Bob pauses on the phone, "You want to quit NYPD to do what?"
"To work for Keith." Jack laughs, and then he sounds a little more serious, "But I'm asking for your opinion. Because, I don't know if I'm happy at NYPD anymore."
"Well, first of all, there's retirement benefit and pension you need to think about. If you quit now, you're not getting much of that. Second, don't you want to know who Keith Hutchins really is before you work for him?"
"Have I ever really got to know my boss in NYPD before I joined the force anyway?"
"True, but you're going to directly work with Keith Hutchins. There's no buffer between you and anyone else."
"Ha. Speaking of which, that girl, Nitte just told me, she wants me to watch Keith for her. So I guess they are spying on each other."
"How about this, let me tell you what I found out about Keith so far. So, let me find my notes," Bob pauses and it sounds like he's flipping through some pages.
"Do you still take notes on actual paper?" Jack laughs.
"Yeah." Bob's voice now sounds a little far away from the phone.
"Why don't you type your notes on computer?" Jack asks.
"Because I like writing things down. Especially personal things. This is not really work related."
"OK."
Jack is once again fascinated by Bob's old-fashioned ways of handling things. It's as if Bob has traveled here on a time machine.
Bob then announces happily, "OK. Found my note. Keith Hutchins, ex-army guy. Not dishonorably discharged, but not honorably discharged either. He was awarded with so many medals, it is strange that he wasn't given the 'honorably discharged' status. This is worth noting, because, this means something might happen before he left the army. Because he was a decorated war hero, the army probably felt bad to slap him a 'dishonorably discharged' status. He was an excellent sniper. Green beret, which you already know."
"Hmm. That is interesting. Maybe I'll try to ask him to tell me some stories about how he was discharged."
"After he was discharged, he then got a military contractor job to be a security guard for a military chemical plant. After that chemical plant was shut down, he had no more employment history. But I checked his TSA records. He has been flying around from the East Coast to the Midwest regularly. Like he is commuting for a job. Someone has to be paying him. And guess what? The land the military chemical plant is sitting on is now up for auction. I'm pretty sure there is a connection."
"Yes, he said he was helping the senator to buy lands." Jack exclaims.
"Well, anyway. That's what I found so far." Bob sounds like he just shuts a book.
Jack thinks for a second and says, "It must have been that Senator paying him to fly around. He said he's been killing people and dispose of them in the Midwest."
"Yeah. There was a report about a mysterious dead body near that chemical plant where he worked as a security guard. That's the only report. I'm sure there should've been more reports, but he must have found a way to make the records go away."
"OK. Great. This is good information. I'll try to fish some information out of Keith." Jack sounds relieved. He is ready to leave his apartment now.
"Well, Jack, I do have one suggestion."
"OK. Tell me." Jack puts on a socks.
"I don't think you should quit. I think what you should do is keep getting suspended."
"What?!?" Jack laughs out loud, "Keep getting suspended?"
"You go back to the force, work a week or two, and then do something crazy, shoot some bad guy in the leg, and you say, oops, and then you get suspended, then you have time off to yourself, then you go work for Keith. And then after a few weeks, you tell Keith you need to come back to New York City. So you will still be able to return to your work at NYPD. It's great. It doesn't even require you to take time off."
Jack laughs and laughs. He actually slaps his thighs and then his couch laughing.
"Bob, you are so funny. I've never heard of such a brilliant idea!"
"I'm not joking."
Jack finally stops laughing, "But, Police Chief will eventually get tired of me. And then they will fire me. Then, I will really cry about my pension and retirement benefit."
Bob then coughs, "Jack, if they want to fire you, they would've already fired you. I think the Police Chief sees a potential in you, so he never did fire you. But, I would say, don't do something too bad. Like, stealing drugs and killing innocent babies and such."
They both laugh on the phone.
"OK. I kind of like the idea now. I kind of think it's more fun to come back to work now."
"Yeah. Remember, Sun Tzu says: The good fighters in the ancient time, first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy."
Jack nods, even though he is on the phone, "What does that mean for me?"
"You wait for an opportunity to defeat Keith. Don't just go straight ahead to him. Don't quit everything and focus on him. You wait. You watch. And you learn."
Jack doesn't know how Bob knows all this stuff.
"Seriously, how old are you, Bob?"
"Older than you think, Jack."
Jack hangs up the phone and puts on shoes. He wants to go out and meet Keith.
He sends Keith a message: "What are you doing now? I'd like to consider your offer. But how much you are paying me?"
Keith responds to Jack's message quickly, "1000 dollars a week to start. Then you'll get more each time you complete a task. Ready to know your task list?"
Jack replies, "Sure. I'm going to go work out at a gym first. When are you free? Let's talk."
Keith texts: "I can meet you at the gym. Let's spar. I think you can throw some punches."
"OK. But you pay your own gym user fee. LOL."
Jack is excited to learn the details of what Keith wants him to do. Other than the ones Keith already said. Watch Nitte. Find out what Nitte does. Kill Nitte.
There has to be something else Keith wants him to do.