Not only did they run wildly all over the place, some were even confused and ran toward HQ, as if they couldn’t see the remains of the helicopter that was still leaking oil on the road.
All of a sudden, flames rose up from the remains of the helicopter, and it was soon on fire.
Finally, nobody ran in HQ’s direction.
Boom!
There was an explosion, which wasn’t too big. It wasn’t as destructive as in the movies, and only wrecked the helicopter a little more. The broken pieces didn’t even fly ten meters.
This time, fewer people were running around in a panic. The unperturbed bystanders who weren’t afraid of death started to watch the show. Some even took photos with their phones.
Two news vans had reached the perimeter. The female reporters and cameramen — pros who were experts at courting death in the movies – instantly got to work.
Luke felt that they might even lament that the explosion was too small and didn’t have a big enough impact.
Police officers started to arrive in droves, and Luke and Selina finally withdrew.
The street patrol were professionals when it came to keeping order.
Besides, there were far more of them, and would have a bigger effect than Luke and Selina.
At that moment, Luke’s phone rang.
He glanced at the number and picked up the call. “Harrison, what’s up?”
On the other end of the line, Harrison said, “Come to HQ with all your gear.” Luke: “I’m right next to HQ. I just wrapped things up.” Harrison was stumped for a moment. “You’re here? That’s good. I’ll have someone go get you.”
Luke: “Okay.”
Hanging up, he told Selina what was going on and fetched the big bag from the weapons compartment in their police car.
Looking at the helicopter that was still burning on the street, he knew that the criminals had slapped LAPD’s face swollen this time.
For the sake of their dignity, HQ couldn’t let the criminals break Montell out, at least not when he was still in custody inside HQ.
After waiting for a few minutes at the entrance, an acquaintance came out and greeted Luke. “Luke, here.”
Luke and Selina went over to him. “Jim, you’re here too?”
Jim gestured that they should be quick. He said quickly in a low voice, “We were going to escort a suspect onto the helicopter when this happened.” He looked gloomily at the remains of the helicopter outside the building.
Luke: “Were there any casualties?”
Jim slightly shook his head. “No, but I was almost beheaded by the chopper’s propellers.”
Luke and Selina: … That was really damn close.
Luke simply patted his shoulder. “This means that you’re a lucky man.”
Ordinarily, Jim would’ve ended up in a hospital like the pilot, and if he were a little less lucky, everybody would be attending his funeral.
Jim accepted this consolation. Sometimes, officers on the front line had to be superstitious.
They arrived at a big office with two SWAT members guarding the door. Jim hesitated for a moment and looked at Selina before he finally opened the door. “Boss, Luke and Selina are here.”
Harrison turned around and was surprised to see Selina behind Luke.
But he had always been a doer, and didn’t waste time on idle talk. He beckoned at them and led them to a corner.
He finally said in a low voice, “Selina, for the record, this is going to be a very dangerous operation, and I only asked for Luke.”
Seeing Selina nod, he went on and said, “I’m not underestimating you, but you don’t work for SWAT, and you’re not obligated to participate in this mission.”
After a brief silence, Selina looked at Luke and asked, “You joining?” Luke chuckled. “Harrison hasn’t explained it
yet.”
Harrison rolled his eyes. “Stop pretending. Alex Montell, the guy we arrested yesterday, made it loud and clear that he’ll give anyone who can get him out a hundred million dollars. We were going to send him packing to prison on a chopper, but it was shot down before it even landed.”
Luke nodded silently.
A helicopter would’ve been the safest means of transport.
As long as Alex Montell was on it, whoever wanted to rescue him couldn’t possibly shoot down the helicopter if they didn’t want to kill their patron.
However, it seemed some of the criminals were smart and weren’t going to let HQ send him off so easily.
Harrison: “We can now only take the roads. The chief wants me to guarantee that nothing will go wrong, but I don’t have that much confidence. You know what they can do. I can only ask for backup.”
Luke narrowed his eyes at him. “You sure you’re not trying to con me?”
Harrison smiled awkwardly and subconsciously looked away, but promptly looked back. “I guarantee that I’ll take responsibility for anything that might happen.” Luke stared at him for a moment, then suddenly smiled and stretched out his hand. “Alright, I’m in. Do you want me to call you boss?”
Harrison smiled wryly. “Don’t. You can call me by my codename, Hondo.” Luke gave him a strange look. “That’s…” Harrison shrugged. “An old friend came up with it. You understand.”
Luke fell silent.
It sounded similar to a certain Japanese car brand, but since it could refer to Japan’s Honshu island or an African family name, this wasn’t a codename that any ordinary friend would come up with.
Things related to other nations could be a sensitive issue in America.
Selina finally said, “I want to take part.” Harrison looked at Luke. Seeing that he didn’t say anything, he couldn’t help but ask, “You have no objections?” Luke chuckled. “She’s my partner.”
Lost for words for a moment, Harrison finally nodded. “Okay then, but you must be careful. A lot of madmen out there have definitely lost their heads over this hundred million.”
That was also why he wanted Luke’s help.
Back then, Luke had waved his hand and handed 640 million dollars’ worth of bearer bonds to Harrison.
Given Luke’s resistance to the temptation of money, Harrison trusted him more. After deciding to take part, Luke explained his plan to Harrison simply.
Harrison accepted it after only a moment of consideration.
Luke’s plan was simple. He and Selina weren’t SWAT members and didn’t know them well, so teamwork would be a problem.
Thus, it would be best if he and Selina cruised along outside the team to help out as needed.
If it was anyone else saying this, Harrison would’ve spat in their faces and rejected the plan.
But Luke’s proposal was based on his combat ability, which was far above that of regular detectives.
He was risking himself by taking part at this critical juncture as backup, and was also the only detective whom Harrison had requested. Harrison couldn’t demand too much of him.
A few minutes later, Harrison had everybody involved in the operation hand in their communication devices, which were replaced with new wireless communication devices.
Luke simply slipped Selina’s fake phone into an inner pocket and handed over their regular work phones. After that, all the personnel sorted out their gear and went to the bathroom. Half an hour later, they gathered for the pre-op briefing.
