Tolerance Book III

Chapter Thirty-Two: Chasing A Motive

Scherezade Restaurant

The following evening found the Unit sharing a meal in a high end restaurant uptown courtesy of Murphy. The AD was trying to make up for his Superiors' less than friendly welcome despite the Chicago men assuring him they held no grudge against him. Voight hadn't wanted to accept the gift but Al had suggested it would be a place for the men to unwind away from the confines of the hotel. After ordering their meals the men had discussed various topics, purposefully keeping work off the agenda. Once the food had been served each man simply enjoyed the good faire on offer and took the time to relax. Eventually the plates had been emptied, apart from Jays, and the Waiter had taken them away with an order in hand for coffees. No one was drinking alcohol since they had an early start the following morning. Eyeing the extravagant pale peach surroundings Adam let out a low whistle, mindful not to disturb the other restaurant Patrons.

"This must have set Murphy back a good bit."
"No doubt he put it on his Expense Sheet," Antonio looked at the cream ornate pillars throughout the large high ceilinged room.
"With Thompson looking over his shoulder?" Kevin asked doubtfully.
"Good point," the Italian-American conceded, he wouldn't like to have the man looking over his shoulder.
"Not sure Thompson micro manages," Al argued, "seems to me he's only interested in the bigger picture."
"We any closer to finding out his interest in Halstead?" Voight looked over at Mouse, they were all by now aware the IT Specialist had been tasked to find out everything he could about the Director.
"Not yet," Mouse replied softly, he felt bad he hadn't come across anything of use.
"If there's something there you'll find it," Jay quickly assured his friend, knowing he felt under pressure to produce results.
"Murphy posed another possibility," Voight stated seriously, "Thompson could be acting on someone elses' behalf."
"Like who?" Adam demanded in disgust.
"No idea," the Sergeant shrugged.
"We have to consider the chance of Thompson simply wanting results without any ulterior motive against me," Jay offered up an explanation he fervently hoped was accurate.
"Well until we know for sure I want everyone to keep their guard up," the brusque Sergeant stipulated firmly, "I don't want to take any chances."
"None of us do Sarge," Antonio spoke for the group.

"So what's the deal with the UnSub?" Al queried looking at Jay across from him speculatively.
"I've told you what we have surmised so far," the younger man frowned.
"I want to know what your gut is telling you," the moustached man pressed, "so you figure the guy ..... or woman .... has a grudge against a city official and someone is receiving threats and demands but what else do you think is going on?"
"I'm not sure .....,"
"You have an idea what the UnSub is thinking," the older man stated confidently, "so share."
"Hey why are you picking on Jay?" Adam hastily defended against a perceived slight against his best friend.
"He's not picking on him," Voight spoke up, "he wants Halstead to know he can tell us whatever he's thinking on the matter and we'll take it on board, without judgment."
"Exactly," Al nodded sending Adam a sincere look before directing his gaze back to the Auburn haired man, "so what do you say? Are you going to trust us?"
"You know I trust you," Jay insisted as he shifted uncomfortably on his chair, "it's just I don't have anything to back up my ideas ...,"
"We'd like to hear them anyway," Antonio decided to add his voice to the conversation, wanting his friend to know he had all of their support.
"Whatever about the objective for the attacks," Jay began softly, "whether it's to target the city or not ...,"
"But you said it was ....," Adam objected in confusion.
"I said it's likely. At the moment we're lacking concrete proof."
"Go on," Voight urged.
"The UnSub enjoys killing .....,"
"You think!" Mouse scoffed earning a glare from the Sergeant in reward.
"I mean the UnSub really enjoys it," Jay ignored the interruption, "the very manner in which the Victims are being killed is extreme."
"What else?" Kevin asked, impressed as always by his friends' unique insights.
"The fact the explosions are all the same indicates the UnSub is not building up to one big explosion, they're happy to go at a slow pace indicating an agenda that could take months to fulfil."
"Hell!" Kevin cursed in disgust.
"But what about the Victims?" Antonio questioned, raising an issue they were still trying to analyze.
"They're a means to an end but it's not a coincidence they were all from Chicago. The UnSub is getting his Victims from a specific pool of people."
"And we need to find that pool damn quickly," Voight noted succinctly.
"So what did Murphy decide about notifying the people on the flight records' list?" Adam checked.
"Everyone will be advised to be extra vigilant," Voight explained but added unhappily, "there isn't enough manpower to provide personal protection for over 3,000 individuals."
"And the UnSub knows that," Jay pointed out grimly.