Jimmy drove back to the apartment in a bit of a sulk, kicked the door shut with his foot, and tossed himself onto the sofa, staring at the ceiling blankly.

Ever since he started working as county police, he had always been under the protection of the big shots. Even when there were breaches, he managed to escape unscathed, never caught chased or hit. Unexpectedly, the first suspension came so quickly.

On the way back, Jimmy had thought it through; Hughes had definitely played a big role here. A breach like assaulting a residential building is a serious matter. Saying it seriously, dismissal wouldn't be excessive, and might even lead to prosecution. But they were only warned and suspended, transferred, just as Dunn said, this was already the best outcome.

Nia and Jimmy had now completely gone public, essentially living together, though her family was close enough that she occasionally had to go home for a few days.

When Nia got back from work, she opened the door with her key and saw Jimmy lying on the sofa, still in his suit, just lying face up.

Nia: "Jimmy? Are you asleep?"

Jimmy didn't move, just replied softly: "No, just resting."

Nia frowned as she hung up her bag and coat, walked over and sat beside Jimmy, "What's wrong? You look unhappy."

She reached out to pull the suit's hem hanging off the sofa, placing it on his abdomen, "You seem completely out of spirit, what are you thinking?"

Jimmy reached out and held Nia's hand, "I've been suspended."

Nia was very surprised, raising her voice: "What? Why?"

Jimmy sighed: "Well, we had two colleagues shot while investigating a case last week. One of them died after being rushed to the hospital. When dealing with this shooting case, we went overboard and breached regulations."

Nia's voice still hadn't dropped: "Even if it was a bit out of line, it was for our own people."

Jimmy sat up, hugged Nia, "It's okay, we did overdo it. We attacked a residential building without clear targets, though we did end those two shooters, it directly led to two civilians being caught. Don't worry about me, we all know that this result is already the best."

Nia also embraced Jimmy, resting her chin on his shoulder, "What will you do then?"

Jimmy: "Just two weeks of suspension, will be transferred to another department later to lay low. All right, don't worry, have you had dinner? Let's go out to eat, I haven't prepared anything."

Nia nodded, Jimmy got up, adjusted his suit without caring about the creases, and went out for dinner with Nia.

Nia could tell that Jimmy was in a very bad mood, although there wasn't anything unusual when eating, he was still more silent than usual.

On their way home, Nia looked at Jimmy who was driving, considered for a while, "Jimmy, shall we go to the bar for a drink?"

Jimmy turned to glance at Nia, then continued to look at the road ahead, "Don't you have work tomorrow?"

Nia: "Just one drink, only one."

Jimmy nodded: "Okay, but no drinking too much, can't indulge irresponsibly in our profession."

Jimmy drove to the parking lot, parked the car, patted the blue Mercury parked next to him, and Nia came over to hook her arm around Jimmy's, leaving the parking lot, heading to the bar.

The bar was conveniently not far from Jimmy's apartment.

Jimmy entered the bar listlessly, looking around at the customers inside, not with any particular purpose, just a habit of observing when entering a space.

Nia went to the bar counter first, "Woody, get Jimmy a drink, something strong."

Woody looked at Jimmy coming over, frowned a bit. He'd known Jimmy for almost two years, and as a bartender needing to read guests' expressions daily, recognizing whether someone was happy or upset was his professional skill. With so many years of bartending experience, he could definitely see that Jimmy wasn't very happy.

Woody nodded, turned to take the half-bottle of Water of Life as the base, and mixed a drink for Jimmy.

Jimmy: "Hey, Woody."

Woody didn't look up, focused on mixing the drink: "Wait a sec, almost ready."

Nia: "Jimmy, I ordered for you."

Jimmy shrugged, sat beside Nia. Though the bar was his, whenever he came over, he mostly sat at the bar counter, only choosing a secluded table in the corner when he needed to discuss things.

Woody: "Okay, Nia, here's yours, 'Dance Queen'. Jimmy, here's yours, unnamed, new recipe, give it a try."

Nia laughed, raised her glass to clink with Jimmy's, "Woody, you're the best!"

Jimmy also raised his glass and took a sip, "So spicy, did you put Devil Pepper?"

Woody chuckled, "Try it, give me some feedback."

Jimmy downed it, exhaled, "Spicy alcohol, a bit of pepper juice heat, can't taste anything else, totally overwhelmed by these two flavors."

Woody shrugged too, "Alright, seems it's not there yet, needs more tweaking." He picked up another cup, poured Jimmy a whiskey, then turned to serve other guests.

Jimmy still showed some teeth-gritting expressions, Water of Life is 96-degree vodka, not meant to be drunk directly, mainly serves as a base for cocktail mixing.

He took another sip of whiskey, leaned his arms on the bar, whispered with Nia, mainly about her family's views. The proposal went smoothly before, and Nia had mentioned her mom asked when they were planning to hold the engagement ceremony, but her dad was obviously not very happy.