Chapter 299
North Hollywood Bank.
A black man around forty years old walked into the bank lobby, the man was tall and calm.
The black man took a number and sat on a bench to wait.
After a while, the bank beeps and his number is displayed on the screen.
The man walked over to the bank counter and showed his number.
“Sir, what kind of business do you want?” The bank counter specialist was a white woman in her mid-forties, yellow curly back and a little fat.
“Money withdrawal.” The black man handed over a bank card.
“How much?”
“All the money.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“Yes, McKell Arthur.”
“Mr. Arthur, the total in your account is $20,000, are you sure you want to take it all out?”
“Yes.”
The teller woman got up to leave and came back with two stacks of bills in her hand to put in the counting machine and casually asked, “That’s a lot of money, are you planning on investing it, or traveling?”
“I plan to go away for a while.”
The female teller put the counted money into the counter window, “Have a safe trip.”
“Thanks.” McKell Arthur took the money and was about to put it in the backpack behind him when there was a sudden agitation in front of the bank.
Five armed men wearing skull masks and bulletproof vests burst into the bank and without saying a word, burst into the roof.
At once, a scream rang out inside the bank.
“Ah ……”
“Shut up!” A handful of armed men with AKs scolded sternly, “Everyone put their hands on their heads and crouch on the ground.”
The other armed men followed suit and chided, “Hey, on the ground, don’t move.”
“Damn it, put your phone down.”
“Come on, get over here, everyone crouch together.”
A man with an assault rifle walked over with a bag, “Everyone put your heads together and do what we tell you to do.”
As he spoke, the man walked over to McKell Arthur and commanded, “Dump out the contents of your backpack.”
McKell Arthur hesitated and dumped the contents of his backpack on the ground as the robber instructed, “Twenty thousand dollars, cell phone, ID, sunglasses ……”
The robber shook the assault rifle in his hand, “Put the cell phone in the bag.”
McKell Arthur picked up the cell phone on the ground and put it in the robber’s bag, looked at the twenty thousand dollars on the ground, and then looked at the robber.
The robber also saw what was on the ground and bristled, “Hey man, don’t give me that look, I’m not interested in that pocket change.”
The robber shouted at the others, “Everyone else listen too, I’m not interested in your little pocket change, I just want your cell phones.
As long as you don’t mess around, we won’t hurt you.
We just want to get back the money the capitalists exploited from us, that’s all.
As long as you guys cooperate, we can all be at peace, OK?”
The man with the AK shouted, “Which one is the bank manager?”
“I am.” A crouching man in a suit said.
“Dude, don’t be nervous, stand up.” The man with the AK sized him up, “Good looking, looks like a gentleman, do you have a boyfriend?”
“No, I’m not gay.”
“You could be, consider me, uh huh.” The AK wielding robber smiled, “But we have more important business right now, I need you to close the bank doors ……”
Detective Bureau.
Robbery-Murder Division Office.
Luke was holding a cup of coffee and leaning over his desk making small talk with the crowd.
“Guys, how have the last couple days been going without me?”
The lieutenant replied, “It’s been great, you can rest easy on your vacation with me around.”
Luke smiled, “That sounds …… really touching.”
Blackie asked, “Where have you been the last few days? I couldn’t get through to you when I called.”
“Uh …… I went camping at Big Bear Lake, the signal over there isn’t very good, it takes half a day to receive a text message.
But the scenery over there is really beautiful, it’s a great place for a vacation camping trip.”
The lieutenant revealed a surprised look, “You went to Big Bear Lake too? Went with Walker?”
“How did you know?”
“Walker posted on Facebook yesterday, this guy went on an adventure to Big Bear Lake and said he met two great guys and had a great time ……
How did you get hooked up with this guy, and you were on an adventure together, what a strange combination.”
Luke laughed, “I didn’t know Walker very well before, we ran into each other at Big Bear Lake, he was in a bit of trouble and I helped him out.
Then he invited me to join him on an expedition to find treasure, and we improvised an expedition team.”
Xiao Hei curiously said, “Exploring for treasure? Did you guys find the treasure?”
“Of course.”
Jackson also joined the discussion, “What is the treasure?”
