At six in the morning, Bruce was woken up by the vibration of his phone on Ivanka’s bed.
Ivanka stirred beside him without even opening her eyes.
They had exercised too late last night.
“Work?”
“It’s a call from Hank,” Bruce said, glancing at the caller ID before pressing answer.
“This is Stacey.”
“Vacation’s over, Bruce,” Hank’s voice sounded like he hadn’t slept all night, raspy and laced with exhaustion.
“Get to the briefing room before eight.
Something happened in Chinatown, and we need everyone.”
The call ended.
Bruce rolled out of bed and rubbed his face, which was still numb from sleep.
He had been resting for three days since saving Justin that night.
Perhaps because he had offended Gladysal from Internal Affairs, his shooting report was being held up quite strictly.
But Bruce wasn’t worried.
For one, he trusted Hank to handle it; for another, it was a good opportunity to familiarize himself with the supernatural skill he had just acquired: Life Radar.
“Chinatown?” Ivanka sat up as well, the silk sheet sliding down to reveal her shoulders.
“Something about the casinos?”
Bruce turned to look at her.
“You know about it too?”
At this, Ivanka rolled her eyes.
Was she a caveman?
“Honey, it’s all over the Chicago news.
Apparently, there have been three consecutive armed robberies, and fifteen people are dead.”
“Hank didn’t give me the details, but that must be it,” Bruce kissed Ivanka on the forehead and got out of bed to start getting dressed.
“Go back to sleep.
You were too tired last night.”
“Can’t sleep anymore.” Ivanka rolled her eyes again and got up to help Bruce organize his clothes.
“Remember to eat breakfast, and…
be careful.”
Bruce was fully dressed.
He turned and kissed her forehead.
“I’m always careful.”
At 7:50 AM, at the Intelligence Unit office of the Chicago South District 21st Precinct.
When Bruce pushed the door open, the room was almost full.
Hank stood in front of the whiteboard, his expression serious.
Old Ai, Antonio, Jay, Erin, Adam, and Sheldon were all there.
Katherine was there too, standing behind Hank with a serious expression.
Bruce looked at his partner with some surprise.
He had called her three times in the last few days, but it had gone to voicemail every time.
He had thought Katherine was on some classified mission.
Katherine looked up at him, nodded, and her serious expression softened slightly.
She looked a bit exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes, but her gaze remained sharp as ever.
“Bruce, find a seat first,” Hank nodded at Bruce.
After their conversation that night, the two had become less formal with each other.
“Since everyone is here, let’s begin.”
Bruce sat in an empty seat, looking at the crime scene photos plastered on the whiteboard in front of him.
The three looted casinos were in shambles, with bodies covered in white sheets and bullet holes riddling the walls.
Bruce scanned the photos quickly.
It was professional work; almost no useful evidence had been left behind.
“In the past five days, three underground casinos in Chinatown have been hit by armed robberies.
Each robbery has resulted in at least five deaths, bringing the total death toll to seventeen,” Hank tapped the whiteboard with his finger.
“It’s a five-person team, using fully automatic weapons, police-grade body armor, and military-grade communication equipment.”
Ruzek whistled.
He was the only one in the Intelligence Unit who wasn’t mature enough yet.
“Seventeen people?
This is beyond a normal robbery.”
“That’s why we’re taking over.” Hank didn’t mind Ruzek’s flippancy; he respected his team members’ personalities as long as their work remained flawless.
“Originally, this was the Anti-Gang Unit’s case, but the death toll and the escalation in modus operandi led the Commander to decide to transfer it to the Intelligence Unit. Find the original chapter at novelping(.)com.
And…”
As he said this, Hank looked at Katherine.
“And, we have undercover intelligence.”
All eyes turned to Katherine.
She stood up, walked to the front, and took over from Hank.
“For the past five days, I’ve been undercover in Chinatown, posing as a temporary casino employee,” Katherine’s voice was calm and professional.
“Based on my observations and the information I’ve gathered, this group is not a bunch of ordinary robbers.
Their operations have the precision of military maneuvers: one minute to enter, one minute to secure the scene, three minutes to loot, and one minute to withdraw.
They keep every operation to exactly six minutes.”
“SWAT tactics, or special forces tactics,” Jay took over.
As a former Ranger, he was most familiar with this type of assault tactic.
“Possibly,” Katherine nodded and continued, “There’s one more point.
They seem to know the casinos’ security layouts.”
“During the first robbery, they cut the backup power and alarm systems directly.
The second time, they avoided the newly installed hidden cameras.
The third time, they destroyed the reinforced lock on the back door in advance, and that lock had only been changed the day before the incident.”
Bruce frowned.
“Inside information?
Or pre-scouting?”
“Exactly, it’s very professional reconnaissance.” Katherine agreed with Bruce’s point and added her own findings.
“I also noticed a detail: a day or two before each incident, there were ‘municipal workers’ repairing lines or pipes near the casino.
I tracked one of the groups; the license plate was fake, and the work uniforms looked stolen.”
Hank interjected, “So, we strongly suspect that someone is impersonating police or military personnel to obtain target intelligence and then carrying out the robberies.”
Antonio also raised his own question at the right time.
“The question is, who are they?
