The Wolf of Los Angeles

[Chapter 218: Little Boys]

In Santa Monica, in a standalone house.

Hawke and Edward walked into the living room, where they saw three Mexicans brought by Campos.

Campos introduced them one by one to Hawke: "This is Raul, this is Guti, and this is Morentes."

Hawke shook hands with each of them and asked, "Have you settled your families in yet?"

Raul, the leader, replied, "It's all taken care of, thank you for everything you've provided. We are very grateful."

Guti added, "Life in Los Angeles is ten times better than before."

Morentes wasn't much for words, but he smiled cheerfully.

Hawke knew how to win people over. He gave Edward a knowing glance, and Edward opened the bag he had brought, handing each of them a card.

"This is an anonymous account, and there's money in it." Noticing that Raul was about to speak, Hawke raised a hand to stop him. "You not only need to ensure your families have a place to live, but also need to send your children to school, set up medical records, and so on. All of that requires money, so take it."

Raul nodded and accepted the card.

From this day on, these three would officially enter their work status.

Hawke instructed Edward to remind them of some precautions.

"First, get concealed carry permits." This could be easily arranged through Erica's connections.

"Secondly, vehicles. I heard from Campos about how the people from Superstar Acting School capture girls -- one car trailing another, it's beneficial for observation."

He planned to split the three into two teams, with two vehicles trailing in a similar manner, one overt and one covert.

Additionally, Hawke had rented a small villa on 20th Street where two of them would stay intermittently. Should his residence come under attack, they would be the first to offer support, creating a double-pronged approach.

Edward took Raul and the others to another room.

...

On this side, Hawke asked Campos, "Have you found anything on Pat Kingsley?"

"Not yet," Campos replied in detail. "We've been following her for over a week and discovered that she has a very routine life. From Monday to Friday, she either works or stays at home, and on weekends, she goes to Catholic Mass."

Hawke frowned slightly. "Kingsley has been in the business for over forty years, is in a high position, and has been in Hollywood for so long. Would she really not be influenced by the external environment?"

Campos understood what Hawke meant by the "external environment": "We conducted extensive background checks, and aside from some old news from two or three decades ago, we found almost nothing. Kingsley is as clean as a whistle."

Hawke said, "Keep looking, keep following -- don't alert anyone."

Campos replied, "Understood."

Hawke recalled the matter he had mentioned before regarding Guerrero's notebook and asked, "What about Carroll and the others?"

"We're still investigating," Campos answered quickly. "Fiona found a girl named Irene at Caltech. According to our side inquiries, someone reported that she used to spend weekends in Santa Monica, but she hasn't been going recently. Fiona is currently gathering information about her."

He paused briefly before adding, "About Carroll and the others, we haven't found anything yet."

Hawke nodded slightly, knowing that this particular matter couldn't be rushed.

They soon parted ways.

...

Raul and the others followed Hawke to a nearby parking lot, where they picked up two cars and fell in behind an armored Mercedes.

In the car, Hawke asked Edward, who was driving, "Did you make all the arrangements?"

Edward nodded. "All taken care of. I think they are way more professional than I am."

Hawke replied, "They've gone through specialized training after all."

At this point, Edward added, "Boss, about the Ackerman charity foundation you asked me to look into -- I found a lot of information. They have a medical research facility in Orange County and another one in Rosario, Baja California."

"Baja California? Mexico?" Hawke was not surprised by this answer. "I remember Rosario is a hub for film studios in Mexico."

Edward speculated, "They had Ackerman Films as a cover to operate more conveniently in the Hollywood studio hub, didn't they?"

Hawke agreed, "That's possible. Gather more related information."

As the group returned to the Twitter building, Hawke noticed someone sitting in front of Frank's RV in the Venice Beach parking lot.

He pulled out his phone and called. When the line connected, he asked, "Are you back?"

Frank replied, "That's right, I'm back from my trip and even brought some gifts for you guys."

Hawke directly invited, "Come to the office to chat."

"Give me ten minutes."

...

Frank hung up, ran into the RV, grabbed a few shopping bags, and left the parking lot, crossing the street into the Twitter building.

He approached the front desk, smiled at the pretty receptionist, and handed over a small gift, saying, "This is for you."

The company's long-time employees were familiar with Frank, knowing he was a friend of the boss and a special consultant for the company. The receptionist quickly thanked him with a smile.

Frank then stopped by the security department, where he gave the security head Austin and deputy Jerry each a small gift too.

The gifts weren't expensive, but they were heartfelt.

Frank lived in the Venice Beach parking lot and often spoke with the security staff at the company, sometimes asking them for little favors.

