Chapter 34
Half an hour later, Luke and David arrived near Steven’s house.
With an arrest warrant, they wouldn’t be tied up anymore, calling the surrounding patrolmen to come over for support.
David, with his high rank, acted as the temporary commander, and he and Luke were in charge of the front door, while two patrolmen guarded the back door.
Luke didn’t wear a bulletproof vest so as not to alert the police.
With everything ready, the group infiltrated the Stevens’ yard.
David hid on the right side of the door and Luke went up to the door and called, “Knock knock ……”
No response.
“Knock knock ……”
Still no response.
Luke tried, “Steven, I know you’re home.”
Still no response.
David pulled out his walkie-talkie and asked, “Any movement at the back door?”
The patrolman in the backyard responded, “No, nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Prepare for action.” David made a gesture to break into the house.
The next moment, lifting his foot and kicking the wooden door hard: “BANG!”
“LAPD!”
“Put your hands up!”
There was no one in the living room, and David made a gesture to search forward.
Luke and the others matched each other, one after the other in a crosswise line.
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
The house wasn’t very big and was quickly searched and David was a little chagrined, “FUCK, that guy got away. I was wrong about him, I thought his feelings for his wife were real.”
Luke put away his pistol, “It’s precisely because he had feelings for his wife that he got angry and did something irrational. If he didn’t care about his wife, he wouldn’t have topped himself.”
David didn’t agree and shook his head, “A man who truly loves his wife wouldn’t hurt her.”
Luke didn’t bother to argue, “You lead a search of the house and I’ll report back to the captain.”
“Are you the detective or am I the detective?” David grumbled under his breath, but searched the room as Luke suggested.
Luke dialed Susan’s voice video, “Captain, we’ve arrived at Steven’s house. But there is no sign of Steven and David is leading a search of the house.”
Susan appeared on the other side of the video, “I was just about to contact you, we’ve got something on our side.
Susan adjusted the video distance so Luke could see the others and continued.
“After receiving a call from the Vice Squad, Matthew tracked Steven’s whereabouts through the security cameras.
The police department’s surveillance showed that Steven left yesterday in the attorney’s car, and along the way the surveillance showed them going to Steven’s neighborhood.
About half an hour later, the car drove away from Steven’s neighborhood, but, this time, the driver was replaced by Steven.
After that, the car stopped at Rinan and Farney Streets on Citi Boulevard for about ten minutes, and once again drove south on Citi Boulevard all the way out of downtown L.A. and onto Highway 73.”
Luke asked, “Highway 73, is this guy planning to flee to Mexico? Where’s that lawyer? Providing a vehicle for a suspect to escape is not a wise decision.”
Matthew replied, “The attorney hasn’t been seen since the car left Steven’s neighborhood, it’s been Steven driving.
I called the law firm and attorney Dave is not working today.”
Jenny added, “I went to the tech division to locate Steven’s and Dave’s cell phones, but the phones are both out of range and cannot be located.”
Luke mused for a moment, “The car was parked for ten minutes at Rinan and Farney Streets on Citi Boulevard, any idea what he was doing?”
“I’ve asked Ramon and Marcus to look into it, you’ll be the first to know.” Susan finished and gave a new assignment, “You guys drive down to Highway 73 now and track down Steven.”
Luke sighed, “The road is lined with Gobi, that’s a lot of work.”
Matthew reminded, “Dave the lawyer drives a Mercedes S500, we can get Mercedes to assist in locating it.”
Susan instructed, “Jenny, you go to Mercedes.
Luke, you leave immediately.”
A black Dodge car.
David sat in the driver’s seat driving and glanced at Luke next to him, “Shouldn’t you be driving?”
“I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“Exercise too much?”
Luke shook his head, “It was the lack of exercise that kept me awake.”
David smiled, “That’s a good thing, it proves you’re young.”
Luke lit a cigarette and took a drag, “Do you think I should be more proactive?”
“Is it my place to give you advice when my love life is all messed up? If you want to be a sport sooner, ask Marcus for advice.
If you want a serious relationship, then ask your heart.”
“Ringing ……”
Luke glanced at his cell phone and smiled, “Say Marcus and Marcus calls.”
“Hello.”
The phone rang with a self-rap voice, “Luke, where are you guys?”
“Driving down Highway 73, any results from your investigation on Citi Street?”
“Yea, Steven went to Citibank and took 40,000 dollars out of his account, the guy is richer than me now.”
Luke let go of his outside voice, “Where did he get that kind of money?”
“He didn’t, but the lawyer did. Just minutes before he went into the bank, Dave’s account transferred him forty thousand dollars, seamlessly.”
“Did you find Dave?”
“No. Ramon and the lieutenant are on Dave’s case, and the captain asked me to back you up.”
“Then you need to drive faster, don’t fall behind.”
Luke hung up his cell phone and said to David, who was on the sidelines, “Forty thousand dollars, that’s enough for this guy to get away with it for a while.”
David asked rhetorically, “What do you think of that sweet lawyer? Giving a car and money, how come I don’t have such a good lawyer.”
Luke thought for a moment, “The lawyer may have had a gray profit, but to assist the suspect’s escape so obviously and stick a car and money in it seems unlikely to me.
I’m leaning more toward the lawyer being coerced.”
David wasn’t impressed with the lawyer and said sarcastically, “I wonder if he ever regretted bringing Steven up from the station.”
Luke shrugged, “I hope you still have the chance to ask.”
Driving from downtown Los Angeles to the outskirts of the city, with the ocean on one side and mountains on the other, and further along Highway 73, the road was lined with the endless Gobi on both sides.
Every so often, a gas station or motel could be seen on the side of the road, but otherwise there weren’t many buildings, and the only plants were cacti and shrubs.
After driving along Highway 73 for more than 40 minutes, Luke received a call from Jenny, who had located Dave’s Mercedes through Mercedes-Benz and sent the location to Luke.
Seeing the Mercedes locate the location, Luke couldn’t help but frown, the Mercedes’ location was far off the highway.
Once deviated from the highway means unknown and dangerous, to put it bluntly, no one will know if they die on the Gobi.
Luke’s two men did not dare to enter the Gobi rashly, drove the car to a nearby gas station, and ate a pizza, fried chicken, and instant noodles to fill their stomachs first.
In order to prevent getting lost in the Gobi, filled the car with gas and stocked up on food and water.
After waiting another ten minutes or so, Marcus arrived at the gas station as well.
The three of them were fully loaded and ready to go when Luke’s cell phone rang, “Ringing ……”
Luke pressed the answer button, “Captain.”
Susan’s voice came from the cell phone, “How are you guys getting ready?”
“The three of us have converged and are ready to enter the Gobi in search of the Mercedes.”
“Pay attention to safety.”
Susan admonished and added, “In addition, there’s a new discovery on the Vice Squad’s side, Elisa’s cell phone, clothes, and a modified Taser were found in the smoke pipe of the store’s kitchen.
It’s safe to assume that it’s the same suspect in all three cases.”