Hunter was a veteran detective. He knew how a person would react when their innermost secrets were exposed; he had encountered this situation many times.
When he discovered the things that suspects were desperately trying to hide and then presented them to their faces, their expressions were exactly the same as Nate’s just now.
Fuck!
Son of a bitch!
A smile appeared on Hunter’s face. He patted Nate’s shoulder and then put his arm around him. “But I didn’t believe what this person said. You know, he’s a criminal, and we’ve worked together for over a decade.”
“Do you think I’d be stupid enough to believe someone I’ve only known for two days, and a criminal at that, over our friendship of more than ten years?”
Feeling Nate seem to let out a heavy sigh of relief, the anger and ruthlessness deep in Hunter’s eyes grew even more intense.
He just couldn’t figure it out. How could Lance win over so many people? Was it just because he had money?
At the same time, he also became wary of Nate. This person had hidden himself too deeply. He had almost been fooled by him. If it weren’t for the person in the room who had turned to their side, he might have actually let Nate go get that evidence.
Perhaps then, this important piece of evidence that could incriminate Lance would have been destroyed by Nate.
At this moment, Nate’s heart was pounding, and his face was flushed. This was a sign of increased blood pressure when frightened. Although his adrenaline had not yet secreted excessively, his blood pressure had already risen in advance to cope with the physical instincts that were about to erupt at any moment.
But instincts never know that this is no longer the era of the primeval forest. The burst of individual strength has long been meaningless under the iron fist of modern civilization.
Struggling would only make one die a more painful death.
“Don’t listen to him. I’ve worked for the police force for decades. I’ve never thought of doing that. This is slander and humiliation to me!”
He appeared very angry. The angrier he got, the more Hunter wanted to strangle him.
But now was not the time. After dealing with Lance, he would purge the entire police department.
No matter whose nail was hammered in, it had to be pulled out!
“I believe you!” he affirmed his position. “Get me two cups of coffee. I need to have a good talk with him.”
He gave Nate a way out, and Nate immediately took it. “Okay, I’ll go get it right now.”
After watching Nate leave, he returned to the room.
The young man’s cigarette was finished. He looked back at Hunter, a mocking smile on his face. “Are you sure now?”
He said it as a question, but his tone was affirmative, as if he had already confirmed that Hunter had verified his statement, that he had not lied, at least not about this matter.
Hunter wanted to curse a few times, but he held back. He sat in Nate’s chair, looking at the young man, wanting to dig out some more information from him.
“Besides Nate, who else are Lance’s men?”
The young man sneered. “I don’t know.”
He really didn’t know. If Nate hadn’t jumped out on his own, he wouldn’t have known that Nate was also one of Lance’s men.
Hunter, however, thought that he wasn’t ignorant. He probably just wanted to use this as a bargaining chip to exchange for conditions with him. At the same time, he also thought that perhaps they would continue to exchange conditions after he had gotten that notebook.
After all, once the first stage of “sincerity” was in place, they would start the second stage of negotiations.
Just as Hunter was about to leave, he subconsciously glanced at the two photo frames on Nate’s desk.
The first frame was a photo of Nate’s family of four, a very harmonious and warm family. He had met Nate’s family and children.
The second frame…
He picked up the frame and looked at it carefully. It was inscribed with the words “Golden Port Police Academy 995 Graduation Photo.” He quickly found Nate, and then, next to Nate, he saw a familiar face—Bruce.
“Shit!”
“This son of a bitch!”
They were actually classmates from the same graduating class, and they even had their arms around each other’s shoulders. Fuck!
He put the frame back, his chest heaving with anger. He had actually been played by this person, by Lance. He was furious!
He now knew why Nate was one of Lance’s men—because of Bruce.
Bruce was a staunch supporter of Lance. That made sense.
There were also some other familiar faces in this photo. What about these people?
Could they be Lance’s men?
Did Bruce play some dishonorable role in this?
He remembered that Duke, the precinct chief, was also introduced to Lance by Bruce. So would he have introduced others to Lance as well?
He remembered a police gala he had mentioned before, saying that Lance had sponsored it. Many police officers had agreed, but he and Charlie had not nodded, so the matter had not been carried out.
From that time on, had Lance’s power already begun to invade the police force on all fronts?
The more he thought, the more suffocated he felt, as if everyone around him could be one of Lance’s men and he didn’t even know.
The people in this photo had almost all become the middle management of the police force. Their influence and destructive power were too great!
A knock on the door pulled Hunter’s attention back from his scattered thoughts. “Come in.”
Nate came in with two cups of coffee. “Is there anything else you need me for?”
Hunter was in a terrible mood now. He didn’t want to see this bastard, and he didn’t even want to touch the coffee he brought. Who knew if there was anything else in it?
“We’ve finished talking. Keep him under control. Don’t let anyone else continue to interrogate him.”
He walked around the desk to Nate. “Remember, before I agree, no one is allowed to interrogate him!”
