Empire of Shadows

There were two pools of blood on the ground. The police captain stood with his hands on his hips, looking at the blood. A scene of his own men being attacked and then taken away had already appeared in his mind.

There were also criminal investigators in the state police department, including the section branch, and there were also specialized criminal police.

At the scene, they quickly deduced some possible situations.

“One person, I don’t know if it was David or his partner, should have been standing here to urinate. There is also splattered blood on the wall.”

“They attacked him here.”

“Their car doors were not unlocked, so I’m more inclined to think it was David who was standing here, but the splatter of these bloodstains is a little bit off.”

“After they knocked this person down, another person came over to check the situation, and then he was also knocked down by them.”

“And then directly…”

The two criminal police officers found some fresh scratches on the ground. “They might have been dragged onto a car by the side of the road. There are some traces left by hard objects on the ground, which may be their buttons or something else.”

“In short, we are inclined to think that they may have been kidnapped or killed.”

After the police captain had heard them finish, he pursed his lips. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say or what to do.

Two of his subordinates had been kidnapped. There was no doubt that it was not for no reason. It must be that those people had come for revenge.

He was also a little afraid at this time. Greed had made him lose his composure for a moment, so much so that he had made a big mistake.

In fact, the moment he had led his men to make a move, he had already regretted it.

A force that could transport so much wine at once would definitely not be a small force. Once the other party retaliated, he might not be able to withstand it.

But this batch of wine was too much, so much that he had acted impulsively regardless of the consequences.

Now, it was time to pay the price for his impulse!

At this time, a “New Birmingham Police Department” vehicle was parked on the side of the road. Two police officers got out of the car and walked over.

The police captain turned to look at them and at the same time, introduced in a low voice, “They might be the police officers sent here to assist us.”

Then he smiled and walked forward to shake hands with the two of them.

“Have you found anything new?” the local criminal police asked after looking at their work.

The police captain shook his head. “We only know that they were kidnapped. Do you have any clues?”

The local criminal police looked at the people by the police captain’s side. “We have found an eyewitness…”

The surrounding police all turned their heads to look over here. The police captain couldn’t help but ask, “Where is he?”

The local criminal police frowned slightly. He found that the police captain’s attitude was too… strong!

But this kind of strength was not like the kind of strength that was truly concerned about his own police officers. He didn’t know how to describe it.

The police captain wanted to know the development of the matter, but not because his police officers had disappeared. The local criminal police just had this feeling.

In fact, his feeling was not wrong at all, because behind this matter there was a very tricky thing—they had, by killing those train drivers and car escorts, swallowed the wine of a gang.

They had not destroyed these wines, which were clearly identified as contraband by Congress, on the spot, nor had they handed them over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Hazardous Materials, but had directly swallowed them themselves.

Their purpose was to privately swallow these goods that they had intercepted the vehicles for, that the battle had occurred for, and that had led to the sacrifice of some police officers.

No one knew about these things except for themselves. If this matter were to be exposed by those gangs from out of town, at that time, would the ordinary participants in the branch be dismissed, would they have to go to jail, he was not clear.

But he would definitely be in big trouble!

So he was very nervous now, and also very urgent. Once this matter was exposed, it would not be just this matter that was exposed.

The things they had done in the no-man’s land in the past might also be exposed—

On the interstate highways of the Federation, there would often be a no-man’s land of a hundred, or even two or three hundred kilometers. This place was a barren land, with no people for a hundred kilometers. Occasionally, there would be passing vehicles.

To kill someone in such a place, and to throw the body into the suburbs, no one would know what had happened.

They had done many of them. Otherwise, a group of poor highway police, how could they all live in villas and buy luxury cars?

They often blamed these crimes on some serial killers, or on some gangs that had committed many evils on the highway. These people themselves did not know if they had done these things.

If they could be captured alive, there was a high probability that they would confess. Even if they didn’t confess, they could continue to push it onto other criminals. There would always be one who would be shot dead during the capture, and then all the cases would be closed.

For so many years, it was not just him who had done this.

But this time, it was very dangerous.

If the matter were to be exposed, he couldn’t guarantee that every police officer would firmly stand by his side. At that time, he would definitely lose everything, and might even be sent to the electric chair!

And this might be the “best” outcome. If he was not sent to the electric chair, it would mean that he would have to suffer in prison!

A police officer, especially a police captain, being locked up in prison, that experience would be absolutely terrible!

That’s not a prison, that’s hell!

The thought of this, the thought that he might lose everything he had, made a layer of sweat visibly appear on his forehead.

It was already early November. Although this was the southernmost part of the Federation, the temperature had also dropped to a dozen or so degrees.

Want to sweat?

Unless you’ve had intense exercise, but they were just standing here.

The local criminal police glanced at his colleague. The two of them exchanged a look for a while. They both felt that this police captain might have a problem, but they did not meddle.

“He’s in the local branch now.”

