The Wolf of Los Angeles

[Chapter 204: Rewarding Contributions]

As soon as Brian entered the office, he appeared radiant, filled with energy, as if he were a different person.

He placed a document on Hawke's desk and said, "Take a look at this."

Hawke glanced at the densely packed letters and asked, "What is this?"

Brian explained briefly, "It's a draft of the economic development plan from the new governor's office."

Hawke understood immediately, "Rewarding contributions."

"That's not wrong," Brian replied as he pulled up a chair and sat across from the desk. "Policy support, funding assistance, tax credits, and so on. A number of companies will be featured, and at the top of the priority list are Fox Television, Pacific Investment Group, and Clarium Capital. The first one strongly backed Arnold at a critical moment, while the latter two are his main sponsors."

Pacific Investment Group was owned by the Ferguson family.

Hawke asked, "Clarium Capital? I haven't heard much about them."

Brian elaborated, "The founder is Peter Thiel, mainly investing in Silicon Valley. He co-founded the digital payment company PayPal with Elon Musk and others, which was sold to eBay last year for $1.5 billion."

Hawke recognized a familiar name but didn't press further. He was burning cash himself, and asking about anything else wouldn't help. He shifted back to the main topic, "What about me?"

Brian understood and smiled, "Twitter is among the companies in the second priority tier."

He continued, "Arnold will launch the governor's economic development plan, investing up to $750 million every year to support targeted enterprises. Twitter, as a secondary support recipient, will benefit from research subsidies, employment incentives, training for high-tech talent, broadband server subsidies, and office space subsidies, among other forms of support."

Hawke wasn't satisfied, "Is there anything else?"

"Of course," Brian continued. "Led by the California Department of Finance, there's a funding project where Twitter can apply for a $20 million interest-free loan."

He looked at Hawke and added, "There are also additional job tax credits, California competitive tax credits, sales and use tax exemptions, etc. Once this plan is finalized, let your finance and accounting teams analyze it in detail."

Hawke nodded; tax credits could boost corporate income, subsidies were like free money, and who wouldn't appreciate an interest-free loan?

It was no wonder that everyone liked the cozy relationship between government and business. If one emerged victorious in political disputes, the benefits were substantial.

He scrutinized the document Brian brought, deducting the interest-free loans and tax benefits. Just from the subsidies alone, as long as Twitter continued to develop normally, it could apply for tens of millions of dollars in California fiscal subsidies each year.

Interests dictated positions, and positions dictated actions. Hawke could now clearly declare that Schwarzenegger was a good governor.

"What's the timeline for implementation?" he asked directly.

Brian replied, "Arnold has already taken office and is pushing hard. I estimate the state legislature will pass it by July; it's part of Gray Davis's resignation agreement."

He suddenly laughed, "Under pressure, Gray Davis will temporarily retreat from politics. Guess which industry he plans to enter?"

"Writing a book? Speaking engagements?" Hawke guessed, thinking of common money-making pathways for politicians. He frowned and wondered, "He isn't planning to break into Hollywood, is he?"

Brian laughed even harder, "You guessed it right. I have reliable information that Gray Davis plans to temporarily venture into Hollywood."

Hawke was somewhat surprised, "A Hollywood superstar gets the governor's seat, and his predecessor sheds the politician's burden to turn around and enter Hollywood."

Brian added, "And it's happening swiftly. It's said Gray Davis has contacted Sony Pictures about testing the waters with the series Yes, Dear."

Hawke considered another possibility: "Looks like the Democrats have abandoned Gray Davis."

Brian nodded, "Exactly. They likely won't invest further resources into him."

Just then, someone knocked on the office door, and Edward walked in. He greeted Brian first, saying, "Boss, one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's assistants is here."

...

Hawke headed to the reception area, where he met a middle-aged man named Daniel Keitel.

Daniel's purpose was to deliver an invitation from Schwarzenegger, inviting Hawke to a party that weekend.

Hawke sent him off and returned to his office. Brian glanced at the invitation and said, "I got one too."

"Victory party?" Hawke asked.

Brian replied, "More of a thank-you party."

The two of them chatted for a while longer, discussing the latest updates on a missing persons case.

That case had already concluded; the LAPD handed it over to the FBI, which reached a clear conclusion.

As for the missing girls, they might be completely forgotten by the world.

...

In the San Fernando Valley, a neighborhood of single-family homes.

Irene drove up to a residence and pressed a remote to open the garage, driving in without delay.

