well. He gave me a slightly warmer look than he had in days.

"I'll keep a detail on that blood bar and some of the other hot spots you mentioned, tonight," he said.

"Thank you, Captain."

He gave me a slight wave as he left the room. I spent the next few hours on the phone, speaking with some of my "other" contacts, trying to see if anyone had any untapped, inside information about Vero. No one had much to say. The man kept to himself and avoided other vampires like the plague, which wasn't surprising. We weren't known to be a close knit lot. Like many predators, we tended to be pretty solitary. We might choose to work with a partner, but it would generally be someone with whom we had some history, such as a Sire/Fledgling relationship.

Glancing out the small window of the office and seeing that it was fully dark now, I thought I would wander over to the lab and see what had become of Nick. If he was still out at a crime scene, I wanted to be close on hand. But I found him in one of the labs, sitting at a computer, typing away. I stepped in and asked him what he was doing.

"Tedious, data entry," he said grumpily. "Ecklie calls me up and asks me to come in on my day off, makes it sound really urgent, but then relegates me to the lab all night."

"Aww, poor baby," I said in mock sympathy. Actually I was relieved. I had some errands I wanted to take care of before tonight and this way I wouldn't have to worry about leaving him alone at a crime scene, with only the cops as protection.

"So, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Oh, I've got a couple of things to take care of."

"Am I going to see you later tonight? Assuming nothing major comes up, I should be done at midnight."

"Uh, I don't think so," I said with sincere regret. "Culpepper pulled a Cartman on us. So, I think Brass will actually let me come out and play this time."

"A Cartman?" Nick asked, looking confused.

"Yeah, you know, from 'South Park'? 'Screw you guys, I'm going home.'"

He smiled. "You watch 'South Park'?"

"I have a fine appreciation for irreverent humor."

Standing there, basking in the glow of his smile, I was trying to force myself to leave so I could get on with my business, when we were joined by a stunning redhead. She walked briskly into the lab carrying two cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other. She set them down a nearby desk.

"Hey, Nick, can you help me w- oh..." She abruptly stopped as she caught sight of me. "Uh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"Oh, you didn't," I said quickly. "I was just about to leave."

"Uh, let me guess, you must be Agent Trudeau. I'm Catherine Willows."

"Oh, yes, I am Agent Trudeau. Nice to meet you," I said and we shook hands.

"Yes, nice to finally meet you as well. I've heard a lot about you," Catherine said.

"Nothing good, I hope."

"Well, that depends on who you talk to. Nicky, here, has plenty of nice things to say about you."

'Nicky?' I thought, feeling an odd surge of annoyance. "Yes, but I'm sure Grissom had much more colorful things to say," I commented aloud.

"Yeah, well, don't take it personally. Grissom's kind of hard to please. He measures the world by a set of standards that Gandhi would have trouble living up to."

And with that comment, I found my annoyance fading. Hmm, maybe I was going to like this woman after all.

"What did you need my help with, Cath?" Nick asked.

"Well, I know that you've been stuck sitting at that computer for a few hours now. How'd you like to do something a little more active? I need some help with an experiment."

"Yes! I would love to help you with an experiment!" he said, practically jumping out of his chair. He turned to me. "Uh, call me later?"

"Sure, later."

"Come on, Loverboy, let's go," Catherine said. "Grab those boxes and follow me, please."

"Yes, Ma'am," he said, flashing me a quick grin and following the older woman's instructions.

I trailed along behind them for a few minutes, until our paths diverged. I continued toward the exit, heading out to the parking lot. A full, heavy moon hung suspended in the darkness and I took a moment to close my eyes and breathe in the cool night air. The darkness was like a living, breathing thing, which curled around me like a cat curls around your ankles. It seeped into me with every breath I took, warming me and filling me with power.

Arriving at my car, I climbed in and headed to the airport. It had occurred to me that Vero would now recognize my little Honda. It would probably be in my best interest to change to a different vehicle and wanting to make a big change, I turned in the compact for a black SUV. With my new beefier vehicle, I headed back to the station. I wanted to pick up a police scanner. I was planning on spending the night outside of Nick's house again, but I wanted to keep track of the manhunt at the same time.

Arriving back at the station, I was met just inside the doors, by Capt. Brass, who told me that Vero had been spotted at the blood bar about twenty minutes ago. The captain was about to head over there. Did I want to tag along?

