Part One
Faith reached into her locker and removed her belt just as Bosco came flying in the door. He looked disheveled and a little winded. Bosco barely glanced at her as he flung his locker open and grabbed his vest and uniform. Faith fastened the belt and bent to retrieve her hat and jacket from the bench in front of her. Bosco finally broke the silence.
"I can't believe I over-slept," he grumbled. He yanked his vest over his head, slapped the Velcro fasteners quickly, and pulled his uniform shirt on. "It really wasn't my fault, though."
Faith waited for him to finish getting dressed and continue with his explanation. This was a ritual for them every Monday. Her partner would rush in at the last second and try to get ready while complaining about whatever had happened to him the night before. Usually these discussions would eventually turn to some woman that he had met the night before.
"I was at this bar last night." Bosco stood from the bench and glanced at her. She was giving him her usual disapproving motherly look. "Faith, don't give me that look, I didn't get drunk. And besides you're not my mother."
Faith rolled her eyes at him. "I thank the good Lord everyday for that, Bosco, really I do."
Bosco grunted and turned to her. "Do you want to hear the rest of the story of not?"
Faith turned and walked out of the locker room. She answered him over her shoulder. "Not."
Bosco and Faith entered roll call just as Sergeant Christopher entered from the other door. He glared at them as they took seats behind Sully and Davis.
"Okay, settle down everyone. First on the list today is a heads up about a string of robberies. In the last two days, there have been ten reported robberies in sector three and four. So keep your eyes open people.
Now, it's warrant time of month again. Special squads went out this morning and rounded up some outstanding warrants. I was given a few minor ones that they didn't have time to go look for."
Christopher paused and looked down at the officers sitting in front of him. He enjoyed assigning teams to handle warrants probably because no one enjoyed going after people with warrants. Half of the time it was a wild goose chase, and when you did happen to find some poor person with an outstanding warrant at home he usually bolted and you lost him anyway.
"So Bosco, Yokas, Sullivan and Davis pick up the file before you leave."
Great. Not only did she have to worry about the long day in front of her; she was going to have to endure Bosco's whining. She looked over at her partner and tried not to laugh. He looked angry. She could just imagine the thoughts that were going through his head. Of course, she really wouldn't have to wait to long to hear them; she was certain that the moment they got to their squad she would be treated to every one of them. Some of them she would be subjected to repeatedly.
The briefing ended a few minutes later and Faith got up to get the folder from Christopher. He gave her an annoying grin, handed it over, turned, and left the room. When Faith turned, she was looking at two pairs of angry eyes. Bosco and Davis were both seething.
"I can't believe he did that to us again," Bosco said angrily.
"Maybe if you showed up on time he would pick on someone else," she said to him.
Bosco just glared at her, got up, and headed for the door.
"That really doesn't explain why he keeps handing these assignments to us, too," Ty growled as he stood and followed Bosco out of the room.
Faith could hear Bosco in the hallway, "Oh come on, Davis you didn't get that last…"
Sully stood and shot Faith an amused look and grinned as he began to sing, "What a wonderful day in the neighborhood…"
Faith burst out laughing as she followed Sully to their waiting squads.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The afternoon had gone just as Faith had expected it to. Bosco had complained. They tried to serve three warrants with no luck. Bosco had complained. They had been lucky enough to get one guy at home while he was asleep.
Faith was completing the paperwork and listening to Bosco go on about the woman he had met last night.
Apparently, this one hadn't swooned over the Boscorelli charm. She didn't know which was worse: hearing him complaining about their assignment today, or listening to him go on and on about Beth something-or-other.
They were sitting outside the apartment of Ethan Hobbs, who was wanted for probation violations when
Sully radioed to inform them that he and Davis were sick of trying to serve their half of the warrants and were going to stop for lunch. Faith was hungry, too. She was sure Bosco wouldn't mind coming back to see if Hobbs was home after they ate.
"Come on, Boz Let's go eat," she interrupted his current tirade as she closed the clipboard and threw it on the dash.
He twisted a little in his seat to look at her. "Eat?"
"Yeah, you know, food? I'm hungry."
"What about Hobbs?" he asked as he waved a hand toward the apartment building. "I don't want to have to come all the way back over here. Let's just do this and then go."
Bosco grabbed the handle and pushed himself out of the car. Faith nodded at his back. Sure, why not?
At least they would only have one more warrant after Hobbs and then they would be able to forget about them for awhile.
Hobbs' apartment was 301. When they stepped inside the small lobby, they noticed an 'out of order' sign on the elevator. Bosco shook his head and turned to the stairs. As they were climbing the stairs, Bosco called into dispatch and reported that they were going to serve the warrant. Then he glanced at her.
