Chapter 676 Christmas

On the afternoon of December 24th.

Today, Christmas Eve, the streets of Los Angeles are filled with Christmas cheer.

While driving, Linda asked her young son in the passenger seat, "Jack, haven't you always wanted to spend Christmas at Luke's house?

Now that your dream has come true, be happy. "

"Mom, I'm very happy now." The little fat man replied.

Linda shook her head, "You don't look happy."

The little fat man didn't answer and turned to look out the window.

"Hey..." Linda sighed softly.

He knew very well the reason why his son was unhappy, probably because he missed someone, so he didn't ask any more questions.

Sometimes I think about it, their simple love is quite beautiful.

The two drove to the Palisades neighborhood.

Linda has always liked this community. It has a beautiful environment and each house is beautifully built.

Now with Christmas decorations, it is even more beautiful. Every house is hung with colorful lights, and the festive atmosphere is strong.

The car drove into Luke's house and saw Luke and Robert decorating the yard.

Linda parked the car, opened the trunk, and shouted, "Jack, get out and move your stuff."

The little fat man walked over obediently, moved the things in the trunk of the car and walked out of the garage. He saw Luke and Robert decorating a Christmas tree, "You planted a real Christmas tree in the yard?"

Luke smiled and asked, "Yes, do you like it?"

The little fat man walked over and touched the branch, "It feels great.

Where's Uncle Val? "

Robert, who was hanging up the lanterns, said, "He works overtime in the supermarket, and he gets three times his salary today. He won't be back until later."

The little fat man spread his hands and said, "This is not the Uncle Val I know."

Robert smiled, “People always grow.

Val has been through a lot of twists and turns in the past, but he's been doing pretty well lately. "

Linda walked around the yard and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, you have decorated the yard beautifully. How about I have a dinner in the yard tonight?"

I'm going to pack the ingredients. "

Luke said, "Mom, I didn't prepare a complete turkey, I just bought some turkey meat so that it would be easier to bake."

Linda said, "Well done, we can't finish the whole turkey, and I don't want to have to eat turkey tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

It's unconventional, but Robert doesn't mind; he prefers his grilled steak to turkey.

The three people chatted and worked at the same time. In a joyful atmosphere, the yard was quickly decorated.

Later, they also went to the kitchen to help Linda prepare Christmas Eve dinner.

Because many ingredients are prepared in advance, dinner preparation is not complicated.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, everyone set up a table in the yard. Robert opened a bottle of red wine and drank it first.

The food for dinner is also coming out one after another.

Roast turkey, pies, prosciutto, vegetable salad, pan-fried salmon, oyster bisque, strawberries, pudding, Christmas cake.

Luke ate a piece of prosciutto and gave it a thumbs up, "It tastes great."

Linda clapped her hands, "OK, dinner is ready, why isn't Val back yet?"

"No need to wait for that guy." Robert shrugged, "I just called him. He said he was going to spend Christmas with his friends and wouldn't be back today."

"Friends?" Linda frowned, "He is associating with those bad friends again?"

Robert shook his head, "I don't know either, but he has been doing quite well recently..."

Luke took a sip of red wine and smiled, “Maybe, things are not as bad as you think.

Uncle Val is an adult and needs some space and freedom. "

Robert asked, "It sounds like you know something?"

Luke said, "No, we haven't contacted each other for a while."

The little fat man took a big bite of the pie and said vaguely, "Obviously, Val is in love."

"What did you say?" Robert thought he heard wrongly.

The little fat man swallowed the pie and said, "Val is looking for a girlfriend."

Linda asked curiously, "How do you know?"

"I saw it." The little fat man recalled, "Last month, Luke took me to a restaurant to eat. He was dining with a lady at the time."

Robert said, "It's just eating together. That doesn't mean anything. I sometimes eat with female friends."

The little fat man continued, “We went to a couples-themed restaurant.

Except for Luke and me, almost all the people eating there were couples, and the cost of that restaurant was very high. If they weren't lovers, no one would go to that kind of restaurant. "

Robert frowned, "How expensive is that restaurant?"

The little fat man said, "Luke and I spent two thousand dollars."

Luke smiled and said, "The two of us are relatively good eaters and cannot represent the average consumption level of that restaurant."

Linda glared at the two brothers and said with an unkind expression, "Why don't you ask me to come with you? What kind of romance can you two brats have?"

Luke explained, "At the time, Jack was falling out of love and he had always wanted to go to that restaurant with Maggie, so I took him to experience it."

Linda hummed, "Who wouldn't want to go to a restaurant where the average person spends a thousand dollars?"

Luke hurriedly said, "Mom, when it's your birthday, I'll ask you to go.

Only you are invited. "

"That's pretty much it." Linda nodded, looking at Robert who was a little dazed at the side, "Didn't Val talk about this new lady he met?"

