Jimmy drove to the vicinity of the warehouses, only to find that he had overturned his car.
One couldn't discern the scale of the area from the city map of Memphis, and only upon arriving at the scene did one realize it was a large warehouse district. My goodness, dozens of large warehouses and street-side shops stood side by side here, surrounded by a ring of woods. The intelligence hadn't pinpointed which warehouse was owned by the gang.
Jimmy looked at the warehouses with some frustration. Although it was relatively close to his hotel, he decided to leave it for last. Finding a specific warehouse among so many would be impossible for him to handle alone in a short period.
Jimmy turned the car around and headed straight for the Mississippi River. The third location was on the shore of McKellar Lake, within a small industrial area that resembled a transit station. On the surface, it was a recycling station, but it certainly didn't only deal with scrap.
After Jimmy crossed Nokcona Creek to the opposite bank and circled around McKellar Lake for a while, he finally found the target recycling station. It was no wonder Jimmy had difficulty finding it, as the surroundings were all factories with no small footprints, and there were too many small roads. Despite looking at the map, Jimmy still took a few wrong turns.
Glancing at the time, it was already approaching noon. Jimmy confirmed his destination and left the area to find a restaurant for lunch.
During lunchtime, a large number of people would be moving about, and it was best not to conduct surveillance then. If too many people spotted Jimmy, he'd be too easy to identify later if anything happened, especially since Jimmy, being Chinese, stood out from the people around him.
Jimmy found a place to rest and waited until after 3 PM before driving to the vicinity of the recycling station. He first drove past the station to tentatively confirm that there was no one in the areas near the roadside, and then he parked his car at a distance from the recycling station and walked back.
Based on his earlier reconnaissance, the office of the recycling station was at the southwest corner, and he hadn't spotted any other signs of people in the remaining areas. From outside the southwest corner wall, Jimmy continued to pull out a cigarette, pretending to be a passerby while carefully checking the personnel inside the building.
The recycling station here primarily dealt with vehicle and metal recycling, so the people inside looked quite burly. He didn't find any small or young individuals. If they weren't hiding someone inside the building, the only other place to search would be the metal pile in the yard. Theoretically after an abduction, it was unlikely they would do this, as captives are generally kept inside buildings or basements to prevent discovery.
Jimmy didn't continue his inspection. There was only one building at the southwest corner, next to it a dismantling shed. It would be ridiculous if they were keeping the kidnapped person inside such a shed.
It seemed his last resort would be to check around the large warehouses.
Jimmy returned to his car and drove back near the warehouse district, continuing to find a place to stakeout. This time, he intended to scout at night. Such large warehouses were certain to have surveillance cameras, but for a gang's transit points, they would not have many, lest they provide evidence to others.
Jimmy waited in his car until dinner time when suddenly his prepaid cell phone rang. Picking up, he heard a female voice on the other end. Mia was calling him.
"Hey, if you have time, come to the bar," she said and then hung up.
Jimmy was puzzled as to why Mia would suddenly call him. After some thought, he decided to go to the bar first. Even if he needed to perform surveillance, he would have to wait until after 10 or 11 PM, which gave him enough time for a round trip.
Jimmy went back to the bar, parked his car at a distance, and walked into the bar. Since it was still early, the bar wasn't crowded yet, with just a few people scattered around.
Jimmy approached the bar; Mia saw him and came out to beckon him over.
It was the same resting room, the same spot, and the same man with sunglasses, only in different clothes.
After letting Jimmy in, Mia left the resting room. The man with sunglasses wasted no time, opening his briefcase immediately to hand Jimmy a piece of paper.
"The latest intelligence. The gang has captured Kevin and is currently en route back from Mississippi, expected to arrive in Memphis tonight. We have speculated two additional locations; Kevin is likely held at one of them."
Jimmy took the A4 sheet and glanced at it. It was a photocopy of a map with two marked positions, one in Oakville and the other was the apartment he had already reconnoitered, the one closest to him.
Jimmy, "Reason?"
The man with sunglasses, "No reason. Also, the point in Oakville is a residence of their boss; the security there might be quite tight."
