This 8 sentence blog hop is hosted by The Weekend Writing Warriors. (Click the link for the list of participants, or rules if you want to join!)
Detective London is tracking Kelli Rocha (wanted for assault) as a large German Shepherd, but her partner Detective Dale ends up on the wrong side of a crosswalk, and when London sees Kelli getting away, she decides not to wait and catches up to Kelli, intentionally bumping the woman’s leg.
I skipped nothing.
Kelli braced herself and stared down, a ferocious scowl furrowing her features into well-used lines. “What the–”
Her eyes, a contrast of dark brown pupil and blue colored contacts, widened as she saw London’s badge glinting in the afternoon sun.
London barked once, listening for Dale behind her.
Swearing loudly and unimaginatively, Kelli took off running down the sidewalk, and London pursued. Kelli ran full out, and left a tumbled crowd in her wake, people yelling as she knocked them aside. Taking advantage of her maneuverability, London shot past the legs of startled pedestrians, gaining speed despite the chaos. She gave herself over to the chase—paws pounding on the sidewalk, heart racing, and a medley of smells streaming past her nose.
* * * *
Four Feet and a Badge is my NaNoWriMo story.
In 1952, an event moved two and a half million people from one version of the Earth to another, a quarter of them Shifters (able to change their shape). It’s now 2015, and those people have married and had children. The Static (non-Shifters) fit in fine, but the Shifters often have to prove their worth.
Detective Amy London works in Seattle’s Narcotics Section, Shifting to four feet to sniff out drugs and chase down suspects. But she can be a little impulsive–like when she bit her previous partner, earning her a new one, strict, by-the-book Detective Janice Dale.
Dale tries to rein in her partner’s wilder behavior, not always with much success. And a new group of cocaine suppliers is muscling in on the city, and they’re leaving bodies behind. London and Dale will have to work through their differences to bring these dealers down, before the body count rises.
caitlinsternwrites 
Kelli doesn’t care who gets in the way. As for London, it seems as if she feels a release as well as speed and maneuverability in her shifting. Good visual.
If you’re willing to beat someone so badly they end up in the hospital, a little thing like a few pedestrians isn’t going to slow you down.
I feel pretty sorry for those people who happened to get in the way.
Best. Snippet. Yet. You’ve got the bad guy, the chase, the smells, and London being London.
This would make a great opening scene for the TV pilot! 😀
They’d have to use some fancy camera work if they didn’t want an R rating–but yeah, this is a very visually interesting scene, especially if they started with the woman running and the large dog chasing her.
Lots of adrenaline in this scene. I love how describe London in hot pursuit 😀
I can only imagine how it feels for a police officer to chase down a suspect. But I bet it is a heart-pounding experience!
It is, my brother used to be a cop and he would tell me what it’s like. My friend works for the LAPD and one time when I was visiting him, he spotted a criminal breaking the law and went after him. He caught him in no time, and of course he is so quick that’s why they called him ‘El Gato’ or the Cat.
I like the way London melts into the excitement of the chase – terrific snippet!
She’s so close now, she can almost taste it. 😉
What an adrenaline building scene. The rush of a chase is clearly exciting to London. Loved this. 😀
It seems like it could be fun–not for me, I’d be running the other way. It’s a little like extreme tag. 😉
‘Medley of smells’. You are spot on in this exciting eight filled with action using all the senses.
Thanks! Sense of smell has to be important to a character that’s currently a dog, right?
Great descriptions of the chaos! I especially like the line about ‘unimaginative swearing’!
I don’t like to use too much bad language in my writing, but I know exactly what Kelli sounds like–she’s one of those people who uses the f-word as every other word when angry.
Ha, I almost expected to see her tongue lolling : ) This is delightful!
You know, it probably is–she’s exerting enough energy that she’d need to cool down by panting.
I hope she catches up to the criminal after that dramatic chase!
She’s certainly working on it. 🙂
Excellent job using all the senses, I agree. I could see that whole thing in my minds eye as London picked up the chase. Great 8 Caitlin!
The Murders of Polly Frisch
Thanks, that’s what I strive for. 🙂
Does her partner have any way of keeping track of her? Like a GPS tag?
I thought about it, but no. (Unless I change my mind again.)
Really, London isn’t supposed to get so far away from Dale while Shifted. It’d be dangerous for a variety of reasons. Though Dale is still following–she saw which way London went at the light.
Great, lively snippet 🙂
Thanks. I do like to start of with a lot of action, if I can.
Caitlin, that is a good action scene. It occurred to me as I was zipping through it. You did a good job setting the pace!
Thanks! A slow chase wouldn’t be as much fun, would it?
So vivid! Love the ‘paws pounding the sidewalk’. Great snippet.
Thanks!
If I saw London in dog-form racing down the sidewalk, I’d get out of the way–fast!