Chapter 542
Valdora neighborhood.
A white Chevrolet sedan of unknown hands was driving on the community highway, and in the driver’s seat was a young black girl, none other than Aisia Arce, who had been released on bail from the police station a few days ago.
It had been a depressing few days for Aisia Arce, as she was still out on bail, and in order to keep her out of further trouble, her grandmother was watching her very closely, and she could hardly leave the house these days.
On the other hand, Luke had been urging her to learn lock picking techniques from her.
Both of these two people Aisia Alcee couldn’t afford to offend, and her heart was tired.
It was a good thing she had something to do today when her grandmother had to leave the house.
The white Chevrolet sedan drove out of the neighborhood, she saw a black Mercedes Benz G500 parked on the roadside in front of her, revealing a look of envy, are all the police so rich now?
Or is this guy a black cop?
Aisia Alcee was a little more careful.
Luke lowered the window, “You’re late.”
“Sorry, my grandmother wouldn’t allow a cop in the house, I had to wait until she left before I came out.
Get in the car.”
“In your car?”
“Of course, I live in a poor neighborhood, and if I go to my house in your limo, it won’t take ten minutes for everyone to know there’s a white cop at my house.
Maybe you’re not afraid, but don’t victimize me.”
Luke parked the car and got into the white Chevy sedan, “We’re going to your house to learn how to pick locks?”
“In the garage to be exact.” Aisia Alcee teased, “You didn’t think I’d have a special training ground, did you.”
The white Chevy drove into the neighborhood, flanked by somewhat dilapidated houses with yards either stacked with debris or planted with a few vegetables.
There were also groups of black people gathering together to smoke and chat.
The car lowered its speed and drove straight into the garage of a gray house, Aisia Arce stepped out of the car, pulled the garage door down and turned on the garage lights.
Luke also got out of the car, the garage was a bit bigger than expected, about thirty square meters, stacked with messy clutter, among which there were all kinds of locks, padlocks, door locks, handcuffs, electronic locks, traffic locks, mortise door locks, ball door locks, safes and so on.
“Is this where you usually practice picking locks?”
“Yes.”
“Who taught you to pick locks?”
Aisia Alcee clasped her hands to her chest, “My father.”
Luke didn’t press further, “OK, where do I start.”
“The first thing is to familiarize yourself with the structure and principle of various locks, different locks require different unlocking tools, and action steps.
After that, I will introduce you to several commonly used lock opening tools, and some that I made myself, which are more compact and practical.
After you’ve familiarized yourself with and mastered these, I’ll teach you the method of opening locks, and the next step is to practice more.”
“You don’t want to hide anything.”
“I can’t wait for you to learn and leave earlier.”
“Let’s get started then.” Luke used a ‘lock picking card’ to quickly learn lock picking skills within three hours.
Subsequently, the two taught one and learned the other.
Originally, Aisia Alcee thought that Luke’s so-called learning lock picking skills was just an excuse and had a deeper purpose, and was a little more wary of him.
But through more than an hour of teaching, she realized that Luke was seriously learning locksmithing techniques, and when he taught him a technique himself, he would even cite it and ask deeper questions.
It was obvious that he had given it serious thought.
Luke’s ability to learn was very strong, and he quickly familiarized himself with all the locks and locksmithing tools, which made Aisia Arce somewhat surprised and caught off guard.
Although she was good at lock picking, she had never taught anyone before, and was ready to let Luke rest for a while while she thought about what to teach next.
Suddenly, there was a car horn outside.
“Dropping ……”
An old black Ford Mustang sedan pulled up outside of Aisia Alcee’s house.
The driver’s side window of the car was open and it was being driven by a black teenager with a gold ring on his left hand that was resting outside the door and a gang tattoo on his left arm.
“Tick-tock ……”
The car’s siren blared twice more.
A teenage black kid came out of the house and got into the back of the Ford Mustang and the car drove off quickly.
Luke looked out through the garage window and happened to observe the scene, “You going to let let your brother join the gang?”
Aisia Alcee shook her head, “I didn’t even teach him lock picking skills, do you think?”
“Then why let him associate with gang members?”
Aisia Arce sighed, “We live in a black neighborhood and he goes to a black school, he can’t always be alone, he’d be bullied by kids his age or older.
I’ve told him it’s okay to play with these guys, but not to join a gang.”
Luke nodded and didn’t ask too many questions, “Next time let’s teach somewhere else, I don’t like hiding and I don’t want to get you guys in trouble.”
“Thanks for understanding.
But I have no way to offer a new venue.”
“Then let’s go to my house, at least we don’t have to hide.” Luke gave the address of the Ruidu neighborhood to Aisia Arce, who was not worried about the repercussions when his new house was built and he would be moving soon.
For the next period of time, Luke had a very fulfilling time after work, either learning locksmithing skills or going furniture shopping.
In the blink of an eye, it was already July.
Police cars were parked outside a large venue.
Luke also put on a rare police uniform and stepped into the arena with his colleagues from the first squadron.
