the next day.
Lake packed his luggage.
After a while.
Skye walked down the stairs.
Lake once again turned to Skye to confirm: "Are you sure you don't want to travel to Los Angeles with me?"
"No."
Skye yawned and shook her head. "Remember, you signed me up for several tutoring classes. Besides, I just received a gift in advance yesterday. I made an appointment with Alexis to study in the car."
Lake shrugged: "Okay, I've already made an agreement with Cassel. Remember, call me if anything happens."
Skye nodded.
Lake didn't say anything else. If Skye didn't want to travel to Los Angeles with him, then they didn't have to go. At worst, he could take Skye to Hawaii for a solo trip during Christmas.
After a while.
Lake took a taxi to the National Land Building first.
Assistant Tiffany has compiled information on several car collection organizations located on the West Coast through the databases of several law enforcement agencies on the West Coast, but their business tentacles have also extended to New York.
After Lake got the information, he spoke briefly to the deputy director David, and then took a taxi to New York's Kennedy International Airport again.
When Lake used his ID to enter the security checkpoint.
Rachel and her daughter Josie, who had already flown in from Washington, D.C., immediately waved to Lake: "Here."
Lake walked over and said, "Sorry, I had to deal with some things temporarily."
Said.
Lake touched the little head of Josie, who was eight years old this year and looked like Rachel, like a little iceberg beauty.
Qiao Xi said, "Uncle Lake, you are late."
Lake apologized to Qiao Xi again: "I promise this is the last time, okay?"
Qiao Xi nodded cutely.
Rachel looked at Lake and said, "It's okay. Did you find the car?"
Lake was stunned and looked at Rachel. He hadn't told Rachel about this.
Rachel smiled, took off her backpack, and handed Lake the newspaper she had just read on the plane: "You must know that your car was lost and it was reported in the newspaper."
"What the hell?"
"See for yourself, second edition, on the left."
"…"
Lake flipped through the Daily Bugle in his hand. Wow, although it was not the front-page headline, most of the page was used to describe the theft of the vehicle headed by the New York State Department of Homeland Security, and then it also wrote about the car dealership and the organization that silenced people in Hell's Kitchen.
Three seemingly unrelated things were directly linked together by the Daily Bugle, and then, in a vague and speculative tone, it was said that it was really safe to let such a supervisor protect the safety of the people of New York State?
This hasn't been repaired enough.
Lake thought so in his heart. A few years ago, when S.H.I.E.L.D. was plotting against Lake for the first time, many newspapers at that time jumped out and waved the stick of racial discrimination at Lake.
At that time, Lake wrote down the names of several reporters who were the most aggressive in their comments in his little notebook. Then, after things gradually calmed down, he took the time to deal with them one by one.
Among them, the three reporters from the Daily Bugle are the most numerous.
Lake originally thought that after the three reporters were inexplicably shot, the Daily Bugle should be quiet, but out of the blue, it jumped out and annoyed him in such an ambiguous way.
Have guts.
Lake silently wrote down the name of the reporter who wrote the report, then smiled, folded the newspaper, and looked at Rachel: "Not yet, but we should be able to find it."
Must be found.
Among the several car collection organizations found by assistant Tiffany, there is one that is the most suspicious. Coincidentally, that car collection organization is located in Los Angeles, Lake's destination.
That's good.
Lake plans to take some time to visit in the evening.
After a while.
Lake led Rachel and Josie directly through the security door, down the stairs, and into a hangar.
Boarding.
"Wow!"
It was the first time for eight-year-old Josie to ride on such a private plane. She cutely asked Rachel why the plane was not like this when they came here before.
Rachel answered her daughter, then turned to Lake, who was already opening a bottle of wine, and said, "Is this considered occupying public resources?"
Lake handed over a glass of red wine: "Will you report it?"
Rachel thought about it and looked at Lake with a smile: "Maybe, but if you convince me."
Lake smiled.
"Sir."
The co-pilot, who was employed by the Department of Homeland Security, came out of the cabin and said to Lake, "We have obtained flight permission and are about to take off."
Lake nodded, picked up Qiao Xi, who was standing on tiptoe looking at the wine in the wine cabinet, and put her next to him. He fastened her seat belt and said, "The plane is about to take off. Let's play after it stabilizes. There's a bedroom inside."
Qiao Xi turned her head and looked towards the area leading to the plane's bedroom. "Can I sleep?"
Lake nodded: "Of course."
Qiao Xi yawned and seemed very sleepy.
