Chapter 351
Marriott Hotel, room 712.
Danny Carter sat on the couch, the coffee table cleaned of alcohol and cigarettes.
Next to him on the couch sat a short-haired black woman, looking at Danny Carter with a scrutinizing gaze, “Danny, have you been following the news in the past two days?”
“Yes, Attorney Jarvis.”
“Then you should know that the online opinion is against you and has even affected the entire Rams team.
I can’t just sit back and wait, I have to resolve this matter as soon as possible, if we let the incident continue to develop, your career will also be affected.”
Danny Carter spread his hands, “Then you can handle it, aren’t you professional lawyers? What’s the point of talking to me?”
“You’re right, I’ll go and handle it, but before that I have to communicate with you, and reach an agreement between the lawyer and the client in order to resolve the incident perfectly.”
“Communicate what?”
“A settlement.”
“What settlement?”
“We can initiate a settlement with Billie Warwick.”
“Why a settlement?”
“Because it’s important to put this to rest as soon as possible, and you should know very well that hanging around the news all day isn’t good for you.
You can’t go anywhere but the hotel right now, and the only way to get your life back to normal is to settle this as soon as possible, so you can get out of this house and go train and be with your family.
Reconciliation is the fastest means of calming things down.”
Danny Carter laughed softly, “How do you reach a settlement?”
“The only reason the other party called the police was to get compensation and make a buck off of you, so I believe she will be willing to reach a settlement as long as she agrees to pay her a portion of the compensation.”
The smile on Danny Carter’s face gradually solidified, “I repeat, I did not rape her, the two of us applauded for love completely out of our own free will.
If I were to pay compensation now for a settlement, what would other people think of me? What would the fans think?
Look at that, this guy is weak-minded and is definitely a rapist.
I don’t want that.
I didn’t do it and have a clear conscience.”
“Danny, you’re a good lad and I know you wouldn’t do anything illegal.
But there are a lot of things …… you can’t do with intent.
In order to fight for this breath, you may cut short your career, and may even affect the reputation of the entire Rams team.
Mr. Kroenke, also hope that this matter will end as soon as possible, the Rams need you.”
“So, it’s Mr. Kroenke’s intention for you to come here today?”
“Danny, I’m doing this for your own good, you still have a great future ahead of you, you shouldn’t waste your time in a place like this.
I’m sure I can negotiate the settlement award to the lowest possible amount if you agree.”
Danny Carter rubbed his chin and considered for a moment, “How much?”
“Two million dollars.”
“You think two million dollars is small?
A lot of people don’t make that kind of money in their lifetime, and I had sex with her just once, just for a few minutes, and I have to compensate her for millions of dollars ……
I can’t accept that.”
“You’re right, a lot of people don’t make two million dollars in their lifetime, but you’re not just anyone, you’re a football star, and two million dollars is only a month’s salary for you.
Use one month’s salary to avoid jail time and save your career, I think most people know what to choose.
What do you say?”
Danny Carter was silent for a moment and said, “Counselor Jarvis, I’d like to think about it.”
“You’re not happy with the amount of compensation?”
“No, it’s not just about the money, I don’t want to carry the reputation of a rapist for the rest of my life.
What I want is innocence and justice.”
“Come on, you’re young now, in a few more years you’ll realize that these things are nothing.
This has happened to many sports stars and it is best to save your career with a settlement.
Many cases have proved that this is an iron law.”
Danny Carter said helplessly, “Please give me some more time.”
The black female lawyer stood up, “You’d better hurry.
Mr. Kroenke is running out of patience, and he may call you at any time ……
You should know exactly how much he cares about the Rams, and he won’t be polite to whoever influences the Rams …….”
Danny Carter asked, “Mr. Kroenke wants me to settle too?”
“It’s not just Mr. Kroenke, it’s the will of the entire Rams team, and because of this incident the Rams practices have been affected.
Danny, put on some smarts.” The black female lawyer left the hotel room with a word.
Danny Carter revealed an angry look and waved his arms, “Kroenke, Rams ……
FUCK!
Whose lawyer are you anyway?”
Noon.
Daisy asks Luke to join her for lunch.
Luke was craving Chinese food and found a Chinese restaurant with a good reputation.
After Luke ordered, he opened a bottle of Wuliangye and poured himself a glass, “Do you want some?”
“No, I have work this afternoon.”
Luke laughed, “Are you implying that I’m not professional?”
“On the contrary, I do envy your relaxed work ethic.”
Luke took a sip of his wine and said prettily, “You could too.”
“I wish I could, but …… I can’t.”
“Why do you have time to ask me out for lunch at noon?”
