Desist, Dom

Lake smiled as he heard the voices of the people outside announcing themselves.

They had come straight to his door.

Lake looked at Rachel.

A moment later.

Rachel and Mia, with Josie, entered the master bedroom and immediately shut the door.

Lake stood up to open it.

At the door.

Los Angeles FBI agent Bill Kings showed his identification and then introduced the Korean-American federal agent beside him, saying, "Johnny Chen."

Lake glanced at their IDs, opened the door, and motioned for them to come in.

On the sofa.

Lake made no move to entertain them. He sat directly on the sofa, crossed his legs, and addressed the African-American Bill Kings, "What, your chief knows I’m here and sent you two to express his regards?"

Bill Kings smiled, "The chief does have that intention. He’s currently out of town for a meeting and can’t come directly."

Lake nodded, "Another meeting? It’s not even the end of the year yet, not time for a sudden spending spree."

Bill Kings did not interject.

These matters involved a series of high-level individuals, beyond his current reach.

Seeing this, Lake said directly, "Alright, I’ve received the regards. Is there anything else? If not…"

Bill Kings quickly said, "Director Edwin does have one more matter."

Lake looked at Bill Kings and chuckled, "I knew it. If your chief wanted to send his regards, he would have called directly. Sending you two must have another purpose. Tell me, what is it?"

Bill Kings immediately looked at Johnny Chen beside him.

The Korean-American asked Lake, "Sir, did you go to a place called Toledo Snacks and Coffee Shop this afternoon?"

Rachel, who was listening in the bedroom, glared at Mia with annoyance.

What else could she say to deny it?

The FBI had already shown up.

Mia fell silent upon hearing this. They were being targeted by the FBI?

Outside.

Upon hearing this, Lake nodded directly, "Yes, why?"

Bill Kings said, "Sir, may I ask why you went there…"

"Private matters."

"What kind of private matters?"

"…"

Lake’s gaze shifted upwards, looking at the Korean-American speaking, then at Bill Kings, the corners of his mouth curving slightly, "Do I need to call your boss now? What, is the California FBI planning to overstep and investigate me, a senior supervisor for the Department of Homeland Security?"

Bill Kings’ heart tightened, and he quickly said, "We wouldn’t dare. It’s just that a case we’re currently investigating involves Dominic Toledo, so…"

Lake directly asked, "A case? What case?"

Bill Kings considered for a moment and then spoke, "In the past two years, there have been multiple instances of street racing robberies. They drive three Honda Civics and have excellent driving skills, directly robbing large trucks while in motion."

"Dominic Toledo?"

"Yes."

"You’ve got your eye on him? Do you have proof?"

"This…"

Lake looked at Bill Kings’ expression and nodded, saying directly, "I’m here on vacation with my girlfriend, not to work on a case. If you need assistance from Homeland Security, contact California’s Homeland Security. I’m from New York State."

Bill Kings was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Sorry to bother you."

Lake stood up to see them out, "Take care."

The two left the room.

The Korean-American Johnny Chen looked at Bill Kings with some confusion, "What does he mean by that?"

Bill Kings smiled and walked into the elevator, "These big shots speak so cryptically, who knows what they’re thinking. We just do our jobs."

Johnny Chen nodded, half understanding.

Inside the room.

Rachel said to Mia with no pretense of kindness, "See? The FBI is already onto us. Go back and tell Dom that I’m not getting involved in this. Don’t expect me to use my connections to protect him this time."

Making a mistake once was understandable, and he had already received his due punishment.

But to do it again?

There would be no excuses.

Mia’s mouth opened, and her face showed a hint of anxiety.

Lake, who was pouring himself a drink, turned to Mia and said, "They have concrete evidence in their hands now. You understand what I mean, right?"

Mia looked to Rachel for help.

Rachel glared at Lake, annoyed. "Don’t interfere."

Lake took a sip of his drink and walked directly into the master bedroom without a word. He found an animated movie with Josie, and they started watching it together.

Rachel covered her forehead, took a deep breath, and said to Mia, "Go back and tell him, I don’t care if he’s back to his old ways. From now on, he needs to behave himself. If anything happens, I absolutely won’t help him again."

Mia nodded repeatedly, about to leave.

Rachel called out to Mia, "Come back. You’re sleeping here tonight, with Josie."

Mia looked at Rachel with some confusion.

