Chapter 808: Sweating and the Best Way to Talk

There were two pools of blood on the ground. The Sheriff stood with his hands on his hips, staring at the blood, his mind already conjuring the scene of his subordinates being ambushed and then dragged away.

The State Police Department also had criminal investigation divisions, including the highway sub-stations, which also had specialized criminal investigators.

They quickly deduced some possibilities at the scene.

"One person, I don't know if it was Dai Wei or his partner, must have been standing here to urinate; there is even blood spatter on the wall."

"They ambushed him here."

"Their car doors weren't unlocked, so I'm more inclined to think Dai Wei was standing here, but the way this blood spattered doesn't quite look like it."

"After they knocked this person down, the other one came over to check the situation and was also knocked down by them."

"Directly after that..."

The two criminal investigators found some fresh scuff marks on the ground. "They might have been dragged to a car on the side of the road. There are marks left by some hard object being dragged; it could be their buttons or something else."

"In short, we are inclined to believe they may have been kidnapped or killed."

After hearing them out, the Sheriff pursed his lips, not knowing what to say or do for a moment.

Two subordinates being kidnapped was undoubtedly not without reason; it was certainly those people coming for revenge.

He felt a sense of fear at this moment. Greed had caused him to lose his composure, leading him to commit a grave mistake.

In fact, the moment he led his men to take action, he had already regretted it.

A force capable of transporting so much alcohol at once was definitely not a small one; once the other side retaliated, he might not be able to withstand it.

But this batch of alcohol was too much, so much that he had acted impulsively without regard for the consequences.

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

At this moment, a "New Jincheng Police Department" vehicle pulled over to the side of the road, and two police officers stepped out and walked toward them.

The Sheriff turned to look at them, whispering, "They might be the officers sent here to assist us."

He then walked up with a smile and shook hands with the two.

"Any new discoveries?", the local criminal investigator asked after observing their work.

The Sheriff shook his head. "Only that they were kidnapped. Do you have any leads on your end?"

The local criminal investigator looked at the people around the Sheriff. "We found a witness..."

The surrounding police officers all turned their heads to look, and the Sheriff couldn't help but ask, "Where is he?"

The local criminal investigator frowned slightly; he found the Sheriff's attitude too... intense!

But this intensity didn't seem like the kind of intensity that came from truly caring about one's own officers; he didn't know how to describe it.

The Sheriff wanted to know how things were developing, but not because his officers were missing—that was the feeling the local criminal investigator had.

In fact, his feeling was not wrong at all, because behind this incident lay a very thorny issue—they had swallowed a gang's alcohol by killing those train drivers and guards.

They didn't destroy this alcohol, which Congress had clearly designated as contraband, on the spot, nor did they hand it over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; they had simply pocketed it themselves.

Their purpose in intercepting the vehicles was to pocket these goods, which led to the battle and the sacrifice of some officers.

No one knew about these things except themselves. If those out-of-town gangsters exposed this, he didn't know if the ordinary participants in the sub-station would be fired or have to go to jail.

But he would definitely be in big trouble!

So he was very nervous and very urgent now. Once this matter was exposed, it wouldn't just be this matter that was exposed.

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

On the federal interstate highways, there were often no-man's-lands of a hundred kilometers, or even two or three hundred kilometers. This place was desolate, with no human habitation for a hundred kilometers, and only occasional passing vehicles.

Killing someone in such a place and dumping the body in the suburbs—no one would know what had happened.

They had done it many times; otherwise, how could a group of poor highway police officers all live in villas and buy luxury cars?

They often push these crimes onto the shoulders of some serial killers, or perhaps onto some gangs that have committed all sorts of evils on the highways; these people themselves aren't even sure if they were the ones who did it.

If they could be captured alive, they would most likely confess. Even if they didn't confess, they could continue to push it onto other criminals. Eventually, one of them would be shot during the arrest, and all the cases would be closed.

For so many years, he wasn't the only one doing this.

But this time, it was very dangerous.

If the matter was exposed, he couldn't guarantee that every 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 wasn't sent to the electric chair, it meant he would have to suffer in prison!

A police officer, especially a Sheriff, being thrown into prison—that experience would be absolutely terrible!

That wasn't a prison; that was hell!

Thinking of this, thinking that he might lose everything he owned, a layer of sweat visibly broke out on his forehead.

It was already early November. Although this was the southernmost part of the Federation, the temperature had dropped, and it was only about ten degrees.

Wanting to sweat?

Unless after intense exercise, but they were just standing here.

The local criminal investigator glanced at his colleague. The two exchanged glances for a moment, both feeling that this Sheriff might have a problem, but they didn't meddle.

"He is currently at the local sub-station."

The Sheriff let out a sigh of relief. "Take me there."

