Chapter 67: The Bank Robbery (Please Keep Reading! Please Add to Your Favorites!)

Following Verinis into the team leader’s office, the two of them sat down.

“Broson has a bank robbery case on his hands.”

Wasting no words, Verinis sat in her chair, crossed her legs, and looked straight at Roan, her voice cold and direct:

“But three days have passed, and Broson hasn’t managed to find any trace of the robbers, nor does he know their identities. In fact, while he was tracking the robbers, they managed to fool him once and even robbed another bank.”

“Pfft—”

Hearing this, Roan couldn’t help himself and accidentally let out a laugh.

Verinis caught his reaction, the corners of her mouth twitching with amusement before she quickly suppressed it, her expression returning to its usual impassiveness as she continued:

“This has blown up into a big deal. The higher-ups at the bank are very displeased, and so are my superiors. During a meeting a few hours ago, Broson was forced to set a deadline for solving the case: not counting today, he has three more days. If he doesn’t solve the case and catch the robbers within those three days, Broson will be dismissed from his position as team leader and transferred out of the FBI’s New York branch.”

The mention of punishment for failing the case wiped the smile off Roan’s face.

Broson being transferred was certainly good news, and Roan was pleased. But for Verinis to share this with him...

He was silent for a few seconds before looking at Verinis and asking, “What’s your point, ma’am?”

“To be honest, these bank robbers are highly skilled. I don’t think Broson has a high chance of solving the case this time.”

Seeing Roan catch on quickly, Verinis’s eyes flashed with appreciation. She cleared her throat and fixed her gaze on Roan, her voice cold:

“Broson might get transferred, but the case won’t. It still needs to be solved by the FBI in New York. After the meeting, my superiors asked the other team leaders and me to discuss who would take over the case if Broson failed.”

Hearing that Verinis hadn’t yet decided to take the case herself, Roan let out a quiet sigh of relief.

He’d thought that with the serial murder case still unsolved in his hands, Verinis was about to dump another burden on him—one that even an experienced veteran like Broson couldn’t handle.

Taking a deep breath, Roan looked seriously at Verinis and asked, “So, you want to take on this case?”

“That’s right.”

Verinis nodded, eyes fixed on Roan. “Of my five teams, Team One’s effectiveness has dropped sharply with Broson’s departure. Teams Two, Three, and Four have always been average, and each already has at least three cases on their hands. They simply can’t take this case.”

Verinis didn’t spell everything out, but Roan understood her meaning:

Team Five, his team, had only one serial murder case to handle and could very well take on the robbery case too.

Roan licked his lips and looked up at Verinis, asking with a smile, “If you crack this case, ma’am, then you...”

“Then I’ll have a chance at another promotion.”

Verinis didn’t hide anything from Roan. After all, he’d been personally invited by her to join the Columbus Foundation, making him one of her own—what benefitted her would benefit him as well.

“If we solve this bank robbery case,” Verinis leaned forward, uncrossing her legs and folding her hands on the desk, her eyes locked on Roan’s, her cold tone laced with ambition, “I can move up, and you’ll have a chance at a special promotion to senior agent. Plus, you’ll receive a handsome reward from the bank.”

To go from probationary agent to full agent in less than a month, and then to senior agent right after—that would be quite an exceptional leap.

Yet Roan’s expression barely changed.

Even the mention of a generous reward from the bank only made his eyelids twitch slightly.

Roan knew well that opportunity always came hand in hand with risk. This lesson was deeply ingrained in him.

He may not have liked Broson, but the man had held the position of Team One’s leader for years, and his team had the highest case-solving rate among all thirteen teams.

To claim Broson was incompetent at solving cases—no one would believe that.

Yet even with a case file thicker than Roan’s own, Broson had failed to catch the robbers this time.

That meant this gang of bank robbers was...

If the case were handed to him and he solved it, caught the culprits—everything would be perfect.

But if he failed, if the robbers vanished without a trace, Broson’s fate would likely become his own...

Money was tempting, but his first priority was always his own safety.

After a long silence, Roan looked up at Verinis and said with a smile, “Ma’am, do you have the case files for the bank robbery? I need to study them carefully before I decide.”

“Okay, I’ll have someone bring them to you.”

Verinis nodded, agreeing to Roan’s request.

“No rush, Roan. You have three days to decide. I just wanted to inform you of the situation today.”

Before leaving Team Five’s office, Verinis sat in her chair, looked at Roan’s profile, and said in a low voice:

“You’ll be the one truly leading the investigation, so you must review the case thoroughly and honestly assess your chances of catching the robbers. If you’re not confident, you must tell me. There’s plenty of time for promotions—for both of us.”

Verinis had always been generous and reasonable with her own people.

She wasn’t in a hurry either; she’d simply seen an opportunity and instinctively wanted to seize it.

“Okay, thank you, ma’am.”

Roan grinned, pushed open the door, and left the team leader’s office.

As Roan exited, Augustus, who had been watching Mona type at her keyboard, brightened and immediately stood to walk toward Roan, as if he had something to say.

To Roan’s surprise, Augustus walked right past him, heading to the door where Verinis was preparing to leave. He went straight to her side.

Confused, Roan caught a glimpse of Augustus’s dark face with a sheepish smile for Verinis and overheard words like “SUV,” “salary,” and “apology.” Roan was left momentarily baffled.

Oh well, it didn’t matter.

Stretching lazily, Roan looked around the Team Five office. Aside from Ryder, everyone was busy cross-checking the new member records from Little St. Phil’s Church, searching for missing wives.

Roan nodded to himself in satisfaction—the team’s morale was solid!

And then...

It was time to clock out.

As usual, everyone went their separate ways after a day’s work.

Ryder went home to his wife and son. Mona, laptop in hand, headed to her newly purchased apartment. Lacey pulled out a few cosmetics from somewhere, painted her face, buttoned up her white shirt, and made a beeline for some bar.

After dropping Augustus off at his place, Roan drove his Chevrolet aimlessly through the streets of New York, unsure where to go.

His own apartment wasn’t ready yet. The contractor Ryder had found was still drafting blueprints for Roan’s approval.

He thought about finding a hotel to crash for the night, but when he saw it wasn’t even six o’clock, it felt too early.

After some consideration, Roan decided to hit the gym for a workout.

Health was the foundation of everything, and memories of his back pain were still fresh.

He picked a random gym in Greenwich, parked his car, and strolled in.

“Hi, there!”

The moment Roan entered, a curvy young white female trainer’s eyes lit up. She immediately tossed her water bottle aside and extended her hand.

“I’m Della, one of the trainers here. Is this your first time with us?”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Roan.”

He shook her hand, and as he glanced down at her captivating figure, a smile crept onto his otherwise unremarkably handsome face.

“It is my first time, actually.”