Chapter 356
Vaughn Jiu-Jitsu Club.
Because of practicing Jiu-Jitsu here, Luke was more familiar with the club, which only had two floors, upper and lower, and a relatively simple structure.
Office, training room, lounge, pantry, locker room, miscellaneous room, of which there was more than one training room, both large and small.
Luke finished searching the entire Jiu-Jitsu Club and did not find any other injured people, and also retained the photos of the scene for the first time.
Immediately afterward, police, fire, and paramedics entered the scene as well.
Luke showed his badge and temporarily exited the Vaughn Jiu-Jitsu Club.
Carried out of the club together was the Latino teenager Christian, Luke walked up and said with concern, “Are you okay?”
Cristian still looked a little panicked, “Did you find Coach Natasha?”
“The situation at the scene is complicated, so we can’t be sure for now.” Luke made a perfunctory remark and asked rhetorically, “What happened before the explosion or after we left?”
“I …… remember that after you guys left, I talked to Coach Natasha for a few minutes before handing her the signed delivery.
She took the delivery up to the second floor and it wasn’t long before there was an explosion.”
Luke recalled that after the competition ended, he also heard Cristian call Natasha to get the courier, and then according to Cristian’s description, that courier was probably the item that exploded.
“Do you remember the person who delivered the courier?”
“He was wearing the uniform of usp courier company, a white man, wearing a hat, looked to be in his twenties …… ” said Christian, seemed to have pulled the wound on his face, pain bared his teeth.
The female doctor in charge of first aid on the side said, “Sir, please hurry, we’re taking him back to the hospital for treatment.”
Luke nodded, “How tall is he, what accent or more distinctive features?”
“A little shorter than me, around 180cm tall, and he has a tattoo on his right wrist.”
“What kind of tattoo?”
“I only glanced at it, I can’t remember the pattern, only the approximate location.”
“Did you sign for the delivery for Natasha?”
“Yes.”
“How long was it between the time you signed for the delivery and the explosion?”
“I don’t know the exact time …… It should have been less than ten minutes.”
Luke frowned slightly, this time didn’t seem long, but if the courier was a problem, ten minutes was enough for him to escape.
“Are there any other suspicious people?”
“No.”
Christian was carried to the car by the EMTs.
Luke had to remain at the scene and didn’t follow the car to the hospital, “Get well and I’ll check on you.”
Christian struggled to straighten up and his voice choked, “Is Coach Natasha dead?”
Luke said truthfully, “That requires the police to investigate the scene before they can draw any conclusions.”
The ambulance door closed and Luke watched the ambulance leave the scene.
A cordon had been drawn around the area, and the first layer outside the cordon was filled with reporters, alongside a number of people watching the scene.
Luke smelled a familiar scent and twisted his head to look aside at Orty, her pretty face stained with a touch of dust, her usual calmness already restored, except for her eyes, which were slightly red.
Luke asked, “Before the explosion, did you find anything unusual?”
Olti thought for a moment, “No, it happened so suddenly that my mind is a little messed up.
Will you be in charge of investigating this case?”
Generally speaking, Luke seldom took the initiative to solicit work for himself, even if he encountered some unexpected incidents, he never took the initiative to request to be in charge of the case investigation, and mostly dealt with cases assigned by the police department.
But this time was different, Natasha was his own jiu-jitsu instructor, blown up at a distance of less than two hundred meters apart, it was hard for Luke to sit back and do nothing, his heart couldn’t get over it.
“I’ll do my best to fight for it.”
“Thank you, I thank you for Natasha.”
“It’s a little early for that, you know Natasha better, has she been in any trouble lately?”
“I’m not sure, I studied Jiu-Jitsu with Natasha for a while, but rarely asked her about personal matters.
But once I happened to hear her mention that her birth parents died young and she was adopted by a couple of Eastern European descent.
Perhaps you could contact her adoptive parents.”
“I will.”
Luke sent Orty away and contacted Deputy Chief Reed.
A bombing like this couldn’t be investigated by a regular patrolman; it was either taken over by the detective bureau or the FBI.
Given Luke’s knowledge of the scene and the victims, Reed told him to take over the scene directly while sending immediate backup.
If someone else took over the scene, facing the mess left by the explosion, it would take quite a bit of time to understand the situation and survey the scene, and it would be difficult to clear up the clues for a while.
