I didn't know what to say. FBI agents had the right to retaliate when shot at, and gunmen who fired at random people posed a grave threat to society. As a federal law enforcement officer, I had the obligation to deal with such cases as soon as possible. But I hadn't been careful, and just like that, someone had died. Then, I was forced by the FBI Dallas office to take a leave of absence, which also messed up my plans.

Without the chance to call for strong external assistance, Torsten had no choice but to arrange for support from his colleagues in the support division. It wasn't really Jimmy's fault. I hadn't informed him earlier. Had I told him sooner, maybe Jimmy wouldn't have gone out on the street. It was just bad timing.

Jimmy didn't even have a car, and in Dallas, he didn't have familiar places where he could go to hail a cab, so he could only stew in his hotel room and space out.

Just as he was getting bored, his New York cell phone suddenly rang—Jimmy looked at the caller ID in surprise.

Jimmy, "Hi, Dr. Mary. Long time no see."

Mary, "Hi Jimmy. Are you busy?"

Jimmy, "No, I'm just resting. What's up?"

Mary, "Do you have time tomorrow? Jenna and I planned to play squash."

Jimmy was speechless. Why hadn't she asked him to hang out while he was in New York? "Uh, I'd love to come, but... I'm currently in Dallas, Texas. I've been temporarily assigned to work at this office, so I can't return to New York right now."

Mary exclaimed in surprise, "What? Why were you assigned to Texas? You're just a trainee agent, this clearly doesn't follow protocol."

Jimmy, "I'm not sure myself. I'm on leave, came to Texas to meet two friends, and was subsequently assigned to the Dallas office nearby. It must be something Hughes and his team planned. You know, I'm just a trainee agent, not privy to the inside story."

Mary was silent for a bit, and Jimmy could still hear her breathing, so he didn't interrupt her thoughts.

Mary, "I think I understand a bit, I might check into it. Just do your job in Dallas for now. Since it's just a temporary assignment, you'll probably come back to New York eventually."

Jimmy, "Yeah, it doesn't really matter where I work, but I'm completely unfamiliar with here, sometimes it really gets boring."

Mary, "Alright then, have fun, cowboy. Goodbye."

Jimmy, "Goodbye."

After hanging up, Jimmy began to ponder Mary's words. Did she seem to understand something? Was it about the reason for his reassignment? Well, that's good. I wasn't in a position to investigate, and Mary had more connections in the Manhattan office. If she could figure out the reason, I might get the information soon. I believed Mary wouldn't hide it. She should not.

Jimmy placed his phone on the coffee table, looked at his watch—it was already 6 PM. People in the office should have left by now, no wonder Mary called at this time.

Wait, Texas had a one-hour time difference from New York. It was already 7 PM there. What day was it? Oh, Friday. Okay, it seemed Mary was probably with Jenna, and then remembered about squash. Looks like I'd be quite tired when I return to New York.

Jimmy thought for a moment and then called Agent Ray, "Ray, do me a favor, contact the Dallas Police Department and see how today's cases are going? Have the victim's relatives been contacted? Any conclusions yet?"

Ray, "Uh, aren't you misunderstanding the police's efficiency in handling cases? Since the suspect is already dead, they surely aren't in a rush with this case. It would be early if they could conclude by tomorrow."

Jimmy, "Really? But I was able to leave the police station, they must have a preliminary conclusion already."

Ray, "Alright alright, I'll go ask for you, but don't get your hopes too high."

Jimmy, "Thanks, let's have a drink when you're free."

Having settled today's case, Jimmy thought for a while. Since there was shooting involved, just like in Manhattan, I was likely going to be put on leave. Nothing else to do, I rested for a while, went out to dinner, and tried to kill some boring evening time.

Early in the morning, Jimmy's phone suddenly rang. He groggily grabbed it from the bedside table, "Whoever you are, you better have a good reason!"

"Jimmy, it's Lambert."

Jimmy instantly awoke, "Ah, Supervisor Lambert, sorry, I didn't notice it was you. What's going on?"

"Get up quickly, Ray will pick you up at the hotel. He's almost there, you'll head out together."

After Lambert finished speaking, he hung up the phone. Anyone else might've been upset by the way Jimmy snapped at him.

After the call ended, Jimmy was fully awake, "Hey, sorry, it's an urgent case, I need to leave right away."

"Fuck you, asshole!"

Jimmy jumped out of bed, ran barefoot to the bathroom to quickly wash up and get cleaned, and came out to get dressed. As for the other person, well, it might not be nice to say, but Jimmy couldn't pay attention to that anymore.

As he waited for her to get dressed, Jimmy's phone rang again, "Hey, Ray, just two more minutes, I'll be right down."

Jimmy dressed neatly, grabbed his ID and gun holster, and left the room with the girl who hadn't completely tidied her clothes, arriving downstairs, "Please have someone clean up room 306, thank you." Jimmy handed a paper money to the attendant in the lobby, made the arrangements, then walked out of the lobby as Ray was already waiting in his Victoria Crown cruiser at the door.

Jimmy: "Wait for me a second." He turned and hugged the girl, kissed her on the cheek, "Sorry, goodbye." Then he climbed into Ray's car, and Ray drove off immediately.

Ray: "Looks like I interrupted something good."

Jimmy, looking annoyed, said to him, "What's the matter, what's so urgent? What time is it now? Oh, I have a watch." Jimmy lifted his left hand to check his watch, it was just 7:10 AM.

Jimmy: "This early, what case is it?"

Ray: "Armored truck heist, from Dallas to Arlington then to Fort Worth, the money transport truck was hijacked, now the Texas State Patrol is chasing the suspects' vehicle on the I-820."

Jimmy: "Did they succeed?"

Ray: "Yeah, Arlington police have already cordoned off the scene of the armored truck, and we are now heading to join the Texas State Patrol in intercepting the suspects."

Jimmy: "Wait a second, then why call me? Where are your guys?"

Ray: "Don't ask me, Lambert notified me, as for who else he notified I have no idea, we'll see when we get there."

Ray's official car had a siren and a single-barrel light, though it was still the older model, as Jimmy's new style emergency lights haven't been fully deployed yet. Government units are slow to update equipment, it's not that easy to fully replace everything.

With the siren blaring and the light flashing, Ray sped from Dallas toward Fort Worth. Luckily, this kind of car equipped with a siren and light has a radio, and although they didn't speak, they could still hear the updates from the dispatch center.

From Dallas to Fort Worth is just tens of kilometers; at Ray's current speed, it'll probably take just over half an hour. Once past Arlington, Ray started to adjust the route based on the positions given by the dispatch center, heading south on I-820.

Jimmy watched the vehicles on the road; luckily, there weren't many cars on the highway this early, which was typical. The time was still slightly early, and while there were cars on the highway in the morning, at least it wasn't congested, which wouldn't slow down Ray's speed.

Jimmy asked, "Ray, do you have a spare gun in your car? I only brought a revolver to Dallas this time. Also, do you have an extra bullet-proof vest?"

Ray: "The trunk has an M16, just one, and there's only one bullet-proof vest."

Jimmy: "I'm not good with rifles, I'll see how it goes. Fuck, coming to Dallas was a bad decision, I didn't bring anything."

Let me explain that previously, Jimmy had an FBI car assigned, equipped with matching gear and a bullet-proof vest in the trunk, so when he went alone to work on a case in Big Bend National Park, there was no problem, he was protected. Now, Jimmy had no car.

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