You’d think that Xan would have a Web cam trained on the door so he could see who’s down there. I also wouldn’t be surprised Xan also has a gun as well. But I bet Shanna will intervene before JJ gets inside.
Geek out the back is what I am thinking. You want a tense weekend I am also betting it is back to Arkerra Monday and not Uncle Tom and Brother HR either or any other big deal. Hey maybe a little Cybeeriah. wheel sea.
Go into an allyway and shoot it off. A sane person would run, a stupid person would bring themselves into the line of fire, a law abiding person would call the cops (then be stupid or sane).
Either way, JJ is away from Xan.
I’m actually more surprised he went with a hammer. And didn’t try a bump key or similar device first.
Takes less time than breaking glass, no suspicion, and no evidence.
And no… “Are you happy to see me? Or do you just have a hammer in your pants?”
Reinforces the direct violent approach to problems, though, for the character. It’s also a more “actiony” and threatening thing to draw in a comic, especially one that comes out one page at a time. It’s a nice escalation.
Well, if I knew I was digging into a corporation who has very likely kidnapped and imprisoned at least six people and very possibly killed one other, I can’t imagine putting on a pot of tea for the guy making veiled threats and breaking into my apartment.
I’ll be honestly surprised if Xan is a gun owner. Gun ownership overlaps heavily with anti-establishment, yes, but I don’t think it overlaps much at all with Xan’s particular anti-establishment subgroup.
I’ve only ever personally known a single paranoid black hat kind of guy but he most definitely owned a shotgun. And an Ar15, and an AK model (not sure which), and a few pistols… you get the idea. It actually might break my suspension of disbelief if Xan here doesn’t have some kind of firearm.
If this was Faan’s, I’d place money on Xan having something like that. Or more likely, an actual working sci fi prop and mad kung fu skills he downloaded recently to his brain. ;-)
To be honest, I’m half inclined to say she should. What exactly is she going to achieve by “going to Xan’s rescue”? Dude is a professional hitman built like a brick house.
Running is the objectively smarter, more rational decision because if she dies this whole case dies with her. That doesn’t make it the more narratively interesting decision though.
That would be the sensible case, no matter who you are (what do you think she would accomplish by confronting Robin? that he will see the error of his way, apologize and meekly go away? o_O)
First of all, neither Xan nor Shanna want law enforcement on the trail of this case, at least not until one of them can blow it wide open. Here’s why:
1. The hitman murdering a guy who is as “tinfoil” as Xan is not going to leave any trails back to Hurricane, even with the information we saw him show to Shanna (because high-level law enforcement will probably confiscate and bury this info). Xan most definitely does not want the information he has getting leaked to the government, so for his part this precludes him deliberately triggering their involvement. And he has made Shanna aware of this as well, so she’s already got an interest in protecting him (since a dead hacker’s equipment and data getting confiscated is of negative value to her at present). It’s also a complete unknown to her whether he owns a gun or not, and he primarily protects himself by way of keeping information secret – so, like the rest of us, Shanna would be safe in assuming he’s helpless against brute force.
2. In Shanna’s mind, right now, there are 4-5 people she thinks she needs to track down and rescue. Plus two more, since she knows about the new tubes H.R. ordered. So even if she wasn’t planning on personally launching a one-person raid on Hurricane’s basement to extract them, she was already planning to play hero by sending someone else to their rescue. It’s not out of character for her to save Xan’s life by doing something drastic; she is already doing something drastic.
3. Shanna owns a gun, which in sepia world is a little closer to being an unstoppable force than a brick house is to being an immovable object. She bought it for protection, but probably wasn’t planning to use it to protect anyone other than herself at first. But again, we know she’s got a conscience (based on her intent to rescue the Five), so saving Xan is definitely a possibility for her now, if she can just manage to wait for the right moment to strike, and then shoot straight. (And in fairness, having had direct contact with Xan makes this slightly more personal to her; it’d weigh on her conscience if she let him get killed for her sake.)
4. At the present moment, Shanna has every reason to fear for her own life (the hitman is technically there for her, and she knows he won’t stop with threatening or even killing Xan). Assuming she can manage to crack this case: If she sneaks in and takes the big guy down right now, she can later say she acted in self-defense. And saving the life of a paranoid guy like Xan, so that he owes her, probably won’t hurt her chances of making him more compliant. So she has two very good excuses to shoot the hitman.
Her true conundrum, then: Will he make a pretty corpse?
