The Wolf of Los Angeles-Chapter 413: The Savior’s Startup Project

[Chapter 413: The Savior's Startup Project]

In the video popup window, a young girl appeared. She wore a pink lace dress. Although her eyes were covered with a black cloth, her fair skin and slender figure still showcased her striking appearance.

Hawke felt the girl resembled Elle Fanning when she had just come of age.

"Seems like surveillance footage," Erica said easily, "A crime video?"

Before she finished speaking, suddenly a figure entered the frame.

The person wore a black cloak, always turning his back to the camera, and one hand reached out from under the cloak holding a shiny hook.

Then the cloak fell to the ground, and the hand holding the hook waved swiftly. White lace flew everywhere, falling to the floor.

Bloody wounds appeared on the girl's fair skin.

Although the surveillance video had no sound, from the girl's frantic body movements and tightly closed lips, it was easy to tell she was in great pain, letting out horrific screams.

The cloaked figure's violence was as intense as the brutal scenes Hawke had seen in videos involving the Ackerman family.

Erica, having seen countless horrific crime footage, was already numb to such scenes.

Hawke felt much the same.

The video ended with the cloaked man putting his cloak back on and leaving the frame.

The fair-skinned girl had turned into a bloodied figure, her life fading as blood dripped away.

Though the video didn't explicitly show her death, Hawke could easily infer she had died.

...

After the video ended and the window went black, Erica said, "It's a torture murder video mailed intentionally to me? The proper way is to send it to the NYPD or the FBI. I'm just a LAPD Special Operations officer; I don't have the authority to investigate cases arbitrarily, nor is it my duty."

Hawke took the mouse and saved a backup of the video on the computer, then told Erica, "They mailed this directly to you for some purpose. Let's not get tangled in their agenda. We'll let this return to the proper legal channels."

Erica, not one of those heroes who tried to fix everything single-handedly and not driven purely by a sense of justice, agreed, "I'll hand it over to my superiors tomorrow and let the higher-ups handle it."

She speculated, "Could this be related to those two cases I encountered back at the detective bureau?"

Los Angeles saw numerous cases daily, and Hawke was unclear which two she meant, so he asked, "What were they about?"

Erica briefly explained, "Two young women were murdered, and each had an inverted pentagram symbol carved on their bodies. I found a few clues but hadn't investigated further before being transferred to Special Operations."

Hawke recalled that one -- the last case his girlfriend had worked on before her promotion: "Young women, right?"

He moved the mouse to replay the video.

Erica asked, "Anything stand out?"

Hawke dragged the progress bar to where the man took off the cloak, paused, and zoomed in on the corner of the video frame.

Pointing, he said, "Take a look at this."

Erica examined and despite some blur, it clearly resembled an inverted pentagram.

"I've already gotten out of this, but they still want to drag me back down?" she frowned, "This was clearly sent to me deliberately."

Hawke reminded her, "We've used similar tactics before."

Erica recalled, "The Ackerman family club; from production to sales."

The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.

Hawke took out a disc and packed it away. "Is the mailing address still on it?"

Erica pulled out black packaging stamped with a New York postmark, "Here it is."

Hawke looked it over, "I'll have someone from Butterfly Consulting send a person there to see if we can find any leads, though chances aren't high."

Erica nodded gently, "Tomorrow I'll submit it to the bureau."

At that moment, the butler came to announce dinner was ready.

They set the matter aside temporarily and headed to the dining room to eat.

...

After dinner, Hawke accompanied Erica for a walk in the garden.

Erica rubbed her flat belly and said, "The chef you found cooks so well. At this rate, if I get any older, I'm definitely going to gain weight."

Hawke chuckled, "We could do more exercise."

Erica agreed, "There's a room on the second basement floor you haven't seen yet. Want to have an intense Tomb Raider-style workout?"

Hawke glanced over, "I'll be the undead king, you be Lara Croft?"

He measured the room multiple times, "It's no smaller than Lara's."

"Not that excessive," Erica pulled him back indoors. "Like Angelina Jolie in the movies, heavy gear seriously affects your movement and shooting stance."

