The woman sat down and looked at the two FBI agents, a sort of infatuated expression on her face, her eyes fixed on her.
Jack's looks were undeniable, and his companion, Clay, was also a rare beauty.
Since his days as a Navy SEAL, he had always maintained a wild style, his handsome features obscured by a beard that he barely managed once a month.
After joining the FBI, not only did the agency require field agents to maintain their appearance, but Clay's wife, Stella, also paid close attention to her husband's appearance.
After all, when Clay was in the military, they only spent two or three months together each year. After joining the FBI, while he still traveled frequently on cases, they were no longer apart.
So, caring for her husband and children became the main theme of Stella's life. With the couple's increasing financial resources, Clay's style, while not exactly trendy, was certainly more refined than that of Jubal, the old bachelor.
Jack ignored the woman, her face brimming with lust. Instead, he turned to Larry Griffin with a stern face. "We know you won the lawsuit, but that also means a lot of people are going to be very unhappy. What do you think?"
"They should probably go after the jury or the judge in Birmingham," Larry Griffin said with a flick of his hand.
Jack didn't know if this was just his nature, or if being rich for a long time just made him arrogant.
While such a guy deserved death, considering the possibility of innocent people being implicated, he still warned him in a businesslike manner, "The Hammond brothers have already killed three people, and we don't think they'll stop.
The FBI has evidence they possess bomb-making materials and is worried they might be targeting you and your current business."
"Haha." Unexpectedly, Larry Griffin remained completely clueless, even laughing.
"This is rural Alabama, Agent Tawaller. You Northerners might not understand, but do you really think I've never been threatened before?"
"Have you?" Clay, feeling uneasy under the gaze of Larry Griffin's girlfriend, asked with a light cough.
"Of course!" the old man said impatiently. "Listen, gentlemen, that was just helping ungrateful fools. For over 50 years, my father and I had the only business in that town.
Because of that lawsuit, I had to close it, putting them out of work, so that became one of my crimes."
Jack noticed the woman gazing at his boyfriend with admiration and silently labeled her "big-breasted and clueless."
Meanwhile, Larry Griffin continued to ramble on, "The experts I hired have proven this. It's not the power plant that's making them sick, and it's certainly not the fly ash."
Experts, after all, can prove that artificial reforestation and desertification control are harmful to the Earth's ecology, as long as they're paid.
Jack listened to his ramblings while making a note in his notebook, reminding himself to contact the Department of Environmental Protection and have them send a team over to investigate.
The woman next to him also argued, "There's a direct link between cancer and lifestyle. It's not Larry's fault. Green food is the right path to a healthy lifestyle."
"Have you ever been to a restaurant in Blue Springs? In places like that, even macaroni and cheese is considered a vegetable. If possible, those guys would fry the toothpaste in oil first."
Larry Griffin and his girlfriend's chemistry made Jack laugh, but Jack mistakenly thought he agreed with their opinion, which only intensified his enthusiasm.
While Jack often criticizes the American diet, specific issues require specific analysis.
High levels of salt and calories, especially fried foods, are indeed the primary culprits for modern urban health problems, but Blue Springs is rural Alabama.
American smallholders aren't the idle landlords the Seres believe; their daily labor intensity rivals that of ordinary farmers.
Regardless of whether vegetable salads loaded with high-calorie sauces are healthy, for manual laborers, a lack of salt and high-calorie intake can be fatal.
Having lived in the US for so many years, Jack has witnessed countless white leftist idiots, like the environmentalist who, while attacking the lives of ordinary people, ignores the extravagance and waste of the upper class.
He can see that Larry Griffin is a bumbling hypocrite, and his left-leaning, idiotic girlfriend is more like a tool being used.
Impatiently, Jack began to steer the conversation. "So, is this what you're doing after selling the coal mine and power plant? Promoting green living? I heard Mr. Griffin started a new environmental company."
"Yes, 'Blue Spring Flowers,' that's actually my company." The woman shook Larry Griffin's hand, her eyes full of affection.
"Larry helped me start this company after he retired from the power plant. We hope to help the residents of this town overcome the high cancer rate by promoting healthier lifestyles."
Jack, suppressing his nausea, asked the two for the company's address. He gave it to Jubal, who then coordinated with the state police to keep an eye on them. After leaving, he left with a business card and took his leave with Clay.
However, this time, the slap in the face, or rather the twist, came too quickly. Before Clay could even start the car, Larry Griffin, a panicked man, stumbled out, shouting.
"Agent Tawal! Agent Tawal! My daughter Julia!"
The old man chased Subban and slammed his cell phone against the car window. "They... They kidnapped my daughter! They just texted me."
Jack lowered the car window and took the phone. He saw a girl wearing a pink T-shirt and yoga pants. She looked less than 20 years old. In the photo, her hands were tied and thrown into the trunk of a car. There was tape on her mouth.
"What should I do?" Larry Griffin's voice was filled with tears, and his previous arrogance was gone.
"What are their demands?" Jack flipped through his phone and found that there was only this one photo.
"No, I just received the text message, but I will give them whatever they want." Larry Griffin was completely panicked and his speech was a little incoherent.
"Stay calm, Mr. Griffin." Jack took out his cell phone and called Jubal, asking him to bring people over as soon as possible.
(End of this chapter)