Jimmy waited at the hospital for a while, and Hughes came over with two people, "Jimmy, has he woken up?"

Jimmy: "Ryan is still in a coma, he hasn't woken up. What's going on exactly?"

Hughes: "The details will only be clear once he wakes up. I've already asked the people from the Brooklyn-Queens Field Office, and the others still aren't sure which case he was working on."

Jimmy: "Alright, the doctor said it might take a few more hours. I'll just wait here."

Hughes moved to the window to look inside, then after a moment, without turning back, he said, "You guys wait here. Jimmy, when Ryan wakes up, ask him about what happened."

Jimmy nodded, "Okay. Who's handling the crime scene investigation?"

Hughes: "I've already assigned field office people to investigate, you get the intel here and then go investigate."

Jimmy: "Understood."

Hughes turned to leave, but the two people with him stayed, sitting outside the ward.

Jimmy wasn't in the mood to greet these two strangers, surely they were agents from the office, just ones he hadn't met before.

More than an hour later, Ryan woke up. A nurse called the doctor to check on him, and once they confirmed he was in a condition to be questioned, they let Jimmy in, leaving the two guardians outside.

Ryan was still lying down, with gunshot wounds in his abdomen and right chest, and a bandage on his head. It seemed his head was also injured, probably preventing him from sitting up properly in bed.

Ryan: "Jimmy, why are you here?"

Jimmy: "Ryan, how are you now? The others are investigating, I stayed to wait for you to wake up."

Ryan: "I'm alright. How's Derek?"

Jimmy: "Sorry, he didn't make it."

Ryan coughed and closed his eyes, cursing softly.

Jimmy: "What exactly happened? Keep it brief and focus on the key points."

Ryan: "Two days ago, a family friend of mine was in a car crash. A pickup hit her and her husband while they were driving their son to school near their home. Her husband and son were pronounced dead shortly after being taken to the hospital, but she miraculously survived.

The pickup was stolen, and the driver fled after the crash. There were no cameras at the intersection, and no one nearby could identify the driver.

She suspects it wasn't an accident, but a deliberate attack on them.

I was investigating at the accident site and got ambushed from a house while interviewing people around."

Jimmy: "Location, shooter descriptions."

Ryan: "East 51st Street in Brooklyn, I can't remember the exact house number. There were two shooters, one Black, one possibly mixed Black or Hispanic. I didn't get a clear look, but we can rule out White or Asian. They used semi-automatic handguns, probably with extended magazines, as they fired many shots. I was shot first and then lost consciousness."

Jimmy: "Did you get a look at their faces? What were they wearing? How tall were they?"

Ryan: "The Black male was about 180 cm, nearly bald, just a bit of hair left. Can't recall other details. I only saw the wavy hair on the other guy, didn't notice anything else."

Jimmy: "Okay, I need you to think for a moment before answering the following questions. Of course, you can choose not to answer.

Who is she? Why does she think a traffic accident was an attempted murder? What are her and her family's identities? What's your relationship with her? Was this case reported to the bureau?"

Ryan lightly coughed twice: "Her and her family's identities are protected, you don't need to dig deep."

Jimmy nodded, "I understand, so this case wasn't reported, right?"

Ryan: "Correct."

Jimmy: "If it was deliberate murder, do you have suspects?"

Ryan: "Give me the phone, call Hughes."

Jimmy took out his phone and dialed Hughes: "Hughes, Ryan is awake, he wants to talk to you."

After Hughes agreed, Jimmy put the phone to Ryan's ear, keeping his arm extended to stay away. Ryan: "Hughes, I'm awake.... the Thompson family. Yes, it could be.... no.... understood. Jimmy, Hughes wants you to go back to the office to see him."

Ryan signaled to Jimmy, who glanced at the phone: Hughes had already hung up. He put away the phone, "Alright, Ryan, I'll head back to see Hughes, you take care."

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

In Hughes's office, Jimmy knocked and entered, closing the door behind him.

Jimmy: "Hughes, what's going on?"

Hughes handed Jimmy a file envelope, which was not the usual case folder he used, but a manila envelope.

Jimmy frowned as he opened the envelope, took out the materials, and began to read them.

The Federation's Judicial Department's Witness Protection Program, damn it, so that's what it is. No wonder Ryan didn't talk to Jimmy about the victim's situation.

A couple moved from San Francisco to New York with their son, assuming new identities: the wife as Carmen Thompson, the husband as Jack Thompson, and the son as Nathan Thompson.

Jimmy: "Hughes, is Ryan their handler?"

Hughes nodded: "The couple testified against a drug lord who killed and disposed of bodies. As per the Marshal's plan, they moved from San Francisco to Brooklyn, and it's been less than a year. Originally, they would have withdrawn from witness protection after the adaptation period, but then Ryan and the others got attacked."

Jimmy: "You think it was the drug lord's doing?"

Hughes: "It can't be ruled out. I've already sent someone to investigate the prison in San Francisco, and according to the trial results, the drug lord is still in prison."

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