Case by Case Love

Chapter 18: Identifying a Suspect

Hank makes his way into the room later on that evening, shock written on his face as his eyes focus on his young detective. It was certainly a better appearance than what he had seen at the hospital earlier in the morning. 

"Isn't he supposed to be wearing a mask for oxygen delivery?" Hank questions, catching the attention of both Will and Erin. He could see the visible stress on them both, and knew it was relation in the text message he had sent earlier. It was why he was set to push for answers against his own personal judgment. He would have rather had Jay focused on healing.

"I know how to sweet talk everyone around the place," Jay comments with a smirk written on his face, only to earn a response from his boss in return. It didn't surprise him, as he had done the same at the district. He was one of a few to get to know the sweet side of their desk sergeant Trudy.

"They told him he could take it off for the evening and switch to nasal for a bit for comfort," Erin explains, remembering her initial apprehensions when the suggestion was made by Connor. She and Will  only wanted to believe at first that Connor was doing it due to having a sweet spot for Jay. "That way he can talk a bit, relax, and perhaps have something to eat after if he's hungry. Then for sleeping tonight, they want it back on. They'll re-scan in the morning to see how his lungs are healing, and go from there. It's probably a minimum two or three days in the hospital." 

"So you will be released in 24 to 48 if you continue your sweet talking," Hank summarizes, earning a chuckle and nod from Jay in response. On the opposite side, you had Will that about to smack Hank for helping emphasize things right now. "Will, Erin, how about you both go get something to eat and take a break? You've been sitting around here for at least eight hours. I'll hang out with Jay...."

There was apprehensions from both Will and Erin in hearing the suggestion from Hank. Will had a feeling it wasn't just going to be hanging out between the pair. He knew it would probably result in conversation about the case, and what is going on. He could already see the folder underneath Hank's hand and the contents were easy to guess. He wished he could stop the conversation. He was scared as to how it would affect Jay. What if it caused him to panic? What if it caused further damage? He wasn't willing to risk his brother's health right now. 

However, they both accepted the suggestion and made their way out of the room, allowing Hank to take the chair that had been previously occupied by Will.

"I asked them to leave because I want to talk to you about the case," Hank starts, not hiding any thing about the intentions of the matter. Anything that was stated would essentially be on the record as an official interview for the case. He didn't want to seemingly feel as though he was tricking Jay into something right now. "The DOA that came over the radio was Clark Henderson. He owned the accountant firm that they tried to blow up. He was the individual chained to the bomb with you. He was shot execution style - three bullets with one for the head and two for the chest." 

"So they wanted to make sure he didn't survive...." Jay comments, which was obvious as Hank just nods his head in response. "There were two bombs, two suspects. I assume that you have one in custody, and the other committed the murder." Hank takes a deep breath, knowing the more details that he told Jay about the situation, the more it would become apparent to what was going on.

"We never got a chance to speak to Mr. Henderson. In the chaos from the second explosion, he disappeared from the scene and nobody caught up with him afterwards." Jay shakes his head, as that was not like the Intelligence Unit. Shouldn't they'd been able to track him down via street pods and witnesses? "The suspect that tried to blow you up also got away. He came out the front door which was to supposed to be covered by a patrol officer, Erin, and myself. I got busy trying to handle your situation on the radio, the patrol officer got taken away due to crowd control issues, and Erin - she got distracted by her feelings for you...." 

"She was so worried she froze up and didn't do anything about it?" Hank slowly nods his head, knowing it was why he wanted to speak with Erin once things became more settled about her actions. It was not something he regularly wanted to see happen as it made her a risk, and the rest of the team at risk. It was not something that had happened in previous occurrences, so it was catching everyone off-guard. "So let me get this straight. There is only one bomber that an identity is known of right now. There is only one person who has seen this person. There is only one person that can identify this man. That person is me. So if he is covering tracks, he is going to want to kill me so there's no trace or chance of being identified. That's why there's a guard outside my door. That's my Erin was nervous earlier. That's why Will is trying to do what he can to help me relax in knowing what's going on." 

"Jay, I don't know what else to say...." Jay closes his eyes for a moment, focusing on taking a series of deep breathes in knowing his internal panic was rising. He wasn't scared for himself - this just part of the job. He was scared for the hospital staff. He was scared for the guard outside of his door. He was scared for his brother. He was scared for Erin. There were other people that should not get hurt because of his actions that morning.

"There's nothing else you can say. The sooner we find the son of a bitch, the better..." Hank was a bit surprised by the tone and wordage used, but could not agree more as it would certainly ease a lot of people's feelings right now. It would also allow for Clark's family to get the justice they deserved.

"Kim was able to get a database of employee head shots from the company vice president..." Hank opens the file and hands it over to the detective. The words did not need to be spoken in what Hank was asking for Jay to do right now. "Did he tell you any details? Did he explain his reason for doing what he did? Did he give you anything that we can look into?" 

"No details. Nothing that stands out. He just stated that the man costed him millions of dollars. I would assume a business deal gone bad." Jay looks down at the faces on the pages before him, taking a couple deep breathes as he does so. He scans over the details of each individual face, running everything he remembered about the man repeatedly in his mind. "This is him. This is the guy right here."