Chapter 80: Reinforcement, Sheriff, and Shootout
It was hard to tell what the stench was; it smelled like a mix of feces, rot and other things, and was evidently from this empty clearing.
Luke soon discovered that it was from a reddish black fluid on the ground.
He didn’t know what it was, but it was all over the place and extended into the depths of the woods.
Luke frowned. He found a satellite phone in the most luxurious SUV, before he ran to his pickup.
After he got in, he hit the gas and rushed to the other side of the lake.
Selina was still on her own right now. Luke felt that there was something wrong with this place.
On his way, he called Thomas.
A moment later, his call went through. “Who is this?”
Luke said, “Chief, this is Luke. I’ve got a situation here…”
He tried to summarize what had happened as succinctly as possible. After a brief silence, Thomas asked, “Where are you now?”
Luke replied, “I have no idea, but they took us fifty kilometers from Wolfkyle. They also drove us half an hour into the wilderness.”
Thomas said, “Keep in touch. I’ll call for reinforcements.”
Luke said, “Okay, chief. Right, I suspect that the missing couple we were looking into is related to those people, too. It seems that they’ve done this many times before.”
Thomas said, “…Got it. I’ll inform the FBI.”
Thomas knew why Luke had brought this up.
If this was a simple case, the police of Wolfkyle would be responsible for it.
However, if it was a serial murder case that involved multiple victims, the FBI’s involvement would be justified.
Luke wanted the FBI involved because the players couldn’t possibly influence a national agency, no matter how powerful they might be in Wolfkyle.
More importantly, the Houston Police Department had no authority to investigate this case. It wasn’t in their jurisdiction, after all.
Thomas would have to contact the FBI via his own connections, which would be a huge help to Luke.
In any case, Luke had already disposed of half of the criminals, so it would be very easy for the FBI to handle the rest.
Thomas wasn’t actually asking for help, but was doing the FBI a favor; as long as they weren’t idiots, they would certainly get here quickly.
Thomas asked again, “Did you just say that someone was severely injured?”
Luke’s mind was blank. Did he say that? It was mostly the players who were wounded. Bobby’s injuries were mild, and his father had been killed.
But he thought quickly, and realized why Thomas had asked the question. “Yes, a high school student is in dire need of treatment.”
Thomas said, “Alright, I’ll send a helicopter from Houston as soon as possible.”
Luke said, “Thank you, chief.”
Thomas didn’t say anything else and hung up.
Luke marveled inwardly – Thomas truly was Robert’s best buddy!
With this excuse, Thomas would be able to send police officers here by helicopter.
Luke would thus have the protection of trustworthy people.
Putting down the satellite phone, he sped up.
When the pickup pa.s.sed by Asel’s hideout, Luke glanced at her and found nothing wrong, so he pressed on.
Bobby was also quiet when Luke pa.s.sed by.
For Luke, it was Selina’s safety that he was most concerned about.
He had already done enough for Bob’s family by saving two of them.
Luke got out when he reached the other side of the lake.
The woods were too thick for a pickup to pa.s.s through. He could only continue on foot.
At that moment, two police cars drove up.
Their lights and sirens weren’t on, but Luke had noticed them very early on.
He could only stop and wait next to his car for the newcomers.
The two police cars stopped, and one person got out of each vehicle.
An old police officer in his forties said, “We’re from the Wolfkyle Police Department. Don’t move, or we’ll shoot.”
Luke was helpless.
He couldn’t kill the two police officers, and he still had a long walk ahead. Would he have to fight them when he returned with Selina?
He wasn’t afraid of fighting, but killing two officers would cause a lot of trouble.
“I’m Luke Coulson from Westside Houston Police Department. I sent the Wolfkyle Police Department a notice just yesterday,” said Luke.
The police officers looked at each other and said, “Put down your gun and let us confirm your ident.i.ty.”
Luke frowned. “I have to rescue my partner. She’s still alone in the woods.”
The old police officer said, “I’m York Brown, sheriff of Wolfkyle. This is Nicholas Crewe, deputy sheriff. You should know us if you’re here to help with a case.”
Luke eyed them for a moment, and finally dropped his M1911.
“Your other gun,” said Crewe.
Luke slowly drew the Beretta from under his armpit and threw it three meters away.
The two police officers looked at each other and approached him.
Luke asked, “Why are you here?”
Calmly, Brown replied, “Someone called the police and said that they heard gunshots around here.”
Luke said, “Where are we? My partner and I were drugged before we were brought here. I still don’t know what this place is.”
“It’s about fifty kilometers away from Wolfkyle,” answered Crewe casually.
Luke asked, “Well, someone is heavily wounded and needs treatment. How far is the highway from here?”
Crewe said, “It’s about twenty minutes by car.”
Luke narrowed his eyes and suddenly rolled to the side.
However, it seemed that the two police officers had antic.i.p.ated this move. They shot at him when they were ten meters away.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Luke’s left arm turned numb, before he felt excruciating pain.
He couldn’t help but grunt, but he didn’t stop, and he grabbed the Beretta on the ground as he rolled.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two police officers fell immediately.
It was practically suicide to engage Luke in a gun fight at less than ten meters.
Even if Luke didn’t have a gun, his strength and reflexes made it impossible to lock onto him.
However, he miscalculated how c.r.a.p a shot Crewe was. The guy’s bullet should’ve missed the target, but happened to hit Luke in the left arm.
Ignoring the pain, Luke picked up his gun and said darkly, “If you don’t drop your guns, someone’s head is going to blow up in the next second.”