"That girl last night told me I had some underlying anger issues, do you believe that?" He rolled his eyes.
Faith couldn't help the snort that followed his comment. He turned and glared at her. She covered the smile on her face with her hand and tried to control the sudden need to snicker again. Bosco turned away from her display and continued up the stairs.
"I really wasn't aware that your anger issues were that underlying, Bosco," she said to his back.
"Funny, Faith. Very funny. Why do I put up with you?"
"I'm just along to keep you on your toes."
Faith heard him mumble something under his breath as he reached the top of the stairs. She grinned at him as he pulled the door open and stepped out into the hallway. Faith followed him down the hallway until they were standing in front of apartment 301.
"She said I needed to practice self restraint," he said as he knocked on the door.
"Sounds like a smart woman, what did you tell her?"
He opened his mouth to answer her then shook his head. "You really don't want to know." He pounded on the door a little louder.
Faith was sure she probably didn't want to know; though she knew Bosco and really didn't have any trouble imagining what he told her. She was about to tell him how incredibly stupid she thought he was when they heard the door in front of them open.
A dark headed pre-teen stood in the doorway. He gave both of them a dirty look.
"What do you want?"
"Police, we're looking for Ethan Hobbs."
"He ain't here."
"Do you mind if we take a look?" Faith asked him.
"Yeah."
The boy tried to close the door when they heard a loud crash inside the apartment; then he tried to slam the door on them but Bosco shoved it forward and pushed the boy aside. Faith could see a man running toward the back of the apartment. Bosco took off after him shouting, "Police!"
Faith drew her gun and followed her partner toward the back of the apartment. There were two doors side-by-side; Hobbs ran into the one on the right with Bosco right behind. Faith jogged quickly behind and glanced into the other room; they looked like they were joined bedrooms. She entered the room after Bosco. He had his gun drawn and was kicking at a small door.
"Go around, go around!" he yelled at her.
Faith turned and exited the room. She ran into the other room. She saw a tall, dark-haired man turning from the inside door and reaching for the back window. He saw her and looked away. He looked like he was trying to decide if he could make it to the window in time. Faith wasn't going to give him the chance.
"Police! Freeze!"
The man froze. Faith could hear Bosco pounding on the door. The man flinched and then turned on her.
She saw the gun in his hand a second too late.
She didn't have time to get out of the way. She felt the slam of the bullet and sudden heat in her shoulder before she actually heard the shot. The force sent her tipping backwards; she lost her footing and fell back. She hit the wall behind her and felt herself slide down the wall. The last thing she heard as she felt blackness claim her was Bosco's strangled cry.
"Faith!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faith heard his voice.
"Faith! Talk to me, Faith."
It sounded muffled, like he was under water. She wondered briefly what he was doing under water. She knew that didn't make sense, but that was the first thing that went through her mind. The second thing that registered was pain. Her shoulder was on fire. She tried not to think about the pain that was shooting down her right arm; instead, she made herself focus on Bosco's voice. He sounded scared. That wasn't right; Bosco didn't get scared. Angry, frustrated, and disgusted, but Maurice Boscorelli didn't get scared.
Faith slowly opened her eyes; she was pulled more by the sound of his voice than her desire to actually open her eyes. But, he needed her, so she had to do it.
She saw Bosco on the other side of the room. He was holding his gun on the dark-haired man that had shot her. The man's gun was now pointing at Bosco. He was staring at the man before him but unfortunately, his focus was more on her than the man in front of him.
She had to let him know she was okay.
"Bosco."
It came out a lot softer than she would have liked but she saw his shoulders relax a little. She knew he had heard her.
"Put the gun down," he ordered the man.
"No way, I'm not going back to jail. They will kill me if I go back."
"Listen, Hobbs, this can only get worse. You need to put the damn gun down."
Bosco seemed calm. She could hear a little hitch in his voice, though.
She had to help him. Faith tried to pull her legs up so she could get her feet underneath her, but without the use of her arm she couldn't get the leverage she needed to push herself up.
Hobbs glanced at her then back at Bosco. She watched as he slowly lowered the gun. Bosco reached out his hand to take it from him.
The thought of calling for help suddenly occurred to her. She reached up toward the radio at her shoulder to call for help when she felt it ripped from her shirt. She jerked her head toward the movement and saw the kid standing next to her with her radio in his hand.
"You can't take my dad. I won't let you," he snarled at her.
Faith saw the anger in his eyes and knew that this kid was just as dangerous as his father was.
Before she could yell a warning to Bosco, the kid was pass her and running straight at her partner.
