The Wolf of Los Angeles.

Chapter 136: Special Move: Add Money

Parker Center, downtown Los Angeles.

The LAPD's awarding ceremony was held in the square in front of the headquarters building.

Hawke, dressed in formal attire, sat in the makeshift viewing area.

Susie came over and sat next to him.

Hawke greeted them and asked, "Have all the Mule Gang been eradicated?"

"No, in recent operations, a lot of old mules have been captured," Susie said simply, "and some of the people who led the mules have either retreated back to Mexico or hidden deeper into the country."

Hawke knew without a doubt that it was impossible to completely eradicate it.

Erica said to him a few days ago that without the threat of criminals, the LAPD would have no reason to exist.

Today, the LAPD clamors for increased funding every year to further expand its staff and purchase new vehicles and weapons and equipment. If Los Angeles is peaceful and harmonious, there will be no fundraising and the city will not be able to pass parliamentary review.

Brian Ferguson came here with a middle-aged woman.

The woman had long light brown hair, a face vaguely similar to Erica, and was wearing a women's suit.

Brian winked at Hawke.

Hawke guessed that this should be Erica's mother.

Susie stood up and greeted, "Mrs. Ferguson."

"Hello, Susie, long time no see." Mary Ferguson smiled warmly and shook hands with Susie.

Brian whispered beside Mary, who looked up and her eyes fell on Hawke.

"Hawk, let me introduce someone to you." Brian waved, waited for Hawke to come over, and said, "This is Mary, my aunt. Mary, this is Hawke Osment, the founder of West Coast Studios."

Mary still smiled warmly, took the initiative to extend her hand and shook Hawke's hand: "I heard Erica talk about you."

"Hello, ma'am." Hawke replied politely, "My pleasure."

Mary looked at Hawke curiously: "In the past six months, you have stirred up public opinion in Los Angeles."

Hawke replied: "My job requires me to face various difficulties, and some of them require guiding public opinion to complete."

Mary nodded slightly: "I have seen several cases you have operated. You have done a great job in image management."

"Thank you," Hawke said.

It was their first meeting, and after a brief exchange of touch, they both took their seats.

Mary Ferguson was invited to sit in the front row.

Brian stayed with Hawke and said, "Man, you owe me a big favor."

Hawke guessed what the bastard wanted to say, so he kept silent for the time being.

"Do you know how many good things I said about you in front of Mary?" Brian said shamelessly: "Do you know who brought the relevant newspapers about what you did to Mary?"

Hawke was even more shameless: "Isn't it Erica?"

Brian said, "I did it too!" He didn't care: "You have to repay this favor."

Hawke spread his hands: "Tell me, what do you want to do? If you want to practice shooting, I can teach you for free..."

"Practice shooting? Not interested." Brian said briefly, "I've just taken over a case, and the situation is a little complicated. Let's find a time to talk about it in detail. You have a lot of messy methods, so help me take a look."

Hawke stopped joking and said seriously: "You are a hundred times better than me in law and litigation."

Brian said: "It's not just a legal issue."

"Sure." Hawke had also asked Brian for help. This kind of thing is a give-and-take thing: "Call me whenever you need me."

The awarding ceremony began and the two stopped talking.

Every year, LAPD honors a group of police officers, and many of them were awarded today.

Erica, wearing a police uniform, was the last one to go on stage to be awarded medals.

She received the Medal of Heroism.

A 23-year-old sheriff and recipient of the Medal of Heroism.

The awarding ceremony ended successfully, and those who received the medals came down to celebrate with their relatives.

Erica first found her mother, and then called Hawke, intending to introduce the two to each other.

Brian came over: "I introduced it."

Erica glanced at her cousin with murderous eyes.

Brian thought, why would I come here and get into this kind of trouble?

The two sides chatted for a few minutes. Mary Ferguson had something else to do, so she looked at her watch and prepared to leave.

Before leaving, she shook hands with Hawke and said, "Come visit my home when you have time."

Hawke politely responded, "Yes."

After seeing them off, Erica took Hawke's arm and said, "My mother has a good impression of you."

Hawke pulled her: "I was very nervous, and my heart was beating wildly."

Erica also pulled, and put her ear to Hawke's chest: "No, the heartbeat is normal."

Hawke was defeated and said, "Why don't you introduce your colleagues?"

"Let's go." Erica pulled Hawke into the LAPD gathering area.

This morning, Hawke got to know many powerful middle-level figures in the Detective Bureau and the Western Branch.

These people are often the front-line commanders.

At noon, after attending the LAPD reception, Hawke drove back to Fountain Street alone.

Edward was in the studio and said, "Boss, Hua Hudie called and said that the information of the Mexican nanny has been collected and he has also made contact."

This nanny is Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's nanny, a married woman named Lucia.

"Notify him to go to the safe house." Hawke went to change his clothes.

Afterwards, the two went out, changed cars halfway, and headed for the safe house.

Edward drove the car, making sure there was no tail, and said to Hawke, "That Sarah Parker is very famous now, and she is the national representative of anti-domestic violence. Does the Golden Globe Award need to find another way?"

