Tolerance Book II

Chapter Fifty-Five: A New Threat

Voight stood at the door of his office and watched as Jay approached, unaware of Adam shadowing him in case he faltered. The gruff man sighed internally. It was going to be a while before his youngest Detective was fully recovered so he was going to have to make allowances for his friends watching out for him. They of course had been down this road already but familiarity did not guarantee the young man wouldn't chafe at the unwelcome attention. The Sergeant wished he could put off informing his subordinate about the call he had just received but the decision was out of his hands with the time constraints invoked. Nodding to Al in the background signalling his presence was required he let Jay pass by and motioned Adam forward when he went to return to his desk.

"Ruzek you need to hear this too. In fact ye all might as well," the veteran Sergeant instructed motioned towards his office and everyone rose from their desks.
"Sarge?" Kevin frowned, unsure of what was happening, usually they would be updated in the open plan area.
"Take a seat."
"Yes Sarge," Kevin followed an equally confused Antonio and Mouse inside.
"I can leave if it's necessary," Murphy offered, unwilling to outstay his welcome even if they shared the same goal.
"You're a part of this as much as the rest of us," Voight accepted and gestured for the stocky man to enter.
"Something tells me things have taken a turn for the worse," Al commented softly as he brought up the rear and stopped once level with his longtime friend.
"That's about the size of it," Voight acknowledged quietly before raising his voice for all to hear after he closed the office door as Al say down on the arm of the couch inside the door, "we have reason to believe the weapons stolen from the military will be used shortly."
"How do we know that?" Antonio checked from his chair by the wall as the Sergeant got comfortable behind his desk and eyed the group.
"A message was delivered ten minutes ago for Halstead. It was handed into Reception by a Courier. It's with Forensics now but it didn't give any details."
"What exactly did the message say?" Murphy queried in dread.
"Literally .... 'Halstead, Assault rifles and grenades can do maximum damage and you're about to learn how much within the next 24 hours'".
"That's it?!" Adam demanded.
"Yes."
"What does it mean?" Mouse frowned.
"He's not willing to chance being stopped this time," Jay elaborated grimly, he had known the man would lash out.
"How can we stop him when we have no idea what or where the target is?" Kevin asked in disgust.
"Think that's the point," Al pointed out sending Jay a covert look and not liking the guilt clearly emanating from his young friend, "but he was always going to do something big. We've spoken about the possibility before. Saving Baker didn't result in this."
"No it didn't," Voight concurred firmly knowing what the moustached Detective was trying to do, "he's been varying between big and small targets from the start."
"Some cases a few died other cases many died," Kevin nodded.
"But surely King doesn't have enough back up to use all the weapons," Antonio put forward, "that would be a big operation."
"His biggest to date," Mouse noted unhappily from where he stood next to Jays' chair, "seems a big leap."
"We assumed he would use the military supplies as payment for services rendered," Murphy recalled, "but this is a whole different ball game."
"True," Voight agreed as he looked around the crowded office, "so any ideas on where he might be planning to strike?"
"Hell could be anywhere Sarge!" Kevin grumbled in complaint.
"Not really," Jays' words brought all eyes to him.
"What do you mean?" Adam asked for the room in general as confused glances were exchanged
"That much firepower isn't easy to hide," the tired man explained, "the target will be somewhere quite big and open."
"Makes sense," Murphy opined, "less security to get around once the target is outside."
"So what are we looking for?" Antonio scratched his chin.
"Some place with a large gathering," Jay put in quietly as he considered the likely possibilities, he was trying to think like his nemesis, "maybe an open air market ..... or concert. Of the two probably a concert. "
"A concert would have a guarantee of more bodies," Voight noted gravely.
"Yeah," Murphy agreed, "people would come and go in a market but a concert would have a fixed crowd."
"Any other suggestions?" Al checked and all eyes rested on Jay again.
"No. A concert seems like a target he'd choose but ..... there's no guarantee."
"There are no guarantees on this job," Antonio reminded unnecessarily.
"Mouse I want a list of all open air concerts ....,"
"All concerts, indoor and outdoor," Jay interrupted in correction before elaborating, "just to get the audience sizes."
"Okay all concerts within the next 48 hours. King said 24 hours but we can't trust that time frame," Voight instructed the IT Specialist.
"On it."

Once the group had discussed the likely scenarios King would indulge in Voight had answered the unspoken question which was lurking in his subordinates' eyes. Why was he briefing them in his cramped office? He had explained that security protocol was under review and until such time as same was dealt with he had decided to err on the side of caution. A new security system was going to be installed in the coming week which would include advanced anti-surveillance measures. Jay had listened uncomfortably fearing the new measures were a direct result of Wills' actions. The Sergeant had decided to broach that issue in private so had sent the others off to do various tasks. Looking across his desk at the stoic man Voight wished, yet again, he could erase all the hurt the other man had experienced in life but knew he had no such powers. Sighing he began talking instead.

"Halstead firstly before you start beating yourself up over your brothers' actions I already told you they do not reflect badly on you. Will is a grown man and he can take responsibility for what he did. Secondly the new security measures have been planned since last year but red tape held up the funds. They have only been made available now. You got that?"
"Yes Sarge."
"Every Department is taking extra precautionary steps until the system upgrade is complete. Now back to our more pressing issue. What do you figure King is planning?"
"I suggested an open air concert would be a likely target," the Detective frowned.
"Sure but what exactly is he going to do with dozens of assault rifies and hand grenades? Any ideas?"
"He could fashion together IEDs with the M67s," Jay explained, "hand grenades make for messy results."
"Literally," Voight concluded with a grimace as his mind conjured up a mass of broken bones and torn flesh.
"The AK-47s are another matter altogether. Not sure how he could maximise use of them all if he didn't have the necessary personnel to aid him."
"You don't think he could find enough people?"
"If he has the money there won't be a problem getting people," Jay quickly dispelled that idea, "I don't think he'd be willing to trust them however."
"We know he's had help before."
"Only to aid his plans, we're probably talking one or two people at most. Big difference between a couple of people aiding Kings' plan and dozens actually using an assault rifle on people."
"I agree," Voight accepted, "with scores of Shooters he'd be increasing the risk to himself."
"So how is he going to use the rifles?" Jay asked rhetorically ......

tbc

HS - Homeland Security