Tolerance Book IiI

Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Nine: A Chance For Porter

Mollys Bar

The following night found Jay sitting at the end of the long counter nursing an untouched beer. His friends had insisted he join them for a night of darts. All protests were roundly rebuffed by the determined men so in the end the auburn haired man had reluctantly acceded to their wishes. After one victory over Adam however the tired man had retreated to a stool as far away from the hustle and bustle of the busy venue as was possible. He could hear the banter between his friends and longed to be able to switch off. Instead as they traded challenges and mock threats his mind was filled with images of discarded bodies, thrown away like used up goods. He was brought out of his gloomy pondering by a familiar voice.

"You in the mood for company? I won't be offended if you say no," Kelly asked, keeping a respectful distance to ensure he didn't invade his friends' personal space.
"Grab a seat," Jay gestured to the stool beside him with a rueful look, "am I that scary?"
"Hell no you just look like you have a lot on your mind," the Firefighter sat down and motioned for Herrmann to bring him his usual
"You know how it is," the Detective shrugged, "you can't always switch off after work."
"Well I do and I don't, as we've discussed before. My work involves some pretty grim situations and yes at times that seeps over into my personal life but your work is totally different to mine. I generally don't have to deal with people purposefully hurting others. The arson cases I have dealt wih where people died will always stay with me. Somethings you can't forget."
"There should be an erasure button," Jay decided.
"A what?"
"A button that lets you erase the cruelty some people engage in."
"Sounds like a good idea," Kelly nodded to Herrmann as the older man deposited a glass on the wooden counter before him then continued wrily, "but that would make life easy and life isn't meant to be easy."
"Not for some," Jay concurred with a weary sigh, "you know the case we're working on?"
"Only what's been reported. Sounds bad. "
"That's one word for it!!"
"The Victims are lucky ....,"
"'Lucky'?!" the Detective was incredulous.
"I mean lucky that you're on the case," the Firefighter quickly elaborated, "you care about them."
"They were treated as disposable," the green eyed man knew the organ theft operation was now in the public domain thanks to several leaks which every Police department was trying to source, in fact that was the reason for his gloomy thoughts, "and now the media is after making it that much harder to get the Perpetrators."
"But surely once you found the Victims it was game over as far as continuing to do business," Kelly looked at his companion, "won't that help the investigation?"
"There are bound to be more places involved," Jay spoke softly, "that stays between us."
"Of course," Kelly readily assured, understanding the trust being given.
"So you have someone in the frame?"
"Two people but we haven't been able to identify the second person yet."
"Damn,"
"Guess there's a big market for organs," Kelly noted, although he had heard references to organ selling before and glanced at headlines he had never really considered the dire ramifications for many involved.
"Turns out some people will do anything to live."
"Would you?"
"What?" Jay finally took a sip of the amber liquid.
"You still wouldn't have an organ transplant? Legally of course," the pair had a conversation previously on the topic.
"No .....,"
"You wouldn't?"
"Don't believe in them," the green eyed man reminded his friend of his reasoning, "I don't think it's .... ethical."
"But it's done all the time ...,"
"Just because something can be done doesn't mean it should be done. I'm not passing judgement on anyone else just for me personally it's ... wrong."
"You still believe in them?"
"I'm signed up as an organ donor," the Firefighter nodde00d, "figure if my death helps keep someone else alive that's gotta be a good thing."
"You ever contemplate the whole living thing?"
"'Living thing'?"
"Well from the moment we're born there's only one certainty every single person shares ..... we're all going to die. Just wonder sometimes if people should fight it so much."
"I know what you mean. It's like a balancing act," Kelly noted, "I'm not looking forward to it but when my time is up I hope I'm ready."
"In your line of work you must consider dying more often than other people."
"Not sure about that," the Firefighter shook his head, "your work is dangerous too and you were a Ranger so you're more familiar with life threatening situations but we do share something ....,"
"What?"
"We don't dwell on the worst case scenarios. We have to have a certain amount of wilful denial in order ....,"
"..... to do our job," the Detective nodded, without such determined denial that something bad could befall them they wouldn't be able to function.
"Fear makes people do awful things, things they normally wouldn't contemplate."
"I don't know about that," Jay disagreed, "I think it just shows their true character."
"So how long has this been going on?" Kelly enquired of the chilling operation as he drained his glass and motioned for two more.
"Over a decade at least."
"Damn!"
"Want to know the funny thing?
"What?"
"It's only because it's been going on so long that we found out about it," the green eyed man noted, "they became emboldened and as s result became careless."