There was something that particularly concerned him—Thomas, the middleman, had gone missing. Previously, after Hughes had called Thomas, he would have returned the call, but these past two days, Hughes had made two or three calls with still no contact whatsoever.

Although the mastermind behind this was not particularly clever, they had indeed acted ruthlessly. Due to the presence of an insider, they clearly knew that Jimmy was the main force in that night's operation. They probably knew of Jimmy's profile too, arranging for several people to travel from the southern border to New York for such a high-risk assassination—clearly, substantial means were behind this.

Moreover, even knowing Jimmy's exceptional combat skills, they had still dared to proceed. He must have had something to rely on, so what would he do after the mission failed? Would he lay low, or would he assemble more manpower for another attempt?

The tasks that middleman Thomas had promised to handle had remained undone. Was it because he hadn't communicated with the people in the back, or was it that the communication had been ineffective? Right now, no one even knew whether Thomas was dead or alive.

All these questions circulated in his mind, and Hughes also felt immense pressure; the key issue was whether the person behind all this was indeed Josh, as Thomas had mentioned.

-----------------

Jimmy had thought that the case would come to a close soon and was planning to rest well after it ended, but before he could even leave work, he received a call from Riley.

Riley, "Jimmy, who interrogated El last time? Could you ask him to go again and inquire if, apart from Ashraf Rassimi, he knows anyone else?"

Jimmy, puzzled, "Hmm? What's going on?"

Riley, "This afternoon, a truck exploded on the road, causing two deaths, a dozen cars crashed in a chain reaction, and several people were injured. After the fire department collected and tested the evidence, it confirmed that the materials matched those of the previous explosions."

Jimmy's eyebrows knitted together. What was this mess? Hadn't Ashraf already been killed in an explosion at his own home? "Are you sure it's the same type?"

Riley, "Our explosives expert here has confirmed it. The composition of this explosion matches the one at Ashraf's house from a few days ago, and it's also the same as the previous trash can bomb, although the proportions differ slightly."

Jimmy, "Was the truck investigated? Which company's? Where was the cargo from?"

Riley, "I've arranged for someone to investigate, but we haven't received any findings yet. I suspect there might be other people, besides Ashraf, who know how to make bombs. Moreover, I suspect someone is stirring things up by reconnecting all these people who had received training before."

Jimmy, "Continue with the investigation on your end, and I'll ask around here too. That's it for now. Bye."

Jimmy hung up and stood up to go to the interrogation room; Mahong and Philicia were still busy there. Glancing through the window, he noticed that they hadn't finished yet. Jimmy knocked on the door, and Philicia came to open it: "How much longer will you take? There's an emergency situation that needs handling."

Philicia turned to look at Mahong. Hearing Jimmy's words, Mahong immediately stood up, came out, and closed the door, "What's up?"

Jimmy, "Riley from Newark just called. There was a truck explosion on the road. According to the fire department's analysis, the explosive material is consistent with the previous explosions, with minor differences in the proportions but the components are essentially the same."

Mahong, "Wasn't Ashraf already killed in an explosion?"

Jimmy nodded, "So now, this complicates things. Riley suspects there might be others like El and Ashraf who have undergone the same training, and he hopes you can talk to El again."

Mahong, "Have they discovered any leads over there?"

Jimmy shook his head, "No, the explosion involving the truck is already being investigated, but there's no feedback yet. At this point, we're just hoping to gather as many clues as possible."

Mahong pondered for a moment, "I understand. You go back first."

After he spoke, Mahong re-entered the interrogation room, Philicia following him, and closed the door.

Jimmy felt helpless. Such cases occurring in New Jersey required them in New York to completely follow Riley's rhythm, which was indeed troublesome; the key was that despite all the effort, it was still someone else's case.

As the threat temporarily subsided, Jimmy made a call to Nia, then clocked out and bought some groceries. He decided not to dine out today but to cook dinner at home, finally able to relax.

Nia had been worried for a few days, but she understood that Jimmy would be especially busy during this time and that there might be dangers, so she simply called to chat and did not visit him.

Jimmy was also worried. For him, that sense of danger had saved him multiple times, but it had never manifested when someone else was in danger. Therefore, if Nia were really with him and encountered danger, he might be fine, but whether Nia would be safe was uncertain.

After not seeing each other for several days, Nia was happy, and they both enjoyed working together in the kitchen, although this time Jimmy wasn't the cook but instead had prepared the ingredients for Nia to cook. Watching Nia fry the meat, well, she wasn't usually the one to cook, so Jimmy could only occasionally intervene, otherwise they might end up not having dinner at all.

Cooking together was also a bit of fun, joking and working at the same time, making it a rare form of leisure in their lives.

The next day at work, Jimmy entered the office to find Mahong and Philicia were already at their places, "Good morning, Mahong, Philicia."

"Morning," Philicia greeted back as she continued to type on her keyboard. Unlike Jimmy, who preferred to handwrite his reports, Philicia was more accustomed to typing on the computer.

Mahong was also writing something. Today, Jimmy didn't see Mahong and the others go to the prison to meet El, nor did Jimmy rush them. He sat at his desk, flipping through the case list to see if there was any interesting case.

After the incident at his place, the entire homicide group had not received any case, probably due to special arrangements from Hughes. Jimmy noticed that several ongoing cases had been assigned to the field offices.

After reviewing these cases, all transferred from the NYPD, there were only two similar rape-murder cases; the rest were routine cases involving Federation agency members' deaths. All cases involving Federation agency members had to be handled by the FBI, so even usual cases fell within their jurisdiction.

Seeing no new cases, Jimmy started to consider the case at Riley's end. Although it was not his responsibility, it likely followed up on the explosion case he had previously been working on. With the third explosion occurring in a truck, it really made him suspect that the escaping mastermind, Nuer, had returned. Jimmy had that suspicion when he was attacked before, although later it was proven to be Azte's people, there were still some valid reasons in his initial suspicion.

Now, he would just have to see how the investigation by Riley's team turned out and hope to find other clues. Jimmy was very interested in continuing to follow this case, just hoping that Riley wouldn't feel like he was trying to take credit.

-----------------

The handling of Serra by Ruiz finally concluded. Serra made a small trade with Ruiz, the cost of which was not known to outsiders, but Serra did achieve temporary freedom and could return to her stronghold.

It was evident that Ruiz had made a substantial gain. When Jimmy was smoking downstairs, he saw that Ruiz was visibly in a good mood.

Jimmy: "Want one?"

Ruiz reached out and took the cigarette. Jimmy lit it for him, and the two men just stood there downstairs, puffing away, enjoying a rare leisurely time.

Jimmy: "Ruiz, do you know the progress with the mole?"

Ruiz shook his head: "It's been handed over to the OPR department in DC now, the results will probably take some time."

Jimmy: "Then, do you know who is directing them from behind?"

Ruiz turned his head to look at Jimmy, obviously still interested in pursuing it. Hughes had told Ruiz part of it in the study that day, the involved person might be influential, so it was probably best not to let Jimmy continue, in case of complications that could affect more than a couple of people.

Ruiz: "Not sure yet, we'll wait for further news. Got any plans?"

Jimmy nodded: "I want to head south, Serra has admitted that it was Azte's second command who contacted him, I want to investigate further."

Ruiz shook his head: "That's a bit tough, it's across districts."

Jimmy: "I don't want to always be on guard for another attack, I've been attacked twice already."

Ruiz took another puff, threw away his cigarette butt, and looked at Jimmy: "I understand. I'll give it a try."

Jimmy smiled and nodded, Ruiz was indeed the most reliable.

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