Chapter 446
Only, the machine wasn’t an airplane, it was an airport bus.
After work, Luke drove to the street near the community, the car parked at the curb and waited for a while, a blue airport bus drove over and parked not far away.
Luke got out of the car as well and stared at the passengers that were coming off the bus one by one.
The passengers were both men and women, many of them traveling, getting off the bus and waiting by the bus to get their luggage.
A middle-aged Asian man stepped off the bus as well, looking around as if searching for someone.
“Dad.” Luke greeted, welcoming him.
“Luke, you’re so busy at work, you don’t need to come pick me up, I know the address of your house.” That being said, Li Zhaofeng was still happy to see his son.
“I just happened to finish my work this afternoon, let’s go.” Luke lifted his father’s suitcase and tugged it over to the Mercedes-Benz g500 to put it in the trunk.
Li Zhaofeng patted the black Mercedes and said with some envy, “This car has a lot of space, it’s half a head taller than me.”
Most men like cars, and Li Zhaofeng is no exception. It’s just that at his age, he spends too much money, he can’t afford to buy a luxury car even if he has some savings.
Luke suggested, “Dad, are you tired? If you’re not tired then you come and test drive it.”
Li Zhaofeng was a little moved, but also a little hesitant, such a good car, he was really afraid of scratching and breaking.
Luke saw his father’s thoughts and directly sat in the passenger compartment.
Li Zhaofeng also obediently sat in the driver’s side, some excitedly said, “This car has a really good view.” He adjusted his seat forward a bit, Luke was taller than him.
Li Zhaofeng is the first time to drive such a high-grade car and the operation of his car some differences, Luke briefly introduced before Li Zhaofeng slowly start the car.
Li Zhaofeng driving very slowly, seems not quite dare to step on the gas pedal, Luke did not rush him, familiar with familiar with it.
At noon, Luke only ate a burrito, his stomach was a bit hungry: “Dad, I just got off work, and I don’t have time to cook today, let’s go eat barbecue!”
“Okay, should I call your brother?”
Luke didn’t answer immediately, calling Little Fatty or not calling Little Fatty, it wasn’t a big problem. But if he called Little Fatty and didn’t call his mom, it wouldn’t be too good.
Luke said, “OK, Little Fatty is definitely happy, I’ll give mom a call to see if Little Fatty is at home.”
Li Zhaofeng also seemed to think of something, waved his hand, “Forget it? Today is too hasty, invite them another day!”
The two drove directly to the barbecue restaurant near the neighborhood.
A bucket of root beer, a platter of peanut and hairy bean platter, a roasted leg of lamb, two roasted lamb waists, twenty skewers, and ten garlic roasted oysters.
These dishes are enough for two people to eat, there is a small stove on the table that can be heated at any time, and the two people eat and chat.
Li Zhaofeng was a little thirsty and filled half a glass of beer before saying, “Two days ago, I watched the news in Los Angeles about a shooting case. Your director specially appointed you to be in charge of the investigation, how is the case going?
You came over to pick me up today, it won’t delay the investigation of the case, right?”
Luke peeled peanuts while saying, “The murderer of that supermarket shooting case has been caught at noon today. Guess you were on a plane at the time and didn’t see it.”
“Did you catch it?”
“Yes, I was the one who led the people to catch it.”
Li Zhaofeng hurriedly looked up and down at his son, “Are you okay?”
“Nothing, I’m fine. But I’ve also shot, just so I can rest for a few days. Get the house purchase done, and then I’ll take you around Los Angeles.”
Li Zhaofeng instructed, “You have to be careful when handling cases in the future, bring more people with you, you’re a leader in size now, don’t always think about charging forward.”
Luke nodded: “You are right. I rarely take the lead anymore during operations now.
Basically, I am in charge of command and dispatch at the scene.”
Li Zhaofeng asked, “What time will you work tomorrow?”
“Just be there at nine, what’s wrong?”
“I’m still a little uneasy about buying a house, I want to go see the villa while it’s still unpaid.” Although his son had already decided to buy a villa, but after all, it was something worth millions of dollars, Li Zhaofeng still wanted to help his son to keep an eye on it.
“Okay, then let’s leave early tomorrow.” For his father’s good intentions, Luke naturally would not refuse, “How do you think it’s appropriate to buy a house?”
Li Zhaofeng said, “I see that your stock market gains are not bad, so the money in there will stay put for now. I will liquidate your other assets and then take out a loan to buy a house.
Your stock market earnings can not only offset the interest of the mortgage, but also some surplus. And if you’re in dire need of money, you can mortgage the stock.”
