The Wolf of Los Angeles

Chapter 349 - 349: Caught Another Blood Bag

[Chapter 349: Caught Another Blood Bag]

Beverly Hills, Ackerman Estate.

Buddy Ackerman sat in the high-backed chair of his study like the Godfather from the movies, watching Fox News on the television.

The butler put down the phone and said, "The Avalon Club line is down, and Barack's number isn't working either."

Buddy remained expressionless. "It's Fox again."

The last report on the Venice Beach Club had also come from Fox.

The butler understood the gravity of the situation and stated, "Sir, you need to be prepared for how to respond next."

"There is a dark force targeting us." The first person Buddy thought of was George Walker, who was in Los Angeles and had something the Ackerman family needed.

Fox had already favored George's side.

Buddy remained calm and asked his heir, "Where is Sean?"

The butler replied, "He's in Malibu."

"Have him come back immediately." Buddy took out his phone and dialed a number. "You need to go to the Avalon Club and see what's going on over there."

The butler called the Malibu beach house, where Sean was in the midst of a wild party, refusing to come back.

Buddy coldly said, "You tell him that if he doesn't come back now, he can forget about ever coming back."

The butler made another call and quickly returned, saying, "He's on his way back."

Just then, the phone rang. Buddy pressed the answer button and heard just two sentences; his expression changed instantly. He hung up and said, "The FBI has raided the Avalon Club, and the club is under lockdown..."

The butler's hand trembled slightly, and he quickly steadied himself. "This is a coordinated attack. The news report was released at the same time as the raid by the FBI; it is clearly aimed at us."

Buddy stood up. "George Walker got to Los Angeles first. After Kerry and Edwards arrived, these things happened. What a devious strategy."

The butler reminded him, "When Edwards came last time, Sean secretly recorded a video, which is hidden in the club's safe."

This made Buddy sit back down in shock. If that material fell into George's hands, the consequences would be dire.

What was in there went beyond just Edwards.

Buddy had built his career on this knowledge and understood how terrible the backlash could be once it turned against him. He slapped the armrest of the chair and said, "Have someone contact air traffic control, prepare the plane for when Sean gets back."

Though he often looked down on Sean, he still had paternal love for his son.

Another call came in, and Buddy glanced at the caller ID. It was Willie Brown.

He didn't answer it, shutting off his phone, removing the battery, and cutting the SIM card.

Fox had exposed videos of Willie Brown, Nunez, and Miles, and had also obtained concrete evidence from the Ackerman Charity Foundation. Now that the Avalon Club had been compromised by the FBI, Buddy no longer held even the slightest sense of hope.

Engaging in these illicit activities was bound to lead to retaliation, and Buddy had long prepared an escape plan, funneling money into anonymous offshore accounts since the 1990s, which held hundreds of millions of dollars to facilitate a quick getaway.

At Los Angeles Van Nuys Airport, a private jet stood by, ready to take off.

Buddy was just waiting for his son Sean to return.

---

As night deepened, the beach house area in Malibu was bright and bustling with activity.

Sean squeezed through a crowd of men and women, raised a champagne bottle to his lips, and chugged a large gulp, shouting to his driver, "Back to Beverly!"

Two women came up from behind, hugging him on each arm, "Honey, you promised we'd party until dawn."

Thinking of the stern warning from the phone call, Sean shook off the two women and said, "We'll have to postpone."

He exited the villa, climbed into the Rolls Royce his driver had brought, and headed back to Beverly.

As the car turned onto the Pacific Coast Highway, Sean made a call to his assistant Fernando, but the phone wouldn't connect.

"This bastard is messing around again." He tossed the phone aside and leaned back, starting to doze off.

...

The coastal highway was not too busy late at night, but two cars followed closely behind. One was a Mustang that sped past like a flash, while a Chevrolet stayed a distance behind the Rolls Royce.

In the passenger seat of the Mustang, Campos picked up the radio and said, "Sector A2 is currently clear with no monitoring; move in."

To catch people tonight, the Butterfly Gang had developed a comprehensive plan, segmenting the highway and stationing multiple trucks at various intersections.

...

A green truck pulled out from a junction and drove north along the Pacific Highway.

The Chevrolet behind the Rolls Royce inched closer, and the laser locator's light fell on the roof of the Rolls Royce.

The truck driver quickly identified the target vehicle. As the two vehicles got close, the truck suddenly veered off course, as if losing control.

The Rolls Royce was caught off guard, and the driver instinctively pressed the gas pedal, activating the car's emergency mode and drastically increasing the speed.

