Part Ten
The loud pounding on the door broke the heavy silence in the room. Whoever was on the other side was becoming impatient and angry. Bosco forced everyone outside that room of his mind. The only thing that mattered now were the three people in this room.
Covic was waiting for some kind of answer to his insane question. Bosco's first impulse was to put on his best sneer and say something he was positive Faith would not like her daughter to hear. He had to force himself to bite back that remark knowing that even if it would have felt great to say it the man in front of him would have probably used it as a opportunity to hit him up side the head again. Or worse, take it out on Emily.
What did he want him to say? What kind of idiot says 'Yeah, I'm ready to die...bring it on'? Not him, that was for sure.
Did he just call himself an idiot? Bosco pushed that out of his mind when he heard Emily whimper quietly beside him. However the next few minutes played out, he promised himself that he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. If he was going to die here, he was at least going to take that lunatic down with him before he could do anything to hurt Emily. He owned that much to Faith, and he wasn't about to let her down.
"What do you want me to say?" He finally managed. He was startled by the harsh sound of his voice but grateful it sounded somewhat calmer than he felt.
Covic snorted from someplace in front of him and then said, "How about we make a deal?"
"What kind of deal?" Bosco asked cautiously.
"A very simple one. You know as well as I do that by now there are snipers outside and I'm sure the building outside and inside are overflowing with your own officers and the FBI. You also know that during a situation like this there are two things playing out right now. You got half of the guys out there trying to make sure they are the ones that are in charge of this operation, and the other half of the people out there are trying to make sure that they won't be in charge in case something goes wrong."
Bosco nodded his head knowing that there was probably a little truth in what he said. "You sure know a whole lot about the way we work."
"Of course I do. You and I are alike. Oh, don't shake your head, we both try to figure out how the other side thinks. And we both know that depending on what we come up with decides if we get to come home after it's all over."
"We are nothing alike. It's my job to keep people safe from scum like you," Bosco spat before he could stop himself.
Bosco heard Covic make a small sound that sounded like a chuckle, and then heard a soft tongue clicking noise. Bosco knew that his last words had not been terribly wise as Covic quickly and violently grabbed his chin and jerked it up. The sudden movement caused Bosco to throw his hand down beside him to catch himself from falling over. He felt his hand land on Emily's fingers and he could feel her trembling. He curled his fingers around her hand and squeezed.
"Patience, Officer Boscorelli, you really do need to learn patience." Covic squeezed his chin painfully then continued. "Our deal is simple enough: if you want this pretty little girl to make it out of here and be able to blow out the candles on her next birthday cake, you will do every thing I tell you, you got that? Everything."
Bosco jerked his head from Covic's grasp and asked, "How do I know you'll keep your end of the bargain?"
"You don't!" Covic snapped. "But you really don't have any other option, do you?"
Bosco heard Covic stand and take a step from him. Emily pulled on his hand and then he felt her pressing up against his side.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm sorry, he hit me. I tried to get outside like you said."
She was sniffing slightly. He could tell that she was trying to keep from crying. Bosco couldn't help but smile. Poor kid was probably scared out of her mind but she was trying to be brave. Bosco lifted his arm and draped it around her shoulder. Emily leaned against him as Bosco 'shushed' her and tried to calm her down. It helped to calm his own nerves as well.
Covic was walking around the room near them then he heard him grunt and the sound of something being pulled across the floor towards the kitchen. What was he up to?
"Em, what is he doing?" he whispered to her.
"He's moving Mr. Pearson," she said quietly.
Mr. Pearson, who? Oh yeah, the super.
"I think he's dead," she whispered then buried her face into his side.
Bosco brought his hand up from her shoulder and stroked her hair as he strained his ears to try and figure out what Covic was up to. Covic had returned from the kitchen and was now pacing behind them. Bosco forced himself to remember the layout of Faith's apartment from previous visits and from the ramblings of Emily the night before when she had tried to avoid her mother by giving him a tour.