The kid ran right into Bosco. The full weight of the kid sent Bosco falling forward into Hobbs. Hobbs pushed away from him and tried to scramble backwards away from the two falling figures. His gun went sliding across the room. Bosco went down hard with the kid on top of him. Faith could see them struggling for his gun. The kid had a slight advantage because Bosco hadn't been prepared for the impact. They rolled over together and Bosco used his weight and size to pin the kid against the wall.
Faith forgot about the pain in her shoulder and pushed herself up. She pulled her gun and stumbled toward the pair. Hobbs however had regained his balance and grabbed Bosco by the shoulders; she saw something in his hand flash. Hobbs was taller than Bosco was and he easily yanked him off his son. Faith raised her gun at pointed at Hobbs. Hobbs pulled Bosco in between himself and her. He had one arm tightly around Bosco's neck the other was somewhere behind Bosco's back.
Bosco's eyes were bulging from the lack of air but he managed to snarl. "Shoot him!"
Was he crazy? Her shoulder was on fire and the room was tilting just a little. There was no way that she was going to fire on her partner. You never fired on your partner. Besides, she couldn't be sure that in her current state she would even be able to miss Bosco and hit Hobbs. She couldn't take the chance. She *wouldn't* take the chance.
The son staggered to his feet near the connecting door and turned toward Faith. Now she was outnumbered and they knew it.
"I told you I'm not going back to jail. Put that gun down or I'm going to snap his neck."
Faith's nerves wavered and her gun shook slightly.
"Don't do it," Bosco grunted.
Faith looked into his eyes. She saw fear but she also saw anger. She wasn't sure whom the anger was focused at. She hoped he wasn't mad at her. She prayed he wouldn't be mad at her. Her only choice was to lower her gun; she had to--she wouldn't watch Bosco die.
The son took a step toward her and Bosco made his move. He tried to twist down and away from Hobbs.
Hobbs released his hold on Bosco's neck but he made a swift movement with his other arm. Faith saw Bosco freeze for a second, he gasped and his eyes slammed shut. The son was now next to Faith and he grabbed at her gun. He was able to easily twist it from her grasp and push her backwards. Faith landed on her side, looking up at Hobbs and Bosco.
Hobbs had a smile on his face. Suddenly Bosco's knees buckled and he fell to the ground in front of her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faith reached into her locker and removed her belt just as Bosco came flying in the door. He looked disheveled and a little winded. Bosco barely glanced at her as he flung his locker open and grabbed his vest and uniform. Faith fastened the belt and bent to retrieve her hat and jacket from the bench in front of her. Bosco finally broke the silence.
"I can't believe I over-slept," he grumbled. He yanked his vest over his head, slapped the Velcro fasteners quickly, and pulled his uniform shirt on. "It really wasn't my fault, though."
Faith waited for him to finish getting dressed and continue with his explanation. This was a ritual for them every Monday. Her partner would rush in at the last second and try to get ready while complaining about whatever had happened to him the night before. Usually these discussions would eventually turn to some woman that he had met the night before.
"I was at this bar last night." Bosco stood from the bench and glanced at her. She was giving him her usual disapproving motherly look. "Faith, don't give me that look, I didn't get drunk. And besides you're not my mother."
Faith rolled her eyes at him. "I thank the good Lord everyday for that, Bosco, really I do."
Bosco grunted and turned to her. "Do you want to hear the rest of the story of not?"
Faith turned and walked out of the locker room. She answered him over her shoulder. "Not."
Bosco and Faith entered roll call just as Sergeant Christopher entered from the other door. He glared at them as they took seats behind Sully and Davis.
"Okay, settle down everyone. First on the list today is a heads up about a string of robberies. In the last two days, there have been ten reported robberies in sector three and four. So keep your eyes open people.
Now, it's warrant time of month again. Special squads went out this morning and rounded up some outstanding warrants. I was given a few minor ones that they didn't have time to go look for."
Christopher paused and looked down at the officers sitting in front of him. He enjoyed assigning teams to handle warrants probably because no one enjoyed going after people with warrants. Half of the time it was a wild goose chase, and when you did happen to find some poor person with an outstanding warrant at home he usually bolted and you lost him anyway.
"So Bosco, Yokas, Sullivan and Davis pick up the file before you leave."
Great. Not only did she have to worry about the long day in front of her; she was going to have to endure Bosco's whining. She looked over at her partner and tried not to laugh. He looked angry. She could just imagine the thoughts that were going through his head. Of course, she really wouldn't have to wait to long to hear them; she was certain that the moment they got to their squad she would be treated to every one of them. Some of them she would be subjected to repeatedly.
