America: Starting with the Last Liberty

Chapter 117 Life's Fleeting Moments (4K)

"When I went to the St. Martin's Bank for inspection that day, I saw a woman who looked exactly like the one in the photo."

I think she's your sister Mia, right?

Rosen pointed to the wall of the coffee shop, where there was a photo of Dominic and Mia.

This explanation relieved Dominicson.

"Your observation is quite keen. Mia did indeed go to work at the St. Martin's Bank, hoping to gather intelligence for us."

"Mr. Toledo, tell Ms. Mia to stop asking questions. She just needs to do her job and act as our informant; that will be enough for her."

Dominic nodded.

"Understood, I'll remind her."

The operational meeting was about to end, and Rosen and Donnie left the Duloto Cafe together.

"Donnie, there's one more thing. Do you know if you have a way to quickly open those safes?"

"Do we have to open all those safes?"

"It's not about opening everything; I need to find the bearer bonds that Francis Ritchie transferred, as well as some ledgers."

Donnie thought for a moment.

"Perhaps I could try using a handheld circular saw to cut the lock off the safe, but that would require some testing."

"Go ahead and try it. Tell Mr. Rosen as soon as you get the results."

Rosen originally wanted to hitch a ride with Donnie since he wasn't driving that day, but then he received a phone call.

To avoid Donnie seeing Rosen's phone, he made an excuse and left on foot.

"Hey, your aunt wants to call you home for dinner."

This was Neil's code, and Rosen immediately responded with his own natural voice.

"I'm sorry, Peter isn't here."

"Rosen, I need to talk to you. Let's discuss this in person."

"No problem, where shall we meet?"

"Rooftop of No. XXX Street, XXX".

This address made Rosen's expression turn strange; it looked like an undercover agent meeting in Infernal Affairs.

I don't think I've become a regular soldier yet.

However, Rosen didn't reject the meeting address; he didn't think he would hear the B part of "Goodbye, Police."

GM.

Soon, the disguised Rosen arrived at the designated meeting point.

To avoid being followed, Rosen deliberately didn't drive his favorite Dodge Viper and repeatedly checked to make sure no one was watching him before going upstairs.

However, Rosen certainly didn't expect that he wasn't being followed, but rather Neil was.

On the rooftop, Neil sat on the ground with a cigarette in his mouth, seemingly having waited for quite some time.

"Rosen, you're late."

"There's nothing I can do. The internal strife within the Bonanno family is intensifying, and my current position is rather sensitive. It seems like someone is monitoring me."

Neil nodded. He had also been paying attention to the Bonanno family and had some understanding of the situation Rosen was facing.

Is the situation serious?

"It's not a big problem, as long as you don't contact me every day."

"Rosen, after you see what I brought, you won't think that my meeting with you was a bad thing."

"Oh, really?"

Rosen looked doubtful.

Seeing this, Neil took out a document from his briefcase.

"Take a look at these documents."

Rosen took the document and opened it to take a look; inside was his FBI trainee agent file.

It contains complete identity information, photos, and work records; all that's missing is a signature and a stamp.

"This is----"

"Once you sign and stamp the FBI identification file you requested, you'll be an official FBI trainee agent."

Rosen was genuinely surprised that Neil would bring out this, so he asked him in a half-joking tone.

"Could this file be a forgery?"

Based on Rosen's understanding of Neil, it was entirely possible that the other party would do such a thing; this guy was never the kind of law-abiding FBI agent.

"It's absolutely not a fake, I swear to God!"

Even if Neil swore on his own mother, Rosen might not believe him, let alone swear on God.

"Alright, Neil, if you lie to me, don't expect to get any more information from me."

"I told you it's true, you have to believe me!"

Rosen stuffed the file back into the document and handed it back to Neil.

"I reserve the right to believe you for now. Is there anything else?"

"About that ledger you mentioned—"

"I've figured out where the ledger is, but its location is rather awkward, and I'm trying to figure out a solution."

Neil's eyes darted around, and he tentatively said something.

"Awkward? Perhaps the FBI can solve this problem!"

"The FBI can't help me either. Francis Rich hid the ledger in a place that only he could retrieve, but he's dead now."

