The Wolf of Los Angeles

[Chapter 310: Life from Heaven to Hell]

In West Hollywood, inside a standalone house, Campos pinned a map of Venice onto a large whiteboard. Garcia took a pen and marked a red dot along the western side of Pacific Avenue.

Hawke examined the map juxtaposed against his mental image of the area, quickly confirming the location, and asked, "Is this where the new club is?"

Garcia affirmed, "We conducted some outer investigations. This is a private yacht club established seven years ago. It's registered with a trading company unrelated to the Ackerman family and its enterprises. However, recent findings suggest it's likely the starting point of their new club."

At that moment, Juan approached the map and drew a line on the water: "The yacht left the dock, likely heading this direction, out to sea until it vanished from sight."

Edward interjected, "They definitely relocated their party venue to some island."

Hawke's gaze fell on the open sea. "There aren't many private islands off Los Angeles, but enough that tracking them will be difficult."

Campos added, "The last time Harley Wayne tracked them to the Venice Beach Club, it triggered a series of events that the Ackerman family learned from."

He bluntly pointed out, "Tracking on the open ocean is challenging. If they have radar on their boat, they can spot our presence from a distance regardless."

Hawke contemplated briefly before declaring, "We shouldn't pursue at sea; it's too dangerous. Safety is more crucial than catching these bastards."

The others didn't protest; they understood the seriousness in Hawke's tone.

He looked around the room, noting the gathered members had all participated in the operations in Rosario, Mexico, and stated, "We still have an ace up our sleeve; she should have some information."

Campos said, "Melissa Ackerman has suffered long-term captivity, restricted diet, and is in poor mental health; she's not in the same condition as months ago."

Hawke nodded, "Good, we'll check in on her later."

He scanned the others and clapped his hands. "Everyone, resume your previous tasks. I'll stress this: better to abandon a target than put ourselves in jeopardy."@@novelbin@@

...

The team acknowledged before leaving, with Campos staying behind as Hawke and Campos headed to the warehouse where Melissa was held captive.

Upon arrival, Campos received a call. He exited the car and reunited with Hawke, saying, "Latest news: Johnny Edwards took a flight from Los Angeles International Airport to San Francisco. Tiger Woods has also left, heading to Georgia for the upcoming Masters Tournament next month."

"Got it," Hawke mulled over the information as they entered the warehouse. "Tell Johnny Edwards' tail to pull back; we shouldn't follow him further. Political figures require caution."

Campos understood. "Understood."

Hawke continued, "Follow Tiger Woods closely. He might be our breakthrough."

Campos began making arrangements.

...

Having donned disguises, Hawke and Edward descended the stairwell into the basement.

Under the glow of the lights, the woman in the cage had unkempt hair, looked filthy, and emitted a foul odor, appearing gaunter than before. While she wasn't skeletal due to her role as a backup blood supply and organ reserve, she was clearly in bad shape. 𝘙𝘈ℕ𝙤𐌱ƐⱾ

Hawke glanced at her before approaching the cage.

Melissa fixed her gaze on them. Unlike previous encounters, these two men did not wear black masks, allowing her to see their distinguishable features under the lights.

This resulted in misunderstandings.

Her months of confinement had pushed her to the brink of mental collapse. Many experiences, when imagined, felt entirely different from living through them.

Seeing the two men reveal their "true faces" made Melissa crawl to the edge of the cage, gripping the cold steel bars, pleading, "Have you finally made a decision?"

Time had dragged on, rendering Hawke's memories fuzzy.

Melissa seemed increasingly distressed. Shaking her greasy hair, she rattled the iron bars while tears streamed down her face, shouting, "Why did it take you so long to come! Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?"

The long captivity had transformed her life from heaven to hell, driving her nearly insane. "Hurry! Get me out of here! I'll split my wealth with you!"

Hawke responded, "Keep it down."

Ignoring him, Melissa continued her incessant shouting.

Campos, entering from behind, held an electric shock baton.

Edward took it and struck it against the cage, creating a crackling sound of electricity, causing Melissa to scream piercingly.

But afterward, she calmed down.

Melissa looked on in terror at Hawke and the others.

Campos whispered, "The last time, you asked her to have a mental breakdown as soon as possible, so I instructed the guard to keep conditioning her. The guard was deaf and mute, didn't understand English and couldn't really hurt her body, so opted for electric therapy instead."