I immediately returned to my vehicle and joined the small procession of cruisers and unmarked cars heading to the club. At the nightclub, we all parked in an empty lot a couple of blocks away. A large, black van with the letters S.W.A.T. stenciled on the sides was already waiting there, just in case Vero tried to take hostages. And much to my annoyance, I saw that Culpepper had changed his mind. He and another agent were also present.

Having this many officers present was definitely cramping my style. How was I supposed to get Vero alone so I could execute him? Arrest wasn't really an option for me and I highly doubted any of these macho men would allow me to try and take him out on my own. The only plus, was that with this many people milling around, I could probably slip away without drawing too much attention.

Deciding to at least find out what the plan of action was, I wandered over to where Brass, Culpepper and the SWAT captain were conversing. I was informed that there was an undercover cop inside the club and he was the one who had called in the sighting. The man was wired and he was keeping a running commentary on Vero's activities.

As so often happens with these kinds of operations, there was a lot of standing around, waiting. There seemed to be some confusion about whether the man being observed was, in fact, Vero. The man was keeping to the shadows. I offered to go in and have a look, but Brass quickly shot me down.

"Vero knows you," he pointed out. "We don't want to spook him like last time."

Conceding this point, I shrugged and let the matter drop. I guess it wouldn't do to have him sense my presence too soon. I paced around the lot, anxious for some kind of action.

Finally, after an hour or two, the undercover officer reported that Vero was making his move. He was chatting with a young man who fit the victim profile. Brass ordered the uniforms to move closer, to cover the front of the club. The SWAT team suited up and prepared to move out if they were needed. Their sniper was already in position. It was still probably another hour before the cop inside reported that Vero and his intended victim were on their way out the front door. Everyone tensed in anticipation.

The actual arrest was completely anti-climactic. Vero didn't put up a fight at all. He simply surrendered and meekly allowed himself to be handcuffed. I was immediately suspicious. The man had to be up to something.

Before Brass could stop me, I rushed forward and stopped the two officers escorting Vero, before they could load him into one of the cruisers. As I approached him, I noted that he appeared to be the same scary vamp that I had been chasing for months. The man was 6'4" tall and a good 250 pounds. His face was obscured by his curtain of long, straight, black hair, but I recognized the long, leather trench coat that he never seemed to remove.

"Wait a second," I yelled to the officers. "I want to talk to him for a minute."

Stepping close to the taller man, I looked up into his face. I knew immediately that something was very wrong. He just stared down at me, looking confused and betrayed. This was definitely not Jimmy Vero. Reaching up, I grabbed a handful of lank, black hair. It came off in my hand. It was a wig. The man's hair was actually quite short and blond.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded.

"Dave Hansen. I'm a senior at WLVU. I'm on the football team. I tried to tell these cops that I wasn't the guy they were looking for, but they wouldn't listen."

I turned to Brass. "You got the wrong guy!"

"What!"

The detective came hurrying over to see for himself. I showed him the wig. He turned on the kid in the handcuffs.

"What the hell is this? Do you always walk around in a long, black wig?" he demanded.

"Okay, look, I met this guy the other day, kind of a creepy guy. Anyway, he told me he'd pay me $500 to wear that wig and this coat and show up at this club. He told me to bring a buddy. I figured, what the hell, it's an easy $500. And it's the weekend before Halloween. I thought it might be kind of fun. I wasn't expecting to get arrested. I didn't do anything wrong," Hansen said, in a slightly whiny tone. "You're not going to tell my coach, are you? I could get thrown off the team and lose my scholarship."

In the middle of this explanation, Culpepper joined us. "I was just talking with the 'victim'. He confirmed the story," the agent said. "These boys aren't killer and victim. They're just a couple of stupid college kids, looking to take a walk on the wild side. People, we've been played."

"Yeah, so while we're all gathered here, watching the distraction, Vero's off somewhere else with his real victim," Brass said glumly.

A very disturbing thought entered my mind. "What time is it?" I asked Brass.

The detective glanced at his watch. "It's 12:30, why?"

Nick would be done with his shift and by now, he'd be home. Vero had deliberately lured me here, thus leaving Nick completely unprotected.

"Shit!" I hissed, turning and sprinting back to my SUV, ignoring Brass and Culpepper's shouted questions.

Jumping into my vehicle, I sped away toward Nick's house. Luckily, it seemed that every cop in the city was gathered outside the blood bar, because I broke every traffic law along the way. Frankly, I'm not entirely sure how I avoided causing any accidents.