Rosen's riddle-like description puzzled Neil.

"What do you mean by 'a place only Francis Richie can remove'?"

"Neil, you know I can't tell you anything right now."

"Alright, come back to me after you get the ledger, and I can file this identity record in front of you."

.

"That's great! Neil, the only problem now is that my method of obtaining the ledger might not be entirely legal."

Neil finally understood why Rosen said those riddles, but he himself often used less-than-legal methods to solve cases, so it was hard to say.

"How significant is the impact?"

"That depends on how you look at it, but it will definitely be bigger than the Pacific Standard Bank incident."

Phil, Dennis, and David Albert have taken the blame for the Pacific Standard Bank's misdeeds. Apart from the money not being recovered, the matter has been resolved satisfactorily overall.

"Rosen, make sure you do this cleanly and don't leave any loose ends! For the FBI, as long as you're not caught, it's not a crime!"

"Neil, I feel much more at ease knowing that you said that."

Rosen smiled, but at that moment he and Neil suddenly heard a noise in the stairwell.

"Neil, what's that sound?"

"I don't know, it looks like someone went upstairs? Fuck! Are you being followed?!"

Gang members will show absolutely no mercy when dealing with undercover agents; if caught, there is only one way out: death.

"Impossible! I disguised myself before coming out, and I checked beforehand that no one was following me!"

Rosen was also very puzzled. Logically speaking, if he came in as Jack Cole and then changed back to his own appearance, how could he possibly be tracked by the Bonanno family?

This neighborhood is not within the Bonanno family's sphere of influence, and it's highly unlikely that someone would happen to run into it.

"Never mind, let's move first!"

Rosen and Neil looked around and found that the building had an outdoor staircase, but it was not directly connected to the rooftop; they would have to jump down a whole floor to get there.

This was no problem for Rosen; his current physical condition was such that he could withstand not just one level, but two or three levels.

But Neil was in a bit of a predicament; he wasn't the kind of agent who was particularly skilled in combat.

"Neil, I'm going first!"

"Hey! Rosen, are you going to leave me behind?"

"Neil, relax! Even if the person who came up here is really here to follow me, they won't do anything to you if they can't find me. Just say you came to the rooftop to smoke, what's the problem?"

Neil instantly understood Rosen's meaning.

Middle-aged people from any country will want to find a quiet place to smoke in silence.

"You're right!"

Neil, when you make your hair and suit look really messy, you look like a颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of being decadent, dissolute, or颓废) middle-aged man.

It's a pity that Neil shaved before work; without the messy stubble, it would have been a bit less appealing.

"Neil, I'll contact you again later!"

After saying that, Rosen jumped off the rooftop.

The outdoor ladder wasn't very sturdy; it wobbled a few times when Rosen jumped down, which startled him.

Fortunately, Rosen managed to regain his footing and descend the metal stairs.

As for Neil, just as Rosen had said before, he should pretend to be a decadent middle-aged man smoking on the rooftop.

You know what, Neil's greasy face is incredibly convincing as a decadent middle-aged man.

Someone pushed open the stairwell door, and Neil pretended not to care and glanced back, only to see someone he didn't expect.

Sean Arthur.

"What the hell! How could it be you?!"

"Isn't this Neil? What are you doing here?"

Sean pretended not to know Neil was there, but Neil instantly understood the whole thing.

It wasn't Rosen who was being followed, but Neil himself who was being followed.

The person tracking Neil was none other than his colleague in the FBI, which made him very angry.

"Fuck you! Arthur, you've crossed the line!"

"Neil, you stole my case first! You're the one who overstepped your bounds!"

"You can't solve the case yourself, so you blame others?"

"Don't worry, I'll soon find out how you solve cases."

Neil immediately understood why Sean was following him, and he quickly ran towards the stairwell, but Sean stopped him.

"Neil, don't rush off, let's have a good talk!"

"Get lost! Go talk to your mother, you son of a bitch!"

"That won't do, I want to talk to you right now!"

The two senior FBI agents began a highly friendly exchange on the rooftop.