I’m just wondering why instead of Xan she didn’t find a friend who lives in a rural area in a state with castle doctrine and then laid in wait for her pursuit there. If cops find a guy shot from the front inside a house that isnt his, next to a broken window, and the only witnesses claiming he broke in, it winds up being pretty open and shut. My dad actually was advised by a state cop he knew that if he ever shot an intruder just outside the door to drag him across the threshold, and the state cops wouldn’t ask questions, haha. True story.
Anyways, depending how rural you are, you dont even have to bother with that much. Rifle shots are not an uncommon thing to hear in rural PA, for example (lots of hunters and farmers shooting varmints), and nobody would call the cops or investigate if they heard one off in the distance.
You make a very good point. And I’m not sure she isn’t in one of those states, though I may have forgot the region she’s traveled to (by what looked like a charter bus, as I recall – meaning she’s at the least not where she started).
Given the extent of his living conditions, Xan would be a smart guy to live in such an area. Even if he doesn’t own a gun, he might have some other means of self-defense. If I were concerned for my security to the extent that he is, I’d rig up a silenced, automatic turret just inside my door that goes active after break-ins or at the push of a button…
It’s reassuring to know that Berten is a sensible thug who uses a hammer rather than a psychopath who breaks glass with his fists. I am looking forward to a civil exchange of violent advances.
Sensible? I’ll give you that. But I see it more as a practical/smart move. Punching out a glass pane with your bare fist will likely wind up cutting your fist on the broken glass. The blood left behind will allow the cops to tag you as the perp at the seen of the crime. Although breaking the glass in the middle of big city like that will also let many others hear that noise and take a look just as well.
Automotive section of Walmart should have them. Any auto parts store. Or, search Amazon for “auto emergency escape tool” or “car safety hammer”
They usually also have a blade in a recessed slot, meant for cutting seatbelts. The pointed tip of the hammer makes it easier to break tough car windows. It’s good to keep one in the latched center console of your car. In the event of an accident, you might have a hard time reaching the glove compartment, and if you keep it in the door pocket, it could go flying during an accident.
Um… actually, read the instructions that come with it, and do what they say. I’m no expert.
Shanna to Joel: “If someone comes to you looking for me, ‘fess up. Save yourself and your family”
Joel to JJ: “She said you’d come. Here’s where I sent her.”
JJ to Joel: “Lemme buy some books from ya.”
Shanna to Xan: “I dislike you and all gamers.”
Xan to JJ: “%$?!!*& off.”
JJ to Xan: “I’m comin’ to get you.”
Lol! I suspect Shanna was too miffed to think of that. Not that she was being cold.
I do wonder though if Joel did the reasobale thing and called the authorities. I doubt they would be in position to save Xan at this point, but at least some more folks would be starting to investigate.
Joel is the the one who gave Shanna the location of Xan’s place.
Also, Shanna might have planned to warn Xan when she was finished with him, but she still needed his help contacting The Four, and probably wasn’t expecting JJ (or anyone for that matter) to be THAT hot on her trial.
She needs to stick to the minor leagues if she isn’t willing to step up her game here before she gets all of The Fives support messed up. (kind of surprised H.R. didn’t think of simply ban hammering anybody who helped them too much right before a major encounter… )
Next time on Guilded Age, Mr. JJ Berten shows us the effects of a glass-breaking hammer on the human anatomy, comparing the pros and cons of using it instead of something more suitable for the task of torture! Tune in next time for “JJ’s Home Improvement and Torture Hour!”
Looking over your shoulder is a good way to be noticed, it’s the same when sneaking around an area you shouldn’t be: if you act suspiciously you will be viewed suspiciously
But then you can just leave? Looking over your shoulder isn’t a crime. If you aren’t sure you will be successful then doesn’t it kind of defeat the point?
Also, I am fairly certain neither of us are career criminals so I don’t know who would be an authority on this.
He’s really big. Looking over his shoulder would probably require turning his whole body. Not worth it. If there are any witnesses they are probably puny people who will just run away.
I had pants like that, only just replaced them a few months ago. Pockets almost reached my knees. Stitching and fabric weren’t amazing, ergo replacement. The external pockets were disappointingly small, too. I want to say I got them at Kohl’s… probably these.
“Hello 911? There’s a large ARMED man breaking into my friend’s house! I think he intends to MURDER HIM!”
Then they can charge him with B&E, (attempted) assault/murder, and even IMPERSONATING AN OFFICER OF THE LAW.
