Chapter 36

Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, United States

"That dude really doesn't like you," Sully said to Gen after reviewing the list of books she had to read again, offering to give her help on any of the moral philosophies she needed to know. "I can't believe that Dwayne expects you to read all of these books and pass an exam on them. What did you do to him?"

Gen sighed, leaning against a brick wall in a narrow alleyway off Wilshire Boulevard. She was hoping to knock out some shadowing hours and also learn about moral philosophy at the same time. "I was born…that's all. I'm fairly certain that Dwayne Stone hates me because I'm a Beaufont."

"The first Beaufont," Jack corrected, peeling back around the corner, having been checking for the criminals they were waiting for. Today they'd be checking up on The Getaway Garage, but since Rogue Riders were bad for business, the owner of the illegal chop shop had asked to meet them in the back alleyway.

Jack gave Gen a consoling smile. "And Dwayne is just intimidated by you. I think that he knows what we all assume…"

Gen frowned in confusion. "Which is?"

Sully glanced sideways at Jack. "Isn't she cute when she's being na?ve?"

"She's more than cute," Jack replied, winking at Gen. "And all the time, but especially when all innocent and unknowing."

Gen glared at the two men, secretly hiding her blush from Jack's compliment. "Tell me why you think that Dwayne is intimidated by me."

"Because your dragon is the ruler over all dragons," Sully answered. "It goes to reason that you're destined to be the leader."

"Over the Rogue Riders?" Gen asked in sincere surprise. "I know nothing about this world and have a lot to learn."

"Who knows, you could be the President or leader over the world," Sully replied. "Anything is possible. And yes, you might be old and gray by the time you're ready to reign but still, Dwayne is worried you're going to take his job."

"I can't do that," Gen argued. "The Founders make those appointments and they put him in his role. As much as I can't stand the guy, I'm trying to respect the decision that my father and sister made promoting him to leader of the Rogue Riders."

"I would loathe him too if he made me read books and study all those moral philosophy theories," Sully said, handing Gen back the list. "I have heard of the Peelian Principles. It's all about policing and how it's about earning community trust."

Jack bolted forward suddenly, snapping his fingers in his friend's face. "Sully? Are you still in there? Can you hear me? Blink twice for yes."

Sully slapped Jack's hand away. "What? Of course I'm here. What are you asking for, man?"

"Because for a moment, I thought aliens took over your brain," Jack joked, grinning wide.

Sully scoffed. "Aliens aren't real and no one took over my brain. I know things about things."

Gen cut her eyes to the side, avoiding looking at them for a moment, afraid that her little secret about aliens would show on her face.

"You know things from watching television," Jack retorted.

"Oh!" Sully exclaimed, his eyes wide. "That reminds me." He turned to Gen. "I was watching Outlander last night and it totally reminded me of you, except in reverse. Tell me, were you married in 1426?"

Gen blinked at him in confusion. "What's Outlander? And no, of course I wasn't. I was busy founding the House of Fourteen. Why?"

Sully snapped his fingers, swiping them through the air. "Oh, too bad. Now you can't have a steamy love triangle with Jack."

Gen did blush outwardly now. "What? What are you even talking about?"

Jack threw his head back, laughing, maybe to cover his own embarrassment. "Don't pay attention to him. He's referring to a show about a woman who time travels to the past and has a present-day husband and a love affair with a Scottish warrior from the 1700s."

"Sounds complicated," Gen remarked, dryly.

"Yeah, and I know about the Peelian Principles because they talked about it on a show called Law Order one time," Sully explained. "The idea was that law enforcement should be more than about the fear of punishment. In the show, they said that police should be transparent and community-oriented to prevent crime by fostering a partnership with the community they serve."

"Wow, that's a lot of big words for you to use together," Jack teased. "If you keep this up, you're going to pass out before Tesla shows up for our meeting."

Sully glanced out the alleyway, an annoyed expression on his face. "If that guy ever shows up. I swear, he better not stand us up again or I'm strolling into his chop shop and outing him in front of his customers."

"I think you need to practice what you preach, mate," Jack stated. "Remember, you've got to be fostering partnerships, not intimidating our community."

"Our community steals expensive parts off cars," Sully argued. "We let him do it without getting arrested if he goes after big criminals at inopportune times and tells us who they are."

Gen decided this was her chance to cut in. "Hey, I'm just wondering a bit more about this Peelian Principle, since I have to be tested on it and all. It feels too simple. Like create a relationship with your community. How is that even a moral philosophy tenet?"

"Well, in our world, simply knowing how to interact is confusing, so this boils it down," Jack explained. "Imagine a police officer in Los Angeles who starts a community sports league where officers and locals team up to play basketball every Saturday. This serves as more than just recreation—it builds mutual respect and trust between the police and the community. Through regular games, officers are not just seen as enforcers of the law but as fun guys. This shows how the police can prevent crime by fostering a cooperative relationship with the public, ensuring that policing is done with the community, not to the community."

"Dang, and you say my head is about to explode," Sully muttered, shaking his head. "That was pure poetry, dawg! Like, ‘policing is done with the community, not to the community.' That was beautiful. I got choked up."

"I'm about to choke you," Jack shot back, shaking his head before glancing back at Gen. "It is a simple principle, but it's also effective. I mean, look at us as Rogue Riders. Many of us unknowingly use the Peelian Principle, having a camaraderie with our community of criminals. They respect us and we try to treat them fairly. But it can go too far, like if they start thinking that we're all friends and they can get away with murder…quite literally. I don't tolerate that kind of thing."

"No way," Sully agreed. "Unfortunately, the police in Los Angeles haven't taken a page out of our book. They either have zero relationship with the community or they are seen as bullies. Something is definitely sketchy about the force presently."

Jack agreed, a worried look in his eyes.

Gen opened her mouth, wanting to say something. Wanting to share her secret about the good police officers she was employing to investigate what was happening in the city. But she hesitated, not knowing if she could really trust these guys not to go to Dwayne with the information.

If he found out what she was doing before she had any evidence, then he'd shut it down. Something told her that her boss would stop her, anyway. Hiker Wallace had encouraged Gen to investigate and then share the information with the leader of the Rogue Riders, but she didn't know if that was a good idea.

Gen didn't trust Dwayne Stone. He knew who had murdered the old Commissioner of Los Angeles and said that he couldn't say who it was because he was playing a political game. But what if he was playing an even more dangerous and corrupt game with the city? What if he was behind whatever was going on?

Gen had no evidence of this and only knew that she didn't like Dwayne. She couldn't allow that to color her judgement though, so for now, she'd just stay quiet and pay attention. But still, her instinct told her that she could trust Sully and especially Jack.

She was about to question them on what they knew about what was happening in the city with law enforcement, but right then, they were interrupted by a rough-looking guy with a fierceness in his eyes. He darted around the corner, sliding up against the brick wall, like running from an attack.

Gen tensed, ready to defend herself and her friends. However, Jack and Sully sighed with annoyance, not seeming on guard.

"There you are, Tesla," Jack said, shaking his head. "You're late."

"I was being followed," Tesla replied, pulling his gaze away from the street and stepping away from the wall. "Something isn't right in this city and if that's coming from me, then we've got big problems."