Officer Jenkins and I slowly made our way out into the small outdoor lot where the station's patrol cars were parked when the officers assigned to each car were either in the station or their shift was over for the day. Some units had enough money in their budgets that they could afford to have a car for every officer or pair of officers. My dad's department in Peoria was much that way. I had quickly found that Columbia Falls was very different by that. Because of the town's small size and the smaller budget alloted to it, the Columbia Falls Police Department only had a set number of cars.
Officers on the day shift, like myself and Officer Barnes patrolled with the vehicles during the day, but they were left at the station when our shifts ended. There were actually fewer night shift officers, but they still used the same cars as the day shift officers to do the same job. If something big happened during the night, off duty day shift officers could be called in to provide additional back up, just as Officer Howard had been called in on the night that I transformed.
As we went out, my curiosity finally got the better of me, and I had to ask Officer Jenkins a few questions.
"So, what was with some of the joking in there?" I asked her, "you have seemed to be the type to make jokes at certain things."
"I'd generally like to think I have fairly humorous personality," Officer Jenkins replied, "it's generally that since I joined the force here a few years ago, I've been assigned to run the front desk. It's been a position where being humorous isn't a good thing. You take reports, you take statements, you process a lot of the paperwork the goes between Officer Howard's office and he various courts or with the City Council. You can't really joke around with that..."
By that time we had reached the car that Officer Barnes and I normally used. She seemed a little startled when I climbed into the back seat, but she did recover well. Once she got in and settled into the driver's seat, she continued with her answer.
"But going on an actual patrol..." Officer Jenkins continued, "Not just sitting behind a desk all day... that will give me enough room to have a little fun like that. Provide it's all in good humor and it doesn't get in the way of getting things done."
She then began to back the patrol car out to head on our way to the morning's patrol.
"And you thought the "Tony the Tiger" angle was the best you could come up with?" I asked, intending to try and get in a little "good humor" myself.
"Well... it was the only character I could think of that was a tiger and was made to be a good guy," Officer Jenkins shrugged, "Disney made Shere Khan a villain in the Jungle Book and he is the only other tiger in pop culture worth mentioning really, and you've been too nice a guy to compare with a fictional bad guy."
"Shere Khan was created by Rudyard Kipling," I answered, "and he mostly wrote it to reflect and endorse British Imperialism. When Disney adapted the Jungle Book, they rewrote it to remove the Imperialist sections of Kipling's work."
"See, Tony the Tiger was a better choice," Officer Jenkins replied with a chuckle.
I gave a slight chuckle as we began the morning patrol.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The patrol started off fairly quietly as we started going through the western area of town. As with what was standard practice we did not go into the more rural areas outside of town unless there was a call for us to go there. Patrolling those areas, including the area around Bandhavgarh Cabin was the responsibility of the County Sheriff's Department and the High Way Patrol units. And things like that made me glad I was sticking with the Columbia Falls PD. Those units had to pull some long days to make sure everything was in good order, and probably had to interact with Federal officers a bit more as their area of operation extended up to Glacier Park, which was very close to Columbia Falls.
As we went along, I decided to try and continue to make some pleasant conversation.
"So, how long have you been pulling desk duty?" I asked, "I take it, it wasn't what you were looking for when you joined?"
"I've pretty much always pulled desk duty," Officer Jenkins sighed, "and yeah it wasn't what I was hoping for, but what are you going to do? Much like you, I only got in here because one of the older officers was retiring after years of distinguished service. Officer Howard was impressed with my education and resume, which included a year of work in Spokane, Washington State..."
"You're from Washington?" I asked.
"Idaho, actually," Officer Jenkins answered, "but the first department that hired me was the Spokane Police Department... I did fairly well there for a year... until I got drunk at a Christmas party and ended up pregnant as a result. The chief there was not real big on officers having families... or at least FEMALE officers having families, and I was let go..."
"I'm sorry to hear that," I told her.
