This One's Personal
Chapter 11
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco finished changing and headed out of the locker room. He'd told Faith that he'd meet her out front in a few minutes. "I just wanna check in. You know, see if she needs anything - besides her son back," he said looking down at his shoes.
Faith put a hand on her friend's arm. "We'll find him, Bos. You know we will," she said, giving his arm a gentle squeeze. He looked up at her and saw the confidence in her eyes.
"Yeah, definitely," he said. "You get changed and I'll meet you out front," he said, turning to head out of the locker room. Sully and Ty had finished changing and walked over to Faith.
"Boy, this is really eating at him," commented Sully. "I mean, it's eating at me too, but he looks terrible," he finished.
"Yeah, well, he's really gotten close to Katy and the kids in the last few weeks," Faith explained still looking at the door that her partner had just exited.
"Well, that explains why I haven't seen him around too much after the shift and days off," said Ty.
"I didn't know that," Sully said simply. "Well," he said, taking a deep breath. "Let's hit it Davis," Sully said as they prepared to head out in Ty's truck to continue looking.
Ty followed his partner out the door and turned back to Faith. "I've got my cell if you find anything."
"Yeah, I've got mine and Bosco's got his too," she said. "See you out there, guys. And, by the way, Bosco really appreciates what you're doing. He's just a little too close to this one," she finished.
"Understood. I know he'd do the same for any one of us," Ty said, turning to go and letting the locker room door shut behind him. Faith went about getting her street clothes on. After she was dressed, she sat on the bench and dialed her phone.
"Hey," she said as Fred answered the phone. "Yeah, we're still looking. Nothing yet," she informed him.
"I know. I'll get some rest a little later, I promise," she said, smiling into the phone. He was such a mother hen sometimes. But, she loved that about him. She loved that he let her be who she had to be. She knew he didn't like her being a cop. She remembered the look on his face each time a cop got killed in the line of duty. And the look after 9/11. But, he knew she couldn't give it up. It was part of who she was. She was finally pulled back to the present by Fred's voice on the other end.
"Oh, well, we're all gonna head out in our own cars and keep looking. We can spread out more and people won't be hiding like they do when they see a cruiser coming down the street. How's the kids?" she asked him, thankful that it wasn't her dealing with the loss of one of her kids.
"Great. Give them a kiss for me and tell Emily 'good luck' on her math test today. Tell her I'm 'counting' on her. Get it," she said, breaking up. "Fred, that was funny. Okay, maybe you're right. I'm just too tired. I'll see you all in a little while. I love you too," she finished, hanging up the phone and gathering her things to head outside.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Bosco quietly opened the front door and stepped inside. He just wanted to check in and see how everyone was doing. He looked into the living room and saw Lieutenant Swersky asleep on the couch. He must have heard Bosco come in, because he opened his eyes and sat up.
"Anything?" he asked Bosco.
"No, Sir. I'm sorry," Bosco told him quietly so as not to wake anyone else up. "We just changed shifts. A bunch of us are gonna go out in our own cars and keep looking. We figure maybe we can get closer if we're not sitting in an RMP," he explained. "How's everyone doing?"
"Katy's upstairs with the kids. They're all sleeping in her bed with her. She's afraid to let them go. I think she got a good night's sleep, because I haven't heard her walking around up there," the Lieutenant said.
Bosco chuckled slightly, remembering the three phone calls from her. "Yeah, well I talked to her quite a bit during the night," he said, looking at the Lieutenant, showing him the cell phone he was holding in his hand. The Lieutenant chuckled and stood up to head into the kitchen to make some fresh coffee. "I see a light in her eyes again when she talks about you, Bosco," the Lieutenant said as he walked by Bosco, causing him to inwardly smile.
Bosco followed him out to the kitchen and looked around, remembering the breakfast he shared in this room with Katy and the kids. The knot in his stomach tightened and he turned when he sensed that someone was behind him. He turned to see Katy standing there, hope in her eyes. She hoped that Bosco had found her son and brought him home to her.
He walked over to her. "Anything?" she asked, her voice shaky. He shook his head. "Not yet," he told her gently. "We're on our way back out again. I just wanted to check in," he said.
Katy turned away, trying to hide her tears from Bosco and her father. Bosco put a hand on her shoulder as her father came around the table to embrace her. He looked at Bosco's face and saw how much this was eating at him. He knew that Bosco wanted to get back out there and start looking, but he didn't want to leave Katy like this either.
