Tolerance Book II

Chapter Seventy-Nine: Decisions

Bucktown Offices

Three long days had passed since King had disappeared with Jay and the temporary offices had been plunged into a hive of activity as the men took turns lifting each others' hopes up as they sourced even more contacts to quiz. Along with the New Yorkers the Unit members were well aware of the dwindling chances of finding their friend before it was too late. Over the years the seasoned Lawmen had all experienced the heartbreaking end of an investigation with a deadly ending but no one dared to voice such outcomes even though the more time passed the more likely a deadly ending was going to be the outcome. Each man had encountered bouts of frustration, helplessness and despair only to
be reminded that the missing Detective would not give up on one of his friends so they could not do so either. During this time Voight had been contemplating a number of issues one of which he had decided to deal with that morning hence he now sat at his desk in the closed office and looked across at Murphy and Parker. Both men had gone above and beyond what anyone expected of them and the Sergeant felt it was time to face some hard truths so they at least could be absolved of any responsibility for what was going to happen down the line.

"You wanted to discuss something with us," the burly AD prompted after a minute of silence as he shared a confused look with his fellow New Yorker.
"I'm thinking it's time for you two to go back to your day jobs," Voight as usual simply stated the truth.
"What do you mean?" Parker was the first to react to the unexpected statement.
"You can't keep placing your jobs in jeopardy to assist in the King case. It's not what Halstead would want."
"We aren't placing our jobs in jeopardy," Murphy quickly insisted, "we had legitimate reasons for coming here."
"Oh? Parker you told me you had to attend conferences but you Murphy said you had taken some time off so ....,"
"That's true," the Psychologist acknowledged, he didn't quite understand what the sudden problem was.
"You haven't attended any conferences for a long time now and Murphy you can't have that much leave available," the Sergeant eyed the duo, "this investigation has been going on too long so ...,"
"It's our decision to stay," Parker put in as his friend nodded in agreement beside him, "we got involved in this case when King used New York as his playground. We want to see it through."
"That the only reason?"
"We happen to care about Jay," Murphy noted honestly, "we want to help bring him home ...... alive."
"Where is this coming from?" Parker looked at the gruff man seeking clarification.
"You both know the chances of Halstead making it back after all this time are slim. Thought you might prefer not to be here for the fallout," Voight finally spoke after a momentary silence, he was genuinely trying to give the Visitors an out.
"We'd prefer to see this through," Murphy confirmed then grunted as his empty stomach loudly grumbled and continued with a grimace, "now if there's nothing else it's time for my fruit salad."
"You sticking to your new diet?" Voight asked in amusement as he decided to let the matter drop, he had given them an out but same had been declined and he found he was glad it had been.

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For Jay the days had been filled with uncertainty and questions. After spending the first night undisturbed and completing a more detailed and extensive search of his temporary domicile and surrounds the following day the stoic ex-Ranger had come to the slow, and somewhat baffling, conclusion that not only was he totally alone but there was no type of surveillance of any kind in place. He had been dumbfounded by this newfound realization. He had effectively been deposited on the miniscule island and abandoned. Initially he had tried to come up with the reason behind his current predicament but ultimately decided he would have to wait for answers. As places for being detained against ones' will went the opulence around him was decidedly preferrable to the usual locations used. A closer inspection of the large refrigerator revealed enough food for several weeks if he rationed it. That did not fill him with hope. His intensive search of the building had revealed a small cinema in a sub basement which was only accessed by a winding steel staircase in the well stocked small library at the front of the house. Upon finding the unexpected leisure space Jay had perused the DVDs available for selection out of curiosity, noting wrily each one related to either prison escapes or war films. The choice on offer a testament to the thorough effort King had put into his plan of keeping Jay out of sight. Going slowly back upstairs afterwards the young man shook his head at his present circumstances. Hell many people would love to be staying in the lap of luxury with plenty of necessities and not so necessary items on hand but the grim reality which transcended his surroundings was that Will and the others would be worrying about him and as the days went by would eventually have to consider his demise even if they had no body to mourn. That thought pained the discomfitted man greatly. His brother and friends should not have to endure uncertainty about his fate yet it had become clear that was Kings' plan, at least partially.