On the way back, Jimmy's phone rang, and he pulled out his cell to glance at it, it was a call from Tom, Jimmy answered and switched to speakerphone, placing it on the center console.
"Hey, Tom, still not resting this late?"
"Go to the lakeside where we met last time." Tom said, and then he hung up the phone straight away.
Jimmy curled his lips, Tom's style was getting more and more bizarre, last time he had phoned to pick someone up from his home, this time he just notified the meeting spot directly.
It was on the way back to the police station, so Jimmy took a turn for the lakeside where they'd talked the last time, not far from the apartment Jimmy was renting, he was quite familiar with the route.
Jimmy arrived early and parked his car a bit further away, then stood by the lake, spacing out.
Tom came by car ten minutes later; he must have been far away before. Tom knew where Jimmy lived and how long it would take to get to the lakeside, he didn't realize Jimmy was off duty and had notified Jimmy too early.
Tom took a bag from the passenger seat, got out of the car, and walked up to Jimmy.
Tom: "The previous investigation is clear now, Jimmy, it's your side where the problem lies."
Jimmy was somewhat perplexed, "My side's problem? What problem? Which department?"
Tom: "The guy investigating you is from the FBI, but it's not an official action, he just took a private job. The person pushing the investigation is a go-between, that's also why it took me so long to investigate."
Jimmy: "Why investigate me?"
Tom didn't speak or move, just gazed at the lake, and Jimmy stood in silence as well. After meeting Tom a few times, he got to know Tom's habit, just wait for him to talk.
They stood like that for several minutes, then Tom spoke up.
Tom: "Jimmy, do you really like your current job?"
Jimmy: "I wouldn't say I like it that much, I currently don't have any particular job I want to do."
Tom: "I've looked over what you've been doing these past three to four months, seems like you didn't take my words from before to heart. I hope you live safely, but you keep getting involved in all sorts of dangerous work."
Jimmy: "Tom, I used to be a worthless drifter, now having a normal job, I'm quite content. I'm very talented, and with so many cases so far, I haven't been hurt once, you should believe that my abilities are enough to protect myself."
Tom shook his head, looking very dissatisfied with Jimmy's response. "Alright, decide on your own life. The investigation is over, I'm leaving now."
Tom turned back to the car, did a U-turn and left, and Jimmy went to his patrol car, back to the station to continue his night shift.
In the morning, Jimmy got home and went straight to rest; meeting with Tom had only revealed that someone had been investigating him, but the reason why was still unclear.
While Jimmy was sleeping, Chief James was having a headache – this time it was a message from SWAT, like previously with FBI, DEA, they wanted to pull Jimmy over; such combat ability was too wasted at county police.
Chief James already knew about last night's case: Jimmy had once again killed a kidnapping suspect, his combat capacity left no room for doubt, the only problem was, he had killed too many people.
The county police usually handled basic public security cases, and a hotshot that brings death so easily, although useful, made maintaining the outward image difficult.
After much consideration, Chief James finally decided to give Jimmy a break. Although he'd been on the job for less than a year, granting a long holiday to cool things off seemed beneficial.
When Jimmy got back to the station, he received some good news; Chief James had a change of heart and was ready to give him a holiday.
But there was also bad news: the Community College winter exams were coming up, so even if Jimmy had time off, he couldn't go out and play; he needed time to review before the exams.
Jimmy's holiday passed quickly, he didn't do much aside from studying, working out, and leisure activities, and after nailing the exams, it was time to return to the station.
The county police were truly idle when things were quiet, unlike city police, where minor incidents abound in the city, and most 911 calls were about trivial matters, with many cops never firing a gun in years of service.
Meanwhile, the county police covered a larger area with a population much smaller than that of the city, with proportionately fewer cases. If one really wanted, slacking was entirely possible.
Jimmy hadn't gone out for backup in days and just stayed in the station since he wasn't involved in handling cases anymore, he hardly ever attended court, letting others go instead.
Jimmy was insanely bored, and he recalled Tom's words from before, "Jimmy, do you really like your current job?" It seemed Tom knew him well, as right now Jimmy definitely didn't like this idle lifestyle. In fact, Jimmy had missed the point, Tom was worried about the several shootouts Jimmy had been involved in being dangerous, while Jimmy thought Tom was referring to his job at the county police.
When feeling restless, Jimmy particularly disliked staying at the station, he called up Cage and headed straight to the Northwest Division in his patrol car, it was time to look for some unfortunate souls.
Cage now had tremendous trust in Jimmy, just joining for a patrol in the Northwest Division was no big deal, and since Jimmy was quite familiar with the area from his previous patrols, Cage agreed to Jimmy's request right away.