After Jimmy finished speaking, he slipped the gold coin into his pocket; the intelligence was shared, and the coin pocketed—deal done.
Justin, having heard everything, also leaned back against the sofa and let out a long sigh of relief.
Justin, "If it's the Middle Easterners you're talking about, there shouldn't be any problem. We can rest easy. If such a big shot got into trouble here, it would probably turn everything upside down."
Jimmy, "Yeah, probably has to do with the Gulf War. The Special Service Bureau investigated for a week without any results, then left, so now I finally have some time to drink."
Justin, "Thanks. Let's go; we're heading out."
Jimmy and Justin left the reception room and returned to the bar where Justin, taking matters into his own hands, mixed a drink for Jimmy — "On the house."
Jimmy, "Thanks. It's worth remembering the first drink you've treated me to."
Justin, "No problem, there will be other chances in the future."
Jimmy spent some time casually before darting off. His visit today was not in vain; usually, a piece of intelligence would fetch just one coin, but it seemed Justin was in a rush today, so earning two coins wasn't bad.
During his time off, Jimmy organized the cash he had saved up, planning to see if he could deal with it through Justin later. As for his target, he had already found an institution specializing in short selling, planning to insert his funds there later, which would keep him under the radar.
In such an event, a minor character engaging in short selling as if the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and its people were slacking off—behind them, there were the FBI and various agencies, and he would surely be treated as a suspect who had prior knowledge.
Better to go with an institution specializing in short selling; after all, they normally absorbed funds, too. With a smaller investment and a cut for themselves, one could steadily gain profits without the risk of being investigated—what a good opportunity.
Jimmy also took the initiative to contact the SWAT. A previous encounter with a boxer left him with a cracked arm bone - a painful lesson. Although Jimmy had always been working out, fitness was different from combat skills. The type of boxing training at clubs wasn't really suited for police officers. In comparison, SWAT training was better, more suitable for his profession.
The SWAT team didn't have any special objections to Jimmy's request for training. He was just there to practice combat skills and strength training, not participating in their tactical or weapons training, so it didn't really cost them anything. Besides, they were all colleagues, so they gave him the green light straight away.
Now Jimmy was essentially slacking off in broad daylight without anyone minding. During downtime, he practiced shooting at the range and combat skills at the SWAT training ground, all without interfering with support assignments. Without complaints, no one bothered him.
August came, and after paying a 15% fee, Jimmy's company account swelled by several hundred thousand dollars. He directly entrusted these funds to an institution for financial market investment under the name of investment. With the rest, Jimmy was indifferent—his target was the aviation industry, after all.
With intermittent training at SWAT over half a month, Jimmy gradually got the hang of combat, learning quite a few ground fighting techniques, like the well-known cross lock.
Jimmy's weight was nearing 100 kilograms—police work did tend to lead to weight gain. He still made sure to stick to gym workouts and combat training, managing to keep his weight relatively stable.
The increase in weight had its advantages. In the past, if Jimmy pinned a suspect down, any significant resistance from the person would cause him to be pushed around. Now, at almost 100 kilograms, he generally had enough weight to restrain them long enough to handcuff them.
Police combat training is mostly about scenario simulation rather than risky moves like kata or brutal maneuvers. For instance, learning to subdue an assailant armed with a dagger or a stick unarmed or how to prevent an assailant from overpowering you when you're on the ground. The emphasis is on self-protection.
It must be said that Jimmy's body had excellent athletic ability, probably thanks to Roland's eight years of training, which, besides firearms, had emphasized physical training. Jimmy went from initial unfamiliarity to becoming accustomed in a relatively short period. The SWAT instructors even felt that Jimmy was making rapid progress, much quicker than the average police trainee.
Jimmy was now focusing on enhancing his combat skills as a precaution or backup method. In the usual course of duty, he hardly ever used it because he was part of the Support Team. By the time he got to the scene, the suspect was usually already cornered or in a standoff, which didn't leave much room for close combat—it was mostly resolved with firearms.
One day, as Jimmy was at the range practicing shooting, a call came in through his headset from the dispatch center—he always wore his radio earpiece at the range to make sure he didn't miss any calls.
A gunfight had broken out downtown, SWAT had already been deployed, and they were on their way, with Jimmy being notified too.
Jimmy packed up quickly, grabbed his ammunition box, and left the range to drive to the location of the gunfight, which was on East 2nd Street, an area that was essentially the city center and where incidents typically consisted of regulatory infractions—gunfights were rare.
As Jimmy made his way, he listened to the dispatch center update the situation.
A shooting had occurred at a seafood market. When the patrol car arrived, the shooter hadn't had time to leave the parking lot. Upon seeing the police arrive, the shooter fired several shots at the patrol car. The officers returned fire from behind their vehicle, and then the shooter took cover inside the seafood market.
The gunman was armed with a handgun, and given the number of shots already fired, he definitely had spare magazines.
Additional officers who arrived later were already blocking off the area between East 3rd Street and Arkansas River to ensure the shooter couldn't escape.
Breaking traffic lights and occasionally driving the wrong way, Jimmy arrived at the scene more than 20 minutes after the shooting had happened.
The site was chaotic; workers from the market had been evacuated in parts, others, because of the distance or having seen the shootout, were looking for safe places to hide.
The LRPD had located the first shooting victim, hit by four shots to the chest and no longer had a pulse. Although an ambulance was called, it was merely a matter of taking the body to the hospital to declare death.
LRPD vehicles kept arriving, and the SWAT team was in position.
Being extracurricular support, Jimmy was the only county police there, so he didn't have a squad of his own; he stood directly alongside the SWAT team.
LRPD personnel had already started to enter the market in teams, preparing to search for the shooter inside.
Following the SWAT team, Jimmy entered from the entrance and began to move inward along the periphery, ensuring workers were escorted out through the pathways they had just cleared. The search was very slow.
Every room, every corner had to be covered by a shield-bearing officer. As they approached a closed office, Jimmy had already spotted someone hiding beneath a desk inside. However, it was unclear whether it was a staff member or the gunman.