novelraw Chapter 1243 - 682: Ghost Lake
Chapter 1243 - 682: Ghost Lake
Jimmy has taken too much leave this year, so he's finding it hard to ask for more. He can only use his own time off to search. The key issue is, he can't directly use the FBI's facial recognition to gather surveillance for a match. While using public means for personal ends is often overlooked, being so blatant about it is excessive.
Jimmy's connections with the CIA have almost completely severed, so it's tough to use them privately, and he can't expose his relationship with Roland just like that. If he directly took Roland's video screenshots and had them do facial recognition, it would be too conspicuous and hard to explain.
His ability is one thing, but given his current identity, his exceptional action skills are a result of CIA training. Not many people know this, but some do. Now that Roland, someone nobody knows, has emerged, how can that be explained? They're even using the same type of gun.
In short, the situation is complicated. Usually, there's no need to use these connections, but when he needs them, there's no way to utilize them, which is a frustrating dilemma.
Theoretically, hotels should have a way to do facial recognition, but using their channels for this matter is quite risky. Roland has been living in this world for a long time, and traces are likely to be left behind, not to mention some people might know about him. For an industry like hotels, which is well-informed, it's easy to deduce a lot from Jimmy and Roland's connection. If there's any coercion or similar troubles, it would be even more problematic.
However, even searching by himself is troublesome. Jimmy called Father Rodney to get their location and flew directly to Burlington International Airport after work on Friday.
Montpelier is Vermont's capital, but it has a small population. There's only a small airport, mainly serving private and business jets. Since Jimmy is traveling on a commercial flight, it's more convenient to land at Burlington International Airport first.
Burlington is Vermont's largest city. It's more convenient here. Jimmy rented a car and drove to Montpelier City. After resting there for a night, he set off towards the location where Father Rodney and his group operate.
Vermont isn't highly populated, and Montpelier is a small city. So, the surrounding environment is hard to describe. There are many forests, with the population mainly concentrated around the cities. Jimmy's target is in the northern nature reserve, naturally surrounded by trees.
In such a completely unfamiliar place, Jimmy needs to be careful. After all, he's not like Roland, a fierce figure. He drove to the nature reserve and found the riverside where they fought earlier. The area has been cleaned up—apart from a patch of trampled grass, there's a small pit on the ground. This was the mark given by Father Rodney.
Jimmy carefully observed the surroundings, using Heart Eye Vision to confirm nothing was amiss. It seems they cleaned up very thoroughly at the time, without leaving any trace. Once he confirmed safety, he started searching for any signs of their battle nearby and finally discovered a .45ACP cartridge casing a short distance away.
He already knew Roland used a .45ACP. In fact, his 1875 could also fire .45ACP, but Jimmy always pursued power, so he chose the .44 Magnum Bullet. Another reason is that these two 1875s are the Gunman's weapons, counted as Holy Artifact Reforging, possessing indestructible properties, so he wasn't worried about issues from greater power.
Jimmy pocketed the cartridge casing, stood up, and scanned around. The battle was several days ago, and there weren't any clues to follow. However, there's only one nearby road, so Roland probably used it when he left. The question is, how did he leave?
Jimmy returned to the roadside, got back in his car, and drove towards the city. He stopped at every roadside house to observe, and if there were any cameras, requested to view their footage under the guise of FBI business. With the time of the battle, Jimmy provided precise timing to speed up the viewing, yet found no trace of his target.
After failing to spot anyone resembling Roland on three consecutive cameras, Jimmy immediately turned the car around, driving away from the city. If Roland wasn't headed this way, he might have gone in the opposite direction—headed out of the city. Given that Roland came from another world, there should be a stable portal that allows traversal between worlds. He would certainly use it to return, but Jimmy doesn't know where this portal is.
Away from the city, there were barely any buildings alongside the road. Even the farm-like buildings were positioned far from the road, with security cameras focused on their properties, not the road, making inquiries unnecessary.
Driving forward, the road split into different paths. Stuck, Jimmy stopped at the intersection, patting the steering wheel. His leads had run dry.
He still didn't know what vehicle Roland used, making investigation difficult. Without local police conducting a broad investigation, finding Roland in a short timeframe was unlikely.
In a final attempt, Jimmy drove straight, reaching a small village, where he finally saw a traffic camera in the middle of the village.
Driving around the village, he found a small police station. It was indeed small, slightly larger than a regular house, with a police badge hanging outside.