Chapter 330 - A Lose-Lose Situation, and Mastermind Behind the Curtain
After everything was done, Luke and Selina pulled back into their car again.
With the county officers approaching, they certainly didn’t want to be taken for robbers and shot.
In less than a minute, the county officers arrived, providing cover for each other. Seeing the four robbers on the ground, they subconsciously looked around.
They surrounded the robbers warily from behind the cars with their rifles. Two men stepped forward and kicked the robbers’ guns away before they shouted, “Clear!”
At the shouts, the county sheriffs approached the robbers warily, and two people quickly collected the robbers’ guns.
It was only now that the two county officers who were going to attack the robbers from the rear finally arrived. All of them were stunned.
“What the heck?” Big Nick’s expression was a mix of surprise and vexation. “Who handcuffed them? You?”
The two officers who had just arrived quickly shook their heads. They were panting hard from running. They weren’t capable of capturing four tough criminals alive without getting hurt. Luke finally sat up straight and rapped the car window, before rolling it down a little. Immediately, all the guns were trained on him.
Luke was as calm as ever. After all, his car was bulletproof, and he would be fine even if any of the guns went off.
That was also the reason why he was still in his car and had yet to fully roll down the window.
Big Nick narrowed his eyes and stared at him in disbelief. “You’re… that guy from LAPD?”
Luke raised his hand to point around, and Nick came back to himself. “Put down your weapons. He’s with us.” In the current situation, Luke was without doubt on their side.
Seeing them put their guns down, Luke finally opened the window. “Those people were planning to hijack my car, so I fought back. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”
Nick was stunned. “You…”
But looking at Luke’s calm face, he suddenly realized what was going on.
Big Nick wasn’t some good, naive cop. He was even more familiar with dirty tricks than Luke was.
He knew that by saying that, Luke was giving away the credit for arresting the robbers to Nick’s team.
Nick immediately looked much friendlier. “Not a problem at all. So, how did you…”
Luke interrupted him. “Nick, your men are injured. I happen to know some first aid, and I have some medicine and bandages with me. Do you need help?”
Nick slapped his own face in annoyance. “F*ck!” He had been so surprised just now that he had forgotten about his colleagues who were still lying on the ground.
At Luke’s reminder, he nodded quickly. “That would be great. Thank you.”
Luke picked up the first aid kit that Selina passed to him and gestured subtly at her.
Selina nodded slightly. After Luke got out of the car and closed the door, Selina moved into the driver’s seat and continued observing their surroundings. In the meantime, she called in and reported to Elsa.
She would’ve done so even without Luke’s subtle reminder.
These county officers weren’t entirely trustworthy, and it would be safer for both her and Luke if she stayed in the car.
Ten minutes later, the ambulance arrived to take Nick’s injured men away.
Luke stopped to greet Nick when he drove the car past him. “Nick, I’m sure you’re very busy, so I won’t waste any more of your time.”
Nick nodded wryly. He thought for a moment, then said, “About that thing you asked about… Call me tomorrow. We can talk about it later.”
Luke nodded and drove away.
“Just now, Nick and his men uncovered a huge amount of cash in the robbers’ truck, but they discovered it was counterfeit.” Watching Big Nick disappear in the rearview mirror, Selina asked, “So, did the robbers play the county officers?” Pondering for a moment, Luke shook his head. “Not necessarily. If they were so smart, they wouldn’t have been stuck here. From what we saw, they didn’t expect Nick to catch them at all.”
Selina asked, “Then what’s with the counterfeit money that Nick found?”
Luke chuckled. “Why don’t you make a guess based on the information we have?”
Deep in thought, Selina said in a low voice, “The county officers suffered severe casualties and the robbers were all caught. Obviously, both parties thought that the money was real. Is there something wrong with the other garbage truck?”.
Just then, Luke picked up a call. “Hey, boss. What’s up?”
Elsa said a few words on the other end before hanging up. Luke said, “Good news. Elsa stopped the other garbage truck and brought it to our department. Just now, they found several large bags of hundred-dollar bills in the truck.”
Selina was stunned. “So I was right?”
Luke chuckled. “No. They investigated the truck driver. He was just driving his usual route and didn’t act out of the ordinary. According to his schedule, he moves the trash to a dump an hour after leaving the Federal Reserve. He didn’t act unusually at all during questioning.”
Selina frowned. “If he was one of the robbers, or knew that we had intercepted the money, it would’ve been difficult for him to hide his emotions.”
Luke nodded in agreement.
That wasn’t something that one could rationally control.
It would be impossible for anyone to control their feelings with so much money at risk.
Luke had told Elsa to take more men and even Dustin with her to intercept the garbage truck, precisely because he was scared that someone would embezzle the money if they weren’t enough people around.
A huge pile of cold hard cash was much more attractive than a dull number on a check.
Selina frowned. “So, who’s behind this?”
Luke chuckled. “Do you need me to give you an answer?”
Selina raised her hand. “Wait, I’ll figure it out on my own. The answer can’t be so complicated, otherwise you would’ve told me directly. Wait. One of the robbers escaped; the black guy who was at the Federal Reserve branch!”
Luke didn’t say anything.
Encouraged and inspired, Selina declared, “He was there when the robbers used the armored truck to enter the treasury, and also at the Federal Reserve branch. He’s clearly an important part of the operation, but he didn’t leave with the robbers. Just now, he took advantage of the fight to secretly undo his handcuffs and escape from Nick’s car.”
Luke nodded slightly. “Anything else?”
Selina closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, as she subconsciously tapped the car door with her right hand. “The black man was caught the moment he left the Federal Reserve branch. Nick then came here to intercept the robbers. Now, his companions are either dead or have been caught.”
