The Wolf of Los Angeles

[Chapter 213: Common Goals]

For their evening dinner, Brian chose the Beverly Business Club. It featured soundproof private rooms that made it easy for a small group to talk and chat.

Hawke and Brian arrived first, while Erica and Jennifer were late by about ten minutes due to work commitments. In their rush, they only wore casual clothes.

Hawke raised his glass to Jennifer, saying, "Thanks for your help with the Kobe police incident."

"Not a big deal, it's just what I do," Jennifer replied, glancing at Brian seated beside her. "You helped him quite a bit, so I need to return the favor."

Brian was taken aback and quickly interjected, "Don't say that. We're just friends; I can repay Hawke's favor myself without you worrying about it."

Erica chimed in, clinking glasses with Jennifer. "Brian still owes me a lot; how are you going to pay that back?"

"You're LAPD, and I'm FBI; we're rivals in Los Angeles," Jennifer retorted as she took a sip of her drink. "But since he's your cousin, I'll give you a bit of leeway."

Erica responded, "The LAPD is the largest armed organization in Los Angeles. You should be the one giving way to me."

Hawke interrupted the playful banter. "We're here to have dinner; let's not bring work disputes into our personal life."

Erica, never one to contradict Hawke in public, raised her glass. "To our friendship, cheers."

Hawke nodded in agreement.

Jennifer and Brian followed suit, raising their glasses. The four of them chatted casually while eating, effectively forming a sort of mutual interest group.

Inevitably, the conversation turned to the suicide case.

Jennifer remarked, "There's definitely a massive group behind Ackerman Films, but they don't dare investigate too deeply."

"How do you even investigate that? What happens if we find something?" Brian spoke honestly. "Neither Elephant Party nor the Donkey Party wants the situation to spiral out of control; it doesn't serve either of their interests."

Hawke grabbed a napkin and wiped his hands. "It's not entirely like that. The Elephant Party doesn't have the power to wipe out the other side without repercussions. If they act too harshly, they risk backlash. Everyone at the top has skeletons in their closet; if anything leaks, it'll all go down."

Brian said calmly, "That's right; there aren't many politicians like me who are so open about everything."

Jennifer asked, "Why did you go get an AIDS test?"

"Blame him!" Brian exclaimed, nearly pointing his finger at Hawke. "I got dragged into this."

Hawke replied, "When you eventually end up in the Oval Office and write your memoirs, make sure to include this part. Just give me a percentage of the royalties, and I won't mind."

Erica and Jennifer both laughed at this.

Erica added, "If it means getting a cut of Brian's presidential memoirs, we should work together to push him into that chair."

Jennifer said earnestly, "The media from the Blue camp has been slamming the current president, saying even a pig could sit in the Oval Office. Brian is definitely smarter than that pig."

Brian's expression darkened.

Hawke finally understood: Jennifer came from a good family, was beautiful, and had been in Brian's class at Stanford Law School. It made sense now why she had pursued him to no avail.

Erica quickly continued, "Let's make it official. We four will form a special little group to help Brian get into the Oval Office."

"Alright," Hawke declared, picking up the bottle to pour everyone a drink. "To our common goal!"

Jennifer, realizing she had misspoken, clinked glasses with Brian. "Cheers."

After the meal, Jennifer pulled Brian aside and they left first. Hawke and Erica got into their separate cars, heading back to 20th Street in Santa Monica.

...

The two cars pulled into the garage one after the other. As Hawke closed the garage door, Erica glanced outside and noticed lights shining from an empty house diagonally across the street and asked, "Did new neighbors move in over there?"

"Yeah, they moved in a few days ago. I think his name is Tim. Not too sure what he does," Hawke replied.

They left the garage and entered the living room.

Erica slumped onto the sofa, clearly exhausted. "I ran around all day today."

"You're getting promoted soon; you won't have to do fieldwork anymore, right?" Hawke sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "When can you move up again?"

Erica nestled into Hawke's embrace. "I'm only 23; it's tough to get promoted that quickly."

Hawke playfully suggested, "Do you want to ask Brian to show his cursed power?"

Erica laughed. "If he dares to talk nonsense again, I will give Jennifer some medicine..."

"He's still your cousin," Hawke chuckled. "Even if he also moonlights as the head of the Cursed God Cult."

Erica turned serious. "It doesn't matter now. If Brian gets further ahead, being unmarried will become a liability."

Hawke pulled her up. "Come on, let's go upstairs and take a shower."

...

On Ocean Park Avenue, the Twitter office building.

Edward had a small office suite on the top floor where he kept his personal belongings.

Upon returning that afternoon, he was in the middle of organizing everything.