Covic was moving to each window in the room, probably figuring out where all the sharpshooters where. Bosco had a passing thought that maybe one of them would get lucky and get a shot off but he knew that Covic wouldn't give them the chance. He was moving slowly around the room; he was searching for an escape. When Bosco heard the footsteps move down the hall he patted
Emily's head and leaned down so she could hear him whisper.
"Emily, I need for you to listen, okay?"
Bosco felt the girl's head move up and down but she didn't move from her place at his side.
"Whatever happens..." God what am I saying? Bosco shook his head then continued. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, you got that? Your Mom is right outside that door and everything is going to work out."
At the mention of Faith, Emily picked up her head and took a deep breath like she was about ready to scream for her. He patted her head a couple of times trying to keep her quiet.
"Hey, hey, listen. I need for you to do exactly what he tells you to do, okay?"
"But..."
"No, listen, Emily. Whatever he says you need to do it. Everything is going to be just fine if you do exactly what he says."
As he spoke to her, he was struggling to fight the horrible feeling that was working it way up from his gut. Along with the feeling he could hear a voice shouting 'Why are you lying to her?'
"Promise me?" he said just as he heard Covic step back into the room.
Emily didn't get the chance to answer him as Covic stepped quickly over to them and pulled her up and away from him.
"Okay, little one, any minute the officers outside are going to get their acts together and that infernal knocking from a little while ago will be replaced by a telephone call. Now your job is very easy. All you have to do is pick it up, but not until I tell you to, and then you're going to have a chat with whomever is on the phone. Are we clear?"
"Yes," Emily whispered she still sounded afraid. Bosco took a deep breath.
"Very good."
Bosco heard the two of them step away from him and head toward the other side of the room. They were now standing somewhere near one of the windows in the living room. Bosco shifted his feet until they were underneath him so he would be ready to push himself up. If Covic tried anything he had to at least try to stop him.
"Now I put the phone right here on this table. I want you to stand right here and do what I tell you to do. If you don't do what I tell you to do, guess what's going to happen?"
Bosco's heart began to race. Please don't ask her that, please don't let her think about that. She
shouldn't have to think about that.
Emily's voice quivered slightly as she said, "You're going to kill me".
Covic let out an evil bark of a laugh and then said, "No, I'm going to kill him."
"Covic, you asshole, don't do that to her!" Bosco shouted as he surged to his feet and staggered toward them.
He heard Emily call his name just as his knee connected with something solid and he fell forward. He barely had time to throw his hands up in front of his face before he hit the floor hard.
A shout escaped his throat as anger flooded through him. All the anger that the fear and the guilt had forced away days ago, it all of it came slamming back into him full force. Anger at this man that wanted to kill him. Anger at those hoodlums that had caused that explosion and his blindness and anger at himself for not being able to do anything now because of it.
Without thinking about what he was doing or why, Bosco put his hands to his face and began to claw at the bandages wrapped tightly around his head. He had to get them off; he frantically ripped them from his face, hoping that if he could get them off everything would be okay, knowing that it wouldn't change anything.
From what sounded like far away he heard Emily crying and calling his name. "Bosco, don't. Please stop! Please!"
Energy gone, he stopped pulling on the bandages, he shook them away and pulled the last strip away from his ear as he laid there on the floor and breathed deeply, trying to get control and force the stabs of frustration away.
"Bosco?" Emily whispered.
"It's okay, Em," he mumbled.
Then Emily was quiet and the only noise was the muffled voices of someone shouting out in the hall. Determination had replaced the anger; he wasn't going to let anyone take anything else from him, starting with the killer in that room.
Then a hand was on his arm and was pulling him to his feet. Bosco didn't bother to resist as Covic pulled him from the floor. He was propelled away from Emily to a place near the left of the door close to the kitchen. Covic yanked him to a stop and gripped him by the arm.
"All right, Officer, let's try this again," Covic said from his side. "When they call, she is going to answer the phone and tell them that she is just fine. Of course it might take a bit to calm her down. But then that's all the time I'm going to need."
"And what are we going to be doing while the Feds swallow her story?"
