The Wolf of Los Angeles

[Chapter 284: The Real Vampires]

In a pitch-black basement, the lights suddenly flicked on.

Melissa, lying in an iron cage, instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes.

After a while, she adjusted to the brightness and slowly lowered her hand, noticing two burly Mexican women guarding her.

Only when they moved aside did Melissa see two individuals in hoods positioned behind them.

Recalling her last encounter, which she suspected involved Sean's people, she sat up and combed her long hair, saying, "Have you made up your minds?"

Hawke said, "We don't know where the benefits you are talking about are, but the benefits given to us by others are right here."

Melissa extended her hand, trying to take control. "Give me a phone. With a call, you'll each receive five million dollars in your accounts."

She emphasized, "You can keep an eye on me. If I say anything inappropriate, you're free to kill me."

Melissa continued, "I own an apartment on Brighton Street in Santa Monica. Behind a regular printed painting in the living room, there's a key to a Citibank safe. The bank recognizes the key, not the person. Inside, I've stashed cash and jewelry -- my emergency funds."

Hawke was silent for a moment before asking, "What do you want us to do?"

Melissa slowly replied, "To make you a wealthy person, truly experience the benefits of having money."

Hawke didn't speak much more but kept observing Melissa and, satisfied with her physical health, appeared pleased.

Melissa misread the situation. "If you want me, you can have me anytime you want."

Hawke turned around and left.

...

Once on the surface, Edward asked, "Boss, why not teach her a lesson? A round of torture would make her spill everything."

Hawke said, "It's not time yet."

More precisely, Hawke needed a sufficiently healthy blood bag.

But if the timing was right, he wouldn't hesitate to extract Ackerman family secrets from Melissa and fully eliminate those bastards.

No, it was to capture all of the Ackerman family's younger generation with suitable age and blood type as backup blood bags.

At that moment, Campos approached.

Hawke cautioned, "Don't rush, take your time. Anyone left alone in such an environment for too long will experience some mental changes."

Campos reminded him, "Last week, she went on a hunger strike. I had to order nutrients to be infused directly into her."

Hawke said, "She's not the type to give in easily."

Campos quietly informed, "Barack Bernanke has been in Mexico, still investigating, surrounded by a complete security team and Pinkerton detectives."

"Don't let anyone get close," Hawke said as he walked. "Focus on Sean Ackerman."

Campos nodded, "We've pulled our people back." He kept pace with Hawke. "Sean has had a falling out with Buddy Ackerman and moved out of the North Sunset Boulevard Ackerman estate, but he has a lot of bodyguards, making it difficult to approach."

Hawke has always been patient. "Investigate his recent lifestyle and business activities, along with any questionable dealings he's been involved in."

The group exited the warehouse, split into vehicles, and left.

...

Inside their bulletproof Mercedes, Edward asked, "Should we send someone to look for the safe key?"

"Just pretend you didn't hear those words," Hawke replied succinctly. "Some information doesn't need to be communicated directly. A sudden activation of a bank safe could be a signal released to the outside."

...

The two made their way back to the office, and upon ascending the stairs, they found Frank looking as though he'd aged five years.

Hawke was curious. "What's wrong with you, man?"

Edward jokingly said, "Could it be that your ex-wife was seduced away by someone?"

"She got caught," Frank replied seriously. "Because she found a jerk who wasn't picking cotton properly and whipped him."

Edward had gotten used to this sort of jab. "It's all good; that's just the loving whip. You wouldn't understand -- that's love."

Hawke entered the office, and when the two came in, he asked, "Did your ex-wife cause trouble?"

Frank shook his head. "No, I'm heartbroken again."

Hawke had heard from Edward that Frank was pursuing a female employee from a neighboring company.

Edward launched a counterattack: "You're just chasing; she hasn't agreed to be your girlfriend, so how are you heartbroken?"

Frank took on an exaggerated tone, "Five years ago, I could've had this type of woman in under two hours."

Edward learned the art of exaggeration from him: "If she had a child and was divorced, I could have her wrapped around my finger in half an hour!"

Hawke patted Edward on the shoulder, aiming to deflate Frank, saying, "I don't believe you, but I believe the Savior, as I've seen that a couple of times."

Frank added, "You've seen Salma Hayek."

Hawke dismissed this. "I heard her talking about striving for an Oscar nomination."

Frank sighed. "Finally found someone who matched my tastes, and then..."