But Luke is different, he was near the scene at the time of the explosion, and also had contact with the two victims, he has now grasped the basic situation, but also surveyed the scene of the explosion, and also retained the initial site photos.
He already had some clues and could investigate directly, saving a lot of time.
Luke arranged for the patrol to collect the surrounding surveillance and look for witnesses.
Half an hour later, the vice squad also led people to the scene.
Luke asked the vice squad to stay at the scene and he led the investigation.
The investigation was divided into three directions.
Ramon and Jenny investigated the investigation of the usp courier company to determine the identity of the person who delivered the courier to Natasha.
Blackie and Porter went to Natasha’s home to search it.
Jackson was responsible for contacting Natasha’s family.
After Luke finished arranging his tasks, he saw the lieutenant walk out of the club with a handkerchief over his mouth and nose and asked, “Seen the scene?”
“Yep. Luckily, I haven’t had dinner yet. What are you doing here?”
“I was here studying jujitsu and I had just left shortly before the place exploded.”
The lieutenant pressed, “You knew the victim?”
“Yes.”
“Can you identify the deceased?”
“No.”
From what was available, Luke felt that the deceased should be Natasha, but the body was so badly blown up that her features were hard to recognize.
The lieutenant suggested, “In my experience, it’s better to identify the deceased first.”
“I understand.
That’s why I asked you to stay at the scene, there’s no one in all of Los Angeles with more experience than you.”
“Captain kissing the lieutenant’s ass is the first time I’ve ever seen that.” The old man dropped his words and tugged away.
Luke wasn’t in the mood for jokes now, and asked Jackson, who was beside him, “Have you contacted Natasha’s family yet?”
“Yes, I found out the address of Natasha’s adoptive parents.”
“Good.”
The black SUV slowly pulled up in front of a white two-story house.
Luke stepped out of the vehicle and looked around out of habit; the house was lit and there were a few sunflowers planted in the yard.
The two walked into the yard and Jackson went to the door first and rang the doorbell, “Ding Dong ……”
After a while, the door opened and it was opened by a tall, old white man, “Hey handsome boy, what can I do for you?”
Jackson sized up the other man, “Are you Mr. Sergei Belanov?”
“That’s me.
I don’t think we’ve met before, who are you?”
“I’m Detective Jackson of the Robbery Murder Division, this is our Captain Lee.”
“Robbery-Murder Division?”
“Yes.”
“What do you guys want with me?”
“We’re here because of what happened to Natasha.”
“What happened to Natasha?”
“There was an explosion at Natasha’s jiu-jitsu club this evening, and it’s a rather serious situation, so we’ve come to get some information.”
“Jesus! Is Natasha hurt? How is she now?”
“The explosion happened in Natasha’s office, and according to one of the club’s trainees, she was in there at the time ……”
“NoNoNo……” Sergei Belanov put his hand on the doorframe, his eyes red, his voice choked, “Are you sure Natasha was killed in the explosion?”
“No, it’s impossible to be sure for the moment.”
“My dear, who’s out there?”
Sergei Belanov took a deep breath, “A friend invited me for a few drinks, I’m going out.”
Sergei Belanov closed the door to his room, “Please don’t tell my wife …… that she has a heart condition and can’t take this kind of shock.”
“Let’s go to the car and talk.”
The three of them got into the car and Sergei Belanov sat in the back, looking dazed, “Can I have a cigarette?”
“Sure.”
Sergei took out his cigarettes with a shaking hand and pulled out his lighter, but couldn’t get it to light after several attempts.
Luke took out his own lighter and helped the other man light his cigarette.
“Thanks.” Sergei Belanov took a few puffs before his expression soothed a bit.
“I can’t believe this actually happened, we had dinner together two days ago, I can’t accept it ……”
Luke asked, “Has Natasha been anything unusual lately?”
“I don’t know, she’s a strong kid and knows my wife isn’t well, and for fear of her worrying, she never reports the good news.”
“Do you have any other children?”
“We have another adopted son, but he’s not in LA right now.”
“Are they close?”
“They’re pretty close, but not too close.
My adopted son is a few years older than Natasha, and shortly after Natasha came to my house, he went off to college and rarely comes home to stay anymore.”
“When did you adopt Natasha?”