Seeing everyone looking at him, Luke smiled, “Secret.”
Luke didn’t hide it and didn’t want to deliberately show it off.
Blackie sighed softly and seemed to have some regrets, “You went on a vacation camping trip, why didn’t you ask me to go with you?”
“I wanted to ask you to come along, but you’re not alone now.
If I had invited you, Julian would have come along too.
I don’t want to watch you guys spilling your guts together.” With that said, Luke remembered something and followed up with, “Have you guys gotten a license yet?”
Xiao Hei heatedly smiled, took out his cell phone and clicked on a photo, “We got our license the day before yesterday, this is the photo taken at the scene.”
Luke took the phone and looked at it, “It’s not bad, both of you are smiling happily, I can see you guys are very happy.
Have you discussed when to hold the wedding?”
Blackie spread his hands, “Probably after the baby is born.
But this is good, I can have some more time to prepare.
Having a wedding can cost a lot of money.”
Luke raised his glass in a gesture, “Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” Black put away his cell phone and turned to the crowd, “Guys, even though I won’t be having a wedding for a while, I am getting married after all.
Julian and I would like to invite everyone to a dinner, a family dinner.
No need to prepare too many gifts, really.”
Luke asked, “When are you going to treat us?”
“You’re the captain, why don’t you set the time?”
Luke smiled, “The chef is in charge of things like inviting guests.
Who all are you planning to invite?”
“There won’t be too many people, Julian just wants to meet my colleagues.
That is, the guys from First Squadron and David.
I’m still thinking about inviting Captain Susan.”
The lieutenant said, “What’s there to think about, you heartless brat.
Of course it’s uninvited.”
Blacky “……”
Luke said, “What about Reed?”
“I thought about inviting the Chief, I’m just worried …… that he won’t have the time.”
“Whether or not he has time is his business, whether or not to invite is your business. If it were me, I would definitely invite.”
“OK, I’ll talk to him.”
“Ringing ……”
Just then, Luke’s cell phone rang and he glanced at the screen, “It’s Red.”
“Hello, Chief.”
“Luke, the North Hollywood Bank has triggered the silent alarm system, and the surrounding populace has also called the police to report hearing gunshots, pack up your gear and get to the scene as soon as possible.”
“Okay Chief.”
The lieutenant quizzed, “Is it a new case?”
Luke nodded, “A bank robbery.”
The lieutenant sighed, “That’s a case I hate.”
Jackson asked, “Why? You didn’t even learn about the case.”
The lieutenant shrugged, “I don’t need to know because these cases are usually FBI oriented and our role is to assist the FBI, would you like this kind of effort?”
“That’s not so bad, at least we can save ourselves the trouble.
Lieutenant, you and Matthew watch the house, the rest of you pack up your gear and head out in five minutes.”
“YES, Sir.”
North Hollywood Bank.
The bank had a closed sign, the doors were closed, and the blinds were covered up, making it hard to see inside from the outside.
There were several police cars parked around the scene, Luke briefly inquired about the situation, the patrolmen had also just arrived at the scene not long ago, they only knew that there were armed robbers in the bank, as for the exact number of robbers and their weaponry, they were not sure.
“What about the robbers’ transportation?”
“It’s still unclear.”
“Go check the surrounding surveillance.”
“YES, Sir.”
“Ramon, take the patrolmen and keep an eye on the back door to prevent the robbers from escaping through the back.
Jenny, contact the person in charge of the bank, I want a floor plan of the interior of the bank, the more detailed the better.”
“Okay, Captain.”
Blackie came over and said, “Captain, I found the phone number for the North Hollywood Bank.”
“GOOD.”
Luke got the tech team and told them to get the bank on the phone.
A few moments later, the phone was connected and a raspy voice rang out, “Who is this?”
“Luke, Heist and Murder Division, what’s your name?”
“Martin.”
Luke signaled Black to write down the name, “You’re in charge of the bank now?”
“That’s right.”
“You run the outside of the bank?”
“For now.”
“Sounds like you could be replaced at any time.”
“That depends on how much noise you make.”
“We don’t want to make a big deal out of the commotion either, as long as the police can meet our demands we’ll leave quietly, we don’t want to embarrass anyone.”
