013   James Lance - a new target for hunters

Outside the police station of Porto North District, there was a Jo's bar two blocks away. It was called the police bar because it was the place where the police often gathered after their work.

"Hey! Lance (James)!" Detective Curson walked out of the bathroom behind the bar and stared at a trace of water on his pants. You know it when you are middle-aged. Curson passed James on the phone and patted his partner on the back. "Who are you talking to?"

"A friend." James held the receiver. "Order me a whisky."

Curson curled his mouth and pointed his chin at the waiter at the bar: "you heard the boss! Two whiskies!"

The waiter smiled and pulled out two cups. The detectives at the bar laughed at Curson: "Curson! You have a new boss! How about your salary?"

Curson sat back in his seat and shouted to James, who was still on the phone: "Hey, boss! How about your treat today?"

James nodded helplessly and shouted to a room of detectives, "I'll buy you a drink tonight!"

Curson turned back with satisfaction, "see? The salary is very good!"

Now, we know what method James used to reverse the bad impression caused by the shapeshifter Kim.

"You say Indians?" At the other end of the phone, Anthony's voice came into James' ear.

"Yes. I saw his bolo tie, I'm sure. I'm just calling to tell you that I want to find this guy." James quickly said, clutching the phone.

"No! Lance! You don't want to be associated with hunters!" Anthony said hastily.

"Why?..." James turned his back, held the phone tighter, and lowered his voice: "Mayor! He has the skills to deal with those things! We need him! He can help us protect Porto!"

"No! Lance! James! We don't need him!" Perhaps because of the influence from this side, Anthony's voice was also lowered, Shorter: "believe me, James, hunters have no respect for the law! They follow their own rules. They are all criminals! Have you forgotten what he did to you and Curson yesterday? You are a policeman! We need to protect Porto, but we don't need the help of criminals! It's just a Ghoul! You should contact me earlier! Salt water can kill them!"

James frowned. He was not familiar with hunters. Even half a month ago, he thought hunters were farmers who had a unique attachment to wild deer and Turkey. Unexpectedly, this word also represents a group of professional killers with unique skills who hunt and kill alien creatures everywhere.

Anthony had a point. When he first came into contact with hunters, James found that they were not good people.

Last night James fired six shots. Their location was an apartment building. There are a large number of retail residents. It was impossible not to cause a commotion. When the investigation was conducted this morning, people living in the surrounding areas all replied that they slept too hard last night and didn't notice anything outside! Such a coincidence was almost impossible!

Besides, the hunter stunned Curson with electric shock when he came up. Even now, Curson insisted that the criminal of the missing homicide was a team crime, and he was secretly attacked!

James thought for a while and said to the receiver, "at least I need to know who he is! Maybe, just maybe, we can cooperate."

"Alas!" Anthony on the phone sighed: "I know you won't listen to me easily! But James! You must be careful! Protect yourself! And don't reveal Ryan and them! They are our real allies!"

"I know." James frowned and hung up the phone.

Curson patted the bar table and urged, "another round!"

"No." James went back to the bar and stopped his partner. "You'll have to drive home later. One..." James looked at the two empty cups and shook his head helplessly. "Two cups are enough."

Curson nodded to a group of colleagues: "look! This is a good 'boss'!"

"All right." James patted Curson on the back and lifted him up. Curson was drunk! Middle aged man, we all know.

James motioned to the clerk behind the bar to keep the account. Kim 'spoiled' most of his clothes. From yesterday to today, he was wearing Curson's clothes without his wallet. He took out Curson's key and helped his partner out of the bar. Push Curson's heavy body into the car and walk to the driver's seat.

When they left Jo's bar only five minutes later, a man in a bolo tie, playing with a coin, opened the door of the bar.

"Beer." The man looked around and sat down at the bar.

It was not normal for a police bar to have a strange face. Especially in the afternoon, it is not a good habit to drink when the sun has not sunk into the horizon. Drinkers who need alcohol prefer to go to their familiar bars.

The man didn't seem to realize that he had attracted the attention of the detectives. He smiled, pressed a twenty dollar bill on the bar and raised his chin to the man behind the bar.

"This must be a police bar. I don't know. Do you know a detective named James Lance?"

The man behind the bar was stunned, looked at the bill, and then hesitated to look at the detectives in the bar.

"Hey!" The detectives temporarily put down their glasses and looked at the man in front of the bar. "You! Who are you? What's your matter?" A detective stuck his waist to reveal the gun on the inside of his clothes and the police badge on his belt.

The detective's tone WAs not friendly. It's not a fair thing to use bribes to inquire about a person's whereabouts!

"Woo woo!" The stranger turned around, looked at the things exposed in the detective's coat, smiled and spread his hands: "I'm not looking for trouble. It seems that I've found the right place. You must be James Lance's colleagues!"

The detectives' posture did not change, staring at the guy, waiting for an explanation.

"Well, it's my fault." The man turned and nodded to the waiter at the bar. "You can take the money. That's your tip."

The man took his beer, walked down the bar, sat down at the table next to the detectives, smiled and explained, "I'm just a stranger. I have a friend of Porto who knows James Lance. My friend is really bad!"

The detectives relaxed a little. They had guessed the direction of the story.

"Do you know what I mean? He is Lance! The son of General Lance, I think he must be much better than my friend! So... Hey, you know!" The man raised his eyebrows.

The detectives returned to drinking and chatting. A detective joked to the man, "you will be disappointed! Lance is a detective! You can't get any benefit from him!"

The man smiled and raised his glass. "That's not true! He's a detective, isn't he? I'm just an outsider. At least I can be friends with him. I can be safe! All I want is safety."

"You are right!" The detectives laughed and raised their glasses: "you found the right place and the right person! We are the people who protect Porto! For safety!"

The man in bolo's tie raised his eyebrows on his smiling face and raised his cup again: "to protect Porto's safety!"

You may wonder why this guy who claimed to be an outsider, but actually was an Indian hunter in James' mouth, was looking for Lance. Then the next dialogue should let you understand.

The detectives put down their empty glasses and waved to the bartender. Anyway, it was James' treat.

"What does your friend do? Lance has made friends since he came to Porto?" A detective asked casually.

"Oh, he works at Porto Telecom, just a nobody."

The detectives nodded half knowingly. It seemed that it was the guy Curson had secretly protected some time ago.

The detective thought it's Fitz, and I can be very responsible to tell you that this man was not talking about Fitz, but 'missing David'!

See? Even a guy like me knew the rumor that Porto was paradise. It was not surprising that a hunter who hunts an alien race professionally would know that David had provided his own people with the identity of 'General's son'.

Anthony was not nonsense to ask James to pay attention to safety. In the eyes of hunters, James Lance, the shapeshifter,the son of General Lance, was a prey.