"Well if you hear anything else..."
Platt's frown was tense, "You got it."
He moved for the stairs when he was interrupted. "Detective Dawson." The commander stood in her office doorway, regarding him expectantly, "A word."
*****
Antonio took the seat across from her, keenly aware that Platt's gaze had tracked every step he had made into this office.
"Did you need something, Commander?"
Emma Crowley's gaze passed over him once, assessing. She knew full well the rocky way Antonio had come to work under Hank Voight, and he had always been the uncertain link in that unit's errant chain.
"We have a case against Voight, Detective. Witness statement's, a detective's report. I'm sure you've heard something of this by now."
Antonio nodded enough to admit that rumours were flying everywhere, and he may have heard a few.
"We have enough to suspend, obviously. But I don't want to push for arrest until what we have is solid."
Antonio spread his hands. "How do I come in?"
Crowley set back in her seat, "We need motive. I know they argued, but we need more than that. You work with the man. Have you seen anything, professionally or personally, to indicate why he would go after Eric Watts?"
He went to deny it, when one face filled his mind.
Lana.
Eric was here to take away the woman Voight loved. It was as basic a motive as it could get.
Antonio cleared his throat.
*****
Voight poured a drink, let it sit in his hand, looking at him. He hadn't actually thought it would get this far.
The glass clanked as he set it on the side table. He reached for a folder on the children's case. Read without taking anything in before dropping the folder with a scoff.
Eric Watts had finally given a statement. What was supposed to take the wind out of Crowley's pursuit and get them all back focused on the job at hand, had somehow been the cincher she needed to suspend him.
What the hell could Eric have said?
It worried him. It worried him because the truth wouldn't have done it. Eric had lied.
Voight wasn't a stranger to less than upfront reports. Conveniently worded statements that left the truth just a little in the background. He was aware of the grey area that they sometimes had to operate in. And to be frank he did it well.
Sometimes people made mistakes, or criminals learned to reside in between the letters of the law. Sometimes steps had to be taken and sometimes lies had to be told.
For his team. For the job. For the safety of the people in it.
But for as much as he didn't know about Eric, one thing was painfully clear. The man lied to benefit himself.
Voight didn't know what had gone down in that alley. Eric was the only one who knew the truth and he was content to put the blame on Voight. It shouldn't surprise him. Self preservation fueled the crime that filled his streets. But they were supposed to be above that. They were supposed to be working against that.
Once she took that job in Miami, Lana would be working for that. For a man that got his own back at the expense of others. That messed with Lana's life here just to convince her to move back home. Lana should never have to be in that position, with a leader who wouldn't have her back. She couldn't work for a man like that.
How had she fallen for a man like that?
Maybe it had been easy. Years had gone in to their partnership, their relationship, and Lana saw the best in people with an irritating amount of persistence. She saw something in Eric, enough to fight to win him back. Enough to use what was at hand to make him jealous.
And Voight had thought it meant something to her. How the hell had he ever been that naive. Stuck in a memory he couldn't stop reliving. At work. At home. Thoughts would drift, reality would fade for one second, and he would hear it again. The tension of her words against the strain of his control. I want whatever you want to give me, Hank.
But all she had wanted was leverage. Used him, used Antonio. Just to get Eric back.
That one truth had threatened to taint it all. Every touch perserved in his mind left with a dark shadow. A whisper that it had all been a lie.
But that was the greatest lie of all, wasn't it. Because she had never promised him anything. Owed him nothing. She had every right to use him for what they had always been. Basic, no strings. He couldn't call it a lie just because he wanted to believe a different truth. She had had every right to want Eric back.
And Voight had let her. Accepted she was going to walk away. Figured a clean job in Miami would be what she wanted. A chance to be the cop she used to be. So he had stepped aside, kept his mouth shut. Faced her every day without letting that anger in. He couldn't blame her. Didn't need to complicate his life with reactions he had no business not keeping under control. There was no place to be unsteady in his job. And he had proven, if only to himself, he was not as volatile as they all liked to believe him to be.
Voight had been reasonable. Collected. Prepared to let her go.
But now he was face to face with the realization that the man she was using him to get back, was completely worthless.
Whatever Lana saw in Eric, did she see this? Did she know that he had lied? That he had manipulated her into going home?
Did she know?
A sound left Voight, a laugh mangled around a curse as another thought dropped in the pit of his stomach.
Or did she believe Eric?
Drink downed, he poured another. The glass was cold beneath his fingers, hand clenched as he considered the reality. It was his word against Eric's. His team would back him, might not even fully believe him, but they would do it. The commander would never hear a word he said, would doubt his innocence til the day he retired. Erin would believe him.
But Lana? Would she?
A crack sounded, a spider web splintering through the glass beneath the white of his knuckles.
He didn't want to know.
***
"Look, commander. I don't always agree, or even like the man. But I think you're off base with this one."
Crowley's brow peaked, "How so."
Antonio leaned forward. "Voight put the call into the ambulance. Kept pressure on the wound so Eric wouldn't bleed out before they arrived. Why would he do that if he wanted him dead?"
Crowley shrugged, "Could have been concerned about witnesses at that point. Attention drawn from the gunfire."
"And? There's a dozen different ways he could have let Eric die while looking like he was helping him."
The commander's expression turned questioning at how easily Antonio seemed aware of that information, and Antonio moved on.
"Point is, why order a hit just to save the guy's life."