The Wolf of Los Angeles.

After the banquet, Hawke immediately called his bodyguard over as he emerged from the hall filled with Secret Service agents.

Although he didn't know whether Elizabeth Carter's words were true or not, he would rather believe it and contacted Chief of Staff Andy Card directly.

The latter quickly coordinated several agents to follow Hawke and Brian.

If these two people really cause trouble in Washington, it will be a slap in the face of George Walker, the inviter.

If he can't even protect the VIP guests he invited, who would want to cooperate with him?

Hawke did not return to the Willard InterContinental Hotel where he had originally stayed, but stayed at the Hilton and booked a few new rooms.

Entering a business suite, Brian was puzzled: "What happened?"

"To prevent anyone from doing anything bad to us." Hawke briefly said about Elizabeth Carter.

Brian thought about it carefully and said, "This is good. It can avoid some trouble." He habitually said, "What if someone really shoots..."

Hawke immediately became nervous when he heard this and interrupted him directly: "Dude, you should shut up."

"I'm no longer the leader of the Curse Cult!" Brian explained, "Since you and Erica went on vacation to Florida, no accidents have happened, right?"

Hawke said a heartbreaking truth: "Because you kept your mouth shut."

He quickly changed the subject and asked, "Elizabeth Carter claims to be a strategic planner. What exactly does she do?"

Brian took out his phone: "I'm not sure either, let me ask."

Hawke waited for him to call.

After more than ten minutes, Brian hung up the phone and came back, saying, "She is the vice president of the famous Peterson Strategic Consulting Company and one of George's strategic planners in the election, but she is mainly responsible for the business in the Central and Eastern regions and did not go to Los Angeles."

He added: "Elizabeth recently took on a new job. Several members of the Democratic Party are preparing to push for a new round of gun restriction bills next year, hoping to shake one of the cornerstones of the Democratic Party. The election is over and the result cannot be changed. They have already started preparing for the midterm elections and four years later. Elizabeth's company, Peterson, has been commissioned by the National Rifle Association to lobby members to oppose this bill."

"I see." Hawke understood: "Members of the Legislative Yuan have to take into account the voters in their respective constituencies. Voters are influenced by public opinion. Twitter is different from traditional newspapers and TV stations. It can directly convey public opinion to the corresponding voters."

“She wanted to leverage the power of Twitter,” Bryan said.

Hawke thought of the brief exchange in the banquet hall and said, "This woman has asked me to meet her tomorrow. Melman has asked me to meet him at the Hilton tomorrow. It's a good opportunity to talk to her first. If Peterson is willing to pay, this will be a good deal."

…………

Willard InterContinental Hotel, inside the lobby.

A waitress brought coffee and placed it next to the two male guests in the lounge, and whispered, "The two targets haven't returned yet."

The bald man among them nodded imperceptibly.

The waitress left normally.

The bald man put sugar in his coffee and whispered, "Let them leave quickly."

The young man opposite took out his cell phone and made a call: "Evacuate immediately."

He put away his phone and looked across: "Could they have gone somewhere else and come back later?"

The bald man said, "I don't agree with this approach, but the higher-ups insist on doing it this way. Not everyone is like them, venting their crazy desires for women, doing those asshole things, and ruining their careers."

The young man couldn't help but lower his head: "Why do we still want to push forward?"

The bald man said: "Many people suspect that Brian Ferguson's fiancée got more evidence from the Ackerman family and quietly kept it until she needed it..."

The young man understood: “The target this time is actually the new mayor of Los Angeles?”

"Yes." The bald man said, "It seems that the other party is very vigilant."

The young man asked, "Where are the police officers?"

The bald man waved his hand and said, "Everyone, leave. I will go find Edwards myself."

As the two were talking, several agents wearing FBI blue jackets suddenly entered the hotel entrance.

The men went straight to the front desk, showed their ID cards, and went upstairs.

The young man watched these people enter the elevator and said, "Are they here to see us?"

"Let's go." The bald man took a sip of coffee, stood up and walked out.

Young people automatically follow.

The two got into the same car. The bald man asked the young man to drive and took out his cell phone to dial a number: "Things have changed. The FBI is here."

The person on the other side asked, "Is it exposed?"

The bald man replied: "No, I asked everyone to evacuate in advance."

"Got it. You guys should leave quickly." The person on the other end hung up the phone.

The bald man looked out the window. The night sky in Washington was gloomy.

…………

The next morning, Hawke received a call from Andy Card, and the FBI found nothing unusual.

He thanked them, had his breakfast, and came to the café at the agreed time.

