Chapter 364: Chapter 231: Reinstatement, Bar Homicide (Added for Brother Cheng’s Gang Leader)_1
"I want you to help me. Keep an eye on Monet, the new head of the Internal Affairs Department, for half a month. If there’s any information about me, tell me immediately!"
Dean didn’t beat around the bush and directly stated his reason for calling Anbei over.
Anbei was the third-ranked assassin in North America.
When it came to intelligence gathering, he wouldn’t be lacking.
Anbei nodded. "It’s a small matter. Oh, and I forgot to tell you, your assignment with the ’Lucifer Gaming Organization’ was canceled two weeks ago. No one should be paying attention to you anymore. The way this whole thing ended so anticlimactically, I feel something’s not right."
"No follow-up?"
Dean was also a bit surprised.
A while back, that crazy Japanese woman took an interest in his capabilities. She wanted to recommend him to the ’Lucifer Gaming Organization’ to earn Game Coin, and someone later came to personally evaluate him. Those people all ended up dying at his hands. Dean had figured at the time that this matter probably wouldn’t just end there.
Unexpectedly, the ’Lucifer Gaming Organization’ had directly withdrawn the assignment concerning him.
He couldn’t help but ask curiously, "Has anything major happened within this game organization recently?"
Anbei shook his head. "Besides more missions to recommend influential criminals, not much else is different from before. Moreover, I feel the higher-ups in this organization have been more low-profile recently, seemingly brewing something.
"I personally wouldn’t recommend you get too involved or pay too much attention to this organization. These big outfits on the dark web aren’t pure; many are controlled by official entities from various countries. The Lucifer Game Organization itself must have some US officials hidden within, which is why it’s managed to survive without being dismantled.
"You’re different from me. You have family and friends; it’s better if you stay away from these things!"
Anbei seriously offered his advice to Dean.
Dean chuckled lightly. "You care about me?"
"It’s not about caring. People always need friends. I don’t want my retirement life to be too lonely."
Anbei waved the several banknotes in his hand. "Alright, thanks for the tip, boss. I’m out of here!"
Watching Anbei’s innocuous, chubby figure disappear, a flicker of wariness crossed Dean’s eyes. He then turned and headed back to the police station.
The cookies tasted pretty good. After Dean ate one, he gave the rest to Daisy and Harry.
Seeing that he was still in the mood to order takeout, Daisy and Harry also relaxed.
In their opinion, Monet was their former boss who looked out for Dean, which seemed only natural. They never really worried about Dean being tainted by his father’s affairs, just that he might dwell on unhappy memories from the past.
As closing time approached, Carlo, the last member of the team, finally returned to the police station.
This guy had been shuttling back and forth between the forensics department and the police station for the past few days due to a previous case.
"Boss Dean?" Carlo greeted Dean, his face etched with weariness.
It seemed he was unaware that Dean had returned today.
"Carlo, how’s your ’part-time job’ treating you?" Dean raised an eyebrow at Carlo.
Carlo shook his head. "I got lucky this time. Holz and the others took good care of me for your sake, Boss. Otherwise, even if I had been exonerated, I would have ended up in a real mess!"
"So having the right boss is very important!" Harry winked at Dean. "Dean, since Carlo’s here too, let’s all go out and have some fun tonight!"
"Yeah, the kind where we bring our families!" Daisy added.
During the week and a half that Dean was gone, she sure felt like she was running low on life’s little luxuries!
Naturally, Dean didn’t care about the money. "No problem!"
Since he wasn’t officially back on duty yet, Dean simply stayed at his mom’s place for the next few days.
Thompson, that kid, had become obsessed with learning to drive recently. He’d even used years of saved-up pocket money to sign himself and his girlfriend up for a camping trip and wouldn’t be back until early May.
His younger sister, Sinclair, had become much more composed since the "poisoning" incident.
After Dean returned, she pestered him daily to take her to the shooting club so she could learn how to protect herself effectively.
His mom, Sheila, had recently become infatuated with a kind of ’modified Tai Chi’ similar to square dancing. In her free time, she often frequented a newly opened Chinese ’martial arts gym’ in the community, spending quite a bit of money to become a member there.
Out of curiosity, Dean also checked out the gym.
The master of the gym was surnamed Ma.
Master Ma’s son and daughter-in-law both worked in large companies in the United States. Relying on them, he too had obtained a green card and taken the opportunity to establish this gym.
From a Chinese perspective, dressed in his martial arts uniform, Master Ma did have a somewhat sagely, awe-inspiring air.
But Dean noticed the old man’s muscles were slack, and his moves lacked force. He’s almost certainly a phony, Dean thought.
