Tolerance Book III

Chapter Nine: Demons Rising

RCMP BUREAU

As the sleek silvers doors opened fully the gory scene within was revealed to the stunned onlookers.  For a few seconds time seemed to stand still as they took in the sight of the two bloodied forms on the gore covered floor.   As the doors began to close everyone was snapped out of their initial shock.  Seasoned LEOs they may be but this was one of their own lying covered in blood.  Finding his voice first Voight ordered two ambulances and watched as Al slowly entered the car, immediately crouching down beside their friend and colleague.  A pulse check had the moustached man release the breath he had been holding and he turned to the others.

"He's alive."
"Thank God!" Adam spoke shakily, for a few seconds there he thought he had lost his best friend.
"We only heard one shot," Kevin pointed out with a frown as he too entered the car and checked on Kings' lifeless form merely for protocol, the brain matter outside the mans' skull meant life was unsustainable.
"Think Halstead hit his head," Al opined as he brushed his fingers carefully through the younger mans' hair and found a large lump on the back of his head, "most of this mess ....... is Kings."
"Hell," Adam sighed at the grisly scenario, wishing his friend had been spared such horror.
"How the hell did King have time to set up the power cut?" Antonio questioned, right now he wanted to focus on getting answers rather than the gruesome final act perpetrated by their quarry.
"What about the gun?" Kevin straightened and looked around the ground seeking the weapon they had heard.
"There," Al spoke after assessing the interior with his scrutinising gaze, "it's under Kings' shoulder."
"Looks like a toy gun!" Adam scoffed as Kevin carefully picked up the item in question after donning gloves and retrieving a small
plastic bag from his pocket.
"It's a 1931 Fabrique Nationale Baby Browning," the ex-Sniper expounded, "carries six rounds and fits easily within your hand.  The size makes concealment easy.  When held it's the same length as ones' index finger."
"No wonder we couldn't see any sign he was armed," Antonio concluded as he watched Kevin leave the car, "wonder where he hid it?"
"Jay will fill us in," Adam noted absently as he worriedly eyed the unconscious man who was now in the recovery position thanks to Als' careful manoeuvring.

Sirens blared announcing the ensuing arrival of the single ambulance, the number required reduced upon confirmation King was no longer with the living.  Voight surveyed the bloody scene uneasily.  He wondered what exactly had transpired within the steel chamber and knew that he would probably never know the full extent of what went down.  His youngest Detective would be clear in his account but would only give the basic details for he was not prone to embellishments.  The Sergeant knew it would not be a conscious tactic on his subordinates' part merely a natural response by the stoic man so he would not hold it against him.  He resolved however to try to find out as much as possible through other avenues and with that in mind he took out his cell and moved away from the elevators for some privacy.

St. Lukes Hospital

Adam, Kevin and Al had accompanied the injured Detective to the hospital while the others, reluctantly, stayed behind to try to process the scene.   For once Adams' usual stream of words had been halted by the sight that had greeted them when the lift doors parted.  His continued silence denoted not only his shock and concern but also his anger.  That he stood in a sombre mood out in the corridor as Jay was settled into a private room was not lost on either of his companions.  Kevin and Al exchanged looks before the moustached man finally breached the silence.

"Aren't you relieved he's alive?"
"Of course I am!" Adam declared indignantly, sending his former partner a lethal glare for his temerity.
"Well why don't you look happy?"
"Oh maybe because my best friend is lying unconscious in there and a short while ago he was wearing a guys' brains all over him."
"That's not why you're upset," Al persisted with his usual uncanny ability to read a situation, "you're angry because after everything he did King got off and ......,"
"..... left all our questions unanswered," Kevin finished with a heavy sigh, the unexpected climax to months of chasing their nemesis left a sour taste in his mouth too.
"He deserves to rot in hell!" Adam vehemently growled.
"He's feet are roasting as we speak," Al stated without any mirth, the Serial Kilker had got off too lightly.