Promises
Part 17
*****
I've decided that this chapter was getting TOO long, so I decided to split it up...so there WILL be ONE more chapter after this!
*****
In previous chapters...
--------
"Johnny, there's something I've been meaning to tell you about that night."
--------
"So how long before you get this partner shot like you got Johnny shot?"
"Shut up!"
"Huh Rylee? How long before this Boscorelli guy gets tired of your crap, and getting shot at because you rush into dangerous situations? How long before you drive him to quit long before his time?"
------
"What did he mean about you getting Johnny shot?" Bosco asked quietly.
Her head shot up. "How much did you hear?!"
"All of it."
"Forget you heard it! It's not true!"
*******
Rylee and Bosco were in the locker room getting ready for their shift. "So, you get a chance to talk to Trevor before he went to school today?" Bosco asked as he pulled on a t-shirt.
"Yeah. We talked about last night, and I really don't think they were doing anything wrong," she replied as she fastened the Velcro of her bulletproof vest.
"Uh, yeah, nothing other than loitering," he grinned.
"Anyway he got the long lecture about choosing his friends carefully and all that jazz."
"Oh I bet he enjoyed that."
"Afterward he had the *nerve* to tell me I was worse than our parents when it came to lectures," she chuckled. "But he agreed when I told him he needed to stay at Johnny's until I get off work at night. I mean we all saw how grumpy Mrs. Matthews was when I asked her to keep an eye on Trevor last night."
"Yeah, what was up with that? She's usually so friendly."
"I don't know, but I never want to bother her like that again." Rylee waited for Bosco to finish changing, and then they headed for roll call.
Lieutenant Swersky stepped up to the podium. "Well ladies and gentleman we have another report of a sexual assault at 1303 85th Apartment 22." Bosco and Rylee looked at each other. "The suspect is Simon Doyle. Officers O'Neill and Boscorelli brought him in the other day on a different sexual assault charge, but his lawyer worked some magic and he was released. It appears that in the early morning hours Doyle pulled a woman off the street as she headed to work. He dragged her to his apartment where he raped her. This guy didn't hide his face. We know it's him now we just have to catch him, and make the charges stick."
*****
"Son of a bitch! He did it again! They should have put twenty four hour surveillance on that bastard's apartment," growled Bosco as he and Rylee headed for their RMP.
"He must not be feeling so sure of himself this time though if he didn't stick around his apartment."
Bosco looked at Rylee as he started the car. "I wanna catch this guy."
Rylee met his gaze. "I wanna kick his ass."
******
O'Neill and Boscorelli were on a mission. On a normal day they would stop for coffee before doing anything else. But today was not a normal day. Today they were determined to find a rapist before he attacked again. They couldn't waste time getting coffee.
Bosco stopped the squad in front of Doyle's apartment building. "Wouldn't it be great if he was home, and we could just arrest him and take him in?"
"Yeah, but we both know it never works that way."
When they reached Doyle's apartment Bosco knocked on the door with his nightstick. "Doyle if you're in there you better open the damn door! Don't make me come in there after you!" There was still no answer. "Dammit," he swore through clenched teeth.
"Where now?" asked Rylee.
Bosco shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we just ride around til we find him cause I don't think he's planning on coming back here anytime soon."
******
The squad car was silent. They were busy concentrating on looking for Simon Doyle. Conversation would only cause them to lose concentration. It was dark except for the few dim streetlights that were actually working. Bosco and Rylee were once again sitting in their RMP outside of Simon Doyle's apartment. Bosco rested his head against the headrest, and closed his eyes. "He's too smooth. We're never gonna find him!"
"We'll find him," she said with conviction. "He'll slip up, and we'll nail him."
Bosco rolled his head to the side and looked at her. "I bet he's long gone." He turned away from her, and slammed his hand on the steering wheel. "He raped at least two women, and he's going to get away with it!"
"No, he's not going to get away with it," she practically growled.
"Come on Ry. He gets out of everything. His lawyer is slippery. We won't be able to make anything stick."
*****
Rylee sighed. "Guess it's about time we head back to the house."
"Yeah." He started the car, and pulled away from the curb. "Guess we'll have to look for Doyle tomorrow."
She shook her head. "You know Reese I really hope someone finds him before our shift tomorrow, but I want a piece of this bastard."
