Reborn: The Rookie Detective Chapter 181 181: 181-Revenge

Compared to the thick stack of printed docunts brought by Joe's beautiful Secret Service administrator, Mollybeth Gordon, Reacher and Roscoe brought back a large wooden crate from the barbershop.

Using the key found in the gun case to open the crate, Dana and Chris led the group in organizing the docunts.

Why Dana and Chris? Because most of them were photocopies of the Kleiner Foundation's tax returns, detailed down to almost every single entry.

"The foundation has a large amount of money flowing into Kleiner Industries and other businesses and community groups in the town of Margrave. They've essentially bought up everything around here, including people's hearts, with counterfeit money," Chris concluded in less than an hour.

Ray King, the supervisor who arrived in Atlanta this morning, took off his reading glasses and rubbed his temples.

"This also ans that even if we have enough evidence, it will be a protracted lawsuit. Almost no one in this town will side with us; instead, they'll see us as the culprits who destroyed their happy lives," Jack interjected. "And Kleiner just needs to smuggle the remaining counterfeit money out of the country, burn down the factory, move to a more convenient, equally stagnant town, and he can go back to his old ways."

His plan was to overturn the table and let the authorities clean up the ss. The FBI's raid on the n in New xico was like opening a new world for him.

Seeing the young man staring intently at him, Ray King knew what he was thinking. "I need a reasonable explanation; otherwise, I can't endorse your clandestine raid."

Jack snapped his fingers and took a docunt from Zoe.

"This is an investigation report. Detective Finlay said he had an FBI friend who advised him against coming to Margrave. That made think, so I asked Zoe to do so research through her connections."

"Shortly after Hannah's parents' deaths, an EPA investigator died unexpectedly. An FBI agent nad Picard was assigned to investigate, but he quickly closed the case, concluding it was a manslaughter due to a burglary," Hannah continued. "According to Joe's investigation, the perpetrator was a notorious local hitman nicknad 'The Viking.'"

"Coincidentally, we just learned the na of his FBI friend from Detective Finlay: Picard. Ten years ago, he was in the FBI office in Austin, and now he's based in the Atlanta office."

"Even more coincidentally, his partner was a 'Viking' of similar build to Reacher, who sadly died of cancer three years ago."

"Is the FBI's pay too low? Why are you either part-ti hitn or colluding with counterfeit money rings? Why don't you and Jack co work as investigators in our IRS?" Ray King half-jokingly tried to poach her.

Hannah glanced at Jack. She wasn't short of money, but joining the FBI was mainly to avenge her parents. Now that her revenge was almost achieved, the FBI wasn't so appealing anymore.

If Jack wanted, there wouldn't be much difference between staying in the FBI and going to the IRS for her. Jack, of course, didn't want to; investigating taxes with the IRS was nowhere near as valuable as solving cases with the BAU.

He tapped the table, signaling everyone to listen to the key point.

"This information is enough for the IRS to have a reason to block the local FBI office, and if they go through the proper channels to call in support from other FBI offices, there might not be enough ti."

The IRS didn't have independent ard forces. Investigators going out to investigate taxes were only equipped with a handgun; when force was needed, they usually requested FBI assistance. Conversely, the FBI offices in each state generally had their own SWAT teams.

What makes the IRS truly formidable is its independent tax courts and prisons.

Ray King, a shrewd and experienced, naturally knew what this kid was up to; he was simply laying the groundwork for various reasons to facilitate his trip with his group to settle personal scores.

He pondered for a mont, then raised a small question, "What is your reason for raiding the Kleiner family? I could easily bypass the local FBI office and communicate directly with their superiors. A SWAT team would arrive in Atlanta within two days at most."

"This evidence is sufficient to obtain a search warrant for a raid on Kleiner Industries. I cannot authorize a local police detective, an LAPD officer on leave, an FBI agent whose identity cannot be revealed, or even a few civilians to storm in and kill indiscriminately on the grounds that the other party intends to destroy evidence."

Jack was already confident. "Kidnapping. We need to rescue the hostages."

Ray King was stunned. "Who did the Kleiner family kidnap?"

"Paul Hubble's wife and daughters. Charlie Hubble and her two daughters hid at her cousin Stevenson's house. To force Paul to show himself, several South Arican assassins broke into the Stevenson's house tonight and kidnapped them in front of Detective Finlay."

"To rescue the hostages, Detective Finlay, along with elite officers from the local police departnt and several law-abiding citizens, followed the killer to the Kleiner Industries factory, where they discovered a large quantity of counterfeit money and a complete set of materials and equipnt for manufacturing it."

