North America Gunman Detective
Chapter 823 - 492: Raid (Supplement 1)
Ruiz himself called the Coast Guard and the FBI agents in charge of the smuggling case, so either there's a mole in the Coast Guard, or there's an issue with the FBI agents handling the case; someone definitely tipped them off.
Of course, there's another possibility. They might have realized the delivery men didn't return and didn't send a message, thinking they've been caught, so they need to escape quickly... But this possibility is very low, because if they were to flee, they'd just sail away from their current location. In this dark environment, it's hard to pinpoint the location of a boat on the sea, except if there's a radar.
Jimmy sighed, turned to look at the two people in the ambulance. If only everyone could be as sensible as they are, how much trouble would be saved for him.
Jimmy: "Ruiz, can you notify the police to search the shore? They must have escaped from the ship on a small boat, there might be something to gain along the shore."
Ruiz: "No need, notifying the police now means they've long fled during this time, let's see what the Coast Guard finds later. We can collect a lot of fingerprints on the ship, then we'll know where they're from."
Jimmy: "Interrogate the one we captured inside, will you?"
Ruiz: "You've questioned him?"
Jimmy: "I only asked about the location of those two, didn't ask for details. Oh, right, you need to get their contact information, I'll investigate. I checked Brian's phone, many calls in his record didn't have names, I don't know which ones are theirs."
Ruiz: "Okay. Emma will be here soon, you can go back and rest for now. I'll investigate and notify you."
Jimmy: "Emma? She's transferred? What about the former team leader?"
Ruiz: "Transferred to another office, Emma's been transferred for a few months now."
Jimmy: "OK, I haven't really talked with her much, didn't know."
Soon, several cars and SUVs arrived, a middle-aged woman with curly golden hair stepped out of the lead car, wearing a light yellow woman's suit. Even though it's already early morning, she looked full of energy.
Ruiz approached, "Emma."
Emma and Ruiz shared a quick hug, "Ruiz." She then hugged Jimmy, "Hi, Jimmy, long time no see."
Jimmy: "Yeah, it's been months."
Emma: "OK, where's our cargo? I want to see how it's been harvested this time."
Jimmy: "In the warehouse, the boxes next to the cart are all delivered today, you'll have to check the others yourself. Oh, there's a small boat by the dock, that's what they used to transport, you can inspect it."
Emma clapped her hands, "You're really our lucky star, my performance relies on you. Alright, everyone, let's get to work."
Emma directed the other agents who got out of the car to start inspecting the warehouse, Ruiz greeted Emma and then left. Ruiz took one of Emma's agents with him to the hospital with the ambulance, Jimmy went home to rest, waiting for Ruiz's updates.
In fact, Jimmy didn't even wait until the next morning; he hadn't been home long or taken a shower when Ruiz's call came in.
Jimmy: "Where are they?"
Ruiz: "Long Island, they're still moving slowly, currently heading towards Queens."
Jimmy: "Got it, I'm leaving now, keep me updated on their latest location."
Jimmy quickly holstered his gun, dressed in a suit, and headed out, caught a bit off guard by how efficient Ruiz was, he wouldn't have bothered coming back if he knew.
Driving, Jimmy called Ruiz, partly to confirm the position and partly curious about how they received the information so quickly.
Actually, Jimmy misunderstood, Ruiz hadn't interrogated Brian, as Brian was undergoing abdominal surgery and was under general anesthesia, he hadn't had the chance yet.
Ruiz used the simplest and most labor-intensive method, directly taking Brian's phone for the tech department to retrieve all the day's call records, matching the numbers to determine identity and location, ultimately finding two phone numbers suspected to be their targets, one in Brooklyn, the other in Long Island.
Considering they escaped from the ship in Little Neck Bay, the two surely wouldn't have returned to Brooklyn that quickly, the Long Island number was their final target.
Ruiz also set out, he couldn't just dump everything on Jimmy after all the work he'd done. Even if it's just to be present on site, it adds leverage when Jimmy gets questioned later on. Plus, after returning to the office, he brought out two on-duty agents.
The target location changed several times en route, based on the route, it's confirmed they've already entered Queens and are still moving.
Jimmy had a tough break, coming from the Upper West Side, bypassing Central Park to go to Brooklyn, then Queens, only to be forced into changing direction repeatedly, by the time he got close, he was notified that the phone location had shifted, now moving toward the Bronx District.
Had he known it was the Bronx from the start, he'd have headed northeast directly from the Upper West Side; this got Jimmy nearly circling half of New York.
Finally, the target location stopped moving, Jimmy arrived close to the target, but upon driving around the street, he sensed trouble. This wasn't a bar or restaurant, but a residential area, surrounded by apartment buildings, a place where actions can easily go wrong, and when they do, it's big trouble.