American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop

Along the way, a few old Crown Victoria police cars appeared from time to time. Judging by their paint jobs and uniforms, they seemed to be local police, helping to manage traffic. Thanks to them, the convoy moved smoothly without having to stop at any intersections.

As the convoy approached an overpass, Jane, who had been curiously looking outside, suddenly covered her mouth and let out a low gasp.

"Is that supposed to be a welcome for us?"

Jack tilted his head toward Matt, directing his gaze to the base of the overpass. Hanging there were four naked corpses, both men and women, all beheaded, with some even missing limbs.

"Welcome to Juarez," Alessandro said sarcastically from the backseat, while Matt simply shrugged without saying a word.

Jack noticed that there weren't many onlookers by the road. The few people gathered seemed accustomed to such scenes, casually chatting as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

The convoy quickly passed under the overpass and turned onto a small road. Suddenly, the police cars leading the way came to a stop, and Jack immediately hit the brakes.

No one said anything, and no one asked what was happening. The rapid gunfire echoing from a distance had already explained everything.

Inside the car, only Jack and Matt, who were both wearing earpieces, could hear the communication. Everyone else remained quietly waiting until the radio crackled to life.

"The Mexican side is requesting a route change."

Then a voice with a thick accent came through, "There's been an incident ahead. We need to take a detour. Hold on."

The police cars leading the convoy slowly began to move again, turning into an even narrower alley. Jack followed closely behind, pressing on the gas.

The road became even bumpier than before, but the convoy sped up. The Suburban's large frame turned the already narrow two-lane road into a virtual single lane.

As they zigzagged through the city, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

Jack focused on keeping up with the car in front while observing the surroundings. The distant gunfire had faded, leaving only the sound of engines and the squealing of brakes as they turned corners.

In the back of his mind, Jack began to wonder how long his bulletproof car could withstand sustained fire from an M249 SAW machine gun.

This light machine gun, which fired 5.56x45mm NATO rounds, often appeared in movies and was a common weapon provided by the U.S. to Latin American countries as part of military aid.

"Don't worry, nothing's going to happen here. If they wanted to strike, it would've been at the border," Matt said, still looking relaxed.

As it turned out, the rest of the journey was uneventful. After weaving through narrow alleys for nearly half an hour, the view suddenly opened up. A tall wall topped with barbed wire came into sight.

The Mexican Federal Police's pickup trucks blared their sirens again before pulling over to the side of the road. Jack followed the hand signals of the officers and continued driving forward, passing a DN-V Buffalo fire support vehicle.

This small armored vehicle had a turret mounted with an M8 self-propelled howitzer from World War II, making it a fearsome weapon in a country as militarily weak as Mexico.

Behind the armored vehicle was a concrete bunker-like guard post. After passing the post, they entered the grounds of the Mexican Federal Courthouse.

You had to give credit to the Mexicans for their practicality—the courthouse was right next to the federal prison, minimizing the risk of prisoners being ambushed during transport. But the fact that such measures were necessary was a tragedy in itself.

Armed guards were stationed every few steps around the courthouse, all heavily armed.

Following the pre-arranged plan, Jack parked the car on the side and allowed the other Suburban to take the lead. This way, when they left, the order of the vehicles would be different from when they arrived—a small trick that showed Matt was also wary of the federal police waiting outside the courthouse.

As soon as the convoy came to a stop, Matt got out of the car along with two veteran marshals. They walked through a slowly rising iron gate, surrounded by four Delta Force operatives in a protective formation.

Meanwhile, Alessandro remained seated in the back, calm and collected, occasionally glancing at Jack and Jane.

"Is there a problem?" Jack asked, feeling uneasy under his gaze.

"I heard you're looking for an Irishman named Ian Doyle," Alessandro said.

Jack's heart skipped a beat. "Do you know where he's hiding?"

Alessandro shook his head, not directly answering. "Matt says you're good—protected a group of civilians and got them safely off Hollow Island, even with rebel forces occupying it."

Jack wasn't sure what he was getting at, so he just nodded. "I'm a decent shot, but we were lucky. Reinforcements arrived just in time."

Alessandro shook his head again, seemingly unimpressed with Jack's modesty. "Matt doesn't praise people often. If he says you're good, you must be. I'd like to see for myself someday."

This guy was sure laying it on thick.