The briefing ended a few minutes later and Faith got up to get the folder from Christopher. He gave her an annoying grin, handed it over, turned, and left the room. When Faith turned, she was looking at two pairs of angry eyes. Bosco and Davis were both seething.
"I can't believe he did that to us again," Bosco said angrily.
"Maybe if you showed up on time he would pick on someone else," she said to him.
Bosco just glared at her, got up, and headed for the door.
"That really doesn't explain why he keeps handing these assignments to us, too," Ty growled as he stood and followed Bosco out of the room.
Faith could hear Bosco in the hallway, "Oh come on, Davis you didn't get that last…"
Sully stood and shot Faith an amused look and grinned as he began to sing, "What a wonderful day in the neighborhood…"
Faith burst out laughing as she followed Sully to their waiting squads.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The afternoon had gone just as Faith had expected it to. Bosco had complained. They tried to serve three warrants with no luck. Bosco had complained. They had been lucky enough to get one guy at home while he was asleep.
Faith was completing the paperwork and listening to Bosco go on about the woman he had met last night.
Apparently, this one hadn't swooned over the Boscorelli charm. She didn't know which was worse: hearing him complaining about their assignment today, or listening to him go on and on about Beth something-or-other.
They were sitting outside the apartment of Ethan Hobbs, who was wanted for probation violations when
Sully radioed to inform them that he and Davis were sick of trying to serve their half of the warrants and were going to stop for lunch. Faith was hungry, too. She was sure Bosco wouldn't mind coming back to see if Hobbs was home after they ate.
"Come on, Boz Let's go eat," she interrupted his current tirade as she closed the clipboard and threw it on the dash.
He twisted a little in his seat to look at her. "Eat?"
"Yeah, you know, food? I'm hungry."
"What about Hobbs?" he asked as he waved a hand toward the apartment building. "I don't want to have to come all the way back over here. Let's just do this and then go."
Bosco grabbed the handle and pushed himself out of the car. Faith nodded at his back. Sure, why not?
At least they would only have one more warrant after Hobbs and then they would be able to forget about them for awhile.
Hobbs' apartment was 301. When they stepped inside the small lobby, they noticed an 'out of order' sign on the elevator. Bosco shook his head and turned to the stairs. As they were climbing the stairs, Bosco called into dispatch and reported that they were going to serve the warrant. Then he glanced at her.
"That girl last night told me I had some underlying anger issues, do you believe that?" He rolled his eyes.
Faith couldn't help the snort that followed his comment. He turned and glared at her. She covered the smile on her face with her hand and tried to control the sudden need to snicker again. Bosco turned away from her display and continued up the stairs.
"I really wasn't aware that your anger issues were that underlying, Bosco," she said to his back.
"Funny, Faith. Very funny. Why do I put up with you?"
"I'm just along to keep you on your toes."
Faith heard him mumble something under his breath as he reached the top of the stairs. She grinned at him as he pulled the door open and stepped out into the hallway. Faith followed him down the hallway until they were standing in front of apartment 301.
"She said I needed to practice self restraint," he said as he knocked on the door.
"Sounds like a smart woman, what did you tell her?"
He opened his mouth to answer her then shook his head. "You really don't want to know." He pounded on the door a little louder.
Faith was sure she probably didn't want to know; though she knew Bosco and really didn't have any trouble imagining what he told her. She was about to tell him how incredibly stupid she thought he was when they heard the door in front of them open.
A dark headed pre-teen stood in the doorway. He gave both of them a dirty look.
"What do you want?"
"Police, we're looking for Ethan Hobbs."
"He ain't here."
"Do you mind if we take a look?" Faith asked him.
"Yeah."
The boy tried to close the door when they heard a loud crash inside the apartment; then he tried to slam the door on them but Bosco shoved it forward and pushed the boy aside. Faith could see a man running toward the back of the apartment. Bosco took off after him shouting, "Police!"
Faith drew her gun and followed her partner toward the back of the apartment. There were two doors side-by-side; Hobbs ran into the one on the right with Bosco right behind. Faith jogged quickly behind and glanced into the other room; they looked like they were joined bedrooms. She entered the room after Bosco. He had his gun drawn and was kicking at a small door.
"Go around, go around!" he yelled at her.
Faith turned and exited the room. She ran into the other room. She saw a tall, dark-haired man turning from the inside door and reaching for the back window. He saw her and looked away. He looked like he was trying to decide if he could make it to the window in time. Faith wasn't going to give him the chance.
"Police! Freeze!"
The man froze. Faith could hear Bosco pounding on the door. The man flinched and then turned on her.