“Let’s start with the hostage situation.”
“There are twenty-six hostages in the bank.”
“Is anyone hurt now?”
“No, but there will be soon if the police don’t comply with our demands.”
“What demands?”
“A helicopter, a school bus, $12.56 million dollars, unlinked and unmarked.”
“That’s a lot of demands you’re making, and I need time.”
“I’ll give you half an hour, it’s ten o’clock in the morning, every half hour, I’ll kill someone, if you don’t have any of those things up there, prepare the body bags.”
“Hey, half an hour is too short, it’s hard to do.”
“That’s your problem.”
“Do you need any other items? Like water, food, medicine, that sort of thing.”
“I’m here for a robbery, not a vacation, keep your people away, if anyone dares to come within thirty meters of the bank, I’ll start killing people, mmmmm.
I’m not a rookie, so if you don’t want a large number of hostages killed, stop playing tricks.”
“I’m not pulling any tricks, just trying to make sure the hostages are safe.”
“Then do as I tell you.” The robber finished and simply hung up the phone.
Luke pinched his forehead, after coming to Los Angeles Luke had handled a lot of cases, but it was the first time he had handled a bank robbery.
Previously, the identity of the suspect was unknown, but this time the suspect openly called the shots, although Luke was not happy, but the other party had a hostage in hand, Luke could do nothing about it.
This case was very different from the previous cases he had handled, whereas before it had been a post-crime investigation, this time it was a case in progress, which could have resulted in the hostages being killed if Luke had not handled it properly.
This kind of case had a greater sense of urgency and a heavier responsibility.
Blackie asked, “Captain, what do we do now? Fulfill his demands, or notify the Special Operations Bureau for backup.”
More than ten million dollars, a helicopter, and a school bus, Luke, even if he reported to the top management of the police department, it would be difficult to gather all these things in a short period of time, in addition, the LAPD’s funds were already tight, giving more than ten million dollars to the robber was impossible to think about.
Just as Luke was considering how to communicate with Reed, a couple of Ford SUVs drove up, and a dozen or so people in FBI uniforms stepped out of the vehicles, led by none other than an old acquaintance, Anthony.
“Hey girls, how’s it going?”
“Reed was right, you FBI always have a habit of being a step slow.”
Earlier Reed had communicated with Luke that if Anthony was going to take over the scene, he would give him the command of the scene, Luke had already proved his ability by solving the case of the headless woman’s body, so there was no need to take the job on himself again.
Anthony was unimpressed, “Do you know how many bank robberies happen in Los Angeles every week? I’ve got a mountain of bank robberies on my desk.
Most of them are minor, averaging out to only ten thousand dollars per bank robbery, usually handled by a couple of patrolmen.
You know, the economy isn’t very good right now, and the FBI has to save money.”
“This one wasn’t a skirmish, the suspect kidnapped 26 hostages from the bank, claiming to kill one every half hour.”
“OK, now that the case is being taken over by the FBI, what are the terms of the robbers?”
“Don’t know the exact number of suspects yet, one of the hijackers is named Martin, he’s demanding a helicopter, a school bus, twelve and a half million dollars, no hyphenation, no marking.”
Anthony raised an eyebrow, “Interesting, 12.56 million dollars, first time I’ve ever heard such a precise ransom, any special significance?”
“I just communicated with the robbers as well, haven’t had time to think about it yet.” Luke shook his head and continued, “Actually, it’s not just the ransom that’s questionable, the suspects also demanded two different modes of transportation at the same time, so if they were to be apprehended, they would have to use two different deployment methods.
What are you going to do?”
Anthony grumbled, “$12.56 million dollars, a helicopter, hell where am I going to get him all that stuff.”
“Buzz ……”
A helicopter flew over in the distance.
Luke laughed, “Which department is so helpful to send a helicopter to fly support so soon.”
Black guessed, “Special Operations?”
Anthony shook his head, “Unlikely, usually with our FBI present, they will rarely come up on their own accord.”
Before the words left his mouth, the helicopter flight had already flown into the near air.
Luke fixed his eyes on it, “It’s the TV station.”
Anthony said, “That’s right, I said why I always feel that something is missing. How can a big story like this be without a TV station.