"There is only one FED outside that door that can identify me. We have somewhat of a history, sorry to say. So I know how this man thinks, he's reckless, a cowboy, he'll make sure he's the first person through that door. Once I take him out, I'll be able to slip out."
Bosco snorted. "What you think you're going to be able to play chameleon and escape in the rush?" "Your not as dumb as you look, Officer Boscorelli. Yes, that's the plan."
"Well, buddy you must be just plain dumb because there is no way that is going to work."
"We will see."
Bosco shook his head and tried to think of something he could do to make sure that his stupid plan really didn't work.
The sound of the phone ringing on the other side of the room started his heart racing. This was it.
Whatever was going to happen had begun. Bosco let out a slow breath as he listened to the phone ring another time.
"Wait; don't pick it up yet." Covic said as he pushed Bosco forward and jerked him to the right. Bosco could hear a new sound of the rustle of a nylon jacket. Where did that come from?
The phone rang again and again and Bosco had lost count when Covic said gruffly, "Answer it."
Covic leaned closer to him and then the cold pressure of a gun was at his temple. "Don't move"
Bosco heard a low click from the phone and then he heard her say, "Emily." There was a pause, she sniffed, and then she whispered. "He hit me."
The sound of her voice made his stomach turn; it made him feel sick. Covic shifted slightly beside him and pulled the gun away from his temple he felt the sleeve of Covic's jacket touch his face as he raised his arm and tightened his grip on Bosco's arm. He had to be pointing the gun at Emily now. Covic's plan suddenly became clear, there was no deal' Emily was a target and he was no more than a shield for this madman.
Oh, God they were both going to die. He had to do something. Just as the thoughts ran through his head he heard Emily say, "He has a gun pointed at me."
Do something, don't think, just move.
Bosco raised his foot and brought his heel down as hard as he could on the other man's foot. Covic stumbled forward surprised by the unexpected blow. As the grip on his arm loosened Bosco lunged sideways and grabbed the arm that held the gun trying to force him off balance.
They both stumbled backwards into the wall and then tumbled to the ground. With one hand on the gun trying to force it away from him Bosco used his other hand to push Covic's head into the wall as hard as he could.
Covic grunted then cursed as he tried to pull the gun back. The gun sounded like an explosion when it went off close to his head, he was sure felt the breeze and heard the soft whoosh as the bullet passed close to the side of his head. That was too close.
Emily's scream filled the room as he lashed out with his legs trying to connect with any of Covic's body parts. He heard pounding on the door and Emily screamed again.
Bosco clawed at Covic's face just as the gun went off again and he felt the heavy slam of a bullet.
Bosco gasped as Covic twisted his arm backwards and grunted. "You lose." The last thing he heard before he slid into the foggy darkness of unconsciousness was someone shouting Covic's name and then Emily screaming "Mommy!"
Wilkerson dropped the phone and turned to the door. Sully was behind Faith, his hand on her shoulder pulling her back. She tried to pull free but his hold was to tight. He heard him telling her to stay here.
"Let me go."
Faith watched one of the agents pulled a steel ram from the bag on the ground and pounded it into her door. Wilkerson grabbed the other side and both Agents threw themselves at the door. On the second blow the door flew back and Faith watched Wilkerson and two other agents rush into the room shouting Covic's name.
"Sully, please," she pleaded
"No, Faith, wait."
Sully's other hand came up and gripped her other shoulder as another shot came from her apartment and then the sound of Emily screaming 'Mommy' again followed by horrible silence.
Sully pulled Faith back into him trying to keep her from rushing into the room.
"Emily," Faith whispered as tears slid from her eyes down her cheeks.
She didn't want to look at the empty doorway but she couldn't force her eyes from it. Then Wilkerson appeared in the doorway with Emily wrapped in his arms. Sully let her go and she rushed toward them.
"Emily!" She reached them in a second and pulled her daughter from Wilkerson's arms. Faith collapsed into a heap on the floor with Emily in her lap squeezing her tightly. Faith kissed the top of her head and tried to calm Emily's sobs. "It's okay, honey. It's over it's over."
