The Wolf of Los Angeles-Chapter 427: Someone’s Set Up

Campos went to order food, his eyes quickly scanning the waitstaff around.

Ugarte took a walk inside, glanced through the glass towards the kitchen area, and found a vacant spot to sit down.

After a moment, Campos came carrying burgers and fries and sat opposite Ugarte.

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They ate while talking quietly. Ugarte said, "I didn't spot those two guys. I looked carefully. The staff now aren't the same two I saw last time."

Campos stayed calm, took a sip from his soda cup, and asked, "Do you remember their names?"

Ugarte nodded, "I've got an impression."

Seeing the counter was less crowded, Campos said, "Go ask around."

...

Ugarte drank the soda, then got up and went to the counter, looking around before asking the female cashier behind the counter, "Where are Haji and Christie? I haven't seen them today."

The cashier glanced at Ugarte, not recognizing him. "Who are you? Why are you asking about them?"

"I'm a former coworker. Last time I ate here, I saw them." Ugarte pulled out a dollar bill and pushed it forward. "Aren't they working today?"

The cashier looked around and pocketed the tip, "They quit."

Ugarte instinctively glanced towards Campos but held back, "Why did they quit? Both of them together? How long ago?"

With a good tip, the cashier explained, "It's been a while, I don't remember exactly. They resigned together saying they found more stable jobs."

She thought a moment and added, "Oh, the two others hired with them also quit and left."

This caught Ugarte's attention, "When did these people start working here?"

"A few months ago," the cashier recalled. "The store was fully staffed, but suddenly four people quit which forced the owner to hire replacements. They didn't last long before leaving, and it made the owner furious enough to scold us privately."

Ugarte said, "Those guys are really troublesome! I searched for them because they owe me money. Last time I came, they promised to pay soon but then vanished."

The cashier suddenly understood, "Could it be they ran off because they didn't want to pay you?"

"Who knows." Ugarte pulled out another dollar bill. "Do you know where they live?"

She shook her head, "No, we don't really interact with them outside work."

...

At a corner table inside, Hierro slowly ate fries, observing the customers calmly alongside his companion.

There were only about a dozen customers, all looking normal.

...

On the other side, Campos ate his food appearing relaxed but remained alert.

Even after Ugarte returned, they found nothing suspicious.

Campos exited the restaurant and waited for Ugarte to join him before they got into the car to leave.

They then went to a nearby three-star hotel and found that the hotel's maintenance technician also quit some time ago.

What a coincidence!

...

The group gathered at the hotel and summarized what they found.

Carlos first said, "I didn't see anything unusual outside."

"Same here," Hierro replied.

Ugarte shared the information he had collected: "Four people were hired together, just enough to cover shifts at the McDonald's. From photos I reviewed, they all quit within three days of each other."

Campos added, "Even the hotel security who provided tips quit as well."

Carlos said, "This is too coincidental."

Hierro opened a bottle of water and said, "They probably didn't expect us to come back for a second investigation."

Campos nodded, "Hawke is more thorough than us."

The situation was obviously off. Ugarte asked Campos, "What's our next move?"

Campos said, "We already got their rented addresses at the hotel and restaurant, let's check them out, but probably won't find anything."

Carlos agreed, "Those guys definitely took off."

"If not, we'll track down the other four," Campos said, finding a new lead, "Those prior McDonald's employees who quit opened the door for the new hires."

...

They immediately acted, tracking addresses to suspected targets.

By day's end, they visited five apartments. Just as expected, all the targets had already moved out.

Apartment owners and neighbors barely remembered them.

The only lead was an apartment owner who quietly installed surveillance cameras in the lobby and shared the storage drive.

However, the footage was overwritten multiple times, and even Hierro wasn't certain they could recover any useful data.

...

The next day, the team searched for the four earliest quitters and faced similar dead ends.

All four left New York with unknown destinations.

Fortunately, Carlos learned from a neighbor that one person went to New Jersey and still kept in touch with someone.

Campos paid for contact info and an address.

...

That afternoon, they found the young man named Press in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Press insisted he hadn't done anything shady. Faced with Campos and Carlos's questions, he said, "This happened a while ago. Someone gave me a large sum of money asking me to quit that McDonald's in Bayside. The amount was large enough, so I agreed."

After thinking, he added, "Also, they asked me to leave New York afterward. I'm a man of my word; I took the money, quit, and returned home to work."

Campos asked, "Do you remember what that person looked like or any other features?"

"They had a West Coast accent," Press recalled, emphasizing, "Yes, a West Coast accent. I've traveled to California and it sounded like someone from there."

Carlos pressed, "Anything else?"

Press fell silent.

Campos was prepared, pulled out an envelope, and pushed it over, "Here's a tip for you."

Press took it, opened it, and smiled widely. He pulled out a Motorola smartphone, "I thought it was strange. Before he left, I secretly took a photo. Quality isn't great though."

Campos showed his phone, and they added each other on Twitter.

Press privately sent the photo through Twitter.

Campos and Carlos questioned him further with no new information.

They then said goodbye and left.

...

In the car, Campos carefully looked at the photo showing a very ordinary middle-aged man, the kind you'd pass unnoticed on the street.

He opened the photo album to check another stored image.

The man delivering a black package.

Campos had Carlos pull up the photo on his phone and switched to the photo just received.

They placed phones side by side for comparison.

Press's photo was a side profile while the surveillance camera caught the front.

Carlos pointed at the face, "Look here and here, those are black moles, the same on both faces."

Campos also noticed, "It should be the same person."

Carlos turned off his phone and said, "Clearly, someone set this up."

"Looks that way," Campos warned, "Let's keep looking for this man to find him."

Though unlikely, Carlos said little and left to meet with Hierro, returning to New York.

Campos called Hawke to report all findings.

---

Los Angeles International Airport, three cars parked directly at the private tarmac.

Edward instructed the crew to load packed luggage onto the cargo hold, much of it containing firearms and ammunition.

Hawke received Campos's call while standing at the jet stairs and listened carefully.

There was definitely something fishy.

Hawke planned to fly to New York to meet UN Environment Programme and Food Programme officials before heading to Africa.

He told Campos to continue investigating based on his thoughts.

Dressed in a female hunter outfit, Erica approached and got Hawke's call, asking, "Any updates from New York?"

He nodded, "Someone's deliberately steering us toward the Russians, trying to provoke us into a conflict."

Erica warned, "Not just the Russians, but the Satanic cult as well."

Hawke said, "Those Satanic cult issues only bring us trouble whenever we investigate."

He took Erica onto the plane and sat by the window, explaining the situation again, "I have a feeling someone behind the scenes wants to instigate a war with the Satanic cult."

*****

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