Jimmy waited eagerly for the department to distribute the reward money. Cross-state cases like this were never minor, and the higher-ups generally made a gesture by allocating some funds to compensate the brothers who had done the hard work. Jimmy's situation, where he had apprehended the suspect directly with hardly any collateral damage, was perfect; there wasn't even a need to use government funds to cover civil liability for damages caused during the arrest.

No matter how you looked at it, the bonus that Jimmy would pocket was bound to be substantial, and the others would at least get some overtime pay.

After two days of peace, Jimmy went to work as usual, but before he could get to the police station, he received a call to assemble at the hospital: the murderer Johnny had escaped from the FBI's custody.

Jimmy was speechless. What kind of useless agents were these? A man with a broken left arm and a concussion had managed to unlock his handcuffs and escape through a second-floor window, all while under the watch of FBI officers.

Jimmy didn't head straight to the hospital; instead, he went back to the station to change into his gear before setting out.

Driving a police car was definitely better than using his private vehicle, especially since he didn't have a bullet-proof vest in his personal car. Johnny's marksmanship had yet to be seen, but for someone who had been shooting guns since his childhood, Jimmy didn't want to gamble on the off-chance that the man couldn't hit him. It was safer to wear a bullet-proof vest.

In the United States, for a desperate fugitive, finding weapons was never difficult. By breaking into just a few houses, one could almost certainly find handguns or shotguns, and with a bit of luck, even rifles or automatic rifles.

Jimmy drove the police car to the hospital, receiving instructions over the phone on his way to close off two blocks around the hospital. When he arrived at the indicated location, he turned on his siren, set his walkie-talkie to the specified frequency, parked the car at the intersection, and began to observe the people in the surrounding blocks.

With Johnny's left arm in a cast, unless he was extremely ruthless, he was unlikely to break it off. Even if he did shatter his cast, his movements would definitely be different from other people's—this was a critical observation point.

Before Jimmy arrived, the FBI and county police had already surveyed the surrounding roads and assured that no one in hospital gowns with casts was running around on the streets. The only possibility was that the suspect had entered one of the houses in the nearby community. Therefore, by preemptively sealing off two blocks and organizing officers to patrol and conduct door-to-door inquiries within the blocks, a thorough search would certainly flush Johnny out from his hiding spot.

Jimmy's task was to cordon off the blocks, but the county police were so short-staffed that they could only keep watch at the intersections, unable to encircle the blocks with police cars like in a large city.

"Shots fired, officer down! Requesting backup!"

Jimmy heard several gunshots followed by a message over the walkie-talkie that an officer had been shot. He immediately spun the car around and sped toward the direction of the gunshots. The police car's engine was kept running at the intersection, precisely for the purpose of quickly starting a chase or providing support in an emergency.

Hearing gunshots meant the shooter wasn't far off. By driving to the next street's intersection, Jimmy saw the shot officer leaning against his police car, busily tying a tourniquet around his right leg. Back in 2000, the tourniquets issued to police were of an old style, which were secured by Velcro after being tied. However, these Velcro tourniquets had the drawback of not being able to be tightened further once attached, so their effectiveness at stopping bleeding had always been a subject of criticism.

Jimmy parked his police car next to the officer for cover, then got out and ducked down to help him tighten the tourniquet a bit more, ensuring at least some additional time to hold on before the ambulance arrived.

"Press down harder, call dispatch for an ambulance. Where did the suspect shoot from, and where is he now?"

"From behind this house. The suspect fired from the window when I went to knock on the door; he attacked me from there."

"What kind of gun? Automatic weapons?"

"Handgun, there was only one person firing."

"OK, hang in there, I'm going to scout around."

Jimmy took a quick look at the area, ran from behind his patrol car to the yard next door, staying out of the direct view of the suspect's house. He used Heart Eye to check the suspect's house, noticing one person behind a window on the first floor, leaning against the wall, probably observing the outside through the window. On the second floor was another person, who seemed to be packing something—a large square shadow formed of black lines, likely a bed, with something the size of a suitcase on top.

The person on the lower floor had dark shapes in both hands, which looked like two handguns. Jimmy checked the surrounding area; a frontal assault was definitely not an option unless they could shoot through the wall. An M16 wasn't quite suitable for shooting through these hollow bricks, but they were police and obviously didn't have anti-materiel weapons.

The only other direction was from the rear, but it was unknown whether the back door was locked.

Jimmy was alone and needed to keep an eye on the injured brother at the front door; if he directly went to the back door and the suspect came out to fire again, that would be problematic.

Jimmy returned to the patrol car, took an M16 from the trunk, and set it up on the trunk lid, aiming at the window where the suspect was located. He then bent over to ask when the others would arrive.

The injured officer had already reported in, and in theory, it should only be 2 or 3 minutes. Jimmy aimed at the window while waiting, and his Heart Eye was constantly on, allowing him to see the scene in color, while the house interior appeared as a black and white image composed of black and grey lines.

The suspect at the window probably saw the two patrol cars and didn't dare come out. He was still at the window now, while the person upstairs had started to carry a suitcase downstairs.

No other vehicles were seen at the front door. If everything was as usual, there should be a route at the back of the house for them to escape, and there should be a car there; otherwise, lugging a suitcase, they would definitely not outrun the pursuit of the police.

The sound of police sirens approached; it looked like quite a few police cars had arrived. Jimmy glanced back before continuing to aim at the window, waiting for the other officers to get out of their cars before he spoke.

"Send two guys to move him to a safe place nearby. Check the front door; the suspect showed his face from that window just now and should still be there. I'm going to check the back of the house."

Since the officers on the scene were from different jurisdictions, Jimmy didn't bother to find out who was in charge and left the front door to them, taking the M16 and hurrying from next door to the rear of the house.

He had just reached the back door when he spotted a motorcycle parked there—lucky he came to check, or in a few more minutes, they might not have caught anything.

Jimmy walked over to the motorcycle, propped up the gun aiming at the house's back door. According to Heart Eye Observation, they hadn't headed for the back door yet and were still looking out the window at the opposite side.

A figure carrying a suitcase walked towards the back door but stopped without going out, while another person fired two shots out the window and immediately ducked to run toward the back door. The police at the front door fired continuously at the window, the gunfire concealing their movements. When both men gathered at the back door, a dark figure opened the door ready to step out.