The black Ford SUV sped through the night. A portable police light flashed on its roof before the vehicle pulled smoothly to a stop on the street of the Bauhinia Community, which had already been cordoned off by yellow crime scene tape.
George stepped out from the driver's seat, and Locke followed him out.
From the back seat, Gwen stepped down as well.
The officer securing the perimeter lifted the crime tape when he saw George. He glanced at Locke and Gwen walking in right behind the boss and chose to look away, pretending he hadn't seen a thing.
Could anyone accompanying the top brass be an ordinary civilian?
Low-ranking patrol officers possessed at least that much situational awareness.
Inside and out of Number 55 in the Bauhinia Community, officers were bustling back and forth.
Gwen looked toward an ambulance nearby, and her eyes instantly lit up. She lightly nudged Locke. "Locke, look."
Locke had already spotted them as well. He hummed in acknowledgment.
Gwen immediately turned to George and said,
"Dad, Locke and I are going to check on Mrs. Miriam Shelton first."
George didn't say anything. He merely watched Locke and Gwen walk toward the ambulance before turning his attention back to the residence of Number 55.
With Locke by Gwen's side, George was perfectly at ease.
"Marcus!"
Standing at the entrance, Marcus was pointing at a spot on the ground, directing a forensics colleague to gather physical evidence. When he saw George walking over, he nodded. "Chief."
George punched Marcus lightly on the shoulder. "What's with the 'Chief' nonsense? You don't know who I am? Were you the first to arrive at the scene?"
Marcus let out a short chuckle, then replied, "Yeah. To be precise, I intervened right as the shootout began. Look over there..."
George followed the direction of his finger. Not far away, three men who looked like members of an street gang lay in a pool of blood.
"I shot them dead."
"...What happened?"
Marcus shook his head. "Looks like a violent home invasion."
His own house was just down the street, and he even served as the captain of the neighborhood watch for this community. The moment the first gunshot echoed, he had bolted out of his house in a flash.
He immediately heard gunshots ringing out from inside Number 55, followed by three men carrying handguns sprinting out of the house.
Marcus immediately identified himself and ordered the three men to freeze.
As it turned out...
They actually turned their firearms directly toward him. Marcus wasn't about to tolerate that; in a single second, he emptied his magazine, smoothly sending the three guys to meet Mephisto.
As for why Marcus was so absolutely certain these three were criminals rather than fleeing homeowners?
As mentioned, Marcus was the captain of the neighborhood watch. He knew exactly who lived in this community and who the homeowners were.
He even conducted background checks whenever a newcomer moved into the neighborhood to ensure there were no unstable elements within the community.
They stepped inside.
George raised an eyebrow as he scanned the living room. Four more bodies lay scattered across different positions inside. His gaze narrowed particularly on a body slumped at the foot of the stairs.
"Why do I feel like this doesn't look like a violent home invasion?"
The body at the foot of the stairs, along with the other three bodies whose positions seemed squarely oriented toward the stairwell, strongly indicated a clear and deliberate objective to move up to the second floor.
No matter how George looked at it, the scene felt incredibly bizarre.
Furthermore...
George slipped on a pair of gloves and examined the four bodies. Each one had been taken down with a single, precise shot directly between the eyes—an instantaneous headshot.
A strange sense of familiarity suddenly washed over him. "The owner of this house is named Clyde Shelton?"
Standing behind him, Marcus smiled. "Did I tell you that when I called?"
George shook his head. "No, Locke told me."
A look of realization dawned on Marcus. "Your son-in-law? How does your son-in-law know Shelton?"
George ignored the first half of Marcus's sentence. He stood up, staring intently at the four bodies in the living room that were all facing the stairs, and let out a quiet chuckle. "He knows a lot of people. Do you know the owner of this house well?"
Marcus nodded. "Of course. Old neighbor."
"His marksmanship is this good?"
"To be honest, it's the first time I've ever seen it. He's the chief engineer for a tech company."
"Has he always been in New York?"
"Yeah."
George nodded thoughtfully but remained silent.
Observing George's expression, Marcus looked around the room and stepped closer, lowering his voice. "What is it?"
George glanced at his old friend and considered his words. "You know I've been tracking the Peerless Assassin, right?"
Marcus nodded. "The entire NYPD knows that."
The personal hobby of any high-ranking boss would always spread through the entire department within a short period. George was no exception.
George stared back at the bodies, all killed by a single headshot, and noticed that some had even received a follow-up insurance shot.
"This marksmanship gives me a feeling that's remarkably similar to the Peerless Assassin's work."
The Peerless Assassin had a notorious penchant for headshots.
And every single bullet hit its mark.
Even if there were other wounds on a target's body, they were always insurance shots delivered after the initial headshot. The scene before them was an exact mirror of that pattern.
But...
Hearing this, Marcus immediately burst out laughing and shook his head.
"That's impossible. When the Peerless Assassin was broadcasting live on New York Television with your ex-girlfriend, my wife was watching TV right alongside the Shelton family."
George stared at the data regarding Clyde Shelton that had just been transmitted to his tablet. He passed the screen over to Marcus.
