"So, is the FBI ready to take over next?" Reacher remained silent throughout the drive back to New York from Atlantic City until the car entered the city limits.
"That depends on how far you want to go," Jack's answer surprised him slightly.
"This case involves terrorism. Not only will the FBI be involved, but the DHS has also joined in. They've already marked all the aliases listed on Franz's USB drive.
We're confident we can stop this deal, but whether we can bring everyone involved to justice is still uncertain, especially the high-ranking individuals who may exist, and this certainly includes the person who killed your friend."
Although Jack is also an FBI member, because of this, he is more aware of when this agency will strike back without hesitation and when it will be timid.
Reacher wants revenge for his friend, but the FBI only wants credit.
Whether New Age Technology is backed by military brass or members of Congress, it spells trouble. The FBI and DHS aren't necessarily afraid of getting into trouble, but only if they have sufficient profits to cover their losses.
Because this involves acts of terrorism, the investigation will undoubtedly continue. However, with the current lack of information, Jack isn't sure how far the FBI and DHS investigation will progress.
Knowing Reacher, he knows that if the forces behind New Age Technology were involved in the silencing of the special investigators, or even ordered it, they won't let it go.
But for the authorities, simply stopping this potentially terrorist-related arms deal is enough to achieve their goal. As for the culprit, no one cares whether they can be apprehended.
Whenever a political issue arises, bargaining and compromise are the defining characteristics. The bearded man behind 9/11 was originally supported by the US government. Have you ever seen anyone within the US take responsibility for this?
After the 9/11 incident, everything seemed to have been settled, and the same is true now.
Whether it's the FBI or the DHS, once a high-profile investigation into "New Age Technology" begins, accusing it of terrorism, any savvy individual will quickly disassociate themselves.
Once the powerful figures behind the scenes sense the situation is ailing, they'll simply reveal two bodies shot eight times in the back, having committed suicide out of fear of punishment.
The truth sometimes doesn't matter; neither the FBI nor the DHS will delve deeper unless there's a greater interest or political strife.
"You can wait and see, awaiting the official investigation's results, to determine if there's a true culprit, and then devise a way to deal with them.
Or, you can continue your investigation privately to see what kind of big fish is lurking beneath the surface,"
Jack offered. To avoid overly provoking the powerful figures behind the scenes, the best strategy is for "unknown individuals" like Reacher to muddy the waters, allowing them to emerge, and then act accordingly.
"I prefer to avenge our friend personally, turning his life upside down and seeing who the big man you're worried about is." Reacher chose the latter option without hesitation.
He fully understood Jack's intentions, but the former option meant the special agents would completely lose the initiative, and some would inevitably slip through the net. At that point, revenge would require extreme measures, such as assassination.
Reacher, alone and alone, could care less, but Negley, O'Donnell, and Dixon were different. They had families and wouldn't risk everything.
He also didn't want to drag Jack into a massacre like they had done in Margrave. That time, the target was clear, and the IRS was backing them up.
This time, the target was unknown, and Jack was a full-fledged FBI agent. Dragging his friends completely into the trap wasn't the Big Guy's style.
While the latter option might involve significant risks, potentially ending up like Franz, Sanchez, Orozco, and even Swann, it offered the advantage of maintaining a certain degree of initiative and minimizing the risk of alerting the enemy.
After identifying the mastermind, the special agents could plan their actions more calmly and exploit the situation.
"OK, let's go to this place before we go back." Jack showed the location on his mobile phone to Negley who was driving.
"NYPD headquarters?" Blackie's eyes widened in surprise.
"Shane Langston, former captain of the NYPD's Third Precinct. Eight years ago, he and a group of his men were investigated by Internal Affairs, but with their resignations, some of the charges were dropped."
In the NYPD Commissioner's office, Frank Reagan, with a scowl, shoved a thick stack of documents in front of Jack.
"Langston? Director of security at New Age Technology, Swan's immediate superior?" Reacher, with his remarkable memory, immediately recalled the employee list Jack had shown him earlier.
"It's not just Lanston." Jack flipped through the documents one by one, finally concluding, "Those who resigned now work in New Age Technology's security department.
Actually, it's more accurate to say the other way around: the company's security department is made up of corrupt cops from the NYPD's Third Precinct. Everyone except Swan."
"Although I wasn't Commissioner of the NYPD at the time, I don't want to use this as a way to shirk responsibility. According to the internal investigation, a New York City council member intervened.
Lanston used some old connections to look up your information in the NYPD system, including your fake Jack Ryan identity. The relevant personnel have been apprehended. This is what they explained."
Frank finished speaking and placed another interrogation record in front of the two men.
"Don't alert them for now." Jack glanced through the record, put it away, and stood to leave.
"Contact me if you need anything." Frank extended his hand to the two men with an apologetic expression, although technically speaking, this matter had nothing to do with him.
As the two Jacks exited NYPD headquarters, Reacher was still a bit dazed. "That voice on the phone last night could have been Langston, but why was the NYPD chief so..."
"Cooperative?" Jack finished for him, then added pretentiously, "Maybe he owes me a favor."
They reunited with the other three waiting in the parking lot, and Negley continued driving towards Long Island.
Soon, Jack encountered another person who owed him a favor: Joey Reacher, dressed in a black suit, waiting with two similarly dressed DHS agents in the Most Wanted Squad's Long Island office building.
After the Reacher brothers greeted them, Jack seated everyone in the conference room. The older of the two agents behind Joey spoke, looking a bit uneasy.
"Sorry, our guys made a mistake."
According to Agent Omar Karim, after the FBI passed the list of aliases to the DHS, they immediately marked it in the system.
Then they discovered that one of the names, Adrian Mount, had entered Los Angeles two days prior and had vanished without a trace since. That same day, two ex-convicts skilled in passport forgery were found dead under an overpass.
That afternoon, another alias on the list, Alan McBride, boarded a flight from Los Angeles to Denver.
Last night, they discovered that "AM" had booked a flight from Denver to New York at noon today, using the name Alan McBride. They set up surveillance at the Denver airport.
However, it's unclear whether "AM" noticed something unusual or for some other reason, and he never showed up.
"Why don't you set up surveillance at the New York airport and arrest him when he gets off the plane? You don't have a real photo of him, do you?"
Negley demanded angrily. If he had noticed the DHS agents ambushing at the airport and simply left, they would have completely lost track of "AM," unable to track him using this list of aliases.
(End of Chapter)