"No." Robert shook his head. He did not object to Val having a girlfriend, but the level of consumption made him a little worried...

However, Val was not here, so it was useless to say anything. Robert smiled and said, "Don't worry about him, let's eat."

After dinner, the four of them watched TV and played cards.

At around ten o'clock in the evening, Christmas carols were heard outside...

Luke and the four began to exchange gifts.

Luke bought Robert a watch, Linda a necklace, and Fatty a Lego brick.

At night, the three of them stayed at Luke's house. His house was large and had enough rooms.

For two consecutive days on the 25th and 26th, Luke spent time with his family, living a leisurely and relaxing life.

December 27, morning.

Luke received an invitation from Inoue Nami to go to Malibu beach for vacation.

Malibu Beach is located southwest of Los Angeles and is one of the most famous beaches in Los Angeles.

The weather is very good today, with blue sea and sky, and gentle breeze, which is perfect for sunbathing on the beach.

There are many rocky landscapes on the beach, and Luke also saw a Chinese couple taking wedding photos, which gave it a more romantic atmosphere.

Luke was lying on the chair and saw Inoue Nami, who had just changed into a swimsuit and walked over. She was wearing a sky-blue swimsuit, with fair skin, full breasts, a slim waist, and long legs. She had the style of an oriental beauty.

Inoue Nami sat on the chair next to her, "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas." Luke handed her the orange juice on the table, "I bought it for you."

"Thank you." Inoue Nami took the orange juice, took a sip, and asked, "How was your Christmas?"

“It’s rare to have time to spend with my family, which is not bad.

And you? "

"It was good at first, but after a long time, it will inevitably become boring."

Luke smiled and said, "So, you asked me to come to the beach today for excitement."

"To be precise, I want to dig out some news from you."

"You mean the kidnapping of Henry Lawley?"

"Yes, wasn't this case originally investigated by the Robbery and Murder Division? Why was it handed over to the Secret Service?"

"The matter is a bit complicated, and there is a gag order from above, so the case needs to be kept confidential."

Inoue Nami blinked her big black eyes, "Including me?"

Luke smiled, "I really can't say much."

"Then tell me something you can say, even if it's some scraps, it will be valuable to us."

Luke pondered for a moment and said, "Actually, before the case was transferred, we had successfully rescued the hostages and the case was basically cleared.

It was only because of the involvement of certain agencies that we had to turn the case over to the Secret Service. "

"So, the Secret Service took the credit from you?"

Luke said, "I didn't say that."

The corners of Inoue Nami's mouth raised slightly, "Yes, I investigated this myself.

Can you tell me how you found the whereabouts of the hostages? "

“The robbers demanded ransom from the families of the hostages, so we placed a hidden tracking device in the ransom box and then tracked the robbers’ hiding place.

While the robbers were counting their money, we carried out the operation, killed the robbers and rescued the hostages. "

Nami Inoue smiled and said, "It's a wonderful operation. Can you tell me more about the details of the investigation?"

Luke thought for a while, "In fact, during the investigation, we received many extortion calls. They all claimed that they knew the whereabouts of the hostages and demanded that the ransom be paid before informing them of the whereabouts of the hostages."

Nami Inoue asked, "How to judge whether what they say is true or false?"

“Ask them to describe some details, and if they are correct, it means they are indeed related to the kidnapping case.

But this is not absolute. For example, we received a ransom call. Someone claimed that he saw Henry Lawley being kidnapped. In fact, he just met Henry Lawley and knew that he was kidnapped. The approximate location and time, but I didn't actually see him being kidnapped.

But because the situation he provided was similar to the situation in which Henry Lawley was kidnapped, it was easy to mislead the investigation of the case. "

Inoue Nami said gratefully, "Luke, thank you for telling me this.

So far, few reports on the case have been so detailed. "

Luke raised the glass bottle of Coke and clinked the glasses with her, "Friends are supposed to help each other, right?"

"You're right." Inoue Nami took a sip of orange juice, her pretty cheeks were a little lost in thought, as if she was thinking about how to report tomorrow's news.

Luke changed his position and lay comfortably on the chair, looking at the passing beauties in swimsuits.

The half-truth and half-falsehood he just said is enough for Inoue Nami to write a news article. Sometimes this kind of half-truth and half-false news is more likely to attract the attention of citizens.

Moreover, Luke's words just now indirectly gave lapd the credit.

As for whether someone would expose him, Luke wasn't worried at all.

In the past, after a case was solved, the police would hold a press conference for some influential cases, so reporters did not dare to write anything. If they did, they might be slapped in the face by the police. In the end, the police statement would be the main one.

But this case is different. The case is completely confidential and there will be no public press conference at all. Therefore, what Luke said is the truth.