Hawke knew a bit, "Jolie didn't have that big a chest; they added padding for the film."

Erica smiled, "You know a lot."

They went downstairs to the second basement level where a room was decorated in ancient Greek tomb style.

...

Adventurous Lara accidentally awakened the undead king, leading to an epic and chaotic battle.

In the end, Lara was badly defeated by the undead king's attack.

They only fought once.

Lara trained during the daytime.

Hawke had urgent business the next day.

---

The Tiger Woods scandal had progressed to a certain stage. For Twitter and Butterfly Consulting Security, the matter was more or less settled.

The news remained hot, with Woods and his wife Elin accusing each other, keeping them at the center of public scrutiny.

However, Hawke no longer needed to intervene; it would unfold naturally.

Hawke planned to push forward campaigns for LGBTQ rights and women's empowerment.

---

The next morning, Erica came to Special Operations and immediately submitted the disc to her superior.

They didn't handle specific cases there; the disc was quickly forwarded to the detective bureau.

Two of Erica's former subordinates came to Special Operations to check the situation.

No one, including Erica, knew the disc's origin.

Erica warned the bureau team about the inverted pentagram in the video.

The two girl murder cases with the inverted pentagram had gone cold after being shelved.

In recent years, LAPD's case-solving rate dropped annually; homicide detective rates had fallen below 50%.

Considering Erica's dedication, one could imagine the overall situation.

LAPD was, in many ways, the largest gang in Los Angeles.

---

Hawke, after handling urgent company matters, went to Butterfly Consulting Security with Edward.

"They've already left," Campos said in the conference room.

"To avoid being tracked, all of them travel by sea," he added after explaining operational security.

Hawke pulled out his phone, sending last night's videos and the package info to Campos, "Send someone to New York to see who sent it. Just find clues, no extra action."

Campos looked at the video, "I'll have someone familiar with New York make a run."

Hawke took a newspaper to read.

Campos said, "The Woods-Elin divorce case is nearing settlement."

Hawke, who hadn't followed the news much, asked, "They reached an agreement?"

"We tracked the lawyers," Campos explained. "They met privately three times, likely to settle. I've heard Woods may pay over $100 million in settlement."

Edward was shocked, "Tiger Woods is that generous?"

Campos added, "Too many women have come forward -- 43 reported as of last night. Several companies are considering suspending endorsements. If he doesn't calm things soon, the losses will be much bigger."

Edward said, "Money really does calm things quickly."

...

Later, Rosa, Solana, and Fiona arrived by boat.

This was formerly part of the Ackerman family's private marina in Venice. Though extensively remodeled, the dock still accommodated boats large and small.

Disguised, the three quietly entered the conference room and greeted Hawke, "Boss."

Hawke nodded slightly, "Have a seat."

Fiona sat opposite Campos; Rosa and Solana sat closely together.

Hawke praised them, "You've all done exceptional work these past six months, exceeding expectations and earning important deputy roles in your groups."

Rosa added candidly, "None of this would be possible without the boss's funding. Without financial backing, we wouldn't have become deputy chairwomen."

Fiona reported, "Elin's lawyer and Woods' side basically settled. She'll get $115 million settlement. After the baby is born and confirmed as Woods' through paternity, she'll receive 20% of Woods' income as child support."

Solana marveled, "A female centi-millionaire is born. Much easier than starting a company."

The truth was blunt, leaving everyone speechless.

Edward suddenly had a startup idea.

Hawke looked at him, "You want to start a business?"

"We have to partner with Frank," Edward said bluntly. "That bastard knows a lot. We start a training center, recruit young, attractive women with targeted training, then have them marry sports and entertainment stars like Woods and Jamie Foxx. After a couple of years, divorce and split the assets."

Campos reminded, "Don't forget prenuptial agreements."

Fiona explained, "The longer the marriage, the bigger the share of the husband's post-marriage income. If the wife earns less, the husband must pay child support, usually based on average income over the past 12 months."

Edward was inspired, "Marry a Hollywood star at their peak pay year, then divorce?"

He flashed a wide grin, "This could save many suffering women."

*****

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