Luke nodded, he also thought it was a good idea, and then brought up the matter of realizing his assets, such as the gold coins worth more than a hundred thousand dollars that were kept under the fish tank. And the hundred thousand dollars he just picked up from the villa.
Li Zhaofeng was an accountant, how to report and pay taxes was his specialty, and could give Luke a most reasonable arrangement. It also saved Luke a lot of heartache. Otherwise specializing in hiring an accountant costs money, not to mention the trust issue is also important.
Li Zhaofeng’s arrival could give Luke a reasonable planning for his property.
The next morning.
Zhaohong Li got up and followed his son to the Palisades neighborhood to look at the house, for the villa that originally belonged to the gambling king Zhou Tiancheng, he was still very curious in his heart.
Los Angeles was much bigger than New York and relied more on cars, in order to facilitate Li Zhaofeng’s travel, Luke let him drive the Mercedes.
Luke himself was riding a Harley motorcycle, it’s been a while since he rode it, just fresh and new.
After entering the Palisades community, Li Zhaofeng lowered the speed of the car, the first thing he felt was that the community environment was very beautiful, with an extremely high rate of greenery.
Along the way, he also saw a lot of animals, I do not know whether they are wild or fed by the community.
From time to time, there were pedestrians on the roadside who woke up early for morning exercise, mostly Chinese and white people, and occasionally Indians could be seen.
Luke rode his Harley in front to lead the way, the motorcycle lowered its speed and pulled over to the side of the road.
Li Zhaofeng also hit the right steering and pulled over to the side of the road.
Luke took off his helmet and pointed to the compound on his right and said, “Dad, this is the villa.”
Li Zhaofeng’s eyes scanned around, the villa was in a good location, the courtyard was surrounded by tall trees planted around it, the branches and leaves covered the buildings inside, privacy was good.
Father and son entered the courtyard, a large area, simple layout, green lawn, tall trees, and a wooden building house.
Li Zhaofeng is very satisfied with all the others, only the house is a little shabby but, whether it is renovated or rebuilt, it needs to spend a lot of money.
But think about the villa price is still very suitable, not to mention the villa can be purchased at a super low price of three million dollars, even according to the assessment of the house price of nine million dollars is not expensive.
Li Zhaofeng had checked the average house price of this community, and they were all around 10 million dollars.
And this villa of Zhou Tiancheng’s, whether it was the area or the location, was considered better in this neighborhood.
If the house was new, the house price would be at least 10 million dollars or more.
A cheaper one million dollars would be equivalent to the cost of building your own house.
Luke’s house was definitely going to be self-occupied, and it was cost-effective to build a house of one’s own liking, even if it took a bit of effort and time.
Luke asked, “Dad, what do you think?”
Li Zhaofeng smiled, “Not bad, prepare the money.”
Luke also smiled, “OK, then I’ll go to work, I’ll leave the preparation of buying a house to you.”
Li Zhaofeng reminded, “Don’t forget to make an appointment with your lawyer when you turn around.”
“Understood.” Luke got on his motorcycle and waved goodbye to his father.
Li Zhaofeng stood on the side of the road looking at the Harley motorcycle far away, then looked at the Mercedes Benz G500, and glanced back at the tree-lined yard, and couldn’t help but feel some emotion in his heart.
It is not easy for his son to take this step, and it is also considered to be crossing the class, right?
Luke’s success was not just by virtue of wealth, quite the contrary, it was because he was successful and wealth came with him.
Li Zhaofeng has been paying attention to the Los Angeles news, the supermarket shooting case is not complicated, but because the suspect openly live killings, and the number of deaths, the nature of the case is very bad, this case in the whole United States and even the world has a great impact.
Luke was able to become the specific person in charge and investigator of the case, which represented a lot of things behind it.
Li Zhaofeng knew very well that he didn’t have to worry about being discriminated against in this city, not to mention being bullied by the gangs.
Luke’s current status had been able to bring a lot of influence to the family.
The Chinese did not lack the brains and diligence to make money, what they lacked was a relatively fair, safe and stable environment for development.
And with Luke’s influence in Los Angeles, even if he didn’t take the initiative, no one would dare to come to the door looking for trouble.
To put it mildly, if one day the Li family is not doing as well as they would like in New York, they will probably come to Los Angeles to defect to Luke.
Fortunately, the Li family didn’t have the kind of people who were particularly good at camping, and didn’t have any similar ideas right now.
Li Zhaofeng also did not mention this idea to his family.
In his opinion help should be mutual, and he couldn’t find a bunch of drag for his son.