Jack doubted Alessandro knew where Ian Doyle was hiding. According to the information Justin had given him, Alessandro had been in Cartagena, Colombia, for the past year, and a year ago, Doyle was still locked up in a secret prison in Ukraine.

But Alessandro definitely had a purpose for bringing it up. Maybe he had a way to find out where Doyle was. Jack wasn't worried about being set up—Alessandro was a known figure with an official status. If he tried to double-cross an FBI agent, he'd never be able to set foot in the U.S. again.

"There will be a chance," Jack replied coolly, realizing there was no need to press the issue.

Soon, a prisoner with a black hood over his head and handcuffs on his wrists was brought out and loaded into one of the cars. Matt quickly returned to Jack's vehicle, buckled his seatbelt, and gave the order through his earpiece, "Move out!"

The six-vehicle convoy set off once more, with the car carrying the four Delta Force operatives leading the way. Jack's car followed in second place, while the prisoner transport vehicle was right behind them.

The convoy quickly exited the courthouse grounds, and the Mexican Federal Police pickup trucks, which had been waiting for them, fell in again, surrounding the convoy from all sides.

"Plan change. We're returning the way we came, straight back to El Paso," Matt announced over the communication channel.

Jack had expected this. The earlier plan to exit through Laredo had been a red herring, most likely leaked to the Mexican side as a distraction. They were even guarding against potential internal leaks.

Jack had studied the map. At their current speed, they would reach the border in less than 20 minutes if they stuck to the main roads. In contrast, driving from Juarez to Nuevo Laredo on Mexico's rundown highways would take at least ten hours.

Some static came through the radio. It seemed that someone from the Mexican side riding with their liaison was loudly protesting. Jack's Spanish was good enough to catch that the person was objecting to something.

But the static quickly disappeared. Whether due to orders from above or something else, the police pickups and motorcycles remained in position, escorting the convoy without any further protest.

The police cars up front blared their sirens as the convoy sped along, the tension mounting again.

This time, even Matt seemed more on edge. He held his rifle and constantly scanned the surroundings as they sped through the streets.

"There's a local police car tailing us," Jack said calmly.

The car had been following them since they left the courthouse, using clever tactics to stay out of sight by driving on parallel streets, separated by a row of buildings.

But the local police car's light blue paint job was too conspicuous. Each time they passed an intersection, Jack could see the car moving in sync with their convoy.

"Attention, we've got a tail at nine o'clock. Is it one of ours?" Matt repeated Jack's observation, requesting confirmation.

There was no response from the channel, but a police motorcycle ahead made a left turn and entered the parallel road. After passing two more intersections, Jack no longer saw the Crown Victoria that had been tailing them.

However, Matt's face grew more serious as he scanned the surrounding buildings. "Eagle Eye One, check the rooftops," he ordered in a low voice.

Soon, a voice came through the earpiece, one Jack hadn't heard before. "Rooftops are clear. You're approaching the bridge. The road ahead is secure. Move quickly."

It was clear now that Matt had another surveillance team in place, likely military drones, Jack guessed.

The return trip was much faster than the journey there. Soon, they saw the bridge in the distance—a bridge that spanned the Rio Grande, connecting the border points of the two countries. Once they passed through the Mexican checkpoint and crossed the bridge, they would reach the U.S. side.

As they passed the point where the Mexican Federal Police had initially waited for them, the police pickups pulled over and exited the highway, leaving the convoy to continue on its way.

"Everyone stay tight and keep to the current lane. We've got a fast lane waiting for us at the border," Matt said.

As promised, the convoy didn't stop at the Mexican checkpoint. With a wave from the officers, they sped through without issue.

"Damn, trouble ahead," Jack muttered as he hit the brakes. There was a massive traffic jam up ahead. All four lanes were clogged with vehicles waiting to cross into the U.S.

"Stay alert!" Matt ordered. "Eagle Eye One, report on the situation."

"

Uh, yeah, there's a car broken down up ahead. Our team is handling it. It'll only be a few minutes. Hold tight," Eagle Eye One reported.

Time seemed to slow down. The warm January sun suddenly felt scorching, and the air around them seemed thick and oppressive. Everyone in the convoy was on high alert, eyes scanning every vehicle around them.

[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! Only $5 per novel or $15 for all!!] [[email protected]/Mutter]

[+50 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]

[+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]