Jones followed the car in front, leaving Baoli Street and onto the Manhattan Bridge.
As Jones drove, he said to Jimmy, "Call Peter."
Jimmy took out his phone, found Peter's number, and dialed directly: "Peter, there's a problem. Raymond has been kidnapped into a van, and we are following them. They've just reached the Manhattan Bridge, and we're still unclear about their destination."
Peter: "Call Jones."
Jimmy: "Jones is driving, I'll put you on speaker."
Peter: "Jones, keep an eye on them, contact me after you confirm the location, I will contact the Brooklyn field office for backup."
Jones: "Alright, Peter, we're still unsure of their destination. I'll contact you once it's confirmed."
After speaking, Jones signaled Jimmy to hang up the call.
Since it was evening rush hour, they were stuck in traffic for a while before they left the Manhattan Bridge and arrived in Brooklyn.
Jones drove the car, following the van in front at a distance of three cars. It wasn't particularly noticeable, and even if the van in front realized they were being followed, they couldn't escape due to the heavy traffic.
Fortunately, they weren't detected throughout the chase. After leaving the Manhattan Bridge, they turned and headed south toward Brooklyn. This was Jimmy's first glimpse of the streets inside the Brooklyn District, and it looked quite decent. Although he had stayed overnight in Brooklyn near Manhattan during his last assignment, which was a business district, this time, the streetscape was deeper into Brooklyn.
Although it had recently gotten dark, there were already some shady-looking people wandering about, but that was irrelevant to Jones and Jimmy. They continued following the van. Jones, who specialized in intelligence gathering, was a superb driver and managed to keep up with the van in traffic, eventually arriving near Brighton Beach.
Jones saw the van turn into an alley; he had no choice but to stop by the roadside.
Jones said to Jimmy, "Jimmy, go and see where the van has stopped. I can't show my face here."
Jimmy nodded, opened the passenger door, and jumped out.
After getting out of the car, Jimmy reached the entrance of the alley and spotted the van parked inside, next to a five-story apartment building. As he moved closer, Jimmy observed with "Heart Eye Observation," and to his surprise, it seemed to be a place like a casino. The second floor appeared to have several rooms connected together, with many people gathered around a few tables. Though he couldn't make out what was on the tables, their behaviors heavily suggested an underground gambling den.
Jimmy watched three men climbing the stairs, likely the ones from the van, and they eventually stopped at a room on the third floor.
Jimmy closely inspected the entrance; it was a metal door with a small window that could be opened from the inside, probably a peephole, making it impossible to go in for a closer look.
Jimmy checked the surroundings and then walked straight out of the alley. He wasn't familiar with New York, but such underground gambling dens would definitely have deep gang affiliations, and getting too close could alarm them.
Jimmy returned to the surveillance car, and Jones asked, "How did it go?"
Jimmy: "It's tricky. The van stopped inside, and the people in it seem to have entered that building. From what I saw around, there's only one entrance, blocked by a metal gate, so I couldn't see inside. It looks like this might be a gang stronghold or meeting place."
Jones: "This is Brighton Beach, also known as Little Russia. If this is gang territory, it must belong to the Russian mob, so we can't just barge in. I'll contact Peter first."
Jones called Peter, and after hanging up, he said, "Jimmy, we're going to continue surveillance here today. The target is still Raymond, but don't get into a conflict with the Russians. We might have to stake out all night, so we'll take turns. You rest first, and take over for me in three hours."
Jimmy nodded. "Then you keep watch first, and I'll go get us something to eat."
Jones, being African-American, showing up at night in Little Russia wasn't exactly safe; Jimmy, being Chinese-American, seemed relatively harmless.
Jimmy didn't walk far when he saw a Mexican food truck still open at the corner. Although there weren't many people around, he bought a few tacos, a couple of Cokes, and then carried everything back to the surveillance van.
Jimmy cobbled together three chairs, hung up his suit, and laid down directly on the chairs. Because he had to be on duty later, he had to seize every moment to rest—he couldn't eat before sleeping, or he wouldn't be able to sleep. He'd eat when he woke up, although it wouldn't taste good cold. But this was not the time to worry about that.
Around midnight, Jimmy was woken up. He grabbed a bottle of water from next to him, stepped out of the van to wash his face and freshen up, then returned to the compartment where Jones had already fallen asleep on the chairs Jimmy had put together.
Jimmy noticed there were two tacos left. Cold or not, he had to eat them. With his earphones on, he ate the tacos while watching the surveillance screen. Jones had installed a temporary camera in the corner that could see the van and the iron gate.
After finishing the tacos, Jimmy grabbed some napkins to wipe his hands, then suddenly heard a muffled gunshot. He checked the surveillance and saw nothing unusual. He opened the van's front door, stepped over to the co-driver's seat, and looked around. Then a barrage of gunfire erupted, all from handguns, coming from an adjacent apartment building—the site of an underground gambling den.
Jimmy rushed back to the van and shook Jones awake. "Jones, wake up; something's happened."
Jones wasn't deeply asleep and got up immediately. "What's going on?"
Jimmy: "There were several gunshots coming from that apartment building."
Jones immediately sat down in front of the surveillance monitor. It had only been a few seconds since the gunfire had started. There was no movement at the iron gate, but suddenly, it burst open, and a group of people ran out, men and women, some dressed in suits and others disheveled.
The camera Jones had set up was a night-vision camera. It could only capture them scattering to the roadside as they fled the building, unclear whether it could capture their faces clearly.
Jimmy moved to the co-driver's seat, pulled out his gun, and held it ready, relieved that no one came to hijack the van.
Jones immediately called Peter. Even though it was the middle of the night, the gunfire meant they had to report it.
Jones: "Peter, there's been trouble. There was a shootout in Russian mob territory, and people inside ran out. There were too many, I couldn't clearly see if Raymond had run out."
Peter: "Call the police, hide well, and stay safe."
Jones's phone was on speaker, and Jimmy heard everything. After Jones hung up, Jimmy said, "Jones, should I go scout around?"
Jones: "Hold on, the situation inside is completely unclear, and it's too dangerous for you to go now."
Jimmy: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. There's no gunfire now. Give me five minutes, and I'll go in to check."