Soon, the group arrived at the local sub-station and met the witness, who was undergoing questioning.

The Sheriff originally wanted to go in, but was stopped. A police officer blocked him. "My colleague is working. You cannot go in now; it might affect the results."

He stared at the officer blocking him for a while; neither would give way.

This was the City Police Department sub-station, not his highway sub-station. In the end, he could only snort and continue to wait for the results outside the room.

After about ten minutes, the witness came out of the interrogation room. The Sheriff glanced at a subordinate, who nodded slightly and turned to leave early.

As for the Sheriff, he entered the interrogation room. The officer in charge of the interrogation brought the transcript over and, at the signal of the local sub-station Director, handed it to the Sheriff.

The Sheriff only took one look, and his expression changed. He then said, "Thank you for the clues you provided," and turned to leave.

Confirmed, it was the Lansi family.

The witness's statement mentioned that those people were dressed almost identically, and two guys who appeared under the light had red armbands on their upper left arms.

This was a characteristic of the Lansi family. They had already arrived here and had captured their people!

A feeling of palpitation made him, walking quickly, suddenly stop. He clutched his heart with a pained expression for a while.

"Are you okay?"

He shook his head, pursing his lips tightly. At the moment of the palpitation, he felt as if his heart had suddenly become chaotic, beating uncontrollably, with a feeling of impending death.

Fortunately, these feelings came and went quickly. He took a deep breath and continued walking outside.

Now his mind was a blank slate.

He couldn't guarantee that his two subordinates could be like those damn loyal warriors and say nothing.

He had learned about the Lansi family during this time and knew that this group of people were all lunatics. Not long ago, the Perez family farm was burned, and a direct family member was roasted—that was their handiwork!

At this moment, he truly regretted it.

It wasn't that he felt what he did was wrong, but that a force he clearly couldn't resist had intervened in this matter. He was finished!

If the Lansi family hadn't discovered it was him, it was them, he still wouldn't regret it.

Returning to the highway sub-station, his emotions stabilized a little. Now, only here could he feel a sense of security.

He thought for a long time and dialed the State Police Department Director's office.

The phone was answered quickly. The voice inside was gentle but powerful. "This is the State Police Department Director's office."

"It's me."

"Ma Xiu?"

The Director's voice, slightly surprised, came through the receiver. "What's wrong?"

"Give me a proper call."

The Sheriff was silent for a moment. "I've encountered a bit of trouble."

A scoff came from the receiver. "You're always encountering trouble, from the time you were in school, to when you worked, until now."

"Alright, for the sake of the time I still have, tell me, what trouble have you encountered?"

The Sheriff rubbed his cheeks hard. After a while, he said in a deep voice, "This matter has to start from over a month ago..."

"Wait, wait, Ma Xiu, it's true I have time, but I don't have time to listen to you tell me a story. Get to the point." The Director interrupted him; being the State Police Department Director was a very busy job.

The State Police Department had many departments under its jurisdiction, such as highway police, highway patrol, criminal police... many.

These sub-stations always had things that needed to be reported to him, and plus, there were some capitalists in society who often kept in touch with him, so he was also a very busy person.

He could learn about the trouble Sheriff Ma Xiu had encountered, but he didn't want to listen to a story; he wanted something direct.

"Over a month ago, during a routine inspection, we discovered that several trucks were transporting a large amount of alcohol, whiskey, and then we intercepted this batch of goods."

"Wait a minute!"

The Director interrupted him again. "I remember that several police officers sacrificed their lives on your side last month. Don't you dare tell me this matter has anything to do with you intercepting the trucks!"

The Sheriff didn't say anything, but this was enough for the Director to realize that he had guessed right.

He cursed directly on the phone. "F***, Ma Xiu, f***!"

"I wouldn't care if you messed with some small things, but this is clearly a gang's alcohol. You didn't even figure out whose stuff it was before you swallowed it?"

The Director knew very well the little tricks these sons of b****** did below—extorting passing truck drivers, and sometimes even guest-starring as highway robbers, blocking roads to kill and rob.

He knew, but he couldn't manage it.

The highway police's salary wasn't high, only about forty dollars, but they were different from the city police in the city.

City police always worked in the city; even if they encountered gangs or fierce bandits, they might not necessarily have an accident.

But patrolling on the interstate highway, the danger would be much greater!

People could often see that once a police car stopped a vehicle on the interstate highway, both officers would often hold their guns with the safety off before daring to approach the vehicle they had intercepted.

Especially in some road sections where accidents often happened, there were always two or three police cars patrolling together, just because it was too dangerous.

If they were lucky, when the door of the intercepted vehicle opened, it would be a smiling federal citizen, and they would politely ask "why their car was stopped."

If they were unlucky, they would get shot as soon as they walked over.

