The Wolf of Los Angeles

Chapter 382 - 382: Overkill

[Chapter 382: Overkill]

Entering the villa's living room, Hawke encountered Campos, who had just returned from Los Angeles.

Campos handed a document pouch to Hawke and said, "After leaving Costa Rica, I traveled to Suriname, which is a Dutch overseas territory, and conducted sample tests at a lab there. Here's the report."

Hawke opened the pouch and pulled out two test reports. The results showed that Melissa Ackerman and Sean Ackerman had matching blood types, making them suitable for use as blood donors. The plan was to keep these two locked up indefinitely.

Seeing Hawke take out a lighter to burn the reports, Campos asked, "Boss, do you want to go down and meet them?"

"No need," Hawke replied, quickly entering the study. He turned on the monitors, revealing clear footage of Melissa and Sean Ackerman in a room on the basement floor.

This brother and sister were so close yet could not see each other. Still, they clung to the hope of escape, eating regularly and maintaining good health.

Hawke instructed Campos, "Just keep things as they are."

Campos nodded and added, "As for the situation in Costa Rica, I've secured a deal with the Hurricane Mercenary Company. They will accept our investment."

Edward asked, "Are they in need of cash?"

"Don't be fooled by Hollywood movies; most mercenaries desperately need money," Campos explained. "For the Latin American mercenaries, those earning around $20,000 a year are rare. If they die on duty, the compensation is only $20,000. For contracts coming from North America that start at $100,000, only about a third reaches the mercenaries after passing through various middlemen, who often consider themselves to be the moral exemplars."

Hawke recalled the Ukrainian mercenaries in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, noting that a skilled German veteran earned between EUR2,000 to EUR3,000 monthly, and while the compensation for those killed in action seemed substantial, rumors said it was paid in Ukrainian bonds.

Campos continued, "They do have one condition: they won't take any assignments that require them to operate in any of the East Asian countries."

"That's fine," Hawke responded, fully aware of the dangerous and complex nature of the East Asian markets.

Edward seemed puzzled. "They can come to America but not go to East Asia?"

Campos explained, "Because we'll support them here in America."

Hawke turned off the monitor and left the study. He walked on while saying, "Stay in touch with them and appropriately scale up. Don't worry about compensation; what I need are people who can respond quickly to any tasks and carry them out efficiently."

Like the Ferguson family's overseas mercenary company, this was Hawke's firepower stationed abroad.

Power and weaponry were the basic safeguards of wealth.

Regarding the former, Hawke actively involved himself in power struggles in America because business and politics had always been intertwined; the notion that pure business existed was nonsense. As for the latter, while guns could be optional, they could never be absent.

Hawke understood the dire consequences of having tremendous wealth without the protection of power.

In this world, let alone war, even in the so-called free and democratic West, business disputes were never confined to established rules.

Before leaving, Hawke told Campos, "Twitter's relocation is nearly complete; coordinate with the FBI to root out the moles."

Campos replied, "I'm already prepared."

The Twitter shareholders' meeting was approaching, and board members along with several shareholders from out of town were arriving in Los Angeles.

---

The next morning, after a thorough inspection and activating the signal-jamming device in the meeting room, Hawke met with Mary Ferguson, Peter Thiel, and Reid Hoffman.

"Before we discuss the next steps for the company, we need to address one more thing," Hawke detailed a series of discoveries regarding eavesdroppers from earlier at the Coast Tower.

Twitter was Peter Thiel and Reid Hoffman's most successful investment. Although it hadn't gone public yet, based on Twitter's valuation, their last investment had already accounted for two-thirds of their respective assets.

In a sense, these two had tied their fortunes closely to Twitter.

Interests defined stances; Peter Thiel said, "We must root them all out. No matter who is behind it, anyone trying to hurt our company will pay the price."

Mary smiled at Hawke and said, "Go ahead with your investigation; whoever it leads to will feel our pressure."

Reid added, "We need to deal with these bastards with an iron fist!"

Hawke nodded to Edward.

Edward moved forward and handed documents to the other three.

Hawke elaborated, "To aid the FBI in collecting evidence, these documents have already been filed with them. This afternoon, we will hold a closed board meeting in Room 2, the content of the discussion is on these papers, and the entire conversation will be recorded for the FBI to reverse-engineer the signals. You must keep this confidential -- only those present should be aware."

With potentially billions of dollars at stake, the attendees fully supported Hawke's resolution.

