Chapter Five: Duty Bound

It was windy up here on the bridge, Maggie could feel it whipping through her loose chestnut colored hair as she leaned on the railing looking over into the deepest depths of the water below her. There was a shimmer of light in the distance, it came from the buildings on either sides of the river and cast an almost pretty glow. Maggie closed her eyes momentarily, listening to the swirling tide underneath her. She didn't know why but she always found a little clarity when she came here. No matter how shitty the world was looking being here reminded her of the good things in life and right now she needed that. It was the sound of footsteps that first alerted her to his presence, she didn't need to turn around to know who it was approaching her. He'd always been quick on his feet, she'd always joked that it was the reason why he made such a good boxer.

Antonio leaned on the railing beside her, his elbows resting upon the metal bar as their hips bumped lightly. She was clad in a calf length black coat with a scarlet and gold silk scarf wrapped around her throat, her long chestnut hair loose around her shoulders as she stared out at river below.

"I fucked up." he said, his gaze falling onto the glittering lights dancing along the ripples of the black glistening water. "I thought we could get you out if we took down Oskar but Regan is relentless."

"You didn't fuck up." Maggie told him, straightening her spine so she came up to her full height, her boot kicking at the gravel under their feet. "Regan was never going to let me go."

"It's not right Maggie." Antonio told her, his voice betraying the frustration and rage that boiled underneath the surface of his skin. "They're feeding you to the wolves and I can't do a damn thing about it."

Maggie turned her head to look at him and everything he saw in those pretty blue eyes of hers broke his heart into a thousand little pieces. He couldn't stand this anymore, he couldn't stand the lonely nights wondering if he'd ever see her again. Maggie reached out, her cool fingertips trailing along the line of his jawline of his grizzled cheek, her thumb skating along his cheekbone. Antonio clasped his hand to hers holding it in place as he revelled in her touch. There was something so intimate in the gesture, it made his heart literally ache within the confines of his chest. He hadn't known that something so sweet could hurt so God damn much, his lips brushed the palm of her hand placing the gentlest of kisses upon the underside of her wrist.

"Antonio..." she murmured, there was pain in her voice and he knew that this was hurting her too. Being so close and yet so far apart was killing the both of them slowly. It hadn't been this bad when they were partners. They had rationalised their feelings for one another, pretended they didn't exist but after Laura had put forward for divorce and Maggie had appeared back in his life he couldn't deny the intensity of the feelings he felt for this woman. It was never meant to be like this but somehow it was and now that he had her back in his life, even if it was just for a fleeting second he never wanted to let her go.

"How the hell am I supposed to let you walk back into that mess?" he asked her earnestly.

Maggie inhaled deeply, he knew she was trying to ground herself. He could see it in the way she straightened her spine and jammed her dainty hands into the pockets of her long black coat.

"You remind yourself it's part of the job." she told him bluntly. " And that one day it won't be like this and until then we both have to do our duty whether we like it or not."

Antonio pursed his lips together before nodding his agreement at her words. It took a moment for him to push back all those emotions that were bubbling up so perilously close to the surface and adopt his professional persona. It was the only way he could compartmentalize what was happening right now, to face what he knew they had to do.

"So I'm guessing that there's another reason you called me down here tonight?" he mentioned, casting his gaze over the river once more. The cop inside of him was already erecting those emotional barriers, getting ready to protect him from the inevitable moment that he would walk away and leave her standing alone once more on the bridge.

"Yea." Maggie said lowering her gaze for a moment as she selected the words he needed to hear. "Oskar has put a bounty on Halstead, it's one hundred thousand to the person that kills him."

Antonio stared at her, speechless for a moment, his mind whirled over the possibilities. He had to say the crime boss moved fast, he'd barely been arrested eight hours ago and somehow he was still calling the shots from prison.

"Jesus..." Antonio muttered, leaning back against the railing and resting his elbows upon it as he looked up at the night sky. "Anyone shown any interest yet?"

"They offered it to J.P about an hour ago but he declined. The hit goes live tomorrow morning which means it's anybody's." Maggie informed him before casting a glance at her watch.

"J.P?" Antonio queried.

"Talk to Al." Maggie advised before shooting him an apologetic look. "I've got to get going, if I'm gone any longer then they'll start to ask questions."

"Go." Antonio urged her, removing his cell phone from the inside pocket of his leather jacket and hitting the one on his phone to speed dial Voight. "I'll take care of this."