After handling the situation, Jimmy and Paul had a day off, so they returned to the hotel, changed out of their uniforms, and went out in casual clothes.
Jimmy's destination was the Walk of Fame. Honestly, for someone like Jimmy who was in Los Angeles for the first time, and right in Hollywood, it was almost an offense not to check out the iconic Walk of Fame, but he soon regretted it.
In Jimmy's mind, Hollywood and the Walk of Fame were names he was overly familiar with from the past. He had always thought it would be bustling and beautiful. However, when he actually got to the Walk of Fame, all he saw were stars embedded in the sidewalk and the surrounding low-rise buildings. There were quite a few tourists, mostly selfie and check-in lovers, while Jimmy had arrived empty-handed.
Since Arkansas's CCW was not recognized in California, and as an Arkansas officer, he had no enforcement power there, Jimmy left his gun at the hotel when he changed and went out.
Jimmy just took his cellphone and wallet out, bought an ice cream from a street vendor, and wandered around. Besides some souvenir shops that were somewhat interesting, there wasn't much to see.
However, Jimmy got a bit agitated when he saw a strange facade – the Chinese Theater, the place that often hosts various movie premieres. Well, calling it the Chinese Theater might have been from someone with a hole in their brain. Two lions represent China? And those two abstract dragon heads on the pillars – no words, the designer should have been taken directly to a shooting range for a five-minute execution.
Jimmy had no interest in wandering around Hollywood Film City. He hadn't been in this world very long and didn't have the decades of brainwashing by Hollywood movies like he had in the past. He currently had no special fondness for any of the characters or images in Hollywood Film City.
Jimmy looked around and, feeling utterly bored, noted that the security in Hollywood was indeed very problematic. Although no crimes occurred right in front of him, the sound of police sirens was almost nonstop, giving him the illusion that the police cars were constantly blaring. He wondered how many cases they managed to handle a day, how many people they arrested.
Jimmy got on a tour bus, aimlessly headed toward the next stop. He didn't even notice where the next stop was until he got off and found himself in the legendary Beverly Hills.
Yeah, nice place. Looking around at people drinking coffee in cafes and the pedestrians, this was definitely a wealthy area. You could tell the tourists from locals just by their clothes. Someone like Jimmy, dressed in cheap casual clothes, stood out as underdressed here.
Jimmy bought a coffee from a street-side cafe and meandered along. Nothing else struck him except the high number of beautiful women around, even the shop assistants in the stores next door seemed a cut above the girls he usually saw.
So, a cheeky but not sleazy Chinese-American street loafer was born. Jimmy was leisurely enough to look at the beautiful women and stroll around two blocks before he decided to stop at a steakhouse for a meal. The food was good, the prices rather painful, but Jimmy, who was somewhat well-off now, could stomach the Michelin-starred restaurant's prices.
In the afternoon, Jimmy continued to wander around and even went to see the residential areas in Beverly Hills. Unfortunately, it was too far to walk there realistically, so he just looked from a distance and then found a designated taxi stand to catch a ride back to the hotel to rest. Because he had to work the next day, Jimmy was very well-behaved – he didn't even touch beer, let alone go out to play.
The next morning, Jimmy and Paul arrived at the West Hollywood Police Station. Sergeant Robert arranged for an officer, Matthew, to accompany them to the Los Angeles County Jail to transfer a suspect.
The Los Angeles County Jail is one of the top jails in the United States. The phrase "overcrowded" doesn't even begin to describe it. After the development of private prisons, many inmates with minor offenses were transferred to private facilities. Most of the inmates here at the county jail were serving longer sentences, aside from those like Dick Diaz who were awaiting trial and temporarily detained.
Jimmy and Paul got to the jail's main gate, where LAPD Officer Matthew checked in with the guards, who then opened the gate to let them in.
The outer design of the Los Angeles County Jail was quite peculiar. The walkway from the gate to the main jail building was enclosed by a double layer of wire mesh, about 4-5 meters apart, with steel railings dividing a pathway in the middle. On either side, there were prisoner activity areas.
It happened to be yard time, and as Jimmy and the others walked down the path, inmates on both sides watched them through the wire, of course, spewing unsavory comments.
They reached the main building of the jail, where a jail officer said, "Welcome to the Los Angeles County Jail. Please hand over your duty belts, communication devices, and spare weapons. Your equipment will be kept safely in the storage lockers and returned to you when you leave."