She kept repeating the words until she felt Emily stir in her arms and pull away from her. Her daughter's eyes were red and tears were still running down her face. There was also blood on the side of her head near her right temple.
"He shot Bosco; you have to help him."
Faith felt her heart constrict at the words. Bosco...how could she have forgotten about him? She
looked up suddenly at the door and felt Sully's hand settle again on her shoulder.
"I'll go, you stay here," he told her as he stepped around them and into her apartment.
Emily buried herself back into Faith's arms and wrapped her arms tightly around her waist. Faith laid her head down on the top of Emily's head and started to rock slowly back and forth as she watched the busted door in front of her for some sort of sign of her partner.
"Faith, hey, Faith."
Faith jumped slightly at the sound of her name and lifted her head to see Kim squatting down next to her.
"Let me have a look, okay?"
Faith nodded and pulled Emily from her so Kim could have a look. Just as Kim reached for Emily's forehead Doc and Carlos charged up the stairs following Davis into her apartment.
She reluctantly let Emily go so Kim could pull her into her lap and Alex started to examine her temple.
Faith watched for a few more moments then climbed to her feet and turned toward the door. She had to see him, she needed to know if he was dead.
"Mom!" Emily called.
Faith turned back and saw the scared look Emily was giving her. She bent back down quickly and cupped her daughter's cheek.
"I'm going to see Bosco, okay?"
Emily tried to smile as tears welled up in her eyes. She just nodded and then closed her eyes and leaned back into Kim's embrace.
Kim gave her a nod and mouthed 'it's okay' to her. Faith let out a slow breath and then stood again and moved to the door. "Please, please, please," she whispered softly to herself.
She stopped just inside the door. Wilkerson was back in the room standing with two other Agents near her couch. Faith could see a man not moving at their feet with a blue nylon FBI jacket on. She looked closer and realized he must have been Covic, there was a puddle of blood slowly forming around him. She looked from the dead man's face back up to Wilkerson.
He was looking at her. He looked relieved as he nodded to her. She gave him a weak smile and then turned from him to search for her partner.
Her eyes were drawn to the cluster of people in blue near her kitchen. Sully and Davis were standing over Doc and Carlos. Faith could see Bosco's legs stretched out on the other side of them. She was standing next to Sully before she realized that she had left the doorway. Sully put a hand on her back as she looked down at Bosco.
Bosco's eyes were closed and his face was covered with an oxygen mask. They had ripped open his shirt, and exposed his chest and stomach, which was overflowing with dark red blood. Carlos was connecting IV tubing to a needle taped to the back of Bosco's hand as Doc pressed a dressing to his stomach while listening to a stethoscope held to Bosco's chest.
She was relieved to see his chest rise and fall under the stethoscope then Doc looked up at her as he plucked the ends of the stethoscope from his ears. He gave her a big smile.
"Looks good, Faith, I think he's going to be okay."
Faith let out a breath she had been holding and sagged back into Sully. She heard Davis mummer 'All right, way to go'. Faith stood there until they rolled him onto a backboard and hefted him onto the stretcher. She moved out of their way and then followed them into the hallway where Alex and Kim were waiting for them with Emily.
"She's fine, Faith. The cut on her head is going to need some stitches but other than that she's fine." Kim said with a grin on her face as Doc and Carlos passed between them. Kim glanced down with a worried face to Bosco then back up silently questioning Faith.
"Doc says he's going to be fine," Faith answered her with a smile. When she neared Emily her daughter reached out for her. Faith glanced back at Kim who shrugged her shoulder.
"It's not too serious and she's alert and coherent so we can just have someone carry her down."
"I'll do it," Davis said from behind her. He bent down eye level with Emily and smiled at her. "Is that okay, kiddo? "
Emily smiled and nodded her head as she wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her up from the ground. He turned and started down the stairs with Kim close behind.
"Come on," Sully said as they headed down the stairs. When the got to the lobby Faith could hear Agnes in her apartment crying. Faith closed her eyes trying not to think how very close she had come to losing two very important people in her life today, too.