For a dangerous Hit-man/Fixer type, this guy has made a pretty big mistake just smashing his way in (without, apparently, even checking to see if there were any WITNESSES standing in open view)
Ok, FIRE YER GUN into the air/ground to get the attention of someone else in the neighborhood. Oh no, she’s got JJ’s attention AND A GUN. If he makes any kind of move, depending what State they are currently in, Stand Your Ground laws could give her a really solid legal defense (especially since she’s a woman and he’s a BIG muscular guy who she just saw trying to break into someone’s house)
It’s possible that JJ saw Shanna walking away, and intentionally had that conversation with Xan, loud enough for her to overhear. If she “knows what’s good for her”, she’ll run away and drop the matter. If not, then breaking into Xan’s is possibly an attempt to draw her into a trap. I think the latter is more likely, since JJ seems to have figured out that Shanna’s willing to put her life (but not others’) on the line. Putting a gun to Xan’s head might be JJ’s best chance to get her to back down, and make her toss any weapon she happens to be packing.
Also, if Shanna’s gonna fire her weapon to try to scare JJ away, she might wanna put a couple of rounds through his car’s radiator. He could probably drive it far enough to get out of the immediate area, but would have to hide it and get another car, before he could resume the chase. Of course, he might just pull his own gun, and return fire.
The car probably can’t be traced back to his true identity, so he could just walk away and write it off, if necessary. The fact that it’s a convertible might make his lawyer’s job easier, if his DNA or other evidence was found in the car. If the abandoned car got taken for a joy ride or stolen, all the better. He could just list the car under “Expenses” on his bill for HR.
You’d think that Xan would have a Web cam trained on the door so he could see who’s down there. I also wouldn’t be surprised Xan also has a gun as well. But I bet Shanna will intervene before JJ gets inside.
I’m honestly not sure what I hope for more — that Shanna intervenes, or that Xan is already out the back window and will meet up with Shanna.
Either way, it’s going to be an incredibly tense weekend.
Xan and Shanna road trippppp!
They aren’t going to jail for you, or anybody!!
He’s a gamer that loves games! She’s a crusader who hates ’em! Together they DON’T WANT TO DIE BY GLORIOUS MOUSTACHE!
I’d watch it
seconded!
I think we’re all on board for this series. Spin off? What am I saying? SPINOFF!
Geek out the back is what I am thinking. You want a tense weekend I am also betting it is back to Arkerra Monday and not Uncle Tom and Brother HR either or any other big deal. Hey maybe a little Cybeeriah. wheel sea.
Shanna packed a gun in her purse, right?
Yes, but I’m not sure it’ll be much good just yet. She can’t just gun down JJ (yet), and threatening him with it just tells JJ how close she is to him
Go into an allyway and shoot it off. A sane person would run, a stupid person would bring themselves into the line of fire, a law abiding person would call the cops (then be stupid or sane).
Either way, JJ is away from Xan.
I hope Xan makes it, but I got a sneaking suspicion it won’t end well for him.
I’m sure he can hear the glass breaking either through the speakers, throughout the house or both.
Bit surprised that wasn’t locked a bit more securely. Decision time, Cochran.
It was locked enough to keep anyone who was not determined to get inside out
I’m actually more surprised he went with a hammer. And didn’t try a bump key or similar device first.
Takes less time than breaking glass, no suspicion, and no evidence.
And no… “Are you happy to see me? Or do you just have a hammer in your pants?”
Reinforces the direct violent approach to problems, though, for the character. It’s also a more “actiony” and threatening thing to draw in a comic, especially one that comes out one page at a time. It’s a nice escalation.
Given how tinfoil Xan is and how expensive his computer setup looks, I can’t imagine J.J. getting anything but a load of buckshot on the next page.
Really?
Well, if I knew I was digging into a corporation who has very likely kidnapped and imprisoned at least six people and very possibly killed one other, I can’t imagine putting on a pot of tea for the guy making veiled threats and breaking into my apartment.
I’ll be honestly surprised if Xan is a gun owner. Gun ownership overlaps heavily with anti-establishment, yes, but I don’t think it overlaps much at all with Xan’s particular anti-establishment subgroup.
I’ve only ever personally known a single paranoid black hat kind of guy but he most definitely owned a shotgun. And an Ar15, and an AK model (not sure which), and a few pistols… you get the idea. It actually might break my suspension of disbelief if Xan here doesn’t have some kind of firearm.
