Chapter 443
Caravan Truck Parking Lot, Suburb of Los Angeles.
This was the largest parking lot in Los Angeles, with a full 1,000 spaces, and the parking spaces here were all between ten and twenty meters long.
Inside the parking lot, there were supermarkets, bathrooms, and restaurants that could satisfy any needs of the truckers.
On the west side of the parking lot there is a blue truck with two tall exhausts, a retro look, and a dominant look, this truck is the Peterbilt 389, the prototype of Optimus Prime.
The interior of the front end was large, with three-person seating in the front and a bed in the back, making sleeping here more restful than lodging in a motel.
At that moment, a white man in the driver’s side of the car, about 30 years old, was on the phone, looking a little anxious.
“Hey George, it’s me.
I’ve been thinking about it and I’m sure I want to mortgage my truck, how much can I get?”
The cell phone hid the voice of another man, “One hundred thousand dollars.”
The white man’s pitch rose steeply and he looked agitated, “What? You’re not kidding, are you? I paid over two hundred thousand dollars for this car.”
“As you said, that was the purchase price, cars are consumer goods, it’s normal for them to depreciate.” The voice on the other side of the cell phone was very calm.
The white man pounded the steering wheel hard and took a deep breath, his voice was a bit helpless: “OK, a hundred thousand is a hundred thousand, when is the soonest I can get the money?”
“It will take at least half a month if you go through the process.”
“No No No, it’s too long, it has to be faster or I’ll find someone else.”
“In such a hurry?”
“Yes.”
“How long do you expect?”
“Three days, that’s all I’m giving you.”
“Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“It’s none of your business, you get your shit together and I’ll pay you back on time.”
“OK,” the cell phone reopened the price on the other side, “Eighty thousand.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you want the money in three days, I can only give you eighty thousand dollars.”
“Fuck, are you shitting me? One hundred thousand dollars is low enough, and you’re actually pressing the price.”
“No, I’m not re-pressurizing the price, it’s the rules.”
“Fuck the rules, I’ll take a hundred thousand dollars.”
“Then we’ll just have to go through the process, it’ll take at least ten days, I’ll present you with the options, take your pick.”
“You’re such a mean vampire!” The white man was a little angry, but had to hold back, his cheeks and neck red with anger.
The person on the other side of the phone didn’t rush him, so he waited quietly.
After a while, the white man let out a helpless sigh, “Alright, eighty thousand is eighty thousand, I need the money tomorrow.”
“Deal.
I’ll bring the contract to you this afternoon.”
The white man hung up his cell phone, “Fuck, you fucking asshole ……”
The white man’s mouth kept spewing profanities as if that was the only way to quell the anger in his heart.
His throat was dry from cursing, so he picked up mineral water and took a hard gulp, then tore open a bag of bread and ate it.
There was also a large amount of food in the bed in the back, and a urinal by the bed, he tried not to get out of the car if he could, there was no safer place for him than in the truck.
This was his mobile fortress.
Through the window he saw a black man approaching not far away.
The black man was scruffily dressed, his hair was disheveled, and his walk was shaky, like he had a hangover and wasn’t fully sober yet.
Bah, black trash.
The white man hadn’t seen this black man before and kept his gaze fixed on the other man, and was still more than a little wary when he saw the black man walking towards his truck.
The black man walked to the right side of the truck, because of the higher body has a visual blind spot, he could not see the black man for the time being, his hands could not help but grip the steering wheel tightly, once there is an abnormality he will start the car.
“Zip ……”
In this extremely quiet situation of holding his breath, a discordant sound was heard.
“Fuck, damn drunkard, actually dare to pee on my car, I @#$%……” The white man first breathed a sigh of relief, and then a burst of cursing.
He opened the truck door and jumped out of the truck, cursing, “I swear, I’m going to shove your dick in my mouth.
If you piss on my tires, I’ll make you lick it clean, I swear, I will.”
The white man walks to the right side of the truck and sees a puddle of liquid by the truck tires while the black man is lifting his pants, exactly as he imagined, “You dead nigger, how dare you piss on my car, you’re dead.”
The black man laughed, “Who told you I peed?”
“Then why are your black paws lifting your pants?”
“My pants are loose and it’s rude of you.”
“What’s this puddle of liquid on the floor? Don’t tell me it’s your spit.”
Black pulled out a mineral water bottle with holes poked in it and water bubbled up when he pressed the bottle, “Do you want to drink it?”
“Fuck, you actually tricked me.”
The white man blurted out, steeply realizing something was wrong, he turned around and ran to the top of his truck.
But it was too late, someone had already snuck up to the truck while he and the black man were arguing.
Jackson held down the driver’s side door of the truck and flashed his badge, “LAPD.
Sir, don’t rush into the truck, we want to talk to you.”
The white man showed a nervous look and a cold sweat broke out on his head, “Who are you guys?”
Jackson pointed to his badge, “Isn’t it too dangerous to drive a truck with your eyesight?”
The white man saw more people closing in on him and took a step back to lean against the truck, “What do you want?”
