Chapter 539 Who’s Been Abducted?
Was it a fight between robbers, or had a pa.s.ser-by intercepted the robber?
Suddenly, the phone on the desk rang. Selina quickly picked up and then hung up after a few words. “Let’s go. Dustin’s asking for us. It’s an emergency.’ Any case that Dustin called them in on personally was always either urgent or serious.
Luke and Selina arrived at Dustin’s office and promptly closed the door.
Dustin immediately said, “Go to Colmore Hotel right now. There’s just been an abduction.”
Hadn’t they just come from there? Luke looked at Selina and asked, “Who was abducted?”
Dustin said, “Tony Stark.”
Luke and Selina exclaimed, “What the h.e.l.l?”
Staring at their faces, Dustin said, “It failed! That’s why I’m only sending the both of you. If the abductors succeeded, all of L.A.’s police officers would be out searching for him right now.”
Luke sighed. “So, we’re only going there as a formality?”
Dustin said, “You could say that, but the best would be if you can find the would be abductors. You know how much Stark Industries donates to our police department every year, right?” Luke nodded. “Alright, we’ll head over right now. However, we won’t be able to meet with Mr. Stark anyway, right?”
Dustin gave him a strange look. “Why else do you think I’m a.s.signing this case to you?”
Both Luke and Selina were lost for words.
So that was it!
Luke and Selina had been transferred here because of their “connection” to Stark, which was why this case had been thrown to them.
Luke sighed again and nodded. “Got it.”
Fine, just investigate it! In any case, Stark isn’t a big deal, Luke murmured inwardly.
They returned to Colmore Hotel and questioned security, who instantly replied with a very firm “no comment.”
That was the power of Stark Industries in Los Angeles.
Even though it was an official matter and even when faced with police detectives, security refused to divulge Tony Stark’s whereabouts.
Luke wasn’t bothered. He simply wandered through the hotel’s main thoroughfares, and a while later, arrived at the casino.
Looking at the playboy not far away, he chuckled and said, “It’s been a long time.”
Signaling to Selina, the two of them went over.
Instead of heading right for Tony Stark, Luke approached one of the surrounding bodyguards and said something in a low voice after flas.h.i.+ng his badge.
The bodyguard didn’t make trouble for him, but he didn’t let Luke go over either. He simply went to a fat bodyguard next to Tony Stark and whispered something to him.
A moment later, the fat bodyguard came over and said in a low voice, “It’s Mr. Stark’s private time right now. You can make an appointment at his company to see him.”
Luke raised an eyebrow. “Mr. Happy, do you remember me?”
The fat bodyguard frowned and observed him for a moment. He then suddenly looked at Selina, as if recalling something. “It’s… you?” Luke smiled. “Since Mr. Stark is busy playing, why don’t you ask him if he’s interested in another game with me?”
The fat bodyguard was unhappy. “As I’ve said, it’s his private time.”
Luke’s expression didn’t change as he said, “Why don’t you ask him if he wants to beat me once? After all, he didn’t seem very satisfied when he lost last time, right?”
The fat bodyguard was annoyed. “You…”
On the other side, Tony Stark finally noticed the stir and looked at them. His face changed when he saw Luke and Selina. Staring at Selina for a bit, he was about to open his mouth to say something. Suddenly, the memory of an unpleasant experience flashed through his head. He remembered how he had invited a certain female detective to dinner, and they did end up doing nothing but eat.
Then, the young man’s face reminded him of something even more unpleasant.
Like how he had been trounced last time and didn’t even have the opportunity to turn things around.
Narrowing his eyes, he waved and asked, “Happy, what’s going on?”
Happy walked back to him and said something in a low voice. Stark’s expression didn’t look very nice either.
Happy had already conveyed Luke’s idea very tactfully, but it still p.i.s.sed Stark off.
Was he a sore loser? Mm, he was.
It wasn’t about the money. What he hated was the feeling of not being able to redeem himself after failing.
He said something to Happy in a low voice.
Happy immediately walked over. “How do you want to play?” Luke pointed at the dice on the table. “Let’s toss those and we’ll guess if the number’s higher or lower. Also, if Mr. Stark wants to play a few more times, we can play best of three, or best of five.”
Happy asked, “What’s the wager?” Luke took out a bank card. “This card contains all my savings.” He chuckled at Happy’s strange expression. “There’s 520,000 dollars in the card. You can check it first. Of course, if Mr. Stark thinks that’s too little, let’s just forget it. That’s five to six years of my salary.”
Hearing that, Happy couldn’t help but ask, “Didn’t you… get a large sum of money last time?”
He swallowed down the word “win.”
Luke shrugged. “Shouldn’t you spend money if you have it? Mr. Stark has always been my role model in that regard.”
Happy: Makes sense! But… you still suck.
Happy whispered something to Stark, whose gaze was now fixed on Luke as he didn’t pay much attention to Selina.
A moment later, he nodded.
Happy came back. “Mr. Stark has agreed to your request. It’ll be best out of five.”
Luke handed over his bank card and said with a smile, “Then, my request about the investigation?”
Happy frowned. “I can give you five minutes.”
Luke shook his head. “No, five minutes is too precious to Mr. Stark. I only need the bodyguards who were at the scene to cooperate with me. They certainly can give me more than five minutes, right?”
Happy was stumped, but he didn’t ask Stark this time, and nodded right away. “Alright.” Tony Stark had more than one security team. Another team could easily take over the work.Besides, Luke had only asked for the cooperation of the bodyguards who had been present during the attack, which was just one team.
Then a thought flashed through Happy’s mind: If this young detective only wanted to talk to the bodyguards, why did he want to gamble with Stark?
Luke wasn’t wrong. A five-minute conversation with Stark was truly too precious.
But it wasn’t as troublesome if he wanted to talk to the bodyguards, even if he had to wait a day or two.
There was no need to sh.e.l.l out 500,000 dollars to buy this time.
But the agreement had already been struck, and Happy’s doubts were no more than a pa.s.sing thought. He gave the card to one of the bodyguards to confirm the amount on it.
Tony Stark had been tricked last time when he didn’t confirm the amount of money that was on the card. Even though that had been due to his own carelessness, Happy didn’t want a repeat of that.
Thankfully, as Luke stood opposite Tony Stark, the bodyguard who checked the card returned and verified the amount on the card with Happy.