"Fresh coffee's done if you want to take some with you," he said, giving Bosco a way to leave Katy. "I've got her," he said gently. Bosco went over and got himself and Faith a cup of coffee, pouring them into travel mugs that Katy had in the cabinet. He walked toward the front door and looked back at Katy, who was watching him leave. Their eyes connected and held for a moment until Bosco gave the slightest nod of his head. She knew with that nod that Bosco wouldn't give up until he brought Shaun home to her. He opened the door and headed out, closing the door softly behind him so as not to wake up the kids.
Lieutenant Swersky sat his daughter down at the table. He walked over to get her a cup of coffee. With his back to her, she said, "He's a good man, Dad." He stopped what he was doing, but didn't turn around. There was an awkward silence and then her father realized what she needed.
He slowly turned to his daughter, bringing her coffee over. "Yes, Katy. He is. And you can count on him. He'll always be there for you and the kids. It's not too soon," he told her, telling her that it was okay to start living again - to start moving on to live without Mark.
She gave her father a slight smile and took a sip of the coffee, grimacing at whatever recipe her father used for coffee. She made a mental note to show him exactly how a good cup of coffee is made.
^*^*^*^*^*^
"So, how's she doing?" Faith asked Bosco as they both got in her car. It was less conspicuous than his blue mustang. "As well as can be expected," he said, looking over at the house before he started the car.
Of course, Bosco was driving. It kept him calm. Faith knew that and didn't mind a bit. "Thanks for the coffee," she said, taking a sip of the hot beverage.
"Oh my God!" she said, not wanting to swallow it, but having no other choice. "Did you make this?" she said, opening the door to the car and dumping it out on the sidewalk.
Bosco laughed as he took a big sip of the steaming coffee. "No! Lieu made it. What was I going to do, refuse his coffee? I have to work with the man," he said, laughing at the look still on Faith's face.
"Well, that's above and beyond, if you ask me," Faith said, setting the now empty cup in the cup holder.
Bosco's smile faded as he got his mind back on business. "So, which way did Ty and Sully go?" he asked Faith.
"They're taking northside. Doherty and D.K. are heading east. Doc and Carlos are heading west. I guess that leaves us with south," Faith reported.
Bosco looked at his partner. "We really do work with a great bunch," he said, amazed at the support that the police and fire department were providing on their time off. "They all had families of their own to go home to," he thought to himself as he pulled away and headed south.
"Yeah well, it's like you said. This is family. This one's personal," Faith told him.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Palmer watched as Shaun slept. The boy had been too upset last night to reason with. He decided to let him sleep and then get him a good breakfast and start fresh. He'd forced some medication down his throat and waited for him to fall asleep.
Now, he watched the sun coming through the dingy curtains and slowly creep across the wall toward the bed. He really was a beautiful child. And he looked so angelic as he slept. "Yes," he thought to himself. "This is going to be good, Shaun. I'll make you happy."
He watched as the boy stirred in the bed, his eyes suddenly opening as he remembered the events of the previous night. His eyes started to water and he didn't want to move. Didn't want George to know that he was awake. But, it was too late. He'd seen his eyes open.
"Good morning, Shaun. I trust you had a good night's sleep?" he said to the boy, trying to sound chipper.
Shaun remained quiet, refusing to speak to the man. "Not a morning person, I see," said Palmer as he turned on the television to cartoons and went into the bathroom to get cleaned up before taking the boy for breakfast. He left the door open so that he could keep an eye on Shaun - not that he'd be able to open the deadbolt that was high on the door.
Shaun sat up on the bed, pulling his knees up to his chest. He stared at the television, not really seeing what was on it. He thought of his mother and the terrible scream he heard as George stuffed him into his truck. He tried to call out to her, but the tape over his mouth prevented it. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep while he was crying.
George finished cleaning up and came back out into the room. "I want to go home," Shaun said to him. George looked at him. "Shaun, I told you that you're home is with me now. Your mother told me to take care of you," he tried to persuade him.
"NO! My mother would never do that. And, even if she did, she'd let me go with Bosco!" Shaun shouted. George quickly tried to quiet the boy, but wondered who this Bosco person was.
"Okay, Shaun. Just calm down. Everything is going to be fine. Now, who is this Bosco person you mention? Maybe I know him," George said pleasantly, trying to calm Shaun down. He didn't want him making too much noise and alerting his neighbors.
