Keenly eyeing the soft brown carpet underfoot Jay checked for the originating source of his scrutiny, a minuscule trace of sawdust resting on the carpet around the Sergeants' thick wooden desk leg. It was only his astute observation skills which had identified the anomaly in the first place for the dusty residue was barely visible unless one was looking for something out of place. His impromptu visual inspection did not reveal where the fibe particles had originated from. Ignoring Voights' soft words of concern when he grunted in pain and lowered himself down onto his knees the ex-Ranger put his head under the open drawer and cursed his find. The underneath of the drawer had been filed away, hence the light coating of refined wood. Clearly King had weakened the strength of the drawer presumably so the combined weight of the M67s would eventually cause the base to fail resulting in the devices falling. That however would not guarantee a massive explosion. Straightening up the Detective tried unsuccessfully to hide a groan as his healing leg loudly complained when he worked his way back upright again.
"What are we dealing with?" Voight enquired, refraining from reiterating his concern for the obviously pained man.
"The base of the drawer has been weakened .....,"
"Would landing on the carpet stop the grenades from detonating?" Parker cut in hopefully.
"It might," Jay opted for honesty given the dire nature of the situation, "but there's no guarantee."
"What's worrying you?" Voight asked astutely.
"King would have no way to calculate when the base would collapse. It's too uncontrolled for him."
"I can't argue about that."
"He must have another plan in mind."
The ex-Ranger contemplated the situation. Despite the apparently brief detonation manoeuvre seen in movies Jay was well aware there were a number of steps to be carried out in using a hand grenade. One had to pull the pin, remove the safety clip and release the safety lever before throwing the device. Clearly since no one in the office was in any rush to meet their end no one was about to complete those steps. This accordingly meant King was going to rely on another method for unleashing the carnage promised by the deadly weapons.
Out in the open plan office Al was also considering what King might do. The only certainty was that a deadly outcome was his objective. He would definitely not expect Jay to outsmart him on this occasion, despite his previous allusion to another 'game'. Of course that realization gave rise to more questions. Why was their nemesis seemingly intent on killing Jay for definite this time? Previously although his young friend had been placed in mortal peril King had left some wiggle room for him to survive. On this occasion however even the most prolific and ambitious Gambler in Vegas wouldn't have taken odds on Jay making it out of this scenario alive. The fact that Voight and the two New Yorkers would also die would only he regarded as collateral damage by King. Although pragmatic to a fault the seasoned Detective felt his gut twist at the unwelcome acceptance that their nemesis seemed to have finally contrived the perfect end game.
"Hey man are you okay?" Adam checked in concern as he walked over to stand beside his old partner after seeing a stricken look cross his features.
"I'm good," the older man shrugged off his rare melancholy, "we anywhere with finding out how King got in?"
"No," Adam reluctantly replied casting a look towards the IT Specialist who was once again studiously concentrating on his monitor, "Mouse is blaming himself."
"You tell him he shouldn't?"
"Course."
"Something tells me until we get Jay and the others out of this he won't be convinced."
"You have an idea?" Adam latched onto the positive words like a lifeline.
Voights' Office
"So Halstead, tell us what you're thinking," the Sergeants' quiet directive brought Jay out of his musings.
"King is playing for keeps this time," the Detective reluctantly opined, "he wants a big .....,"
".... bang," Murphy cut in before continuing with a trace of sarcasm evident, "with all due respect Detective with fifteen hand grenades the threat is kinda implied."
"Murphy give him a ......," Voight was unimpressed with the Assistant Directors' impatience and intended to call him out for it but was interrupted.
"Sarge it's okay. This isn't an easy situation to be in and ...,"
"For any of us," Voight sent a scathing glare Murphys' way.
"What were you going to say Jay?" Parker decided to get the conversation back on track.
"I was going to say King wants a big send off for me."
"Hell we're just along for the ride," Murphy noted ruefully, agreeing with the young mans' assessment.
"I'm sorry I ....,"
"Halstead I wasn't having a go at you. This is all down to King, we all know that."
"So suggestions?" the Psychologist tried to sound unfazed but like his old friend he was feeling the strain.
"What's to stop us walking out?" Voight asked curiously, sometimes after all the most obvious solution was the simplest one.
"Too risky. We need to figure out how he's going to activate them," Jay shook his head and looked outside the office where he could see the Al and the others, bar Adam, milling about, "give me a couple of minutes and I'll be back."
"You decide to stay out there no one will blame you," Murphy spoke in genuine contrition, angry at himself for his show of impatience, "you can give instructions from out there."
"Good idea Halstead," Voight agreed wholeheartedly as Parker nodded his approval.
"I'll be back," Jay didn't even address the suggestion as he slowly headed for the door, he'd never leave the three alone to deal with the threat.
"Hell he thinks he's the Terminator," Murphy groaned in mock despair earning a chuckle from the others despite the grave circumstances they faced.