Elizabeth Stein, whom I met last night, has arrived.

The woman was wearing a black women's suit, which, paired with her fair skin and big red lips, gave people a particularly cold feeling.

Perhaps this is her survival skill in the workplace. Hawke sat opposite her and pointed at his watch: "Half an hour later, I have other things to do."

"I know that Melman has made an appointment to meet you." Elizabeth seemed to have everything under control and went straight to the point: "I guess you have already asked about me and my affairs last night?"

Hawke simply followed her words and said: "Yes, you are a strategic planner and a political lobbyist."

Elizabeth's stern face showed no expression. "I just received a new job to dismantle the gun control proposal of the Democratic Party. However, shootings have occurred frequently in North America in recent years, and there have been more and more vicious shootings. The voices calling for gun control have gradually become the mainstream of society. Once this bill is passed, it will directly affect the results of the midterm elections."

Hawke just listened and didn't say anything.

Elizabeth continued: "This job requires the support of a strong media platform, but most of the media support the Donkey Party."

Hawke leaned back in his chair and said, "Twitter can support you, but there are conditions."

Elizabeth's stern face suddenly broke into a smile: "Give me a time and your room number. I just had blood drawn for testing last week. I will bring the test report."

Hawke frowned. Is that so direct?

Elizabeth said bluntly: "To persuade politicians, besides interests, one must also rely on words."

This was the foundation of her success in Washington.

"You misunderstood." Hawke shook his head slowly: "Twitter is a commercial company, not a charity company. I can cooperate with your promotion, but you need to discuss the cost issue with my marketing director."

Elizabeth was somewhat disappointed: "I see."

She suddenly asked, "Do you support gun control?"

Hawke did not answer, but said: "From what you said, after getting to know me, you should know that I have been attacked several times, and I was able to survive only because of the gun in my hand."

Elizabeth said no more.

Hawke said goodbye and left, chatted with Brian for a few words, and then went into the agreed meeting room together.

A moment later, campaign manager Melman came over.

The purpose of this meeting was mainly about George Walker's economic development plan after he starts his new term.

This involves the Internet support plan.

The plan is simple and direct, and the most important thing is government subsidies.

In Hawke's previous life, he had seen in the news two huge subsidies from the U.S. federal government, which directly subsidized the aviation industry with $500 billion, and Intel, which directly allocated $80 billion in subsidies and provided more than $100 billion in low-interest loans.

Twitter certainly doesn't get such good treatment.

During his second term, George Walker will vigorously promote the development of the Internet industry and has provided a subsidy package with a total value of US$25 billion.

As the Internet company that has contributed the most to the election, Twitter will benefit from $17 billion of it.

The package is made up of federal grants, federal tax credits, special business subsidies, and more.

Direct federal funding accounts for half.

In addition, Twitter can apply for ultra-low-interest loans totaling $35 billion, backed by federal guarantees.

Twitter will also receive support in terms of policy.

Hawke wants to set up a "Mobile Application Alliance" to promote Android and Twitter mobile apps.

Twitter is working with the Federal Communications Commission, the Commerce Department and others to co-convene an industry conference next year.

Hawke also provided an artificial intelligence development plan called "Stargate".

The federal government will review this plan, and if it passes the review, it will allocate special funds for the development of this plan.

The development of artificial intelligence requires a huge investment of money, so Hawke will certainly have to spend the federal money.

As for the small preferential projects involved, Hawke will send a professional team to discuss them in detail with the federal government when he returns to Los Angeles.

…………

In an office on Capitol Hill.

Chief of Staff Andy Card had just left, and Party Whip Tom Emmer was standing at the door of the office with an extremely grim look on his face.

Assistant Wilshire came in quickly and said, "Tommy?"

"This is betrayal, a serious betrayal!" Tom Emmer slammed his hand on the desk. The huge pain made him quickly withdraw his hand and shake it off, saying, "George Walker betrayed me."

Wilshere asked: "What happened?"

Tom Emmer said, "That bastard broke his promise to me and is going to use his little sweetheart Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State!"

Wilshire was quite surprised: "How could he do this!"

Tom Emo quickly suppressed his anger and sat behind his desk: "What do you think we should do?"

Wilshere was cautious and did not express his opinion easily.

Tom Emo said, "No one can play a trick on me and not pay the price!"

Wilshere asked, "What are you going to do?"

"Let me think about it." Tom Emmer grabbed the armrest of the chair. "Something is fishy going on in Los Angeles. There must be something we don't know about. Call Brian Ferguson."

Wilshire searched for contact information and dialed a number: "It can't be dialed." (End of this chapter)