Bro's shooting attempt failed, but Sarah became even more famous.

Hawke said: "Jennifer Aniston is the number one sweetheart in North America and has not won any major acting awards in many years. This time she plans to go all out for the awards. It's hard to say how the judges will choose."

Edward said, "There's also an $80 prize money."

Hawke signed a contract and would do the work for the money.

The two men arrived at the safe house, where Campos was already waiting.

Hawke pulled open a chair and sat down: "Tell me the details."

"Lucia's family consists of three people. Her daughter is in primary school. Her husband has no formal job and does odd jobs everywhere. His income is very unstable." Campos, who is Mexican, has dealt with them directly. "They are currently renting an old apartment on Olvera Street, where Mexicans gather. The lease expires at the end of the year."

Edward automatically replied: "It's a pity that we are not divorced, otherwise I can easily deal with her."

Campos' words were stuck in his mouth, and he couldn't understand the situation.

Hawke signaled to Campos: "Ignore him, just continue."

Campos said: "The best way is to spend money. They need money. I asked a well-informed local Mexican to try it out. Before coming to Los Angeles, Lucia worked on Tijuana's customs street to make money."

Hawke asked, "How much does it cost?"

"No less than $10, maybe more," Campos said. "After this, they're going to leave Los Angeles and go to another state."

Hawke had already asked Sarah Parker for $20 in funding, and immediately said, "You are responsible for taking care of Lucia."

He waved his hand, and Edward placed a recently modified bag on the table.

The bag was not a brand name and was a bit old, and it looked the same as the bag Lucia was carrying in multiple photos provided by Campos.

Hawke said, "You've dealt with Lucia before, and followed her for a while. Is this similar enough to the bag she used for her daily work?"

Campos took a closer look and said, "No problem."

Hawke continued, "Get her, teach her how to use it, get the video and then pay the balance, make a few copies of the video, save them separately, and then wait for my call."

Campos took the bag and studied the built-in camera.

Edward came over to teach him.

It's all fool-proof operation, not difficult at all.

Ten minutes later, Campos packed the package into the backpack he brought and left.

Hawke and Edward followed suit.

After returning to the car, Edward asked curiously, "Boss, those Hollywood stars like to mess around. Pitt has always had a bad reputation in this regard. Can a video like this mess up his relationship with Aniston?"

"God may not even know how many times these couples or lovers in Hollywood have cheated on each other in private." Hawke explained simply: "But when it is exposed by the media and confirmed, the situation is different. Many stars still have to save face. If the media does not expose it, they can pretend it does not exist. But if others know about it, they often have only one choice..."

Edward thought for a moment and said, "Is it the kind of personality and image you told me about?"

Hawke nodded slightly: "Almost. These are extremely important to celebrities."

He looked at the road outside and said, "Let's go to Sherman Oaks and ask Sarah for money." By mid-December, Bro Derek had been sentenced to six and a half years in prison for multiple crimes.

Although the divorce lawsuit has not been fully completed, it is not a problem for Sarah Parker to take away most of the property.

She also moved back into her mansion in Sherman Oaks.

Arriving at Sarah's mansion, as soon as Hawke entered the living room, he saw Sarah with a slightly bulging belly. Under the guidance of Sophia, who had been a mother, she was practicing how to highlight the posture and temperament of a pregnant woman.

When Sarah saw Hawke coming in, she paused her practice, took off the mat from her waist, and came over to greet him with a smile: "You finally came to see me."

Hawke smiled but said nothing.

Sophia was very tactful. She packed her bag and said, "I'm leaving first."

Hawke nodded to her, and when everyone left, he said to Sarah, "The other side has started."

Sarah said, "Can you handle it?"

Hawke said directly: "It may cost more than $10."

"As long as we get rid of the strongest competitor, these won't matter." Sarah was about to get a large sum of money, and she looked quite generous: "Tell the person in charge, $20."

Hawke nodded slightly: "The chances will be greater."

Stephen Parker came in from outside, patted Edward on the shoulder, sat on the sofa, and said to Hawke: "There is something I want to consult you about."

Hawke asked, "What's going on?"

"When Bro was in hospital, I let him taste black milk." Stephen did not avoid Sarah and said, "Now that he is in prison, I am ready to go further."

These were what Hawke was planning to do but hadn't had time to do yet. He said, "Let's arrange the milk and soap picking package together."

Stephen was still not satisfied: "It's too cheap for him."

Sarah continued, "Bro is a pervert. He will adapt to these things very quickly and may even enjoy them. In the end, we will be rewarding him..."

Hawke thought about all the bad things Bro had done, and wondered if this was the case.

Sarah certainly knew him best in that regard.

Stephen frowned: "It's not realistic to get a horse into the prison."

Hawke suddenly remembered what Edward said some time ago, and immediately said, "Savior, do you have the women's happiness water with you?"

Since getting the happy water, Edward has really stood up to Deborah. Now he always carries it with him. He quickly took out a bottle and said, "Boss, I just bought it and haven't opened it yet."

Hawke pointed, "To Stephen."