The police captain breathed a sigh of relief. “Take me there.”

Soon the group of people arrived at the local branch, and in the branch, they saw the eyewitness, who was being questioned.

The police captain had originally wanted to go in, but was stopped. A police officer blocked him. “My colleague is working. You can’t go in now. It might affect the result.”

He looked at the police officer who was stopping him for a while. The two of them were at a stalemate.

This was the city police department’s branch, not his section branch. In the end, he could only snort and continue to wait outside the room.

After about a dozen minutes, the eyewitness came out of the interrogation room. The police captain glanced at a subordinate, who nodded slightly and turned and left in advance.

And the police captain entered the interrogation room. The police officer in charge of the interrogation brought over the transcript and, at the signal of the local branch director, handed it to the police captain.

The police captain just glanced at it, and his face changed. Then he said, “Thank you for the clues you provided,” and then turned and left.

It was confirmed. It was the Lance Family.

The eyewitness’s testimony mentioned that the people were all dressed almost the same. The two guys who had appeared in the light all had a red armband on their left upper arm.

This was a characteristic of the Lance Family. They had already arrived here, and had captured their men!

A feeling of heart palpitations made him suddenly stop as he was walking quickly. He covered his heart with a look of pain for a while.

“Are you okay?”

He shook his head, pursing his lips tightly. At the moment of the heart palpitations, he felt as if his heart had suddenly gone into chaos and was beating uncontrollably. There was a feeling that he would die.

But fortunately, these feelings came quickly and went quickly. He took a deep breath and continued to walk outside.

Now his mind was a blank.

He couldn’t guarantee that his two subordinates could be like fucking loyal warriors and say nothing.

He had learned about the Lance Family during this period. He knew that this group of people were all madmen. A while ago, the Perez family’s farm had been burned down, and a direct descendant had been roasted alive. This was their handiwork!

At this time, he really regretted it.

It wasn’t that he felt that what he had done was wrong, but that a force that he clearly could not resist had intervened in this matter, and he was done for!

If the Lance Family’s men had not discovered that it was him, that it was them, he would still not have regretted it.

After returning to the section branch, his mood stabilized a little. Now only here could he feel a sense of security.

He considered for a long time and dialed the number of the chief of the state police’s office.

The call was quickly answered. The voice inside was very gentle, but not without strength. “This is the chief of the state police’s office.”

“It’s me.”

“Matthew?”

A slightly surprised voice came from the receiver. “What’s wrong?”

“Calling me out of the blue.”

The police captain was silent for a moment. “I’ve run into a little trouble.”

A sneer came from the receiver. “You’re always running into trouble, from the time you were in school, to the time you started working, until now.”

“Alright, since I still have a little time, tell me, what trouble have you run into.”

The police captain rubbed his cheeks hard. After a while, he finally said in a deep voice, “This matter has to be talked about from more than a month ago…”

“Wait, wait, Matthew. It’s true that I have time, but I don’t have time to listen to you tell me a story. Get to the point,” the chief interrupted him. Being the chief of the state police was a very busy job.

The state police department had many departments under its jurisdiction, for example, the highway patrol, the highway patrol, the criminal police… many.

These branches would always have some matters to report to him. In addition, there were also some capitalists in society who often kept in touch with him, so he was also a busy man.

He could find out about the trouble that this Police Captain Matthew had run into, but he didn’t want to hear a story. He wanted something direct.

“More than a month ago, during a routine inspection, we found several trucks transporting a large amount of wine, whiskey. And then we intercepted this batch of goods.”

“Wait a minute!”

The chief interrupted him again. “I remember that several of your police officers died last month. Don’t fucking tell me this has something to do with you intercepting a truck!”

The police captain said nothing, but this was enough to let the chief realize that he had guessed right.

He cursed directly on the phone, “Fuck you, Matthew, fuck you!”

“I don’t care if you mess with some small things, but this is fucking a gangster’s wine. You actually dare to swallow a gangster’s things without thinking clearly?”

The chief knew very well the little tricks that these sons of bitches were doing below, extorting the passing truck drivers, and sometimes even playing the role of highway robbers, robbing and killing on the road.

He knew, but he had no way to control it.

The salary of a highway patrolman is not high, only forty or so, but they are different from the city police in the city.

The city police have always worked in the city. Even if they encounter a gang or a ruthless bandit, they may not necessarily get into trouble.

But to be on duty on the interstate highway, the danger is much greater!

People can often see that once a police car pulls someone over on the interstate highway, often the two police officers will hold their guns and release the safety before they dare to approach the car they have intercepted.

Especially in some sections of the road where things often happen, there are always two police cars, three police cars on duty, just because it is too dangerous.

If you are lucky, after the door of the stopped vehicle opens, it is a federal citizen with a smile on his face. They will very politely ask, “Why did you pull our car over.”

If you are unlucky, you will get a shot as soon as you walk over.