“My adopted son was about to go to college when my wife and I decided to adopt another child, I had always wanted a daughter and envisioned that she would be the first one to run and hug me when I got off work.
But there’s always a gap between ideas and reality.
Natasha was 12 years old when we met her, she was non-verbal and not very lively in nature, not the type of person I wanted to adopt.
We originally wanted to adopt a child who was innocent and lively and could bring laughter to the family.
But Natasha was different, she was stuffy, like she always had something on her mind and always preferred to stay in a corner in silence.
On that visit to the orphanage, we didn’t find a child we wanted to adopt.” Sergei Belanov took a few hard puffs and sighed.
“It’s amazing how things like fate work.
When we got home, my wife kept thinking about Natasha, feeling sorry for her and wanting to protect her.
Later, we went to the orphanage with gifts.
After a few contacts, we decided to adopt Natasha.
It turned out we were right, Natasha is a good kid.”
“Do you know anything about Natasha’s birth parents?”
“No, information about her birth parents is confidential and Natasha didn’t want to talk about them, so we didn’t ask.”
“Has Natasha offended anyone?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Does she have anyone closer to her?”
“There was a sixteen year old in foster care at her house a few months ago, I’ve seen the kid a few times, a Latino boy.”
“What was his name?”
“Christian.”
“Why would she have Christian in foster care?”
“Natasha is a kind child who wants to help kids in need who have lost their parents like we do, to help them out and give them a home.
In my opinion, it’s a gesture of love, and we’re very supportive of her.
How is Christian doing?”
“He was also affected by the explosion, but his injuries aren’t too serious and he’s already been taken to the hospital for treatment.”
“That’s terrible, why did this happen? Have you caught the suspect who planted the bomb?”
“Not yet.”
“God will punish them for sure ……”
After making a statement, Luke and Jackson drove away.
“Captain, did you know the deceased?”
“She was my jiu-jitsu instructor.”
“You’re good at boxing, why are you learning jiu-jitsu?”
“I don’t want to be robbed of my sidearm.”
“OK,” Jackson was a little embarrassed and had the good sense to stop talking.
“Zip ……”
The walkie-talkie went off, and it was Ramon who spoke, “Captain, we’ve tracked down the person who made the delivery to the Vaughn Jiu-Jitsu Club.
His name is Brando Salvatore, and based on the software location provided by usp courier company, we have identified his location.”
“Where?”
“Near 307 Tomales Street.
He’s driving a black Ford sedan, license plate 7JKb376.”
“Good, we’ll rendezvous in that neighborhood.”
“Copy that, I’ll contact the patrol to assist in the search.”
Jackson turned left and headed for 307 Tomales Street.
A few minutes later.
Ramon’s voice sounded again on the intercom, “Captain, we arrived at Tomalis Street and have spotted the black suspect vehicle.
It is now traveling towards the south side.
I’ve sent the location to the group.”
“Are we sure we can intercept it?”
Ramon said, “There’s a bit of traffic on this side, making it difficult.”
“We’re nearby and will be there as soon as we can.” Luke tapped on the chat group locator and held it out to Jackson, who was on the sidelines.
“Copy that.”
Jackson determined the location of the suspect vehicle and sped up again.
After a while, the intercom rang again, “Captain, just now at the intersection the suspect vehicle suddenly ran a red light.
We were blocking a few cars in front of us and couldn’t follow it immediately.
We’re already chasing, but we haven’t found the suspect vehicle for now, he may have turned off his tail lights.
I re-sent the location and the car is still heading south.”
Luke asked, “You were spotted?”
“We’re being careful, there’s no way he could have spotted us following, I can assure you.”
“We’re in the neighborhood too, keep tracking.”
“Roger that.”
Luke tapped on the new location and said to Jackson, who was off to the side, “Now’s your chance to show off.”
Jackson slammed his foot on the gas, “Should have taken my BMW.”
Luke reminded, “Car chasing isn’t necessarily about speed, it’s about brains.
Cut him off early in the lane he might be in.”
Speaking of which, Luke began to study the map, the street where the car disappeared was well-connected and it was not easy to set up a blockade to intercept it, but Luke still contacted the patrol department and asked them to assist in intercepting the suspect vehicle.
The suspect vehicle suddenly accelerated to shake off the police car, indicating that the other party has something in mind, most likely related to the bombing.