"I'm aware of that. But don't you find it strange? A regular citizen who has never had any connection to the firearms industry, shooting this exceptionally well?"
Marcus looked up at George.
George said flatly, "This background profile is fake."
Marcus: "..."
...
Outside.
Mrs. Miriam Shelton, who had been badly shaken, was feeling significantly better by now. She looked at Gwen in front of her with a look of slight disbelief, then glanced over at Locke, who was chatting with her husband a short distance away, and managed a weak smile.
"Clyde mentioned to me that Locke might bring his girlfriend to the museum sometime and asked if I could fill in as a guide for her. I had no idea his girlfriend was you, Gwen."
Gwen smiled warmly. "I didn't expect it either, Mrs. Shelton. Locke only mentioned it to me this afternoon when he picked me up from work. It really is an incredible coincidence."
Miriam nodded, sharing the sentiment completely.
Gwen looked down at the daughter sleeping in Miriam's arms, pointing gently as she whispered, "Is this Angie?"
Miriam looked down at Angie in her embrace and smiled softly. "Yes."
Gwen leaned closer, watching Angie sleeping soundly against Miriam. Thinking back to the three bodies she had seen earlier, a wave of sympathy washed over her.
"She must have been terrified, right, Mrs. Shelton?"
She vividly remembered how she had felt when she saw so many bodies aboard the Poseidon.
Fortunately...
Locke had been right by her side back then.
Gwen thought to herself, shifting her gaze to Locke, who had one hand shoved into his pocket as he offered Clyde Shelton a cigarette to help ease the tension.
Sensing her gaze, Locke looked over at Gwen.
Gwen offered him a warm smile.
Locke returned the smile with a gentle nod.
Clyde Shelton's face was dark with anger as he took a drag from the cigarette, his mind clearly working through something deep. Then, as if remembering something, he fumbled through his pockets and turned to Locke.
"Could I borrow your phone for a moment?"
Locke retrieved his phone from his jacket pocket and handed it over to Clyde.
Clyde muttered a quick thanks, brought up the dial pad, punched in a string of numbers, and walked a short distance away before placing the call.
"Consolidated Insurance Company, how may I assist you..."
Locke's ears twitched slightly, catching the voice coming from the other end of the line the moment the call connected. He looked thoughtfully toward Clyde, who was holding the phone and speaking in a low tone.
"RET, ID 023, Code 03. Unencrypted line."
"Understood. Please hold."
After a brief pause...
The female voice from the other end spoke up: "Your feedback has been logged. Thank you for your input, sir. Have a wonderful day."
Clyde replied with a brief "You too" and hung up the call.
Locke reined in his heightened senses. As Clyde walked back over, Locke offered a subtle smile.
"Let me guess. Calling your lawyer?"
Clyde handed the phone back to Locke. "Yeah. I have a feeling this is only the beginning."
A violent home invasion?
Heh.
Clyde thought about the group of thugs who had quietly broken into his home earlier tonight. If Locke hadn't given him that heads-up this morning, prompting him to retrieve the gear he kept locked away in the tool shed—gear he thought he would never have to use again—and take some time to oil and clean it...
Tonight?
Things would have ended up incredibly ugly.
What a group of low-life criminals would do upon breaking into a family home like his was something Clyde could deduce without even trying.
Clyde stared at Locke, his gaze intense. "Thank you."
Locke looked slightly startled.
"Thanking me for what?"
Clyde said simply, "Thanking you for the warning this morning."
Locke's expression shifted into one of surprise. Then, glancing around at their surroundings, he lowered his voice significantly.
"Mr. Shelton, you don't actually think—"
Catching sight of George and Marcus walking out of his house, Clyde cut Locke off smoothly. "Thanks for lending me the phone just now."
Seeing Clyde extend his hand, Locke chose to drop the subject. He closed his mouth and shook Clyde's hand.
"Mr. Shelton."
George walked over, casting a brief glance at Locke shaking hands with Clyde before addressing the homeowner.
"Mr. Shelton, would it be convenient for you to walk us through exactly what happened?"
Clyde nodded. "Of course."
With that...
Clyde turned his head to look at his wife and daughter, then addressed Marcus.
"I'm sorry, Marcus, but could Miriam and Angie stay over at your place to rest for tonight? It's getting a bit chilly out here."
Marcus slapped his own forehead. "Good Lord, I completely forgot about that. Of course they can."
"Thank you."
Marcus quickly called over two patrol officers, instructing them to escort Miriam and Angie to his house to rest.
George turned to Locke and Gwen.
"Alright, you've seen what you came to see. I'll have an officer drive the two of you back."
Locke and Gwen nodded in agreement.
George shook hands with Clyde, offering an apologetic smile. "These two kids heard that something happened over here and insisted on tag-along with me to check it out."
Clyde watched Gwen and Locke walk away with the officer, then turned his gaze back to George. "I only just found out myself. It seems my wife knows both of them."
As he spoke...
George rapped his knuckles against the side of the mobile command vehicle parked nearby, inviting Clyde to step inside.
***
Read 40 Chapters early on P-atreon.com/Redestro666