The Wolf of Los Angeles

[Chapter 211: Time Bomb]

At night, in a villa on 20th Street, Tim stood in front of a pitch-black window, raising a night vision binocular to observe the villa across the street.

He was an assistant to Douglas, the investment manager for BlackRock's Los Angeles office, but his responsibilities were always shrouded in secrecy. Since going public in New York in 1999, BlackRock had grown rapidly, accumulating numerous resources from its time under the Blackstone Group, but its flexible approach to business competition was also key.

The street lit up with car headlights.

Tim shifted his focus to the street as a red Mercedes G-Class pulled up and drove into the garage across the way. As the garage door descended, he spotted Hawke Osment and a tall, athletic woman taking things from the trunk of the Mercedes.

Tim lowered the binoculars and glanced down at a newspaper on the windowsill.

It was an old copy of the Los Angeles Times.

The headline photo was of the woman in the garage.

Hawke Osment's girlfriend, Erica Ferguson.

Below the photo, a shocking piece of news reported that 21 members of the Mexican Mule Gang had raided Erica's villa in Silver Lake, resulting in one injury and 20 deaths on the spot.

Tim pinched his nose. Hawke was very different from the people he had dealt with in the past; his combat skills were off the charts.

Could one person with a gun resolve the issues at hand?

After pondering, Tim decided to find a contact in Tijuana to get some fireworks for distraction.

The lights on the second floor across the street flickered on, and just as the curtains were pulled back slightly, it seemed like someone was engaging in some intense physical activity.

"Those two bastards!" Tim couldn't help but curse.

The two continued their activities for a long time, seemingly fueled by endless energy.

Worried about being discovered, Tim pulled the curtains shut and lay down to sleep.

...

The next morning, just as dawn broke, Tim got up and hid behind the window, checking on the activity across the street.

When the sun rose, the gate of the yard opened, revealing a man and woman in workout gear jogging down the sidewalk along 20th Street.

During their run, they encountered a short male neighbor and a tall female neighbor. The two groups seemed friendly, chatting for a moment before continuing their morning jog.

Tim took out a notebook and recorded everything.

...

Hawke arrived at the office and had just gone upstairs when Sasha followed him in, entering his office.

She placed an opened package on Hawke's desk and said, "Boss, take a look at these. The news department just received them this morning, and when I opened it, I found the contents to be very sensitive."

Hawke took one of the notebooks and flipped it open.

On the cover page, a line read: Beach Club Directory!

Hawke immediately thought of the Venice Beach Club that had been burned down, all evidence and traces disappearing in the flames.

Flipping through, he recognized a familiar name -- Guerrero.

The former assistant to Broderick, the producer from Ackerman Films who had committed suicide.

As he leafed through, he saw several familiar names.

Barack Bernanke, Broderick, Melissa Ackerman.

And there was also the stunt coordinator Freddy Dunn, whom he had killed near Utah Lake, as well as Melissa's brother, Sean Ackerman.

In addition, there were some names Hawke didn't recognize: Fernando Crane, Andy Carroll, Meriel Kerridge, etc.

Along with Guerrero himself, Hawke guessed these were likely the heads of the beach club.

The next page had names he recognized as well.

Owen Nester, Fowler Nester, former state governor's aide Ben Foster, Los Angeles City Council member Darren Neville, the already dead Robert Redford, and Sterling Van Wagenen, former governor Gray Davis, former California State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, and so on.

These were mostly politicians.

Hawke didn't see the names of the Clinton couple among them.

Then, there were some Hollywood celebrities.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Combs were front and center, along with political activist George Clooney, the infamous James Franco, and Kevin Spacey alongside Harvey Weinstein.

It was a sea of deep blue.

Moreover, Guerrero had recorded a particular incident where Leslie Wexner, the owner of Victoria's Secret, brought models to the beach club.

It was common knowledge that to walk the Victoria's Secret runway, one first had to get the approval from owners and creative directors.

Hawke remembered that some online friends wanted to become Victoria's Secret interviewers.

In a real interview, those who understand will understand.

After going through the names recorded in the notebook, Hawke found something peculiar.

There were members of the Ackerman family, producer Broderick, Ackerman Charity Foundation chairman Barack Bernanke, and even the stunt coordinator Freddy whom he had eliminated.

But surprisingly, the name Robert Downey Jr. was missing!

Could there have been a mistake?

Hawke recalled how Robert had shouted at him to jump off a building on set.

No mistake -- he was certain of that.

Hawke set the notebook aside and asked Sasha, "Has anyone else seen this?"

Sasha replied, "No, I took it straight from the mailbox, opened it myself, and came right to you without anyone else touching it."