Rachel took the earliest flight from Washington to New York. Lake had previously said that he could pick her up at the Washington airport, but Rachel said it was not necessary.
New York is on the East Coast, and this time our destination is Los Angeles, which is on the West Coast. Looking at the map, it basically spans the territory of the Federation.
Even if Lake used a private plane, it took nearly four and a half hours to reach the sky above Los Angeles, and it would probably take another twenty minutes to enter the landing procedure.
Lake and Rachel hugged each other and looked at Josie who was sleeping comfortably in bed.
Rachel looked at her daughter lying on the bed and said to Lake, "What kind of dream is she having?"
Lake looked at Qiao Xi, who was sleeping in a surrendered position, and smiled. "You're putting me in a difficult position. I can guess what boys dream about, but what girls dream about? Maybe they dream about having a house made of marshmallows."
Rachel looked at Lake and said, "I've dreamt about a house made of marshmallows."
Lake said: "Betty did the same thing, and I laughed at her. Since then, Betty has never told me what she dreams about."
Rachel rolled her eyes at Lake and said, "So do you like boys or girls?"
Just as Lake was about to say casually, he raised his eyebrows, as if he thought of something, and looked at Rachel.
Rachel smiled but said nothing.
Lake's eyebrows twitched, and he couldn't help but look at Rachel's flat belly.
"…Yes?"
"you guess?"
"…"
Rachel looked at the expression on Lake's face, smiled, and pulled something out of her pocket, handing it to Lake: "I wanted to tell you while we were on vacation, but I couldn't wait."
Lake took the thing Rachel handed over, looked at it, and his expression was a little puzzled.
Good job.
Am I that strong?
Lake thought about it and realized that he didn't bring it when he was with Emilia. However, Emilia thought she couldn't get pregnant, but in the end, she got pregnant.
It seems that he didn't bring it this time?
Is my tadpole's desire to survive so strong?
etc.
Lake suddenly thought of Sefer who came to see him some time ago. It seemed that he didn't bring him that time.
No way.
Lake couldn't help but calculate. If Sefer really won the bid, wouldn't he already have three children?
wrong.
There should be four. At least from a legal point of view, Skye can be considered his daughter.
Wow.
What?
By this calculation, is there one missing?
It's not a small amount.
That rebellious son doesn't count. As I said before, if Emilia hadn't protected him, Lake would have planned to humanely destroy that rebellious son long ago.
Rachel frowned at the look on Lake's face and whispered, "You don't want it?"
Lake came back to his senses: "No, how is that possible."
Although Lake has become accustomed to Western thinking, he still has the soul of the Chinese people at heart. In a word, having many descendants has been the persistent pursuit of the Chinese people since ancient times.
Children.
The more the better.
Rachel then hugged Lake and whispered in his ear, "Actually, I didn't tell you about Qiao Xi."
Lake smiled and said, "I know."
Rachel looked at Lake curiously.
Lake's lips curled up: "I control one of the most powerful intelligence agencies in the United States."
Josie was adopted.
only...
Lake did not say this matter explicitly. After all, the child was innocent. Moreover, Lake himself was adopted, so he also understood the psychology of those children who knew that they were adopted.
Look at Lake.
Look at Skye.
All right.
Lake confessed that he chose to go to Rachel that night after knowing this in advance. If Rachel really had a child with her ex-husband, to be honest, although Lake said that he didn't care, in fact, he still cared a little bit.
Rachel looked at Lake: "So..."
Lake smiled and said, "I love you, without a doubt. So, yes, I am looking forward to the day when our love child is born, just like you."
soon.
Qiao Xi, who was half asleep, was woken up.
Even with a seat belt on, his head was still moving up and down as if he was dozing off.
After a while.
The plane slowly landed in the hangar.
Got off the plane.
An agent from the California Department of Homeland Security was waiting nearby. After Lake got off the plane, he handed Lake the keys to the car he had just arrived. "Director Edwin."
Lake nodded to the Homeland Agent and took the car keys.
The homeland agent said something, then turned around, got into another agent's car, and left.
"I thought he was going to drive us to the hotel."
"Ha ha."
Lake opened the car door, looked at Rachel sitting in the passenger seat, smiled and said, "I did have this plan, but this is our vacation, isn't it? I don't think you want them to come in, so, am I doing the right thing?"
Rachel didn't answer, but kissed Lake as Josie laughed in the back seat.
Lake started the car.
The car started and then left the hangar directly, starting a one-month vacation in Los Angeles.
…