"What have we got?" Al checked as he shadowed the limping man over to his desk after sending Antonio off on an errand to the Break Room.
"The fifteen M67s in the desk drawer are stable for now. There's no trip wires. The base of the drawer has been weakened, to make it collapse, but there's no certainty when that might happen," Jay quickly shared the intel he had gathered.
"So how come they can't walk out like you just did?" Kevin wondered, his puzzlement obvious.
"I can't find anything but King may have set something up," Jay stated unhappily, they were still relying on guesswork, "chances are it would be safe but ....,"
"Yeah," Kevin understood all too well, "best not put the theory to the test."
"Wise call," Al declared as Antonio came over and deposited the requested items in front of Jay, "take some meds before you go back in. You need to be able to function."
"I'm fine," Jay refused, the thought of pain relief was tempting but he needed his wits about him.
"It wasn't a request," Al stated firmly as he pulled the tab on the can of Fanta after shaking two tablets out of the small yellow bottle, "you're their best hope so do what I say."
"But ...,"
"Hell man if you're in too nuch pain you won't be able to think straight," Antonio pointed out as he ripped the wrapping from the Mars bar and held it out to his pale friend.
"We're wasting time," Al commented in rebuke.
"Damn," Jay picked up the tablets and popped them in his mouth before taking a healthy swallow of soda, "you lot are stubborn!"
"Says the most stubborn guy in the Unit," Kevin rolled his eyes in exasperation as the other man began to eat the chocolate bar.
"So how can King activate the grenades without being here in person?" Antonio got down to the dilemma they were dealing with.
"Any ideas?' Jay looked to Al for guidance, hoping he had more knowledge than he did of the particular weapons in question.
"There aren't many ways to do it," the moustached man explained, "the grenades falling might do it, at least if some of them landed in such a way as to loosen the pin."
"But what about removing the safety clips and releasing the levers?"
"Might happen in the fall, the grenades would hit against each other."
"Wouldn't that set them off anyway?" Antonio checked.
"Not necessarily. They're pretty stable once the pins are in."
"So how would King set them off remotely?" Kevin looked at the pair of ex-Rangers for enlightenment.
"You don't think ....," Jay began, putting down the near empty soda can and straightening in his chair.
"What?" Antonio demanded.
"About the only way to do it, " Al addressed the seated man, unintentionally cryptically.
"What?" Kevin didn’t bother hiding his annoyance at the vague exchange between the former military pair.
"Dammit! I should have realized ......,," Jay rose momentarily forgetting his leg and quickly catching his balance thanks to Als' perfectly timed assistance, "King would use that."
"That's it! Tell us what you're talking about," Antonio raised his voice in frustration.
"The way to set off the grenades remotely would be with a Sniper shot ," Al elucidated while eyeing Jay assessingly, "I can go in there. ... "
"I gave my word."
"You look like hell."
"Compliments won't get you anywhere," Jay half grinned as he eyed the office, "Bomb Squad should be here any minute. You get everyone out."
"You just worry about yourself," Al ordered as he walked beside the limping man after he nodded to the others, prolonfed farewells were never put into practise at times like this.
Stopping outside the office door Al caught Voights' eye through the blinds. A wordless conversation took place that was the trademark of a decades' long friendship. For his part Al assured the others would be okay. Voight in turn assured he would do all he could to protect their youngest, no matter how impossible it seemed. Al turned to Jay.
"The minute you get close to the window he'll know his time is up."
"I can't do a visual inspection to check if he rigged the blinds without getting close. I'll take photos from inside the door and zoom. Hopefully he won't be able to see too far into the office. I'll send the photos to Mouse to work his magic."
"I"ll give him a heads up," Al was certain he wasn't the only one who had noticed the IT Specialist had not spoken to Jay when he exited the office.
"You tell him whatever happens is on King."
"You can tell him yourself. Hate to spoil Kings' day but he deserves it."
"You admitting this Ranger is better than you?" the auburn haired man chided.
"Never," Al smirked before adding solemnly, "King wants an end game. We get this sorted and finish it."
"Just like that?" Jay shook his head at the older mans' over simplification of the challenge they faced.
"Have to think positive," Al shrugged, his usual nonchalance evident.
"Never knew you were into motivational talks," the younger man was grateful for the teasing, a brief respite from what he was heading into.
Antonio and Kevin watched the brief exchange from the other end of the open plan area, understanding that the words spoken out loud were underlined with a more serious import. The light hearted banter was a familiar way to assure the other that no matter how things unfolded each had done his duty and accepted what was about to transpire. Kevin sighed. Knowing a friend was willingly walking into a life or death situation was never easy, no matter how many times one had to stand by and watch. One of these days after all the outcone was going to be gut wrenching for the fates decreed death could not he denied forever. He fervently hoped that this time fate sided with Jay, yet again ....
tbc