Nate also vaguely sensed that Hunter saying he “didn’t believe Nate was Lance’s mole” was all fucking lies. He not only believed it, but he believed it very much!
But Hunter was the chief. He had no way to deal with it. At the same time, it also gave rise to another thought in him.
Hunter could not be left alive.
Nate nodded and stepped aside a little. “You’re the one who calls the shots, Boss.”
Hunter nodded and then glanced at the young man again before pushing the door and leaving.
He would tell others to come and watch the young man together. He didn’t trust Nate.
Nate also knew he was seriously suspected. He looked at the young man with some annoyance. “What the fuck did you say to him?”
The young man laughed coolly. “Don’t worry about what I said. Just see if it works!”
Nate didn’t speak anymore. It was so fucking useful, it just… had a bit too much kick!
After Hunter returned to his office, he made a call to Charlie. He had to leave the police station for a while. No one else could reach him. If anything happened, Charlie would have to handle it.
He had to communicate with Charlie first.
Soon the call was answered. Charlie was almost asleep.
“Is there something urgent so late?” he asked, somewhat tired.
Hunter stated his purpose. “I have to go out for a trip. It might take a few hours. If anything goes wrong, I’ll have them call you. You handle it.”
“Go out?” The rising tone was filled with disbelief and a hint of anger. “There might be a group of people out there watching you. As soon as you go out, they’ll kill you. And now you’re saying you’re going out?”
Hunter thought for a moment. He actually had another choice now, to have Charlie go and get the thing for him.
But for some reason, some bad images suddenly flashed through his mind.
For example, he was already the chief, but when Charlie came to the police station, he would sit in his chair, mess up his desk, and make him stand while talking.
He thought of how he had followed Charlie like a dog for all these years, working for him, working for the gentlemen of the Bay Area. His status was far inferior to Charlie’s.
No one is willing to be a dog from birth. He wasn’t willing either, but he was forced by life.
At the same time, he was also a little worried, because on some issues before, Charlie was more inclined to “peace talks” with Lance, rather than dealing with him directly.
If he let Charlie get that notebook, with his greedy and cunning personality, would he kill Lance with one blow?
Or would he use this notebook to control Lance and make Lance work for him too?
Hunter didn’t know. Charlie was a person he couldn’t understand. To say that Charlie was the police chief, he was actually more like a seasoned and cunning politician!
Now that there was such an opportunity that might allow him to make some changes, he hesitated for a moment. “A key piece of evidence was hidden by someone. Getting it will give us a great chance to bring Lance to justice.”
“I don’t trust anyone else to go. I’ve already found one of Lance’s men in the police station. I have suspicions about others, but I’m not sure. I don’t dare to trust anyone right now.”
“So I plan to go get it myself.”
After hearing this, Charlie frowned. He got out of bed and walked to the window to look at the sky outside. “It’s too late. It’s too unsafe outside.”
“Wait until it’s a little lighter, then you can go. Nothing will happen in one night.”
Charlie didn’t ask what the thing was or where it was. Since Hunter was unwilling to say, he was too lazy to ask.
“And, my personal suggestion is to find a few people you think you can trust to do this for you.”
“Right now, not just you, but even I am in great danger. It’s best that we don’t leave a safe environment. This is my advice to you.”
As for whether he would listen, that was unknown. Charlie had done what he could.
After considering for a moment, Hunter decided to take Charlie’s advice. “Alright then, I’ll go get it tomorrow morning.”
“If there are no surprises, this case will be settled tomorrow.”
After hanging up the phone, Hunter sat in his chair, propped his head in his hands, ran his fingers through his hair several times, and then leaned back heavily in his chair, letting out a big breath.
He lit a cigarette and took a sip of the cold half-cup of coffee. The rich aroma after the bitterness, accompanied by the scent of tobacco, had a unique flavor.
At the same time, several young men had already appeared outside a detached house in the state capital. They were all wearing police uniforms, so the community service company did not stop them from coming in.
If there was someone from Golden Port who was familiar with the gangs of Golden Port here, they would definitely have recognized that the person standing outside the door of this house was Ennio.
He had a relatively handsome appearance, brown-black hair, and the police uniform made him look even more charismatic.
He knocked on the door. The lights in the house immediately came on, and then footsteps came from inside. “Who’s there?”
It was a man’s voice, but there were clearly other people in the house. The lights on the second floor also came on, and the faint sound of a woman’s voice could be heard. “What happened?”
Then Ennio felt someone standing behind the door. Then the screen on the small window on the door was lifted, revealing the face of a vigilant man.
“Who are you?”
After he saw clearly that the people outside were wearing police uniforms, his serious expression relaxed a little.
Ennio took out his Golden Port police badge and showed it, but it was likely that the other party couldn’t see it clearly. “Golden Port police. Chief Hunter sent us over.”