On the other side, Rosen landed safely and stood in the alley behind the building.

Just as they were about to move, a beautiful woman holding a gun suddenly appeared around the corner.

"Don't move! FBI! Hands up immediately!"

The beautiful woman showed her identification and repeatedly warned Rosen.

Rosen recognized the woman; she was Jane Banner, Sean Arthur's henchman. Her sudden appearance here was clearly a deliberate attempt to ambush him.

It's highly likely that Neil was being followed, and the purpose of the follower was clearly to find him.

He cursed Neil inwardly for being a useless piece of trash, not even realizing he was being followed, especially by a high-ranking agent.

"Hey lady, it's one of us! I'm an FBI informant!"

Jane also recognized Rosen; she had met him twice and had a very strong impression of him.

(Jane Banner)

"I know you're an FBI informant, that's the person we're looking for! Come with me!"

Rosen observed Jane; this woman was probably doing this kind of work for the first time, and her nervousness was visibly obvious.

Anyone who didn't know better would think that Rosen was the one holding the gun, and Jane was the one being pointed at.

So Rosen took a step forward.

"What will happen if I don't go with you?"

"You, you stay away! If you take another step closer, I'll shoot!"

Jane's expression became noticeably more tense. This guy was indeed a novice. Rosen had already made up his mind.

Suddenly, Rosen lunged at Jane and pressed his chest against the muzzle of her gun.

Jane instinctively pulled the trigger, and then she saw Rosen freeze for a moment, but he still managed to snatch the pistol from Jane's hand.

"Madam, you don't look like a proper detective!"

Rosen held the pistol in his hand and twirled it around; it was a small and exquisite revolver.

The advantages are low recoil, which even women can easily control, and it is also very easy to hide.

However, the disadvantages are also obvious: the small caliber bullets are not powerful enough to kill people beyond ten meters unless they hit a vital organ directly.

Jane stared at Rosen with her mouth agape, completely dumbfounded.

"Are you...are you alright?"

Rosen removed the bullet embedded in his suit and showed it to Jane.

"Bulletproof."

Jane pulled her chin back, her expression turning grim; she knew she had messed everything up.

"You win."

Rosen looked up at the rooftop; the sound of Jane firing her gun should have already carried.

To avoid trouble, relocation is the best option.

"Come on, ma'am, since you want to talk to me, shall we go somewhere else?"

"Wait! You're still willing to come with me?"

"Hmm! I always find it hard to refuse a beautiful woman's invitation, even if this beautiful woman is holding a gun."

However, this control certainly cannot be in the hands of others.

Being praised as a beauty by a handsome guy like Rosen inevitably caused subtle changes in Jane's expression.

"Then come with me."

Jane led Lawson to a car.

"Is this the place?"

"My job is to get you into this car; the officer didn't tell me anything else."

It's right not to say. With Jane's innocent and naive demeanor, Rosen feels that if he were to coax her, she would easily reveal whether or not she had ever groped someone in her student days.

Not long after, Sean Arthur got into the car and looked at Jane with a surprised expression.

"Didn't you catch that guy?"

Yes, the car windows have privacy film, so Sean can't see inside at all from the outside.

Jane looked very embarrassed.

"Sir, I—"

The next second, Sean knew the answer.

Rosen suddenly climbed out from under the back seat and pressed Jane's small revolver against Sean's chin.

Surprise!

This was indeed quite a "surprise." Sean was dumbfounded and looked at Jane with an incredulous expression.

At this moment, Sean has probably finished reminiscing about his life.

But the next second, Rosen returned the revolver to Jane.

"Surprised? Unexpected?"

Sean only dared to breathe then; he had genuinely been surprised that he was going to die.

In America, a dangerous country, quite a few FBI agents die "accidentally" every year for various reasons.

"What the hell! Jane, why would you joke like that?"

Sean thought Jane was joking with him.

"Sir, am I the kind of person who likes to joke around?"

Jane's expression was somewhat aggrieved, which made Sean instantly realize the truth: the person who wanted to scare him was actually Rosen.

"How amusing! Sir, you certainly know how to joke!"

"Hehe, that's not right. Didn't you start the joke?"