Jack finished speaking, then paused to reflect, realizing he actually had a knack for screenwriting.

Ray King nearly laughed out of exasperation. "So, who are the mother and daughter living in the next room, protected by those old detectives?"

Jack looked around innocently. "Do you know the elderly couple next door who's on vacation with their granddaughters?"

Everyone shook their heads. Those with thin skin, like Dana and a few others, looked up at the ceiling to admire the view and avoid laughing.

Ray King rolled his eyes for a while, barely managing to suppress the urge to curse.

"If you can guarantee there won't be a main culprit in court, I can turn a blind eye to all of this. Because of the mole issue, the FBI will also want to close the case quickly. As for the Secret Service…"

Everyone wore knowing smiles.

To avoid suspicion, Ray King got up and left the room to keep the elderly couple next door company, whom no one knew, who were on vacation with their granddaughters. Jack began assigning tasks to everyone.

"As long as nothing unexpected happens with Finlay, we'll move in tonight. To avoid detection, we need to infiltrate in shifts before dark."

"Everyone will split into three groups: one will lie in ambush near the Stevenson house, another will monitor the Kleiner family's factory on the ranch, and the last will be responsible for protecting the Hubble family. After everything is finished, we need them to be on-site."

Jack paused, looking at another Reacher, "Is there any way to find Paul Hubble? We need him to provide the factory's layout; we might not have ti to extract this information."

Reacher glanced at the ti and nodded confidently, "I'll bring him before dark. Hunting down fugitives is my forte."

Just then, Jack's phone rang. He opened it to find a ssage from Justine. Jack had previously asked her to investigate two things: Paul Hubble's whereabouts and information about the death of Roscoe's adoptive father, Gray.

Paul was well-hidden; he hadn't used a credit card or driven himself, so Justine couldn't find anything else and sent him so background information for reference.

Reacher casually flipped through the docunts and checked an electronic map on his phone before confidently declaring, "He's hiding in Augusta."

Everyone cast skeptical glances. Was he really that rash?

"Paul isn't a bad person. In his logic, he's just going out to lay low, not too far from his family. If Kleiner threatens him with his family, he has to be able to show up promptly." He circled a line on the map with his finger. "Atlanta is a big city; he'll feel very uncomfortable, feeling like Kleiner's spies are everywhere. Athens County, where the University of Georgia is located, is the first place anyone would think of to look for him."

"Rember when he wanted to hear his mother sing 'Rocky Raccoon' when he was in prison? He habitually seeks out his comfort zone. The docunts say he likes playing golf, played in tournants in Augusta, and has fond mories there."

It was a ridiculous line of reasoning, but it sohow made sense.

Braxton, who had been silent until now, questioned sowhat indignantly, "But even if you know he's hiding in Augusta, how do you know where he's hiding?"

Reacher gave a mysterious smile. "He doesn't dare use credit cards, doesn't dare reveal his identity, so he can only stay in cheap motels that charge by the hour. Just look around the long-distance bus station area."

Everyone fell silent for a mont. Jack coughed lightly, hoping this protagonist's halo would work, then he looked at Roscoe.

"There's one more thing. Justine hacked into the coroner's office database and helped find your adoptive father Gray's autopsy photos. Do you rember the head wound he had?"

Roscoe's breathing quickened. "The coroner said it might have been an accidental fall before he hanged himself, because the wound wasn't fatal. Did you find evidence of his murder?"

Ever since discovering that her adoptive father had been investigating Kleiner Industries before his death, Roscoe had suspected that her adoptive father's death wasn't suicide.

Jack showed her a magnified photo of the wound. "This is a magnified image; you can clearly see the diamond-shaped impact mark."

Roscoe suddenly stood up. "It's that fat pig, Tiller. His cane has a diamond-shaped artificial stone inlaid on it. He's been colluding with the Kleiner family for a long ti. He killed Gray and then faked it as suicide."

Seeing the girl getting agitated again, Reacher quickly pulled her into his arms.

"My suggestion is that you and Reacher go find Paul together. On the way back, you can stop by the house of that respected mayor and police chief. After all, it's quite reasonable for soone colluding with the Kleiner family to have their body found in their counterfeit money factory, right?"

After giving his advice, Jack nodded to Braxton, who pulled a pistol with a silencer from his waist and handed it to Reacher.

[A/n: So, a reader was feeling uncomfortable with my comnts, it disturbs his imrsion (valid point). But he also dislikes my comnts on chingchong(which mostly are true even if they are personalized) . So, any one liking Chingchong poison, please read sowhere else, thank you.

But I will try to add big comnts at the end, no promises though.]