"Tell me again why you called Major Case?" Detective Davis asked as she and Bobby waited in her car for their back-up.
"Yuli Rotislav is their suspect in the Rousseau case, it should be their collar if we find him here." Bobby answered. "And you know Internal Affairs doesn't do 'back-up.' Besides, I don' t know if Lemon and Smith would show up or not, but I don't want to take the chance by calling your precinct, at least not yet. Believe me, these are good detectives, we'll want them by our side."
Davis gazed through the side mirror for minute pondering what Bobby said. Then looking at him to see his reaction she said, "ADA Shankly told me you're partial toward Major Case Detectives because you used to work there. She believes that's why you are the one investigating Logan, and plans to take it up with the Chief of Detectives." Bobby stared at her for a moment, clearly surprised by her words, but instead of being angry he laughed. "How is that funny?" She asked, incredulous.
Still laughing Bobby replied, "I would love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation!" He continued to laugh.
"Well you won't think it's so funny when the Chief is investigating your Captain for bias, will you?" She said, emphasizing her annoyance by crossing her arms. But Detective Davis' demeanor reminded Bobby of how incensed he was when he stormed into the Chief's office and he just laughed harder. "Stop laughing, it's not funny Goren! Your office is not immune to corruption. You'll be in real trouble!
Making an effort to get hold of himself, Bobby's laughter subsided to a low chuckle and grabbing the door handle saying, "Come on, they're here." He got out of the car.
"What's so funny?" Zach asked, seeing Bobby's grin as he approached.
"Nothing. Tell you later." Bobby said, still grinning. "Detective Davis of the 51st, meet Detectives Nichols and Stevens of Major Case." The detectives shook hands cordially in greeting.
Bobby briefed Zach Nichols and Serena Stevens on their objective to flush out and capture Yuli Rotislav. "We are not certain he is even in the building, but if he is be ready because he is wily and desperate, so consider him armed and dangerous and act accordingly. You two will cover the building exits. Detective Davis will cover the south basement entrance and I will go in at the north end. We don't have any photos or sketches of Rotislav, only a description provided by his sister; 26 years of age; about 6 feet tall; blonde hair, short, maybe even buzz cut... hair style doesn't translate well..., medium build, prison tattoos visible on his neck and hands. When Yulenka last saw him he was wearing a white shirt, brown leather jacket, and blue jeans. Any questions?"
After everyone was in position, Bobby held his weapon at the ready and moved slowly, and as quietly as possible down the stairs into the sub basement of the Benson street apartment building. At the bottom of the stairs he carefully pushed open the door and moved into the dim, dank, cinder-block hallway leading to the boiler room. It reminded him of the place Jo Gage had held Alex prisoner and tortured and murdered the video shop girl. As he continued along the wall he could hear the varying sounds of leaky, clanking steam pipes, but nothing distinctive that might reveal Yuli's whereabouts. 'I sure hope he's here.' Bobby thought to himself. He was sick of looking for this guy already and it wasn't even originally his case. Yuli had managed to avoid being caught on two other occasions and was now wanted by two separate precincts and 3 different NYPD divisions. They really needed to find him as soon as possible, get a lot of questions answered, and get Mike out of lockup.
Nola watched Alex as she paced in front of her coffee table, alternatively wringing her hands and checking her watch. "Please Alex, stop worrying." Nola implored. "No news is good news, remember?"
"I can't help it Nola, Bobby has never been this late without calling and letting me know what he's doing. Actually, what's really worrying me is that we can't get hold of anyone else either. No one has returned my calls. It's not just Mike and Captain Hannah, but you have to agree something must be going on if we can't even reach Nichols and Stephens. And Wheeler and Daniels don't know where anyone is...? How can I not worry?
"Ok, when you put it that way, yeah I see your point. But can't you think positively? If something bad has happened someone would have called by now." Nola reasoned. "Or we could call dispatch."
"Maybe. As a last resort." Alex stopped pacing and looked at her watch again, then looked out the windows at the night sky. "Will you go with me back to the hospital to see the twins again?" She asked.
"They'll be asleep. You probably won't be allowed in with them... but yeah, sure Alex, we can do that if you want." Nola relented, seeing Alex's hopeful expression.