"Bosco. He's a friend of my Mom's. He plays with us. He works with my Grampa at the police station," Shaun said. "And, he's not gonna be very happy that I'm with you," Shaun informed him as he crossed his arms in anger.
"Well, we'll just have to see about that," Palmer said, realizing that Bosco and Officer Boscorelli were one in the same person.
"Now, are you hungry? Let's go get some pancakes at the diner across the street," he said. Shaun thought for a moment and decided that he was pretty hungry after all. He climbed down from the bed and followed George to the door. George took hold of his hand firmly and walked him across the street for breakfast.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
"Wait a minute. Can that be?" Jimmy Doherty said to D.K. as they were driving down 137th Avenue.
"What?" asked D.K. looking in the direction that Jimmy pointed to.
"In that diner. I swear I just saw Shuan walking with some guy into that diner," Jimmy replied, turning in his seat so that he didn't lose sight of the door.
D.K. stepped on the brakes and quickly brought the car around. He parked just across the street from the diner. They didn't know if they should go in or just call for Bosco. They didn't want to take the chance of Palmer getting away from them.
"Shaun knows the both of us. If he sees us walking in and says hello, Palmer's going to bolt out of there," Jimmy said, not taking his eyes off the door of the diner.
"Gimme your cell phone," D.K. said. Jimmy handed him the phone. "Who're you gonna call?"
"I'm gonna call Billy and have his wife come down here. He lives just down the road. Shaun won't remember her and she can go in and look around without being noticed," D.K. said as he dialed Billy Walsh's number.
"Hello," came the voice on the other end.
"Hey, Billy. It's D.K. Look I'm at the diner on 135th with Jimmy. I think we just saw Shaun go into a diner with some guy. He knows what we look like. Do you think your wife would come down here and take a look for us? We don't want to scare him off before we call Bosco," D.K. explained.
"Hold on," Billy said, putting his hand over the phone and talking to someone that D.K. assumed was his wife.
"Yeah, we'll be right there," Billy said.
"Great. We're parked out front, across the street," D.K. said hanging up the phone. To Jimmy, he said, "They're on their way."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...
Chapter 11
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco finished changing and headed out of the locker room. He'd told Faith that he'd meet her out front in a few minutes. "I just wanna check in. You know, see if she needs anything - besides her son back," he said looking down at his shoes.
Faith put a hand on her friend's arm. "We'll find him, Bos. You know we will," she said, giving his arm a gentle squeeze. He looked up at her and saw the confidence in her eyes.
"Yeah, definitely," he said. "You get changed and I'll meet you out front," he said, turning to head out of the locker room. Sully and Ty had finished changing and walked over to Faith.
"Boy, this is really eating at him," commented Sully. "I mean, it's eating at me too, but he looks terrible," he finished.
"Yeah, well, he's really gotten close to Katy and the kids in the last few weeks," Faith explained still looking at the door that her partner had just exited.
"Well, that explains why I haven't seen him around too much after the shift and days off," said Ty.
"I didn't know that," Sully said simply. "Well," he said, taking a deep breath. "Let's hit it Davis," Sully said as they prepared to head out in Ty's truck to continue looking.
Ty followed his partner out the door and turned back to Faith. "I've got my cell if you find anything."
"Yeah, I've got mine and Bosco's got his too," she said. "See you out there, guys. And, by the way, Bosco really appreciates what you're doing. He's just a little too close to this one," she finished.
"Understood. I know he'd do the same for any one of us," Ty said, turning to go and letting the locker room door shut behind him. Faith went about getting her street clothes on. After she was dressed, she sat on the bench and dialed her phone.
"Hey," she said as Fred answered the phone. "Yeah, we're still looking. Nothing yet," she informed him.
"I know. I'll get some rest a little later, I promise," she said, smiling into the phone. He was such a mother hen sometimes. But, she loved that about him. She loved that he let her be who she had to be. She knew he didn't like her being a cop. She remembered the look on his face each time a cop got killed in the line of duty. And the look after 9/11. But, he knew she couldn't give it up. It was part of who she was. She was finally pulled back to the present by Fred's voice on the other end.
"Oh, well, we're all gonna head out in our own cars and keep looking. We can spread out more and people won't be hiding like they do when they see a cruiser coming down the street. How's the kids?" she asked him, thankful that it wasn't her dealing with the loss of one of her kids.