Arriving at Nick's neighborhood, I didn't bother trying to avoid drawing attention to my presence. I stopped the car in front of Nick's house, retrieved my bokken, which had been lying on the passenger seat beside me, and climbed out of the vehicle. The small house looked quiet and normal. There were lights on in the living room and bedroom. I stopped for a moment on the lawn and concentrated on my senses. Yes, I could feel that slight tingle. Vero was nearby, but where?

I crept carefully up the living room window and peered inside through the gap in the curtains. Nick was sitting on his couch, watching TV and drinking a beer. He looked comfortable and relaxed, lounging in a pair of loose, flannel pants and an ancient Texas A&M sweatshirt. I felt relief flood my body. Vero hadn't done anything yet and maybe, once he sensed my presence, he would back down and slink away, as he had done so many times before.

But, as I stood watching, I heard a brief, loud buzzing sound. The lights in the house flickered for a second. Nick was instantly on his guard, sitting up straight and looking around. There was a muffled crash and the investigator was on his feet, moving to a small end table near the front door. Sliding the drawer of the table open, he took out a 9mm pistol and pulled the slide back, chambering a round.

Even though I was expecting it, the tingling in my spine having increased dramatically, it was still a shock to see Jimmy step into the living room, emerging from a second bedroom. My long sought after quarry was suddenly and alarmingly made flesh. I assume he had disabled the alarm system, probably by simply pulling random wires (electrocution not being one of the ways in which to kill a vampire) and had come in through a window. He stood, looking large and oppressive in the small living room, towering over the smaller man.

Nick raised his weapon and pointed it at Jimmy's chest. "What do you want? Get the hell out of my house!"

Jimmy said nothing, but took a slow, deliberate step towards the investigator.

"Stay where you are!" Nick ordered. "I will shoot."

Jimmy smiled, a terrible sight, which showed entirely too many yellowish teeth, and slowly took another step closer. The reports of the gun were incredibly loud in the small space and they exploded four times, shattering the stillness of the quiet neighborhood. Jimmy staggered back a pace or two and calmly looked down at his chest. The bullets had made a nice, little grouping, all center mass. Of course, it would have been very difficult for Nick to miss at such close range.

Nick was also looking at those wounds and probably noting that there wasn't very much blood, certainly not as much as there should have been. Vero looked back up and his smile widened to even more grotesque proportions. The color drained from Nick's face and he started inching backward, toward the front door.

"Oh, God," I only just heard him breathe.

Moving with the lightning-fast reflexes we are capable of in short bursts, Jimmy launched himself at the stunned investigator. He wrenched the gun from Nick's hand and tossed it aside, grabbing the smaller man around the waist and dragging him close. Grasping as much of the short, dark hair as he could, Jimmy yanked Nick's head back, exposing his throat.

Holding the struggling investigator in this awkward position, Jimmy very deliberately looked over in my direction. Our eyes locked and I realized that he had known I was there all along. Since the moment of his shocking entrance, I had been gripped by a strange and previously unknown fear. I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away from the horrible spectacle before me and I couldn't seem to force my body to respond to my commands. Now, as my eyes locked with Vero's I felt pinned in place by the intensity of his malevolence, of his insatiable rage.

With a quick, smug smile for me and a flash of fangs, Jimmy sank his teeth into the smaller man's neck. Not even Nick's scream was enough to break through my immobility. I could only stand, stunned while the other vampire drank deeply. After a minute or so, Nick's frantic struggles began to weaken.

With an obvious force of will, Jimmy pulled away from the other man's neck. He looked up and flashed me with his still-bloody fangs. I could see a distinct red trail dribbling down Nick's neck to stain the front of his sweatshirt and the investigator was clearly unsteady on his feet. But as Jimmy began roughly running his large hands over the smaller man's body, Nick managed to summon the strength to slam one knee hard into Vero's groin.

Unfortunately, the only effect this seemed to have on the vampire, was to anger him even further. With a vicious snarl, he backhanded the smaller man and Nick was slammed into the nearby wall with devastating force. He crumpled to the floor, unmoving, a slight red streak smearing the wall in his wake.

Stalking heavily over to the wall, Jimmy lifted the smaller man and slung his limp body over one shoulder, as easily as if he were carrying a sack of potatoes. With the unconscious investigator in tow, he headed for the bedroom. Once Vero had disappeared from my sight, it was as if a switch had been thrown in my brain. Suddenly, I could think again. I could move.

