Tolerance Book III

Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen: Curveball

As Mouses' words galvanised everyones' attention Jay abandoned the food and got to his feet.  They would leave the Fugitive enter the building  uncontested.  The green eyed man took out his gun and got into position behind the door.  Sandy Griffiths and her partner Artero Lopez took up their pre-arranged positions by the filing cabinets adjacent to the storage drawers looking as if they were checking files.  As soon as their prey entered the morgue area the Agents outside would converge.  It was a simple and straightforward plan yet Jay and the Unit were keenly aware their Nemesis had outmanoeuvred them before so until the Serial Killer was safely ensconced in silver bracelets none of them were taking anything for granted.

Conference Room

Once  Mouse identified their quarry who had his hair hidden underneath what he identified as a blonde wig and  an oversized baseball cap dressed in jeans and a long sleeved grey t-shirt with a badge prominently displayed on a chain around his neck the men had quickly grabbed their gearbags and headed to the parking garage.  It would take ten minutes to reach the morgue.  Adans' arguments that the change in plan meant they could be at the morgue in advance had been roundly dismissed when Jay had succinctly pointed out there were still Accomplices in play.  Hence the only Agents in the building were those who had been hand picked by Fielding personally.  Jay had reminded Adam of that fact as they spoke through the comms.  Only Fielding and Voight had visited the morgue to advise the green eyed man of the change in plans.  That of course had been another bone of contention where Adam was concerned!

Now as they piled into the SUVs the tension ratcheted up.   Ten minutes in theory wasn't long but when a stone cold Killer was involved it seemed like an eternity.

Morgue

Jay found himself  dealing with a conflict of emotions as the Agents in the corridor kept up a steady note of the mans' progress towards the morgue.  He had considered the  initial plan to be their best option and now as Billings approached his gut was screaming this was not going to end well.  He had been given no choice but to go along with the revised plan.  His rank did not afford him any authority to over- rule his Superiors.  As footsteps approached outside the door Jay took a calming breath.  Now was when he needed to deal with the present and push doubts and what ifs far away. They would only distract him and that could get someone killed.

Two things happened as soon as the Killer entered the spacious morgue area. Firstly he immediately closed the door behind him revealing the poised Detective and secondly he calmly removed his cap.   The reason for its' large fit was immediately exposed.  Two medium sized vials of clear liquid were taped to his wig which he carefully took off.  In one move he tore off the vials and tossed the wig to the floor before gracing Jay with a menacing smile.

The door suddenly opened revealing three Agents guns poised.

"I'm not sure if I should be insulted by this amateur attempt to fool me  .....," Billings ignored the Newcomers.
"By all means be insulted," the Detective responded with a carefree shrug infusing sarcasm into his tone.
"Your friends have been somewhat careless with you ...... again," the Killer pointed out before turning his focus to the Agents with weapons unnervingly trained on him, "in the interests of health and safety those guns need to be placed on the ground before I feel compelled to open these little vials of death."

Griffiths looked to Halstead for guidance. He was the only one who had personal knowledge of the man before them and would be able to gauge the veracity of his words.  A subtle nod told her to obey.   As Senior Agent the others would follow her lead.  With an internal sigh she put the safety back on and motioned for the others to give up their guns.

Outside Morgue Building

Mouse had been monitoring the morgue on his laptop as the SUV sped through red lights sirens wailing. Just as the vehicles pulled into the parking lot the screen went black causing a rare curse to be voiced.  After informing the others they no longer had visual the bleak reality descended.  Going in blind exponentially increased the danger.    Expletives did little to relieve the tension but were vehemently voiced anyway.  Mouse had a dozen questions about the breach but realized they would have to go on the back burner.