Jack cooks Nitte instant noodles. She slurps happily and she finishes it really fast. After that, Jack asks her to leave. Nitte actually complies without protesting.
Shortly after Nitte leaves, Keith calls Jack on the phone. Jack picks it up.
"Hello," Jack answers.
"What is the status on the hacker?" Keith cuts to the chase without greetings. Keith always has that military tone in him.
"I think I found the girlfriend. She goes to the University Hospital a lot. I think she either works there or she knows someone working there. Maybe it's just a friend there or it's the hacker."
"Well, check that out. But, how did you find her?"
"I used some police resources. Her name is Amelia." Jack lies. He decides that he would leave Nitte out of this. He doesn't know why. Does he secretly want to protect Nitte?
"You haven't talk to the girlfriend yet?"
"No."
"I think you go check with that girlfriend and find out if the boyfriend is hiding in the hospital."
"Hmm... OK."
Keith laughs, "What now? You sound like you don't trust my direction."
"No, it's just that, I wonder if you have a reason for me to have to talk to the girlfriend."
"Because she is the only person who knows his real identity. Does it not sound reasonable?"
"Sure. I will double check."
"You are working a lot faster than I thought. In that case, I will have another assignment for you soon."
"I see. I will let you know." Jack then hangs up.
He thinks about talking to Bob about Keith. He decides he will actually go visit Bob in his apartment. Because Bob really doesn't live that far away. He lives in the same neighborhood as him.
Jack opens the door, not noticing something small scatters out of the the door. He doesn't pay too much attention to this.
He walks out and takes the stairs down.
As he walks towards Bob's apartment, he sees Bob standing a block away on the street corner already.
Bob can be quite easily recognized. He has short blond hair, quite tall, trimmed and muscular. Jack always wonders how Bob gets so fit. Bob does nothing active than just sitting in the records department office. Also, Bob is easy to spot because he always looks like a guy from the 60s or something. Not the way he dresses, but just the way he stands and the way he carries himself. Like one of those guys in the TV series "Mad Men." Except Bob is not a chain smoker, unlike all the men back in the day.
Jack walks over to Bob, and then he realizes that Bob is actually talking to someone. Jack squints to see, and he thinks that's Jie Ai, the Chinese language translator.
Jack starts to jog over to them. They turn their heads towards Jack, a little surprised.
"Well, gentlemen, I can't believe you guys are having a great party without me."
Jie Ai immediately laughs. "We are not partying. I just thought to have a chat with Bob."
"What are you guys talking about?"
Bob brushes his hair back, "Well, Jie Ai here is reporting another crazy story he hears from his senior citizen friends in Flushing."
Jack rolls his eyes, "Oh my gosh, Jie. Please don't tell me you are telling Bob the ghost story."
"No. Bob already knows the ghost story. I'm telling him about a strange tip that came into the precinct in Flushing." Jie Ai smiles, and he turns to Bob, seemingly hoping Bob will explain.
"What strange tip?" Jack also faces towards Bob.
"Well, apparently, a man reports that when he was loading cargos near one of the piers, he hears two men speaking in broken English with each other about blowing up a big, big chunk of land in the middle of America."
"Whoa whoa whoa. Stop! They just say that out in the open like that?" Jack finds it hard to believe.
Jie Ai tries to explain: "Well, a lot of dock workers at the piers are first generation immigrants, fresh off the boat, they don't comprehend English that well. So, my guess is, those people thought they could speak in English and no one would understand there."
Jack nods, "OK. And I'm also guessing, these two men speaking in broken English probably don't speak the same language. Like, one speaks Portuguese, the other speaks Swedish or something. So, they have to communicate using one common language, which is English, I suppose.."
Jie Ai agrees, "yeah."
Bob continues, "So, a Chinese speaker hears that conversation, goes back to Flushing, and decides to report that tip."
Jack says, "Well, that does not have a lot to go on, though. In the middle of America can be a lot of places. The Midwest is a huge area. But, if I have to guess, for some reason, I'm going to guess it has something to do with the oil pipeline going through the Midwest."
To be honest, Jack surprises himself with his statement. It is a daring guess but it actually sounds plausible. He probably gets the idea because of Keith.
Bob looks at Jack with interest, "Jack, what makes you think it's there?"
"Because the Midwest is quite the middle of nowhere, no offense to the people living there. But it really has just farms and ranches and, I don't know, insurance agencies? But, another important thing that the Midwest has is oil pipelines going through. And that stretch of land in the Midwest is on a lot of politicians mind." Jack explains.
Jie Ai's eyes go wide, "Wow, I'm impressed."
Jack bows, "Thank you very much."
"Good job, Jack."
"Well, I guess, all the strange encounters I have recently helped me connect more dots. There have been some strangers trying to make me help them do things outside of New York. I guess sometimes, it's good to learn stuff outside where I live." Jack says.
"So, my senior citizen's report actually means something?" Jie Ai asks.
"Of course, they always mean something. Just because they are old, doesn't mean they are always just shooting the breeze," Bob laughs a little louder than the other two guys expect.
"I think, this is probably not a Flushing precinct problem. I hope the Flushing precinct will call the FBI for help. A local police station can't solve this." Jack suggests.
Jie Ai nods, "Of course, I believe the captain there probably reports that already."
"I would follow any suspicious money flow. That should help find out more. But hey, I'm not an FBI," Jack raises his hands to his chest. He then looks at both Bob and Jie Ai.
"So, you two are kind of boring, just talking about work when you are already off work?"
"Well, I was going to go out to buy some orange juice and I ran into Jie," Bob says.
"Oh, then what are you doing here, Jie? You don't live here," Jack asks Jie Ai.
"Ah, but I have a blind date. She told me to meet here." Jie Ai scratches his head, looking a little shy.
"Oh, great, I'm glad one of us is dating someone," Bob laughs, "Well, I'm going to buy some juice and be a lonely man in his apartment." Bob starts to walk away.
"Hang on," Jack yells and catches up to Bob, "I have something to ask you, too."
They are both walking away from Jie now, so Jack tells Bob in a lower voice: "Nitte found the hacker's girlfriend. I wonder if there is any way to check that girlfriend's identity?"
"Dude, you work at the records department now. If you have a name, or even just the description of her appearance, you can find something." Bob laughs.
Suddenly, Jack feels something strange behind him. There's a laughter that he finds familiar. He looks over his shoulder. He sees a girl laughing and waving at Jie Ai.
"Ni Hao Ma?" The girl patronizes Jie, greeting in Chinese.
God damn it. What the hell is Nitte doing here meeting with Jie Ai?