Stephen took it and opened the box. Inside was a small glass bottle of green liquid.

Maybe he had played around a lot when he was young, so he immediately understood its purpose: "Specially for picking up soap?"

Hawke gave him a thumbs up and asked Sarah, "Do you have any pepper spray, the kind with high concentration of pepper spray?"

"Yes!" Sarah ran to the cloakroom and took a bottle from her bag.

Stephen asked for it and praised Hawke: "You are not exaggerating. You are the best at solving various difficult and complicated problems."

Hawke didn't know what to say for a moment.

But I feel refreshed in my heart.

If you are a jerk who wants to chew your own kidneys, it will be great to enjoy the combo of Fengyoujing and chili water.

After finishing the business, Hawke said goodbye and left.

As soon as he and Edward left, Stephen took some Fengyoujing and chili water and prepared to go out for shopping, and asked his old friend to find someone to take the order.

But Sarah called Stephen: "Wait a minute."

During this time, the relationship between father and daughter has warmed up. Stephen is very pleased and asked with a smile: "I'm going out shopping. Do you want to bring anything?"

Sarah stretched out her finger and pointed at the green glass bottle: "Leave this to me."

Stephen frowned, but after thinking carefully, it was not a big deal. He stuffed the medicated oil into Sarah's hand, turned around, took the box and went out.

"Women's happy water?" Sarah looked at the wind oil curiously and poured a little on her fingers.

That strange feeling seemed to open a floodgate, allowing her to immediately think of the correct use of this thing.

Sarah took the medicated oil and went to the bathroom.

Then, make sure that this is indeed happy water.

On the other side, Edward drove his Audi eastward along Ventura Boulevard.

Before leaving Sherman Oaks, Hawke noticed several girls around twelve or thirteen years old, carrying backpacks and hailing cars on the side of the road.

One of the girls even gave Audi a thumbs up.

Edward glanced at Hawke.

"Don't worry about them," Hawke said.

The Audi drove past the kids.

But a station wagon behind stopped and the driver let the child get in.

Hawke looked back and saw that the person driving was Stephen Parker.

He asked Edward to slow down.

Stephen quickly caught up from behind, and when he overtook, he lowered the passenger window and waved over here.

Edward waved back.

Hawke noticed that the girl in the passenger seat of the station wagon was making faces at him.

Edward didn't tolerate these little brats and immediately raised his middle finger.

Stephen raised the passenger window.

Edward said, "The kids in the rich neighborhood are similar to those in Compton, except that they have better clothes."

Hawke shook his head: "The social resources they enjoy and the elite education they receive are not available to ordinary people."

"That's right." Edward said, "Many of my childhood playmates joined gangs in middle school or even elementary school, becoming the lowest-level mules, running around the school to distribute goods."

He was indignant: "I will definitely beat up Indio Donny, the rich second generation, when I get back!"

…………

On an ordinary weekend in December, after helping Jennifer Aniston put up the Christmas tree, Lucia Sodi drove her car away from her Beverly Hills mansion and returned to the old town.

On Olvera Street, even though it’s close to Christmas, the atmosphere isn’t very strong.

Lucia parked the car in the old parking lot at the front of the street, got out and took a paper bag from the back seat.

The door of a nearby car opened, and a man got out and waved in her direction: "Hi, Lucia."

"It's you." Lucia was in trouble not long ago and this man helped her.

Campos came over and said, "Do you have time? Let's chat for a while."

Lucia pointed to the entrance of the parking lot: "There's a small shop over there. I'll buy you a drink."

"Thank you." Campos followed her to the coffee shop.

It's mid-afternoon and there aren't many people here.

The two chatted casually for a while, and when they talked about work, Campos suddenly asked: "I heard that you are a nanny for Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston?"

Not many people knew about this, but there were some. Lucia admitted: "Yes, it's been a few months."

Campos went deeper and deeper: "I have met several nannies before Pete, and they all said that they were harassed by Pete during work."

Lucia, however, became alert: "What do you want to do?"

Campos asked, "Did Pete ever give you any money for harassing you?"

This question touched the most crucial point. Lucia was stunned for a moment, then said, "No, never."

Campos found a breakthrough: "He asked you to provide additional services, but he refused to pay you. Lucia, what do you think?"

Lucia said, "But he's a big star."

"Yes, he's a star," Campos asked. "What practical benefits have you gained? How has it improved the situation for you and your family?"

Lucia was not a very smart woman: "No, nothing has changed. Apart from eating those inedible things, I have not gained any benefits at all!"

"You were ripped off by a Hollywood star who has tens of millions and won't pay you a dollar for your services," Campos said.

Lucia fell silent.

Combining Lucia's experience working in the red-light district, Campos said the most annoying fact about that place: "You're being taken advantage of!"

Lucia thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case.

Because Pete enjoyed her services, not to mention paying her, he never even gave her a gift.

Instead, it was the hostess Aniston who would give her some small gifts from time to time.

"I'll help you get your money back," Campos said.

Lucia's emotions were successfully aroused, and in the end, the ultimate move was still the most effective one - adding money!
(End of this chapter)