The Witness
Chapter 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco and Faith were the first on the scene. They came around the corner to the call for 'shots fired' and found smoke pouring from the front of the store. Neighbors were outside and calling for them to hurry.
"55-David to Central," Faith said into her radio as Bosco exited the car and started over to the crowd. "Start the fire department to this location. We have heavy smoke coming from the building," she advised before joining her partner on the sidewalk.
"Does anyone know if there's anyone still inside?" Bosco asked again. Finally a woman spoke up.
"The old couple that owns the store live upstairs. I haven't seen either of them," she said as the flames began flickering out the front door as the sounds of help could be heard in the distance getting rapidly closer.
"Okay. Everyone stand back across the street. The fire department's on the way and they're gonna need room to work," Faith said as she watched Bosco go over to the front o the store, holding his arms up in front of his face because of the heat. "Bosco! Don't you dare go in there!" she shouted to him. He backed up a little, unable to stand the heat anymore.
An older gentleman came over to Bosco. "Sir, you need to move across the street so you don't get hurt," Bosco told him.
"I heard shots," the man said to him. Bosco looked at him. "What?" he said.
"I said I heard gunshots," the man repeated. "Right before the fire."
"Yokas!" Bosco yelled, motioning for his partner to come over. She walked over and listened to the rest of the conversation. "Did you see anyone around? Running or walking away quickly?" said Bosco. He turned to Faith and said, "Says he heard gunshots right before the fire started."
"L.K.," was all the man would say as he walked away.
"L.K.?" Bosco said, looking at his partner.
"Bosco. What part of town our we in?" Faith said, waiting for the 'light' to go on.
"Latin Lords," Bosco said as the firetrucks rolled onto the scene and the firefighters went into action. "Perfect," he said as he watched them work.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The next day in roll call, the cops were sitting and listening to the information from yesterday's fire that, once extinguished, revealed the bodies of the elderly couple.
"They were found in the store by the counter and the preliminary shows that they were shot before the fire got them," he stated, reading from the report. "Investigators found a library card outside of the store belonging to a Cole Taylor. The detectives talked to some of the staff from the library and one of them said he's a kid, maybe 14 or 15; Caucasian, about 5'4" to 5'6"; dark hair and eyes. According to their computer, most of the books he's checked out were sports and soccer. One of the librarians said she didn't know for sure, but she always got the impression he was alone; maybe homeless. Now, we don't know what the significance is, but he could be a potential witness so if you come across this person, let the detectives know. Now, hit the streets and keep your eyes open," he finished.
Bosco and Faith got their portable radios and were headed out to their RMP. "That poor couple. All they were trying to do was to make enough money to survive - they should have been retired and living in Florida somewhere," Faith said, thinking of the couple that died in the fire.
"Yeah. I'm sure the Latin Lords are losing tons of sleep over it," Bosco replied sarcastically. Faith rolled her eyes and they started their shift.
*^*^*^*^*^
Cole sat in the corner of the dark room of the old, abandoned building. He couldn't get the site of the old couple lying on the floor out of his head. Raven had given him his cut of the money and he'd immediately bought some alcohol with it, hoping to drink himself unconscious so he didn't have to see the images anymore.
He heard a noise and panicked. He thought that the police were after him. It didn't help that he was on edge because he needed some drugs. He saw a figure coming into the room and realized it was Ronnie, Rave's brother.
"Cole. Man, Raven's looking for you. You need to come back with me. He wants to talk to you, man," Ronnie told him.
Cole shook his head. "No, I'm not going back. You can tell him I'll keep my mouth shut, but I can't do that anymore," he said, not realizing that it wasn't going to be that easy.
"Look, either you come back with me or Raven's gonna come looking for you. And, if he has to come lookin' for you, he's not gonna be nice," Ronnie explained, dragging Cole to his feet.
"Wait," Cole said, pulling away from Ronnie and reaching down to pick up his soccer ball. He loved playing soccer and usually found a pick-up game in the park he could join when he was sober. He'd used some of the money from last night to buy the ball when he saw it in the window of the sporting goods store after the terrible events. After he'd retrieved his ball, Ronnie continued to pull him along with him toward Raven's place.
*^*^*^*^*^*^
Faith and Bosco took a ride past the fire scene. Curious onlookers were standing amongst the neighbors. No doubt they were all talking about the decline of the neighborhood and the increase in crime. They watched the RMP roll by and Bosco could almost hear them saying, "The cops don't do a damn thing."
"What do they expect us to do if no one calls until it's too late?" Bosco said in answer to the silent stare he was receiving from the people on the street.
"That's the million dollar question, Bos," Faith said as the radio crackled to life and they were sent on a call.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...