I’m bucking for a home-made taser. Preferably with extra movie prop.
If this was Faan’s, I’d place money on Xan having something like that. Or more likely, an actual working sci fi prop and mad kung fu skills he downloaded recently to his brain. ;-)
I would bet on high voltage being run through his door handle, or in a wire in his room.
TASE HIM BRO!
And that would just make Robin really mad, same if Nose tries to shoot him
I’m just waiting for Shanna to show her true colors and run.
To be honest, I’m half inclined to say she should. What exactly is she going to achieve by “going to Xan’s rescue”? Dude is a professional hitman built like a brick house.
Running is the objectively smarter, more rational decision because if she dies this whole case dies with her. That doesn’t make it the more narratively interesting decision though.
That would be the sensible case, no matter who you are (what do you think she would accomplish by confronting Robin? that he will see the error of his way, apologize and meekly go away? o_O)
Wouldn’t a sensible person just call the police? After all, she just witnessed him breaking into a house.
She can’t. She doesn’t have a phone. She had to borrow Xan’s to call Frigg’s mom, and I’m not sure she has time to find another one.
She could fire her gun in the air, when in an alleyway. That would wake up the neighborhood and get a few cop calls
This scene takes place in Philadelphia, so I sincerely doubt that.
At least she doesn’t have to worry about her mother getting scared and sending her to live with her auntie & uncle in Bel-Air.
First of all, neither Xan nor Shanna want law enforcement on the trail of this case, at least not until one of them can blow it wide open. Here’s why:
1. The hitman murdering a guy who is as “tinfoil” as Xan is not going to leave any trails back to Hurricane, even with the information we saw him show to Shanna (because high-level law enforcement will probably confiscate and bury this info). Xan most definitely does not want the information he has getting leaked to the government, so for his part this precludes him deliberately triggering their involvement. And he has made Shanna aware of this as well, so she’s already got an interest in protecting him (since a dead hacker’s equipment and data getting confiscated is of negative value to her at present). It’s also a complete unknown to her whether he owns a gun or not, and he primarily protects himself by way of keeping information secret – so, like the rest of us, Shanna would be safe in assuming he’s helpless against brute force.
2. In Shanna’s mind, right now, there are 4-5 people she thinks she needs to track down and rescue. Plus two more, since she knows about the new tubes H.R. ordered. So even if she wasn’t planning on personally launching a one-person raid on Hurricane’s basement to extract them, she was already planning to play hero by sending someone else to their rescue. It’s not out of character for her to save Xan’s life by doing something drastic; she is already doing something drastic.
3. Shanna owns a gun, which in sepia world is a little closer to being an unstoppable force than a brick house is to being an immovable object. She bought it for protection, but probably wasn’t planning to use it to protect anyone other than herself at first. But again, we know she’s got a conscience (based on her intent to rescue the Five), so saving Xan is definitely a possibility for her now, if she can just manage to wait for the right moment to strike, and then shoot straight. (And in fairness, having had direct contact with Xan makes this slightly more personal to her; it’d weigh on her conscience if she let him get killed for her sake.)
4. At the present moment, Shanna has every reason to fear for her own life (the hitman is technically there for her, and she knows he won’t stop with threatening or even killing Xan). Assuming she can manage to crack this case: If she sneaks in and takes the big guy down right now, she can later say she acted in self-defense. And saving the life of a paranoid guy like Xan, so that he owes her, probably won’t hurt her chances of making him more compliant. So she has two very good excuses to shoot the hitman.
Her true conundrum, then: Will he make a pretty corpse?
I’m just wondering why instead of Xan she didn’t find a friend who lives in a rural area in a state with castle doctrine and then laid in wait for her pursuit there. If cops find a guy shot from the front inside a house that isnt his, next to a broken window, and the only witnesses claiming he broke in, it winds up being pretty open and shut. My dad actually was advised by a state cop he knew that if he ever shot an intruder just outside the door to drag him across the threshold, and the state cops wouldn’t ask questions, haha. True story.
Anyways, depending how rural you are, you dont even have to bother with that much. Rifle shots are not an uncommon thing to hear in rural PA, for example (lots of hunters and farmers shooting varmints), and nobody would call the cops or investigate if they heard one off in the distance.
You make a very good point. And I’m not sure she isn’t in one of those states, though I may have forgot the region she’s traveled to (by what looked like a charter bus, as I recall – meaning she’s at the least not where she started).