Taking a salary that was almost at the bottom of society, yet doing the most tiring and dangerous work, often having to stay in the wilderness for days or half a month—if they weren't allowed to make some money themselves, no one would do it long ago!

The Director knew the situation below, but he couldn't interfere; otherwise, when all the manpower ran away, he, the Director, would also be removed.

He had a certain psychological preparation for what these people did, and at the same time, he gave these people some warnings, which was to try not to mess with gang stuff.

You extorted a capitalist; compared to huge time losses and other losses, obviously giving you a small amount of money directly was the fastest and best solution.

Capitalists didn't care about face or anything; these losses could also be calculated into their costs.

Even if you took away a truckload or two of their goods, it was no big deal.

But gangs were different. Moving a gang's stuff was slapping them in the face. They not only lost their goods but were also slapped in the face. They wouldn't let it go.

Even if they couldn't get those goods back, they had to vent their anger and let people know what the consequences were for moving against them!

So the Director had always emphasized before: don't you dare provoke gangs!

But this time, it is clearly the result of this idiot being stupid!

The Sheriff couldn't lift his head from being scolded. He could only smile bitterly and say, "I was blinded by greed. Two million in goods, I really couldn't help but take action."

"And the cars were all from Lika Lai State; they were all out-of-town gangs. I didn't think they could know who did it."

"I cleaned up the people, and the cars were all scrapped and pressed into iron blocks. They don't know at all who took their stuff!"

"They will only think it's a gang war, or their own subordinates were greedy for this wealth and ran away. They can't find me."

He was still explaining, but the Director said one sentence that made his explanation meaningless: "You speak so nicely, how did they find you?"

He didn't speak.

He still didn't know how these people found him. The only possibility was that they were selling this alcohol on a large scale in the surrounding cities and left a trail.

The Director sighed. "Whose goods were they, how much money did you sell, and how much is left? Let me see if I can mediate."

"The Lansi family."

"I have over 500,000 here, and half the alcohol."

The Director couldn't help but laugh out of anger again. "You really are a bastard, Ma Xiu!"

He hung up the phone with a bang. His good mood for the whole day, the whole week, and even the whole year was destroyed at this moment.

He didn't know much about the gang situation in Lika Lai State, only hearing that there was a Lansi family with strong strength.

He thought for a while and made a phone call to a local gang leader who had a good relationship with him.

Actually, this was very interesting.

Police, state police, law enforcement officers—they all knew who the gang leaders were and who the organization members were, but they never took the initiative to arrest them.

This was the most interesting feature of this era: gangs and the federal government could coexist peacefully, as long as they didn't do things that were taboo.

The phone was answered quickly. The Director identified himself. As the party with a clear advantage in the cat-and-mouse game, the gang leader on the receiver seemed very enthusiastic and polite.

"What do you need me to solve?"

"I'm very happy to do something for you, Mr. Director."

The Director wasn't in a good mood, and his tone was a bit impatient. "I don't want to talk nonsense with you. Do you know the Lansi family?"

"Of course, who doesn't know the Lansi family now?"

It could be heard that the gang leader's tone carried sighs and some envy and jealousy, which made the Director curious. "Why, are they very powerful?"

In his impression, this gang leader was also a very capable guy, with strong influence and strength.

Even so, the tone he used when talking about the Lansi family made the Director feel a hint of bad omen.

"Of course, the entire Lika Lai State is their territory. That guy Lansi is only twenty-four years old, and he has already become the uncrowned king of Lika Lai State!"

"The Mayor, it is said that even the Governor has a good relationship with him, and he also has connections with Congress. His own distillery even got a license, and he can legally produce whiskey."

"Can you believe this?"

"Letting a gang legally produce whiskey, God knows how much money they will make from this, damn!"

"And their conflict with the Perez family this time, although it ended in reconciliation on the surface, we all know that they actually won."

"That's the damn Five Great Families of the Federation!"

"People who have already reached the top of this industry all lost to the Lansi family. You tell me if they are powerful?"

The Director no longer had the strength to laugh, of course, he was still angered.

"Do you have their contact information?", the Director asked.

"No, but I can help you ask. Is it urgent?"

"Very urgent!"

A few minutes later, the phone in front of the Director rang. It was that guy again.

"I got the number, you record it." Then he reported a string of numbers. After confirming that the Director had recorded it, before hanging up, he added, "Although I don't know what happened, it's best to talk about things that can be talked about. Don't take action if you don't have to."

"I heard that when they had a shootout, they even drove out armored vehicles. You know what I mean!"

The Director laughed twice again, feeling his heart was very tired. "I know, thank you for the reminder!"

After hanging up the phone, he looked at the plain phone number on the paper in front of him, was silent for a while, then sighed, and dialed it out...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 809 =====