The blackness looked vaguely like the shadow of a person, but the delicate strokes also made it look like an enormous black cloud above the angel’s head.
Two black shadows stretched out on each side to cover the angel down below, as if protecting her.
The black shadow’s features were abstract: Its eyes were two blood red circles and its mouth was just a slight ridge from which blood dripped into the red expanse above the woman’s head.
Is this painter a devil? Luke grumbled inwardly. Was this new graffiti of him?
He hadn’t done more than kill dozens of evil gang members while he was completely covered up. Did he have to be depicted this way?
Those who didn’t know would think it was just graffiti, but didn’t this mean that those who did know thought he was a monster?! Not only was it pitch black and had bloody eyes, blood also dripped from its mouth. No matter how you looked at it, it was like a supervillain in a horror movie. Selina wasn’t as bothered. She continued, “It’s actually pretty cool. It’s both goth and sci-fi.”
Luke mumbled, “It looks like a poster for a horror movie to me.”
Hearing that, Selina examined the graffiti once more and laughed out loud. “Now that you put it that way, it does seem like it.”
After that, they went to check the dumpster where the FBI agent’s body was found two hundred meters away. At the same time, they didn’t go around asking questions; it couldn’t be any more obvious that they were just doing a cursory sweep. As they looked around, they were watched from in and outside ramshackle shacks put together with plastic and cloth canvas.
But nobody spoke to Luke or Selina. They simply remained vigilant and indifferent.
For one moment, Luke paused to look at a particular shack.
A little girl stared at them from the shack.
But Luke smelled someone familiar with Sharp Nose, and felt helpless. Bloodmint, you actually dare come back here? You’re really asking to be killed!
Actually, he could guess why Bloodmint came back.
This little girl had been the hostage whom Garcia used to threaten Bloodmint into showing up, except Bloodmint hadn’t come and Luke had acted in her stead instead.
So, the little girl was probably somehow connected to Bloodmint, which was why she came back to check on her.
After that, Luke and Selina left the east side and worked their own cases. They didn’t get home until almost five in the afternoon.
When they entered the house, Robert and Claire were watching TV in the living room and Catherine was cooking in the kitchen.
After they cleaned up, everybody had dinner.
The three had slept for half the day, which was also why Luke and Selina hadn’t come home at noon, and they were now very energetic.
But the two of them would never skip out on dinner at home.
As they ate, Claire told Catherine about the sights and sounds of Los Angeles that she had experienced in the last few days.
Robert, however, said, “L.A. will probably be chaotic for a while. You should be careful when you’re out.”
Luke asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”
Robert wasn’t an L.A. local and had just arrived today. It was weird for him to suddenly mention this.
Robert glanced at him and jerked his head at the TV in the living room. “It’s right there. That guy on TV said that he would pay anyone who can get him out of prison a million bucks.”
Luke hence focused on the sounds from the TV.
While they were having dinner, the TV had been set to a volume that was audible but which wouldn’t disturb their conversation.
Luke turned his head to where the female anchor was saying solemnly, “Alex Montell’s family has a foothold in many countries all over the world, and is involved in all kinds of illegal activities from smuggling military arms to drug-trafficking. Montell himself is worth billions…”
Luke watched for a moment before he said, “Why don’t I hear of a hundred-million reward?”
Robert chuckled. “It was there during the live broadcast in the afternoon, but now it’s gone.”
Luke immediately got it.
The TV station still needed to preserve its reputation, and it wasn’t good to help a criminal with his advertising.
But the truth was that whoever needed to know would already know; it made no difference if the TV station played it or not.
Luke only thought about it for a moment before he put the issue aside for the time being
This matter… was a little interesting.
He would think about it more carefully when he was alone.
After dinner, everybody went to the backyard to chat.
The three women soaked in the big bathtub again, and Luke and Robert chatted on the side.
Robert said that he and Catherine wanted to fly to Europe the next day and continue their trip.
It hadn’t been easy for them to make up their minds to take a holiday. They couldn’t go home just because of a minor incident.
Naturally, Luke had no objections.
What happened on the ship really was nothing for Robert.
Catherine didn’t see the hostiles or the mutant giant octopus with her own eyes either, so it didn’t have a huge impact on her frame of mind.
In any case, whatever unpleasantness she experienced could be driven away by the wonders of London, Paris and the Mediterranean.
Catherine once dreamed of becoming a painter. She would definitely be happy if she could appreciate the masterpieces of Europe with her own eyes.
Robert was fine with anything. No matter what, with Catherine by his side, his days could never be harder than when he went all over the world as a soldier.
The next day, Luke and Selina went to work as usual.
Robert said that it was going to get messy in Los Angeles, and Luke agreed with him, but it would be some time before that happened.
At least, no criminals would take action until Alex Montell was moved.
Until then, both the police and the criminals would remain quiet.
Robert and Catherine didn’t have Luke see them off. They went to the airport on their own and took a flight to London.
Claire went out again that day, but Luke specifically told her not to go to less populated places. In the car, Selina said, “I didn’t know the guy we caught is so rich. No wonder six armed men tried to rescue him yesterday.”
Luke hummed in response. “But whether or not he’ll be alive for much longer is another matter.”
Selina: “What do you mean?”
Luke sneered. “Whether or not someone successfully rescues him, he’s already on the American police’s blacklist.” If LAPD suffered too many losses, there might be a “stray bullet” during the prison break that would just so happen to hit this troublemaker.
It was one thing to secretly pay someone to rescue him, but to brazenly offer a reward on TV – did he think that the police had good tempers?
Alex Montell was naturally the young fugitive whom Luke and Selina caught the other day.
The guy had even asked for Luke’s name in a threatening tone after he was nabbed. He was an arrogant tyrant who held grudges, and a lot of people had probably died at his hands. When they got to the police department, Elsa stared at them speechlessly for a moment before she sighed. “You’re really good at catching people.”
It was clear she had also learned about Alex’s hundred-million-dollar reward.
Unbothered, Luke said with a smile, “Boss, is it really our fault? You should blame the officers who arrested him at the very beginning.”