"Great. Give them a kiss for me and tell Emily 'good luck' on her math test today. Tell her I'm 'counting' on her. Get it," she said, breaking up. "Fred, that was funny. Okay, maybe you're right. I'm just too tired. I'll see you all in a little while. I love you too," she finished, hanging up the phone and gathering her things to head outside.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Bosco quietly opened the front door and stepped inside. He just wanted to check in and see how everyone was doing. He looked into the living room and saw Lieutenant Swersky asleep on the couch. He must have heard Bosco come in, because he opened his eyes and sat up.
"Anything?" he asked Bosco.
"No, Sir. I'm sorry," Bosco told him quietly so as not to wake anyone else up. "We just changed shifts. A bunch of us are gonna go out in our own cars and keep looking. We figure maybe we can get closer if we're not sitting in an RMP," he explained. "How's everyone doing?"
"Katy's upstairs with the kids. They're all sleeping in her bed with her. She's afraid to let them go. I think she got a good night's sleep, because I haven't heard her walking around up there," the Lieutenant said.
Bosco chuckled slightly, remembering the three phone calls from her. "Yeah, well I talked to her quite a bit during the night," he said, looking at the Lieutenant, showing him the cell phone he was holding in his hand. The Lieutenant chuckled and stood up to head into the kitchen to make some fresh coffee. "I see a light in her eyes again when she talks about you, Bosco," the Lieutenant said as he walked by Bosco, causing him to inwardly smile.
Bosco followed him out to the kitchen and looked around, remembering the breakfast he shared in this room with Katy and the kids. The knot in his stomach tightened and he turned when he sensed that someone was behind him. He turned to see Katy standing there, hope in her eyes. She hoped that Bosco had found her son and brought him home to her.
He walked over to her. "Anything?" she asked, her voice shaky. He shook his head. "Not yet," he told her gently. "We're on our way back out again. I just wanted to check in," he said.
Katy turned away, trying to hide her tears from Bosco and her father. Bosco put a hand on her shoulder as her father came around the table to embrace her. He looked at Bosco's face and saw how much this was eating at him. He knew that Bosco wanted to get back out there and start looking, but he didn't want to leave Katy like this either.
"Fresh coffee's done if you want to take some with you," he said, giving Bosco a way to leave Katy. "I've got her," he said gently. Bosco went over and got himself and Faith a cup of coffee, pouring them into travel mugs that Katy had in the cabinet. He walked toward the front door and looked back at Katy, who was watching him leave. Their eyes connected and held for a moment until Bosco gave the slightest nod of his head. She knew with that nod that Bosco wouldn't give up until he brought Shaun home to her. He opened the door and headed out, closing the door softly behind him so as not to wake up the kids.
Lieutenant Swersky sat his daughter down at the table. He walked over to get her a cup of coffee. With his back to her, she said, "He's a good man, Dad." He stopped what he was doing, but didn't turn around. There was an awkward silence and then her father realized what she needed.
He slowly turned to his daughter, bringing her coffee over. "Yes, Katy. He is. And you can count on him. He'll always be there for you and the kids. It's not too soon," he told her, telling her that it was okay to start living again - to start moving on to live without Mark.
She gave her father a slight smile and took a sip of the coffee, grimacing at whatever recipe her father used for coffee. She made a mental note to show him exactly how a good cup of coffee is made.
^*^*^*^*^*^
"So, how's she doing?" Faith asked Bosco as they both got in her car. It was less conspicuous than his blue mustang. "As well as can be expected," he said, looking over at the house before he started the car.
Of course, Bosco was driving. It kept him calm. Faith knew that and didn't mind a bit. "Thanks for the coffee," she said, taking a sip of the hot beverage.
"Oh my God!" she said, not wanting to swallow it, but having no other choice. "Did you make this?" she said, opening the door to the car and dumping it out on the sidewalk.
Bosco laughed as he took a big sip of the steaming coffee. "No! Lieu made it. What was I going to do, refuse his coffee? I have to work with the man," he said, laughing at the look still on Faith's face.
"Well, that's above and beyond, if you ask me," Faith said, setting the now empty cup in the cup holder.
Bosco's smile faded as he got his mind back on business. "So, which way did Ty and Sully go?" he asked Faith.