The best way should be that while the son can bring shelter to the family, the family can also bring benefits to the son, which is a more stable mode of getting along.
One can’t let one’s son suffer.
Ward 307 of Novus Hospital.
A seventeen or eighteen year old white youth was lying on the hospital bed, his left wrist and left ankle were handcuffed to the hospital bed, and his right wrist and right ankle were wrapped in bandages, the shape was indescribably strange, and even a bit funny.
It was hard to connect this tender-faced teenager with the guilty shooting suspect.
“Cluck ……”, the door of the hospital room was pushed open from outside.
The two men, Luke and Jackson, walked into the hospital room.
Brown Bryant looked at the two without any reaction.
Luke took the initiative to greet them, “Hey man, how’s the recovery going?”
Brown Bryant still didn’t respond.
Luke pulled up a chair and sat on the edge of the bed, “Your mother has been in contact with the police about you. She’s very concerned about you, and if you don’t want to talk to us, I can bring her in so you can have a mother and son chat.”
Brown Bryant had a reaction and said in a firm tone, “No need, I don’t want to see her.”
Luke continued, “When you’re my age you’ll learn that the people who care about you the most are your parents.”
Brown Bryant said dismissively, “Put away your rhetoric! It’s no use to me.
I know why you’re here and I know I’m not getting out of jail for the rest of my life. Whether I assist you in your investigation or not, it doesn’t matter to me.
So, you guys get out! I don’t want to talk or see anyone right now.”
Luke didn’t retort and didn’t leave immediately, instead, he walked inside the hospital room, “It feels like you’re a bit depressed, is it because it’s too stuffy in the hospital room, I’ll help you get some air, maybe you’ll feel more comfortable.”
Luke opened the window and looked at the entrance of the hospital, “There are a lot of reporters outside, I guess they are all here to interview you, no, they can’t see you, exactly they should be here to interview me.
This shooting is a big deal, surely a press conference should be held to give the public an explanation, what do you think I should say?”
“That’s your business, investigate it yourself if you can.”
“We’ve already investigated what we should have investigated, and we’ve also caught Carl Smith and Pokey Carmella, who have admitted to hiring you to carry out the shooting at Rogier’s supermarket.
Where did you put the money you collected?
Thirty thousand dollars. That would be your hiring fee.
Is it worth killing someone for that kind of money?
Is that the meaning and value of your life, to be a failed killer?”
Brown Bryant grunted, “Poorly thought out provocation, I’m not one of those brainless chimps to be so easily set up by you.”
Luke nodded, “Well, you’re smart, but smart people are in the minority after all. I’ll tell those reporters about the thirty thousand dollars you took for hire.
Those reporters will also report it truthfully, and in the eyes of the public you’ll be a pathetic man who killed for thirty thousand dollars.
The real killers will despise you and refuse to be associated with you because you’re too cheap.
Oh yeah, and the Arrogant Boys organization, what would they think? And what did you tell them?
Do they believe you, or do they believe the police investigation. What will they think of you in the future?
A hero?
Or a bear!”
“Stop it.” Brown Bryant suddenly interrupted Luke, revealing an angry look, “I can tell you all, but you can’t slander me anymore, I’m not doing this for money, no, absolutely not.
Luke belabored, really seventeen or eighteen years old is the time to save face, he cares about what others think of him, hoping to get the approval of the arrogant boy, hoping that the people of this organization know that he is fighting for the sake of the faith, rather than that poor thirty thousand dollars.
Luke smoothly asked, “OK, so tell me what it’s for?”
Brown Bryant’s voice was high, “God made me do it, chimpanzees deserve to die, they’re an evolutionary cripple, and now they’re riding over us instead, I really can’t understand what’s wrong with the world.”
Luke was glad he had the foresight to not let Blackie come, otherwise Blackie would have probably stormed the other guy on impulse.
Jackson said, “Hey little guy, you’re being paranoid, there are good people and bad people in any race, there are good people and mediocre people, you can’t generalize. We’re all Americans, we shouldn’t be divided by race.”
“Is that your word or mine, uh-huh?” Brown Bryant glared at Jackson, disgruntled, “I hate people preaching, so you better shut up when I’m talking.”
Jackson “……”
Luke had no intention of sticking up for Jack first, he didn’t like being lectured either.
Secondly, the little guy was tops on all his charges. The police and the law weren’t much of a deterrent to him anymore. Luke had also spurred him on with what he cared about, and the interrogation had only been able to make progress.
Luke said, “Tell us all about how you and Carl Smith and Porchy Carmella plotted the shooting.