Just as Luke was studying the suspect’s escape route, Jackson’s voice suddenly came to mind, “Captain, a black Ford sedan has appeared ahead.”
Luke looked up, there was indeed a black Ford sedan in the distance, just too far to see the license plate, Luke took out his binoculars to observe, the license plate number was different from the suspect vehicle.
“Accelerate super chase up.”
“That’s the suspect vehicle?” Jackson’s voice was a little excited.
“The license plate is different.”
“Then why chase it?”
“If you can’t chase it, it is.”
“Got it.” Jackson stepped on the gas again, and the car let out a roar as it gained a few more speeds.
At this point, the car had already traveled to a more remote section of the road, and there were significantly fewer cars on the road.
The black SUV drove extremely fast and smoothly overtook the several cars in front of it, but the black Ford sedan wasn’t slow either, and the distance between the two sides didn’t shrink.
Luke turned on his siren, “Wooo……”
The cars around them began to move over, but the Ford sedan continued to drive at a breakneck pace.
“That’s it.” Luke sent the location and new license plate number to the group and turned on his walkie-talkie, “Suspect vehicle located, heading west on Newbent Street.”
“Roger that!”
Luke re-contacted the patrol department with the new suspicious license plate and asked them to set up a stop ahead.
The two cars launched into a chase.
Ahead, at an intersection with no traffic lights, the black Ford sedan went straight through without slowing down.
Jackson let off the gas out of habit, however, the car was not slowing down all the same.
“Bang!”
Suddenly, a red sedan came driving by in the lateral lane as well, hitting the rear of the car Jackson was driving.
The SUV car swerved in place, and Jackson held onto the steering wheel tightly to keep from losing control, sparing the car from drifting out a long way and hitting a utility pole.
“Bang!”
Luke had a feeling of riding a roller coaster, fortunately he was wearing a seatbelt and gripping the handrail, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Luke loosened his seatbelt, already having red marks on his body from the straps, “You’re not hurt, are you?”
Jackson broke into a sweat, panting heavily, “No, I’m fine.”
Luke pulled out his pistol and got out of the car to check it out, looking over to the red hit-and-run car a dozen meters away, which had also been hit in the front, but the damage to the car wasn’t too severe because of the slower speed.
Luke was ready to go over to check it out, and just a few steps away, the front and rear glass on the right side of the red car opened at the same time, revealing two black muzzles, “Bang Bang ……”
The two AKs fired a burst of shots at Luke and the SUV car.
Luke hurriedly bent over and sprinted, hiding behind the SUV car, police cars are reinforced, stronger than ordinary cars against elasticity.
Jackson also rolled and got out of the passenger side and hid in the side of the car, “Captain, what the hell did we run into?”
“Dead people.”
Luke recalled the orientation of the red sedan, “Jackson, cover me.”
“Are you sure?
Just use this?” Jackson shook his pistol, it had happened so suddenly that the police gear and rifle were in the trunk of the car.
Luke sounded sure, “You don’t have to show your head, you shoot from the front of the car and I’ll shoot from the rear.”
“Captain, be careful.”
“I will, take care of yourself.”
Jackson took a deep breath, his right hand reached above the front of the car and fired in the direction of the red sedan, “Bang Bang Bang ……”
Whether it hit or not depended on luck.
Luke used a ‘Precision Card’ while rolling on the ground to the rear of the car, aiming for the passenger side of the fire, “Bang Bang Bang ……”
“Ah!”
It was already dark and Luke was having a hard time seeing inside the car, just hearing a scream.
“FUCK! Tommy’s been shot.
GO GO GO!”
The gunman in the back of the car also noticed Luke and fired a volley of shots at the rear of the car, “Da da da da ……”
Luke rushed back to the side of the car to dodge the bullets.
“Wooo……”
The red sedan slammed the gas and drove fast.
Luke ran out from behind the car and shot at the car again, “Bang bang ……”
Just at this time the sky is too dark, the distance is far, the probability of hitting is very small.
The red sedan also returned fire “da da” another round of strafing.
The other side of the firepower is too fierce, the sky is dark, Luke can only first dodge, and so Jackson from the trunk of the car out of the rifle and body armor, the red car has stopped shooting, turn off the taillights, disappeared in the line of sight.
The crash site was a mess, scattered bullet casings, and a pool of blood.