Luke walked over as well, “Not doing anything? Just want to talk to you, but what are you so nervous about?”
The white man said, “Suddenly surrounded by a group of people, anyone would be nervous, right?”
Luke asked, “Sir, what’s your name?”
“Carl Smith.”
“I’m Luke Lee, Captain of Squadron One of the Robbery and Murder Division, I’m investigating a supermarket shooting and would like to ask for your assistance in the investigation.”
“What supermarket shooting?”
“The Rogier supermarket shooting, a lot of TV stations are broadcasting this news, don’t you know about it?”
“Ah, I remember, it seems like there is such a thing, but does it have anything to do with me?” Carl Smith spread his hands and made an innocent look.
“Have you ever been to Rogier’s Supermarket?”
“I can’t remember, I may have been there before.”
“When was that before?”
“Haven’t been there in at least a month, so I can’t think of anything I’d have to do with a supermarket shooting, you guys must be mistaken.
If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving.”
Luke pulled out a picture of Brown Bryant, “Don’t rush off, do you recognize him?”
Carl Smith took a look and shook his head, “No.”
Luke stared at the other man, “Lying is not a good habit, but his parents have met you.”
“Maybe they recognized the wrong person, I was born with a popular face.” Carl Smith rubbed his cheek.
“His parents live in the Karst neighborhood, have you ever been to the Karst neighborhood if you think about it? That neighborhood is just west of Rogier’s Supermarket.”
“No, this is the first time I’ve heard of the neighborhood.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“So you’ve never been to this neighborhood either?”
“Yes.”
Luke pulled out a photo, “This is a surveillance screenshot from February 5th, taken on the community highway in the community of Cascade, you showed up in the community of Cascade in a white Fiat and clearly stayed in the community for a period of time, the screenshot of the driver’s side clearly shows your face, how do you explain that?”
“Maybe I …… forgot?”
“Did you forget, or did you deliberately lie?”
Carl Smith scratched his hair hard with both hands, “I want a lawyer.”
“No one and no organization can help you in a case involving a terrorist attack.”
Luke directly characterized the case as a terror attack, so that the investigation would have more autonomy for the police and be able to use more means.
“I wasn’t involved in the terror attack.” Carl Smith was completely flustered.
“You did.
You drove your truck over to Highway 1 on February 13th for the purpose of picking up Brown Bryant, the shooter in the supermarket shooting, who drove the white Volkswagen into your truck, and then you pulled the car and the man together to safety, am I correct?”
“No, you’re making false accusations, I didn’t do it.
Jesus Christ, I’m going out of my mind.” Carl Smith crouched down and covered his head with his hands.
Luke continued, “You also contacted a mortgage company to mortgage your truck for a cash run.”
Carl Smith’s forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, still shaking his head, “I was thinking of mortgaging my automobile, but it was for business, not the so-called running away.”
Luke took out another photo, “We extracted Brown Bryant’s DNA from the equipment left behind by the shooter, it’s enough to determine that he is the murderer of the supermarket shooting, the police are now on an all out manhunt for him, even if you don’t admit it, when we catch him, he’ll just as likely to give you up.
I really look forward to seeing you guys reunite and fall in love with each other.”
Carl Smith slowly looked up at the outfit in the photo and couldn’t hold back any longer, “FUCK, that idiot!”
Seeing that the other party was relieved, Luke laughed, “That’s right, confessing your crime early will be beneficial to you.”
Carl Smith ran his hand over the front of the truck with a complex expression, “Man, it looks like we don’t have to split up.”
Luke thought in his mind, “No, you’ll still have to separate.”
Carl Smith sighed and said helplessly, “I didn’t think things would get like this, I just told Carl Smith to go to that supermarket and mess things up, but things got messed up.”
“Did you send Brown Bryant to Rogier’s Supermarket to kill someone?”
“No, No, No, I didn’t send him to kill anyone, I just told him to go and fire a few shots to scare the customers at the supermarket, but I didn’t realize that the bastard was out of control.
I almost pissed myself when I saw the news too.”
Luke pressed, “Why did you do that?”
“I’m just an intermediary, not really behind it.”
“Who’s behind this?”
Carl Smith stood up and said solemnly and helplessly, “If I tell you, would that be considered meritorious?”
“Sure, we can turn you into a tainted witness and give a favorable plea deal.”
Carl Smith said after a long pause, “It’s the owner of Carmela’s Supermarket, Pokey Carmela.”
Luke pressed, “Why would he do that?”
“Because the two supermarkets are in one area, the customer base are several surrounding black communities, originally Carmela Supermarket’s business was quite good, but since Rogier Supermarket opened, it started to engage in vicious competition, firstly, it engaged in price cut promotions, various activities, and extended its business hours, compressing the supermarket’s profit to an extremely low state.
Carmela supermarket also had to follow the price cuts, promotions, activities, profits are getting lower and lower, but still can not do Rogier supermarket.
