novelraw Chapter 1429 771: Panic Spreads
Chapter 1429 771: Panic Spreads
Jimmy watched them from the second floor and didn't expect such an ending. This employer was truly unscrupulous. They hired someone to do a job, and even after two out of a five-man team died accomplishing the mission, instead of offering any comfort, they killed the rest. Whether it's because they didn't want to pay or needed to keep it a secret, it was all a bit excessive.
Two bodyguard-like people killed these four, then put away their guns and stepped forward. One checked if they were dead or alive, while the other bent down to pick up the box that fell on the ground since the other person had opened it when checking it, scattering quite a bit of money on the floor.
Jimmy, too, couldn't be bothered to wait any longer. He quietly came up from the stairs, poking his head out and firing at the three people. After all, the gun he was using wasn't his own, so he didn't care about leaving shooting marks. When checking the gun and bullets, he wore gloves, leaving no fingerprints, making it difficult to trace back to Jimmy.
Emptying two handgun magazines on the three people to ensure there were no habits in his shooting that could make others suspect him, he didn't aim at the heads at all, with most shots hitting the torso, and a few hitting the limbs to make sure they couldn't retaliate.
Shooting continuously with both hands, and crisscrossing the targets, if someone actually analyzed all the bullets, they'd probably have a headache. Let's hope they won't go that far.
He left a few bullets and, once sure the three were dead, went up to the third floor, each of the four people getting another shot, then picked up the box from the ground. After searching the body of the lead man in the center and finding a phone and a wallet, he quickly went downstairs and left.
The continuous gunshots here must have already alerted others. He didn't want to be trapped here by the LAPD.
When coming up the stairs earlier, he took a look at that lead man. This guy was a complete stranger, clearly someone's middleman. Interrogating such a person to find the mastermind would be hard and time-consuming, and he had no time for that now. If it delayed matters and exposed his identity, it'd be troublesome. So, killing them all was the simplest solution.
Unable to track down the mastermind this time did deviate from his plan, but as he drove away, he realized that this outcome was acceptable. The middleman's death was no small matter; such people usually have a wide network. When the employer hears the news, maybe what they should worry about is whether their people will cause them trouble.
Also, the phone Jimmy got was another clue. Once he got back and looked through it, he might be able to find a contact and then deduce who the employer was.
Soon after Jimmy left, an LAPD patrol car arrived near the building. Of course, they approached cautiously, while calling for backup.
Though the LAPD wasn't as large as the NYPD, they still had nearly ten thousand officers. Their approach was the same: waiting for the personnel advantage before entering to check the building, prioritizing their safety.
By the time they saw the shootout scene, Jimmy had already abandoned his car in the South District, changed the clothes in his backpack, cleaned the blood from the box, transferred the cash into his backpack, and after disposing of the box, clothes, shoes, and dissasembling the handguns in several places, he called a cab and left the South District.
Switching between two cabs, from the South District to West Hollywood, then back to the downtown hotel, Jimmy entered his room and finally felt completely at ease.
Undressing, Jimmy stood in the bathroom, checking himself carefully in the mirror to ensure he hadn't been stained with blood or anything else, then checking his jacket, and reopening his backpack to recheck the bound cash for any tracking devices before he tidied up and lay down to rest. There'd be things to take care of in the day.
After dawn, Jimmy immediately went into the bathroom, turned on the shower and bathed. He had returned too late in the early morning, and if he'd shower then, if the neighbors heard, it'd definitely be a suspicious clue, especially without female company in his room.
Never underestimate people's intelligence; being cautious always is never wrong. For instance, when coming back last night, instead of using the hotel's main entrance, he came up from the underground parking, avoiding interaction, and to avoid surveillance footage, he didn't even use the parking's elevator, opting for the fire escape stairs instead.
He had stayed at this hotel for a while now, having already scoped out the surveillance locations, and additionally, the fire escape door wasn't a shut fireproof one, but could be opened from the outside, making it sufficiently safe and concealed.
After freshening up, Jimmy stepped out with a towel wrapped around his lower body, took out the two wallets and a phone he stole, and took a look. The wallet from the driver contained no useful information, clearly as a precaution during assignments, carrying just enough cash to refuel or buy things.
Another wallet from the shootout scene was quite rich, containing the person's ID, which could be investigated further. As for the phone, Jimmy had turned it off last night. Upon turning it on now, the call log was empty, which was frustrating. He originally planned to check through it but now investigating further would require technical support and authorization to summon records from the NSA; too much hassle.