Jimmy didn't let Tony off easy; he had gone too far this time. When arranging the round-trip route for himself, Tony never mentioned he would come for backup. Now here he was, in the dead of night, with two men guarding the tunnel entrance. When caught, Tony actually claimed he was there to back him up. Was that how one was supposed to provide backup? What on earth did he mean by that?

Dragging Tony to the entrance, Jimmy threw him down before climbing down himself to retrieve his bag. He searched all three men, confiscating their guns, IDs, cell phones, keys, and such, stowing them all in his bag. Jimmy then climbed back to the surface, covered the entrance with the wooden panel, camouflaged it with soil and turf, placed a stone on top, and walked over to a car parked nearby.

Jimmy had not found the car keys on Tony, but upon opening the car door, he discovered the keys had never been removed. It seemed Tony hadn't been very careful.

First, Jimmy checked the trunk, then surveyed the interior of the car, making sure there was nothing untoward inside before driving off to the house where they had swapped weapons earlier. He was confident in his memory, and although he hadn't recorded the coordinates specifically, he knew he could find his way there by just retracing the route they had come.

Soon, he saw the house. Inside, there were no lights on and nobody around.

After parking the car, Jimmy used Tony's keys and managed to unlock the door. He went straight to the second floor, to the room where he had changed equipment. His gun, holster, ID, and other personal items had been left there, and these were his highest priority. Fortunately, the room was untouched—it seemed Tony had called people over and gone straight to the tunnel without touching Jimmy's equipment.

It was strange though. Jimmy was certain that only he and Tony were in the house during the day and he hadn't seen a second vehicle by the tunnel either. There were no cars at the house, so how had those two men arrived? Maybe someone else had brought them?

Jimmy regretted acting too hastily and should have interrogated Tony, but it wasn't a big issue. There was no one around, so he could rest there for the night and drive back to Laredo the next day to meet Caitlin.

Caitlin had asked for Jimmy's location and told him to wait; she would definitely make a gesture. This private job had been her referral. Although the intelligence and benefits were handled by the director in charge of the Southwest, as a middleman, she wouldn't just let Jimmy roam free with such a major incident having occurred.

The night was long, and Jimmy took the opportunity to search the house thoroughly, but he found nothing extraordinary. There were no hidden rooms or basements; apart from the CIA box in his own room, everything else seemed as ordinary as any other dwelling.

The next morning, Jimmy got dressed in his gear. He cleaned both Glocks he had brought back and returned them to the weapon case. To ensure a safe return, he hadn't left the guns in the tunnel the previous day.

Jimmy took the wallets, IDs, and guns he had taken from Tony and the two men and put them into a small bag he had found in the house; they were evidence after all. He had only removed the bullets, to prevent accidents.

Bag in hand, Jimmy drove straight to Laredo, found a café for breakfast, and sat sipping coffee while waiting for Caitlin's call.

It wasn't until noon that Jimmy received Caitlin's call. Instead of asking Jimmy to come to her as before, she asked for his location and said she would meet him there.

Caitlin's attitude could hardly be described as officially managerial, as one would expect of a director speaking to a subordinate Agent. It was more as if she was dealing with someone of the same level or even higher, her tone bordering on humble.

Jimmy was surprised, but he didn't change location. He just told her to come to the café. Thanks to the bills he had tossed earlier, he had been occupying a table for half the day and the staff hadn't kicked him out yet.

Caitlin didn't come alone, but with two women. However, simply from the way the three of them walked in from outside, those two women with Caitlin were definitely trained, possibly active field Agents or at least professional bodyguards.

Jimmy stood to greet Caitlin, and the two of them sat face to face, with the other two women taking a table just behind Caitlin. After signaling the waiter for coffee, Caitlin finally began to inquire about the situation.

From his deliberately chosen corner table, far from the bar, Jimmy spoke softly, "Tony brought me to Laredo on a private plane yesterday. He supplied the weapons, and I went through the tunnel at night to find Barrio. The task is completed, but when I was on my way back, I realized that there wasn't just Tony at the tunnel entrance.

I waited in the tunnel for several hours until two armed men came down. They were searching the tunnel, and I eliminated them. Tony was waiting above."

"There was no plan of backup arranged with Tony, yet he brought two men to ambush me..."

Caitlin: "Are you certain Barrio has been dealt with?"

Jimmy nodded, "Definite. He committed suicide right in front of me. By the way, who is Ryan Hawkins?"

Caitlin frowned, "How do you know that name?"

Jimmy: "Barrio mentioned it, his collaborator."

After a moment of consideration over whether or not to reveal certain details to Jimmy, Caitlin decided to speak, "Ryan Hawkins is a senior advisor in the Agency, but he used to be in charge of operations in South America. He retired two, no, three years ago, and now lives in Washington, D.C."

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