She closed the garage door and took her bag into the house, opened the door to the basement, and hesitated for a moment before turning on the light as she descended.

Once in the basement, Irene quickly located the tool cabinet her boyfriend Guerrero spoke about.

The cabinet was large, featuring a compartment. Following her boyfriend's instructions, she opened it to find a considerable amount of cash, most of which were old twenty-dollar bills.

Next to it were several boxes, and Irene took them out one by one.

Some boxes contained gold jewelry, while others held gold watches -- all easily convertible into cash.

Finally, she turned to a plastic-sealed box. Upon opening it, she discovered photos, data storage devices, and written documents.

Flipping through the photos revealed extremely disturbing content.

The images depicted women and children suffering in inhumane ways.

A few of the male tormentors looked somewhat familiar.

Irene packed everything up. Her first instinct was to call the police, but as that thought crossed her mind, she discarded it.

Her boyfriend Guerrero had jumped to his death!

Everything seemed just as he spoke about before parting ways.

The FBI and LAPD both deemed it a suicide.

There was definitely something off; neither side was trustworthy.

Thinking this through, Irene's eyes turned red. She was still a student, still believed in love.

Guerrero couldn't just die like that.

Looking at the materials in her hands, she wiped away the tears that had fallen from her eyes.

Before she left that day, Guerrero had told her to find an online media outlet and mail the stuff there.

Clearly, her boyfriend had been prepared for this.

Irene thought back to the online media she used and suddenly remembered Twitter. It seemed this site had some guts, having recently exposed a scandalous video of heiress Paris Hilton.

Earlier, there were stories on Will Smith and his wife.

Irene decided to send the materials to Twitter to see how it went.

As a still-studying girl, although she anticipated potential danger, her gaze remained too innocent, her thoughts too simple.

She didn't even make a replica of the materials.

Irene found Twitter's news submission email address online, bought a mailing package, and secured the items properly.

She gathered her valuables and left the house, driving north to Santa Clarita, looking for the right mailbox to send the mail.

...

Century City, Fox Television Center.

Harley Wayne sat in her office cubicle, her eyes fixed on a blank piece of paper.

On it were a few names, two of which she highlighted: Broderick and Guerrero.

Both had committed suicide.

Such coincidences didn't exist in the world. The missing persons case exposed by the Superstar Training School saw the two previous executives take their lives in succession, with all blame resting on these two deceased individuals.

The FBI released such an outrageous investigation result, and mainstream media not only failed to question it but also maintained silence.

Were those missing girls still alive? Where were they? Or rather, where were their bodies?

No one cared.

Even Fox News, which exposed the matter, no longer reported it.

Harley didn't give up, but she knew Fox wouldn't support her.

From the two suicides, she gained a full understanding of the dangers.

Words could educate, but perhaps a person wouldn't grow particularly fast.

However, experiences taught one quickly.

Harley had become more cautious than before.

To get to the bottom of these matters and ensure the world remembers the missing girls, she first needed to guarantee her own safety.

This murky world was a monster that consumes without leaving bones.

Harley didn't go looking for Gretchen or Roger Ailes.

As an investigative journalist, she now only trusted herself.

...

In Beverly Hills, at the Hyatt Hotel.

Emma Batson led a team from Bay Area Consulting that had been in residence for several days.

During this time, they conducted extensive market research on Twitter.

Similar social networks operated in North America, but none had the user numbers and impact of Twitter.

Operating primarily out of Silicon Valley, it wasn't hard for Emma to determine that this company had tremendous market potential.

Additionally, the shareholder composition of Twitter laid out before the team.

Discounting the negligible number of the Black shareholder, the main stakeholders amounted to just three: West Coast Media Entertainment Studio, an investment firm from the Cayman Islands, and Pacific Investment Group.

In the conference room, assistant Isabella said, "Various signs indicate that the shares of the first two are likely held by Hawke Osment. According to our knowledge, Hawke Osment signed a betting investment agreement with Pacific Investment Group in the early days of Twitter, and he ultimately won that agreement, holding over 67 percent of the absolute controlling stake."

Emma asked, "Is there any indication that he's engaging with other investment firms?"

"No," another assistant replied. "From sources in Sacramento, Twitter made the new governor's development plan list and is set to receive high subsidies and large amounts of interest-free loans soon."

Emma thought for a moment and said, "I'll find an opportunity to privately contact Hawke and see what the situation is."

Isabella responded, "He'll be attending a party this weekend."

*****

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