We’re going to be on TV, probably nationally televised, so say hello.”
Luke was a bit speechless, “You’re still in the mood for this?”
“What else? Get this helicopter down and give it to the hijackers?”
“These idiots will only irritate the hijackers.” Luke didn’t have a good impression of these news reporters, the robbers wanted the helicopter to fly, the police said they couldn’t get it, how long has it been since the TV station’s helicopter flew in.
Anthony patted Luke on the shoulder, “L.A. is a free city, get used to it.
Let’s work on a rescue plan.”
Jenny said, “Captain, I’ve got a floor plan of the interior of the bank.”
Luke took the map and laid it on the front of the car, it was something he could read, but wasn’t considered a professional.
“Have a professional explain it.”
“I’ll do it.” Anthony pointed to the map, “This is our location, this is the main entrance, clear bulletproof glass, the door locks are controlled by an electronic system, it’s a bit difficult to force an attack.
The back door is similar to the north door.
Here is the lobby, counter, manager’s office, toilet, pantry and vault.
Among them, there were two vaults, inside and outside, and the door of the vault was thicker than any normal load-bearing wall.
But if a bank manager is there, he should be able to open the vault door, and I bet the robbers are on a ‘shopping’ spree.”
Luke asked, “What are you going to do?”
Anthony said helplessly, “There’s no way we can accede to the robbers’ demands, or else the robbers will escape in a helicopter, and the FBI and the LAPD will become the laughing stock of the world.
Instead of letting the robbers kill a hostage in half an hour, we should opt for a strong attack.”
Luke said, “The prerequisite for a strong attack is that the police can enter the bank in the first place, subdue the robbers by surprise, and prevent them from killing the hostages in retaliation.
The bank’s bulletproof glass door locks are not that easy to break, and using explosives may injure the hostages.
If we can’t subdue the robbers in time, the consequences are unimaginable.”
“You’re right, I’ve been thinking about this too.” Anthony pointed to the circuit on the drawing.
“It’s true that bulletproof glass doors are hard to break, but the door locks are controlled by an electronic system, so if we can cut off the power to the bank, it’s like directly destroying the door locks.
It will be possible to rush into the bank in the first place, and I will personally lead the team at that time.”
“Not a bad idea.” Luke pointed at his watch, “But fifteen minutes have passed now, and there are still fifteen minutes left for the robbers to kill. Is it too late to act?”
“I’m afraid not, the bank’s circuits are more complex than normal and I’m worried about backup power.
We’ll have to consult the professionals and organize a strike team, it’ll take at least half an hour.” Anthony finished and swept his eyes around, “Brenda, our negotiator, it’s your turn.”
A white woman in her thirties approached, “Sir, what are your orders?”
“Call the robbers and try to stall for as long as possible.”
The white woman asked, “How long?”
“Half an hour …… or more.”
“I’ll try my best.” The white woman asked for some more information, and then dialed the bank.
A few moments later the phone connected and a raspy voice rang out from across the room, “Is what I want ready?”
“No, I’m a liaison for the FBI and I’d like to speak with your leader.”
“I’ve just made it clear that there’s no need to talk anymore.”
“Sir, you should know very well that it’s hard to do what you’re asking for in half an hour, we need at least an hour to raise the 12.56 million bearer dollars alone.
Half an hour is not enough.”
“Hey, that’s your problem, work it out yourselves, I’m not your boss, I just want results.
No more phone calls until my demands are met.
Understood?” The robber hung up.
Brenda said helplessly, “Sir, their attitude is tough.”
Anthony glanced at his watch, “There are still ten minutes before the robbers will kill the hostages, keep calling to buy time.”
Brenda thought for a moment and picked up the robber’s phone again.
The robber got right to the point: “Is what we requested ready?”
“We’ve requested the helicopter and are waiting for approval ……”
Before Brenda could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by the hijacker, “Very well, you got a hostage killed.”
A man then wailed from the other end of the line, “NoNo, please.
This has nothing to do with me ……
No, don’t kill ……”
“Bang!” The sound of a gunshot.
“Ah ……”
The hall triggered numerous shrieks from the hostages.