The Wolf of Los Angeles

[Chapter 235: Good Neighbor]

In Hollywood, Ackerman Charity Shelter

Campos received a call from Hawke and immediately jumped into his car. He was very familiar with this area; after fleeing to Los Angeles, he had lived here for quite a while and had nearly died from a leg injury.

Although he later established Butterfly Consulting, Campos often came back to this place, even recruiting quite a few news informants from here. He especially remembered the young man who had helped him and had equipped him with a camera phone. Returning here for Campos felt like returning to where it all began.

Campos parked his car and headed to a spot where a group of Mexican youths gathered.

"Boss!"

"You back?" one of them asked.

"Boss, need help with anything?"

Those who recognized Campos came forward to greet him. He nodded in acknowledgment, taking out a photo of Miller Collins as he said, "I need to ask you all about something."

He showed them the photo. "Have you seen this person recently?"

One of them scratched his head and replied, "He looks kind of familiar."

Another chimed in after taking a closer look, "Isn't that that former sports star who lived in an RV at the parking lot?"

"Yeah! That's him." Another one remembered, "He hasn't been around for a while. Last I heard, some city officials towed his RV, and he never came back."

Hearing this lead, Campos probed further. "Can you give me more details about that?"

The third person recounted how the city officials had come to tow the RV and how Miller Collins had left with someone after that.

One of the youths pulled out the camera phone that Campos had given him and said, "Oh, we took some pictures."

At once, Campos instructed, "Ask around to see if anyone else got photos, and send them all to me."

Two youths left the group, searching for others who might have information. Soon after, another four came back with pictures from that day, adding up to several dozens in total.

Campos then inquired about Miller Collins' situation while he lived at the parking lot. More than one person mentioned that the man in the photo had been around frequently to visit Miller Collins, even bringing him some things.

After exhausting most leads, he handed out some cash, reminding them to keep things quiet, and drove away from the parking lot.

...

On the road, Campos found a clearer photo of the man's face and forwarded it to his company, urging them to begin searching for this person's whereabouts immediately.

Once that was done, he received a call from Juan and Garcia, who had sent him some photos and videos taken at the hotel in Burbank. Campos did not wait to review them and drove straight to the Silver Lake neighborhood.

After going through security at the entrance, he arrived at his target villa, negotiating with the security personnel before driving right in. He grabbed his phone and laptop, rushing into the exhibition room.

...

Once inside, Campos saw Hawke and Erica on the phone, standing next to the giant stuffed bear.

"Any news?" Hawke asked upon seeing him.

"Yes, I found something at the parking lot," Campos said, opening his laptop and connecting it with his phone. He clicked open the photo folder, saying, "There's been a white male visiting Miller Collins frequently..."

While showing the photos, he recounted everything he had learned from the parking lot.

Hawke focused intently on the laptop screen, where the images primarily featured two people; a disheveled man, who was recognizable as Miller Collins, and another person he had never seen before.

After completing her call, Erica joined them, standing next to Hawke to take a closer look.

Campos pointed at the unfamiliar man. "I've already instructed the company to look into this man's identity."

The slideshow of pictures continued, one after another.

Once they finished, Hawke and Erica re-viewed the images to glean more details. They found nothing new at first, but then Campos pulled out video footage from the hotel's underground parking lot.

This section was lengthy.

...

Approaching it from a professional's perspective, Erica suggested they look at footage within two hours of the incident.

The three of them settled in front of their computers, watching the video.

Given Erica's expertise at the LAPD, she quickly paused the footage, scrutinizing a Cadillac on screen. After a moment, she rewound and played it back before pausing again.

Erica then switched back to the phone photos and began to search through them. Hawke noticed her activity and leaned in to see what she was doing.

In short order, Erica found the image she wanted, though it wasn't very clear. Taken from a distance, it mostly centered on Miller Collins and another individual, but it also caught glimpses of others and vehicles on the fringes.

Notably, in the top right corner of the photo, a Cadillac was turning into an empty parking spot.

Being an elite detective at the LAPD, Erica sensed something was off. She flipped through the successive photos that were all from the same phone, taken from slightly different angles.

The Cadillac made its way into the parking space, and one could vaguely see a man in the driver's seat, but the details were too fuzzy for clarity.

