My chat group members are all legendary criminals.

Chapter 76: Using Me as a Pawn?

Mia then brought out another plate of dark, murky vegetables.

Lu Yiming and Chen Ruoyan really didn't know how to start eating.

Maria, the African-American nanny at the villa, rushed in in a panic.

"Miss! I'd like to ask for a day off. My husband just called and said my daughter is missing."

The three of them were taken aback.

Mia usually prefers to live alone, while Maria is the family's full-time housekeeper who comes to clean during the day.

Mia put down the plate of biological weapons she was holding and asked, "Don't panic. How long ago did this happen? Did you call the police?"

"Just now! My husband has already called the police, but they said the time since he went missing is not long enough."

Before she could finish speaking, Maria's phone vibrated.

She shakily pulled out her phone, glanced at the screen, and saw it was an unknown number.

"Answer! Put it on speakerphone!" Lu Yiming reminded him.

Maria slid the answer button, her fingers trembling.

"Feed..."

A gruff male voice came from the other end of the phone: "You can't find your child, can you? He's with me..."

beep-

The call was immediately disconnected.

"This is a kidnapping?!" Mia slammed her hand on the table and jumped up.

Maria's legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground, wailing, "My God! My daughter has been kidnapped! They'll kill her! That's how it is in the movies!"

Chen Ruoyan rushed forward and helped Maria to a chair, gently patting her back to comfort her: "Don't panic, take a deep breath. Since they called, it means their purpose is to make money, and they won't harm the child for now."

"Yeah, yeah," Mia chimed in.

"When he calls again, find out exactly how much money he wants and calm him down!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the unknown number called again.

Maria cried out, her voice trembling with tears, "Please! I'll give you any amount of money you want! Where are you now?"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, as if someone had been startled.

The voice on the other end sounded somewhat confused.

"I'm at the 7-Eleven on Rench Avenue. If you want to pick up your child, just give me 10. My phone's dead, so please come quickly."

The call was then immediately disconnected.

Upon hearing this number, Maria nearly fainted on the spot.

"One hundred thousand US dollars?! Where am I supposed to get one hundred thousand US dollars?!"

"Don't worry, it's just $100,000. Miss has plenty of money."

Lu Yiming sat on the sofa and spoke calmly.

Mia chimed in, "Yes, yes, don't be afraid, I'll pay for it. Let's go and rescue the child first."

Lu Yiming mentally calculated the address the other party had given him.

It happened to be within Old Mike's patrol area.

He took out his phone and called that old fox, asking him to come and cooperate.

That's good, at least we don't have to eat Mia's awful cooking anymore.

……

Twenty minutes later, a Tesla pulled up outside the 7-Eleven convenience store.

Inside the vehicle, Mia was fully armed and wearing a tactical vest.

She said with a serious expression, "These robbers are very cunning. They are likely using a tactic of splitting the hostages and the money. One person is here to collect the $100,000, while the other person guards the hostages elsewhere."

"I'll take the money inside in a bit, you follow him through the back door!"

"Um...it seems they didn't split the flow this time." Lu Yiming pointed to the convenience store outside the window.

Following Lu Yiming's gaze, Mia looked over.

In front of the convenience store checkout counter, a muscular, strong man was sitting on the floor.

A little girl with pigtails was giggling in front of him.

The burly man would occasionally make a funny face.

"Have robbers become this brazen these days?!" Mia exclaimed in surprise.

Lu Yiming didn't speak. He stared at the burly man and the more he looked at him, the more familiar he seemed.

That not-so-bright, simple-minded expression...

Isn't this Ian, the big, goofy guy from the gym the other day?

Good grief, the gym got raided, and they've turned into kidnappers?

Lu Yiming felt that something was wrong with this whole thing.

But before he could stop her, Mia, bursting with a sense of justice, kicked open the car door and rushed out.

"Don't move! Fremont Police Department! Hands up!"

With a bang, the convenience store door was kicked open.

Mia pointed the gun at Ian's forehead and roared angrily:

"Get away from that girl! Hands behind your head! If you move an inch, I'll shoot you to pieces!"

The sudden turn of events startled Ian so much that he trembled and spilled the rainbow candy he was holding all over the floor.

He reflexively raised his hands high above his head, staring blankly at the menacing policewoman.

"Oh my god..."

The little girl was not frightened by the scene and instead picked up the candy from the ground.

Maria, who followed in, spotted her daughter immediately, screamed, and rushed over to hug her tightly.

"Honey! Are you alright?! Did he hurt you?!"

The little girl, clutching a candy in her hand, said in her childish voice, "Mommy, the candy this big bear-like brother gave me is so delicious! He even told me a story."

Ian raised his hands, looking aggrieved, and said, "Officer, are you sure you haven't misunderstood something? This child got lost in the park and came to my shop crying. I just brought her in to look after her temporarily!"

Immediately afterwards, he saw Lu Yiming strolling in slowly.

Ian's eyes lit up, as if he had seen his own father, and he exclaimed excitedly, "My benefactor! It's you! Are you here to buy something too?!"

Lu Yiming sighed and pressed the gun barrel down from Mia's hand.

"You're not selling supplements anymore?" He looked at him with amusement.

"How could I dare!"

With a long face and lingering fear, Ian said, "After you raided that lousy gym, luckily I'm white, so I just found a job on this street to make a living."