Brown Bryant said slowly, “Carl Smith was my leader. He was the one who brought me into the Pride Boys organization.
I remember him well, and one day he approached me and offered to buy me a drink, and then he told me about it.
I hadn’t met Pokey Carmela, just been in contact with Carl Smith. Carl Smith did give me thirty thousand dollars and gave me equipment and a car, but I shot and killed people at Rogier’s, not because of the thirty thousand dollars, but because I hate black people.
They deserve to die.”
“What did Carl Smith tell you when he found you? To let you go to Rogier’s Supermarket and kill people, or just to mess around and shoot blanks.”
“He didn’t tell me to kill anyone, he just told me to go to Rogier’s Supermarket and mess around, and I was the one who changed my plans. The two of us even had a big fight because of it, he’s a coward, I was wrong about him.
This coward doesn’t deserve to be my leader at all.”
This is the same content as Carl Smith’s transcript, and Luke goes on to ask, “Why do you hate black people so much? I’m asking you, not God, so don’t try to put me off with God. I want to know what you think.”
Brown Bryant showed a flash of self-deprecation, “Look at me, what kind of a man do you think I am?”
Luke scrutinized for a moment, “A young white man with ideas, just a little paranoid in the way he sees things.”
“You’re right, I am a white man with a black last name, Bryant.
I hate that last name, but am powerless to change it.
I lived in a black neighborhood, went to a school named after a black man, I was surrounded by things that were relevant to black people, and I seemed out of place.
Not a day went by that those assholes didn’t laugh at me and discriminate against me.
‘Hey look, there’s a disgusting white man here.’
‘Why is this white pig coming to black people’s land, I want to punch him so bad.’
‘Because his daddy is black! Haha ……’
I’ve heard too many similar words, every day, don’t they deserve to die?”
Luke frowned, “So, you don’t kill with passion, but you’ve had a similar idea for a long time?”
“That’s right, the idea has been stuck in my head for a long, long time, and I’ve rehearsed it countless times.
Although that day was the first time I killed someone, there was no discomfort.
Not only did I not regret it, but I felt much more comfortable in my heart.
They can’t bully me anymore!”
Luke thought of the drug dealer they had captured earlier, “Do you know Darci Jordan?”
“Yeah, that asshole beat me up once. He thinks he’s great, but he’s really just a black trash, he just relies on the number of minions around him, otherwise he wouldn’t even dare to mess with me.
What happened to that asshole now?”
“Arrested for drug trafficking.”
“Haha ……” Brown Bryant laughed: “Is he grateful to me?”
“Yes, he can’t wait to send you to God.”
“Haha ……” Brown Bryant laughed even more.
Luke scanned the laptop and inquired about the next question, “Where did you get the equipment for your attack on Luther King III High School yesterday?”
“Bought it with the thirty thousand dollars.
That’s what I was charging that money for, I needed more gear and guns.”
“Bought it from where? Through whom?”
Brown Bryant cocked his head to the side, “I’ve said enough, you can do the rest of the investigation on your own.”
Luke tried, “Did you purchase the guns and equipment through the Pride Boys?”
“No.”
“Did the Pride Boys provide you with any assistance during the two shootings?”
“No. This conversation is over for today and I don’t want to answer any more questions.” Brown Bryant closed his eyes.
With the last two targeted questions, Luke had picked up signs that the other man was lying.
That meant that he had probably purchased the guns and the car through the Pride Boys.
Luke asked again, but Brown Bryant wouldn’t answer.
Luke could only put the interrogation on hold.
Facing a felon like Brown Bryant, there wasn’t much the police could do if he wasn’t willing to cooperate.
As for the investigation against the arrogant boy, Luke was ready to hand over to the Blackmail and Narcotics Division, he couldn’t just keep his feet busy and let Jones and David watch the fun.
He had already made a big splash by leading the people from the Robbery and Murder Division to capture Brown Bryant, so there was no need to take all the credit and go through the trouble.
Moreover, through the previous questioning, the causes and consequences of the case were already largely clear.
The immediate cause of the case, the conflict of interest between the owner of Carmela’s Supermarket and Rogier’s Supermarket.
The root cause, Brown Bryant grew up in an environment where blacks were the mainstay, which had caused some influence and distortion to his mind and body, causing him to develop a strong resentment towards blacks and the idea of revenge.
Even if Carl Smith hadn’t hired him to mess with Rogier’s Supermarket, he could have killed someone in the future for something else, maybe even a small, insignificant thing.
He was an unstable bomb.