The waitress brought up a plate of food, Luke took a look at it, it was strips of steak and lamb, took a bite, it tasted good.
“Danny Carter called me this morning and complained for half an hour.”
“Complaining about what? Not happy with you, or with me?”
“Neither, he was mostly complaining about Attorney Jarvis, they had a less than pleasant conversation this morning, and Attorney Jarvis pushed him to settle as quickly as possible.”
“Did I hear you right, a lawyer pressuring his client to settle?”
“Jarvis’ lawyer’s firm serves not just Danny Carter, but the entire Rams team, and although Danny Carter didn’t say so explicitly, I think the Rams are probably responsible for all of Jarvis’ legal fees.
So it’s more likely that Jarvis is looking out for the interests of the Rams as a whole.”
Luke said, “Maybe that’s why Danny Carter hired us.”
“Exactly, he’s more likely to trust us in this situation.” Daisy pointed to another dish, “What’s this one called? It tastes soft and flavorful.”
“Roasted beef trotters with scallions, good stuff.”
“It’s good that it’s not something weird.” Daisy put her heart down and clumsily put another chopstick in her hand, “Did you make any progress in your investigation?”
“Yes, I found the suspicious man described by the black amah.”
“The black man with the dirty dreadlocks?”
“That’s right, his name is Quentin Haggas, he’s a coworker with Billie Warwick’s boyfriend, they both work at a convenience store, I went to see him this morning, and he does seem a little suspicious.”
“Do you think he’s a car thief?”
“Highly probable, but I don’t have enough evidence at this point.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
In fact, Luke had also been thinking about this matter, through contact with Quentin Haggas, he felt that Quentin Haggas was highly suspicious and was probably the car thief.
According to the past police way of investigation is certainly not, Luke is now in the way of detective investigation, means to be more flexible, also do not need to pay too much attention to the ‘evidence’.
Since he felt that Quentin Haggas was highly suspicious, it was timely to verify his guess.
Nine o’clock in the evening.
A black Ford sedan drove into the Zates neighborhood.
Powerful rock music was playing in the sedan, and the driver could be seen bobbing his head in the cab.
The car drove into a yard on the south side of the neighborhood and stopped in front of the garage, where a black man with dirty dreadlocks got out of the car.
The black man with dirty braids looked around and noticed an additional figure outside the yard.
“Who’s there?”
“Mr. Quentin Haggas, good evening.” Luke stepped from the shadows to the doorway of the yard.
“It’s you, the reporter from this morning. How did you get my name?”
Luke smiled, “I know more than just your name.”
Quentin Haggas sneered, “What are you doing in my house?”
“I wanted to ask you a few more questions.”
“Look, interview time is over, please leave my house, I don’t want to receive strangers.”
“Don’t be nervous, it’s just a few questions, I’ll leave afterward.”
“I’m not obligated to answer any more of your questions, and I hate being followed, leave my house immediately or don’t blame me for being rude to you.”
“What do you want then? Call the police?”
Quentin Haggas pointed a finger at Luke, “You’re right, I’ll sue you for harassment.”
“Then hurry up and call the police and see if they arrest you, or me?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Someone caught you stealing a car on the night of November 18th?”
“Shit, you’re framing me, I didn’t steal the car.”
“OK, then call 911 and have the police arrest me.”
The two men looked at each other, Quentin Haggas showing an angry look.
Luke said lightly, “If you don’t want to call 911, then let’s talk about it.”
Quentin Haggas took a deep breath and said helplessly, “What do you want?”
“Where’s that Porsche 911?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“I know you stole that Porsche 911, tell me where that car is and we’ll be even.”
“What if I say I don’t know?”
“Then I’ll call 911, give the police the evidence I captured, and you won’t have to work at a convenience store anymore; the citizens of L.A. will feed you and give you a new place to live.
With any luck, you’ll even get a boyfriend.”
“Shut up, I hate being threatened, you think a few light words can scare me?” Quentin Haggas stared Luke dead in the face, “Again, I didn’t steal the car.
If you get lost now, I can pretend that nothing has happened.
Otherwise, don’t blame me for being rude.”
Luke took out his cell phone and pointed the screen at Quentin Haggas, while pressing down three numbers, 9-1-1.
Just as Luke was about to press the dialing button, Quentin Haggas shouted, “STOP!
Don’t call 911.”
Luke asked again, “Where’s the Porsche car?”
Quentin Haggas rubbed his chin with his hand, stared angrily at Luke, and after a long moment of silence said, “In the garage.”
“Which garage?”
Quentin Haggas pointed behind him, “This is the garage.”