And why choose casinos?”
“Casinos have large amounts of cash, and the victims are unlikely to cooperate fully with police investigations,” the experienced Old Ai analyzed.
“Many gamblers are illegal immigrants or have criminal records, and some casino owners are even gang members, which provides the robbers with an extra layer of protection.”
“But killing seventeen people?” Jay shook his head, unable to understand.
“That’s going to attract attention, no matter what.”
“Unless…
unless the killing is actually part of the objective,” Bruce spoke up.
Everyone looked at him.
“It’s not murder incidental to robbery, but rather creating terror through murder, with the robbery being incidental.”
The briefing room went silent instantly.
Everyone was shocked by Bruce’s idea.
Hank stared at Bruce.
“Go on.
Explain your point.”
“If they just wanted money, they could act like ordinary robbers: threaten, control, take the money, and leave,” Bruce pointed to the death toll statistics on the whiteboard.
“But this group is the exact opposite.
They cause mass casualties every time, and they are becoming increasingly violent.
Five deaths the first time, six the second, and six the third—but that included two children.”
“This looks like a demonstration, an act of intimidation.”
“Intimidation of whom?” Erin asked.
“All the underground casino operators,” Bruce continued his analysis.
“Someone wants to unify the gambling business in Chinatown, driving out or annexing all independent casinos.
These attacks might be clearing out competitors while simultaneously warning others.”
Hank nodded in agreement.
“A very reasonable assumption.
So we need to find the mastermind and the real reason behind the cases.”
“All right, assignments.
Katherine, you and Bruce continue your undercover work and find the location of the next attack; Jay, Erin, and Antonio, investigate the source of the weapons—professional equipment like that isn’t easy to buy; Old Ai, you and Ruzek go check the records of retired special forces or former police, and try to find these ghosts; Sheldon, you continue analyzing surveillance and communication patterns.”
“Yes!”
At 10:00 AM, 23rd Street West, Chinatown.
On the surface, they were observing for suspicious individuals; in reality, this was the first chance they’d had to speak privately in days.
“Sorry I didn’t return your calls,” Katherine spoke first, her eyes fixed on the noodle shop across the street, though her attention was clearly on Bruce.
“Undercover mission; Hank required radio silence.”
“I understand.” Bruce scanned the street situation; the Life Radar gave him the most direct feedback.
“Is this mission dangerous?”
“More dangerous than it looks.” Katherine admitted frankly, her tone tinged with exhaustion.
“The owner of the casino I’m working at, a man named Mr.
Chen, has already started suspecting an internal leak.”
“He executed a dealer he thought was a snitch.
Right in front of everyone, he cut off her ear with a meat cleaver.
I had to act both terrified and loyal; that balance is hard to maintain.”
Bruce could hear the pressure in her voice.
Katherine was a good cop, but the mental toll of undercover work was something ordinary people couldn’t comprehend; it was like tearing oneself into another individual.
“Did you go see Hank’s son?” Katherine seemed to want to stop talking about undercover life and changed the subject directly.
“I did, at the hospital.
He’s doing just fine, just shaken up,” Bruce was also tactful enough not to dwell on the previous topic and followed her lead.
“I just heard that Internal Affairs is still investigating Hank, and Antonio is now suspicious of every move he makes.”
“I know.” Katherine’s voice was low.
“Antonio even talked to me today, asking if I’d noticed any ‘misconduct’ by Hank.
I told him I only care about catching criminals.”
“How did he react?”
“Not very happy,” Katherine turned to look at Bruce, her eyes fixed on him.
“What about you?
I heard you broke into the warehouse single-handedly to save Justin.”
Bruce sensed what she was worried about.
“It was self-defense, Katherine.
He was about to kill Justin.”
“I’m not questioning your decision.
If it were me, I would have pulled the trigger, too,” Katherine said.
“It’s just…
Bruce, you’ve changed a lot recently.
It seems your ‘psychologist’ has taken very good care of you.”
“Hahaha, pressure changes people,” Bruce answered vaguely.
“But we’re still partners, aren’t we?”
Katherine stared at him for a few seconds, then turned back to look at the street.
“Maybe.
But if you need to talk about anything…
you know, I’m always here.”
“I know.” Bruce smiled and said slowly, “Same here.
I’m always here.”
Just then, the side door of the casino opened.
An Asian man in a suit walked out, looking nervous and glancing back from time to time.
He walked quickly toward a black Mercedes, but two Asian men in leather jackets stopped him and pushed him against the wall.
“Nine o’clock position,” Bruce said in a low voice.
“Looks bad.”
Katherine had already picked up her binoculars.
“Those two have guns, at their waists.
The one being stopped is the casino manager; I saw him when I was undercover.
His name is Lee.”
Bruce started the car and slowly approached, stopping half a block away.
They saw one of the Asian men poking Lee’s ribs with the barrel of a gun.
Lee’s face turned deathly pale, his hands were raised, and he was saying something quickly.
“They’re threatening him,” Katherine said.
“Are you recording?”
Bruce had already aimed his camera at the Asian man with the gun.
Just as he turned his head, Bruce clearly captured his face: forty-something, sharp chin, black hair, cold and hard eyes.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”