She gave a slight smile that I could see in the rear-view mirror.
"It isn't too bad," she shrugged, "I had my little Megan... she isn't in the class that your wife is working with, but she seems to like the "tiger-lady". I've heard stories about her letting Megan climb on her shoulders and play with her tail at recess... and Officer Howard hired me so I've recovered really... there's only one thing that might make things perfect."
"Oh?" I wondered, "and what would that be?"
"A father for Megan," Officer Jenkins asked, "I never really found out who was her father, and to be honest, it's too late now to try... so I've been looking for someone to settle down with, so to speak."
"You know that I'm married, right?" I told her.
"Yes, and believe me, I'm not about to challenge your wife for you," Officer Jenkins answered, "although the guy I've had my eye on does work with you... you could help me out..."
"Officer Barnes?" I gasped.
"He's been friendly, strong, and he's actually helped me out with a few "do it yourself" projects I've had," Officer Jenkins shrugged, "I've just never been brave enough to ask him..."
By that time we were nearing the main road heading north and out of Columbia Falls. Our standard route would actually take us south to go through the northern parts of town, but at that moment, a small old yellow car flew past and tripped the automatic radar sensors on the car's dashboard.
"Holy!" Officer Jenkins gasped and hit the cars sirens and immediately began to pursue. As we began to chase the car, she radioed into dispatch, "this is Officer Jenkins, we got a small yellow Honda headed onto Highway 40 toward Whitefish, doing 55 in 30 mile per hour zone... they appear to be accelerating."
I lifted my head to see the car accelerating down the road. Officer Jenkins was keeping us as close as possible, but with the weather now starting to warm a little bit, she couldn't press it too hard as the winter snows began to melt a little.
"Roger that, Officer Jenkins," came the dispatch officer's response, "we've gotten a couple of calls on a speeding yellow Honda..."
She then gave us the license plate number, which they had gotten from a camera on one of the intersections in the town.
"Plates match," Officer Jenkins answered, "same car... can you see if its stolen?"
"Nothing quite of that nature," the dispatch officer answered, "just driving way too fast."
"Looks like the driver's still accelerating," I commented as I watched the chase from the back seat.
"Dispatch, we may need back up to bring the guy in," Officer Jenkins reported as she continued to pursue, grateful that the car's siren warned the honest citizens to pull to the sides of the road.
"You wanted excitement," I quipped to her while the radio was off for a moment.
"And it looks like I got it," Officer Jenkins quipped back.
The chase ended up taking us five miles out of Columbia Falls when the fleeing vehicle suddenly began to slow down. The brake lights hadn't come on, it was more like the car was simply coasting. From what I could make out, it looked like the driver was banging on the steering wheel as his car slowed. Pursuing him at highway speeds, Officer Jenkins ended up having to slam on the brakes as the car in front of us began to slow down. Thankfully, we didn't hit any ice and both vehicles eventually stopped.
The fact that they stopped didn't end the surprising and weird events around the chase. I could see the driver in the other car wrestling with something, though it looked more like he was being attacked by something then he was trying to get a weapon or anything like that. On top of it, I couldn't hear his car's engine running anymore.
"Dispatch, we've come to a stop about seven to ten miles outside of Columbia Falls," Officer Jenkins reported, "request Highway Patrol for actual pickup... and suspect is behaving strangely."
"Strangely?"
"He appears to be in a life or death struggle with his seatbelt," Officer Jenkins reported, "and his vehicle likely only stopped because it ran out of gas..."
"Take him into custody and hold until Highway Patrol can arrive," the dispatch officer responded, "be careful."
Officer Jenkins acknowledge the answer and got out, and also opened the back door to let me out. At this point, I took the lead. I figured if he lashed out, I could take far more punishment then Officer Jenkins could. The man continued to wrestle with his seatbelt as we approached. As we approached, I caught a strange odor drifting up to my nostrils. It didn't smell like gasoline or anything that one would normally smell on a car, but I couldn't identify it. Partially because it was fairly faint, and because I didn't go around testing to see just how good a tiger's sense of smell was.