Today, the LAPD would hold an award ceremony here.
In addition to the award-winning police officers, their families could also observe and share the honor together.
It wasn’t the first time Luke had received an award, but Luke’s family was still very happy and proud, besides his uncle Val, his mom, grandfather and brother were all present.
Luke walked over and chatted with them for a while, discussing the fact that the new home was hosting a family reunion in a few days and inviting them along.
Luke’s new home was almost ready to move in.
Not far away, David, also in full police uniform, waved to Luke, “Man, this way.”
Luke asked, “Are you receiving an award, or a promotion to police rank?”
“Receiving an award, the Collective Citation for Excellence.” David smiled, “You?”
“Both.”
David’s smile froze, “I shouldn’t have asked.”
“Man, you still have a chance to improve, and that’s a joy to see.”
David gave a middle finger, “I hate your fucking superiority complex.”
“I’m not, I’m just saying what I really think.”
David waved his hand and pulled Lukas to a secluded spot, “On a more serious note, why haven’t I seen much of you lately?”
“I’ve been busy buying furniture for my new house, I’ll be moving in a while and invite you to be my guest.”
“I’ve heard you’ve bought a mansion, I’d like to see it.” David moved closer to Luke and said softly, “I got paid, I’m going to pay you back five thousand dollars first, I’ll take it to you in a while.”
“There’s no need to rush, give it to me when you’ve saved up fifty thousand dollars.”
“You just bought a new house, you still have to buy furniture ……”
Luke waved his hand and interrupted him, “Don’t worry, I’m not short of money right now.”
“OK, then save it with me for now.” David looked in the direction of the podium and said, “Did you hear that news?”
“What?”
“Chief Coleman is being transferred.”
“Really? How come I didn’t know that?” Luke was a little surprised, Coleman was the current director of the detective bureau.
“Haha, looks like your boy isn’t omnipotent.”
Luke pondered, “I was just in Reed’s office yesterday and I didn’t hear about it from him either.”
“Don’t be silly, what are you going to make Reed say?” David lowered his voice to a flirtatious tone, “With Coleman gone, the time has come for the Detective Bureau to belong to me.”
Luke raised an eyebrow, “Reed can take over for Coleman?”
David shrugged, “That’s what I’ve heard from others, just keep it in your own mind.”
“Thanks man, I know.” Luke patted David on the shoulder.
After chatting some more, the awards ceremony was about to start and the two returned to their respective squadrons.
The awards ceremony was next and Luke went up to the stage to receive his award as well, receiving a medal for heroism.
After the awards was the investiture ceremony and Luke was promoted from Detective II to Detective III.
The next time he was promoted to rank, Luke would be promoted to Superintendent, a qualitative leap.
If, as David said, he was to be believed, Chief Coleman was to be transferred, and Reed was to become Chief of Detectives, then it would be impossible for him to double as Chief of the Robbery and Murder Division, and surely he would have to choose a replacement.
Of course, this person couldn’t be Luke, firstly, because Luke was too senior, and secondly, because of his low police rank and position.
He was not even a Superintendent of Police now, so how could he become the Director of the Robbery and Murder Division.
If the Director was promoted from within, the most likely person to rise to the top would be the Deputy Director of the Robbery and Murder Division, Magna Mate.
The Robbery-Murder Division had a total of four squadrons, of which Squadrons 1 and 2 were under Reed’s personal responsibility, while Squadrons 3 and 4 were managed by Deputy Director Magna Mette.
Once Reed was promoted to Director, there was a high possibility that Magna Mette would be promoted to Division Director.
At this time, the vacancy of Deputy Director came out, and this Luke could still fight for it.
After all, even though Reed was gone, the Robbery and Murder Division still had to leave some trusted people to watch over it.
There had been rumors that Reed and Magna Mate weren’t on the best of terms, Luke hadn’t sought to confirm that, but could get a vague sense that Magna Mate had little influence in Squadrons One and Two.
There was still some credibility to that.
As for whether or not Reed would not promote Magna Mette because of this, this was a bit more complicated, there must also be a relationship behind Magna Mette’s ability to become the Deputy Director, it was just that Luke had not deliberately inquired about it.
Robbery and Murder Division Squadron 1 and Squadron 2 were Reed’s basic plate, and he was naturally willing to promote one of his own people to become the Deputy Director.
Ability, Luke was certainly not lacking, but Luke’s seniority was relatively shallow.
The other three squadron leaders have deeper seniority than him, and their ranks are all above the rank of Superintendent, Luke is now just a ‘third grade detective’, which makes him a bit of an eye sore.
Granted, rank and position in the LAPD were not equivalent, but the problem was that rank could be slowly simmered down, and generally people were higher in rank than position.
It’s almost never the case that the position is higher than the rank, it’s too eye-catching.
The safest way is, Luke then make a big achievement, will be promoted to the police rank of superintendent level, he has the ability, the police rank is also enough, Reed then promote him, it is also more logical.