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Chapter 167 - Chapter 1008: Jack is not an outsider.

  The house Jack rebuilt was still a two-story building, but now a brick-concrete structure, giving it the foundation to be a century-old home. Even if someone attacked it with rockets, as long as they weren't of the magnitude of a 107, there was no need to worry about it collapsing.

  Although the house had been renovated after its completion, and Jack had purchased a number of furniture, his previous visits had been weekends or short vacations, where he'd either stayed at the Wolfe brothers' farm or sneaked into Zoe's house in the middle of the night.

  So this was his first time staying overnight in his new home. Thankfully, John, a warm and caring man, helped out. He not only arranged for a cleaning company to clean everything before nightfall, but he and his wife, Grace, also helped buy some bedding.

  Even the refrigerator was stocked with fresh vegetables, meat, eggs, and milk, some of which came from the Wolfe brothers' farm.

  Chris, now busy with his company and about to get married to his girlfriend, Dana, spent almost half the year away from Los Angeles, leaving the farm entirely to Braxton and Justin's father, Professor Haber.

  "All it needs is a mistress, and this is the perfect home." Danny's simple compliment upon entering the house stunned Jack.

  "Go to bed early. Dawn's only a few hours away, and Karen and Hannah will be picking us up tomorrow morning." Fearing someone might be experiencing a bout of elder-related anxiety, Jack quickly interrupted.

  Luckily, Danny himself was still single, so the remark was just a casual one. After a few moments of reflection, he went to wash up and rest.

  Jack retrieved his laptop and answered a few work emails. After returning to New York, the Most Wanted team had a new mission: they were currently pursuing an arsonist and two amateur assassins in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

  A father and son were shot and killed at an amusement park, and the amusement park manager was seriously injured. The scene had been set on fire, and the suspect had left his name on an 1980s-era video game console. "Sicarius,"

  the name of a venomous spider, also translates to "assassin," but it seems the killers weren't this "assassin," but two amateur hired killers, a man and a woman.

  The details of the situation were still unclear, but Jubal and his team had already identified the two hired assassins and were currently tracking them.

  After urging everyone to be safe, Jack closed his laptop and retired to his upstairs bedroom for a comfortable sleep.

  The next morning, two NCIS agents arrived at Jack's house. Hannah's car, a 1970 black Dodge Challenger, was also quite eye-catching.

  After Jack reluctantly accepted the guy's offer to trade in his car, they arrived at an old, period-style monastery.

  "Superintendent Danny Williams of Five-O, Detective Chenghao Kelly, and FBI Supervisory Agent Jack Tawler,"

  Karen enthusiastically introduced the two colleagues waiting at the door. "This is Agent Kensi Bly and LAPD Liaison Officer Maddy Deeks."

  "Nice to meet you," the two exchanged friendly pleasantries, with the furry-looking Maddy Deeks even shaking Jack's hand.

  "Agent Tawalla, I heard you were also a LAPD officer."

  "Yes, that's right. Just call me Jack." Jack was delighted to see two familiar faces again; he had the impression they were a couple.

  As a spin-off, NICS Los Angeles, while less popular, is still a long-running series, having been in production for over a decade. Unlike the main series, the main cast is quite stable, and the writers haven't been overly fussy about the romantic plot.

  "This place is really nice. I think I should have a margarita and some nachos."

  Danny had been curiously looking around since he got out of the car, taking in this secret base hidden within a stone church.   

  The large floor-to-ceiling windows, the copper screens, the slightly rusted railings, and the creeping vines that grew along them—all of this seemed somewhat out of place with the electronic screens and other equipment within, yet it also possessed a unique charm.

  "This office is a prime example of the California Spanish Mission style, and we've preserved its original appearance as much as possible,"

  a slightly elderly voice echoed as a woman, barely 5 feet 4 inches tall, dressed in a finely handmade suit and black tortoiseshell glasses dangling from a thin chain, appeared before the group, her hands behind her back.

  She was probably in her seventies or eighties, with wrinkled skin and a slight stoop. Her features seemed unremarkable, but once you met her sharp gaze behind the thick lenses, you couldn't help but feel as if you were being stared at.

  "This is Heidi Lange, our operations director, and these three are..." Hannah was about to repeat the introductions when the elderly woman interrupted.

  "Detective Danny Williams and Detective Chenghao Kelly, thank you very much for coming here to help, gentlemen."

  "It's necessary. We can't stand idly by in such a dangerous case." Unlike Danny, who was a little frightened by the old lady, Chenghao maintained the unique Oriental attitude of respecting the elderly and cherishing the young.

  Jack rolled his eyes at the side, feeling a little uneasy that Grandma Heidi didn't specifically mention his name.

  "I agree, so you are the first outsiders to set foot in this operation center, which shows the seriousness of the situation." Grandma Heidi's expression was serious, and she unconsciously put on the airs of an elder.

  Okay, Jack understood Heidi's subtext. So he, an FBI agent, was not an outsider here, right?

  The slightly tense atmosphere was then broken by Danny's ill-timed joke. "I'm also very grateful that you didn't blindfold us when we came in,"

  Grandma Heidi chuckled dryly and gestured to Kensi Bly. "Why don't you and Mr. Deeks brief the guests? I need to speak with you and the two of you."

  She pointed first at Jack, then simultaneously at Karen and Hannah.

  "Me?" Jack pointed at himself, slightly surprised. This old woman was definitely meeting him for the first time, so why did she act so familiar right away?

  "Jack, Jack, Jack," Grandma Heidi kept repeating Jack's name as she walked back to her desk.

  Incidentally, the operations director had his office in a corner of the monastery church, directly opposite the staircase leading to the second floor. From there, he had a good view of the entire first floor and part of the second-floor corridor.

  Her walnut desk looked very valuable, with extremely delicate and intricate carvings on it. Behind the desk was a European-style screen of the same style, the kind with a family crest.

  Grandma Heidi paced back and forth behind the desk before looking up at Jack. "At least three old friends have mentioned your name to me, Jack. You have to know that at my age, there are not many old friends still alive."

  Jack smiled back awkwardly. Without turning around, he could feel the interested glances cast at him by Karen and Hannah behind him.

  Apart from old CIA Joe Mason, he really couldn't think of any other people he knew who could be old friends of the one in front of him. Maybe the bald Frank was one, but he couldn't think of any more.

  In the original series, Heidi Lange was set up as a serious Cold War veteran. You have to know that this is a world that integrates film and television. Just thinking about those film and television works depicting the Cold War makes one's scalp tingle.

  (End of this chapter)

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