He also showed a document. “He said that the Lance Family is in its final struggle. The situation is very dangerous now, and he’s worried that something might happen here, so he arranged for us to come over and strengthen the defense.”
After hearing this explanation, the person inside breathed a sigh of relief, and the expression on his face also became softer. “Let me see the people behind you.”
Then the other people in police uniforms appeared one by one outside the door. Looking at the righteous appearance of these people, although the person inside had not completely let down his guard, he was not so wary anymore.
He opened the door, but not completely. He stood by the door, blocking the entrance. “I didn’t get a good look at your badge just now. Can I take a closer look?”
There is usually a lot of information on a police badge, such as the number, the owner of the badge. These things have anti-counterfeiting marks, and ordinary people don’t really know how to tell if they are fake.
But people inside the police force know how to tell if a badge is fake, or if the badge and the holder match.
“No problem,” Ennio took out his badge and was about to hand it over when he accidentally lost his grip and it fell to the ground. “Oh, sorry…”
The other party was a good person. He said “it’s okay” while bending down to pick up the badge on the ground.
And at the very moment he bent down and picked up the badge, Ennio, who had drawn his dagger from its sheath, fiercely stabbed the dagger in his hand into his throat.
He forcefully held the other’s head, and with a twist of his wrist holding the dagger, the struggle in his arms completely disappeared in about twenty or thirty seconds.
Ennio slowly lowered the person, then opened the door lock, and the group went straight into the room.
At this moment, Hunter’s wife was upstairs with her son. The little boy had not been resting well these past few days. The unfamiliar environment made him very uncomfortable, and he often couldn’t fall asleep until late at night.
Hunter’s wife was with him, gently stroking his back. The little boy’s drowsy eyes were in a state of being able to open but not being able to keep them open, and he could fall asleep at any time.
Just then, the sound of “creak” came from the stairs. This house was not a new house, but an old house.
It’s unknown who Hunter borrowed it from, or maybe it was Charlie’s house. A step on the stairs, the wooden board underneath was probably damp or for some other reason, loose.
Stepping on it would make some sounds of the wooden board twisting.
Hunter’s wife looked up at the door in surprise. She called out the name of the man at the door.
That guy was also one of Hunter’s trusted subordinates, but he didn’t answer, because he couldn’t.
This made Hunter’s wife feel uneasy. She went to the bedside table, opened the drawer, and took out a handgun, holding it uneasily in her hand.
About ten seconds later, clearer footsteps came to the outside of the room. “Ma’am, are you there?”
Hunter’s wife did not answer. The person outside seemed to have run out of patience and directly turned the doorknob. The door slowly opened.
Ennio, whose waist and abdomen were stained black with blood¹, walked in from outside the door. He glanced at the woman pointing a gun at him, and at the little boy lying on the bed, revealing his not-so-white teeth.
“You can only kill one of us, but you and your son will both die. Do you want to try?”
The weapon in the woman’s hand ultimately had no chance to be fired, nor did it bring her any sense of security.
When she, holding the little boy, stepped over the body of Hunter’s trusted subordinate in shock, her whole body was numb.
This was Lance’s backup plan. If they couldn’t lure Hunter out, then his wife and child might be able to get him out of the police station.
If Hunter was a true tyrant, if he felt that the death of his wife and child was insignificant compared to himself, then it didn’t matter. Lance would arrange for people to assassinate him in the police station.
Those who were terminally ill were already eager to show their loyalty to Mr. Lance!
In the living room, Ennio, while dealing with the blood on his body, held the receiver with his shoulder. “Boss, we’ve found the people. We can get back to the city by tomorrow night at the latest.”
“…Okay, I understand. I’ll hang up now.”
He casually threw the blood-stained handkerchief on the floor. Anyway, it couldn’t be wiped clean.
The door was slowly closed, leaving only the man’s body in the entire room.
If there were no surprises, it would be a long time before people found him. Only after he started to stink would someone come to check.
But it might take a while for the temperature to be right for him to start stinking quickly. During this time, he might dehydrate and eventually become a mummy.
If that were the case, only the owner of this house would be likely to find this unlucky bastard when they came over.
The two police cars at the door quickly left this place. The cars were real police cars, the uniforms were real uniforms, and even the badges were real police badges, they just weren’t theirs.
The next morning, Hunter woke up at a little after seven. He couldn’t sleep. Under such great pressure, anyone who could sleep had something wrong with their brain. Anyway, he couldn’t really sleep.
He rubbed his cheeks. Without even grooming himself, he took his backup weapon and magazine and ordered a few of his trusted subordinates to go out with him on a matter.
No one knew where they were going or what they were going to do, but everyone knew that Hunter had left the police station.
Nate also knew. He only hesitated for a second. The disgust and hatred in Hunter’s eyes when he looked at him flashed through his mind, and that little bit of guilt and apology vanished into thin air.
He dialed the number Lance had left—
“The fish has taken the bait!”
==
¹: A blue-toned color will appear black when stained with blood.