"What's wrong with you?" Zoe asked as she entered the room. Her eyes immediately fell on Jack, lying on the bed, and she was stunned by the scene before her.
"You damned bastard," she said before Maureen shoved her against the wall and kissed her.
"That's the smell of your boy,"
Zoe's eyes widened, staring at her bestie in disbelief.
"Goodnight, my lovely knight," Maureen said with a playful face before closing the ward door.
Jack sneered inwardly. Oh, knight, you and Zoe are the two female knights, I'm just a poor lame horse.
He mentally checked the system notifications. As expected, today's unfortunate search had yielded a large amount of experience. Not only had the gold coins increased to two, but after using up 100, the experience bar still had 50 points remaining. This was his largest experience gain ever.
Fearing someone might notice something was wrong, Jack didn't dare break through 20 in the hospital. He turned off the system, touched his aching waist, cast a healing spell to ease his fatigue, and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day at noon, Hannah arrived to pick Jack up from the hospital. All those involved in the Bronson Building shooting were placed on week-long administrative leave. With the addition of John and Bishop, who were hospitalized, the Wilshire Police Department's day shift patrol force was reduced by a fifth, forcing Zoe to temporarily reassign several patrol officers from other precincts.
Jack also learned from Hannah the entire story of the day's events. To evade prosecution by the District Attorney, Tim's wife, Isabella, had entered into an undercover agreement with the DEA to uncover a newly emerged drug trafficking ring, led by Vance Marcus.
The DEA's original strategy was to sting, hoping to catch Isabella and Vance Marcus in the act. However, Isabella, unable to control her drug habit, revealed her vulnerability during the transaction, and the cunning Vance Marcus discovered she was carrying a bug.
Vance Marcus abducted Isabella at gunpoint and drove away from the DEA. He then murdered her, abandoning her with a gunshot wound to the head in a deserted alley and fleeing.
The following day, yesterday, the enraged DEA secured a plea deal with one of Marcus's associates. The associate revealed the drug trafficking organization's warehouse and the hideout of Marcus's surrogate girlfriend, Thessia Olivo, at Bronson Building. However, he concealed a crucial fact: Bronson Building was actually Marcus and his associates' base.
Thessia Olivo was expecting in her third-floor apartment, while the cunning Marcus was actually hiding in a second-floor apartment. Upon receiving news of the DEA raid on his warehouse, Marcus gathered his associates and fled with Thessia Olivo, intending to hide away. Instead, they ran into Hannah and Bishop, who were knocking on doors on the second floor. The rest of the story was Jack's personal experience.
"So, what does a surrogate girlfriend mean?" Jack, hearing this for the first time, was completely confused.
Hannah patiently explained, "Marcus had a son who died of illness. He'd always wanted another, so he paid a woman to have one for him. They weren't married or romantically involved; it was purely a financial transaction."
Jack was enlightened. It turned out that continuing the family line wasn't a concept unique to the Seres.
"So, was the baby Lucy delivered for Thessia Olivo a boy?"
"It was a girl."
"Oh no."
Compared to the previous subway theft, he was much more satisfied with this case. Evil will be punished, and those who deserve it will die.
Three days later, Hannah drove Jack to the hospital for a dressing change and stopped by Bishop's hospital room. Her surgery was successful, and she hadn't developed an abdominal infection. Hannah told him that the ATF (Agency of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) was looking for Zoe, hoping to transfer her.
This was good news for Angela. The two had previously been at odds due to their competing for the detective qualification, but now they could be good sisters again.
Picking up John, who had just been discharged from the hospital, the three of them headed for the hospital parking lot.
"So, what's your relationship with that beautiful female doctor who pushed your wheelchair that day?" Hannah asked John curiously.
"Ah, that's Grace, my college classmate. We haven't seen each other in twenty years. I didn't expect to run into her again in Los Angeles. She's now the director of the emergency department at Central Hospital."
Jack vaguely remembered this scene; it seemed like John and she'd rekindled their past relationship, gossiping with Hannah. "So it's just old classmates?"
John wasn't shy about explaining it, and explained frankly, "My ex-wife, Sarah, and I have been together since high school. We broke up a while later due to some issues."
"Then Grace showed up in my life. We were just friends for a few months at first, but we had such a rapport. Everything we said and did seemed to spark."
Jack gestured knowingly with an explosion. "So once the sparks started to build, it was like a bolt of lightning, and then it was like a fire."
"Hey, you're exactly the same age I was back then. You should understand this." John seemed to agree, his face beaming.
"I didn't have any college experience. I went to community college, attended classes, and then left. I can't even remember many of my classmates' names," Jack shrugged.
Hannah kicked Jack for interrupting her. As she opened the car door and let the two injured men in, she pressed on. "And then? If you were so attracted to each other, why did you marry Sarah?"
John, lost in fond memories, continued, "We spent two weeks together, our hearts racing from 0 to 180, and then..."
"And then what?"
"And then Sarah showed up at my dorm door, two months pregnant." John sighed.
"Hohoho, damn it," Jack chuckled. "And then you did what you thought was right?"
John chuckled self-deprecatingly. "I had no choice. I still loved Sarah, and it was my child. So I dropped out of school, packed my bags, and moved back to Foxborough. Within a month, we got married, and six months later, I became a father."
"Then I started working as a construction contractor. It took a long time before I got my diploma. Life changed, but I've never regretted it."
"Never?" Hannah's voice rose slightly, a hint of doubt.
"Well, I have, actually."
"It reminds me of a movie with Nicolas Cage about..." Jack, who was chatting, suddenly tapped Hannah, motioning them to look not far away.
There, Tim was slumped on the ground, leaning weakly against his car, a document clutched in his hand.
Hannah reflexively braked, making a sound. Hearing the sound, Tim looked towards the three people's car.
(End of this chapter)