She saw the gun in his hand a second too late.
She didn't have time to get out of the way. She felt the slam of the bullet and sudden heat in her shoulder before she actually heard the shot. The force sent her tipping backwards; she lost her footing and fell back. She hit the wall behind her and felt herself slide down the wall. The last thing she heard as she felt blackness claim her was Bosco's strangled cry.
"Faith!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faith heard his voice.
"Faith! Talk to me, Faith."
It sounded muffled, like he was under water. She wondered briefly what he was doing under water. She knew that didn't make sense, but that was the first thing that went through her mind. The second thing that registered was pain. Her shoulder was on fire. She tried not to think about the pain that was shooting down her right arm; instead, she made herself focus on Bosco's voice. He sounded scared. That wasn't right; Bosco didn't get scared. Angry, frustrated, and disgusted, but Maurice Boscorelli didn't get scared.
Faith slowly opened her eyes; she was pulled more by the sound of his voice than her desire to actually open her eyes. But, he needed her, so she had to do it.
She saw Bosco on the other side of the room. He was holding his gun on the dark-haired man that had shot her. The man's gun was now pointing at Bosco. He was staring at the man before him but unfortunately, his focus was more on her than the man in front of him.
She had to let him know she was okay.
"Bosco."
It came out a lot softer than she would have liked but she saw his shoulders relax a little. She knew he had heard her.
"Put the gun down," he ordered the man.
"No way, I'm not going back to jail. They will kill me if I go back."
"Listen, Hobbs, this can only get worse. You need to put the damn gun down."
Bosco seemed calm. She could hear a little hitch in his voice, though.
She had to help him. Faith tried to pull her legs up so she could get her feet underneath her, but without the use of her arm she couldn't get the leverage she needed to push herself up.
Hobbs glanced at her then back at Bosco. She watched as he slowly lowered the gun. Bosco reached out his hand to take it from him.
The thought of calling for help suddenly occurred to her. She reached up toward the radio at her shoulder to call for help when she felt it ripped from her shirt. She jerked her head toward the movement and saw the kid standing next to her with her radio in his hand.
"You can't take my dad. I won't let you," he snarled at her.
Faith saw the anger in his eyes and knew that this kid was just as dangerous as his father was.
Before she could yell a warning to Bosco, the kid was pass her and running straight at her partner.
The kid ran right into Bosco. The full weight of the kid sent Bosco falling forward into Hobbs. Hobbs pushed away from him and tried to scramble backwards away from the two falling figures. His gun went sliding across the room. Bosco went down hard with the kid on top of him. Faith could see them struggling for his gun. The kid had a slight advantage because Bosco hadn't been prepared for the impact. They rolled over together and Bosco used his weight and size to pin the kid against the wall.
Faith forgot about the pain in her shoulder and pushed herself up. She pulled her gun and stumbled toward the pair. Hobbs however had regained his balance and grabbed Bosco by the shoulders; she saw something in his hand flash. Hobbs was taller than Bosco was and he easily yanked him off his son. Faith raised her gun at pointed at Hobbs. Hobbs pulled Bosco in between himself and her. He had one arm tightly around Bosco's neck the other was somewhere behind Bosco's back.
Bosco's eyes were bulging from the lack of air but he managed to snarl. "Shoot him!"
Was he crazy? Her shoulder was on fire and the room was tilting just a little. There was no way that she was going to fire on her partner. You never fired on your partner. Besides, she couldn't be sure that in her current state she would even be able to miss Bosco and hit Hobbs. She couldn't take the chance. She *wouldn't* take the chance.
The son staggered to his feet near the connecting door and turned toward Faith. Now she was outnumbered and they knew it.
"I told you I'm not going back to jail. Put that gun down or I'm going to snap his neck."
Faith's nerves wavered and her gun shook slightly.
"Don't do it," Bosco grunted.
Faith looked into his eyes. She saw fear but she also saw anger. She wasn't sure whom the anger was focused at. She hoped he wasn't mad at her. She prayed he wouldn't be mad at her. Her only choice was to lower her gun; she had to--she wouldn't watch Bosco die.
The son took a step toward her and Bosco made his move. He tried to twist down and away from Hobbs.
Hobbs released his hold on Bosco's neck but he made a swift movement with his other arm. Faith saw Bosco freeze for a second, he gasped and his eyes slammed shut. The son was now next to Faith and he grabbed at her gun. He was able to easily twist it from her grasp and push her backwards. Faith landed on her side, looking up at Hobbs and Bosco.
Hobbs had a smile on his face. Suddenly Bosco's knees buckled and he fell to the ground in front of her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~