James: "Okay, I'm counting on you."

Jimmy hung up and called Tom: "Tom, James is arriving in New York tonight with Mary. When are you coming over?"

Tom: "Is he arriving today? Got it. I'll call you when I get to New York."

Jimmy: "Okay, I'll wait to hear from you. Want me to let James know first?"

Tom: "Let's wait until I get there."

Finally, there was good news. James' arrival meant that Jimmy's planned engagement ceremony was officially kicking off.

Excited, Jimmy punched the air twice before returning to his seat to continue reviewing the past dossiers provided by the office.

In the evening, Jimmy drove to JFK airport, wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat while waiting at the exit for James and Mary's flight. Since he had appeared on public television, he didn't have the confidence to appear in public places as openly as before; he had to use some disguise.

After seeing that James' flight had landed, he raised the sign he had prepared in advance.

James and Mary emerged from the exit, immediately spotting Jimmy's sign and the only person around with a cowboy hat—Jimmy. After serving as a county police officer for so long, James was very familiar with cowboy hats, even though the hats county police wear aren't exactly the same, but those wide-brimmed hats are quite similar.

"Hi, James, Mary. Long time no see." Jimmy set the sign down and hugged James, then gave a hug to Mary standing next to him.

"Jimmy, you seem to be doing well, getting stronger." James patted Jimmy, who casually pulled their suitcases along, "Let's talk in the car."

Jimmy drove James and Mary away from JFK airport, heading towards Manhattan. Despite it being nighttime, traffic was still slightly congested.

While driving, Jimmy asked: "James, how was the trip to Europe?"

James: "Not bad, we toured several countries in Europe, tasted the local cuisine, and had a good few months to relax. How about you?"

Jimmy: "All is well. As I mentioned over the phone, my proposal was successful. You'll get to meet Nia later."

James: "Did you book a hotel for us?"

Jimmy: "Yes, it's not far from my apartment."

James: "Okay, now tell me about your girlfriend. I should get to know her beforehand."

Jimmy drove them to the hotel, and having been informed by phone, Nia came out of the apartment to meet them at the hotel entrance.

Jimmy: "James, Mary, this is Nia, Nia Miller, my fiancée. Nia, this is James and Mary."

James: "So you're Nia. Good kid, Jimmy has told me about you many times."

Nia greeted and hugged James and Mary. Jimmy retrieved their suitcases from the trunk, and the four of them entered the hotel lobby. After checking James and Mary into their room, he placed their luggage down.

Jimmy: "James, you've been flying all day, must be tired. Rest for now; we'll head back, and I'll come back tomorrow evening."

The four hugged goodbye, and Jimmy and Nia left the hotel. Since it wasn't the weekend, James and Mary would manage on their own during the day, and they could talk more after they had rested.

Jimmy changed into another set of clothes before heading back to the office. Since he wasn't on field duty now, and without public matters needing attention, there was no dress code restriction in the office. Most of the people in the Public Affairs Office wore casual clothes; of course, Jimmy still wore his cowboy hat and sunglasses.

While reviewing the files, the phone rang. Jimmy glanced at it and answered immediately, "Hi, Watson, any good news?"

Watson: "Can you come out now?"

Jimmy looked over at Isabel and Mrs. Mason's offices, both were seated at their desks. He said, "No problem. Time and place."

Watson: "The café not far from your building."

Jimmy: "Give me a few minutes."

Jimmy picked up his hat and sunglasses, adjusted his clothes and gun, and then left the office. Even though he was no longer on field duty, Jimmy habitually carried his pistol and revolver; you never know when an emergency might arise, better to be prepared than to be caught without a weapon when something happens.

Entering the café, Jimmy glanced around, spotting Watson sitting in a corner. He walked straight over, and a waitress came by to take their order. After the waitress left, Jimmy turned to Watson, "Watson, what's the good news?"

Watson nodded and took out a file from his briefcase, handing it to Jimmy: "There's good news; your headquarters file has been extracted, and the system data has been cleared."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow, accepting the file, feeling good as he smiled at Watson: "Great, having it directly extracted saves us from someone digging it up again."

Watson: "The good news has been shared; now there's some bad news." Jimmy's smile vanished. He raised his hand to stop Watson, "Hold on, my coffee is coming."

This café was somewhere Jimmy frequented, and he knew their speed well. Sure enough, the waitress soon arrived with his coffee, "Jimmy, here's your coffee." As she turned to leave, she added, "You looked good on TV."

Jimmy was at a loss for words, regretting not keeping his hat and sunglasses on; now he'd been recognized immediately.

Jimmy took a sip of his coffee and said to Watson, "You can continue now. I hope the bad news isn't too bad."

Watson: "There are two backup records of your data, one from Ward Abbott, one of the initiators of the Stumbling Block Plan, but he's dead now. The other is from Katherine Prado, the current director of the Anti-Terrorism Bureau, your acquaintance."

Jimmy nodded: "Katherine showed me my file once; it was a copy. She indeed kept one. Is there an issue?"

Watson: "Here's the problem: The headquarters file is extracted, but her copy could expose our actions if it gets back to headquarters, causing lots of trouble later on."

Jimmy: "Can't you just take it?"

Watson shook his head: "Katherine Prado belongs to another group, not with us. The bad news is that you might need to handle this; regardless of the method, take the materials or destroy them."

Jimmy: "That's tough. I have no idea where she stored the data, nor if she made additional copies."

Watson: "Figure something out. I need to return to Langley. There are some final tasks relating to this issue, and I also need to talk with the fortress' archives manager. If we can stop all inquiries into you from there, it will be much simpler."

Jimmy: "Alright, I'll see what I can do."

Watson finished his coffee, left some paper money under his cup, grabbed his briefcase, and left.

Jimmy sat there, sipping his coffee, pondering how to handle the situation.

He glanced around, took out the file, and reviewed it briefly. The records of recent actions were indeed empty, confirming Katherine hadn't lied; they had cooperated with DIA before, treating him as an FBI contact.

His relationship with Katherine was strained; he'd recently threatened her once. Though the matter had been resolved, he hadn't contacted her since. Learning the location of the files and retrieving them seemed quite difficult.

Jimmy finished his coffee, put away the file, donned his hat and sunglasses, and left the café, heading back to the FBI office.

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