Tolerance Book II

Chapter Seventy-Seventy-Seven: The Unknown

Jay had familiarised himself with every nook and cranny of the large, plush bedroom he had woken up in.  Once his strength had  almost fully returned he had limped over to the armchair in the corner beside the large window, a place of defense.  Any hopes of finding out  his location were quickly dashed when he saw the exterior shutters on the window had been closed almost fully. Daylight was allowed in but there was no chance of identifying his whereabouts.  Taking the comfortable seat with its' plump gold velvet cushions the opulence of his new environment began to register.  The embossed cream floral wallpaper with pastel flowers in yellow and pink gave the room a cheery ambience totally at odds with his circumstances.  The large four poster bed took pride of place atop the thick gold carpet, its' cream and yellow bedclothes in keeping with the decor. Despite the situation he found himself in Jay smiled ruefully as his eyes rested on the bed.  He had automatically made it, his mothers' lesson of yesteryear still with him.  She had taught him to start the day as he meant to go on hy making up his bed properly for if you were going to do a job you should do it properly or don't do it all.  That dictum had instilled in him a discipline he admired.  Unlike his old mans' pain filled lessons his mothers' lessons had been delivered by words bestowed with a gentle guidance he still appreciated.  Shaking his head to dispel such maudlin musings the young man was pleased but surprised there did not appear to be any cameras monitoring him.  He did not take that as a certainty however.  King was anything but negligent.  The man would like to have his prey under his scrutiny.  Jay had carefully, but discreetly, examined the one painting adorning the far wall.  Like the rest of the room it seemed to scream expense.  The gold trimmed frame setting off the landscape scene of the sun setting upon golden hued waters perfectly.

That Jay was prey could not be denied.  It was a situation he intended to remedy as soon as possible.  He took comfort in the fact it was just King and himself now, at least he hoped so.   Will and his friends were safe and while he did not want to die he would gladly do so to keep them out of harms way. 

Bucktown

In his office Voight was endeavoring to clamp down on the urge to vent his frustration as he sat at his desk.  His youngest was out of his control and that gnawed at his gut.  There was a very realistic chance that King would ensure they never saw the Detective alive again and acknowledging that exposed so many feelings he was unsure he was going to be able to move forward with his usual stoicism.  The door opening brought a wry look across his features.  Al was never going to conform to protocol and knock.  That just wasn't his way.

"You want something?"
"Just thought you might need to talk," the moustached man shrugged off handedly as he advanced into the room and took up  a seat across from his old friend.
"About?"
"Well we could discuss the weather but I'm thinking you have much more pressing things on your mind."
"There's nothing we can do," the grizzled Sergeant left out a sigh of disgust, "the kid's out there going through God knows what and we have no way of finding him."
"Think you're being a bit pessimistic," Al objected, "everyone is doing their best.  Every CI is being contacted.  You've been in this position before and not given up."
"This time it ....,"
"What?"
"It feels different.  We've gone after some bad guys before but King .... he embraces evil with a frightening willingness and we're still in the dark as to why he's so focused on Halstead."
"True but we do know he's jealous and envious of him."
"That doesn't help us much."
"We also know he brought up his Sniper work."
"Yeah," Voight shook his head, "Mouse is full of surprises."
"Sure is but where do we go with the Sniper clue?  Put feelers out about any Contracts out in the city?"
"Contract Killers tend to keep a low profile, they're not going to be loose lipped."
"Bad for business," Al concurred, "but there are some people in this town who know what's going down.  Feel like a ride?"
"Who you got in mind?"
"Trust me?" Al asked as he got to his feet.
"Always," Voight proved his faith in his friend by standing and grabbing his jacket without hesitation.