North America Gunman Detective

After fiddling with it for a while, Jimmy put the switchblade back on the table, returned to the study, picked up his study materials, and started working hard. The records showed that he was already over thirty and still needed to catch up and get certified, which was really a pain in the ass. Luckily, he had a good memory now; otherwise, who knows how long it would take to get it done.

Nia was working overtime on the weekend, and it felt pretty much like Jimmy thought. The NYPD had been busy for a while now, with all sorts of cases popping up since the end of the year. However, they were all routine cases, so they handled them themselves and barely transferred any to the FBI.

Considering the upcoming wedding leave and honeymoon, Nia had been working very actively recently, so she could take more time off later using her compensatory and annual leave.

Jimmy didn't have as many troublesome things to deal with. He had already talked to Ruiz in advance. Besides the standard one-week wedding leave, he took an additional three to four weeks off, and Ruiz agreed.

For the FBI, the absence of one or two people is not a problem. It's just that generally, a team leader won't take such long leave. Ruiz's requirement for Jimmy is to arrange for Mark and Julia to make sure that the Homicide Team won't have any major issues before he takes his leave. This is one of the reasons Jimmy has been deliberately letting them handle cases.

In the Homicide Team, Jimmy's experience is sufficient, and now he has subordinates to assign tasks to. There isn't much he personally needs to do. Even if he's away for a while, cases can still be handled, although it might be slightly inconvenient. The support team might have some issues if Ruiz wants to summon them to handle a case temporarily like before. However, such cases are rare enough that it shouldn't cause problems.

Jimmy was currently dealing with these matters ahead of time so that he could completely let go before the wedding.

Just three days later, Charon called Jimmy to say the dagger was repaired. Considering Jimmy's work, he arranged for a local courier to deliver the dagger to Jimmy's door, with Jimmy just needing to wait at Federal Square.

Jimmy thanked Charon on the phone, then soon received an internal call notifying him to pick up a delivery.

Jimmy opened the package at the reception. The wooden box was still the original one, but the dagger inside already looked brand new just from the handle. The knife repairer Charon found not only repaired the dagger but also fitted it with a leather sheath. The dark brown sheath was stitched on one side only, and there was a diagonal buckle at the handle to ensure it wouldn't accidentally fall out once inserted.

When Jimmy pulled out the dagger, the dark brown wooden handle felt very comfortable to hold. It was evident that it had been carefully adjusted. The blade was polished and extremely sharp; the original dark, blood-like stains on the blade had been cleaned off. Most of the blade was polished to a bright finish and looked fantastic. The original C-shaped guard had also been polished, making the brass color very eye-catching.

If there was any issue, it was with the belt loop on the sheath. This type of loop required threading the belt through, which lacked flexibility. It would have been best if there were a clip to attach it directly to the belt.

However, one couldn't ask for too much. He would use it as is for now and look for an opportunity to adjust it later or have a leather shop make a new sheath. As long as he wanted, he'd always find a way.

Jimmy asked the receptionist to help dispose of the delivery box and returned to his office with the dagger box. Whether this dagger could be used still needed Rodney the priest's verification. He needed a weapon for demon extermination as a close-quarters weapon. If this dagger couldn't perform that task, it would be pointless, as even a flick knife costing a few tens of dollars would suffice for daily use.

Jimmy barely had a few chances for close combat. Most of the time, his gun was sufficient for various situations. The occasions where a dagger could be truly useful were too few. The average person wouldn't use it, and experts wouldn't find it necessary.

Returning to the office, Jimmy placed the dagger on the table and continued browsing the documents leisurely, while also calling Rodney for an appointment to meet at a convenient time for him.

The next evening, Jimmy was cuddling with Nia on the couch while watching a movie. The feeling of renting a DVD to watch was actually okay. The only problem was that he had few opportunities to choose the movies himself; almost all the movies were rented by Nia.

Nia watched a wide array of movies. Besides action and gunfight films, she sometimes brought home art films—movies where the plot was driven entirely by dialogue. Watching them made Jimmy want to fall asleep, though he couldn't just sleep on the sofa, so he had to endure and watch them with her till the end.

The musical they were watching today was such a film. Jimmy tried hard to keep going, but after half an hour, he started to feel sleepy. He tilted his head to rest on Nia's and slowly closed his eyes, letting himself unwind.

"Jimmy, wake up, wake up," Nia shook him gently, and he opened his eyes, asking, "What's wrong?"

"Your phone's ringing," said Nia.

Jimmy reached for it but didn't find it nearby and turned to see it vibrating at the far end of the coffee table.

He got up to grab it and, after checking, answered: "Father Rodney, what happened?"

"Sorry to bother you at this hour, Jimmy, but we need help," said Rodney.

"Tell me, what do you need?" Jimmy asked.

"I need your help to temporarily close off Bronx's Fan Kelan Park. We need to handle a tricky situation there," Rodney explained.

"Right now? How long will it be closed?" Jimmy asked.

"Not sure yet. There may be other locations as well. We are trying to handle it in areas with fewer people," Rodney replied.

"Is it urgent? I'll get ready to support you now," Jimmy offered.

"Okay, I'll update you on the exact location shortly," Rodney said.

Rodney and his team had another problem. In the past, when working in the forest, there was no need to close off areas and worry about information leaks, but now, being in New York City—albeit in the Bronx—there was a risk of causing public alarm.

Jimmy informed Nia and asked her to look into the NYPD precinct in the Bronx. If they needed the area sealed off, inevitably, they'd need to involve the NYPD, as the FBI didn't have many people around to dispatch.

Before Jimmy reached Fan Kelan Park, Rodney called again: "No need to seal off Fan Kelan Park. We've arrived at the outskirts of Yangkesi City, and it seems to be moving northward."

Jimmy sighed, "If it's beyond New York, I might not be able to find the right people to seal the area. No matter, I'll still come to find you guys."

This was turning out to be quite a hassle. Dave had previously insisted that he work with the parish, which seemed to bring more and more trouble. Now they were outside New York City, yet still within the jurisdiction of the FBI's New York branch, making it quite challenging to mobilize local resources.

Jimmy turned on the police lights and siren and sped away. Nighttime traffic was significantly smoother than daytime, and he was soon out of the Bronx District, arriving quickly at Yangkesi City. After calling again, Jimmy found Rodney and his team on the north side of the Hudson River.

Rodney didn't come alone. His arm injury hadn't fully recovered yet, so while it was normal under regular circumstances, he was just there for support. Another priest was battling a clearly mutated ghostly creature.

"Father Rodney, do you need me to step in? Do you need me to seal off the area?" Jimmy asked.

Rodney shook his head, "No need to seal off. There's nobody around here, so it should be fine."

Jimmy reached for the dagger at his waist, which was the dagger Rodney had given him. Perfect timing to ask, "The dagger's been repaired. Father Rodney, could you check if it's usable now?"

Rodney, eyes on the ongoing fight, glanced at Jimmy and replied, "We'll talk about that later. It's not convenient now."

Jimmy observed the priest fighting the creature. He wielded a broadsword and carried a small round shield for blocking, looking better equipped than the last time with Father Rodney. Judging by their fight now, the creature didn't seem overly threatening.

"Father Rodney, I'm going to help," Jimmy declared.