To have almost a low-level social salary, but to be doing the most tiring and dangerous work, and to have to stay in the wilderness for a few days or half a month at any moment, if you don’t let them make a little money themselves, no one would do it anymore!

The chief’s side knew the situation below, but he could not interfere. Otherwise, if all the manpower ran away, he, this chief, would also be dismissed.

He had a certain mental preparation for what these people were doing, and at the same time, he had also given these people some warnings, which was to try not to mess with the things of the gangs.

If you extort a capitalist, compared to a huge loss of time and other losses, it is obviously the fastest and best solution to give you a small sum of money directly.

The capitalists don’t care about face or anything. These losses can also be calculated into the cost.

Even if you take away a truckload of their goods, two truckloads, it’s no big deal.

But a gang is different. To touch a gang’s things is to slap them in the face. They have not only lost their own goods, but have also been slapped in the face. They will not let it go.

Even if they can’t get those goods back, they have to vent their anger, and also let people know what the consequences are for making a move on them!

So the chief had always emphasized, don’t fucking provoke the gangs!

But this time, it was clearly the result of this fool being a fool!

The police captain was so scolded that he couldn’t lift his head. He could only say with a bitter smile, “I was blinded by greed. Goods worth two million. I really couldn’t help but make a move.”

“And the cars were all from the Likalai State side. They were all gangs from out of town. I didn’t think they could know who had done it.”

“I cleaned up the people, and the cars were also scrapped and pressed into iron blocks. They simply didn’t know who had taken their things!”

“They would only think it was a black-on-black, or that their own men were greedy for this wealth and had just run away. They couldn’t find me.”

He was still explaining, but with one sentence from the chief, his explanation became meaningless. “You’re saying it so nicely. How did they find you?”

He didn’t speak anymore.

He still didn’t know how these people had found him. The only possibility was that they were selling these wines on a large scale in the surrounding cities and had left a clue.

The chief sighed. “Whose goods were they? How much did you sell them for? How much is left? Let me see if I can mediate.”

“The Lance Family.”

“I have a little over 500,000 here, and also half of the wine.”

The chief couldn’t help but be so angry he laughed. “You’re a real bastard, Matthew!”

He slammed down the phone. A whole day, a week, and even this year’s good mood were all ruined at this moment.

He was not very familiar with the gang situation on the Likalai State side, but had only heard that there was a Lance Family whose strength was very strong.

He considered for a moment and gave a call to a local gang leader with whom he had a good relationship.

In fact, this was very interesting.

The police, the state police, the law enforcement officers, they all knew who the leader of a gang was, who the members of the organization were, but they would never take the initiative to arrest them.

This was the most interesting feature of this era. The gangs and the federal government could coexist peacefully, as long as they did not do things that were taboo.

The call was quickly answered. The chief stated his name. As the obviously superior party in the cat-and-mouse game, the gangster leader on the receiver seemed very enthusiastic and also very polite.

“Is there something you need me to solve?”

“I would be very happy to do something for you, Mr. Chief.”

The chief was not in a good mood. His tone was a little impatient. “I don’t want to talk nonsense with you. Do you know the Lance Family?”

“Of course, who doesn’t know the Lance Family now?”

From the sound of it, the tone of this gangster leader was filled with admiration and some envy and jealousy, which made the chief a little curious. “What, are they very powerful?”

In his impression, this gangster leader was also a very capable guy. His power and strength were both very strong.

Even so, the tone he had when he talked about the Lance Family made the chief feel a little uneasy.

“Of course, the entire Likalai State is their territory. That guy Lance is only twenty-four, and he has already become the uncrowned king of Likalai State!”

“The mayor, it is said that even the governor has a good relationship with him. And he also has connections with the congressional side. His own distillery has also gotten a license and can legally produce whiskey.”

“Can you believe this?”

“To let a gang legally produce whiskey, who knows how much money they are going to make from this, damn!”

“And their conflict with the Perez family this time, although on the surface it ended with a mediation, but we all know that they actually won.”

“That’s the fucking five major families of the Federation!”

“The people who have already reached the peak in this line of work have all lost to the Lance Family. You tell me if they are powerful or not?”

The chief had no strength left to laugh. Of course, he was still angry.

“Do you have their contact information?” the chief asked.

“No, but I can ask for you. Is it urgent?”

“Very urgent!”

A few minutes later, the phone in front of the chief rang. It was the same guy.

“I have the phone number. You write it down,” he then recited a string of numbers. After confirming that the chief had written it down, before he hung up, he added, “Although I don’t know what happened, it’s best to talk about the things that can be talked about. It’s best not to make a move if you can.”

“I hear that they even drove out armored cars when they had a firefight. you know what I mean!”

The chief laughed twice again. He felt so tired. “I see. Thank you for the reminder!”

He hung up the phone and looked at the unremarkable phone number on the paper in front of him. He was silent for a moment, and then he let out a sigh and dialed…

(End of a Chapter)