She had no idea why this criminal was coming at her. Maybe he was caught after he broke the law and felt unjustified, so he wanted to take it out on society and harm others as a form of catharsis?
After all, there were countless people like this. Sometimes, she would read news on the Internet where she saw innocent victims and felt so sorry for them.
Now, she had joined the club as one of the innocent victims, but fortunately, it was the police station here, and she had Freddie by his side. Or else, she would probably be in danger already.
On the other side, the plump middle-aged man to whom Freddie pointed the baton didn't dare to take another step forward as his expression changed completely. Instead, he hurriedly came to a stop and raised his cuffed hands in the air to surrender.
It didn't occur to him that he would be threatened with a weapon when he just wanted to plead for mercy. What bad timing!
The police officers quickly caught the fat man from behind, and one of them kicked him in the back of his knee.
Caught off guard, he fell to his knees with a loud thud, and the officers pinned him to the ground, pressing his face against the floor and holding him firmly as though they were afraid that he would escape as he did earlier.
"Stay still and don't move!" the officers on top of him warned fiercely.
The man couldn't help the bitter smile on his face as he thought, Move? Can I even move when I'm in this state?
Opposite him, Freddie relaxed and kept his baton away when he saw that the officers had apprehended the criminal. Finally, he turned to the two officers and reprimanded stoically, "What were you two doing earlier? Can't you even hold one person?"
The officers hung their heads and didn't answer, knowing they were in the wrong. What could they possibly say? It was their responsibility if a person slipped away while they were holding him.
"This time, I'll just give you a warning as punishment. If something like this happens again, don't blame me for transferring you to the traffic department!" Freddie chided, pointing a finger at them.
The officers repeatedly nodded, indicating they wouldn't make this mistake again. This wasn't a perfunctory reply but a sincere one.
As policemen, it was a slap in their faces and a humiliation that a criminal was able to escape from their hands. At the end of the day, they would be a laughingstock if they couldn't even hold a criminal down.
In order to clean up their act, they would be more alert and wouldn't make the same mistake the second time.
"You better not. Keep this in mind." Then, after he scolded them with a grim expression, he spun around and relaxed his expression as he observed Sonia, asking in concern, "Are you alright, Miss Reed?"
"I'm fine." She released her clasped hands that were held nervously against her chest as she smiled and shook her head. "Luckily, you pulled me aside in time and avoided a tragedy from happening, Officer Chase. Thank you so much for earlier."
"You're welcome, Miss Reed. This is the police station, so we must protect you when our criminal almost injures an innocent person. Even if it's not the police station, as public officials, we have to protect the public anywhere we are," he said with a salute.
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