However, Jimmy didn't have to wait long before he received a call from Ray, "Jimmy, head to Jeff's house right now. I've arranged for people to go over for the arrest."

Jimmy, "Did the serial numbers from yesterday match up?"

Ray, "Yes, it's one of the bills from the bait money, and most of that batch are twenties."

Jimmy, "I'm already here, just got here a few minutes ago; haven't seen anyone come out."

Ray, "The surveillance team lost them last night, now we can only hope to catch him at his home. Keep an eye out there, I'm going to get a search warrant."

Jimmy, "No problem, contact me when you arrive."

Jimmy sighed as he looked at Jeff's house. If only they had verified it last night, none of this would be necessary. Now, who knows where he might have run off to since then.

Currently, there was only one person in Jeff's house, likely the woman who answered the door yesterday; Jeff hadn't returned at all. Jimmy had originally planned to wait for him to come back, but now, if Ray brought people to storm in, they would definitely spook anyone inside.

It was quite unexpected. Jimmy had sifted through a pile of clues, found the only likely suspect, and succeeded on his first try? Was he that lucky? It hadn't been that easy to solve cases back in Manhattan. Was there something wrong?

Jimmy's luck hadn't always been the best, sometimes so bad it felt like even drinking water could go wrong. To stumble upon the main suspect in a bank robbery so easily was indeed unexpected. He had just thought of following a lead, which was better than idly fishing, but to wrap up a major case from just that thought seemed like he had perhaps finally found some good fortune.

Maybe it was because of a few big cases he had handled before?

Jimmy rolled down the car window, smoked a cigarette, and waited for Jeff to come home, or rather for Ray and his team to arrive.

About half an hour later, several cars arrived and stopped at a distance. No one got out, which was most likely the team Ray had arranged. Another half hour passed, then Ray drove up. He got out of the car first, then called Jimmy.

Jimmy came up to Ray, "No one has come in or out, did you get the search warrant?"

Ray nodded, looked towards Jeff's house, and Jimmy continued, "Shall we go in now?"

Ray, "Wait a bit longer." After speaking, he walked over to the people who had arrived earlier, assigned their positions, and surrounded Jeff's house, though they didn't yet make a move.

Watching their setup, Jimmy frowned. That nagging feeling returned—why did it seem like the people in Dallas were always so unprepared in advance?

Those people had been waiting by the roadside for half an hour with no action. Jimmy thought they had already arranged for someone to take the back route, but seeing their setup, only now doing it? What were they up to for the past half-hour?

Jimmy did not join the arrest operation; he just sat in his car, watching as Ray led a few people to the front door, shouting and knocking. The combination of FBI and a search warrant was undeniable, and the woman who answered had no choice but to let them in, though she stood at the doorway, slowly moving to the back of the crowd.

When all the agents had entered the house and started searching, she suddenly ran out the door, trying to escape.

Jimmy swung open the car door, took a few steps, and tackled her to the ground. "FBI, don't move."

The agents emerging from the house were a few steps too late. By the time they arrived, Jimmy had already grabbed the woman's arm, twisted it behind her back, and pulled her up.

Jimmy, "Cuff her and take her away."

After handing the woman over to the other agents, Jimmy went back to his car to wait for the search inside to conclude.

Soon, two agents came out, took police tape from their car, and cordoned off the house. The agents continued their search inside, and not long after, two trucks arrived. It looked like there were quite a few items to be seized here.

Jimmy stepped out of his car and approached the police line. Ray came out from inside, "Ray, how is it inside?"

Ray's expression was somber, "Big haul, but it's not related to our case."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow, "What happened?"

Ray, "We found some drugs and cash, and a few guns, but this money doesn't seem to be what we're after. We need to investigate further." Wrapped up."

Jimmy nodded in understanding; rolled-up money in such places usually signified a specific origin: drug money.

Jimmy: "Where are Jeff's things? Clothes, bags, and the like. Are there any similarities to the bank robbers?"

Ray shook his head. "Ah, let's take them back for testing."

Ray turned around to continue watching the agents busy themselves. Jimmy didn't join in the crowd; he had gotten the information he needed and could head back to the car to rest.

It indeed wasn't that easy. It seemed that the paper money was probably related to drug funds, but bait money had started circulating within a few days, so it looked like the robbers weren't planning to hold onto that batch of money but were trying to spend it as quickly as possible. The next step was to trace its origin.

However, Jimmy had lost hope in Ray and their efficiency, predicting that the follow-up investigation would take even longer.

Ray and Jimmy returned to the office and began preparing materials, pulling up Jeff's information, printing it out, and pinning it on the whiteboard. They started marking the information while contacting the police station to ask their patrol officers to keep an eye on Jeff, mainly his pickup truck.

Jimmy: "Ray, keep an eye on that woman. She's not right."

Ray turned to look at Jimmy. His hand, which had been writing on the whiteboard, also stopped. "Hmm? How so?"

Jimmy: "That woman who was with Jeff, and I suspect she's not just a girlfriend or anything because she ran away the moment you guys entered. That is definitely not something a woman merely involved with a thug would do. She must be involved in Jeff's affairs and knows a lot about them."

Ray nodded: "She's been caught and brought back. Someone else is interrogating her."

Jimmy: "It's not just about Jeff. What if she is the mastermind?"

Ray turned to look at the whiteboard: "Hmm, I'll remind them. We will proceed in parallel but let's start with investigating Jeff first."

Jimmy nodded and sat on a chair nearby, watching Ray bustling around.

"Ding-a-ling-a-ling" Jimmy's phone rang, and he glanced at it before walking out with his phone.

Jimmy: "James, what's up?"

James: "Jimmy, how have you been? Nothing much, just calling you."

Nothing much, right. James hadn't called Jimmy in a long time; previously, they had only occasionally spoken on the phone at night.

Jimmy: "Everything is fine here. I'm temporarily assigned to Texas, now in Dallas."

James: "Oh, not bad. When are you coming back to New York?"

Jimmy: "I probably won't be returning anytime soon. Why? Are you in New York?"

James: "Yes, Mary and I will go to New York in a while. Looks like the timing isn't great."

Jimmy: "Are you guys going there for fun? I'll get Nia to pick you up at the airport. Sorry, I can't help it with business trips; otherwise, I'd definitely come myself."

James: "It's sort of a fun trip, but there's also some other business. Don't trouble Nia; we can manage on our own."

Jimmy: "Alright, then have fun. By the way, let me know once you've set the date, so if I'm back in New York, we can maybe meet up."

James: "Alright. That's it for now. Stay safe."

Jimmy: "You too, goodbye."

Jimmy hung up the phone, looked around, and went straight downstairs to smoke outside.

Something was definitely up! James calling him was certainly not just to arrange a meeting in New York; there was an ulterior motive. It was daytime, working hours, and James had never called him at this time before, especially when it wasn't anything important. Such personal matters should have been discussed after work.

New York, he and Mary are going together, bad timing, it was not just for fun, stay safe... it surely had something to do with him...

While smoking, Jimmy pondered, unable to figure out what exactly was going on.

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