The Wolf of Los Angeles

Chapter 362 - 362: The True Honey Trap

[Chapter 362: The True Honey Trap]

In downtown Los Angeles, at LAPD Headquarters, the Parker Center.

A small promotion ceremony was taking place.

Hawke, seated among the spectators, clapped along with the crowd.

Erica was officially promoted from Sergeant to Lieutenant today, having transitioned from the Detective Bureau to the Special Operations Division.

The promotion ceremony proceeded quickly; within half an hour, Erica, dressed in her uniform, met up with Hawke as they prepared to leave the Parker Center.

...

Hawke got behind the wheel of Erica's Mercedes G-Class and, as they turned out of the Parker Center, remarked, "It feels like it's been ages since I've seen you in that uniform."

Erica adjusted her cap that sat askew on her hair and tilted her head to look at Hawke. "When we get home tonight, I'll wear it for you again. I don't want this anymore; you can tear it up if you want."

Hawke slammed on the brakes at the red light, chuckling. "Sweetheart, saying things like that could cause an accident."

Erica laughed, her uniform straining at the chest as if it was experiencing an earthquake; the fabric bounced slightly. "You mentioned a surprise. Where are we headed next?"

Hawke replied, "The FBI has confiscated the Ackerman family's assets. After completing the process of returning them to the treasury, the participants are splitting the spoils. I bought the Ackerman estate on North Sunset Boulevard and all the rescue stations affiliated with the Ackerman Charitable Foundation at a bargain price."

As the light turned green, he accelerated. "Each rescue station cost just $100,000; the estate set me back $20 million."

Erica's eyes widened in understanding. "You're taking me to see the property?"

Hawke turned onto Santa Monica Boulevard. "It needs renovations. I've set up a meeting with a contractor; I need to hear your thoughts."

Erica was straightforward, saying, "Sure! I've heard it's one of the largest estates in Beverly Hills."

Hawke then asked, "When do you check in at the Special Operations Division?"

"I need to go in tomorrow." Erica paused, then added, "A few days ago, near the sewage outlet at the Santa Monica Pier, they found a female corpse marked with signs of a satanic cult. This case seems pretty involved, and people are worried about me digging deeper."

She was indeed tough as nails, but never reckless. "If I leave it alone, the case will eventually go cold. My new position as Deputy Commander of Team A at the Special Operations Division focuses on crime control units, including Teams B, C, and the D Team SWAT training."

Hawke said, "That's your forte, plus you won't have to be on the front lines anymore."

Erica smiled. "Transitioning to management will be a nice change of pace. Thinking of how busy you've been lately, I'd rather handle these renovation details myself."

Hawke agreed, "Sounds perfect."

...

They arrived quickly at the Ackerman estate, where the renovation team was already waiting at the door.

As they stepped into the estate, Erica looked around, commenting, "It's spacious! Feels almost as big as the estate in Woodland Hills, and you rarely find properties of this size in the new Beverly Hills developments."

"Let's take a look then," Hawke said, summoning the designer, Randall. They first inspected the courtyard, then moved to the main and auxiliary buildings.

The auxiliary building wouldn't require major changes; the first floor was designated for a garage and storage room, while the second and third floors contained staff quarters.

After touring the main house, they sat in the living room to discuss plans.

Erica suggested bluntly, "I recommend turning the golf course into a shooting range."

Hawke fully agreed. "Demolish the golf features and reconstruct it into a control room, armory, and ammunition depot. For the range..."

He glanced at Erica, who said, "I'll quickly draft a proposal."

Randall instructed his assistant to take notes.

Regarding the main house renovations, Hawke briefly outlined the style, waiting for Randall to prepare an initial design plan.

The renovation's focal point was underground.

The estate featured a vast basement level with a wine cellar, storage room, safe, and armory.

Additionally, there was a separate underground cell designed for confinement.

All of these needed modification, especially the vault and armory.

There were also substantial caches of weaponry in both the rental property in Santa Monica and Erica's personal home in Silver Lake.

Hawke couldn't even recall how many firearms and ammo he had acquired since arriving in Los Angeles.

Renovating a property was a systematic undertaking, especially for such a large estate.

With Erica transitioning from fieldwork to management, her career took a substantial leap forward, and she would have more free time.

Hawke left her to handle it all.

Randall was the first to leave. Hawke drove back to the Silver Lake community.

Not long after, Erica achieved +1 to the increased loss of police uniforms.

---

West Los Angeles, the Headquarters of the Feminist Majority Foundation.

Sibel, on Kamala's instruction, visited one of Los Angeles's feminist leaders, Michelle.

Following the Los Angeles fire incident, the FMF had quieted considerably.