Mia, completely bewildered, pointed at Ian incredulously: "Then why did you call us earlier asking for $100,000?!"

"One hundred thousand dollars?!"

Ian was startled and shook his head frantically, "I'm innocent! How could I ask for $100,000! I meant I bought the kids a bag of Skittles and an ice cream, which cost $10, and I was wondering if I could get reimbursed!"

He became more and more aggrieved as he spoke: "It's okay if you don't give it to me, just consider it as me treating the little girl to candy."

The convenience store fell silent instantly.

Maria awkwardly hugged her daughter, wishing she could disappear into the ground.

Mia's face turned bright red, and she coughed twice before looking up at the ceiling.

After all that, it turns out it was a misunderstanding...

Helpless, Lu Yiming took out a twenty-dollar bill from his pocket and stuffed it into Ian's pocket.

"Alright, consider the rest your tip. Be a better person from now on."

Ian was moved to tears: "Brother, don't worry, I said I would repay you, and I will."

A screeching sound came from the street outside the convenience store.

A dilapidated Ford police car was parked crookedly on the side of the road.

Old Mike, reeking of alcohol, staggered in.

"What's going on?! Where's the kidnapper?! I'll smash his balls in!"

Old Mike let out a burp, squinted his bloodshot eyes, and looked around the store.

Lu Yiming rolled his eyes and waved his hand: "It's nothing, just a misunderstanding."

After saying that, he pulled Old Mike to a corner.

Lu Yiming asked in a low voice, "What's your relationship with Vance, the guy who prints counterfeit money?"

Old Mike chuckled and reached out to grope Lu Yiming.

Then I remembered that he was a non-smoker.

"Actually, it doesn't really matter. I'm just an old patrolman who's just coasting along; I have no chance of getting involved in those big deals."

Old Mike not only showed no remorse, but also boasted:

"I just help Vance and his gang check the police department's internal records. They deposit some pocket money into my account every month."

As he spoke, he casually grabbed two small bottles of vodka from the shelf and put them in his pocket.

Lu Yiming frowned as he watched. "You can't shake this habit of stealing things, can you?"

"You dare take the dirty money from a counterfeit money ring?"

"What's there to be afraid of? The bold will get rich, and the timid will starve."

"Last time Vance called and asked me to investigate you, the moment I saw your picture, I knew those guys were finished, so I didn't tell the truth. How about that, am I being fair?"

Lu Yiming didn't respond: "Who else are they connected to?"

Old Mike paused in his drinking motion.

He glanced at Lu Yiming, then suddenly smiled and said, "You'll find out soon enough."

Why the hell are you playing the Riddler game?

Lu Yiming joked, "I really didn't realize you had such a complicated network of relationships. You're connected to gangs, and you're also linked to a counterfeit money ring."

Old Mike didn't refute it, but instead stepped forward and patted Lu Yiming on the shoulder.

"Lu, don't say I didn't warn you."

Old Mike leaned close to his ear: "You've been targeted lately. You've made too much of a fuss and taken on things you shouldn't have. Be much more careful in the future."

Are you being watched? By whom?

Lu Yiming frowned, about to press for more information, when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

Upon taking it out, I saw it was Gu Qiu, who had been promoted to mayor.

Lu Yiming turned around and pressed the answer button.

"Director Gu... oh no, Mayor Gu, what are your orders?"

"Team Leader Lu, you did a good job on the counterfeit money case. However, people from the state government have arrived."

"They're going to take Vance and his gang away. You need to prepare the handover procedures and cooperate with their work."

Lu Yiming was stunned.

What does this mean?

"Mayor Gu, are you joking?"

His voice turned cold. "Vance is one of our most wanted criminals. The case isn't closed yet; the interrogation has only just begun, and they've already taken him away?!"

Is this some kind of blatant attempt to steal my fruit?!

Gu Qiu simply added, "This is an order personally issued by Governor Richard Cox. As a subordinate agency, our only responsibility is to carry it out."

After saying that, the call was abruptly ended without giving Lu Yiming a chance to ask any further questions.

The veins on the back of Lu Yiming's hand, which was gripping the phone, bulged.

Governor Richard?

So you're the one standing behind Vance?

He suspected that the other party was in a hurry to take the person away not to investigate the case, but to kill them to cover it up.

Or rather, it's about protecting Vance, this goose that lays golden eggs!

He then realized something was wrong: Gu Qiu and Richard were both members of the Donald Party.

Judging from Richard's desire to protect Gu Qiu's mayoral campaign, they are probably in cahoots.

Why would Gu Qiu suggest that he investigate a counterfeit money ring?

That old fox is still scheming.

Could it be that they're trying to use this opportunity to drag the governor down with them and climb up the ladder themselves?

Is this an attempt to use me as a pawn?

"call……"

He thought that by becoming the head of the homicide squad, he could wield immense power in this small California town.

But now it seems that these high-ranking politicians still only regard him as a pawn that can be kicked aside at any time.

Do you think that you can take things from me, Lu Yiming, without paying a price?

Richard, Gu Qiu.

If you big shots like to play dirty tricks, don't blame me for playing dirty tricks with you too.

He took out his phone and called the butcher.

"Hey, hey, hey, is your batch of guns going to the state capital tomorrow? I'll find a different way to transport them for you."