In the business district's parking lot, Joe's attention remained focused on the people entering and exiting the nearby office building, waiting for Margot to come down, completely unaware that he had already been exposed.
Going upstairs was out of the question.
Even in the 1940s, access to such business districts was relatively strict. Without preparation, it was difficult to sneak in so he could only wait in the parking lot.
About half an hour later, Margot finally came down from the building but she wasn't alone.
Leading the way was a spirited man in his fifties or sixties.
If there was no mistake, this should be the "Uncle John" Margot had mentioned.
Margot followed closely behind him, but what was unexpected was that there was also a very attentive young man beside her.
Behind the trio were two stern-looking men in coats, likely bodyguards.
Seeing this scene, Joe, who was watching Margot, immediately took out his camera in secret and snapped a few photos.
At this time, Margot and the others also got into a car.
However, Margot didn't drive her own car. Instead, she followed "Uncle John" and the attentive young man into another vehicle.
The attentive young man was the driver, while Margot and "Uncle John" sat in the back.
The two bodyguards got into another car, trailing them.
Once the two cars drove a certain distance, Joe then started his own vehicle and followed.
Noticing this, Josh didn't hesitate either and slowly started his car, tailing behind.
This was actually the first time Josh had ever done surveillance like this, and honestly, he wasn't entirely confident.
Fortunately, Joe's attention was probably all on tailing Margot and avoiding being discovered by her bodyguards, so he didn't notice Josh behind him.
In fact, it was also thanks to the fact that, due to Tony Wendis' orders, Brian from the Irish gang had vouched for Josh, and part of the $1,000 fee had already gone toward paying off some of his debt, so the people Scarpa sent to watch Joe Barbaro had been withdrawn.
If those people were still around, with Josh's lack of surveillance experience, he would've already been discovered.
Josh ended up following them for the better part of the day.
Margot's group first went to a high-end restaurant for lunch, then returned to the jewelry company for discussions.
This time, it wasn't until after 3 p.m. that Margot was brought downstairs by the attentive young man.
After saying goodbye to him, Margot got into her own car and drove off.
Joe Barbaro, determined as ever, kept following. Josh wasn't about to let him go either.
Though Evanston was a satellite city, between Chicago and Josh's home there was still a considerable stretch of uninhabited land.
Of course, there were still cars on the road but compared to the city, it was much emptier.
It was in this area that Josh put on a mask, then sped up, catching up to Joe Barbaro's car, and at just the right moment, rammed him from the left.
In both America and China, the driver's seat is on the left, so this kind of ramming directly hit Joe Barbaro's side.
With one strike, the car was sent spinning, losing control, and crashing into a farmland on the right side of the road, flipping over.
Seeing that the hit had succeeded, Josh didn't hesitate. He drove in after it.
Because it was still the end of winter, the so-called farmland was actually just a barren field, and thanks to the low temperatures, the ground was firm.
So Josh was able to drive smoothly to the side of Joe Barbaro's overturned car.
Joe Barbaro wasn't stupid. Though dazed from the crash, he still instinctively tried to reach for the gun hidden under the front passenger seat.
But before he could touch it, a cold and heavy barrel was already pressed against the back of his head.
Joe Barbaro had no choice but to raise both hands.
"Get out!" came a low command, and the barrel was slightly pulled back from his head, but he still dared not make any sudden moves.
Because he was quite familiar with firearms, from the feel of it against the back of his head, it was likely a high-efficiency close-range killing weapon—a shotgun.
At close range, this kind of weapon was more effective than any gun.
Within ten meters, all are equal—it wasn't a joke.
Facing this, Joe Barbaro gave up on resisting and obediently crawled out of the broken car window with great effort.
By this time, cars passing by on the distant highway had already noticed something unusual.
But upon seeing Josh wearing a mask and holding a shotgun, they all wisely stepped on the gas and quickly left.
As for the police, in this era without mobile phones or pagers, even if someone called them, it would take at least half an hour to reach this remote area.
After struggling to climb out, Joe Barbaro finally got a clear look at the masked, tall and thin man pointing a gun at him.
But this mask looked oddly familiar?
"It's you?" In the next moment, Joe Barbaro recognized the figure, his eyes widening.
No surprise—Josh had left too deep of an impression. If Josh hadn't stolen his car, he wouldn't have ended up in his current miserable state.
He never expected to run into this cursed man again.
He hadn't even provoked him!
"Who told you to follow that lady?" But at this moment, Josh had no intention of reminiscing. He went straight to the point.
Upon hearing this, Joe Barbaro finally realized that the task Tony Wendis had assigned him might not be so simple—otherwise, he wouldn't have attracted this mysterious guy.
But what was the relationship between this man and the lady he was following?
Suddenly, Joe Barbaro remembered the young man he had seen in Evanston that morning while tailing Margot...
"Speak! Who told you to follow that lady?" Josh didn't know Joe Barbaro had recognized him. Seeing him in a daze, he questioned again.
"It was Mr. Tony Wendis who told me to. He asked me to follow Mrs. Wendis, to find evidence of her cheating and identify her lover…" Faced with the gun, Joe Barbaro decisively chose to sell out his employer.
People like him had no bottom line to begin with—so long as it meant staying alive or making money, they'd do anything.
But when he mentioned "lover," the slight change in tone and the probing look he gave Josh didn't escape Josh's notice.
He recognized me? Josh frowned.
Originally, he only intended to teach this Italian fatty a lesson and find out why he was tracking Margot—he hadn't planned to kill.
But if the guy had really recognized him…
"Mister, I—" Joe Barbaro still tried to test Josh with his words.
However—
"BOOM!!!!" A gunshot rang out, echoing across the sky.