Valuables he had received from Deborah, like watches and jewelry, were all packed into a bag. Most of these were leftover from Robert Downey Jr., but some of it was new stuff Deborah had purchased.

He would also gift Deborah some clothes and everyday items every time she brought him presents, especially as his income grew.

Once everything was packed, Edward grabbed the keys to the Cadillac and drove to Brentwood. He also called a security team member from the company to take Hawke's donated Audi A8, so he wouldn't be left without a car on the way back.

Love usually came sweet, but the daily grind after passion faded was often difficult, especially for Edward.

...

On the road, he called to confirm Deborah was home and then took a turn into that luxurious estate.

As soon as he parked, Deborah emerged from the house. Upon seeing Edward get out of the car, she loudly questioned, "Have you made your decision? Do you want that never-ending job, or do you want to be with us?"

Even though the younger and fit guy across from her was skilled, he often got too busy to come to Brentwood, leaving Deborah frustrated.

He couldn't provide enough physical value or emotional support.

Edward sighed as he pulled items out of the car. "I'm sorry, I can't betray the boss, and I won't betray the company. Let's leave it at that."

Deborah's expression darkened considerably.

Edward set the bag down in front of Deborah and took out the Cadillac keys. "These are your gifts to me..."

Deborah snapped the keys from him. "You can just leave now."

With that, the couple seemed to turn enemies.

Edward turned to leave and stuffed his hands into his pockets, letting the wind catch his clothes, giving him an air of nonchalance.

He didn't look back.

However, Deborah subconsciously followed him to the yard's entrance.

Edward stepped out, pulled out his regular Nokia phone, and made another call.

Under the streetlight, a shiny new Audi A8 came into view and stopped right in front of him.

The security guard, Jerry, was particularly perceptive; he quickly got out and opened the back door, saying, "Sir, please get in."

Edward didn't even glance back before stepping into the car.

Jerry returned to the driver's seat, turned on the Audi's bright headlights, and spun the car around, heading back the way they had come.

Deborah stood at the entrance, watching this unfold, suddenly realizing Edward was different now.

Inside the car, Jerry continued to comfort his boss, "Women, you know; old ones fade, new ones come. With your current status, dating a Hollywood starlet shouldn't be too hard."

Upon hearing "starlet," Edward's mind flashed to Sarah Jessica Parker and Allison Faith, and he quickly shook his head, replying, "Those Hollywood stars are best left for producers and directors to enjoy."

There was one thing he didn't mention: dating a Hollywood star would cost money.

...

Back at Twitter, Edward lived in his office suite, pulled out a notebook for records, and flipped through a list inside.

He marked Sarah Jessica Parker off since she had miscarried.

As for Joanna Faith, she had a daughter -- Allison Faith -- but the mother and daughter were too wild.

Edward recalled hearing from their agent that after the success of the selfie incident, the two had invited a dozen male models over for a wild night at home.

What normal guy could put up with that?

He crossed them off the list.

He had thought soon-to-be veteran Steve Nutt's wife, Daisy, would also be someone who'd quickly get divorced after giving birth to a black son, but it hadn't happened.

He even went out of his way to get her contact info through Fox Television.

Yet, the Nutt couple hadn't divorced; instead, they built what they called the New American Family model -- one black, two whites.

What else was there?

Edward wondered if he truly needed to go through a long dry spell; let his brother take a lengthy holiday?

Wasn't that just a shame for Compton?

Just then, Edward realized he'd flipped two pages at once in his notebook and hastily tore them apart.

On the newly found page, he spotted a name: Maria Collins!

Miller Collins' ex-wife, and they had already divorced.

Edward remembered they had a daughter, seemingly named Dorothy.

It's really pitiful that Maria found a gay as her husband.

He opened his computer and searched the internet.

Sure enough, Maria had divorced Miller and almost secured all their assets.

Wealth wasn't a big deal for Edward at this point; with Twitter's growth, he was bound to be a millionaire in the near future.

Even becoming a multimillionaire wasn't just a fantasy.

What Edward needed was emotional value; something to benefit him and also to offer emotional value to the boss.

He prided himself on loyalty, despite his average abilities.

While searching online, Edward discovered a post linking Maria to Twitter, and upon clicking, it led to Maria's Twitter account.

She had uploaded several tweets, most of which had pictures, primarily featuring her and her daughter Dorothy.

From the most recent post, it appeared they were vacationing in Canada, enjoying some skiing in the photos.

Edward logged into his Twitter, followed Maria's account, liked a couple of her posts, and even dropped a comment: "The ski resort looks average, but the women are stunning."

*****

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