It occurred to me that part of my paralysis had been caused by my fear that if Nick saw me fighting with Vero, he would figure out what I was, that I was the same kind of monster that Jimmy was. If Nick knew that I was a vampire, he would be repulsed and he would hate me. For some reason I couldn't explain, that thought had frozen me with indecision. But now that the investigator was unconscious, I was free to act.

Backing up several paces, I sprinted toward the living room window with a burst of inhuman speed and leaped. I kept my arms raised over my face as I crashed through the glass. I landed on my feet, in a crouch, and was immediately moving toward the bedroom.

I found Vero standing over Nick, who was laying face-down on the bed. The vampire had already torn away the investigator's sweatshirt and was about to finish stripping him. I stepped in and grabbed Vero's arm, spinning him around. I punched him in the face with the full force of my considerable strength. His head snapped back for a second and he gave it a quick shake, like a dog. He refocused his dark, blood-shot eyes on me menacingly and actually growled... Oh, shit, this was going to be a long, painful night.

The bedroom was entirely too small of a space to try and fight in, so I backed out of the room, leading Jimmy into the more open arena of the living room. We glared at each other, each trying to intimidate the other. I held my sword out in front of me in both hands. Jimmy's eyes flicked over the blackened wood with contempt.

"You going to stick me with your fancy, little stake, Mercy?" he rasped at me. "I don't think so. I think I'm going to rip your head right off your shoulders with my bare hands and then I'm going to have some fun with your little boyfriend. He's pretty damn hot. Maybe I'll take my time with him. Let him live for a while, so I can enjoy him thoroughly."

I felt my skin crawl at the thought of Jimmy's hands touching Nick's body, but I didn't let his taunts unnerve me. The key to winning in these kinds of fights was to remain calm at all times. I was ready, standing tall, balanced on the balls of my feet, right foot slightly more forward, and sword steady in front of me. When Jimmy made his move, abruptly lunging for me, I quickly leaped aside and slashed him across the chest with my blade. The wood bit deep, but not enough to kill. The far wall and ceiling were showered with a fine spray of blood as my sword followed through its sweeping, upward arc.

I spun around to face Jimmy again, ready for his next attack. He stood panting and furious, a long, red gash running diagonally up his chest. Oh, yeah, that stung him. Just because bullet wounds and deep cuts don't kill us, doesn't mean that we're oblivious to the pain.

"What's the matter, Jimmy, did my fancy, little stake, hurt you?" I sneered.

With an animal-like growl, he launched himself at me again, this time prepared for my slash. He blocked the blade with his left forearm, at the same time wrapping his huge right hand around my throat. Dragging me closer, he bit down on my neck. A feeling of purest revulsion passed through me, along with the electric pain of his teeth.

You see, I was mistaken when I said that there were only three ways to kill a vampire. There was actually a fourth, but it so rarely ever happened that I had neglected to mention it. Of course, I should have remembered Tristan's words. He had warned me that Vero had drained his Sire, Sophia, dry. Now, other than the initial sharing of The Gift, vampires do not Feed on each other. There is no actual law against it. There doesn't need to be one, it's just not done. I mean, it's like cannibalism in humans. You don't really need a law to tell you that this is very, very wrong.

Shocked and repulsed to my very core, I brought one hand up to claw at Jimmy's nearest eye. Unfortunately my hand was shaking too badly to get the proper angle to pop it out; otherwise that eye would've been my proud trophy. As it was, I gouged a deep trough down Vero's cheek. With a loud grunt, he released me and stepped back, swiping at the blood running down his face.

We were both panting now as we glared at each other. I could feel blood trickling down my neck to drip onto the floor below me. Watching Jimmy's eyes, I saw a sudden maniacal glint flash through them and knew that he was about to lunge again. But even recognizing this, didn't help me any. Jimmy was just too fast and he had a longer reach than me.

Repeating his earlier move, he blocked my slash with his arm and grabbed me by the neck, but this time, he lifted me off my feet and slammed me down to the floor. Stomping one big, booted foot onto my chest, he held me pinned. He stood over me and laughed.

"Not so tough now, are you, Mercy?" he leered down at me. "I think maybe I'll drain you dry, just like I did Sophia. You're First Born. Your blood will make me even stronger than I already am. And then no one will be able to stop me."

With a flash of fangs, he started to lower himself towards me. I whipped my sword up and simply let Jimmy impale himself upon the blade. It slid neatly up beneath the breastbone and into his heart. His body jerked for a moment then went limp. I quickly rolled to the side and let his body fall to the floor. Getting to my feet and rolling him onto his side, I wrenched my sword free.

