My newly bought car was stolen?

Soon.

Lake understood what was happening, after all, he had experienced this kind of thing before.

Of course.

Lake hadn’t experienced it personally, but because of Betty. Back then, Lake had just returned from the military on leave. Coincidentally, Ross and Karen had gone out for a date night, and then Betty suddenly cried out.

And then…

Lake, with a poker face, ran to the town’s pharmacy and brought back bread of all sizes.

Thank goodness.

At the time, Lake thought he would have to teach Betty how to use it. Fortunately, the pharmacy owner called Karen, who rushed back and took over from Lake.

First period.

As everyone knows, the first period is a sign of a girl’s maturity.

So…

Skye is mature?

Slap!

Lake snapped back to reality, slapped himself to dispel the pedophilic thoughts, took a sip of the Bourbon in front of him, closed his eyes, and silently recited ABCDEFG…

Having such thoughts was terrifying.

It was like Lake would never be interested in Betty. Was he crazy? She raised you like her own son, and you, in turn, stole her daughter.

Was that proper?

Although many people thought Lake had no bottom line, Lake dared to swear that he still had some of his own.

After a while.

After the Cassel family left, Skye, who had changed into a new set of clothes, came downstairs expressionlessly and greeted Lake, who was sitting at the bar.

Lake pointed to the pizza he had just bought: "Perfect timing, it just arrived."

Skye sat down.

Lake wouldn’t be so tactless as to ask about it. In fact, Lake, as usual, finished eating with the Bourbon, clapped his hands, and returned to his study.

When it was almost time to rest.

Skye knocked on the study door and said to Lake, who was sitting there looking at the computer, "Thank you, Lake."

Lake looked up: "I’m family."

Skye blinked.

Lake smiled: "When you go to your foreign language class, you can ask your teacher about homophones."

Skye nodded, seeming to understand but not quite.

Ten days later!

As usual, Skye, along with Alexis, took the shuttle bus to Midtown High School to continue swimming in the ocean of knowledge.

Lake, on the other hand, drove to the Homeland Building in New York to go to work.

But…

Lake stood by the roadside, telling the newly appointed Deputy Director David that he might be a little late. After hanging up the phone, he looked sadly at a car burning and emitting black smoke not far away.

Had the car that had been following him since he arrived in New York finally met its end?

The repair shop people quickly arrived.

After the mechanic’s inspection, Lake’s guess was confirmed. At the same time, he was a little amazed: "This car is only breaking down now. I’ve been repairing cars for so many years, and based on my estimate, this car should have been scrapped two or three years ago."

Lake sighed: "Is there any possibility of salvaging it?"

The mechanic said: "It’s possible, but it’s not cost-effective."

Lake asked: "How much?"

The mechanic gave the repair cost: "Ten thousand US dollars."

"…How much?"

"This car was burned, sir."

"…"

Lake considered it for a moment. In the end, he decided not to give his old friend a new lease on life. He paid the towing fee directly and left by taxi without looking back.

What a joke.

With a repair cost of ten thousand US dollars, he could add a little more money and buy a decent Porsche Cayenne.

In fact, Lake did just that.

Two hours later.

Lake took the brand-new key from the sales manager Job Lewis in front of him, opened the latest model white Porsche Cayenne, and drove the new car directly to the Homeland Building in New York State.

A new car is a new car.

Although Lake spent nearly fifty thousand US dollars this time, it was well worth it. His old car used to make noise everywhere except for the stereo, and while it handled well, it was frankly uncomfortable.

If his old car only needed about a thousand US dollars to fix, Lake might have considered salvaging it. But ten thousand dollars? It just wasn’t worth it, especially since Lake had only paid a few hundred dollars for it when he first bought it.

Lake had always felt that cars were just a means of transportation, so even though his old car was constantly breaking down, he had made do with it.

He returned to his office.

"Tiffany."

"Sir."

Lake handed his assistant the keys and some paperwork for the new car. "Please take these to the DMV to register them, and have them recreate my old license plate."

A new car definitely needed a new license plate, but Lake liked his old plate number.

LKNB!

Lake is the best!

This was a custom license plate Lake had made himself. While many might find it meaningless, Lake found it incredibly significant.

Tiffany nodded, took the keys and paperwork, and headed towards the elevator.

Lake, meanwhile, found David, and they chatted over coffee.

David was impressed by Lake’s rapid promotion, but he wasn’t jealous. After all, his own promotion speed was also quite good. David even thanked Lake.

