The Wolf of Los Angeles-Chapter 345 - : The Time Had Come

[Chapter 345: The Time Had Come]

East Harleywood, Silver Lake Neighborhood.

The basement was brightly lit, and the vault door stood open as Hawke took out a brand-new AK-74, carefully applying gun oil to maintain it.

Erica appeared at the vault entrance, asking, "What do you plan to do with these guns?"

The smell of gun oil filled the air as Hawke meticulously assembled the disassembled components. He replied, "Sending some scumbags to meet their maker."

Erica walked over, grabbed a gun from a box, quickly disassembling it while also applying gun oil for maintenance. "Whatever you do, you must count me in," she said earnestly. "How can an assault not have me backing you up?"

Hawke leaned in and kissed her cheek, saying, "Whatever I do, I can't do it without your support."

They finished maintaining the firearms and opened two boxes to check the condition of the RPGs.

The boxes were filled with RPG-26s, more than enough to deal with all kinds of armored vehicles on the market.

Erica warned, "It's best not to use these domestically. Such high-powered weapons attract attention from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security."

Hawke finished inspecting and sealed the boxes, assuring her, "These are meant for overseas use."

After the last fire at the Venice Beach club, Broderick and Guerrero had committed suicide. Hawke suspected that if things escalated beyond control, Buddy Ackerman and his family wouldn't just stand still; they would likely try to flee North America.

They returned upstairs, and Hawke pulled out some prepared documents and handed them to Erica. "This includes the key players in the Ackerman family and the Ackerman Foundation."

Erica took it, flipping through the pages carefully. There were about a dozen people listed, with the most important being Buddy Ackerman and his son, Sean, along with two executives of the Ackerman Charitable Foundation, Barack Bernanke and Fernando Crane.

This time, Hawke had a clear target: to dismantle the Ackerman family's power completely.

---

Orange County, Ackerman Medical Center.

Chandler, a muscular guy, finished his late shift and drove out of the medical center, heading northwest through the streets before turning into a parking lot.

Near another exit, he parked next to a Ford.

Harley Wayne stepped out from the driver's seat, holding a bag in one hand while gripping her pistol in the pocket of her short coat.

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Chandler was cautious as he recognized Harley and scanned the surroundings before getting out of the car. He handed her the bag, saying, "Here's what you asked for."

Harley accepted the bag, passing over another one. "The final payment is inside."

Chandler peered into the bag and smiled, saying, "If you need anything else, just let me know."

Harley asked, "Who were the victims?"

Chandler tightened his grip on the money bag, answering, "Two illegal immigrants of Mexican descent; one had a kidney removed, the other had a liver taken. All their blood was drained for export, and the leftover parts will be sent to a feed factory, ground up with leftover scraps from pigs, cattle, and sheep to make chicken feed."

The last comment made Harley, who had just enjoyed fried chicken for dinner, feel nauseous enough to nearly vomit.

She held it together and stated, "I'll call you if I need anything else."

Chandler waved her off, got back in his car, and drove away quickly.

...

Harley climbed into her SUV, double-checking the bag before starting her vehicle and heading out of the parking lot directly towards Pasadena.

Since the two locations were somewhat far apart, by the time she returned to her apartment building, it was near dawn.

Irene, seeing Harley come in, let out a sigh of relief, saying, "I thought you had vanished."

Harley grabbed her laptop, powered it up, and asked, "Why would I disappear?"

Irene shrugged, "It's been days; you haven't made any moves, and I worried you might hesitate."

"You don't need to provoke me," Harley replied while opening the bag and extracting the storage drive to connect to her computer. "We're up against a massive force. I'm looking for more definitive evidence that would eliminate their options."

She opened the drive and clicked on the videos, saying, "We have to wait for the opportunity."

Irene didn't understand, "What opportunity are you waiting for?"

Harley handed her a newspaper, saying, "Take a look at this."

Irene's eyes widened when she spotted the headline image of George W. Bush's arrival in Los Angeles to comfort fire victims.

Harley, knowing Irene's grasp on politics wasn't strong, explained, "In the coming days, both the Democratic and Republican candidates will gather in California and Los Angeles, which means this place is about to become a battleground. The stories we prep will be the best leverage; Fox News is leaning red, so once these stories come out, it's like handing a weapon to George W. Bush."

Irene mainly focused on following the instructions, not considering the implications as deeply as Harley did.

Her motivation remained pure -- to get justice for Guerrero: "As long as I can get revenge, everything else is negotiable."

Harley elaborated, "Even though the media calls George a pig, when the knife is right in front of him, even a pig knows how to kill a donkey."

All Irene could say was, "What a fitting description."

...