He then went upstairs to Hawke's office, and upon entering, saw a dark face. He took out a box and handed it over, saying, "This is for you."

Edward took it and said, "You have a bit of conscience, don't you?"

Frank jokingly responded, "Cotton planting tools."

Edward's expression, already dark, quickly changed as he opened the box to find a very beautiful smooth pebble inside.

Afraid he might not get it, Frank added, "Look at the flower on that rock -- doesn't it look like cotton?"

Without turning his head, Edward simply flipped him the bird.

Frank approached the desk and handed another gift box to Hawke.

"Thanks." Hawke opened it to reveal another smooth pebble.

"This was picked up from 1500 miles away," Frank explained. "You all know I'm broke, with barely any cash on me. I can't afford expensive gifts, so just collected a bit of nature's gifts to give to you."

Hawke placed the smooth pebble on his desk, commenting, "It's beautiful."

Edward retorted, "If you really had nothing to bring, you could have just brought your ex-wives over."

Frank snorted, "They'd rip you to shreds."

Hawke then shifted to the main topic: "You've been struggling in Hollywood for decades?"

Frank took pride in this, coming off a bit boastful. "Over forty years -- became a well-known figure for nearly thirty years. You all know how Don Simpson launched Jerry Bruckheimer, right? I may not measure up to him in terms of fame, but in terms of years, Don would have to stand behind me."

"I've heard of him," Hawke replied. "Don Simpson's most famous works, like Flashdance, Top Gun, and Con Air, were all great films. I heard he died of a drug overdose."

Frank sighed, "That's the thing -- spending a long time in Hollywood, you pick up some bad habits. No one is exempt."

Hawke took the chance to ask, "What about Pat Kingsley? I remember she was representing Tom Cruise back then. Didn't she party hard with him when he worked with Don Simpson?"

Frank was initially surprised, "Why are you bringing up that old lady?" But then he figured it out: "Have you had a falling out with Kingsley?"

Hawke waved his hand dismissively. "Not exactly a falling out, but I took on a job that involves her, and someone would like her to stay quiet for a while."

Frank immediately understood: "Tom Cruise, right? I've been following the entertainment news, and since the Oscars, Cruise has been smeared in the media, clearly a professional PR job. He also had a falling out with Kingsley, so the situation is pretty obvious."

Hawke went straight to the point, "It seems like you know Kingsley well. Is there anything noteworthy about her?"

"If you ask others, they probably wouldn't know," he escalated his boasting further. "A person like Kingsley, appearing all upright, but having been in Hollywood for decades, she has her own preferences shaped by the environment, but most people wouldn't know it -- only someone like me, who's climbed to the top, has a clue."

Hawke remained silent, acting as a qualified listener, staring attentively at Frank.

The boastful one didn't disappoint: "I once heard someone say Kingsley goes to church every weekend, and she attends a Catholic church."

Edward's eyes widened upon hearing this, realizing Frank had gone quiet. "That's it? We discovered that too!"

Frank shot a contemptuous smile at Edward, as if they were playing on completely different levels.

Hawke looked puzzled at first, but soon recalled something and asked, "Catholic? Little boys?"

Frank said, "Those are the favorites of the priests, and also the hearts of a certain group of people. After a while apart, it's hard for them to eat or sleep well."

Edward looked a bit surprised, "A 70-year-old lady, she's practically a grandmother."

"You've dealt with Hollywood more than once and experienced quite a bit," Frank countered. "Do you really think age is a problem for the weirdos in Hollywood?"

This made Hawke recall Wagenen and Redford -- weren't the latter's 60s still strikingly similar?

Switching the plates around isn't weird at all.

The main issue is the involvement of the Catholics.

The issue of priests and boys has persisted from the Middle Ages to modern society.

Hawke decided to ask one more question, "Is this reliable?"

Frank replied, "It was definitely reliable back then, but I'm not so sure now. I've been away from the core of Hollywood for a while; these are all pretty old news."

He suggested, "It's easy to verify. Just find someone to check if Kingsley goes to any Catholic church regularly; if she does, she's probably still keeping her old habits."

Hawke mentioned he had heard Campos bring it up: "She still goes to a Catholic church frequently."

Frank said, "Have your people follow her and investigate a bit."

Hawke made a note to contact Campos about this later.

Edward suddenly asked Frank, "Having spent so many years in Hollywood, have you picked up any bad habits? Surely not anything similar, right?"

"Don't put me in the same league as those creeps!" Frank's serious expression returned. "I've picked up a strange affliction -- marriage anxiety, much like Elizabeth Taylor. I see a girl I like and can't wait to marry her, then... it ends badly."

*****

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