Yet Master Ma’s health-oriented Tai Chi wasn’t bad, so Dean couldn’t be bothered to expose him.
Interestingly, once Master Ma learned that Dean was the chief detective of this area, his demeanor towards Dean’s mother became notably respectful, tinged with an ingrained fear of ’officialdom.’
Time always flies when you’re with family.
「April 26th.」
After conversations with several psychologists, Dean successfully obtained the Homicide Division’s reinstatement document.
"Dean, here are your service weapon and badge." Old Hunter, biting on his pipe, half-asleep, tossed a box to Dean.
Upon seeing this, Dean said curiously, "Captain Hunter, how come you seem so much more haggard now than when you were a deputy?"
Old Hunter used to slack off every day. Now, in just a short time, he seemed to have aged three or four years.
Old Hunter sighed. "Dean, you have no idea how much trouble Lawrence and those rookies have been causing me. Nowadays, I even say ’sorry’ and ’my apologies’ in my sleep. I’ve practically become that asshole’s designated ass-wiper."
Dean chuckled. "If it gets too much, you could just encourage Lawrence to marry Phoebe and then send them on a long holiday. Anyway, things are stable on my end, and I can handle any case that comes up!"
He was in dire need of Experience Points.
Old Hunter exhaled a smoke ring and shook his head. "That’s not an easy task. I often hear Phoebe complaining that Lawrence sends most of his salary every month to a small town in Texas. If she didn’t trust Lawrence’s character, Phoebe would’ve taken a gun and questioned him about whether he was keeping a mistress on the side."
Dean also remembered that ever since he’d met Lawrence, the guy had always seemed stingy and extremely averse to returning to his hometown.
This was a man with a story.
"Alright, I’ll have a chat with Lawrence tonight." Dean took his identification and service weapon, then tossed Old Hunter a box of cigars. "Commonwealth’s finest. Give them a try."
"Wow, thanks for remembering this old geezer."
Dean waved his hand and left the office.
Lawrence was busy leading his team outside. Dean could only call to arrange a time with him.
「Evening.」
After finishing his field duty, Lawrence, looking none too pleased, arrived at the bar for their meeting.
As soon as they met, the burly, rugged-faced man gave Dean a warm embrace. "Fuck! Solving cases without you around is torture, Dean! I really miss the days when you were here!"
Dean pushed over the drink prepared by the bartender and asked, "What’s up? Tough case?"
It was evident that Lawrence had been truly exhausted lately.
He downed two large glasses of beer in quick succession before exhaling alcohol-laced breath. "Not exactly tough, but we’re handling a murder case involving the illegitimate son of some rich tycoon. Those damn rich folks have such tangled relationships, they’re full of lies, and the worst part is you can’t just beat them up..."
After ranting for a while, Lawrence finally let out a contented belch. "By the way, Dean, do you remember that ’Cheston En’ guy I slapped around a few times?"
"The FBI rookie?"
Of course, Dean remembered the guy. That counterfeit currency case had been handed over to Cheston En and his umpteenth powerful connection.
"What about him?" Dean was curious as to why Lawrence would suddenly bring this person up.
"While they were investigating a counterfeit currency case, they must have pissed someone off. A group of Middle Eastern guys bombed their office and car—blew them sky high. Cheston En was lucky; he made it out alive. But his female boss, his partner, got caught in the blast. All that was left of her was a leg. Criminals these days are truly brazen."
Hearing this, Dean clicked his tongue.
Damn it. Good thing I realized something was fishy with that case and decisively let the FBI take the heat. Otherwise, wouldn’t my family and I have been the targets of that suicide bombing?
His face feigned sympathy as he said, "Yeah, these criminals, with their bombs and automatic rifles, are indeed quite brazen."
No sooner had Dean’s words fallen than screams erupted from near the bar’s back door.
"Oh my God, someone’s dead here!!!"
"Fuck! It’s Blood Cow Anbu! He’s been stabbed to death! Let’s go! His older brother’s a maniac; we don’t want to get dragged into this!"
In an instant, the quiet bar, which had a rather pleasant atmosphere just moments before, turned into a chaotic madhouse.
Some people quickly settled their tabs and left. Others didn’t bother and just slipped away in the commotion.
The bartender and the security at the door tried to intervene but were ignored by the patrons, each with their own agenda. Frustrated, they could only head to the back door to check out the situation and decide whether to call the police.
Lawrence leisurely finished the drink in his glass. "Dean, let’s go. We’ve got work."
Dean: "..."
When I’m not reinstated, everything around me is calm! The moment I’m back on duty, I can’t even grab a drink after work without stumbling into a homicide! Are you kidding me?