Jimmy and Paul started removing their duty belts, and LAPD Officer Matthew did the same. It wasn't discrimination, just standard procedure. In the jail, only the jail officers were armed.
"Follow me." The jail officer placed their equipment in separate baskets, stacked them, and took them to a storage room by the door, then led them into the jail building.
Jimmy and Paul were taken to an interrogation room, where Dick Diaz was already present, sitting across a table, his hands in handcuffs attached to a ring on the table. A county bailiff stood beside him.
The LAPD officer started signing documents and handed them to the county bailiff, who took the documents and left the room to process them, while Jimmy and the others waited there.
After a few minutes, the county bailiff returned with the prisoner transfer documents, asking Jimmy and Paul to sign. Just then, the public address system activated, sounding two alarm beeps.
Jimmy, "Sergeant, that beeping sound doesn't mean something has happened, does it?"
The county bailiff looked up at the speaker in the corner and told them, "Two beeps indicate a prisoner disturbance, probably just a fight. You guys wait here for a moment; I'll go check it out."
Jimmy: "OK."
LAPD Officer Matthew: "Need help?"
Sergeant: "NO, I'm going to go out and check."
The sergeant left the interrogation room. Jimmy and Paul exchanged a glance, feeling somewhat helpless, and could only wait there.
Less than five minutes later, the alarm started to sound continuously. Jimmy was unfamiliar with what this alarm indicated, but Paul was a County Bailiff, who had received training related to prison knowledge because the county detention center was also established according to prison rules, and they occasionally needed to go there for support.
Paul: "Jimmy, something has happened, this should mean the prisoners have breached the cell area, if the alarm here works the same as ours."
Jimmy directly said to LAPD Officer Matthew: "Matthew, are you familiar with this place? Find someone to check what's going on. We two don't have law enforcement power, nor do we have weapons."
Matthew: "I haven't been here either. Let me go out and check."
Matthew opened the door and peeked outside on both sides before leaving. Jimmy and Paul couldn't move; this was the Los Angeles County Jail, and they had come across states, completely incapable of enforcing the law here.
Two minutes later, LAPD Matthew returned.
Matthew: "Jimmy, Paul, we need to evacuate. Zone B cellblock has been breached, some guards have been captured, and they've got the cell keys."
Jimmy: "Have they made it to our side yet?"
Matthew: "Not yet, the keys for Zone B guards can only open internal doors, they can't reach us here yet. Right now, the guards are trying to control the situation, but it's still dangerous."
Jimmy: "We can't leave yet, our process isn't complete. What about the proceedings later? If the process is incorrect, there might be problems with Dick Diaz's trial."
Matthew: "I haven't seen that sergeant since earlier, and I don't know where he is now. It's not possible to continue this now."
Jimmy shook his head: "Since there is no immediate danger of a breach here, it's best to wait a bit. Why don't you communicate with the prison again to see if we can retrieve our equipment first?"
Seeing that Jimmy did not agree to evacuate, Matthew could only nod: "I'll talk to them again."
Matthew left the interrogation room. Jimmy asked Paul to watch Dick Diaz. He went to the entrance of the interrogation room and took a look at both ends of the corridor. No one had passed by here because Jimmy didn't know the prison layout; he couldn't confirm an escape route now.
The range of Heart Eye Observation was limited. They had walked from the main entrance to here, covering quite a distance, and could no longer observe the main entrance's situation.
Because the situation was unclear, Jimmy kept the Heart Eye active, observing the surrounding corridors. Soon, a person ran through one of the passageways. Jimmy tensed up, ready to defend himself if it was a prisoner.
Fortunately, it was the earlier sergeant who ran to the interrogation room and shouted directly at Jimmy: "Halt the handover, you two follow me now, we're leaving the building."
Dick Diaz was still handcuffed and locked to the table, so there wasn't an immediate problem. Jimmy picked up the handover document on the table, and together with Paul, followed the sergeant out of the interrogation room, back along the way they had come, to the main building entrance.
At the entrance's storage locker, the sergeant placed the basket containing their equipment on the table, and Jimmy and Paul started arming themselves.
While putting on his equipment, Jimmy asked the sergeant: "What happened to LAPD's Matthew? He left the interrogation room to find you just now."
Sergeant: "I didn't see him, I have to go back in to check. Do not leave yet; stand guard at the door. The prison's main gate can't be opened now."
Jimmy nodded. Now that he had a weapon in hand, guarding this main entrance should be safe.