Lake waved it off. "I hope we can continue to cooperate well."

Indeed.

Secretary Kelly had decided to promote David based on their past experience working together. More importantly, while Lake was highly capable in his investigations, he was often a slacker. David, on the other hand, was clearly dedicated to his work, proving himself capable in both his previous unit and the task force.

Lake then said to David, "I’m taking tomorrow off. I’m going to Los Angeles."

David nodded. "Okay."

Lake continued, "It should be about a month. I’ll be back quickly, and then you can take your vacation."

David laughed. "For me, the most painful thing is taking a vacation. If there’s anything worse, it’s a long vacation."

Lake burst out laughing. "Then you’d better not say that to your wife."

David waved his hand.

Just then.

Tiffany knocked and entered, her expression a little strange.

Lake raised an eyebrow, thinking Tiffany had already handled it. It had only been ten minutes. "So soon?"

Tiffany looked at Lake with a peculiar expression. "Sir, I couldn’t find your car."

Lake said, "It’s parked in the spot next to our building, the one with the flag. It’s obvious, white."

There was no reason for it not to be there.

Lake added, "White, Porsche Cayenne, SUV, brand new."

Tiffany looked confused. "Yes, sir. I circled the parking lot, and it really wasn’t there."

Lake: "…"

Ten minutes later.

Standing in the parking lot, Lake felt like he was about to explode.

Good heavens.

The reason Lake had bought that used car was because he knew there were many car thieves in New York. He figured an older car with years of history wouldn’t attract attention.

But he never in a million years would have expected to be targeted.

And…

He hadn’t even had time to buy insurance for the car he just bought.

Was this madness?

In broad daylight, in front of everyone, right outside his own headquarters, his brand new car, bought less than half an hour ago, had been brazenly stolen?

How audacious!

Lake took a deep breath and looked at Tiffany, who was running over from nearby. "What did the surveillance room say?"

Tiffany replied, "The surveillance cameras in the parking lot were upgrading their software systems this morning."

"What does that mean?"

"The surveillance at both entrances and exits of the parking lot was shut down."

"…"

Tiffany looked at Lake, whose face was contorted with anger. "Sir, should we contact the New York Department of Transportation?"

Lake didn’t even think about it. "The car of a senior executive from the Department of Homeland Security was stolen right in front of our own building. Do you think it’s appropriate to tell the New York Department of Transportation?"

He spoke.

After a pause, Lake said to Tiffany, "Directly take over the New York Traffic Department’s system. If they ask, just say we’re tracking a suspicious vehicle."

Lake had worked for the NYPD before. If the traffic department found out his car was stolen, within five minutes, George, Beckett, and Joe would likely be calling him.

And Lake was sure it wouldn’t be a call out of concern.

As Lake had just told his assistant Tiffany, the car of a high-ranking official from the National Security Agency was stolen from the parking lot of his own Homeland Building. This was undoubtedly a hot news item.

Damn it, I want to see who has the guts to pull this off.

Stealing my car?

Fuck!

Soon.

Homeland Operations Center.

All surveillance footage from the vicinity of the Homeland Building from the New York Traffic Department was pulled up. During this time, the Traffic Department inquired, and Homeland Security provided the reason Lake had just come up with.

After a while.

A homeland agent pointed to the surveillance footage on the left side of the Homeland Building’s parking lot, near the road.

A white Porsche Cayenne, with no markings and even still having its new car protective film on the roof, appeared in the surveillance footage and, with a whoosh, disappeared.

"Okay, pull up the surveillance footage for 67th Street."

"Switch to 66th Street."

"No sign of it."

"There’s a small road on 66th Street that leads to 57th Street."

"Found it. It went onto 57th Street and headed towards 47th Street."

"No, the surveillance on 47th Street is broken."

"What happened after that?"

Lake, with a grim expression, sat on the sofa, watching the tracking of his new car, which he had bought just an hour ago.

This was practically a race against time.

If there was a golden hour for solving child abduction cases in New York, then the golden hour for dealing with vehicle theft was only a mere two hours.

The reason?

After two hours, the car might have already left New York. As for where it went, anywhere in the world was possible, just as many stolen cars from around the world flowed into New York every year.

And even if it was still in New York.

Those skilled car thieves would swear on their reputations that after two hours had passed, even if you were standing in front of your car, you wouldn’t recognize it.