Rain trickled down the grimy windows of Joe's Cafe, distorting the gray streets outside into a blur of color. James Gordon cradled a nearly untouched cup of black coffee in both hands. It had long since stopped steaming.
He looked at Li Jie sitting across from him, his brow knotted.
"I received the notice from Internal Affairs. Renee Montoya is a tough customer, but she's reasonable." Gordon tried to keep his tone light. "...Hang in there, Jay. I'm sure you can get through this."
"I'm not too worried," Li Jie said, lazily stirring the cheap instant coffee in front of him. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Jim. But if that's all you wanted, we didn't need to sneak off to a cafe like spies meeting in secret."
With his intentions exposed, Gordon rubbed his nose awkwardly. He lowered his voice and leaned forward slightly. "Lately...something's been off. Ever since that incident at the docks, new anonymous tips have been landing on Chief Barnes's desk almost every day or two. Occasionally, they're about assets belonging to Maroni or Rupert Thorne, but most of them belong to Falcone. A few underground banks, a secret weapons cache, even shell companies under his mistress's name that he uses to launder money...Almost every lead checks out. The operations have been going so smoothly it's...unsettling."
He raised his head, his eyes filled with confusion and a veteran cop's instinctive wariness.
"It's like someone's spoon-feeding us, serving up Falcone's holdings one bite at a time. This isn't normal. Chief Barnes thinks it's the fresh start he's brought about, the forces of justice coming together. But I keep feeling like we're being led around on an invisible string."
Li Jie stopped stirring his coffee. The spoon clinked sharply against the cup. He looked at Gordon, his