Their initial poor response during the fire led to fierce media criticism, especially from Twitter and Fox.

Those who suffered greatly during the fire stood starkly opposed to them.

When people's real interests are threatened, clarity can emerge from pain.

The subsequent Ackerman family scandal predominantly impacted women; normally, the FMF would have spoken up for them.

However, their backers and political stances compelled them to remain silent.

During this time, Michelle perceived a gradual diminishment of the organization's influence.

"The Los Angeles fire damaged our interests, and even City Hall underwent a change in leadership," Sibel said. Following Kamala's summons, she had traveled from Los Angeles to San Francisco to relay the message and then returned to Los Angeles as a liaison.

She glanced at Michelle and continued, "The media attacks from Twitter and Fox post-fire have been the most aggressive, especially since Brian Ferguson took office; Twitter emerged as one of the biggest beneficiaries."

Michelle, almost disgraced within the fire department, replied, "The founder of Twitter is Hawke Osment. The FMF had previously collaborated with him, but I never expected him to end up against us."

Sibel remarked, "He's firmly opposed to us now. In the recent California voting, Twitter played a significant role, and many people are upset with them and dissatisfied with the FMF."

Michelle understood immediately, "They want the FMF to take on Twitter?"

This felt like sending two choir angels to take down Lucifer. "That's a company with a market valuation over $10 billion; you're overestimating the FMF's power."

Both Sibel and Kamala, being women, strategized in the way women often do. "Hawke Osment is a regular guy. After collating past data, we found that beyond his girlfriend Erica Ferguson, he has other mistresses."

Michelle's initial reaction was, "Exposing this could create rifts between him and Erica, fracturing his alliance with the Ferguson family?"

"Come on, those kinds of alliances are not swayed by romantic entanglements," Sibel attempted to enter the political arena. "Do you think Erica Ferguson is oblivious to his entanglements with Megan Taylor from Fox? The women from those power families play dumb regarding such matters; in the face of family interests, personal issues become trivial."

Michelle then asked, "What do you want to achieve? The subtler temptations to compromise are off the table. According to what you mentioned earlier, Hawke Osment has been incredibly cautious since the last governor recall election he experienced."

Sibel replied, "We need to find a woman to be his mistress, someone who could influence his stances and decisions. Even if we can't achieve that, we could still gather critical intelligence."

Michelle pondered and said, "I have people stationed at Venice Beach in front of the Twitter office, and they even had dinner with Hawke Osment. I can connect you with them."

Sibel shook her head, "Most average women won't do; a true beauty scheme relies not just on physical allure, but also interests, capabilities, taste, and much more."

Michelle finally got it. "You're suggesting finding a beautiful woman who matches Hawke Osment's taste, who is capable and also aligns with us, to get close to him?"

Sibel responded, "If executed effectively, we'd gain a billionaire and one of the most influential internet media platforms as allies."

Her words were laced with an irresistible temptation. "Imagine, if Twitter turned into a platform supporting female empowerment and hired people aligned with us, our lost influence would come rushing back and possibly grow stronger, turning men into our mental slaves."

That last sentence struck a chord with Michelle.

Their aim had never been equality; it was about privilege.

To ride on the backs of men... no, to ride on the backs of other men and women, eating, drinking, and living as they pleased.

The idea was good, but Michelle, having faced the blows of the Los Angeles fire, had become somewhat more levelheaded, saying, "By your standards, finding suitable candidates across all of Los Angeles would yield a mere handful of options."

If such women existed, they would have already stood out within the feminist circles.

Sibel sighed, "If only I were a few years younger."

Michelle shot her a glance without judgment.

Sibel pulled out a photograph and handed it to Michelle. "Take a look at this girl."

Michelle received it; the woman in the photograph wore a pink Chanel dress, red high heels, carried a limited-edition Hermes bag, and adorned herself with a Cartier gemstone necklace while sporting honey-blonde hair styled in bangs.

The girl was thin but voluptuous, with a petite face that smiled like a sheep opening its mouth.

Michelle recognized her, having dealt with her multiple times before. "Caroline Jones, was formerly the PR manager at BWR Public Relations."

Sibel elaborated, "We've investigated her extensively; before joining Twitter, her stance leaned towards the feminist cause, and she collaborated with you multiple times."

Michelle nodded slightly. "She had once wanted to join us, but now..."

Sibel said, "Let's give it a shot."

---

Before the weekend, Hawke and Brian took a flight to Washington for George Walker's victory party.

Originally, George Walker had also invited Paul Ferguson and others.

But the Ferguson family ultimately decided to send Brian instead, pushing for Brian's rise.

*****

/Sayonara816.