"Something smells odd," I whispered in a low voice.
"Gas? Oil?"
"No," I responded.
Officer Jenkins then pulled out the walkie talkie that I had been using on the foot patrols, and she had been given to take on Officer Barnes' role as my "driver" while he recovered.
"Dispatch, this is Jenkins, again," she reported, "we have a request that Highway Patrol or the station send a canine unit to our location. Officer Wayne smells something weird... could be drugs."
I then slowly reached out for door of the car and opened it while the man inside was wrestling with the seatbelt like it was some giant snake.
"SNAKES!" the man suddenly screamed, "GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF! THEY'RE ATTACKING ME!"
I noticed the look in the man's eyes and the way he was wrestling with the seatbelt, as if the buckle were the head of a large snake.
"I think the guy is drugged up on something," I grumbled and moved forward, taking the man gently by the arms, "come along now, sir. There are no snakes here."
The man really didn't struggle, but once he was out of the car, he began brushing himself off and shaking in my grasp as if he were still being attacked by something. I had to be careful that I didn't grip him so tightly that his thrashing and my strength would result in a broken bone.
"Dispatch, suspect will need paramedics," Officer Jenkins reported into the walkie talkie, "appears to have ODed on some hallucinogen, having a bad trip, or is going through severe withdrawal symptoms. He is complaining about being attacked by snakes."
"Wonderful," I head the dispatch officer's voice groan through the walkie talkie.
"Get them off!" the man screamed again.
Holding him by the back of the shirt, I calmly brushed one paw down his chest, legs, arms, and back.
"There, all gone," I tried to comfort him, and lead him away from his vehicle, which still smelled odd to me, "You need to calm down and take deep breaths."
It took a little while for the Highway Patrol unit that was needed for the actual "arrest" since the area the suspect had made it to was outside of our jurisdiction. They had calmed down a little, but it was still fairly clear that he was out of it with whatever was giving him the problems he presently had. They quickly agreed that the guy would need to be checked over by a clinic and a doctor to see what was causing his reactions, and so while I waited with him for the paramedics to arrive, the two Highway Patrolmen began to search the vehicle.
"You got a good nose," the first Patrolman commented as he pulled out of the small backseat of the vehicle, "he had two bags of some white powder... likely cocaine in the back seat."
"And a whole series of syringes and other paraphernalia in the trunk," the second patrolman then added from where he stood looking, "some of it appears used... odds are, it's what the guy did before going on his joy ride."
"It's a miracle he didn't hit and kill anyone," Officer Jenkins commented.
Both Highway Patrolmen nodded.
"Have to take it as good luck, I guess," the first Patrolman shrugged as the ambulance finally arrived on the scene.
As the paramedics began to check the guy over, the two patrolmen took the photographs they'd need, and began to bag much of the evidence that was in the car.
"You and your partner can head out," the second Patrolman spoke, "we have everything well in hand."
"Did you call for a truck?" Officer Jenkins asked as we relinquished control of the suspect to the patrolmen and the paramedics, "or do we need to do that? I don't think this guy's vehicle is going anywhere, and he's in the middle of the lane."
"We got it," the second Patrolman answered.
We slowly nodded and returned to our vehicle and let the patrolmen and paramedics finish up the scene. Once we were on the way back to Columbia Falls, Officer Jenkins let out a fairly heavy sigh.
"And so ends what will be my weirdest case..." Officer Jenkins commented, "doped up guy speeds through town, somehow misses a potential accident, flees out of town, runs out of gas, and fights seatbelt."
"Weird maybe," I commented, "but to a certain extent, I'd take it over the cases involving R.A.M. that Officer Barnes and I have had to deal with."
Officer Jenkins slowly nodded.