Given the extent of his living conditions, Xan would be a smart guy to live in such an area. Even if he doesn’t own a gun, he might have some other means of self-defense. If I were concerned for my security to the extent that he is, I’d rig up a silenced, automatic turret just inside my door that goes active after break-ins or at the push of a button…
She’s better than that. I hope. Leaving someone to die is a bit more cold-blooded than we’ve seen from her so far.
It’s reassuring to know that Berten is a sensible thug who uses a hammer rather than a psychopath who breaks glass with his fists. I am looking forward to a civil exchange of violent advances.
Not even a hammer! That’s a tool specifically designed for breaking windows. Berten is prepared for doors with windows in them.
And he had it in his pocket; didn’t even have to go to the car. What a pro.
Sensible? I’ll give you that. But I see it more as a practical/smart move. Punching out a glass pane with your bare fist will likely wind up cutting your fist on the broken glass. The blood left behind will allow the cops to tag you as the perp at the seen of the crime. Although breaking the glass in the middle of big city like that will also let many others hear that noise and take a look just as well.
Honestly, I think people living in that part of town wouldn’t look if they heard that.
“I didn’t see nuthin’ “
Where do I get one of those handy glass breaker hammers? I need one… For science …
Yesssss FOR SCIENCE!!!!!!!!!
They come pretty standard in car accident kits.
Scientific car accident kits?
Are there any other kind?
ThinkGeek has some nice ones for sale.
Public transport. I’ve seen lots of them like the one JJ’s got, though the one pictured in the article looks a bit different.
Automotive section of Walmart should have them. Any auto parts store. Or, search Amazon for “auto emergency escape tool” or “car safety hammer”
They usually also have a blade in a recessed slot, meant for cutting seatbelts. The pointed tip of the hammer makes it easier to break tough car windows. It’s good to keep one in the latched center console of your car. In the event of an accident, you might have a hard time reaching the glove compartment, and if you keep it in the door pocket, it could go flying during an accident.
Um… actually, read the instructions that come with it, and do what they say. I’m no expert.
Third panel, at the base of the handle, you can see part of the slot where the seatbelt cutting blade is.
Nice attention to detail, artists.
Shanna to Joel: “If someone comes to you looking for me, ‘fess up. Save yourself and your family”
Joel to JJ: “She said you’d come. Here’s where I sent her.”
JJ to Joel: “Lemme buy some books from ya.”
Shanna to Xan: “I dislike you and all gamers.”
Xan to JJ: “%$?!!*& off.”
JJ to Xan: “I’m comin’ to get you.”
No warning to Xan? Thass cold, gal … BRRRR!
Lol! I suspect Shanna was too miffed to think of that. Not that she was being cold.
I do wonder though if Joel did the reasobale thing and called the authorities. I doubt they would be in position to save Xan at this point, but at least some more folks would be starting to investigate.
Too miffed? She deliberately gave Joel Xan’s address, not her own one.
Joel is the the one who gave Shanna the location of Xan’s place.
Also, Shanna might have planned to warn Xan when she was finished with him, but she still needed his help contacting The Four, and probably wasn’t expecting JJ (or anyone for that matter) to be THAT hot on her trial.
Yeah, I was wondering about that.
Good to see it said.
She needs to stick to the minor leagues if she isn’t willing to step up her game here before she gets all of The Fives support messed up. (kind of surprised H.R. didn’t think of simply ban hammering anybody who helped them too much right before a major encounter… )
Ima call the “steal his damn car while he’s still close enough to notice” solution.
Because Shanna’s just crazy enough to know how to hotwire a convertible. … possibly while researching a hit piece on GTA.
Yeah, that logic is up there along with “Kids learn how to kill with a rocket launcher by tea-bagging people in COD! Ban all FPS games!!”
I learned how to tea-bag while killing people with a rocket launcher. Shall we also ban all bags of tea while we are at it?
are w-… are we talking about scrotums now?
Avatar win!
Next time on Guilded Age, Mr. JJ Berten shows us the effects of a glass-breaking hammer on the human anatomy, comparing the pros and cons of using it instead of something more suitable for the task of torture! Tune in next time for “JJ’s Home Improvement and Torture Hour!”
Call the police? No drama in that.
Unless your paranoid hacker who thinks the man is out to get you
But, the man is out to get him, that’s why he needs the police. :|
What? He doesn’t even look over his shoulder to make sure no one is looking? If he did he’d have seen her probably.