Bosco's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Me too Ry. Me too."
There were only twenty minutes left in their shift, and they were less than a mile away from the station.
"AVAILABLE UNITS OF THE 5-5. 10-53 INTERSECTION OF KING AND HENRY. MVA. KING AND HENRY."
"That's only a few blocks from here," commented Bosco. "5-5 David responding to MVA at King and Henry."
Bosco screeched the RMP to a halt at the scene of a four-car accident. O'Neill and Boscorelli jumped out of the squad neither of them bothering to shut the car doors as they ran toward the accident.
Rylee ran to an overturned SUV. She knelt down, and peered through the broken passenger's window. "Hey! Everybody OK in here?!" There was a man lying awkwardly in the front seat; blood gushing from a cut on his head, but he was conscious. "Sir where are you hurt?"
"My...my head, and my leg. Owww my leg!"
"Helps on the way. Hang tight." Rylee stood up. She keyed her radio. "5-5 David to Central! We need a bus at this location!" She let go of her radio. "Bosco! Bosco what've you got?"
He stuck his head out from around a smashed Toyota Camry. "The guy over there," he pointed to a motionless man lying on the pavement. "DOA. This guy in here doesn't have a scratch on him, but his passenger is pinned down by the dash. Otherwise they look OK. What about you?"
"This guys got a cut on his head, and his leg hurts. You check that car?" She pointed to a Grand Prix that was pretty much totaled. He shook his head, and they both moved toward the vehicle. It was empty.
Kim and Alex pulled up in their bus followed shortly by Doc and Carlos. The two officers relayed their findings to the paramedics, and then they stood back as the four paramedics took care of the victims. As they stood there Bosco started thinking out loud. "Where'd the driver from the Grand Prix go?"
Rylee shook her head. "Beats me."
He turned to her. "Where the hell do you think he went? I mean, geez, look at that car." He put both arms out toward the car. "How could someone walk away from that?!"
"I don't know. From the angles and positions of the cars it looks like that's the one that started the whole thing."
Bosco looked around at all the people watching the scene. "Betcha one of these morons saw the whole thing. I'm gonna go ask some questions. Why don't you run the plates?"
"You got it." The officers went their separate ways.
Bosco approached a group of people. "You guys see anything?" He asked as he waved his notebook at them indicating that any of them could answer. No one said a word, and they all looked anywhere but at him. "Hello! Any of you see what happened?!" There was still no response. "Look! Someone died here tonight, and I want to know how it happened! If you don't help me, my partner and I will arrest you for hindering an investigation!"
A man stepped forward. "I saw it all."
Bosco smiled inwardly; that threat worked every time. "What happened sir?"
"That car," he pointed, "the Grand Prix the guy musta been drunk. He was swerving all over the street. He was out of his lane, and just plowed into the other car."
"Did you see where the driver went?"
"I'm not real sure. Down that way I think."
"Thank you sir."
"Bosco!" He closed his notebook and turned to his partner. "Come here!"
He jogged over to her. "What's up?"
"Guess who the car belongs to."
He shook his head. "Who?"
"Doyle."
"You're kidding."
"Nope."
He nodded in the direction of the witness. "Guy over there said he was swerving all over the place. Hit this guy head on." He looked at Rylee. "Guy said he thought the driver was drunk," he said softly as he remembered that a drunk driver had killed Rylee's adoptive parents.
Her face grew tight with anger. She surveyed the scene around her. The medics had covered the body of one of the victims with a white sheet. She continued to look around, and her eyes were drawn to the limp body of a teenage boy that Doc, Carlos and some of the firemen had extracted from one of the vehicles. "Shit," she whispered.
Bosco looked at her with concern. "You OK?"
She met his eyes. "I want this bastard! We have to find him now!"
He nodded, and went to the car for their flashlights. "Lets start looking." Bosco handed Rylee one of the lights. He walked around the car to the driver's side. "If I ran. I'd go that way." He pointed with his flashlight. "It'd be a clear shot. There's too much congestion the other way. He would have had to go around the accident."
Rylee came over to her partner's side. They both shined their flashlights into the car. "Look!" Rylee saw it first. "Blood."
Bosco nodded. "He's hurt." He lowered his beam of light to the ground looking for a trail. "There it is. We've got you jag-off!"