"You understand what these things represent," Hawke stressed, "Don't mention this to anyone, not even Caroline. Pretend you never received it; it will only bring you danger."

Sasha thought of the suicides of Broderick and Guerrero and responded, "I don't know anything."

Hawke waved his hand, "You can go back to your work now."

After Sasha left the office, Hawke continued examining the rest.

There weren't many photos -- about twenty or so -- clearly taken covertly.

The girls looked utterly miserable, suffering inhumane torment. Among them, seven or eight captured the faces of the tormentors.

Hell was empty, and the devils were on earth.

Then he found two storage drives.

Hawke took out a standalone laptop that wasn't connected to the internet, plugged in the first drive, and opened it.

The content was similar to the photos -- all about women.

The number of women featured far exceeded the seven initially reported by the LAPD and FBI.

Hawke roughly estimated, due to the gruesomeness of the material, that he could only identify over twenty women just by their faces and body types, the rest could not be identified clearly due to the blood and other reasons.

The next drive contained different content.

Hawke discovered it was about homeless people. Some homeless individuals were seen undergoing health checks and sent on an Ackerman Charity Foundation medical van to a hospital he could not identify, then brought into an operating room.

When they emerged, they were covered with white sheets.

Although the video didn't show where this happened, one could see the logo of the Ackerman Charity Foundation on the hospital.

Watching the video, Hawke recalled things he had heard about online but had never seen in person.

Things like skin banks and organ harvesting.

This made Hawke understand why the Ackerman family was stepping back, willing to see Ackerman Films go bankrupt rather than risk further processing.

If LAPD and FBI truly dug deep, the consequences would be severe.

Of course, neither agency intended to continue the investigation.

These law enforcement institutions existed to maintain order in America, not for fairness and justice.

Hawke called Edward over.

When Edward entered, he asked, "Boss, you looking for me?"

Hawke pointed to the items on his desk: "Take a look, get the basic situation."

Edward scanned through the materials.

Having seen a wide range of things, he was no longer shocked by what could blow up when made public, saying, "There are still so many things to dig up in the last case."

Hawke reminded him, "Gather information on which hospitals the Ackerman Charity Foundation sponsored."

Edward thought of his ex-girlfriend at the shelter: "I'll check with Nicole..."

He quickly realized that might not be wise: "It's best not to inquire too much."

Hawke added, "Check online. Stay away from any investigation; don't inquire too deeply -- be careful of suicide."

Edward nodded.

Hawke grabbed a notepad and told Edward to transcribe the names: "Write with your left hand; it just needs to be legible."

Edward pulled over a chair and sat on the other side of the desk.

As he wrote, he asked, "Boss, where did these come from?"

Hawke replied, "Someone sent them. These are time bombs; if mishandled, they won't land on our enemies but will blow up in our faces instead."

Edward asked, "So what now?"

"Make a few copies and store them separately," Hawke said calmly. He knew this wasn't something that could be resolved overnight. "We can't alert them; gather some public information discreetly."

Edward reminded him, "What about that Harley Wayne from Fox News?"

Hawke waved his hand, "A person as upright as Harley shouldn't be left silently to suffer."

He thought for a moment: "If we genuinely wanted to drive Harley into the investigation, we have to ensure her safety first."

Edward remained silent, swiftly replicating the names.

He later photocopied the photos and copied the videos.

Three copies had been made; Hawke kept one, placed one in a secure box at a bank, and the last one hidden by Edward.

The Ackerman Charity Foundation.

Hawke understood, the next breach would have to come from there.

...

Northeast Los Angeles, Pasadena.

Harley drove a rented car down Wilson Street.

She parked at the curb and looked at the detached house across the way.

Two cars were parked at the front gate, and some movers were going in and out.

A few kids were playing near the door.

This was Guerrero's home, the man who had committed suicide by jumping off the building.

Harley didn't dare investigate openly, so she had to search for materials stealthily.

After a long time, she finally found that the deceased's relatives lived there.

After observing for a considerable while, she didn't notice anything amiss.

However, after her car accident, she became particularly cautious.

Ensuring her safety was the first step to uncovering the truth.

Harley paused for a moment, then drove off, circling around twice before returning to the street.

She parked in a bank parking lot, changed her outerwear, put on a wig and sunglasses, applied some fake tattoos, and clipped a nose ring on before getting out and walking towards the house.

As she approached, a child ran past and almost collided with her.

Harley quickly steadied the kid, complaining as a tough girl would.

A woman then came out, apologizing to Harley.

Harley took the opportunity to ask a few questions, confirming that this family planned to leave California.

She noticed two people emerging from the coffee shop across the street who appeared to be observing her.

Not willing to stay longer or ask too many questions, she made her exit.

*****

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