Looking over your shoulder is a good way to be noticed, it’s the same when sneaking around an area you shouldn’t be: if you act suspiciously you will be viewed suspiciously
But then you can just leave? Looking over your shoulder isn’t a crime. If you aren’t sure you will be successful then doesn’t it kind of defeat the point?
Also, I am fairly certain neither of us are career criminals so I don’t know who would be an authority on this.
He’s really big. Looking over his shoulder would probably require turning his whole body. Not worth it. If there are any witnesses they are probably puny people who will just run away.
So Xan, is this what they call “keyless enter”?
Okay… it just got real up in this piece!
It took me a while, but I’m quite invested into how this plays out now.
Xan uses his Overconfidence Feat to keep Shanna in the game.
The title text lies!
That is apartment building breaking and entering.
Textbook breaking and entering is where you break into a textbook
Breaking into a book? Does it involve being pals with a pony, or a history with clay slabs?
Xan is getting murdered. And then we discover that E-merl stopped logging into the game.
No crap, E-merl is already someone else. Braggadocio?
And here I thought everyone had settled on Penk.
Nope, he’s Fr’Nj.
During his “flee for your life tour” road trip with Shanna coming up, he’ll attept to mack on the Sepia Lady Scipio.
ooh, that could be a thing.
Point of interest: Stickface is in a tube. Who is playing her sister? Was this agreed upon with Stickface’s player? Or is it… non-consensual roleplay?
Damn, Robin has some deep pockets if that hammer is able to fit completely
Wait, those are, “Hammerspace Time! pants”, can’t touch this :D
I had pants like that, only just replaced them a few months ago. Pockets almost reached my knees. Stitching and fabric weren’t amazing, ergo replacement. The external pockets were disappointingly small, too. I want to say I got them at Kohl’s… probably these.
All these comments and not one ‘Stop! Hammer Time’?
Son, I am disappoint.
Look above you, close enough :P
Hey JJ, your shoes’ untied!
Bends over to check, slow motion hammer punch to the testicles.
I imagine if one is advised against carrying pencils in their front pocket that the same advice would apply to a hammer, no?
It works in my head.
This is like, the perfect time to CALL THE COPS.
“Hello 911? There’s a large ARMED man breaking into my friend’s house! I think he intends to MURDER HIM!”
Then they can charge him with B&E, (attempted) assault/murder, and even IMPERSONATING AN OFFICER OF THE LAW.
For a dangerous Hit-man/Fixer type, this guy has made a pretty big mistake just smashing his way in (without, apparently, even checking to see if there were any WITNESSES standing in open view)
Forgot she’s got no phone.
Ok, FIRE YER GUN into the air/ground to get the attention of someone else in the neighborhood. Oh no, she’s got JJ’s attention AND A GUN. If he makes any kind of move, depending what State they are currently in, Stand Your Ground laws could give her a really solid legal defense (especially since she’s a woman and he’s a BIG muscular guy who she just saw trying to break into someone’s house)
I notice he’s not wearing any gloves.
I wonder if he’s burned off his fingerprints or if he plans on taking that door handle with him.
Or plans on burning the whole building, evidence and all.
I can’t imagine this bull rush strategy leading to anything but a disastrous lose-lose outcome, to be honest.
A couple of things I’m thinking…
It’s possible that JJ saw Shanna walking away, and intentionally had that conversation with Xan, loud enough for her to overhear. If she “knows what’s good for her”, she’ll run away and drop the matter. If not, then breaking into Xan’s is possibly an attempt to draw her into a trap. I think the latter is more likely, since JJ seems to have figured out that Shanna’s willing to put her life (but not others’) on the line. Putting a gun to Xan’s head might be JJ’s best chance to get her to back down, and make her toss any weapon she happens to be packing.
Also, if Shanna’s gonna fire her weapon to try to scare JJ away, she might wanna put a couple of rounds through his car’s radiator. He could probably drive it far enough to get out of the immediate area, but would have to hide it and get another car, before he could resume the chase. Of course, he might just pull his own gun, and return fire.
The car probably can’t be traced back to his true identity, so he could just walk away and write it off, if necessary. The fact that it’s a convertible might make his lawyer’s job easier, if his DNA or other evidence was found in the car. If the abandoned car got taken for a joy ride or stolen, all the better. He could just list the car under “Expenses” on his bill for HR.