Harley began watching the video, displaying a disturbing scene captured by a pinhole camera: a Latino man lying in an operating room, strapped to the surgical table, struggling desperately, but soon relaxing as the anesthetic was injected.

Then came the surgery, until the man's liver was removed and placed into professional preservation equipment.

The recording experienced interference, so the image wasn't crystal clear, with flickers and noise, yet the entire process was discernible.

Irene's eyes widened as she sipped water repeatedly, suppressing the urge to vomit. "It's not very clear," she said between gulps.

Harley responded, "The key positions in the medical center have shielding devices; getting footage like this is commendable."

Only news organizations under News Corp excelled in undercover work and eavesdropping, and all their equipment was cutting-edge. The Ackerman medical center had been around for a while, and some of its equipment hadn't been updated in ages, creating a gap.

Harley continued watching other videos, pulling up detailed information about the operated Latino man and his Mexican documents, as well as scenes of the body being bagged and moved away.

Irene squeezed her eyes shut after witnessing the latter.

She could guess that Guerrero worked for the Ackerman family, doing similar tasks.

But Irene didn't dare linger on such thoughts; only one idea persisted in her mind: Guerrero had paid the price, but the masterminds hadn't yet faced justice.

...

Harley organized everything and made backups. She took out several test reports from the filing cabinet, which were the official inspection reports for exported blood plasma from the blood bank under Ackerman Medical Center.

Harley had spent a fortune acquiring these from the FDA.

The test results showed that multiple batches of exported blood plasma to the UK tested positive for HIV.

Harley opened the safe to retrieve reports, photos, and videos provided by Irene, packing them all into a briefcase.

She looked at Irene, stating, "Tomorrow morning, you need to leave Los Angeles. If anything happens to me, you must secure the backups I'm handing over and don't trust anyone easily."

Irene nodded vigorously.

Harley was aware of the danger of this situation; it could end poorly.

Regardless, she remained unfazed.

"Get some rest," Harley said as she cleaned up, preparing for bed; tomorrow would bring fierce battles.

The lights in the apartment turned off.

Irene returned to her room and quietly sent a text.

...

Downstairs in a parked vehicle with tinted windows, Betty noticed her phone vibrating and quickly opened the message to respond, instructing Irene to cooperate with Harley, and then called Campos.

Juan sat up from the backseat, asking, "Are they about to strike?"

Betty replied, "Harley has gathered all the materials and told Irene to leave first thing in the morning; it seems they're about to make a move."

Juan expressed admiration, "A journalist like that is rare."

"Indeed," Betty reflected on their main mission: "Such a journalist should live and not be silenced."

Juan responded, "Let's do our best to ensure her safety."

...

The next morning, the sun had yet to rise when Harley was already up preparing breakfast.

Irene finished her meal, tidied her personal belongings, and directly asked, "Are you ready to report?"

Harley said, "I'll be heading to Fox News this morning to meet with the top brass; I'm aiming for today or tomorrow."

Irene approached and hugged Harley tightly. "I can't help you; I can only wish you good luck."

Harley patted her back, "Remember what I said: stay away from Los Angeles, and don't come back."

Irene nodded, released her grip, grabbed her bag, and left the apartment alone, taking the elevator down.

...

Once she reached the ground floor, Irene got into her car and drove away from the neighborhood.

She found a suitable spot to park, pulled out her phone, and dialed Betty's number. "Harley is about to make a move today or tomorrow."

Betty replied, "Get back to the headquarters and hide, don't come out for now."

Irene hung up and directed her car towards Santa Monica.

...

Meanwhile, Harley drove her SUV straight to Century City, entered the underground parking lot of Fox Tower, grabbed her briefcase, and headed upstairs to her independent office.

After a moment's thought, she knew this news event was significant; if the word got out, unexpected situations could arise.

For the sake of the news and her safety, Harley dialed the chairman's assistant.

To garner attention, she claimed to have breaking news that could directly impact the California election.

The assistant told her to wait briefly; under two minutes, he called her back.

Harley grabbed her bag and hurried towards the top floor.

...

Arriving at the chairman's office, she bumped into Gretchen exiting.

Gretchen pretended not to see Harley and quickly left.

Harley didn't have time to dwell on it as she entered the office, finding Roger Ailes reclining on the sofa like a mountain of flesh.

"What news do you have?" he asked.

Harley handed over the printed information to Roger, saying, "There are also some photos and videos."

Roger pointed at a nearby projector and computer, saying, "Go ahead and play it."

After reviewing the materials, photos, and videos, he became unusually serious, asking, "Are these sources reliable?"

Harley responded firmly, "Most are from the girl who committed suicide after the Venice Beach club fire, and some came from my investigation. To bribe the informant, I've used my entire budget for the year."

Roger replied, "Good job."

*****

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