If the vehicle it was colliding with had been a car, even a small truck, the Rolls Royce could have avoided it.

But this was a larger truck.

The rear half of the truck collided with the Rolls Royce; luxury cars were no match against a dump truck.

In a violent collision, the Rolls Royce lost control completely, crashing into the cliffside along the road.

The vehicle's quality was indeed good, as there was no severe deformation from such a crash.

The truck stopped, and the Chevrolet that had been following also halted, while a large SUV approaching from the opposite direction stopped in front of where the accident had occurred.

...

Black-clad men, wearing hats, got out. One shouted, "Help! Get help fast!"

Someone knocked on the window, "Are you okay? Open the door! The car is leaking fuel!"

The driver looked at the inflated and then deflated airbags and turned back to the back seat. "Sir."

"I'm fine," Sean, having been startled, was already sobering up: "Open the door."

The driver opened the door, and they both got out of the car.

Just as they exited, those who had come to help quickly revealed themselves as ruthless thugs.

Two of them pulled out guns and pointed them at the heads of the driver and Sean.

Garcia personally came over to check and confirmed it was indeed Sean. He said, "Take them away."

Just as Sean tried to speak, someone slammed the gun's butt against his forehead: "Shut up."

He and the driver were handcuffed and, after a thorough search, were pushed onto the large SUV.

The vehicle started and left, and as Sean twisted his head to look back, the Rolls Royce erupted into flames.

Within just a few minutes, after clearing all traces and taking what they needed, the truck and other vehicles all retreated, leaving only a burning Rolls Royce behind.

On the SUV, after being roughly interrogated, Garcia injected drugs into Sean and the driver.

They quickly fell into a state of unconsciousness.

Garcia called Campos and informed him of the situation from the interrogation.

...

In another vehicle, Campos called Hawke: "The goods have arrived; I'm preparing to store them in the warehouse. The situation is pretty much as we anticipated."

Hawke replied, "Get the goods stored in the warehouse."

He hung up, and on the other side, Edward, sitting at the computer, said, "Harley Wayne got back to me. She's on Fox's helicopter heading to Santa Catalina."

"Got it," Hawke looked over at Erica, who was sitting on the couch. "Sean got Buddy's call and rushed back to Beverly from Malibu. It's likely that once the situation spirals out of control, Buddy could flee Los Angeles."

Erica said, "As long as he uses the air routes, he'll need to file a flight plan; otherwise, he'll be treated as an intruder, and he can't get out of our sight."

She asked, "Should we intercept him?"

Hawke shook his head. "No, let him go. Keep an eye on his destination; send someone over."

Erica didn't ask, but she could tell Hawke's target was Buddy Ackerman.

---

Beverly Hills, Ackerman Estate.

As time passed, Buddy Ackerman rejected multiple calls and grew increasingly anxious.

He asked the butler, "Is Sean still not back?"

"No, I'll call again." The butler made a call, but it couldn't go through. He then tried calling the driver; it was also unavailable. Finally, he called the villa, and someone answered, saying Sean had left already.

Horrified by the feedback, Buddy dared not be overly optimistic and said, "We leave immediately."

Shortly after, a helicopter took off into the night sky, flying southward.

After a while, a convoy of armored luxury cars exited the estate, heading for Santa Monica Pier.

In the tunnel leading to another villa, Buddy and the butler, along with a few trusted security personnel, took an electric rail car and moved quickly.

Within ten minutes, they emerged from the basement of another villa, climbed into two cars waiting there, and sped toward the Van Nuys Airport to the south.

Now, leaving America was the safest option.

---

Santa Catalina Island, Avalon Club.

FBI helicopters continuously landed, with large numbers of armed personnel rushing over to provide support.

The area around the club was cordoned off; armed personnel patrolled back and forth at regular intervals.

Two helicopters hovered above, marked with Fox TV logos.

One helicopter captured footage from the air, while the other, at Harley's request, looked for a suitable landing spot.

The guiding lights from the FBI had come in handy.

The Fox helicopter landed, and Harley jumped down, shouting to the photographers, "Hurry and keep up!"

Three photographers, carrying their equipment, followed behind.

Although the club was sealed off, traces of the explosions and shootings remained. From the open door, they could capture footage of the internal situation.

A large number of FBI agents continued to arrive, and local citizens from Avalon began to gather around to witness the chaos.

As the crowd grew, the information could not remain confidential and soon spread.

The internal situation at the FBI was complex; the newly arrived agents were not entirely under Jennifer's control.

Many were passing information out.

The California Democratic Party and Kerry's team also learned about the situation.

*****

/Sayonara816.