Rylee started to follow the trail of blood. Bosco quickly grabbed the back of her shirt to stop her. "What?!" she growled as she spun around and roughly shrugged his hand off her shirt.
"I've been in this situation before. We should get some backup."
"I'm your backup. You're mine. Let's go!" She turned to walk away again, and this time he grabbed her arm.
"Rylee I'm serious," he said sternly.
"So am I." She stepped up to Bosco. "I want this guy! And I know you do too. Lets go find him. Take care of him. We don't need backup. We can handle this!"
Bosco's urge to get Doyle overtook his logical thought process. The situation they were in reminded him a lot of one of the flashbacks he used to have during his panic attacks, but he wanted this guy. Doyle had raped two women, and had killed an innocent person because he was driving drunk. The Bosco of old was back. He nodded. "All right. Let's go."
The two officers walked as fast as they could as they followed the trail of blood that was on the sidewalk. They could tell he was either drunk or hurt badly because the trail weaved back and forth across the sidewalk. Suddenly the trail was gone. "Where'd he go?" asked Rylee as she looked around.
Bosco shined his light to the left. "Down there probably." It was a dark alley. Rylee drew her gun, and started down the alley. Bosco grabbed her. "Are you nuts?! Don't be stupid! You've got a flashlight. If he's still down there he's going to see you first! We call backup. We *wait* for backup."
Rylee looked at him. "I *want* this guy."
"So do I, but he could be armed and neither one of us needs to get shot!"
"What if he's not even here anymore?! We could miss our chance to nail him."
"Don't go stupid on me now Ry! Use your brain!"
She took a deep breath. "Sorry. It's just these drunk-driving accidents..." her voice trailed off.
He nodded. "I know." Bosco keyed his radio. "5-5 David to Central. Send backup to..."
*****
He hadn't heard the officers say anything in what seemed like an eternity, so he figured they must have given up and left. But he couldn't go back the way he came because someone was sure to be looking for him. Doyle slowly stood up. He looked around into the darkness. There was a chain link fence at the end of the alley, but with the injury to his hand he couldn't climb it. He noticed a door leading into one of the buildings. With his good arm he elbowed the window next to the door, shattering the glass. He then stuck his hand through the window, and unlocked the door. He let himself inside. Doyle figured he'd just lay low for a while.
*****
They stood in silence next to the alleyway waiting for their backup when they heard glass shattering. Instinctively they both turned their flashlights down the dark alley. There was the unmistakable sound of a door opening and closing. Boscorelli and O'Neill looked at each other and without saying a word drew their guns and advanced.
"Rylee," he whispered loudly as he spotted the broken window. He waved her over.
She looked at him as she reached for the doorknob. "You comin' with me?"
His anger was taking over. Later he'd probably say he was going on instinct, but the truth was it was anger controlling him. He was angry that Doyle had raped two women. Angry because Doyle had killed at least one person in a car accident. Angry because with Doyle on the streets no woman was truly safe. But most of all he was angry because Doyle's actions had affected his partner in a way he couldn't even imagine, he could see it in her eyes. Deep down he knew that two wrongs didn't make a right. He knew that he should be trying to talk Rylee into waiting for backup, but that had never been his style. It was always Faith's job to keep him grounded, but Faith wasn't his partner now and she wasn't here to talk him out of it. He was here with Rylee, and his thoughts were the same as hers. Bosco looked at her. "I want this jag-off." Guns drawn they entered the building.
They stepped inside the door, and looked around. Both officers turned off their flashlights. It was fairly well lit for the time of night it was. They were in some kind of community grocery store, and there were still a couple lights on. They were in the middle of an aisle, and appeared to be about fifteen feet into the store. Rylee looked around. "There's two other ways out," she whispered as she pointed to both exit signs; one of which was located in the front of the store, the other in the back. "No way he left cause that would put him out on the street," she continued to whisper.
Bosco nodded. The adrenaline was coursing through his veins. "He's hiding," he whispered back. He thought he heard something, and put his finger to his lips telling his partner to listen. It was the sound of footsteps. He pointed at Rylee and then toward the front of the store. He then pointed to himself and then toward the back of the store. She nodded, and they crept off in opposite directions.
When they were in their positions at the end of the aisle Bosco gave a countdown with his fingers. Three. Two. One. Instantly they sprang into action checking each aisle one by one.