Hawke turned to Edward and instructed, "Follow standard procedures and prepare for the afternoon board meeting."

Edward exited to make arrangements.

...

Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, and Mary Ferguson entered through the front doors of the tower, and many people saw them.

Edward also published the board meeting notice through Twitter's internal office software.

Besides board members, many executives were set to attend.

The news quickly spread through the company and was passed on to those outside.

...

In a parking lot not far from Coast Tower, Baldwin hung up his phone, opened the door of a neighboring business vehicle, and said, "I just got word that Twitter will hold a board meeting this afternoon led by Hawke Osment, with numerous executives in attendance. It may involve the next steps for investment and development."

Rams quickly checked his earpiece and recording equipment and said, "After waiting so long, we finally have news."

Baldwin smiled and said, "Important news means bonuses; the last information we sent back earned us a $5,000 bonus."

"With the board meeting, there's likely more significant news," Rams prepared for a big payday, "Hopefully, this time we can snag several thousand dollars in bonuses."

They couldn't stop laughing.

...

As Twitter continued to expand, more businesses were setting up shop in Silicon Beach, which was becoming a bustling commercial center with many hotels springing up.

A recently opened Four Seasons hotel was located less than 300 meters from Coast Tower.

In a room overlooking Coast Tower, three individuals were dining.

One of them received a text message, glanced down, and said, "Twitter is holding a board meeting this afternoon."

Another, sporting a tattoo of an inverted pentagram on his forearm, sat by the window, took a look through binoculars, and said, "Over an hour ago, except for independent director Jagielka, the other directors have arrived at Twitter."

The bald man, having finished his meal, said, "Let's hope to get some exclusive news."

The blond man looking at his phone said, "Without news, there's no money. We've waited long enough; if we don't get something soon, we should pull out."

The pentagram tattooed guy pondered, "I hope our informant isn't compromised."

The blond man responded, "Impossible! He said that Twitter's Operations Director, Caroline Jones, always comes out looking a bit off after visiting Hawke Osment's office."

The bald man picked at his teeth and said, "Then we should have been working to install something in Hawke's office."

"During the renovation of the chairman's office, there were two supervisors watching the entire time, so there was no way to do it," the blond man also wished for it but knew the conditions didn't allow: "We can only choose the nearest meeting room."

...

Shortly after noon, three disguised delivery trucks quietly rolled up near Coast Tower.

In the command truck, Jennifer Huey prepared according to the plan, positioning two specialized signal capture vehicles at predetermined spots.

Nearby, agents from Butterfly Consulting's security team waited, serving as personnel on the perimeter.

Additionally, several inconspicuous sedans and SUVs trickled to the vicinity of Coast Tower, where FBI agents prepared for tracking and arrests.

Jennifer Huey's phone vibrated; she pulled it out and looked, saying into the mic, "All units, be advised, the operation is about to commence; activate signal capture."

...

Simultaneously, another team of uniformed FBI agents accessed the top floor via a special elevator through the underground parking garage.

Campos escorted them to the adjacent Room 2.

These individuals unpacked special equipment, setting it up inside the meeting room.

...

On the 16th floor of Coast Tower, security personnel had increased, discreetly controlling every entry and exit.

...

All the reports consolidated back to Hawke.

Caroline was also a board member and was currently in Hawke's office. Upon seeing him finish a call, she said, "Once we identify who they are, I will ensure they end up in jail. We must severely punish these traitors to deter the rest."

Hawke understood the power of fear in the situation and replied, "Once we trace them, you will be in charge of following up."

Edward reminded, "It's about time."

Hawke said, "Let's get started; let's head to Room 2."

He took the lead, exiting his office to walk toward the meeting room.

Caroline followed closely, her heels clicking on the floor like hooves on cobblestones.

Edward grabbed the phone designated for communications, trailing behind them.

...

At 2 PM, all board members of Twitter entered Room 2.

Other executives sat at the back of the conference table.

Edward activated the room's recording equipment.

The meeting, led by Hawke, began swiftly as everyone discussed Twitter's business development status based on his suggestions.

...

These prewritten lines were captured by the eavesdropper in Room 2 and transmitted outside.

In the adjacent room, the FBI's technical team quickly intercepted the signal from the eavesdropper and contacted the command truck.

The same signal was sent to the two signal-capturing vehicles.

These vehicles were specifically designed by the FBI's Los Angeles division for counter-espionage efforts.

At this moment, it can be said that this was an overkill.

*****

/Sayonara816.