"Hey, Jimmy."

"Good morning, Jimmy."

"Looking good there, Jimmy."

...

From the moment Jimmy went upstairs, his face nearly cramped from all the expressions. Were these people all so gossipy? The news had been broadcast for less than two hours, yet it seemed like the entire office had watched it.

Back in his office, Mahong and Philicia were at their seats.

Jimmy: "Morning, you two."

Philicia: "Jimmy, how does it feel to be naked on the news?"

Jimmy sighed, "Let's not talk about it, I feel like everyone has seen the news now."

Philicia said with a smile: "Well, everyone knows now. You wouldn't guess it, but it looks like you must hit the gym quite a lot."

Jimmy: "Should I complain to the TV station? They're so mean. Mahong, any luck? Did you find any clues?"

Mahong nodded, steering the conversation away from the prior topic: "Forensics has collected everything; the car has also been towed back. The shooter had a cell phone on him, no identification documents, the phone has been sent to the tech department for analysis."

Jimmy: "A cell phone is good, at least that gives us something to work with. How about the shooter?"

Mahong: "It's complicated, the surgery didn't go well, I'm waiting for news from the hospital. There's an agent watching over there."

Jimmy nodded, "Then we'll keep waiting for news. I haven't moved in days, feels like I'm rusting over. This morning was a close call; you guys almost had to hold a memorial service for me."

Mahong: "Alright, don't worry about things here. You go get some rest, at least until your wounds heal."

Jimmy shrugged. Now he felt like a nuisance to everyone, even Mahong seemed to want him out of the way. Nodding, Jimmy turned and left the office to keep staying at the hotel.

When he left, he'd already spoken to the hotel; they would arrange for him to change rooms. The bed and window in his current room needed to be replaced and repaired; he couldn't continue staying there.

It was a good thing Jimmy had revealed his identity; otherwise, they would've kicked him out long ago. As for compensation, after an assessment, Jimmy would have to just accept the loss.

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

Once Jimmy left, Mahong also stood up and left the office, heading to Hughes's office.

Mahong: "Hughes, got a moment?"

Hughes nodded: "Go ahead."

Mahong closed the door to the office, walked over to Hughes, and said, "The attack on Jimmy doesn't seem simple. He was targeted for assassination again early this morning, this time with a sniper rifle."

Hughes: "I'm aware, I think everyone is by now."

Mahong nodded: "That's the thing. The first time it was a motorcyclist gunman, the second time a car with four attackers, the third time someone broke into his apartment to assassinate him, the fourth was an ambush in broad daylight, and now this fifth time—directly with a sniper rifle.

The more I think about it, the more I suspect there's something off with Jimmy. This can't be just about Scott's son getting killed; the only explanation is that someone's muddying the waters. While someone is going after Jimmy, they're arranging for these last two, maybe even three attacks."

Hughes nodded; he wasn't foolish. There had only been suspicions before, but now, after the fifth attack, those suspicions had been confirmed. The only question that remained was why.

"This might not be exactly right, but I still hope you can look into Jimmy's background," Mahong said. "He's definitely not simple, and he definitely wasn't just an ordinary county police officer before. I think we might have been unwittingly drawn into some special event, and from the current operations, it seems that our adversaries are very powerful."

Hughes stood up and walked to the window to open the curtains and look outside. He didn't turn around but spoke while gazing outward, "Mahong, do you think Jimmy is trustworthy?"

"Of course," replied Mahong.

"Ever since Jimmy came to Manhattan over two years ago, I've been arranging for him to rotate through various departments to get familiar with them and to properly assess his abilities. In fact, he is capable of working in every department, and he gets along well with everyone. Everyone has a good impression of him."

"During his probationary period, he took a vacation to Dallas, Texas, and I took the opportunity to have Lambert, the supervisor there, help with the assessment. Lambert even wanted to keep him because he got along particularly well with the Texan temperament. You should have seen his file; when he was in Texas, he went back to Little Rock and solved the case when his former Chief James was attacked and shot, in just three to four days, chasing the gunman till he committed suicide. Do you think that's someone who was merely a county police officer for two years?"

As Hughes recounted Jimmy's past, Mahong nodded throughout; such a person was a treasure wherever he went.

Hughes paused for a moment, but Mahong didn't respond, and he didn't mind as he continued, "In the assessment at Quantico, it was analyzed that Jimmy has deeply hidden secrets. His performance was excellent, far surpassing the other trainees of his time. Here he is a rare genius in the bureau, handling many difficult cases independently."

"In just over four years, he has received the Medal for Distinguished Service, accolades from the Special Service Bureau, the FBI Shield of Bravery, commendations from the Court Police, and disrupted chaos like the serial bombing cases and hijackings that are on the level of terrorist attacks. Such accomplishments might take others decades to achieve."

"Also, don't forget how many people he has saved, Peter, Jones, Ruiz, and other agents. If it weren't for him, we would have had many casualties over the years."

"Based on the time we have spent together these two years, I believe everyone can feel his sincerity. He truly serves the bureau and embraces his identity. As an FBI Senior Agent, there's no doubt he's highly qualified and outstanding."

"I'm not concerned with his secrets, so no matter how problematic his identity might be, those are things we can investigate slowly. I'm convinced he would never be our enemy."

"Now, our primary goal is to resolve these recent attacks. Do you understand?"

Once Hughes had made his decision about Jimmy, there was nothing more to discuss.

Sitting in his chair, Mahong also reflected on his days with Jimmy, thinking of the records in the files that were out of reach for a regular agent. He agreed with Hughes's sentiments—there was no point in dwelling on it.

"I understand; I'll be going back now. We have more clues this time than before. Hopefully, we'll find some leads," said Mahong.

Mahong turned and left Hughes's office, taking a few steps before stopping and turning back. "Hughes, one more thing. The case has hit the news; should we give a heads-up to the TV stations? I'm worried they might dig up too much," he suggested.

"No need," Hughes replied. "It might have been better to keep a low profile before, and the Chinese aren't the type to seek attention. But now, Jimmy needs this, so let's not interfere with the media—let them do their thing."

"I worry they might broadcast information that's classified," Mahong expressed concern.

Hughes waved his hand dismissively, "No need to worry, let's leave it at that."

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

The technical department's report was swiftly produced. The gunman's mobile phone data had been extracted, and the call records were pulled quickly thanks to a data link request to the command center. Since its activation, this phone had only received two calls and made one—a landline and an unregistered mobile number.

Mahong stood in the command center, watching the technicians trace the mobile number's location information. This time, they truly had a lead.

The landline had been confirmed as originating from Washington D.C., but it was registered to a public relations company, also known as a lobbying firm. This was very troublesome; with lobbying firms, nobody really knew the extent of the power behind them, and just one phone call was not enough to determine who made the call.

Two DHS agents were also in the command center, eager for any new leads, although they did not take over the case because of this. They took charge of investigating the landline instead.

Handing the phone investigation over to DHS was definitely the right thing to do, which allowed Mahong to relax a little. Nevertheless, to be safe, he submitted the clues to Hughes, who would need to coordinate with FBI headquarters for a combined investigation.

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