Jimmy: "Thank you. Is there a specific time?"
Sunglasses Man: "Not for the moment."
Jimmy nodded, took the materials, and walked out. Since they had actively notified him, he put aside the issue of payment for now. He considered it a supplement to the previous intelligence, and if there was a need to add Gold Coins, that could be dealt with later.
Jimmy left the bar directly, having matters to attend to later that night, he had no desire to drink and risk messing things up.
Based on the location, Jimmy chose the nearest spot to stake out. If nothing turned up here, he could head to the second location on short notice. As for the warehouse that hasn't been checked yet, it would have to wait.
This time it was a fixed stakeout, and since they had already narrowed down the gang's apartment to the third floor, he went straight across the street and started his observation from the rooftop of another building.
Since it was nighttime and there were no lights on his side, Jimmy's presence on the rooftop wasn't conspicuous. All he had to do was watch for cars stopping below the apartment.
By 11 p.m., Jimmy finally spotted two sedans parking beneath the apartment building. The main door of the apartment opened from the inside, and a few people got out of the cars and entered the building.
Jimmy did not have a good line of sight from his position and couldn't confirm if Kevin was among them. He descended from his rooftop perch and moved to the side of the apartment. The group had already entered the room he suspected beforehand.
Jimmy used Heart Eye Observation, but he didn't detect Mary's trace. The figures inside the room were all unmistakably adult-sized.
Give up, even if Kevin was there; it had nothing to do with Jimmy. He returned to the parking lot, got in his car, and drove to the second location, the Oakville gang boss's residence.
It was past midnight when Jimmy arrived near the neighborhood. Honestly, was it normal for a gang leader to live in a middle-class neighborhood? If it weren't for Sunglasses Man's information that this was the boss's home, Jimmy might have doubted whether these gangsters were really that pathetic. Shouldn't a boss secure a villa or a large estate or something?
There weren't many houses here, with only three on the roadside. Each had a lawn in front and a garden in the back, occupying a decent amount of space.
Jimmy still parked his car at a distance, didn't pass in front of the houses, but instead went straight around to the back where their gardens were.
Given that he was dealing with a gang leader, surely there would be surveillance or henchmen out front, so the back was safer. Jimmy observed and approached the house, and then he noticed a figure sitting on the ground against the wall of the basement in the middle house.
Jimmy sized up the basement figure; the person didn't seem large. To not miss any potential situation, it was best to go in for a look.
There was only one person inside the house, sitting on the living room sofa, legs crossed, presumably watching TV. Jimmy put on gloves and the mask he had prepared in advance and walked from the backyard to the rear door. He tried the knob; it wasn't locked, just closed.
Jimmy grasped the handle, gently lifted the door, and pulled it open, trying to minimize the hinge noise. He entered the house quietly and advanced toward the living room area, all the while keeping an eye on the person watching TV, who hadn't noticed anyone coming in. Fortunately, Jimmy had changed out of his dress shoes into sneakers earlier, or he might have disturbed the person in the living room.
Jimmy moved to the entrance of the basement located beneath the staircase; the door there was only shut, not locked. While pulling open the door, he kept watching the person in the living room. Looking down, he saw a staircase leading down to a basement where, indeed, a long-haired girl was confined.
Instead of immediately going down to rescue her, Jimmy chose to deal with the man in the living room first. He didn't opt to shoot; the noise would be too loud and could draw the attention of others in nearby houses, causing complications.
Jimmy picked up a twenty to thirty centimeter tall sculpture from a display shelf, checked its heft, then crept up behind the sofa and raised the sculpture above the man's head, striking down. He might have used a bit too much force; the man slumped sideways and collapsed.
Jimmy checked the carotid artery to confirm he was just unconscious, then took zip ties out of his pocket and bound his hands behind his back and his ankles together. Zip ties were part of Jimmy's standard gear; sometimes when handcuffs weren't enough, he'd use these as a temporary measure. They were also frequently used in daily life.
Jimmy stuffed a towel into the man's mouth and then walked toward the basement.