Chapter 589 - An Impromptu Trip Around the World
Luke and Selina went to the police department. Selina distributed the pastries with a smile, and Luke sat down to read the files on his computer.
He had to take care of Bloodmint.
Although she wanted to resolve her grudge herself, Luke had to at least make sure that she didn’t die.
Another way to look at the saying “business is business” was that when it wasn’t a business-related favor, it was harder to work with.
Rebecca and Luke weren’t business partners. It was completely up to him how he wanted to do this good turn.
To Luke’s mind, this good turn wasn’t hard to do, and he could earn credit at the same time; naturally, he had to accomplish it diligently.
This was a gang that had successfully bribed a D.A. and an experienced criminal judge; he was quite excited to take it down!
This time, he couldn’t ask Sonia, who was more skilled at gathering intelligence, to help him.
Anybody would be able to tell that there was something wrong with him if every person he looked up came to a bad end.
Fortunately, Mr. Smith had taken the blame for Elsworth, otherwise Sonia might have become suspicious of Luke.
The case was now under the eastside police department’s jurisdiction and had nothing to do with Luke on the surface, so it was fine for him to intervene.
On the computer in the police department, he didn’t directly search for files related to the case, but looked up the general public law and order situation on the eastside.
He had learned some of the actual information through other channels earlier on, and only needed to make one more trip tonight to lock onto Bloodmint’s enemy. He finished the research very quickly, and even had the time to call Catherine and ask about Claire’s trip to Los Angeles.
In the end, Catherine told him that after they saw Claire off at the airport, they would be traveling around the world.
Luke was dumbfounded. “Traveling around the world?”
Catherine replied happily, “That’s right. We’ll take a plane to a couple of places first, then a cruise ship across the Atlantic to Europe. We’ll be gone for around forty days.” Luke: “…You’ve really made up your mind, haven’t you?”
Claire laughed. “Just nice, Claire wants to go over to your place. She’s almost an adult now, and we can’t take care of everything for her. Joseph will spend the summer holiday at his grandfather’s ranch. I asked Sandra to look after him.”
Luke felt that the arrangement was fine. “That’s great. Right, when are you leaving?”
Catherine: “Noon at Houston Airport tomorrow. Claire’s flight is at twelve o’clock, ours is at three.”
Luke thought for a moment and said, “I’ll send someone to bring you something. Have Robert read the user manual first.”
Catherine smiled. “We’re going out for fun, there’s no need for a gift.”
Luke: “It’s not a gift. Just have Robert read the user manual.”
Catherine: “Fine, everybody knows I can’t understand appliance user manuals! You don’t need to remind me twice.”
Luke was amused. “Okay, have fun. I’ll take care of Claire.”
He put down the phone and smacked his lips. He was glad that Robert and Catherine were taking an impromptu trip.
They hadn’t gone on a long, romantic holiday on their own since their honeymoon, which was many years earlier.
Listening in, Selina was a little moved. “Do you think I should tell my parents to do something similar?”
Luke: “Sure. As long as you can convince Mario, I’m sure Sandra would be happy to go along.”
They didn’t need to worry about her siblings being left on their own.
Selina had a lot of cousins and relatives who lived close by. They were all honest and sincere folk who worked on farms and ranches. They could totally take care of Talia and her other siblings.
Selina put on a bitter expression. “Then there’s probably no hope.”
Luke got up and said, “Let’s go and do some shopping for Claire. Only a girl knows what another girl needs.”
Selina got up as well and sighed. “Forget it. Mom and dad already took an international trip at the beginning at least.” Luke was blank for a moment before he laughed despite himself.
Years ago, Mario and Sandra eloped from Mexico to America; that was indeed an international trip.
As their daughter, Selina could mock them, but it was inappropriate for Luke to say anything.
Putting his hand on her shoulder with a smile, Luke said encouragingly, “There will be a chance in the future. You’re a rich lady right now. If you discuss it secretly with Sandra first, it’ll be very easy to surprise Mario later.”
Selina thought for a moment and realized that it made sense.
Given what Elizabeth had mentioned about the gold mine, Selina could get a thousand dollars in dividends every day. Her family was no longer strapped for cash. It was just that Mario was a hard-working man who was used to keeping busy. He couldn’t just sit around.
Luke had always appreciated that about him. Mario was so much better than other people who messed around with drugs, gambling and prostitution the moment they got rich.
Buying a huge amount of daily necessities for Claire, Luke and Selina slipped off home.
It was very rare for them to be ordered to goof off in L.A.. Thanks to Stark Industries’ fury, law and order in Los Angeles had never been better.
When they got home, Luke fiddled around with the device for Robert and Catherine’s trip. Of course it wasn’t a weapon, but a satellite phone.
The current satellite phones on the market were well-established. Luke mainly boosted the signal receptor and added a tracker so that he could check the phone’s location at any time.
The modification didn’t take long.
With Tony’s skills, it was a piece of cake. It was a good thing Luke didn’t care if such a task was below him; he made whatever he needed himself.
He then had Jenny arrange for an employer – a young man on his first day on the job at Luke’s company – to drive to Houston and deliver the phone to Robert.
Luke didn’t feel guilty about asking someone else to run errands for him, since he was the one paying the young man’s salary. Since he was rich, he could leave the small things to other people to handle.
Done with his family matters, Luke went out again that night.
What he didn’t know was that Selina and the dog slipped out as well after he left.
The two sneaky guys communicated telepathically.
“Are you sure Luke won’t be back early?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve noticed that every time he goes out, he’ll be gone for at least an hour. We’ll go beat them up right away, take their money, then come back. It’ll take us 37 minutes at most.”
“Okay, but if he catches us, you won’t get your earnings from tonight.”
“That’s unfair!”“Do you want me to call Luke back to reason with you?”
“…Let’s go now in case that guy returns earlier.”
“Didn’t you just say that it’ll only take 37 minutes?”
“Safety first.”
“Hey, why are you imitating Luke?”
Elsewhere, Luke headed straight for a major nest of “Latino Boys,” a gang on the eastside.
He was here because they were always well-informed.
Luke snuck into the center of the base after a couple of minutes. He found the boss of the place, held him down in a room, and tortured him for information.
