Jack was typing today's report on his computer. He stretched and was about to leave work when Tim hurriedly passed by him, gesturing for him to follow.
The two entered a small break room, where Nolan and the others were already waiting.
Tim closed the door and went straight to the point: "This is a huge problem. That facial recognition application triggered the LA Law Enforcent Conflict Prevention System, and the source points to the CIA."
Nolan's eyes widened in disbelief. "Why is the CIA involved in a counterfeit money case?"
"This is more serious than we thought. If it's the CIA, then it involves national security. Are we sure we want to continue investigating?" Nyla looked at everyone, issuing a serious warning.
Tim clearly wasn't going to give up: "I promised Mickey I would find Joe's killer. Joe was a soldier, he served his country, he shouldn't have died like this, without a clear explanation."
"Then let's proceed cautiously. If it's the CIA, when they realize pressure from above isn't working, which of us do you think they'll target?"
Before Jack finished speaking, all eyes turned to Nolan.
"Why ?" Nolan felt underestimated. Of all the people present, was he the easiest to bully?
Lucy counted on her fingers: "Jack has already resigned and is going to the FBI soon. Tim just beca a sergeant, the highest-ranking among us. Angela is a detective now, and Nyla voluntarily transferred back from undercover to be a patrol officer; the governor even personally awarded her a dal, so…"
"Then what about you?" Nolan asked curiously.
"Guess where Lucy has been sleeping every night lately?" Angela shrugged, leaving the question unanswered, and left the room laughing and joking with the others, leaving Lucy and Tim looking sowhat embarrassed, and Nolan suddenly realizing what had happened.
....
Just before 11 p.m., soone knocked on Nolan's door.
Nolan opened it, and standing there was none other than the black man who had disguised himself as a security company repairman during the day. "Hey, buddy, we need to talk." His accent had lost its comical rap tone.
"Aren't you going to invite in?" Seeing Nolan standing there dumbfounded, the black man smiled friendly.
"Why don't you tell who you are first?" Nolan stared at him warily.
"At least for now, I'm your friend. You should be glad, because you don't want to be my enemy."
Although the guy maintained a smile, the underlying threat in his tone was anything but friendly.
"Now, invite in." The man spoke in a calm, commanding tone.
Nolan didn't say anything and stepped aside.
"Your house is nicely renovated. Did that kid who's about to join the FBI help you with it?"
The man's attitude was relaxed, just like a guest coming to visit, as he looked Nolan up and down.
Nolan adopted a defiant stance, unmoved by the man's tactic: "I know your tricks. You co in, look around, and casually reveal personal information, acting like you've got the upper hand. Very well. So tell , who are you?"
"You can call Colonel Norman Jenkins."
"But aren't you from the CIA?" Nolan directly exposed the man's identity.
"It's just a na, it doesn't an anything. My team operates in the shadows, doing things that no one will acknowledge," the man who identified himself as Colonel Norman Jenkins explained.
"Then what do you want with ?" Nolan asked knowingly.
Colonel Norman Jenkins' expression hardened. He stepped forward, looked Nolan directly in the eye, and said, word by word, "I'm warning you, and your cop buddies, don't get involved in this anymore. Trying to search my information in the system? You're making a huge mistake. You won't find anything. I hope this is the last ti you'll be so foolish."
Nolan frowned, not backing down despite the threat.
"We just want to know who killed Joe Delacourz."
"Who?" Colonel Norman Jenkins suddenly realized, "You an that holess man? Why?"
Nolan felt a little lost with this guy's train of thought: "What why? He was a person, a retired soldier, he served his country."
"Wait a minute, are you mistaken about sothing?" Colonel Norman Jenkins' tone seed a little confused, making it hard to tell if he was faking it.
"We're on the sa side, you, , and that Joe you ntioned, we're all Aricans."
"We're sacrificing for the interests of this country every mont. As for and my team, our business is just a bit more global."
Nolan interrupted his impassioned speech: "So you can kill people at will?"
Colonel Norman Jenkins scoffed, looking at Nolan as if to say, "Look how naive you are."
"Every war has casualties. That Joe was just collateral damage. You just need to pray you're not next."
Saying that, he patted Nolan on the shoulder, seemingly feeling that there was no need to say more, and left the house.
Nolan stood there for a mont, listening to the car start and drive away, before shouting, "Guys, he's gone!"
People poured out from the attic, the backyard, and even the bedroom.
Jack ca in through the front door, dressed all in black. Everyone looked at him as soon as he entered. "Did you get the tracker working?"
"I've attached it to the bottom of the car. We can follow him wherever he goes." He waved his tablet, showing how he'd attached a tracker to the CIA agent's car — wow, that was exciting.
"What's our next move? Follow him?" Lucy asked eagerly.
"No, this is a two-person job." Tim looked at Nyla, his tone leaving no room for argunt.
"Nyla and I will handle the rest. It's not appropriate for you to get involved."
"Uh…" Jack raised a finger, indicating he disagreed.
"Can we hear what I have to say before we make a decision?"
All eyes turned to him again.
"Ahem!" He cleared his throat.
"First, we can now confirm that Joe's death is related to one of Colonel Norman Jenkins' n, right? I heard him use the word 'collateral damage' in my earpiece."
Everyone nodded in unison.
"Second, that unpleasant visitor never identified himself, right? Can't we consider it a criminal suspect actively threatening an LAPD officer?"
Everyone paused, finding it sowhat absurd, but upon reflection, although it was clearly a word ga, it seed plausible.
"Then, it's perfectly reasonable for us to follow him, isn't it? If we discover anything during the follow-up, such as a large sum of counterfeit money, that wouldn't violate the orders from above, would it?"
[A/n: I haven't watched the series so I don't know much of the story, but I can understand Tim wanting to find the killer, even MC for being an opportunist, But Not how Nolan, Angela and others take this personally, I an that man went and stole money for so people who can easily erase him, that much he could understand but did it any way. Then he was killed. It was the consequence. I an, I am not saying it's right but if we take literal facts to the face then MC and Tim also once killed soone who surrendered. I kind of felt that story would be about saving and being heroic but not so right now. I an, these guys are saying no to murder right now but not then. A hypocritical bunch.]
[Thanks for reading the rant. I just hate to see them parade as the justice itself when they are involved because it beca personal. I am not saying it shouldn't be done. Just got irritated while editing, that's all.]
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