Hawke shifted his focus from Miller Collins and the other individual to that vehicle.

Erica switched back to the video footage. "This car appeared at the entrance of the Burbank hotel's underground parking lot."

Hawke scrutinized the screen. Even though the video was crystal clear, the photos were a blur, but it was enough to conclude this was the same Cadillac.

"The day Miller Collins' RV was towed away and he went missing, this car was present," he recalled. "I got attacked with Brian less than half an hour later, and then this car showed up at Douglas Coster's Burbank hotel."

Erica interjected, "That vehicle raises serious suspicions. It's definitely problematic."

Campos was already on the verge of action, watching the Cadillac on the computer screen. "I'll have someone investigate it immediately."

Hawke nodded. "Quickly."

Erica retrieved two USB drives, copying both the video and photos onto one, which she handed to Campos. She signaled to a security personnel to take the videos and organize a search for the Cadillac.

...

In Santa Monica, at a monitored parking lot, a black Cadillac was parked in a long-term leased space. Tim stepped out of the car, walked around a corner, cautiously checking behind him to ensure he wasn't being followed, and then got into his daily-driven Volvo.

He drove out of the parking lot, soon arriving at 20th Street. By this time it was dark, and streetlights flickered on, but across the street, Hawke Osment's villa remained completely dark.

It had been like this for days.

Tim's initial plan was straightforward -- send Miller Collins' RV barreling into that villa and let everything go up in flames.

But Hawke Osment hadn't been back in several days.

Tim had even asked neighbor Jett Brown, who mentioned that Hawke had been busy with the company's financing and listing, and had been living there.

Tim entered the garage and headed to the second-floor window again, observing the darkened villa across the street that showed no signs of life.

The operation had failed, yet Tim did not view it as a failure. He was now Hawke's neighbor, and Hawke would eventually return. When that happened, there would be another opportunity.

There was a significant commission of hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake.

Tim took a shower and lay on a soft mattress, reflecting on the people and events involved.

Those who needed to leave North America had done so, and those who needed to hide were already tucked away without a trace.

...

Under the night sky, several individuals arrived at a used car market in Los Angeles.

They located a dealer and inquired about a Cadillac.

Soon those individuals unearthed relevant information and pulled up a segment of video from a still unmonitored security camera at the market entrance.

...

Minutes later, in the villa at Silver Lake, Erica's phone rang.

She answered a call, calling for Hawke as she walked to the villa entrance.

Someone had come specifically to deliver a storage disk.

Returning to the villa's exhibition hall, Erica connected the storage disk to her computer, opening the video file.

Hawke saw the man who had driven away in that Cadillac.

He recognized him!

"Tim Wilson!" Hawke remembered the name of his newly arrived neighbor with some surprise. "So it's related to him."

Erica said, "Looks like he moved to 20th Street in Santa Monica just for you."

Hawke shut off the video. "That's the only explanation."

Erica approached a metallic display case, directly opening the door to reveal firearms and pulled out a handgun to check the magazine and bullets.

Hawke opened another display case, which also contained guns.

The two were in sync, without mentioning reporting to the police or FBI.

With their current connections and evidence, there was little chance to legally pin anything on Tim Wilson.

He was no ordinary man and had powerful backing, so pursuing a legal route would likely end in two outcomes: long, drawn-out litigation or Tim Wilson's self-inflicted demise.

Neither of these outcomes pleased Hawke.

Like public relations and strategic planning, he had always preferred to avoid the conventional path.

Erica silently organized her weapons.

However, Hawke stopped her, saying, "Let my people handle this."

Erica asked, "Are you confident?"

"Absolutely." Hawke replied simply, "My three bodyguards live right next to Tim Wilson."

Erica queried, "Raul and the others?"

Hawke pulled out his phone, ready to make a call. "Let's find out if he's at home."

After thinking for a moment, Erica added, "To the south of Manhattan Beach, there's a warehouse where I keep some things. Nobody goes there regularly."

Hawke had her elaborate on the location before dialing Raul's number.

Minutes later, Raul and the other two left Silver Lake, switching mid-journey to a business car arranged by Campos, heading directly to 20th Street in Santa Monica.

*****

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