There were cars passing by on the street, but it was eerily quiet inside the store. Rylee felt her heart pounding in her ears. In the back of her mind she knew this was a mistake. She and Bosco should not have entered the store without waiting for backup to arrive, but there was no levelheaded partner to talk sense into her. Johnny had always done that, but he wasn't here. It was her and Bosco. Two hotheaded, glory-hungry cops who were angry at the world.
They'd cleared four aisles of the grocery store with no sight of Doyle, and there were only three aisles left. Bosco's eyes darted all around. The store wasn't completely dark, but it was dark enough to make him nervous. It was almost an excited kind of nervous. A nervousness that heightened his senses.
Doyle knew that someone was getting closer because he could see a shadow creeping slowly toward the aisle he was in. The affects of the alcohol he had earlier was slowly wearing off. His left hand was starting to throb with pain. It had stopped bleeding a while ago. Adrenaline was in control of him now. It was fight or flight, and he was going to fight. He reached behind his back, and pulled his gun from the waistband of his jeans.
Bosco slowly stepped into the opening of the next aisle, and the first thing he saw was the orange-red glow of a gun being fired.
Rylee crept forward, and heard a gunshot. She quickly retreated, and took cover at the end of the aisle. For a brief second she froze with fear.
Doyle grinned as he heard the bullet slam into the officer, then watched in the dim light as he fell backward, and landed with a crash in the shelves behind him. Proud of himself he hurried off in the other direction.
She heard him approaching, and planned her attack. As Doyle cleared the end of the aisle she stuck her foot out, and he tripped. As he fell his gun slid across the floor. Rylee put her knee in his back pinning him to the ground. "Bosco?!" She called over her shoulder. "I got him. You OK?" He didn't respond. "Reese!"
Doyle started to laugh. "I shot him. Point blank range," he said proudly. "Got him in the head. Simon says he's dead."
Rylee quickly keyed her radio. "10-13 Officer down! Officer down! I need an ambulance forthwith!" She gave them the location. "Reese?!" she yelled again, but still no answer. Her fear for her partner just added to her hatred for Doyle. O'Neill flipped him onto his back.
He smiled at her. "Simon says he's de-."
She didn't wait for him to finish. Rylee began raining punches on him. With her whole body behind it she punched him repeatedly in the face. When her right arm tired she continued with her left. It was a flurry of punches. Blood ran from cuts on Doyle's cheek as well as from his nose and mouth. Rylee heard sirens approaching, and pulled herself off of Doyle. She glared down at him, and he looked up at her. His eyes begging her to stop the attack. The corner of her mouth crept up into a sadistic smile, and she winked at him. "Simon says." Then she kicked him in the stomach as hard as she could. She didn't bother cuffing him; he wasn't going anywhere.
She ran toward her partner. She was almost afraid to look at Bosco as Doyle's words haunted her. "Point blank range. Got him in the head." She feared the worst. Once again a partner was shot because of her.
He was lying motionless on the floor amongst some broken shelves. Rylee knelt down next to him, and held her breath. "Thank God." She exhaled. Doyle's aim was off.
Though he was unconscious his hand was clutching his chest. His breathing was labored, but his pulse was strong. She quickly unbuttoned his shirt, and started ripping at the Velcro on his vest. There was no sign of blood. She exhaled. "Reese buddy, wake up. Come on man, don't scare me like this."
A paramedic tapped her on the shoulder, and she willingly got out of their way. She watched as they placed an oxygen mask on her still unconscious partner and friend. Then they loaded him on a stretcher. "He gonna be OK?"
The older paramedic nodded. "Looks like it. Bullet hit his vest, probably broke a rib, but there is always the possibility of internal damage. He's got a pretty nice bump on his head. Must have hit it on one of the shelves when he went down."
Rylee nodded, and started to follow the medics out of the store. She stopped when she got to the officers that were hauling Doyle to his feet. "You guys got his gun right?"
"Yeah. Yeah we did," replied one of the officers. "Your partner OK?"
She nodded. "For now. Bullet hit his vest."
The officer nodded. "What exactly happened here?"
Rylee opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by one of the paramedics. "Hey, you coming?!"
She turned quickly. "Yeah, be right there!" She looked at the two officers. "I gotta go."
