"Remember to call me."
The girl playfully gestured toward the sports car before leaving, turning and leaving, followed by the two officers. Her graceful back was simply too good to look away.
"Wipe your saliva and fasten your seatbelts," Jack reminded the still dazed Fusco.
Fusco subconsciously wiped his lips, reaching for his seatbelt and urging him with a hint of irritation, "Hurry up, 'Wonderboy' needs our help now."
Before he could finish his words, Jack had already stepped on the accelerator, pulling away in third gear. The operation was smooth and instantaneous, and the powerful push on Fusco's back pinned him firmly to the seat.
"I didn't expect you to care about Reese so much," Jack said, somewhat surprised. He had assumed Detective Doudou would forget his loyalty for a womanizing one, but he was even more anxious than he was.
Fusco's answer was somewhat disingenuous. "Although I'm only part-time, I'm still considered a colleague of that guy."
Jack smiled and didn't pursue the topic further. While he had participated in many "POI" cases, most of the "unrelated numbers" were usually handled by Finch and Reese.
Often, when matters required NYPD cooperation, the two would contact Fusco or Danny directly. Their partnership lasted far longer than Jack's.
Although Detective "Bean" usually appeared to be a righteous person, even giving people random nicknames, he was truly committed when the situation arose.
It was almost midnight, and while Manhattan traffic was still heavy, it was much better than rush hour. At least, after turning on his lights and sirens, Jack quickly passed through the Bronx.
The location Finch had sent him was near Yonkers, in northern Manhattan. After exiting the overpass, Jack drove directly along the Hudson River through Riverdale Park, reaching his destination in less than 20 minutes.
Yonkers is only 50 kilometers from the heart of Manhattan and is part of the New York metropolitan area.
This area not only has a well-developed highway system but is also a major railroad hub around New York City, closely connected to the Hudson River waterway.
Although Finch had only roughly pinpointed the location where Reese's cell phone signal last disappeared, Jack quickly identified the suspected location after contacting the local state police and sheriff's department.
About an hour earlier, a car accident had occurred not far from a remote dock warehouse. Upon arrival, local police found only several damaged cars and a dump truck, with no victims or perpetrators.
Given that Reese had recently been tracking his former superior, Mark Snow, Jack had reason to believe he had fallen into a trap and gotten lucky.
When Jack and Fusco arrived, several officers were cordoning off the scene. They found bloodstains and Reese's crushed phone, leading the local police to identify it as a criminal case.
After making several calls, Jack took over the case as an FBI agent.
The accident scene was gruesome, and Fusco went to look for surveillance footage at the intersection. Jack then walked around the area and roughly reconstructed the events.
Reese was driving an old Audi A7 and was probably following a car in front of him. When he passed the intersection in front of the warehouse, he was deliberately hit by a dump truck, commonly known as a "dump truck".
The brief skid marks on the road were a clear indicator of Reese's speed, perhaps even just starting off. The dump truck had only briefly applied its brakes after the collision, pushing Reese's Audi sideways toward parked vehicles.
The Audi A7 took flight, its body flying sideways and tumbling, rolling over three parked cars from front to back, before becoming wedged, floor-up, between two vehicles.
"We've got the footage, but it's not very clear," Fusco panted as he ran back to Jack. "The security cameras at the intersection and the cameras high up in the warehouse building captured the incident. It looks like a woman did it."
"A woman?" Jack asked, questioningly, but he already knew the identity. It looked like a debt of gratitude had come knocking on his door.
Glancing at the Tesla pinned by the Audi, Jack patted Fusco on the shoulder and said, "Have someone notify the owner of this car. It has Sentry Mode, so it should have captured a clearer picture."
Leaving
Fusco at the scene to continue collecting evidence, primarily to prevent any minor omissions that might inadvertently reveal Reese's identity, Jack returned to the base building.
Alice, after receiving the surveillance video file he had sent her, had used professional software to sharpen it, and by the time Jack arrived, she had even finished editing the footage from multiple angles.
The sequence of events was largely identical to Jack's reconstruction of the scene, the key point being the Audi pinning the Tesla headfirst. The body camera clearly captured what followed.
Jessica, having received the news, also took a temporary leave from the hospital and was picked up by Jiejie. Everyone gathered in the conference room to watch the final, crucial footage.
"First of all, Reese's life is not in danger for the time being," Jack warned before pressing play.
Despite the warning, Jessica instinctively covered her face to prevent herself from crying out in surprise as the footage began to play.
Although the footage was silent—intersection surveillance cameras typically lack microphones—the impact, with sparks flying, and the Audi A7 spinning and launching, crushing several cars on the roadside, still had a certain Hollywood special effects quality.
After the dump truck came to a stop, a graceful figure slowly emerged from the vehicle and walked towards the upturned Audi. This footage was captured by the intersection's surveillance camera. The light from the nearby streetlights wasn't bright enough to discern much detail, but the figure's curves suggested it was a woman.
The video then switched to a close-up, captured by the Tesla's body cameras after it activated Sentry Mode, having suffered the unforeseen disaster.
Everyone then saw the face of the "murderer": a cold, stern white woman, perhaps a bit older, but still a beauty.
Jack had guessed the identity, but for now, he could only feign ignorance. However, he still had a surprising recollection of the face.
In a scene from the "Friends" episode that embodies the famous "Joey doesn't share food" meme, the beautiful woman eating Joey's fries on a date seems to be the same actress as this one, only she looks younger and cuter in "Friends."
The woman, holding a syringe, walked slowly over to Reese, who was gradually regaining consciousness and struggling to climb out of the driver's seat.
"Long time no see, love, did you miss me?" As she spoke, she stabbed him with the syringe.
(End of this chapter)