Chapter 194 Slipping Away From Work
Luke drove the car today, and Selina endured his scolding as she bit into some cheese.
Cheese on its own was food for many Americans.
But for Luke, he had to eat it with other ingredients.
âYou have time to eat, but you canât go and buy some ingredients after getting off work? Is it so hard to buy some bread and milk? Just how lazy are you?â
Seizing a moment when her mouth wasnât full, Selina hurried to say, âI canât make any dishes anyway. The food wouldâve gone bad even if I bought them. Iâm not lazy. Just make me a list, and Iâll go to the supermarket and buy everything myself, okay?â
Luke was rendered speechless.
She did seem to have a point... except she didnât! How could bread and milk go bad so easily? She was simply lazy!
Seeing how shameless his roommate was, Luke stopped nagging her.
It was indeed pointless for someone who couldnât cook to keep ingredients in the fridge. In his previous life, too many fresh ingredients had gone bad in his fridge.
But he followed Selinaâs suggestion. Getting her to drive the car, Luke made a list and put it in her purse.
Selina didnât complain, but was quite happy instead. âAh, darling, what are we going to eat tonight? I can buy us more ingredients.â
Luke: ...Just shut up! Iâll be the one making the food in the end anyway!
Bickering all the way to the police department, they then went off to find their respective partners.
As usual, Elsa was earlier than Luke.
She generally arrived half an hour early, and Luke would get there fifteen to twenty minutes later.
Seeing that Luke had arrived, she got to her feet and said, âLetâs go to the bossâs office and report in.â
Following her, Luke asked, âReport on what? Our pleasant holiday in the capital of the
arts?â
Elsa snorted. âIâm going to ask for a case. We have no cases to work on right now.â
Luke nodded his head without objection.
For him, it was better to have too many cases than to have none.
When they entered Dustinâs office, they found Dustin already hard at work.
Looking at the stacks of files on the manâs desk, Luke secretly shook his head. This was the reason why he didnât want to be promoted at all.
The local police departments across America had different systems, but generally speaking, police sub-bureaus in major cities like Los Angeles were headed by captains, while sub-bureau divisions were headed by sergeants.
Actually, a sergeant was the starting point for the administrative level in the police system. That was why one had to take a civil service test to become a sergeant.
As the boss of the Major Crimes Division, Dustin was a lieutenant, which was a level higher than sergeant. The word on the street was that he would be promoted to captain soon.
For administrators, coordinating their subordinates and distributing cases could be quite annoying; they had to spend a lot of time navigating office politics.
Luke had no talent in that area. He would rather be a specialist like Old Greyson.
Old Greyson wouldnât have been as smart or as ruthless as an administrator, nor would FBI and CIA big shots be knocking on his door if he had become one.
Seeing Luke and Elsa come in, Dustin put his files down and gestured for Luke to close the door.
After the door was shut, Dustin said with a smile, âIt seems you enjoyed your holiday.â
Neither of them said anything. It wasnât the best time to brag about it.
Dustin soon got down to business. âYou donât have new cases on hand, do you?â
Elsa nodded her head. âThatâs right, boss. Weâre checking in to see if there are any new cases we can work on.â
Dustin was very pleased.
He had always appreciated Elsa, not just because of her ability to crack cases, but also because of her attitude toward work.
Without further ado, Dustin took out a few files and said, âThe first case is kind of tricky. You can give it up if you donât find any leads in a couple of days.â
Luke and Elsa knew that the case had to be a major one despite the lack of clues, so it had to be investigated.
Elsa immediately accepted the file.
Luke, however, looked at Dustin.
Noticing his expression, Dustin asked, âWhatâs up?â
Luke chuckled. âBoss, Iâm thinking that Elsa can read the file today while I take care of some personal business. Iâve been away for two weeks, after all.â
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Stumped for a moment, Dustin smiled. âYouâre slipping off when you just got back from Paris? Didnât you have enough fun?â
Luke, however, simply grimaced. âBoss, Iâm only thinking about Elsa. Look at her. She still has jet lag. Iâm afraid that sheâll crash the car if she goes out now. Why donât you let her stay in for today and read the file?â
Dustin glanced at Elsa. Noticing the amusement on her face, he knew that Elsa had been unaware of Lukeâs intention until just then. He found a document on his table and threw it at Luke. âWhat a scoundrel! Take this and get out!â
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While Dustin hadnât given him a straight answer, Luke knew he had gotten tacit approval.
Looking at the document, Luke smiled. âHaha, boss, thanks. I wonât have to use Elsaâs car today.â
Dustin pointed at the door, too lazy to say anything else.
Luke saluted him with a smile and left, not asking why Elsa was staying behind.
Elsa had been away for days. It was natural that she and Dustin needed to talk in private.
Just now, Luke had said outright that he was heading out on personal business. Other people mightâve been criticized for it, but Dustin was well aware of Lukeâs attitude and abilities.
Given how Luke had managed to resolve the robbery at Nakatomi Plaza in an hour, it certainly wasnât a problem if he wanted to slip away for a day or two.
After cracking the Sergei and Nakatomi Plaza cases, Luke could easily take off for a year if he wanted to.
The document that Dustin had tossed to him was actually a certificate for Lukeâs own police car.
So, from today onward, he could drive himself wherever he wanted to go.
After Luke left and shut the door, Elsa asked, âBoss, howâs it going with the Nakatomi Plaza case?â