Hawke grasped the situation, realizing that the female guard Campos recruited was a master of electric training.

No wonder Melissa was on the brink of mental collapse.

Edward withdrew the electric baton, and Melissa showed less fear on her face afterward.

Hawke took another step closer and remarked, "It's been a while, Miss Ackerman."

The shock had frightened Melissa, causing her to regain a bit of clarity as she stared at Hawke and Edward for a moment before slowly saying, "You're not Sean's men."

Raising her voice unexpectedly, she demanded, "Who are you really?"

Not interested in addressing her question, Hawke directly asked, "After the Venice Beach Club burned down, where did you decide to hold the party?"

Melissa didn't answer outright but instead retorted, "Are you FBI?"

Hawke exchanged glances with Edward, who displayed a toothy grin and pressed the shock baton back against the cage's bars, flicking the switch.

As Melissa shrieked, her eyes glazed over, and she sat there in a daze.

It looked like there was something wrong with the whole person.

Hawke could only imagine the kind of conditioning game that had been played on her over those months.

Edward retracted his electric baton as soon as it was touched. When Melissa regained her senses, he would extend it again.

This time, Melissa crawled toward the bars instinctively, gripping them tightly, with her face pressed against the bars, crying, "I'll tell you everything! I'll reveal it all!"

She spoke so quickly: "We relocated to Santa Catalina Island. We established a new club in Avalon, the only town on the island. Avalon has a small airport and a shipping dock for guest travel and allows us to easily bypass North America for transporting goods."

Hawke turned to Campos, quietly saying, "The guard did an excellent job and deserves a reward."

Campos also thought so. Without the deaf and mute female guard's persistent training over the past few months, this woman would not have been so well-behaved.

Hawke continued the questioning, "The guards and administration on the island are all yours?"

Melissa broke into a bizarre laugh. "They've all been at our parties; they have no choice but to side with us."

Then Edward feigned seriousness, "They could turn themselves in!"

"Turn themselves in? Ridiculous!" Melissa replied scornfully. "Those seemingly upright guys have personally harmed girls while indulging themselves at the Venice Beach Club; do you even know what they've done?"

She glanced at Hawke, "You men, once you drop the masks and indulge yourselves, are all devils!"

Hawke chose to ignore her comments and continued, "I see you have some recordings to keep leverage on those people."

Melissa laughed boastfully, "Why would we record? That's just insane!"

Hawke pressed, "Where are those recordings? Don't claim you don't have them."

Melissa replied, "I could tell you, but what's the bargain?"

Edward stepped forward, pressing the baton against the cage.

Melissa quickly said, "I don't expect you to release me; could you at least improve my living environment? I want to have my own bathroom and access to showers regularly."

Edward waved the electric baton mockingly. "And you want us to get rid of this too."

Melissa looked at the baton, fear flickering in her eyes along with some complex emotions, "No, you can keep it."

Hawke thought for a moment and said, "I'll find you a new living space."

Melissa responded, "My things are in Las Vegas. I have a safe at Citibank there; the safe only recognizes a key. I hid the key in a secret location at the Ackerman Charity Foundation headquarters, but retrieving it is no easy task. Outsiders find it hard to enter there -- dozens of armed guards patrol 24/7, along with a comprehensive security monitoring system."

She paused briefly, "Perhaps you could speak to Chairman Barack Bernanke; he's my loyal subordinate and suitor..."

Hawke interjected, "I have some unfortunate news, Barack Bernanke has sided with your brother Sean."

"Damn it!" Melissa roared, "I knew it, men cannot be trusted!"

Hawke disregarded her outburst, further probing the detailed location of the key, only to realize the task wouldn't be straightforward.

The key was hidden in a file bag inside the treasury office of the foundation's headquarters.

What Melissa was holding was merely one of several backups, not intended to protect against internal members of the Ackerman family.

Hawke attempted to inquire about the family's secrets, but Melissa clammed up. The kind of information that concerned the family's survival wasn't something she would disclose, not even when Edward threatened her with the baton.

Leaving the warehouse, Hawke dialed Brian, seeking his assistance in finding a suitable property to purchase for housing the blood bag.

*****

/Sayonara816.