Jacob had to admit, he was feeling pretty pleased with himself. He'd successfully nudged Elizabeth Scott toward her quarry, easing the burden of her guilt and potentially helping to remove a serial killer from the streets. Though he'd played many roles in service to Reddington, it wasn't often he got to wear the white hat. Not really his style, but he'd try anything once.

He'd already decided his personal reward for his do-gooding would be been spending the next half-hour in the company of Elizabeth Scott, sharing noodles and banter. Seeing her smile at him. Jacob doubted Reddington would have approved, but what harm would it possibly do? It wasn't like he'd ever see her again after tonight.

Jacob's phone buzzed at him and for a moment he wondered if Reddington had somehow sensed Jacob testing the boundaries of his orders. He relaxed when the ID revealed his caller to be Hartwell. Jacob tapped the screen and put the phone to his ear.

"Yes?"

"The boyfriend was rundown by a car. EMTs are on their way. Do you want me to follow him to the hospital?" Jacob mood plummeted faster than a bungee jumper. With his free hand, he reached for his wallet, and extracted a hundred dollar bill.

"Yes. I'll call you back in two minutes." He disconnected the call before she had a chance to respond. Jacob glanced in the direction of the restroom. Liz had yet to reemerge. Time to make a swift exit. He signaled the waitress and the woman immediately rushed over, a large smile stretching across her face.

"I can get you anything else?" Another time he might be tempted to flirt with the girl, but at the moment he was barely managing polite.

"I have a business emergency and need to leave immediately." He passed the waitress the c-note. "This should cover my bill as well as the lady's. Any change is yours." The woman's eyes widened slightly at his generous tip, but she accepted the money without protest.

"Are you absolutely sure there's nothing else I can do for you?" Jacob glanced once more towards the back of the restaurant. Rushing out on Elizabeth without a word was not how he'd wanted to end this evening, especially knowing the news she was about to receive. As if her day hadn't already been traumatic enough with a serial killer's victim dying in her arms. Maybe he should stay. It wouldn't be long until someone called Liz about the accident.

He could offer to drive her to the hospital. He could stay with her while she waited for news about her boyfriend. Hadn't he argued just the other day that Elizabeth needed a protection detail in her immediate social circle? Why not use this an an opportunity to establish himself in her world as a friend? What objection could Reddington have? He was loyal. He was trustworthy. He would never betray Reddington. He would never betray Liz.

Jacob blinked. Where had the hell had that last thought come from? He had no allegiance to Scott. None. He owed her nothing. She was a federal employee who would see him in prison if she knew who he really was. Reddington was his boss and his adopted father. He owed everything to the man and Raymond had made his wishes abundantly clear when it came to Elizabeth Scott: Protection at a distance.

If Jacob was honest with himself, he knew his stated reasons for his behavior were simply rationalizations. The simple truth was that he'd wanted to see Elizabeth tonight. He'd wanted to see her again ever since he'd left her on that farm all those years ago. And that was exactly why he needed to leave. He would not violate Reddington's trust more than he already had.

"Sir?" The waitress' voice recalled Jacob to the moment.

"Yes. Please tell the woman I was with that it was a pleasure to see her again and to give my regards to her father."

After Jacob left the restaurant he returned to his car, which was parked near enough to Liz's so that when she emerged, he could easily follow her. He punched in Hartwell's number, his eyes never leaving the entrance to Wing Yees. She picked up on the third ring.

"What the hell happened?!" Jacob was aware taking an accusatory tone with a professional operative was not the wisest course of action. The trouble was that he couldn't find it within himself to give a damn.

"As I said, the boyfriend was rundown by a car." There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Was this going to be the punishment for his attitude? Was she planning to make him drag the whole story out of her?

"Deliberately or was it a hit and run?" There, he'd removed the edge from his voice. Hopefully that would appease the woman into being more forthcoming.

"Hard to say for sure. He came around the corner at full speed. There was no one else in the crosswalk and I didn't see any evidence of him trying to swerve, but that doesn't prove anything. I have the plate number, if you want to forward it to your friend at the DMV. I also have a picture of the good doctor's date, if you're still interested." It took Jacob a second to remember what she was talking about. The italian bistro. The lie to Liz.

"Send me both." A minute later his phone's screen was filled with an image of an attractive blond. Jacob felt a wave of contempt toward Nik Korpal. He recognized the woman from the Nik's dossier. High school girlfriend. Amicable, but infrequent current contact. Jacob supposed he'd need to update the file, given the night's revelations. On the positive side, that was one less thing he'd need to run through Glen.

"What would you like me to do?" What he'd like Hartwell to do was ensure Nik Korpal never left that hospital alive. Reddington had a saying, "Value loyalty above all else," that Jacob agreed with wholeheartedly. Unfortunately punishing Elizabeth's philandering boyfriend wasn't in his purview. Besides, in some ways it would be better that he lived, and had to explain to the volatile Ms. Scott what exactly he'd been doing in front of a sit down restaurant, rather than at the hospital, where he'd claimed he'd be. Better a dismissed cheating lover than a beloved and belated boyfriend. At least Jacob would assume so, never having been in any kind of long term romantic relationship himself.

"Stay with Korpal. Stay alert to any potential threats and intervene if necessary."

"I've been contracted to protect Scott, not her boyfriend." The woman really did not want to test his patience with her nitpicking. He was Reddington representative and her job was to do what he asked. Period.

"That's fortunate, because if you had been, you would now be answering to Reddington." Jacob paused a moment to center himself. "Look, just watch over him for now. I'm sure they'll contact Scott within the hour. We can switch off then."

"Fine. But after tonight I'd like a clarification of my duties. If I have twice of number of people to protect, I'll expect twice the fee." He reluctantly consented before hanging up.

Jacob stared at his phone a moment, wishing his next call wasn't necessary. He'd come in to tidy up a problem, and the issue was not only still unresolved, it had compounded on his watch. The next time he communicated with Reddington he had wanted to report success, not abject failure. Still there was nothing to be done.

His directive was to protect Elizabeth Scott and though he had no direct proof linking Nik Korpal's accident to the break-in at Elizabeth's apartment, that didn't mean they weren't connected.

If Jacob believed the events were linked, then he also had to believe the accident was no accident and that someone, by all indications a professional operative, was trying to kill Nik Korpal.

It was possible neither occurrence had anything to do with Reddington. The man had attacked Korpal, not Scott after all. Still, nothing in the doctor's dossier had pointed to him having the kind of enemies that engaged the services of professional killers. The blonde Nik took to dinner could have a rich and jealous lover, but if that was the case, why would the agent snoop on Liz's computer?

Either way until the mess was sorted, Jacob had to assume that if Nik Korpal survived his initial injuries, his assailant would try again. The only way to guarantee the man's protection was to get some extremely competent round the clock surveillance. Gina needed to stay with Liz, and for obvious reasons he couldn't post himself outside the boyfriend's door.

An idea suddenly struck Jacob, a way to handle his dilemma without immediately reporting to Reddington. He would naturally have to check-in with his adopted father, and soon, but the extra time might allow him to make some sense of the situation first. The number was halfway dialed before Jacob finished his final thought.

"Hello my brother. I need a favor."