When they stepped out of the building and made their way down the steps the street before her was crazy. RMP's and unmarked police cars were parked every which way on the street with Ambulances, Fire Trucks and SWAT and ESU vans. Faith tried to push everything back and away as she followed Davis and Kim to the bus. Faith noticed crowds of people being moved as
Doc's bus tried to move through the maze to get Bosco to the hospital.
She was almost at the bus when she heard a familiar voice shouting at her. "Faith!"
Faith turned to look at the crowd of people lined up behind barricades at the other side of the street and recognized Fred trying to shove himself to the front of the crowd.
"Fred?"
"I'll get him," Sully told her then walked off toward the crowd. Sully made it to the line and pulled Fred and Charlie through. Fred said something to Sully as Charlie pulled away from him and took off toward her with Fred close behind. Faith bent down as Charlie neared her and flung himself at her. His arms went tightly around her and he squeezed. She tightened her arms around him and stood up as Fred nearly pushed her over as he grabbed both of them in his arms for a hug.
Faith stayed that way for what felt like forever, she just let herself enjoy the moment. It was over soon enough as Charlie squirmed from between them and Fred pulled away. Faith looked into his worried questioning eyes and tried to force the tears away that were forming in her eyes.
"Guys, you want to ride with us?"
Faith turned and saw Alex standing near the doors to the bus waiting to close the doors. Faith could see Kim and Emily already inside. Faith nodded her head and let Charlie slide to the ground. Fred took her and Charlie's hand and led them to the waiting bus. They climbed in and Alex slammed the door behind them.
Fred sat down on the stretcher beside Emily who climbed into his lap and buried her face into his
shirt. Kim pulled out a blanket and covered Emily and Fred with it then turned to Faith and Charlie who were huddled on the bench across from them.
"Faith, how you doing?"
Faith looked down at Charlie then over at Fred and Emily and nodded her head slowly.
"I'm fine, Kim, Thanks"
Kim patted her on the back and they all were silent for the rest of the short trip to the hospital.
After they arrived at the hospital, Kim and Alex took Emily into an examining room. Doc told them that Bosco had been taking straight up to surgery and again reassured her that he just knew Bosco was going to pull through. Davis and Sully suggested a raid on the candy machine to Charlie so Faith and Fred were now alone in the small waiting room.
The tension and worry of the last hour flooded through her and she sunk to the couch. Fred paced in front of her silently for a few seconds; she waited for his outburst. When the questions came they weren't how she expected them.
"What happened? What in the world happened?" he asked quietly.
Faith looked up at Fred who had stopped pacing in front of her. He was pale and he looked frightened he stood in front of her with his arms wrapped around his chest.
"The hitman from the other day, the one that shot that FBI Agent he took Emily and Bosco hostage," she answered him quietly. As she said it she leaned back into the couch and shut her eyes so she could avoid his eyes staring at her.
"I though Emily was at Mom's, what was she doing there?"
"She decided yesterday that she didn't want to go, so she was waiting for me when I brought Bosco home from the hospital."
"She was by herself?"
Faith sighed then opened her eyes to look at Fred who was now squatting in front of her.
"She was upset," Faith said simply. "I don't think she wanted to let me out of her sight this weekend, we had a nice long discussion about lying already."
Fred chewed on his lip as he reached out and took her hand. Faith's eyes went to their hands as she forced the rest of the story out.
"I got a call this morning from Sully to come down and question a dirtbag they pulled off the street who said he had seen the hitman. When I got down there it was this creep Bosco and I arrested several years ago, his brother was killed in the chase." Fred's grip tightened slightly as Faith concentrated on finishing the story.
"Well, he ID'd Covic after I got there. But it was all a plan to get me out of the house, Covic got Mr. Pearson to open our door and take Bosco and Emily hostage. By the time we got there it was locked up tight and we didn't now what was happening. I still don't know what happened in that room, only Emily and Bosco can tell us what happened."
Fred pulled his hands away and ran them over his face. Faith folded her hands into fists and then studied her knuckles. They both jumped when Kim leaned into the room and told them Emily was done and wanted them.
