[Chapter 334: Satanic Cult]
Under the night sky, Los Angeles International Airport bustled with activity. After flights had taken off, Campos looked down from the window, observing a stark contrast between the northern and southern regions of the city.
The south was brightly lit, while much of the north lay in darkness, resembling a desolate wasteland.
Next to him, Juan muttered, "Everything that has happened this month feels surreal. I can't believe how different it's beco here."
Campos replied, "You get used to it."
"Yeah," Juan thought about everything that had transpired over the past year and fell silent, putting on his eye mask.
Campos also donned his mask, but his mind raced. Hawke had decided to invest an additional $10 million to upgrade the Butterfly into a security company, which ant they needed to recruit a large number of reliable personnel. Campos had considered this carefully.
There were plenty of officers in xico just like them. Although many drug enforcent agents claid to have inside connections with the cartels, so refused to work with them and left their cities instead. This group had received professional training and often possessed various skills. Many were retired xican soldiers.
For many of them, joining a cartel was often the first option upon leaving the military, although so chose to pursue different careers. A significant number crossed the border to seek opportunities in Arica. Campos knew that as long as the security company was well-funded, recruiting skilled personnel wouldn't be a problem.
---
In East Hollywood, at a Silver Lake apartnt, it was late. Hawke woke up suddenly at a noise and instinctively reached for his gun, pointing it toward the door.
The door opened softly, and Erica entered, saying, "It's ."
Hawke lowered his gun, asking, "What ti is it?"
"Early morning," Erica replied, shedding her jacket as she headed for the bathroom to shower. "You're still as vigilant as ever, babe."
Hawke sat up against the headboard, saying, "I guess I've been through too much recently and fear retaliation."
"Relax," Erica said as she finished her shower and dried her hair. She jumped onto the bed and cuddled up to him, finding a comfortable position. "You seem really stressed lately."
Hawke wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Is it that obvious?"
Erica replied, "It feels like you've got sothing weighing on your mind, pushing you to keep grinding."
Hawke chuckled. "Because there are always idiots wanting to take us down."
He thought about everything the Ackerman family had done, saying, "In today's society, if we're not at the table, we'll end up on the nu, being devoured by others."
Erica pondered this for a mont and replied, "That's pretty accurate."
Hawke switched the subject. "Is it true they wrapped up that Beverly Hills case so quickly?"
"Three beautiful girls, dead and naked in the night," Erica explained succinctly. "They had branding scars, probably done with a hot iron. Looks like sothing a cult would do."
Hawke asked, "Is there a connection to the last girl who went missing?"
Erica responded, "So far, it doesn't seem related. This is likely a cult from Beverly Hills. Arica has freedom of belief, so cults aren't restricted. In affluent places like Beverly Hills, there could easily be a dozen or more cults. The Church of Scientology that Tom Cruise follows is relatively ta. They won't easily take a life, but so are depraved and treat people like disposable objects."
Hawke recalled, "The Manson family killed Sharon Tate right in Beverly Hills."
"Beverly Hills has seen similar cases since, although the victims weren't as famous as Sharon Tate," Erica remarked. "I have an old detective on my team. According to him, those three victims bore a sign associated with Satanic cults."
Hawke frowned slightly. "Satanic cult? An inverted pentagram and goat's head?"
Erica shook her head. "Not quite. It's a double circle containing an inverted pentagram, with a vaguely visible goat's head in the center."
Hawke raised an eyebrow. "Are they really holding rituals in Beverly Hills? At a ti like this?"
"Do you think it has sothing to do with the current political climate?" Erica asked, "Not just the cult?"
Hawke thought for a mont. "You should keep your ears open about this."
Erica nodded, understanding. "Sure."
Hawke had a lingering impression that many mbers of a certain political party had close ties to Satanic cults. There had been online leaks of mbers indulging in strange rituals, including photos where celebrities, so of whom he recognized from Hollywood, sampled grotesque cakes that looked like human corpses.
He quickly lost interest in those thoughts as Erica pressed closer, and they began an intense romantic entanglent.
---
In the morning, Erica took her ti getting ready for work. After a long night of overti, she could afford to sleep in a little.
She intentionally made breakfast for Hawke. As they sat down to eat, Hawke received a call from Tom Cruise.
