Chapter 335 The Real Suspect, and Taking You For a Spin
Thank G.o.d there wasn’t any weed or meth! That was good, since it would be a big problem if the police officers were collectively indulging in these two things.
Also, the doors to two of the rooms were wide open, and Luke noticed pale and dark skin entwined around each other.
Fortunately, these people were just sleeping and not doing anything else.
Luke also smelled blood, which belonged to the two officers who were injured in the gunfight yesterday. Luke could only admire their lackadaisical att.i.tude toward life. But women and alcohol weren’t things that officers had to avoid. On the contrary, Luke himself had to count on Jenny and Jimena to help stabilize his mindset, and he couldn’t despise these officers for doing the same.
He didn’t wait for an invitation from Nick before he sat on the cleanest part of the couch that he could find.
Alessandro didn’t sit down, and simply stood next to him.
Nick lit a cigarette and poured himself a gla.s.s of wine. After drinking a mouthful, he said to Luke, “Do you want some?”
Luke shook his head with a smile. “I don’t drink.”
Disdain flashed across Nick’s face, but only for a moment.
This detective who just looked like a boy was a tough character who had taken down four robbers yesterday without getting hurt.
Both Nick’s team of twelve along with the eight robbers suffered more casualties, so he really couldn’t look down on this young man.
“Mark Owen, Texas ranger. You’re interested in him, right?” Nick looked at Luke and asked.
Luke nodded.
Nick was silent for a moment as he played with the gla.s.s he was holding, before he said, “Are you sure you want to investigate this?”.
Alessandro couldn’t help but hold his breath; something about those words didn’t sound right.
Luke nodded again. “He was a police officer who died in the line of duty in Los Angeles, and I’m a police officer too.”
Nick fell silent again, before he said, “A word of advice: If you don’t have a boss who’s got your back, you should give up.”
Luke smiled. “As it so happens, I do.” Nick stared at him, then suddenly grinned. Ridicule flashed in his eyes, but it clearly wasn’t aimed at Luke.
Leaning back against the couch, Nick had another mouthful of wine before he said, “Lucas Barton is a level 2 deputy sheriff. He’s a little below me and I’ve never crossed paths with him before. However, he was the one who handed the Wade Davis matter to me, you get it?”
Luke nodded.
Nick was a sergeant and a level higher than Lucas Barton in the county police system.
If Nick was telling the truth, Lucas Barton had obviously used him as a s.h.i.+eld, which was why Nick had given out his name so easily.
Luke had done Nick a great favor yesterday without asking for anything in return, while Lucas Barton had set him up even though he was a colleague, so Nick didn’t hesitate to sell him out.
Luke got up now that he had a name. “Thank you very much, Nick. I won’t waste any more of your time. Goodbye.”
Nick didn’t ask him to stay.
Luke had helped him out a lot, but from their brief encounters, Big Nick vaguely sensed that the young detective wasn’t the same type of person as he was.
The best would be if they went their separate and opposite ways.
Just as Luke was about to disappear from view, Nick finally said, “Hey! A piece of advice!”
Luke turned his head. “Huh?”
“Lucas Barton isn’t a one-man show,” Nick said. “Don’t cross the line.”
Luke chuckled and walked away without saying anything.
What was the line?
Nick was giving him a warning as a cop who wasn’t clean himself, so he clearly wasn’t referring to the issue of Lucas Barton being a dirty cop, but was more likely implying that there was someone behind Lucas Barton.
Mind whirling with these thoughts, Luke walked out of the club with Alessandro.
Before he got into his car, Luke said to Sonia, “The two of you go back to the police department and look into Lucas Barton. He’s a level 2 deputy sheriff in the county police
rtment. Investigate the people related to him as well.”
Sonia nodded silently.
It was clear that this Lucas Barton was the real suspect in the officer’s murder.
Big Nick and his crew, on the other hand, were more blatant about being dirty, and the probability that they were the ones who had killed the officer was very low.
The intelligence showed that Nick and his crew hadn’t gotten rich overnight.
They clearly had their own source of income, and didn’t have to break a prisoner out for money.
Besides, they were very flashy in their police department, and an enemy would definitely seize the chance to mess with them if they had killed an officer.
These were Sonia’s thoughts, which were more or less in line with Luke’s.
The two cars split up on the road, and Selina asked, “Now what?”
Luke said, “Let’s go for a spin.”
Selina chuckled. She didn’t believe him.
Luke had always been a boring old fogey. She didn’t think that he would ever take her for a ride.
Some time later, Selina was surprised. “You’re really taking me for a ride?”
Luke stopped the car on the edge of a park with a smile, and fetched Selina’s regular snack from the mini-fridge in the backseat. “Let’s go. How about an afternoon picnic here?”
Selina asked, “Where are the drinks?”
Luke patted his head and took out a few Dr. Peppers and two cups from the trunk, which he gave to Selina.
He then rummaged around for two thin blankets. “We’ve got everything now.” Selina cheered and pulled him into the park. “Haha, I spotted a great place for sunbathing earlier. Let’s hurry, otherwise somebody else will take it.”
Ten minutes later, Selina was blissfully lying on her stomach on the blanket, a small dish with the opera cake on it in her hand. She had been obsessed with the cake recently.
Luke wasn’t in a hurry to eat. Instead, he opened a Dr. Pepper and remarked, “The sunlight’s nice.”
Selina didn’t even look at him and simply snorted. “Of course the spot I picked would be good. Satisfied?”
Luke smiled at the three girls in their twenties who were several meters away.
They were basking in the sun in their bikinis.
Luke was generous with his praise. “Of course, you’re an expert.”
Selina enjoyed sunbathing too, but she was wearing too much gear at the moment, plus they were on the clock, so she couldn’t be like the three girls.
She looked at the three girls and sniffed. “You’re fine with such skinny bodies?”
“It’s a free show,” Luke replied casually.
Indeed, the three girls weren’t nearly as magnificent as Selina. They weren’t on the same level at all.
Selina asked casually, “Right, where are we? This place is quite nice.” Luke said, “Elsworth Park.”