American Detective: Starting as a Rookie Cop in an American TV Show

Chapter 1481 The Undeserved Disaster of ATF

"The number owner's information has been blocked. I need some time, but the location where the message was sent can be confirmed. It has already been sent to your phone."

Before Alice could finish speaking, Jack's phone beeped.

“Tell Danny to meet me there. Everyone else, go to the Federal Building and be on standby, including Jessica. Clay, remember to have the NYPD and our ‘EOD’ team on standby 24/7.” Jack gave the former SEAL a knowing look.

After all that commotion, it was already broad daylight. When Jack arrived at a fast food restaurant, Danny was already sitting in a window seat and waving at him.

"Any discoveries?" Jack sat down opposite him and beckoned for two hamburgers.

Danny seemed to have almost finished eating, and while dipping the remaining fries in ketchup on his plate, he said, "The waiter said he did see two men and a woman an hour ago, but they left with two other men."

What exactly happened? Fusco said he'd been keeping you busy all night; is our friend alright?

Jack devoured his burger. To be honest, it didn't taste very good, but he knew it was going to be a busy day, so filling his stomach was the most important thing.

While eating, he briefly explained the situation: "The phone that sent the message is still working, its location is nearby, and the number is registered in the federal system. The owner is most likely an agent of some federal department. This matter is troublesome."

Some federal agents, including FBI agents, have semi-public personal information; their photos, names, and contact information can be found on their official websites. This includes department heads like Jubar and Hotchner.

Characters like Jack usually only have one name, and all other information about them is fake. Some undercover agents don't even have a name.

Alice's inability to immediately access the federal system to find the owner of that phone number suggests that the other party is likely similar to Jack, either an agent involved in counterintelligence or simply an undercover agent.

After finishing their meal at the fast food restaurant, Jack and Danny walked around the parking lot and found some signs of a struggle near the trash cans in the back alley.

It appears someone was severely beaten up here; they found some fresh vomit on the ground. Unfortunately, the nearby security cameras were broken, so the exact circumstances could not be determined.

Danny spent a few $10 bills to get some information from two black guys playing streetball on the nearby basketball court.

Two men in suits attacked two other men in suits in the back alley of the parking lot. One of the attackers, a tall man in a black suit, matched Reese's appearance, while the other, a slightly older man in a gray suit with a balding head, was likely Mark Snow.

The two men stole the victim's wallet and what appeared to be a weapon, and also drove off in their car, a black Ford Explorer.

After the unfortunate victims woke up, one of them even borrowed a phone from a passerby, and soon a GMC arrived and picked them up.

"I checked, and the branch office responsible for this area didn't receive any similar reports today." Danny hung up the phone.

Jack looked completely unsurprised. "That's normal. As a federal agent, if I were to go out and someone pointed a gun at my head and robbed me of my wallet, I certainly wouldn't contact the local police. I'd be laughed at for the rest of my life."

The urgent issue now is to determine which federal department those two unfortunate guys who got beaten up belong to, so they can deduce Risser and Mark Snow's next move. The two of them rummaged through the trash cans for ages, finally finding a buzzing cell phone—the one Risser had secretly used to message Finch, which he had obviously stolen from the two unfortunate guys.

As soon as Jack answered the call, an exasperated voice came through the line, "No matter how you obtained this phone, I must warn you, it is U.S. government property, and your actions could lead to..."

“FBI, I’m Agent Jack Tawaller. State your identity.” Jack interrupted him without any politeness.

Whether it was because they heard the letters FBI or because they had simply heard the name Jack before, the person on the other end fell silent instantly.

Jack wasn't in a hurry. He listened to the chaotic sounds coming from the other end of the phone until a somewhat calm voice came through, "Is this Agent Tawall from the Wanted Criminals Unit? Hello, this is ATF Superintendent Powell."
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The building, located at 26 Federal Square in Lower Manhattan, is called the Federal Building because it houses the offices of numerous federal agencies in New York City.

The ATF's offices are located on the 31st floor, which is higher than the FBI's offices on floors 23-26.

Jack and his team have a lot of cooperation with the ATF. Although the wanted criminals team has its own base building on Long Island, they still have to travel back and forth frequently and occasionally run into people from other departments in the elevator.

I have some impression of Jack Powell, the ATF's director. He's a short, chubby white old man who always seems kind and friendly, always smiling at people, but I've heard that he's actually quite hot-tempered in private.

As the elevator arrived at the 31st floor and the doors opened, Danny, who was following behind Jack, immediately sensed the unusually low "atmosphere" in the room.

As one of the NYPD's liaison officers, he knew the Federal Buildings better than Jack, especially the DEA, ATF, and ICE.

The receptionist at ATF was a lively, hot, and beautiful blonde woman who usually had her eyes light up at the sight of handsome men. But today, she was waiting respectfully at the elevator entrance with a long face, and when she saw the two of them, she forced a smile and handed them her visitor pass.

As they walked down the corridor, the clerks and detectives they encountered all seemed terrified, walking cautiously with their heads down.

The two arrived at the supervisor's office. Before Jack could even raise his hand to knock, the door was opened from the inside, revealing a bruised and swollen face.

When Jack and Danny entered, they saw an agent sitting in a chair in front of Supervisor Powell's desk. Although the agent's face was obscured by his head, a shocking bruise on his neck was clearly visible.

Manager Powell, no longer the cheerful man he usually was, greeted the two men and then pointed at his two dejected subordinates.

"This is Baker and his partner Louis. They were attacked by unidentified individuals early this morning and lost their identification, guns, and vehicle."

Jack placed the two clean phones on the table with his usual social smile. "The phones don't look like they've been unlocked, but I'm not an expert. It's best to have one of your people check it out."

The atmosphere in the office became somewhat strange. All three members of the ATF stared intently at Jack, seemingly waiting for him to continue.

(End of this chapter)