Part 17
*****
I've decided that this chapter was getting TOO long, so I decided to split it up...so there WILL be ONE more chapter after this!
*****
In previous chapters...
--------
"Johnny, there's something I've been meaning to tell you about that night."
--------
"So how long before you get this partner shot like you got Johnny shot?"
"Shut up!"
"Huh Rylee? How long before this Boscorelli guy gets tired of your crap, and getting shot at because you rush into dangerous situations? How long before you drive him to quit long before his time?"
------
"What did he mean about you getting Johnny shot?" Bosco asked quietly.
Her head shot up. "How much did you hear?!"
"All of it."
"Forget you heard it! It's not true!"
*******
Rylee and Bosco were in the locker room getting ready for their shift. "So, you get a chance to talk to Trevor before he went to school today?" Bosco asked as he pulled on a t-shirt.
"Yeah. We talked about last night, and I really don't think they were doing anything wrong," she replied as she fastened the Velcro of her bulletproof vest.
"Uh, yeah, nothing other than loitering," he grinned.
"Anyway he got the long lecture about choosing his friends carefully and all that jazz."
"Oh I bet he enjoyed that."
"Afterward he had the *nerve* to tell me I was worse than our parents when it came to lectures," she chuckled. "But he agreed when I told him he needed to stay at Johnny's until I get off work at night. I mean we all saw how grumpy Mrs. Matthews was when I asked her to keep an eye on Trevor last night."
"Yeah, what was up with that? She's usually so friendly."
"I don't know, but I never want to bother her like that again." Rylee waited for Bosco to finish changing, and then they headed for roll call.
Lieutenant Swersky stepped up to the podium. "Well ladies and gentleman we have another report of a sexual assault at 1303 85th Apartment 22." Bosco and Rylee looked at each other. "The suspect is Simon Doyle. Officers O'Neill and Boscorelli brought him in the other day on a different sexual assault charge, but his lawyer worked some magic and he was released. It appears that in the early morning hours Doyle pulled a woman off the street as she headed to work. He dragged her to his apartment where he raped her. This guy didn't hide his face. We know it's him now we just have to catch him, and make the charges stick."
*****
"Son of a bitch! He did it again! They should have put twenty four hour surveillance on that bastard's apartment," growled Bosco as he and Rylee headed for their RMP.
"He must not be feeling so sure of himself this time though if he didn't stick around his apartment."
Bosco looked at Rylee as he started the car. "I wanna catch this guy."
Rylee met his gaze. "I wanna kick his ass."
******
O'Neill and Boscorelli were on a mission. On a normal day they would stop for coffee before doing anything else. But today was not a normal day. Today they were determined to find a rapist before he attacked again. They couldn't waste time getting coffee.
Bosco stopped the squad in front of Doyle's apartment building. "Wouldn't it be great if he was home, and we could just arrest him and take him in?"
"Yeah, but we both know it never works that way."
When they reached Doyle's apartment Bosco knocked on the door with his nightstick. "Doyle if you're in there you better open the damn door! Don't make me come in there after you!" There was still no answer. "Dammit," he swore through clenched teeth.
"Where now?" asked Rylee.
Bosco shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we just ride around til we find him cause I don't think he's planning on coming back here anytime soon."
******
The squad car was silent. They were busy concentrating on looking for Simon Doyle. Conversation would only cause them to lose concentration. It was dark except for the few dim streetlights that were actually working. Bosco and Rylee were once again sitting in their RMP outside of Simon Doyle's apartment. Bosco rested his head against the headrest, and closed his eyes. "He's too smooth. We're never gonna find him!"
"We'll find him," she said with conviction. "He'll slip up, and we'll nail him."
Bosco rolled his head to the side and looked at her. "I bet he's long gone." He turned away from her, and slammed his hand on the steering wheel. "He raped at least two women, and he's going to get away with it!"
"No, he's not going to get away with it," she practically growled.
"Come on Ry. He gets out of everything. His lawyer is slippery. We won't be able to make anything stick."
*****
Rylee sighed. "Guess it's about time we head back to the house."
"Yeah." He started the car, and pulled away from the curb. "Guess we'll have to look for Doyle tomorrow."
She shook her head. "You know Reese I really hope someone finds him before our shift tomorrow, but I want a piece of this bastard."