"They're taking northside. Doherty and D.K. are heading east. Doc and Carlos are heading west. I guess that leaves us with south," Faith reported.
Bosco looked at his partner. "We really do work with a great bunch," he said, amazed at the support that the police and fire department were providing on their time off. "They all had families of their own to go home to," he thought to himself as he pulled away and headed south.
"Yeah well, it's like you said. This is family. This one's personal," Faith told him.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Palmer watched as Shaun slept. The boy had been too upset last night to reason with. He decided to let him sleep and then get him a good breakfast and start fresh. He'd forced some medication down his throat and waited for him to fall asleep.
Now, he watched the sun coming through the dingy curtains and slowly creep across the wall toward the bed. He really was a beautiful child. And he looked so angelic as he slept. "Yes," he thought to himself. "This is going to be good, Shaun. I'll make you happy."
He watched as the boy stirred in the bed, his eyes suddenly opening as he remembered the events of the previous night. His eyes started to water and he didn't want to move. Didn't want George to know that he was awake. But, it was too late. He'd seen his eyes open.
"Good morning, Shaun. I trust you had a good night's sleep?" he said to the boy, trying to sound chipper.
Shaun remained quiet, refusing to speak to the man. "Not a morning person, I see," said Palmer as he turned on the television to cartoons and went into the bathroom to get cleaned up before taking the boy for breakfast. He left the door open so that he could keep an eye on Shaun - not that he'd be able to open the deadbolt that was high on the door.
Shaun sat up on the bed, pulling his knees up to his chest. He stared at the television, not really seeing what was on it. He thought of his mother and the terrible scream he heard as George stuffed him into his truck. He tried to call out to her, but the tape over his mouth prevented it. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep while he was crying.
George finished cleaning up and came back out into the room. "I want to go home," Shaun said to him. George looked at him. "Shaun, I told you that you're home is with me now. Your mother told me to take care of you," he tried to persuade him.
"NO! My mother would never do that. And, even if she did, she'd let me go with Bosco!" Shaun shouted. George quickly tried to quiet the boy, but wondered who this Bosco person was.
"Okay, Shaun. Just calm down. Everything is going to be fine. Now, who is this Bosco person you mention? Maybe I know him," George said pleasantly, trying to calm Shaun down. He didn't want him making too much noise and alerting his neighbors.
"Bosco. He's a friend of my Mom's. He plays with us. He works with my Grampa at the police station," Shaun said. "And, he's not gonna be very happy that I'm with you," Shaun informed him as he crossed his arms in anger.
"Well, we'll just have to see about that," Palmer said, realizing that Bosco and Officer Boscorelli were one in the same person.
"Now, are you hungry? Let's go get some pancakes at the diner across the street," he said. Shaun thought for a moment and decided that he was pretty hungry after all. He climbed down from the bed and followed George to the door. George took hold of his hand firmly and walked him across the street for breakfast.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
"Wait a minute. Can that be?" Jimmy Doherty said to D.K. as they were driving down 137th Avenue.
"What?" asked D.K. looking in the direction that Jimmy pointed to.
"In that diner. I swear I just saw Shuan walking with some guy into that diner," Jimmy replied, turning in his seat so that he didn't lose sight of the door.
D.K. stepped on the brakes and quickly brought the car around. He parked just across the street from the diner. They didn't know if they should go in or just call for Bosco. They didn't want to take the chance of Palmer getting away from them.
"Shaun knows the both of us. If he sees us walking in and says hello, Palmer's going to bolt out of there," Jimmy said, not taking his eyes off the door of the diner.
"Gimme your cell phone," D.K. said. Jimmy handed him the phone. "Who're you gonna call?"
"I'm gonna call Billy and have his wife come down here. He lives just down the road. Shaun won't remember her and she can go in and look around without being noticed," D.K. said as he dialed Billy Walsh's number.
"Hello," came the voice on the other end.
"Hey, Billy. It's D.K. Look I'm at the diner on 135th with Jimmy. I think we just saw Shaun go into a diner with some guy. He knows what we look like. Do you think your wife would come down here and take a look for us? We don't want to scare him off before we call Bosco," D.K. explained.
"Hold on," Billy said, putting his hand over the phone and talking to someone that D.K. assumed was his wife.
"Yeah, we'll be right there," Billy said.
"Great. We're parked out front, across the street," D.K. said hanging up the phone. To Jimmy, he said, "They're on their way."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...