It was still early when Jimmy saw Ruiz off and went to find Nia. Although he had drunk some alcohol, he wasn't ready to just go to sleep. Killing time at night was always better than watching TV alone at home.

The next day, Jimmy found a secluded spot and called the psychologist Mary to arrange a meeting.

He hadn't forgotten the idea that had struck him when he had heard about Mahong's psychological issues the day before. Dr. Mary must be an expert, or else she wouldn't be valued by Hughes and the others. To make things easier for himself in the future, it would be best to soothe the ticking time bomb that was Mahong ahead of time, so as not to cause issues during an investigation.

Jimmy was thinking too simply, though. Setting aside whether his method would be effective, just consider that Mahong, as a senior Agent, and notably a famous one from the Chicago office, wouldn't be easily influenced psychologically. He surely knew that his own condition wasn't right and had seen psychologists before. Therefore, if Jimmy's actions were too obvious, he might end up being noted with suspicion by Mahong.

Mahong had already gotten the necessary permissions from Hughes and during work hours, he received several phone calls. From his conversations, Jimmy could roughly figure out that besides the surveillance team, Mahong also had the authority to move operational staff around, as his talk involved positioning a few people. While there was no map to consult, he could infer that the placements were all around the vicinity of the surveillance team for quick support.

This was New York and although getting a CCW in New York was difficult, the number and manpower of security companies were substantial. For high-end clubs, it was no problem for these people to walk around with armed bodyguards. If the surveillance team was discovered, or if someone purposefully targeted the surveillance team, that's where these operational groups came in handy. If they had to wait for the office to mobilize more people, they might face a situation like Ruiz had before.

Speaking of which, it wasn't that Ruiz didn't want to do that; it was simply that organized crime required so much manpower that there was no way to implement such a complete protection strategy. Moreover, gangs generally knew the FBI was monitoring them and wouldn't go too far; last time was just an accident.

Looking at Mahong now, he seemed much more normal, whether in arranging personnel and tasks or in familiarizing himself with past records in the office. The absence of the agitation from the past couple of days made Jimmy even more convinced of the accuracy of Ruiz's intelligence. Mahong must have been going through a manic phase of bipolar disorder before, with significant mood swings.

At noon, Philicia brought back pizzas for takeout. Although Jimmy had been in the Manhattan office for only a few days, he had already noticed the distinct personalities of the two. Mahong was quite approachable under normal circumstances, seemed stern but was actually quite easygoing with his own people, and perhaps due to his divorce, he didn't like dining out much.

Philicia appeared to defer to Mahong on almost everything, never objecting to his decisions and also choosing to regularly resolve breakfast and lunch in the office. She showed no desire to complain about the mediocre office coffee.

Both seemed like the type that were easy to please and didn't care much about others' opinions. Jimmy was much the same. When he was with the county police, his lunches were mostly fast food. Although not lacking in money, it was too much trouble to travel a long distance for lunch and rush back, so now it had become routine for the three of them to eat pizza and vegetable salads for lunch, chatting and passing the time.

By the way, Jimmy's tea set was getting used more often now. Initially, if Jimmy used it once a day, it was already a lot; now, Philicia had picked up on the habit too.

After work, Jimmy left on time, as Mary was busy during work hours. They agreed to meet for dinner, and of course, there was the inevitable third wheel, Jenna.

The dinner this time wasn't the fancy French cuisine from before, just a regular Italian restaurant. Jimmy arrived early because Ruiz had recommended this restaurant during a chat, claiming it was very good. So, Jimmy called ahead to make a reservation and arrived early to check it out and avoid any confusion later.

With the help of the waiter, Jimmy got to know the evening's dishes. Before he was through, Mary and Jenna walked in.

Jimmy stood up and waved his right hand, "Mary, Jenna, over here."

As expected, Jenna was the first to speak, "Well, this is rare, Jimmy, actually taking the initiative to treat us."

Jimmy replied with a wry smile, "Here we go again. I've been busy, okay? I called you as soon as I had some time. Good evening, Mary."

The three of them sat down, the waiter helped with the aperitif, and then left temporarily to give them space to chat.

Mary smiled as she looked at Jimmy, "What brings you to me today?"

Jimmy said, "No, no, really, it's just that we haven't seen each other for a while and I thought we could catch up. Don't be so suspicious."

Mary asked, "You haven't received any requests for psychological intervention in quite a while. What have you been up to lately?"

Jimmy realized that Mary's question was hard to answer; she knew about his past records, and for him to have been calm for several months was indeed very unusual.

Jimmy answered, "Things have been fine recently, nothing major. Let's talk about it later, let's look at the menu first."

For Jimmy, the best choice was actually the dishes he had already discussed with the waiter. So as Mary and Jenna perused the menu, he had already had the waiter put in his order: grilled octopus with vegetables for the starter, pan-seared halibut for the main course, a dish of creamed lobster, and, of course, a portion of homemade pasta. For dessert, just the tiramisu. The most straightforward combination they recommended.

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