They jumped to there feet and rushed to the room Kim pointed at. Emily was curled up on a bed with a blanket pulled up to her chin. She had a white bandage covering the right side of her forehead. A nurse was standing by the bed stroking her head. Faith and Fred rushed to her and Emily smiled up at them.
"We gave her something to calm her down; she was a little upset with everything that had happened. It's better for her to get some rest right now; I'll be right outside if you need me."
Faith nodded as the nurse turned and left the room.
"Hey sweetie," she said as she sat down on the side of the bed.
Emily grabbed her hand tightly as tears begun to stream from her eyes. "I'm sorry, ...Mommy, I'm sorry," she sputtered.
Faith pulled Emily to her and kissed her head. "This isn't your fault. You didn't do anything wrong baby. You hear me?"
"He shot him because of me. He told me if I did anything wrong that he was going to kill him. It's all my fault, I didn't mean to do anything wrong, I'm sorry," Emily cried.
Her heart broke as she listened to Emily sob. She looked up at Fred's concerned face, then tightened her grip on Emily. She rocked her gently until she stopped crying and just laid in her arms.
Faith slowly pushed Emily away from her until she could see her face. Fred sat down on the other side of Emily and rubbed her back.
"I want you to listen to me okay, will you do that for me?"
Emily nodded but looked away from her. Faith reached out and gently pulled her chin back up so she was looking in her eyes.
"Mommy deals with horrible men like this everyday. They tell horrible lies. They blame everyone else for what they do. That man wanted to scare you, that's why he told you that." Emily's lip began to quiver and Faith ran a finger over her cheek. "Listen to me, Bosco's going to be fine. When he wakes up he's going to tell you just like I did that you didn't do anything wrong. No one blames you for anything that happened today, trust me, Sweetie."
Emily let out a quivering breath then blinked her eyes and finally nodded slowly.
"Okay."
Bosco drifted just on the edge of consciousness. He let the steady beep of the monitor almost pull him back into the warm comforting and probably more than likely drug induced nothingness. Then he felt a warm hand on his face and her soft voice pulling him back all the way. Bosco kept his eyes closed as a pain from his stomach reached him he grimaced and tried to force it away.
"Bos."
"Hey," he finally grunted as the pain eased and settled down to bearable. He opened his eyes and was startled at the blackness until he remembered that his eyes didn't work anymore. At least he was free of the horrible bandages, it wasn't much but it was something.
"It's about time," she said as she brushed the hair off his face.
"Give me a break, I'm in pain here," he said with a grin. Then the last few seconds from in the apartment came rushing back to him. Emily! He reached up, grabbed her hand, and squeezed it. "Emily. What happened? Is she okay?"
Faith's other hand covered his she pulled it toward her and rubbed it gently. "She's fine, Fred's with her. She got a cut on the head, that's it. She's going to be just fine."
He let out a heavy breath and closed his eyes. Then the other man in the room popped into this mind.
"Covic?"
"Dead."
Bosco nodded and muttered, "Good."
Faith squeezed his hand. "Yeah."
They sat in silence for a few minutes then Faith cleared her throat.
"Emily told us what happened. She told us what you did." She stopped and he thought she might be finished then she cleared her throat and continued in a whisper. "She wouldn't be alive now if it wasn't for you."
"Well, I guess it makes us even then," Bosco said quietly hoping that she wouldn't start to cry. He had cried enough for the both of them in the past two days and he didn't think he would be able to handle her tears anywhere near as well as she had his.
He felt the soft tips of her hair brush his face and then she kissed his cheek. "Not even close, partner." She ran the back of her hand over the place on his cheek she had just kissed then continued softly. "You saved my little girl's life." Her voice broke and she fell silent.
He smiled and squeezed her hand. "All in a days work, Ma'am." He tried to make his voice sound casual but he couldn't stop his voice from cracking on the last word just as hers had.
Faith laughed and then ran her hand over his face again. "What would I do without you?"
"Let's pray you never find out."
"Amen, Partner, amen."