Bosco's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Me too Ry. Me too."
There were only twenty minutes left in their shift, and they were less than a mile away from the station.
"AVAILABLE UNITS OF THE 5-5. 10-53 INTERSECTION OF KING AND HENRY. MVA. KING AND HENRY."
"That's only a few blocks from here," commented Bosco. "5-5 David responding to MVA at King and Henry."
Bosco screeched the RMP to a halt at the scene of a four-car accident. O'Neill and Boscorelli jumped out of the squad neither of them bothering to shut the car doors as they ran toward the accident.
Rylee ran to an overturned SUV. She knelt down, and peered through the broken passenger's window. "Hey! Everybody OK in here?!" There was a man lying awkwardly in the front seat; blood gushing from a cut on his head, but he was conscious. "Sir where are you hurt?"
"My...my head, and my leg. Owww my leg!"
"Helps on the way. Hang tight." Rylee stood up. She keyed her radio. "5-5 David to Central! We need a bus at this location!" She let go of her radio. "Bosco! Bosco what've you got?"
He stuck his head out from around a smashed Toyota Camry. "The guy over there," he pointed to a motionless man lying on the pavement. "DOA. This guy in here doesn't have a scratch on him, but his passenger is pinned down by the dash. Otherwise they look OK. What about you?"
"This guys got a cut on his head, and his leg hurts. You check that car?" She pointed to a Grand Prix that was pretty much totaled. He shook his head, and they both moved toward the vehicle. It was empty.
Kim and Alex pulled up in their bus followed shortly by Doc and Carlos. The two officers relayed their findings to the paramedics, and then they stood back as the four paramedics took care of the victims. As they stood there Bosco started thinking out loud. "Where'd the driver from the Grand Prix go?"
Rylee shook her head. "Beats me."
He turned to her. "Where the hell do you think he went? I mean, geez, look at that car." He put both arms out toward the car. "How could someone walk away from that?!"
"I don't know. From the angles and positions of the cars it looks like that's the one that started the whole thing."
Bosco looked around at all the people watching the scene. "Betcha one of these morons saw the whole thing. I'm gonna go ask some questions. Why don't you run the plates?"
"You got it." The officers went their separate ways.
Bosco approached a group of people. "You guys see anything?" He asked as he waved his notebook at them indicating that any of them could answer. No one said a word, and they all looked anywhere but at him. "Hello! Any of you see what happened?!" There was still no response. "Look! Someone died here tonight, and I want to know how it happened! If you don't help me, my partner and I will arrest you for hindering an investigation!"
A man stepped forward. "I saw it all."
Bosco smiled inwardly; that threat worked every time. "What happened sir?"
"That car," he pointed, "the Grand Prix the guy musta been drunk. He was swerving all over the street. He was out of his lane, and just plowed into the other car."
"Did you see where the driver went?"
"I'm not real sure. Down that way I think."
"Thank you sir."
"Bosco!" He closed his notebook and turned to his partner. "Come here!"
He jogged over to her. "What's up?"
"Guess who the car belongs to."
He shook his head. "Who?"
"Doyle."
"You're kidding."
"Nope."
He nodded in the direction of the witness. "Guy over there said he was swerving all over the place. Hit this guy head on." He looked at Rylee. "Guy said he thought the driver was drunk," he said softly as he remembered that a drunk driver had killed Rylee's adoptive parents.
Her face grew tight with anger. She surveyed the scene around her. The medics had covered the body of one of the victims with a white sheet. She continued to look around, and her eyes were drawn to the limp body of a teenage boy that Doc, Carlos and some of the firemen had extracted from one of the vehicles. "Shit," she whispered.
Bosco looked at her with concern. "You OK?"
She met his eyes. "I want this bastard! We have to find him now!"
He nodded, and went to the car for their flashlights. "Lets start looking." Bosco handed Rylee one of the lights. He walked around the car to the driver's side. "If I ran. I'd go that way." He pointed with his flashlight. "It'd be a clear shot. There's too much congestion the other way. He would have had to go around the accident."
Rylee came over to her partner's side. They both shined their flashlights into the car. "Look!" Rylee saw it first. "Blood."
Bosco nodded. "He's hurt." He lowered his beam of light to the ground looking for a trail. "There it is. We've got you jag-off!"
