Tolerance Book I (Chicago PD/Med FF) by Frances51163

Chapter One Hundred and Ninety: Instinct

After Jays' ominous warning Burke repeated his inspection but his search still didn't yield anything. He was about to point this out when the younger man spoke again.

"Adam come away from the door."
"I'm moving," the Detective complied without hesitation and was shortly beside his friend, "so what do we do?"
"Call in the Bomb Squad," Jay looked back at the others, "once we're away from here."
"Good thinking," Burke nodded in approval as the men quickly climbed back into the SUV, "a cell might activate a bomb but why do you think there's a bomb?"
"Just a feeling," Jay shrugged distractedly as Antonio turned on the engine and reversed out of the driveway
"So you didn't see anything?" Burke pushed, surprised by the unexpected turn of events.
"No."
"No harm in getting the place checked out," Al stated evenly eyeing the Bomb Disposal Technician, it was clear the other man had his doubts.
"How could Wells know where we are?"
"Don't know," Kevin replied nonplussed as Antonio pulled into a parking space on the street.
"But ....," whatever Burke was going to say was drowned out by a cacophony of sound.

Fifteen minutes later the once quiet residential street was bedecked with emergency vehicles. As the Unit stood inside the gate assaying the Firefighters' efforts to contain the flames Burke shook his head in wonder. They would all have been blown to pieces if they had entered the house. He looked over in awe at the man who had saved them.

"How did you know?"
"That's what I want to know," a voice spoke from behind the group and they turned to see Voight, Murphy and Parker had arrived.
"I didn't," Jay looked at Murphy, "not for definite. I just had a ....... a feeling something was off."
"Damn glad you did Kid," Voight placed a hand on his subordinates' shoulder, "this could have been ugly."
"What tipped you off?" Parker asked getting down to priorities.
"There wasn't any one specific thing," Jay eyed the Psychologist warily, hoping the other man didn't feel undermined by his prediction.
"So there were a number of things?" Murphy demanded with a hint of impatience, they shouldn't have to drag the information out of the Detective!
"No," Jay looked at the ground before lifting his gaze to the group, "I didn't see anything ..... my gut instinct told me something was wrong. Can't explain it."
"Your instincts saved ye," Parker reminded, "I didn't expect this."
"Guess I got lucky," Jay tried to downplay his role.
"Luck had nothing to do with it," Al drew everyones' attention to him, "the Kid has keen senses which no doubt aided him in the military."
"Al .....,"
"Just stating a fact Kid."
"But why were you so sure it was a bomb?" Burke was feeling a bit guilty, he was the bomb expert after all and he hadn't sensed anything.
"Educated guess."

"So how did Wells know about this place?" Antonio saved his friend from further questioning as he broached the subject which needed urgent attention.
"Not from an insider," Murphy stated firmly, he was confident there would not be any more leaks from anyone connected to the investigation.
"You can't be one hundred percent certain," Voight reiterated, they had discussed this on the way to the house.
"Well what other possibility is there?" Burke looked at the plumes of dark smoke now rising from the shattered ruins as the Firefighters finally began getting the fires extinguished.
"We're being watched," Jay offered up softly as he turned away from the damage control and walked out onto the sidewalk, the others in tow.
"He was watching you before," Kevin concurred as he recalled the Morgue visit.
"Well with help he could probably keep tabs on us and set the bomb," Antonio nodded as he scratched his forehead.
"He's probably watching us right now," Jay did a cursory sweep of the houses nearby without moving his head but there were no tell tale signs.
"We checked everyone on this street," Murphy referred to the background checks they had carried out before the Unit took up residence in the neighbourhood.
"Yeah but most are out during the day," Adam put in trying to surveill the nearby houses without appearing to do so.
"And Wells does his homework," Jay pointed out quietly, "he's smart enough to be in and out before someone gets home."
"But you think he's still here," Voight glanced at his Detective knowingly, "he wanted to actually see you get killed?"
"I wasn't the only one in danger."
"True, he had no way of knowing who else would be collateral damage," the Sergeant concurred gravely before turning to Burke, "so what do you think? Did he set the bomb off by remote or was it set to go off when it did?"
"Too early to tell. A timer would be less reliable though as he had no way of knowing when Jay would come back here."
"He wasn't just targetting me," Jay reiterated firmly, he did not want to be singled out for special treatment.
"Yeah but you're the one he's focusing on," Parker spoke up as he tore his gaze from the smoke filled skies.
"About that," Antonio grabbed everyones' attention, "he's tried to kill Jay twice now and failed."
"So?" Adam demanded impatiently.
"Isn't it strange that despite getting access to Jay he didn't actually kill him?"
"I'm just glad he didn't," Kevin looked at the group, "next time we might not be so lucky."
"Not sure luck has anything to do with it," Antonio persisted, "maybe he doesn't actually want Jay dead."
"Come on man! That doesn't make any sense," Adam argued
"Hell I could be wrong."
"Doc what do you think?" Voight asked the Psychologist hoping he had some useful insight.
"At this stage it's hard to tell," Parker reluctantly admitted, "he seems to have become more obsessed with Jay and that is clearly driving his agenda now."
"So you're saying there won't be any more victims?" Kevin checked.
"Not necessarily. We already considered the possibility that Wells is trying to impress Jay. What we didn't consider is that all of the victims may be collateral damage ...,"
"What the hell?!" Adam glared at the Psychologist as his friend paled.
"This isn't the time," Voight cut in tersely, "let's head back."

The ride back to Headquarters was a silent one in the lead SUV. Voight had directed Jay, Adam and Antonio to travel with him. Al, Kevin, Burke, Murphy and Parker were following in the second SUV.

"Jay? Are you alright?" Adam looked over at his back seat companion worriedly.
"I'm fine," the reply was given automatically and Adam caught Voights'  concerned gaze in the rear view mirror.
"Kid Parker was just speculating," the Sergeant explained as he changed gears and stopped at a red light.
"Would explain why we can't find any connection between the victims," Jay kept his eyes on his hands, "the music connection is slim at best."
"But it is a connection," Antonio turned around in the front passenger seat, "Jay
at the end of the day this is all on Wells and his partner.  He may be focusing on you but it could have been anyone of us."
"He's right," Voight stated firmly as the lights changed.
"I get what ye're saying," Jay eventually broke the silence, "and in my head I know ye're right but ......,"
"In your heart you're taking the blame for things outside of your control," Voight finished when the young man stalled.
"So what's the plan?" Jay ignored the Sergeants' words as Headquarters came into view.
"I think it's time to give you what you want Kid."
"Sarge?" Adam frowned uneasily.
"Halstead is going to be bait."
"What?" Antonio and Adam spoke in unison, their surprise obvious.

For his part Jay was relieved. Finally they could move forward and get closer to catching Wells. Although he shared his friends' surprise at the decision he wasn't going to voice it. Deep down however he figured the Sergeant had a plan which wasn't necessarily the one Jay envisaged where he was the only one at risk. He coughed and willed away the headache that was building. He didn't have time to be unwell now that Voight was more or less on his side!

tbc

Authors' Note

'Ye're' is an abbreviation of 'ye are'.  An American Reader queried this before as  she was unfamiliar with it.  I think it's used in the same context as 'y'all' (which we don't use in Ireland) 😄.