Rachel glanced at Lake, who was watching TV in the master bedroom, and said to Mia, annoyed, "The FBI is downstairs. If they see you leaving now, you can leave tomorrow morning."

Mia blinked.

Evening.

After getting into bed, Rachel asked Lake, who was watching Doctor Strange on his laptop, "When we went there, were the FBI already lying in wait?"

Lake paused the movie and thought for a moment. "Yes and no."

"What?"

"The FBI wasn’t lying in wait. At least, they wouldn’t ambush without evidence."

"Then how did they know we went there?"

Lake turned his head to look at Rachel and smiled. "When we got out of the car, were there any customers in Mia’s shop?"

Rachel thought for a moment. "Two?"

One was outside drinking coffee and reading a newspaper, and the other was inside eating a tuna sandwich.

Lake smiled without saying anything.

Rachel was slightly stunned, then looked at Lake. "Are you saying that one of those two people was an FBI undercover agent?"

Lake said directly, "I didn’t say that. Langley’s agent identity cannot be exposed, and similarly, the federal agent’s undercover identity cannot be exposed. Even I can’t really know the identity of a federal agent’s undercover informant, after all, these informants are doing the most dangerous work. Besides, apart from informants, the FBI has plenty of ways to monitor suspects. Do you know how many cameras are on that street?"

Rachel remained silent, trying to recall how many surveillance cameras they had passed.

Lake smiled and continued watching his Doctor Strange.

He didn’t care about spoiling the plot, but directly exposing Brian O’Conner’s undercover status was still wrong. At the very least, he couldn’t expose him.

After all, they were comrades in the same trench. Even if he didn’t intend to help, directly exposing an undercover identity, especially by another law enforcement officer, was a major taboo in the underworld.

How many federal enforcement agents went undercover in the criminal underworld?

Many.

Some retired safely, some even rose to positions of power, but more were brutally murdered and disposed of after their undercover identities were exposed.

The next day.

When Lake and Rachel woke up, Mia had already left.

Mia went directly to Dominic at her family’s car repair shop.

Dom looked at Mia, who rushed in from outside. "You didn’t come back last night?"

His experience last night had been thrilling. If Brian hadn’t helped him escape, he would be in a police jail right now.

Mia greeted Dominic’s few good brothers and was about to call Dominic into the office to tell him that they had to stop. They were already being watched by the FBI.

However…

Just as Dominic was about to follow Mia inside, Brian O’Conner pulled up, dragging a car that had been run over and was almost scrapped.

Dominic and Mia both looked over. Mia even smiled when she saw Brian.

In the hotel.

Lake was using his laptop to review the investigation reports and driver interviews for several high-speed robbery cases that had occurred in Los Angeles, sent by his assistant Tiffany.

Simply put, they were bold and skilled.

Ordinary robbers would try to force large trucks to stop before carrying out their criminal actions.

But this group?

They robbed the trucks while they were in motion, without even forcing them to stop. By the time the drivers woke up and reported the crime, they were no longer at the scene, and they didn’t even know where the truck had been abandoned.

Lake then saw the routes of these trucks’ movements.

He smiled.

Rachel took a look and was also a bit speechless. No wonder the FBI was alerted to this case. In the second case, they directly broke through checkpoints while California and Nevada were under construction.

Interstate crime.

This fell directly within the jurisdiction of the FBI. The several cases were instantly merged and handed over to the FBI for investigation.

If it hadn’t crossed state lines, even if it had been robbed a dozen times, the FBI probably wouldn’t have even bothered looking into it. And even if the FBI wanted to find a case, the local police department likely wouldn’t have given them one.

Lake and Rachel didn’t let this matter delay their plans for the day. They still took Josie to another attraction and spent the day there.

The next day.

Early morning.

Lake’s phone received a call.

It wasn’t from his assistant, Tiffany.

It was from Kingpin.

Lake glanced at it.

"Speak."

"Mr. Edwin, I know you told me not to interfere in this matter, but I’ve received an informant’s tip. Your car was just taken by a car dealership in Los Angeles called Racing Edge half an hour ago."

"…Thank you."

"You’re welcome. If you need anything from me, Mr. Edwin, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’m very willing to become friends with Mr. Edwin, just as I am friends with the Federal Bureau Chief in New York."

"Alright, I’ll contact you if I need anything."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Lake hung up the phone.

His gaze flickered slightly.

Racing Edge?