"I'm sorry to be such a pain, but I just can't sit around waiting, you know? I feel like I need to be doing something!" Nola got up from the couch, and Alex retrieved the car keys and purse from the end table. As she reached for the door handle her cell phone rang startling her and she dropped the keys as she fumbled to answer. "Hello!" She said earnestly.
"Alex." Bobby said. "I'm sorry I couldn't call sooner. Please tell me you weren't too worried."
"Are you kidding? I had you dead and buried already!" She said in half jest, relieved by the sound of his voice. "Where have you been? Is everything ok? I couldn't reach Mike, or Hannah..."
"I know. Again, I'm sorry. There's so much going on. But we got Rotislav and are waiting to settle the jurisdictional arguments. Hannah's not back from the 5-1 yet, and..."
"What's he doing there?" Alex interrupted.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you; they locked up Mike!"
"Locked up Mike?" Alex said and looked at Nola.
"What?" Nola said moving closer to Alex. "Put him on speaker."
Alex hesitated as she continued to listen. "Like I said, a lot has gone on..." Bobby was saying, "But I have to get going...ADA Shankly is here stirring the pot as usual and I think even Zach is about to lose it with her... I'm not getting home any time soon Alex, you shouldn't wait up for me. Ask Nola if she doesn't mind staying the night, okay?"
"Okay Bobby. I can't promise not to wait up, but we'll be fine. I'm just relieved you finally called. Try not to be all night though."
"I'll do my best...hey, how are the kids? Did you get to see them?"
"They're fine Bobby. Doing really well. The nurses think it won't be too long before they can come home."
"That's good news. I have to go Alex. I'll call again later if I am going to be all night."
"Okay, I'll be waiting. I love you."
"Love you too, honey." Bobby said and then hung up.
Alex moved to the couch, sank into it, and sighed. Nola sat down at the other end "So is Mike still locked up?" She asked.
Alex looked at her. "I don't know? I hope not. Bobby never said. He did say Hannah had gone to the 5-1, so he must have gone there to get Mike out."
They sat for a moment in contemplative silence before Nola turned to Alex and said, "I suppose that's why no one has had a chance to call back. I feel like we should be there."
Alex looked at her, "Where, 1PP?"
"Yeah. It doesn't feel right being here on the sidelines while they're out there solving crimes."
Alex stared across the room at her wedding photo on the mantlepiece. Solving crimes or not she definitely wished she were with Bobby. "I completely understand Nola, but I'm wiped out just from all that pacing and worrying. After all that's why we're here, to recuperate."
"I guess you're right. I still ache all over and every once in a while I get a sharp pain where the bruise is on my chest." She saw Alex's expression and held up her hand, "No. I know what you're going to say; I did not over-do-it going with you today."
"Okay, I won't say it…." Alex sighed again. "Still, I'm wide awake. There's no way I am falling asleep anytime soon."
"Me either. Want to watch a movie or something?"
"Sure. Might as well." Alex said, getting up and opening the video cabinet in the home-entertainment center.
Nola stood next to her. "Hmmm, not at all what I imagined your collection would have. Pride and Prejudice, Downton Abbey, Much Ado About Nothing…."
"What were you expecting, Serpico, Death Wish III?"
"Yes. Or Documentaries and Science programs for Bobby."
"They're in his cabinet. We couldn't agree on how to organize our DVDs."
"Lemme guess, he wanted to use the Dewey Decimal system?"
Alex laughed. "I like things alphabetized, he organizes by genre."
"Aha!" Nola said and pulled a DVD from a lower shelf, "Serpico!"
Alex smiled. "Of course I have Serpico. Wanna watch?"
"Nah, too much real life cop drama for me right now. How about Pride and Prejudice. I read the book in High School, but I've never seen a movie version of it."
"Well, if you liked the book, you're going to love the movie…." Alex said and pulled it out of the DVD case.
"I WANT SEE MY SISTER!" Yuli Rotislav demanded, his accent heavy but his English adequately expressive. Standing in Major Case interrogation room 'A', still handcuffed, and refusing to take a seat he was a force to be reckoned with. Two uniformed police, holsters empty, but Asp Batons at the ready stood by the door. Bobby stood near the one-way mirror on Yuli's right and Zach stood on the other side of the table from Bobby at Yuli's left. Detective Davis, clearly intimidated by the overly muscular, aggressive perpetrator stood near the door behind the uniformed police.
