This also explained what Tom meant by a VIP's care—anyone who could become a regional director must have the support of a powerful backer; how could an ordinary person ascend to such a senior position?

Tom had already replaced the data and left his own fingerprints and DNA, which seemed perfect. Therefore, as long as he was careful not to trigger the CIA's awakening program and nobody came looking for him, he could live the life of an ordinary person with peace of mind.

Thinking carefully about Tom's words, Jessica had no idea who the VIP watching over her was, but theoretically, if the investigation was just based on documents, it should be possible to cover things up.

There seemed to be only two issues now. First, how would Tom ensure James's safety? Although it felt a bit impolite to doubt Tom, an experienced CIA agent, Jessica honestly didn't know what he would do.

You see, Tom is still "dead," a person who has been dead for over a year, and even James doesn't know his status. If it weren't for James getting shot, Tom probably wouldn't have contacted Jessica, a "local," to check on James's condition.

Tom and James were truly close friends, and although their friendship wasn't to the extent of the legendary willingness to trust one's wife and child to each other, James obviously held Tom in very high regard. This was evident in the interactions between Jessica and James after hearing the initial news. It was probably because Tom felt it wasn't suitable to contact James directly after he got shot, that he turned to Jessica, someone he trusted, instead.

Jessica had no clue about the CIA's modus operandi. Past portrayals of CIA agents in movies couldn't be taken as references—they were, after all, exaggerated, but one could still glimpse their ruthlessness.

Aside from finding someone to protect James, Tom also had to contact the assassin's organization through the deceased assassin to settle this matter, which was probably not an easy task. Moreover, he had said that the key to this issue was from above, not below, indicating that he planned to deal with Watson. Hopefully, he would succeed—as after all, people tend to side with those they know.

The second problem was that while Jimmy had temporarily learned about his heritage, no one knew who this VIP was; even Tom had said he didn't know, so there was nothing more to investigate. And Jimmy was also worried about something—Tom didn't know who his real father was.

In the 70s and 80s, it was incredibly difficult for a Chinese or Chinese-American to catch the eye of a CIA regional director, as the United States had anti-Chinese legislation that lasted over half a century. For them, some prejudices were deeply rooted. So, the fact that Veronica would choose to be with a Chinese man and have a biracial child was astonishing.

Although Tom hadn't mentioned it, it was very likely that Veronica had only this one descendant; otherwise, Tom wouldn't be so concerned. Of course, it was also possible that there were other descendants that Tom didn't know about.

Who was the father of this identity? Was he alive or dead? Was he the so-called VIP? It was impossible to determine. Jimmy, on the other hand, hoped the man was dead; in that case, no one could expose him as a fraud. A DNA verification would require DNA from both parties, and for someone like Veronica, a significant figure, her grave certainly wouldn't be exhumed. As long as the so-called father was also gone, the CIA would only have his DNA sample, and there would be no mix-up.

Besides this VIP, there was one question Jimmy had forgotten to ask, which he'd have to inquire about from Tom when there was time: how did his predecessor die? Jimmy had pondered this question for quite a while. According to the records, his predecessor had stayed in the training camp for three full years; even if he was useless, he was a trained useless person, and should have had enough ability to protect himself and complete the basic tasks of the training camp, unless there was a particular accident, or perhaps, there were some conspiracies involved too?

After considering these issues, one name came to Jimmy's mind: Anti-Terrorism Bureau.

Tom mentioned that Noah Watson was the director of the Anti-Terrorism Bureau, an agency established after 9/11 with its headquarters in Washington but with a branch in New York. If Noah Watson was a high-ranking CIA official, then at least the New York Anti-Terrorism Bureau would likely be the CIA's shell within the country. It would be good to investigate there if there was a chance. After all, New York was within the jurisdiction of his FBI identity. As long as he was careful, nobody would realize he was targeting them.

Jimmy watched TV while mulling over these things and unknowingly fell asleep.

The next day, Jimmy also contacted Agent Ray and visited him at his home. Ray had been rather unlucky, it seemed that recently it had been Jimmy's bad luck period, and people related to Jimmy somehow always ended up in some trouble.

Fortunately, Ray's injuries were healing well and he would be able to return to his post to do some basic work after some time. Until then, Ray's car was still at Jimmy's disposal.

After resting for a day, Jimmy returned to the Dallas office, still heading directly to Lambert's office. It's interesting to note that Jimmy, a trainee investigator, didn't seek a partner at the Dallas office; instead, all his assignments were issued directly by Lambert, the supervisor, which was quite unconventional.

Jimmy knocked on the door and entered Lambert's office, "Supervisor Lambert, I'm here," he said.

Lambert pointed to the chair in front of him and then took a file out of a stack of documents and handed it to Jimmy.

Lambert, "Here's a case involving the disappearance of four people near Tata Town. The local sheriff investigated but didn't find any leads. The case was reported to the State Police, and now it's come to us."

Jimmy, holding the file, "Am I still working this one alone?"

Lambert, "Yes, everyone else has their own cases to handle. Ray could have worked with you, but unfortunately, he's not available for the time being."

Well, it wasn't that Ray wasn't available; he simply couldn't come to work. Jimmy accepted it, "So, if I need to look up some information, how should I go about it without a contact person?"

Lambert, "You'll have to figure it out on your own. Go on!"

Jimmy was left speechless. Alright then, it seemed he truly had been exiled, left to rely on himself. Speaking of which, had Hughes decided to cast him out of the Manhattan office for good? It had been a month already and he hadn't been called back.

Jimmy left Lambert's office with the file. But he didn't hurry away. Instead, he headed to the adjacent administrative office to trouble Administrator Jessica once again. He needed to borrow the same set of equipment he had used for the investigation at the Victoria Crown National Park, with some additional items, like test papers, test tubes, and cotton swabs.

He also applied for a bullet-proof vest and a spare M16. Considering he'd been getting by with his revolver these days, should he ask Jones to express ship his Glock to him?

Jimmy, carrying a toolbox and a travel bag, went to the parking lot, placed them in the trunk, and sighed at the hassle of solo case handling. He had to pack all potentially necessary equipment in the trunk and take it with him. Once at the scene, there was no one to help — at most he could contact the local sheriff for an assistant to follow him around at the site.

Setting up investigative teams of two was not only for safety and mutual oversight to prevent mishaps; it also leveraged the strengths of both agents in analyzing cases and examining evidence. Usually, it involved a seasoned investigator paired with a regular agent, though sometimes it was also a matter of combat capability.

Jimmy started his car, ready to leave the parking lot, then he stopped. The car was the same Victoria Crown as always, but something seemed missing.

He got out and headed to the vehicle management office and requested a walkie-talkie. Fortunately, despite not being a local agent, they didn't refuse him. With the walkie-talkie and headset in hand, he returned to the car, tuned the walkie-talkie to the radio frequency, and felt satisfied at last.

Yes, this car had police lights, a siren, a car radio — similar to the patrol cars he used to drive for the county police — but it lacked something Jimmy frequently used: the portable walkie-talkie. After two years of constant use, sitting in such a fully-equipped car without a walkie-talkie was nearly intolerable for anyone with obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

With every piece of gear in place, Jimmy drove back to the hotel, packed a backpack with a couple of clothes, picked up an ammo box, and headed towards Tata Town, near the Texas-Oklahoma border, the site of the numerous disappearances.

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