As Carmella’s customers became less and less, business became worse and worse, and recently it has begun to be unable to make ends meet, and if it is unable to make a profit this year, this store may have to close, so the owner of the Carmella Supermarket wants me to help.”
“Help means for you to hire someone to kill people at Rogier’s Supermarket.”
“No, as I’ve said many times, it’s not to kill people, it’s just to mess around and shoot blanks.
If you have to put a murderer’s hat on my head, then I don’t think there’s anything to talk about.”
“If it’s empty guns, why don’t you go at night? Instead, go during the day.”
“Because it has a worse impact, it keeps people from going to Rogier’s Supermarket during the day, there are only two big supermarkets in that neighborhood, and if people don’t go to Rogier’s Supermarket, they’ll go to Carmela’s Supermarket, and the purpose will be served.
In fact, the owner of Carmela Supermarket didn’t want to do this, but he had no choice, their whole family depended on the supermarket to live.
If his supermarket closes down, he will go bankrupt, his house will be repossessed by the bank, and his wife and children will sleep on the streets.
So, he was forced to do the same.”
Luke was not moved by these words and continued to ask lightly, “Where is Carmela’s Supermarket?”
“Savito Street.”
“Why did the owner of Carmela Supermarket ask for your help? What is the relationship between the two of you?”
“We’re kind of a partnership, I often help his supermarket transport things, if the supermarket’s business is bad, my business will also be affected, and, he knows that I once joined the ‘Proud Boys’ organization.
Once when he treated me to a drink, he tried to ask me if I had a similar relationship. He also promised to pay me a sum of money when it was done, and I needed to maintain a relationship with him, so I agreed with him.”
Luke had heard of the organization, a whiteist extremist group, “Are you still a member of this group?”
“I’m mature now and don’t participate in their activities anymore. It’s all a bunch of childish brats.”
“How did you and Brown Bryant meet?”
“He’s also a member of the Proud Boys, I introduced him when he first joined, but it wasn’t long before I faded away.
I knew the kid looked unassuming but was a tough guy with a lot of guts, and he hated black people, and even if he wasn’t willing to help, he would never turn me in.”
“Where is Brown Bryant?”
“I don’t know, we had a big fight after I picked him up in Gobi and he took off in that white Volkswagen.”
“Why did you guys fight?”
“Because he screwed up and I would have gotten involved, he’s a brainwashed idiot, I shouldn’t have asked him to do anything.”
“How do you guys usually keep in touch?”
“It’s by phone.”
“But according to his mom, he doesn’t have a cell phone.”
“Yes, I gave him an old cell phone.”
“What’s the cell phone number?”
“626, 836, 3278.”
Luke instructed Jackson, who stepped aside, “Contact the tech team to locate this cell phone number.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is anyone else involved in this case besides you, Brown Bryant, and Pokey Carmella?”
“No. I’m not stupid, and the less people know about this kind of thing, the better.”
“Who got those weapons and equipment?”
“Porky Carmela paid for it, I found a source to buy it, and I bought that car off the black market.”
“You still don’t have any follow-up plans?”
“There is no follow up plan, originally we had a good discussion that Brown Bryant would leave Los Angeles after he committed the crime.
Brown Bryant had wanted to leave the house for a long time, he’d rather die than live in a black neighborhood, and he didn’t want to hear his momma and his black stepdad applauding for love.
No one would suspect that he was leaving, not even his mom, let alone his stepdad and his mixed-race sister, no one really cared about him, he was just redundant in that family?
And once he left L.A., the case would be an open one, and no one would have anything to lose except for Rogier’s Supermarket.
But I didn’t realize that the little bastard wasn’t going to follow the plan, he made a big deal out of it and drew the media’s attention to it, the LAPD chief was there, I knew it was fucked up and the police would be all over the case for sure, that’s why I was ready to go away for a while.”
“Right thinking, but not decisive enough.” Luke commented, having Carl Smith cuffed and his truck searched.
Luke personally entered the cabin to check it out, sitting in the cab looking out the window, that feeling of having a great view of the car was great, fortunately Luke’s plan was to lure Carl Smith out of the truck and then arrest him, if he let Carl Smith drive the truck on the road, the consequences were unimaginable, it wasn’t easy trying to intercept this giant.
Just then, Jackson came over and said, “Captain, we located the exact location of that cell phone number.”
“Where?”
“On Savito Street, traveling north to south.”
Luke frowned slightly and asked Carl Smith, “You just said that Carmela’s Supermarket is also on Savito Street.”
“Yes.”
“Was there any direct contact between Gunner Brown Bryant and Porch Carmela?”
“No, they were complete strangers.”
“And was it possible for Brown Bryant to visit Porch Carmella’s supermarket?”
Carl Smith thought for a moment and shook his head, “I don’t think so, Brown Bryant had no idea that Porch Carmella was behind it, both the equipment and the money were handled by me.”
Luke’s brow furrowed tightly as he suddenly had a bad feeling, “Everyone get in the car and get to Carmella’s Supermarket immediately.”
“YES, Sir.”