Chapter 162: The Girl Selling Cupcakes
"Ron, aren't you a federal agent? I think you'd stop the crazy behavior of some unhinged woman, right?" Sheldon tried to appear calm, but Ron could tell he was panicking inside.
"Of course, if I were on duty," Ron said casually, "but right now I'm off the clock. Whatever happens has nothing to do with me. Federal agents need time off too. It's a constitutional right."
With that, Ron opened the door and let Penny in.
"Ron?" Penny, who had been furious, was momentarily stunned upon seeing Ron. "When did you get back?"
"It doesn't matter when I got back. What matters is your clothes," Ron had to remind Penny. "They were thrown onto the power lines by Sheldon. When you're done dealing with that, don't forget to ask him how he managed it. As for what you're planning to do, sorry, I don't know anything. I'm just a regular government employee going for a walk."
Ron winked at Penny, implying she could do whatever she wanted. I don't care—just don't go overboard. Penny immediately understood and nodded.
Then she cracked her knuckles and walked toward Sheldon.
"Ron! You can't do this!" Sheldon's terrified voice rang out behind him. "You're a federal agent! I'm filing a complaint! There's a woman here trying to assault me!"
"Every day, countless young men get roughed up by beautiful women, but that's not my jurisdiction. You two have fun."
Sheldon continued yelling, but Ron couldn't hear him anymore. He was confident no nosy neighbors would interrupt their intimate conversation, since he'd thoughtfully closed the door behind him.
Ron wandered aimlessly after leaving the apartment, unsure what to do with himself.
It seemed like he'd been constantly busy since arriving in Los Angeles. Even at night, he was either gaming with the four scientists or working late with Max and Caroline.
But when Ron tried to call his two gorgeous business partners to check in, nobody answered. Instead, right in the middle of his call, the person he least wanted to hear from rang him up.
"Ron, interested in joining our operation?" As if sensing how bored Ron was, Hobbs's voice came through the receiver.
"If I had anything better to do right now, I wouldn't ask this question," Ron sighed: "What kind of operation? Is it entertaining?"
"Just arresting some small-time dealer, mainly to train my new guys. Plus, the Director wants me to talk to you."
Ron's heart sank: "What does he want you to talk to me about? I've got nothing to say to him."
"Get in the car." A vehicle parked on the curb suddenly started up and pulled over to Ron. The window rolled down, revealing Hobbs's big round head: "Let's talk on the way. Also, I brought you some gear. If you haven't put on weight, it should fit perfectly."
"Fine," Ron reluctantly opened the car door and got in: "Let's hear your pitch."
"Here's the deal," Hobbs raised the partition, so only the two of them in the back seat could hear: "Seems there's intel suggesting a series of plots against America are brewing, so the Director is setting up a new black ops division, planning to recruit elite operatives from various agencies..."
Meanwhile,
in a run-down building in the projects, Caroline was stealthily following "Max" who was carrying a box.
Just as "Max" was about to knock on a door, Caroline rushed up and tapped "Max" on the shoulder: "Max, turn around—yeah, I followed you."
Unfortunately, the person who turned around wasn't Max, but a guy with a hairstyle, clothes, and even build extremely similar to Max's...!
"Sorry, I followed you because you have similar hair and a jacket to a woman I know. You can take that as a compliment."
"You really mistook him for me, didn't you? His beard is way thicker than mine."
Ding~ The real Max finally emerged from the elevator, looking at the embarrassed Caroline with amusement.
"Where are we going? Why did you come to this dump? It reeks of weed in here." Caroline complained, covering her nose: "Oh God, please tell me your mom doesn't live here."
"You actually thought my mother lived indoors?" Max feigned surprise: "OK, listen, a friend of mine who deals has been texting me after every delivery lately, so I come here to sell some treats when people get the munchies after smoking."
Max showed Caroline the box in her arms.
"Max!" Caroline scolded, "They're breaking the law! The DEA will come arrest them! We won't be able to explain ourselves!"
Max gestured for Caroline to calm down: "Relax, they're just smoking some pot, which has been legal in California for years. Besides, how they smoke is their business. I'm just here to sell cupcakes and make money for equipment. Have you forgotten about that new oven we wanted?
It has an automatic timer. With it, we won't have to wake up in the middle of the night to turn off the oven before we can go back to sleep."
"No, Ron said marijuana is a gateway drug. That means it leads to harder stuff." Caroline stuck to her principles: "Marijuana makes people lazy and unfocused, and it can destroy people's ambitions!"
"Oh~ So you found a boyfriend who works for the Treasury, and now you're an expert on drugs?"
"Max," Caroline tried to reason with her. "Trust me, they won't be satisfied with just marijuana. They'll definitely want to try harder stuff, and then they'll spiral deeper and deeper. Besides, they might be so out of it that they could just pull out guns and shoot us."
It had to be said that Ron's early influence on Caroline had its benefits. At the very least, under Ron's guidance, Caroline's worldview wasn't as naive as most Americans'.
Of course, it might not be the people who were naive, but the terminology itself. Americans tend to use softer language around substance abuse issues.
However, before the two women could reach a conclusion in the hallway, the elevator arrived with a ding. The moment the doors opened, a large group of heavily armed DEA agents suddenly poured out of both the stairwell and the elevator.
"Move aside! Move aside!" a large man in the lead shouted. "Get ready to breach! One, two, three!"
(End of chapter)
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