It was obvious that Elsa’s plan was to stop the women if they could, and hand over the loot and the robbers to NYPD.
But wouldn’t that be a slap in the face for NYPD?
They were here to help NYPD with a case, but if they eventually cracked NYPD’s case for them, that might end up being a disaster.
Elsa, however, was tempted.
She was an ambitious woman and liked to control everything.
Her patience had run out after being ignored in NYPD for a week.
She had to hold back before this because she was under someone else’s roof.
Luke, however, had gotten his hands on massive leverage which might very well see Sergei’s case transferred back to the Los Angeles Police Department. How could she not be tempted?
Elsa smiled. “Do you think I’m like you? We know what you did in Houston. You remember how your boss disliked you from the beginning, right?”
Luke hummed and smiled bitterly. “I didn’t do it on purpose. Should I just have stood there and let the bad guys shoot me?”
Elsa chuckled. “You did nothing wrong, and nor will I. I’ll report it to Dustin. If he doesn’t agree, we’ll just stand back and play bystanders. If he agrees, what is there to be scared of? However angry NYPD gets, can they tell our director to fire you?”
Luke immediately got it.
Elsa wasn’t going to work the case in secret, but would ask for the director’s permission through Dustin.
If the director was on board, they wouldn’t really be punished even if anything went wrong.
That was the tradition in local police departments.
Even if a director might be forced to demote his own men, he would reinstate them once everything blew over.
If he didn’t reinstate them, none of the officers under his command would be loyal to him anymore.
Thinking this, Luke agreed with Elsa’s proposal and watched her make the call.
It was different from how things had worked in Houston.
As long as the police department agreed to the plan, he and Elsa would be fighting on LAPD’s behalf, and everybody from the director to Dustin had to support them.
After lunch, Elsa finally received a reply from Dustin. “You can keep an eye on the bank robbers and prepare to take them down. The director is already negotiating with NYPD. I’ll let you know once it’s settled.”
Elsa said excitedly, “Alright. Thank you, boss.”
Dustin chuckled. “Why thank me? This is work, of course I have to help you. Don’t disappoint me.”
Elsa said, “Yes, sir.”
She hung up and looked at Luke, who was bored. “Why are you still here? Get up and keep an eye on those women.”
Luke asked, “What about you?”
Elsa said, “I’ll have to stay here, or Berit will get suspicious. Once you figure out when those women plan to retreat, I’ll go out with you to stop them.”
Luke said, “I have another question.”
Elsa asked, “What is it?”
Luke replied, “In case you forgot, those women are great drivers. You’re not hoping that I’ll be able to chase them down on a secondhand bike, right? They’re super racers who ran circles around twenty police cars on city streets.”
Elsa frowned. “What are you getting at?”
Luke chuckled and said, “Check what happened to Bell’s car. I noticed yesterday that it was gone, and she was with a police officer.”
Elsa asked, “Do you really like her? I’m going to tell Jessi on you.”
Luke rolled his eyes and said, “You can try. Jessi thought we were a couple this morning!”
Elsa was angry. “Go away!”
Luke shrugged and rode his bike away.
Since Elsa had decided to intervene, he had to make preparations.
Those women could run away, but their money couldn’t.
He needed more tools to deal with the car later.
He would give Bell a hand in passing just because she was a nice person.
It would be a waste of his Super Detective System, however, if he simply placed all his hopes on a cab driver.
He went to the secondhand appliance store again and bought a huge amount of goods from the black boss.
Looking at the boss, Luke couldn’t help but ask, “Do you have… a twin brother? I think I’ve seen you before.”
The boss snorted and glared at him intimidatingly. “Hey, are you mocking me because I’m black? I hate racists like you the most. Why are you looking down on me when I’m making legit money in my own store?”
Luke raised the cash in his hand and said, “Why would I shop here if I looked down on you? I’m not mocking you. You really do look familiar to me. Also, you can’t discriminate against me just because I’m white.”
The boss was stunned. “What? Excuse me? Me, discriminate against you?”
Luke spread his hands and said, “Just because I’m white and I asked you a question because you look familiar, you accused me of being a racist. Isn’t that discrimination?”
The boss was baffled. A moment later, he finally declared angrily, “The things you bought today are worth 237 dollars in total. I’m charging you 240 dollars. Give me the money!”
Luke was speechless. “…You’re good!”
He counted out 240 dollars and slapped it down on the counter before leaving with the parts that he had bought.
The boss put the money away angrily and wiped his glasses. “Twin brother? I’m the only boy in my family. Do I look like my sisters?”
Well, his sisters were both obese and weighed more than two hundred pounds each. He didn’t intend to turn into them at all.
Luke didn’t pay the black boss much mind after he left the store. It had just been a casual question.
He sniffed at the garage again when he returned to his apartment, but Bell’s cab still wasn’t there.
Luke thought for a moment, then called her. “Hey, Bell, where’s your baby?… Your sweetheart complained this morning that you don’t like him anymore… You want him to go to hell? I’ll pass that on to Jessi later… I don’t need to? Okay… Bell, there may be some people that I need to chase down in a day or two, so exactly where is your car? Hm, at the Transportation Bureau in Queens?… I’ll make inquiries for you. By the way, your sweetheart looked like sh*t when I saw him this morning.”
Luke hung up the phone and shook his head.