Rylee started to follow the trail of blood. Bosco quickly grabbed the back of her shirt to stop her. "What?!" she growled as she spun around and roughly shrugged his hand off her shirt.
"I've been in this situation before. We should get some backup."
"I'm your backup. You're mine. Let's go!" She turned to walk away again, and this time he grabbed her arm.
"Rylee I'm serious," he said sternly.
"So am I." She stepped up to Bosco. "I want this guy! And I know you do too. Lets go find him. Take care of him. We don't need backup. We can handle this!"
Bosco's urge to get Doyle overtook his logical thought process. The situation they were in reminded him a lot of one of the flashbacks he used to have during his panic attacks, but he wanted this guy. Doyle had raped two women, and had killed an innocent person because he was driving drunk. The Bosco of old was back. He nodded. "All right. Let's go."
The two officers walked as fast as they could as they followed the trail of blood that was on the sidewalk. They could tell he was either drunk or hurt badly because the trail weaved back and forth across the sidewalk. Suddenly the trail was gone. "Where'd he go?" asked Rylee as she looked around.
Bosco shined his light to the left. "Down there probably." It was a dark alley. Rylee drew her gun, and started down the alley. Bosco grabbed her. "Are you nuts?! Don't be stupid! You've got a flashlight. If he's still down there he's going to see you first! We call backup. We *wait* for backup."
Rylee looked at him. "I *want* this guy."
"So do I, but he could be armed and neither one of us needs to get shot!"
"What if he's not even here anymore?! We could miss our chance to nail him."
"Don't go stupid on me now Ry! Use your brain!"
She took a deep breath. "Sorry. It's just these drunk-driving accidents..." her voice trailed off.
He nodded. "I know." Bosco keyed his radio. "5-5 David to Central. Send backup to..."
*****
He hadn't heard the officers say anything in what seemed like an eternity, so he figured they must have given up and left. But he couldn't go back the way he came because someone was sure to be looking for him. Doyle slowly stood up. He looked around into the darkness. There was a chain link fence at the end of the alley, but with the injury to his hand he couldn't climb it. He noticed a door leading into one of the buildings. With his good arm he elbowed the window next to the door, shattering the glass. He then stuck his hand through the window, and unlocked the door. He let himself inside. Doyle figured he'd just lay low for a while.
*****
They stood in silence next to the alleyway waiting for their backup when they heard glass shattering. Instinctively they both turned their flashlights down the dark alley. There was the unmistakable sound of a door opening and closing. Boscorelli and O'Neill looked at each other and without saying a word drew their guns and advanced.
"Rylee," he whispered loudly as he spotted the broken window. He waved her over.
She looked at him as she reached for the doorknob. "You comin' with me?"
His anger was taking over. Later he'd probably say he was going on instinct, but the truth was it was anger controlling him. He was angry that Doyle had raped two women. Angry because Doyle had killed at least one person in a car accident. Angry because with Doyle on the streets no woman was truly safe. But most of all he was angry because Doyle's actions had affected his partner in a way he couldn't even imagine, he could see it in her eyes. Deep down he knew that two wrongs didn't make a right. He knew that he should be trying to talk Rylee into waiting for backup, but that had never been his style. It was always Faith's job to keep him grounded, but Faith wasn't his partner now and she wasn't here to talk him out of it. He was here with Rylee, and his thoughts were the same as hers. Bosco looked at her. "I want this jag-off." Guns drawn they entered the building.
They stepped inside the door, and looked around. Both officers turned off their flashlights. It was fairly well lit for the time of night it was. They were in some kind of community grocery store, and there were still a couple lights on. They were in the middle of an aisle, and appeared to be about fifteen feet into the store. Rylee looked around. "There's two other ways out," she whispered as she pointed to both exit signs; one of which was located in the front of the store, the other in the back. "No way he left cause that would put him out on the street," she continued to whisper.
Bosco nodded. The adrenaline was coursing through his veins. "He's hiding," he whispered back. He thought he heard something, and put his finger to his lips telling his partner to listen. It was the sound of footsteps. He pointed at Rylee and then toward the front of the store. He then pointed to himself and then toward the back of the store. She nodded, and they crept off in opposite directions.
When they were in their positions at the end of the aisle Bosco gave a countdown with his fingers. Three. Two. One. Instantly they sprang into action checking each aisle one by one.