Hawke pointed at the office's liquor cabinet and told Edward, "Grab that bottle of Laurent-Perrier Champagne. Let's celebrate... no, let's help Frank out of his heartbreak."

Frank didn't wait for Edward to comply and walked straight to the liquor cabinet, throwing Hawke a middle finger before starting.

The three of them raised their glasses of champagne, and Frank seemed to come back to life.

Hawke asked, "Have you dealt with the Ackerman family while working in Hollywood?"

"That bunch of scum?" Frank scoffed. "I'm a real filmmaker; they are not."

Curious, Edward asked, "Were they just looking to take advantage of real filmmakers?"

Frank poured champagne for all three and explained, "The cotton planter has a bit of a brain sometimes."

He elaborated, "To my knowledge, the Ackerman family entered the entertainment industry for people. Do you know how they amassed their wealth? They used investments in films to entice Hollywood stars and then provided services to political figures, leveraging those resources into commercial profits."

Hawke raised his glass. "I've heard a bit."

Frank shook his head and chuckled. "They often fund projects featuring attractive actors or child stars -- these films usually receive average reactions and could face severe losses according to Hollywood's operation model. Yet, the Ackerman family's assets just keep growing."

Hawke noted, "Profit from films doesn't necessarily come from the films themselves."

Edward recalled the state of the industry, saying, "If those actors want to get roles, most of them have to accompany others to fool around. It doesn't matter who they accompany."

"You underestimate the craziness and perversion of those bastards," Frank wore an expression of disbelief at their ignorance. "Many beautiful people in Hollywood ruin their images, and you think it's just for the films?"

He looked at Hawke. "You're asking these questions because you're in conflict with the Ackerman family, right?"

Hawke clinked glasses with him. "Cheers."

Frank drained his champagne and commented, "With your current influence, Twitter's impact on online public opinion, and the scale of your assets, it's not weaker than the Ackerman family. But those Jewish overseers are connected with too many people, making them difficult to deal with."

Hawke had known this long before. "I won't be Don Quixote."

Frank added, "Those bastards are true vampires, not just metaphorically but literally."

This old man had a clear view of the world: "There are real legends of vampires that exist. From a long time ago, some people made people disappear or committed other perverted acts to satisfy their perverted desires, and then made up the so-called vampire lie, and all of this has been developed into the modern era."

Hawke suddenly recalled seeing online discussions about spirit cooking in the previous life, along with human-shaped delicacies served to Hillary and others.

Maybe that's just a special ritual using materials advertised as chocolate and tomato sauce.

But what was the reality behind the scenes? Who could say?

Not long after the Email Gate erupted, rumors spread online that some involved parties either met with accidents or went missing.

Hawke never considered becoming a vampire hunter; he just wanted to use the rivalry between the two parties to settle this grudge.

...

As Frank enjoyed several glasses of champagne, he dragged Hawke and Edward downstairs to the entertainment room for a round of ping pong.

In his past life, Hawke had been among the top three in the apartment building's ping pong rankings, but while playing with Frank, Edward, and other security personnel, he didn't need to use rubber.

...

After a few volleys, his phone rang. Stepping outside, he answered it was Brian calling.

Steve Nutt's equality organization was officially underway.

Brian arranged to meet him the next day in Covina.

Hawke considered his schedule and agreed.

This would be an attempt to defeat magic with magic.

...

As the workday neared its end, Erica called, inviting Hawke to dinner in the Silver Lake neighborhood that night.

Upon returning to the community villa, he found Erica had prepared dinner.

Though it was a simple grilled steak and eggs, it tasted just fine.

They sat down to eat, and Erica asked while munching, "Do you have any time next week?"

Hawke thought for a moment. "I should be able to spare a few days next week. Do you have any plans?"

Erica explained, "If I don't take my annual leave now, it'll be wasted. I plan to take next week off and want to take you out for a trip."

"Sounds good," Hawke agreed wholeheartedly, asking, "Do you have a destination in mind?"

Erica responded, "Remember that last time you covered my trip to Wyoming for bear hunting? I thought I'd invite you to Florida for hunting this time."

Hawke recalled, "We're hunting alligators to make them into trophies?"

Erica laughed, "Alligators are just one of our targets. There are also invasive giant lizards there, and supposedly their meat is delicious."

Hawke nodded, "Okay, we'll go to Florida next week."

He made sure to add, "Bring the bodyguards."

*****

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