Chapter 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco and Faith were the first on the scene. They came around the corner to the call for 'shots fired' and found smoke pouring from the front of the store. Neighbors were outside and calling for them to hurry.
"55-David to Central," Faith said into her radio as Bosco exited the car and started over to the crowd. "Start the fire department to this location. We have heavy smoke coming from the building," she advised before joining her partner on the sidewalk.
"Does anyone know if there's anyone still inside?" Bosco asked again. Finally a woman spoke up.
"The old couple that owns the store live upstairs. I haven't seen either of them," she said as the flames began flickering out the front door as the sounds of help could be heard in the distance getting rapidly closer.
"Okay. Everyone stand back across the street. The fire department's on the way and they're gonna need room to work," Faith said as she watched Bosco go over to the front o the store, holding his arms up in front of his face because of the heat. "Bosco! Don't you dare go in there!" she shouted to him. He backed up a little, unable to stand the heat anymore.
An older gentleman came over to Bosco. "Sir, you need to move across the street so you don't get hurt," Bosco told him.
"I heard shots," the man said to him. Bosco looked at him. "What?" he said.
"I said I heard gunshots," the man repeated. "Right before the fire."
"Yokas!" Bosco yelled, motioning for his partner to come over. She walked over and listened to the rest of the conversation. "Did you see anyone around? Running or walking away quickly?" said Bosco. He turned to Faith and said, "Says he heard gunshots right before the fire started."
"L.K.," was all the man would say as he walked away.
"L.K.?" Bosco said, looking at his partner.
"Bosco. What part of town our we in?" Faith said, waiting for the 'light' to go on.
"Latin Lords," Bosco said as the firetrucks rolled onto the scene and the firefighters went into action. "Perfect," he said as he watched them work.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The next day in roll call, the cops were sitting and listening to the information from yesterday's fire that, once extinguished, revealed the bodies of the elderly couple.
"They were found in the store by the counter and the preliminary shows that they were shot before the fire got them," he stated, reading from the report. "Investigators found a library card outside of the store belonging to a Cole Taylor. The detectives talked to some of the staff from the library and one of them said he's a kid, maybe 14 or 15; Caucasian, about 5'4" to 5'6"; dark hair and eyes. According to their computer, most of the books he's checked out were sports and soccer. One of the librarians said she didn't know for sure, but she always got the impression he was alone; maybe homeless. Now, we don't know what the significance is, but he could be a potential witness so if you come across this person, let the detectives know. Now, hit the streets and keep your eyes open," he finished.
Bosco and Faith got their portable radios and were headed out to their RMP. "That poor couple. All they were trying to do was to make enough money to survive - they should have been retired and living in Florida somewhere," Faith said, thinking of the couple that died in the fire.
"Yeah. I'm sure the Latin Lords are losing tons of sleep over it," Bosco replied sarcastically. Faith rolled her eyes and they started their shift.
*^*^*^*^*^
Cole sat in the corner of the dark room of the old, abandoned building. He couldn't get the site of the old couple lying on the floor out of his head. Raven had given him his cut of the money and he'd immediately bought some alcohol with it, hoping to drink himself unconscious so he didn't have to see the images anymore.
He heard a noise and panicked. He thought that the police were after him. It didn't help that he was on edge because he needed some drugs. He saw a figure coming into the room and realized it was Ronnie, Rave's brother.
"Cole. Man, Raven's looking for you. You need to come back with me. He wants to talk to you, man," Ronnie told him.
Cole shook his head. "No, I'm not going back. You can tell him I'll keep my mouth shut, but I can't do that anymore," he said, not realizing that it wasn't going to be that easy.
"Look, either you come back with me or Raven's gonna come looking for you. And, if he has to come lookin' for you, he's not gonna be nice," Ronnie explained, dragging Cole to his feet.
"Wait," Cole said, pulling away from Ronnie and reaching down to pick up his soccer ball. He loved playing soccer and usually found a pick-up game in the park he could join when he was sober. He'd used some of the money from last night to buy the ball when he saw it in the window of the sporting goods store after the terrible events. After he'd retrieved his ball, Ronnie continued to pull him along with him toward Raven's place.
*^*^*^*^*^*^
Faith and Bosco took a ride past the fire scene. Curious onlookers were standing amongst the neighbors. No doubt they were all talking about the decline of the neighborhood and the increase in crime. They watched the RMP roll by and Bosco could almost hear them saying, "The cops don't do a damn thing."
"What do they expect us to do if no one calls until it's too late?" Bosco said in answer to the silent stare he was receiving from the people on the street.
"That's the million dollar question, Bos," Faith said as the radio crackled to life and they were sent on a call.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...