Zach, known for his skill at diffusing volatile situations, held his hands up palms open. "Mr. Rotislav, I promise, you will get a chance to see Yulenka, once you have cooperated and answered some questions."
"You Politzya, all corrupt. Want beat me for answers. Want put me in jail because of tattoo. You think I crazy Russian criminal! You right you hurt my sister!"
"No one has hurt Yulenka. No one wants to beat answers out of you. This is the NYPD, not the Gulag Yuli. You will even have your own lawyer. Just calm down. Have a seat. We just want to talk." Zach moved a chair out for Yuli to sit in and gestured to it.
'NO!" Yuli said kicking the chair and stepping forward. "I NOT sit! I NOT calm down!" The uniformed police started to move but Zach held up one hand toward them and one toward Yuli. Bobby moved quietly up behind Yuli, ready to grab him if he made another move toward Zach. "You bring sister now! Or I find way to kill your whole family!" Yuli threatened through clenched teeth. He had leaned in toward Zach as he spoke but did not move forward again.
Zach studied Yuli for a minute then looked at Bobby. Bobby nodded toward the door. Zach picked up the chair then and without another word ushered everyone out of the room, following after them and closing the door behind him. From the observation room came Serena and ADA Shankly out into the hallway. Zach dismissed the uniformed police and turned to look at the others.
"So what now?" Davis asked, thinking that Bobby had been right about her lack of field experience. She had even gone for her gun when Yuli had moved toward detective Nichols and was secretly glad no one seemed to notice since she had not actually drawn the weapon from it's holster.
"I say we bring Yulenka here." Bobby said.
"I agree." Zach stated.
"Why would you give in to his demands?" ADA Shankly challenged.
"This isn't a hostage negotiation Ms. Shankly" Bobby said. "And once he sees his sister is ok, he's more likely to cooperate."
"We don't need him to cooperate. He's obviously guilty. Book him and I'll draw up the charges." Shankly turned and walked away.
Zach and Bobby exchanged looks. "But…." Davis began and started to follow Shankly. Zach caught her arm and she looked up at him, but said nothing. Then when Shankly was nearing the elevators she asked in a quiet voice. "Guilty of which crime?"
"Who knows with Shankly." Bobby said. "I'm just glad she's leaving. Can you get Yulenka over here before she comes back?" He asked Davis.
"I suppose. I just need to make a call."
"Come on, we'll use the phone in the Captain's office." Serena said and Davis followed her.
Bobby and Zach went into the observation room and watched Rotislav for a minute. He had finally sat down and his head was bowed as if he were asleep sitting up. "At least he seems to have calmed down." Zach said.
"Yeah." Bobby agreed. "What kind of read do you get on him? You think he is the hardened criminal he presents himself to be?"
"No. If he were some kind of psychopath he wouldn't care about his sister, he would assume we would mistreat her to get to him, so she'd be a liability. I think he is a desperate guy who got mixed in with some bad people."
"My thoughts exactly." Bobby glanced at the clock. "Damn, it's late. I wonder what happened to Hannah and Mike."
"Suppose they just went home?" Zach mused.
"I don't think so. Alex said she had tried to contact them when she couldn't reach me. One of them would have answered if they'd gone home." Serena and Davis came into the observation room, their expressions grim. "Tell me nothing bad has happened to Yulenka." Bobby said in reaction.
"Not Yulenka. She's being transported here by a patrol car from the 5-1." Serena answered.
Davis spoke up, "It's Detective Logan. Seems he was sent to the Tombs before your Captain got to my precinct. Some kind of clerical error the desk sergeant said."
"A cop in the Tombs!" Bobby exclaimed. He looked as though he had more to say but then stormed out of Observation, ignoring Davis's 'I'm sorry,' and 'It's not my fault.' comments.
She looked from Serena to Zach, "Well it isn't. I wasn't even there." She defended. Serena shook her head and walked out after Bobby.
Zach looked pityingly at Davis. "I think you and the 51st precinct are in for a very thorough investigation from IAB. Heads might just roll." Zach turned then, and followed after Serena.