Editing Joey Hunt (section)

=== Joey's Interlude ===
In the two years following his departure from J.J. Holdings, Joey Hunt returned fully to covert work under the supervision of Jack Donovan. He carried out multiple assignments for the FIB that never appeared in official records. These operations focused primarily on intelligence gathering, financial disruption, and the quiet destabilization of criminal networks. Joey operated with discipline and restraint, relying on routine, structure, and anonymity. The arrangement offered him protection and a degree of legitimacy, but it also reinforced the reality that his life remained controlled by others.

One such assignment brought Joey to Guatemala. His task was to observe and collect intelligence on narcotics shipments entering the Pacific corridor. While conducting surveillance near coastal transit routes, he observed a transaction that stood out even by cartel standards: African men being exchanged as commodities for drugs. The exchange was overseen by a man Joey would later identify as Hans Naumann. Joey did not intervene. The incident was documented, reported, and treated as a secondary detail within a larger operation. Nonetheless, it left a lasting impression.

After returning to the United States, Joey made a personal decision unrelated to his obligations to the FIB. He purchased a modest home in a quiet suburban neighborhood in San Fierro. The house was located directly across the street from where his ex-wife lived with her new husband and Joey’s daughter. Outwardly, Joey appeared to be nothing more than a polite and reserved neighbor.

Eleanor did not see coincidence. To her, the man across the street was unsettling. She instructed her husband and daughter to avoid him entirely. Patrick Jones, in her mind, was dead, and Joey Hunt was an unwelcome reminder of a life she had closed.

Despite her objections, Joey maintained limited and discreet contact with his daughter. These interactions were brief and carefully timed—short conversations, handwritten notes, and small sums of money intended for school and basic needs. Eleanor noticed the changes and grew increasingly suspicious, though she lacked proof.

Joey’s daughter was around ten years old at the time. Over time, she began to recognize patterns adults ignored: the resemblance, the quiet attention, the consistent presence. While searching through stored belongings, she found a photograph of her biological father, Patrick Jones. The similarity was unmistakable. She did not confront Joey, nor did she inform her mother. The realization remained private.

Tensions eventually surfaced openly. At a nearby gas station, Eleanor’s husband confronted Joey, accusing him of watching the family and refusing to leave them alone. Joey attempted to disengage. When the confrontation became physical, he responded with controlled force—ending the encounter quickly and without unnecessary escalation. No further confrontations followed.

From that point forward, Joey kept his distance. He continued to observe the house across the street, applying the same vigilance he once reserved for operational targets. The threat he guarded against was not violence, but absence. Living so close to his daughter underscored what he had lost and could never openly reclaim, making restraint more difficult than any assignment Jack Donovan could give him.