There were cars passing by on the street, but it was eerily quiet inside the store. Rylee felt her heart pounding in her ears. In the back of her mind she knew this was a mistake. She and Bosco should not have entered the store without waiting for backup to arrive, but there was no levelheaded partner to talk sense into her. Johnny had always done that, but he wasn't here. It was her and Bosco. Two hotheaded, glory-hungry cops who were angry at the world.
They'd cleared four aisles of the grocery store with no sight of Doyle, and there were only three aisles left. Bosco's eyes darted all around. The store wasn't completely dark, but it was dark enough to make him nervous. It was almost an excited kind of nervous. A nervousness that heightened his senses.
Doyle knew that someone was getting closer because he could see a shadow creeping slowly toward the aisle he was in. The affects of the alcohol he had earlier was slowly wearing off. His left hand was starting to throb with pain. It had stopped bleeding a while ago. Adrenaline was in control of him now. It was fight or flight, and he was going to fight. He reached behind his back, and pulled his gun from the waistband of his jeans.
Bosco slowly stepped into the opening of the next aisle, and the first thing he saw was the orange-red glow of a gun being fired.
Rylee crept forward, and heard a gunshot. She quickly retreated, and took cover at the end of the aisle. For a brief second she froze with fear.
Doyle grinned as he heard the bullet slam into the officer, then watched in the dim light as he fell backward, and landed with a crash in the shelves behind him. Proud of himself he hurried off in the other direction.
She heard him approaching, and planned her attack. As Doyle cleared the end of the aisle she stuck her foot out, and he tripped. As he fell his gun slid across the floor. Rylee put her knee in his back pinning him to the ground. "Bosco?!" She called over her shoulder. "I got him. You OK?" He didn't respond. "Reese!"
Doyle started to laugh. "I shot him. Point blank range," he said proudly. "Got him in the head. Simon says he's dead."
Rylee quickly keyed her radio. "10-13 Officer down! Officer down! I need an ambulance forthwith!" She gave them the location. "Reese?!" she yelled again, but still no answer. Her fear for her partner just added to her hatred for Doyle. O'Neill flipped him onto his back.
He smiled at her. "Simon says he's de-."
She didn't wait for him to finish. Rylee began raining punches on him. With her whole body behind it she punched him repeatedly in the face. When her right arm tired she continued with her left. It was a flurry of punches. Blood ran from cuts on Doyle's cheek as well as from his nose and mouth. Rylee heard sirens approaching, and pulled herself off of Doyle. She glared down at him, and he looked up at her. His eyes begging her to stop the attack. The corner of her mouth crept up into a sadistic smile, and she winked at him. "Simon says." Then she kicked him in the stomach as hard as she could. She didn't bother cuffing him; he wasn't going anywhere.
She ran toward her partner. She was almost afraid to look at Bosco as Doyle's words haunted her. "Point blank range. Got him in the head." She feared the worst. Once again a partner was shot because of her.
He was lying motionless on the floor amongst some broken shelves. Rylee knelt down next to him, and held her breath. "Thank God." She exhaled. Doyle's aim was off.
Though he was unconscious his hand was clutching his chest. His breathing was labored, but his pulse was strong. She quickly unbuttoned his shirt, and started ripping at the Velcro on his vest. There was no sign of blood. She exhaled. "Reese buddy, wake up. Come on man, don't scare me like this."
A paramedic tapped her on the shoulder, and she willingly got out of their way. She watched as they placed an oxygen mask on her still unconscious partner and friend. Then they loaded him on a stretcher. "He gonna be OK?"
The older paramedic nodded. "Looks like it. Bullet hit his vest, probably broke a rib, but there is always the possibility of internal damage. He's got a pretty nice bump on his head. Must have hit it on one of the shelves when he went down."
Rylee nodded, and started to follow the medics out of the store. She stopped when she got to the officers that were hauling Doyle to his feet. "You guys got his gun right?"
"Yeah. Yeah we did," replied one of the officers. "Your partner OK?"
She nodded. "For now. Bullet hit his vest."
The officer nodded. "What exactly happened here?"
Rylee opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by one of the paramedics. "Hey, you coming?!"
She turned quickly. "Yeah, be right there!" She looked at the two officers. "I gotta go."