Jimmy was still very interested in this person who looked extremely similar to Frank Moses, having only seen Frank on Fifth Avenue a few days ago. Now, he had stumbled upon another twin-like Harry Stamper. The distance between Fifth Avenue and the Upper West Side wasn't great, and if they were indeed two different people, Frank would definitely be eager to meet a brother who looked so much like him.
If no such person existed, then the one they saw just now must have been Frank, which would be even more interesting. Staying in a hotel under another identity must involve some amusing business. For Jimmy, who was bored of monitoring surveillance, this would be a nice change of pace. Whether he decided to get involved or not, it was worth following up.
"Jimmy, the target is moving." Jones suddenly called out to Jimmy, who turned to look at Jones's screen, displaying a map with a red dot that had just lit up.
Jimmy, "On his car? You go drive, I'll keep an eye on his location."
Jones took off his headset and left the surveillance spot for the driver's seat.
Jimmy, "Jones, how long will the battery of this tracking device last?"
Without turning back, Jones replied, "The tracking device is connected to the car's power supply. It will activate as soon as the car starts. Let me know his position as soon as he leaves the parking lot."
Jimmy, "Understood."
Jimmy put on the headset to facilitate communication. He wore it on his head but with one ear exposed to hear Jones's voice.
Jimmy, "Turn around, he's headed in the direction behind us. The license plate is his own, he didn't change it today."
Jones flicked on the turn signal and made a U-turn on the road, following the target Allen Johnson's car. Jimmy didn't need to report the position while driving and following. On the map, the car's green dot was always tracking the red dot, not losing it.
Jones and his partner followed Allen into the Bronx District, and Allen continued north before suddenly turning east, eventually stopping under a residential building in Alton.
Allen parked his car on the side of the road, got out, and entered the building. Jones also stopped the surveillance vehicle not far behind him.
Jimmy, "Jones, I'm going to keep an eye on him. He wouldn't come all this way just to grab a bite."
Jones, "Alright, be careful."
Jimmy got out of the back door of the vehicle, straightened up his clothes, and walked toward the residential building at a normal pace. As he reached the range of his Heart Eye ability, Jimmy activated Heart Eye. The building, a 5-story residential structure, wasn't tall. Jimmy saw someone going upstairs and checked the other houses. The person on the stairs appeared to be their target.
Jimmy also went up, watching Allen enter a room. He checked the door number, Room 502. There were four people inside, excluding one Allen, leaving three others, all in the living room, with two sitting and two standing.
The shapes of the furniture in the room were recognizable, excluding those, there were only two anomalies: in the living room, there were two long items that looked like rectangular boxes, and behind the sofa were several bags of varying lengths placed side by side, indistinguishable in shape alone.
The four people in the living room exchanged a few words; one of the standing individuals picked up something resembling a backpack from behind the sofa and handed it to the other standing person. As Jimmy descended the stairs, he occasionally glanced up, watching the silhouettes interact—a flaw in his Skill, as he could only see shapes without identifying which was their target.
Jimmy stopped on the fourth floor at the staircase landing, deciding to move away from the fifth floor to avoid being seen in case someone came out, which would expose him. Since he could see their actions, being one floor down wasn't a problem.
The person who took the bag opened it to check, then turned and headed to the door. Jimmy immediately started descending the stairs while taking out his phone to call Jones.
Jimmy, "Jones, the target went up to Room 502 on the fifth floor, report to Peter. I'm heading downstairs. The target might be leaving."
After hanging up the phone, Jimmy looked up again and saw someone coming down the stairs through the gap. He was already on the second floor, two floors apart, which made it almost impossible to be spotted.
Jimmy reached the ground floor and stood at the entrance, taking out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He lit one for himself and stood at the building entrance like any pedestrian taking a smoke break.
Soon, Allen Johnson descended the stairs and passed by Jimmy. He was shouldering a backpack that looked bulgy, as though it contained something sizeable. He had gone upstairs empty-handed.
"Hey, man, can you give me the time?" Jimmy stealthily took off his watch and slipped it into his pocket. He then approached Allen, tapped on the roof of the car, and called out to him.
Startled by the sudden conversation, Allen turned to look at Jimmy, a sharply dressed Asian young man, which evidently relieved him.
"5:15." Allen looked at his watch before turning back to Jimmy, then he closed the passenger door and headed to the driver's side, opened the car door, and got inside.
"Thanks, bud," Jimmy gestured with his hand and then walked down the sidewalk towards the surveillance vehicle.
As Allen drove off, Jones started the surveillance vehicle as well and slowly began to drive forward. Jimmy walked up to the back door of the vehicle, got in directly, and after closing the door, Jones picked up speed to continue following Allen's car.
Jimmy, "Jones, did you report the address to Peter?"
Jones, "I did. He'll handle it. Did you make any discoveries?"
Jimmy, "This place could be a hideout for our target. Allen went upstairs empty-handed and came down with a bulging backpack. I suspect that might be their warehouse up there, and Allen Johnson could be taking a sample for appraisal or a trade."
Jones, "Got any evidence? Without evidence, it's going to be hard to get a search warrant."
Jimmy, "It's a guess, no evidence. I didn't go into Room 502 to check."
Jones, "Got it. I'll relay it to Peter." Jones turned his phone's speaker on and placed it on the center console, then recounted Jimmy's conjecture. Peter's team would arrange for other personnel to monitor the area while Jones was tasked to keep tracking Allen Johnson.
Jimmy kept his headset on. There was also a bug in Allen's car, although Allen wasn't talking, so aside from the sound of the engine, Jimmy didn't gain any insights.
Following Allen from the Bronx to Queens, Jimmy began to notice an increase in the Chinese population around him. Taking a closer look at the map, he realized they were nearing Flushing.
Having only been to Manhattan's Chinatown before, Jimmy had never visited Flushing in Queens. The various signs seen through surveillance felt familiar—a lot of them in Traditional Chinese characters, but there were also plenty of Simplified Chinese characters among them. It seemed that the area was still dominated by older immigrants.
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