Tolerance Book III

Chapter Forty-Four: Coincidence

The Manhattan Times Square Hotel

After a sleepless night Jay had surrendered to the early morning brightening skies by getting up and having a quick shower to revive himself.  The room service options for breakfast had not appealed to him so before heading for the HS Headquarters he left the confines of his new hotel determined to put on a brave face.  Work could not be hindered by his personal issues.  He would make sure of that.   He had been walking about five minutes, lost in timeless memories of yesteryear, when he was abruptly brought back to the present with a bone jarring thud.  Deafening noise seemed to envelope him as a shower of glass and rubble cascaded down onto the street.  He grabbed the stunned elderly woman to his left and dragged her into the doorway of the nearest building.  Shielding her with his body he was oblivious to the ensuing cuts to his left arm as he used it to protect her head.  The noise seemed to go on forever yet in reality it subsided after less than a minute. It was quickly replaced with screams and crying.  Once he was satisfied the worst of the debris had fallen apart from the dust that now swirled around them he gently led the sobbing woman to a fortuitously present ambulance which clearly had been in the area by chance.  It would take a while for other emergency services to convene at the devastated location.  Politely brushing aside the middle aged Paramedics' concern for his arm but graciously accepting the bandage pressed into his hand he left the distressed woman with him and stepped out onto the now silent street to survey his surroundings.  The scene was reminiscent of a film set.  What had been a bustling street and sidewalk minutes ago had been transformed into an eerie picture of carnage.  Mangled cars lay burning, twisted into unrecognisable shapes, their Drivers and Passengers now entombed within.  He knew what he was seeing had been caused by an explosion but what he didn't know was if it had been the work of Billings.  It was clear on this occasion the death toll would far exceed one so that gave him hope it was not their suspect.  Then again it was perhaps too much of a coincidence the explosion happened when he was close by.  That thought raised many disturbing possibilities.

SUV

The mood in the lead vehicle as Voight drove with sirens blaring was tenses to say the least.  In the back seat, squashed in between Kevin and Antonio, Murphy considered the Sergeants' explanation back at the office for the sudden quiet that had descended when Parker had revealed the bombs' location point.  All the gruff man had divulged was Jay had moved to The Manhattan for personal reasons.  Although the Assistant Director was, naturally, curious about the change of address he had wisely kept his questions to himself.  They had more important things to deal with right now.  Like making sure the Detective he had come to admire greatly was alive.  He shuddered internally at the thought of what would happen if the young man had met an untimely demise.  Murphy knew he would never be able to contain the Chicago men and in truth he wouldn't want to.  Looking forward towards the front seat he caught Als' look in the rearview mirror.  No words were needed.  They would do everything possible to make sure Jay was okay and Billings was dealt with.

Following behind in the second SUV Adam looked back from the front passenger seat at Mouse in the back who hadn't spoken one word since they left Headquarters.  Parker had offered to drive seeing how concerned the two men were and neither had put up an argument.  The Psychologist decided not to ask any questions about Jays' departure from the Units' hotel, unknowingly following his friends' decision in the other vehicle, and instead opted to try positivity.

"Jay was probably having breakfast or .....,"
"You see Jay sitting over a plate of pancakes after there's been an explosion?" Adam eyed the New Yorker sceptically.
"Well no.  I just meant he probably wasn't caught up in it."
"Anyone think it's too much of a coincidence Billings makes a
claim against Jay and then a bomb goes off where he's at?" the IT Specialist finally spoke.
"It didn't go off at the hotel," Adam corrected but received a dirty look from the former Ranger so continued, "okay so it's close to where Jays' hotel is but Billings couldn't have known about him staying there."
"You can't say that for certain," Parker put in reasonably as he switched gears and followed Voights' tracks.
"Agreed," Adam sighed unhappily, "but this mightn't even be connected to Billings. There are multiple Victims.  That's not his MO."
"Unless he modified it," the Psychologist pointed out gravely as he reduced speed as they neared the devastation, he sincerely hoped he was wrong but as Mouse had intimated the bombing location was a very big coincidence.