"Yeah, Jimmy, you're strong, but not very bright," I said and stepped back a bit to watch Vero's flesh melt away.

When we fade, we don't necessarily simply dissolve into a pile of dust. The state of the vampire's corpse depends on how old that particular vampire is. I am old enough, that I would become a pile of dust, but Jimmy had only been a vampire for a little more than a year. So, upon his fading, his body was quickly reduced to the level of decomposition of a year old corpse. It wasn't pretty.

I heaved a relieved sigh. I had never had so much trouble with a hunt before. I definitely needed a vacation. I turned, intending to head back to the bedroom, but found myself staring down the barrel of a gun. At some point during my fight with Jimmy, Nick had regained consciousness and had retrieved his weapon.

He stood pointing it at me, looking pale and frightened. His entire body was shaking so badly that he could barely keep the barrel steady and he occasionally swayed unsteadily on his feet. The wound on his neck was still bleeding and there was a thin trail of red trickling down his bare chest, reminding me uncomfortably of the drop of moisture that had so fascinated me the night before. There was also blood oozing down the left side of his face, from a gash on his temple, where his head had impacted with the wall. I wasn't sure how much longer he was going to remain conscious.

"Nick, what's going on? Put the gun down," I said, trying to sound reasonable, not sure how much he had seen.

"What are you?" he whispered, wide-eyed. "There's no way you should have survived a fight with that animal. And I heard what he said to you. What's a First Born?"

Okay, apparently he had seen and heard plenty. This was not good. "Nick, I can explain," I said soothingly, taking a small step toward him.

"Don't!" he said sharply, his body tensing.

"Okay, okay, let's just talk ab-."

I was interrupted as we both became aware of the sounds of several approaching sirens. Nick's head turned reflexively toward the sound. Seeing his momentary distraction, I started to move toward him, but evidently, I hadn't moved quickly enough. Nick seemed almost as surprised by the report of the gun as I was and we both froze, shocked into immobility. I glanced down at the small hole in my lower chest and the trickle of blood, slowly oozing down my stomach.

I recovered from the shock first and, taking advantage of his continued torpor, I stepped closer and took the gun from his nerveless fingers. He just stared at me, his dark eyes wild and verging on panic.

"What are you?" he repeated, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"I can explain," I said gently, reaching out to caress his right cheek. It was a testament to his state of shock that he didn't even flinch away from my touch, as I had expected him to.

But before I could even begin my explanation, we both heard the sounds of many voices gathering just outside the house. Someone pounded loudly on the front door, which was still locked. I heard Brass' voice yelling Nick's name. Damn it! I swore to myself. Not now! I just needed the chance to explain myself to Nick, to somehow try and make him to understand. I couldn't stand that look of horror in his eyes as he stared at me.

I needed to get him away from here, so I could calm him down explain myself. Once the cops burst in, I would never get the chance, assuming of course, that Nick didn't immediately tell them what he had witnessed and I wasn't arrested. Knowing I only had a few seconds in which to act, I made up my mind. Nick was already so weakened that it took little more than a sharp slap from me to send him back into unconsciousness. Catching his limp body, I slung him over my shoulder, just as Vero had done earlier.

Thankfully, Nick wasn't a tall man and his body didn't hamper my movements overly much. Still hearing the voices concentrated near the house's front door, I headed back to the spare bedroom, to the broken window Jimmy had entered through. Using my bokken to sweep away the remaining shards of glass, I carefully climbed through with my limp burden.

Although I could hear voices all around me and lights were starting to come on in the neighboring houses, I didn't actually see anyone here in the small side yard. Glancing cautiously around the side of the house, I saw that my truck was still sitting in front of the house, unguarded. I hadn't taken the time to lock it. Hell, I'd left the keys in the ignition, so I only needed to sprint across the lawn to where it sat waiting.

Hearing the sound of splintering wood, I figured the cops had finally succeeded in breaking down the door. Apparently no one had noticed the smashed front window. With everyone's attention now focused on entering the house, I saw my chance to make a break for the SUV. I sprinted quietly across the short distance to the vehicle and opened the door. The keys were still right where I had left them.

Dumping Nick unceremoniously onto the driver's seat, I pushed him across to the passenger side, where he lay in a crumpled heap. I climbed in after him and started the engine. This finally drew the attention of a few of the cops still outside, but I ignored their commands to exit the vehicle and sped away into the night.

To be continued...