Luke stood in the doorway to the yard, “Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
The two walked to the garage door and Quentin Haggas looked at Luke again and asked, “You really have a video of me stealing a car?”
“Sure.”
“Let me see it.”
“Let me see the car first.”
“I can give you the car, but you have to give me the video.”
“Okay.”
Hearing Luke’s assurances, Quentin Haggas then walked over to the garage, unlocked the garage roll-up gate, and pulled it up.
Quentin Haggas walked into the garage, turned on the light on the wall at the entrance to the garage, and pointed to a car covered by a car coat, “The car is right there.”
Luke walked over and prepared to lift the car coat.
Suddenly, he felt a gust of wind behind him.
Luke didn’t completely trust Quentin Haggas, and entered the garage with a watchful eye, always staring at Quentin Haggas out of the corner of his eye.
Only to see that Quentin Haggas picked up a baseball bat from the corner of the garage and smashed it into the back of Luke’s head.
Luke was agile and rushed to dodge sideways, narrowly avoiding the baseball bat’s attack.
One strike missed, Quentin Haggas swung the baseball bat again, sweeping it towards Luke’s body.
An inch is as long as an inch is strong.
Luke’s grappling ability was very strong, if the opponent did not have a weapon, at such a close distance, Luke would choose to directly subdue the opponent.
But the other party had a baseball bat, it wasn’t easy for him to get close to the other party, and he might have to receive a bat.
Luke hurriedly took a few steps back and quickly pulled out his pistol, “Don’t move! Or I’ll shoot!”
“FUCK!”Quentin Haggis was a bit depressed, he didn’t expect Luke to be so alert that he couldn’t even get a hand on his sneak attack.
“I don’t believe you dare to shoot.”
“Then you can try.” Luke aimed at his chest.
Seeing that Luke’s stance didn’t look like a lie, Quentin Haggis’ tone eased, “Man, there’s no need for that, killing me won’t do you any good.
We have no beef, don’t you think?”
Luke commanded, “Put the baseball bat on the ground.”
Quentin Haggis hesitated, saw the blackened muzzle and compromised, placing the baseball bat on the ground as Luke instructed.
“Very well, turn around and lie down on the car.”
Quentin Haggas gave a worried look, “What the hell do you want?”
“Search you and make sure you don’t have any other weapons.”
Quentin Haggas took a deep breath and turned around as Luke instructed, laying his hands on the frame of the car.
Luke stepped behind him and quickly wrapped his right arm around the other man’s throat, tightening it hard.
Quentin Hargus was attacked and instinctively tried to fight back, grabbing at Luke’s right arm with his hands.
But Luke was faster, holding his right hand tightly at the joint of his left arm, and pressing his left arm hard against the back of his opponent’s head.
This was a standard Jiu-Jitsu move – the naked choke.
It was also one of the must kill techniques commonly used in Jiu Jitsu.
Luke had been practicing against Natasha since he had learned Jiu Jitsu, and although he had defeated Natasha, the two of them had only been point blank, never laying down a killing blow.
Luke had learned the moves of Jiu-Jitsu, but had never actually ‘practiced’ them.
This asshole actually dared to sneak up on him without knowing what to do, Luke could just ‘practice’ with him and get a real feel for the power of Jiu-Jitsu.
Quentin Haggis was terrified and struggled desperately, his hands clasping Luke’s arms in death, trying to break Luke’s arms and gain a chance to catch his breath and break free.
At this point, Luke had already completed the naked choke gesture, and Quentin Haggas’ struggles were just futile to him.
He had also been keeping an eye on Quentin Haggas’ state.
Luke wouldn’t kill anyone, he just wanted to try out the power and feeling of the Naked Strangle, which would help him in real combat in the future.
Luke didn’t use his full strength at first, leaving a gap for Quentin Haggas to breathe, and although Quentin Haggas had been struggling, he was never able to get out of the Naked Choke position.
After Luke felt it for a while, he had a deeper understanding of the Naked Choke position, once this position was completed, the locked person had almost no chance to break free.
Luke increased his strength and was not holding back.
Quentin Haggis struggled more and more, a black face was suffocating and twisting, and the strength of his struggle was getting smaller and smaller.
And then his body went limp, the whole person paralyzed.
Luke loosened his neck and checked his physical condition, there was still breathing, just fainted.
Luke experienced the feeling of naked strangulation in its entirety, unlike the feeling during training, this time it was a real force that subdued and strangled his opponent.
This kind of real-world experience was invaluable.
Luke walked to the door of the garage and looked around, it was hard to see inside the garage because a car was blocking the front of the garage.
Luke watched for a while, saw no one suspicious and closed the garage door.
The night was still long and he still had a lot to do ……