"Hey, buddy! My new movie's screening this weekend in Burbank. You should co!" Tom said on the line.
Hawke replied, "I wouldn't miss it."
...
Just after hanging up, director Eric Erson called, also inviting Hawke to the screening of Nightcrawler, which he had collaborated on with Tom Cruise.
Of course, Hawke wouldn't decline.
---
In Las Vegas, at Citibank, the glamorously made-up Fiona linked her arm with Carlos, dressed in a sharp suit, as they entered the bank lobby. After a brief exchange with the lobby manager, they made their way to the safe deposit area.
Fiona pulled out the key, saying, "I need to retrieve sothing."
The business manager verified the key and number.
In the bank, the equally made-up Hierro, Juan, and Domingo, scattered around, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. If anything went wrong, they were ready to assist in a quick exit.
Outside, Campos and Lareya each sat in a car, waiting on the roadside.
...
Once the manager confird the key was valid, he escorted Fiona and Carlos into a waiting room.
They waited less than five minutes before the manager and a bank employee wheeled in a heavy tal safe.
The safe was placed on a sturdy table.
"You two take your ti. Just call us if you need anything," the manager said before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
...
Carlos locked the door and nodded at Fiona.
Fiona put on gloves, using the key to open the safe. The large safe contained surprisingly few items -- a stack of passports and neat bundles of cash in various currencies: euros, dollars, and pounds.
Fiona examined the passports, finding them all legitimate. This was likely one of many escape plans prepared by lissa Ackerman.
On the other side were several plastic cases.
Fiona opened them one by one, revealing a collection of CDs.
This was probably the objective of their visit.
After thoroughly checking the safe, ensuring there were no hidden compartnts, she carefully removed the CDs, placed them in a pre-prepared bag, and examined the passports again to see if any were camouflaging additional items before storing them away as well.
There was no need to take any other items; everything else remained in the safe.
...
Fiona locked the safe and nodded at Carlos.
He opened the door and waved at the business manager.
Once the manager approached, Fiona instructed him to put the safe back.
...
Carlos didn't notice anything unusual and waved at Fiona. They exited the transaction area, passing Garcia as they left Citibank.
Others didn't rush to leave but instead conducted various transactions, acting like genuine banking custors, exiting the bank gradually.
...
Campos and Lareya didn't leave until everyone had exited, then departed in their cars one by one.
The group didn't linger in Las Vegas and returned to Los Angeles in their own ways, just as they had arrived.
During the trip, Campos called Hawke to briefly update him on their situation. Hawke told him to discuss it further upon his return.
If all went according to plan, the CDs contained secrets accumulated by the Ackerman family over the years. How to use this information required careful consideration and strategy.
---
Back in Los Angeles, Hawke stepped out of the safe deposit area at the Bank of Arica, carrying a briefcase. He t up with Edward and Raul, and they left the bank together.
The three of them exited through the front door and got into the business vehicle driven by Guti to return to Twitter.
...
As they reached Ocean Park Boulevard, Hawke instructed Guti, "Let's take the route through the Coast Building."
The vehicle made a preemptive U-turn and turned onto Ocean Park Road, where the newly constructed Coast Building lood prominently on the southern side of the street.
The exterior of the building was finished, and a small plaza had been built in front, with entrances to two underground parking levels on each side.
Edward looked up at it and remarked, "Our new headquarters looks stunning."
Hawke replied, "Caroline is talking with the city hall today. If all goes smoothly, we can sign the agreent soon."
The renovations inside the building had been temporarily halted, as they involved Twitter's relocation, and necessary modifications would require input from the tech departnt.
The server building in the center also needed to procure the latest server groups.
In the future, they planned to install Twitter's supercomputer.
The vehicle circled around the Coast Building, but Hawke didn't exit. Instead, he glanced through the window, taking in the surroundings.
Twitter had grown significantly, having already tapped into California state subsidies and discounts. This year, they were poised to secure millions from the Los Angeles city hall, and soon it would be the federal governnt's turn.
It was well known that federal grants were more generous; whenever there was an economic crisis or a new administration, they would splash funds around.
Those truly benefitting from it were primarily big corporations and conglorates.
Capital groups, alongside politicians, shared the nation's wealth among themselves.
This was one of the rules governing Arican society.
Hawke also wanted to get a slice of that pie.
*****
/Sayonara816.
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