John smiled miserably, unable to calm down. He slowly lowered his UMP and tossed it aside.
Hans smiled. “That’s right. It’s better for you to die. You son of a b*tch, you killed so many of my men. Now, go to hell… ugh!”
Bang!
Suddenly, something flew out from the back and hit Hans in the back of his head.
Hans collapsed and passed out.
John was stunned. It looked like a baseball?
He looked somewhat blankly at Hans, who was unconscious.
A Beretta 92F was plastered to his back, just within reach when he had his hands up. It was supposed to be his final move.
Luke smiled and walked out from behind a cement pillar. “It’s so nice to see that you’re alright, Detective John.”
John was surprised. “You…” What makes you think I’m alright? I’m injured all over – I’m not fine at all!
Luke spread his hands and said, “Forgive me, but Hans can’t die. LAPD needs him alive for interrogation, so I had to knock him out instead.”
Suddenly, he raised his hand and fired his M1911.
In the Ford, a black man’s head dropped to the wheel, and a M1911 slipped out of his hand.
Looking at the McClanes, who were still dazed, Luke couldn’t help but remind them, “You should tend to your injuries. John appears to be in a lot of pain.”
John’s face immediately changed.
He had remained standing all this time through sheer determination.
Now that Hans was unconscious and no more criminals were going to show up, John couldn’t take the excruciating pain anymore, and immediately dropped.
Supporting John, Luke propped him up to rest behind a cement pillar some distance away so that he wouldn’t suddenly be shot by a criminal who might still be alive in the van. Holly followed him. The couple had finally stopped fighting
Luke called Dustin. “Boss, it’s done.”
Dustin asked, “What?”
Luke said, “Hans Gruber, the leader of the criminals, has been caught. The hostages are on the roof, waiting for the helicopter. I didn’t really do a headcount, but roughly thirty criminals were injured or killed.”
Dustin gasped. It hadn’t been more than an hour since his call with Luke, and everything was done?
He couldn’t help but ask again, “Are you sure?”
Luke thought for a moment and said, “Tell the special forces to come in through the underground garage. I have the place under control. There may be more criminals hiding on the first floor, though. Oh, by the way, they seem to be carrying a lot of C4s.”
Dustin acquiesced right away.
Luke thought for a moment, then warned him, “However, there’s a minor issue.”
Dustin grew anxious. “Were any hostages killed?”
Luke said, “Not that I know of. But more than ten criminals were actually killed by one Detective John McClane from New York. He contributed a lot to Hans’s arrest, too.”
Dustin felt his teeth ache. “What? Why is he there?”
Luke replied, “Because his wife is a senior manager at Nakatomi Corporation, and he’s here on vacation to visit his wife.”
“F*ck!” Dustin couldn’t help but curse out loud.
Since that was the case, the credit for this incident would have to be split.
Seeing how wretched Detective John looked, Luke somehow felt guilty for using him as a distraction.
Everything turned out well, and he had helped save John’s wife too. However, Detective John’s contribution couldn’t be ignored.
Also, if John wasn’t around, Luke would be hounded by both his department and the department of the central district. Now, if the two departments wanted to fight for credit, they would have to argue with NYPD first.
It was always easier for people on the same side to reach a compromise when they had a common enemy.
Besides, Luke wasn’t interested in an award of any sort. What he desired was the experience and the credit which the system gave him.
Dustin moved very quickly.
Ten minutes later, a bunch of police officers stormed the underground garage.
Luke was rather comforted to know that the commander of this operation had dispatched a troop that was larger than a squad of eight.
Luke had voluntarily dropped all his weapons except his pistol before they arrived.
The newcomers didn’t order him to lie flat on the ground as they would a suspect. Their chief asked, “Luke Coulson?”
Luke showed them his badge, which was hanging around his neck. The chief glanced at it and saluted him. “Thank you for your contribution to this operation.”
“You’re welcome.” Luke nodded his head with a smile. He was in a good mood.
He nodded at the two people next to him. “This is Detective John McClane from NYPD. You better get him to the hospital ASAP. Next to him is his wife, Ms. Holly.”
The chief of the special forces simply nodded his head.
Luke patted the Ford next to him and said, “Also, this car is worth 640 million. See that it’s well-protected.”
The chief was stunned. “What?”
Luke explained, “Those criminals were here for bearer bonds. They looted Nakatomi Corporation’s vault and packed bonds worth 640 million dollars into this car. Don’t lose them, or none of us will be able to bear the consequences.”
The chief was well aware of what the consequences were.
The criminals were able to steal the bonds partly because they had made meticulous plans, and partly because of Nakatomi Corporation’s negligence.
However, if the bonds were lost again under police watch, many people in LAPD would lose their jobs.
The chief of the special forces hurriedly had some of his subordinates protect the Ford.
Luke suddenly remembered that he had left two people upstairs. He said, “I need to go up. Two important people are hiding upstairs.”
The chief frowned. “I can ask our men to get them out.”
Luke said, “One of them is on the 21st floor, and the other is on the 23rd. I specifically told them not to come out until I came to get them.”
The chief thought for a moment, and then had two of his subordinates go with Luke.
A while later, Luke returned with Takagi and Jimena. The chief couldn’t help but ask, “Who are they?”
He was quite curious as to why this amazing young detective had hidden these two people.
Luke said, “This is Mr. Takagi, head of the Nakatomi Corporation that was unfortunately robbed. This is Jimena, my girlfriend. She’s currently an intern at Nakatomi Corporation.”
The chief of the special forces asked suspiciously, “So, you were here to spend Christmas Eve with your girlfriend?”
Luke nodded matter-of-factly, “Of course. Why would I specifically come here to take down criminals when I’m from a different department?”
The chief of the special forces was lost for words.
Luke asked, “Can I go now?”