I didn't get much sleep that night. I lay awake for hours going over everything what had happened. At first my mind focused on what was most recent like the past week. From there I went back to the past month, the past six months and at that point, I knew this was a bigger issue than I had thought.

What struck me were the conversations I'd had with people. There was last night's talk with Nicole. Then there was last week's conversation with Lieu. The missing piece to this whole puzzle was that I couldn't remember my last conversation with Faith. It wasn't that I couldn't remember what we had talked about. I plain out couldn't remember the last time we had talked.period. So what did that say for Nicole's idea that Faith and I belonged together. I was having my doubts about what was left of 55-David.

I gave up getting any sleep. My mind was racing and there was no point wasting anymore time lying in my bed. By the time I showered and got dressed it was almost nine o'clock. I picked up the phone, glanced at it for a good thirty seconds before punching some numbers. I hung up before completing the call. The people I needed to talk to I needed to talk to in person. My list was growing.

I decided to start with Faith. That would be the telling sign of what was left of our friendship much less our partnership. But I couldn't help thinking of all the times Faith had been there. We'd been through eight years.even more than that if you go all the way back to the academy. I guess you could say that Faith and I had been together since the beginning when we were just greenhorns at the academy. I was doing my best to fail my required courses and she couldn't hit the target with a cannon much less her firearm of choice. So, the way I figured it, if she hadn't helped me pass the classes I wouldn't be a cop. She owed me. Yeah, now that sounded like the old Bosco talking.

No, it was more than that. There was the life and times of Fred and Faith. I'd been there for half her married life with the guy and I still didn't understand what she saw in him. I was there when had the abortion. Hell, I knew something was in the oven before ole Freddy boy did. And I was there afterwards when she and Fred almost didn't make it. Now you see, that part of her marriage actually made sense to me. I was looking for her when she was trapped with Fred while he had a heart attack. I drove them to the hospital and I was there when she lost all frame of mind and called me damn near every name in the book.

And Faith had been there for me. She was there when I took a dive out a second story window. She was there through all my ma's beatings, listening to me rant and rave like a lunatic while I quickly came unglued each time ma went home with the sorry ass who'd put her in the hospital. And when I lost all frame of mind, she was there for that too even if I did push her away. After a week's suspension, desk duty, and enough therapy to make a sane man lose his marbles, she took me back as her partner. She didn't even give it a thought, agreeing to take me back without a second to consider it.

So, the way I figured it, if 55-David was a cat, we still had a couple lives left. I was about to find out if Faith and I still thought alike. I stood outside her door for a minute or two before finally knocking. The door opened and she too one look at me and motioned for me to come in before disappearing to the kitchen for coffee. I guess she'd seen that look on my face before. The 'can we talk' look cause when ever I showed up with that look, she'd always make coffee. She returned with two cups.

"You don't look like you got much sleep last night," she replied as she handed me a cup.

"I didn't get any sleep last night," I confirmed her suspicion.

"So what kept you awake all night?"

"After work I went by the hospital.met up with Nicole there.I drove her home. She invited me up to her apartment."

"How's she doing?"

"She was fine when I left. I think she was holding up okay," I explained. "She's hurting worse than she's letting on but she'll be okay."

"She surprised me yesterday," Faith replied, not taking her eyes off me. "Hell, the whole incident surprised me. But to have the state of mind to grab that piece of broken mirror and then to lash out at the guy..she's a tougher gal than I ever gave her credit for."

"Mind control," I replied getting a curious look from Faith. "That's what she told me. She said she remembered me telling her that to do my job, you have to stay in control of your own mind and not let anyone else mess with your thinking."

"She was in control all right. So you spent the night at Nicole's place?"

"No, I left around four o'clock. We talked a lot last night."

"Wow, from after work 'til four o'clock in the morning. I guess you guys talked."

"Something like that I guess. She wanted to know why we didn't show up at the scene together. How come I wasn't working with you?"

"What'd you tell her?"

"That sometimes we work together and other times I work anti-crime."

"Well you told her the truth."

"Yeah. She has some pretty strong opinions of that too. She thinks Cruz is cold although I'm sure she was thinking something else. And she seems to think that you and I should be partners 100% of the time."

"I got to agree with her there. Cruz is cold and she doesn't give a damn about anyone but herself. I know you don't want to hear this but it's the truth Bos."

"You're right."

"She uses people. She uses anyone and everyone just so that she can be right and it makes me sick how she stooped so low as to use kids.

"You're right Faith."

"What?"

"I lied to you."

"What are you talking about?"

"The dying confession.I didn't hear it.the guy was dead, he wasn't giving any dying confession."

"I knew that Bosco, not the part about the guy being dead but the part about the confession. I knew you were lying to me. I saw the look in your eyes when you told me he'd confessed. I knew you were lying to me."

I knew you knew I was lying.I don't know. Maybe I was thinking right. I wanted that guy for what he did to Miguel..then we got ambushed and the guy shot up the bus with Miguel and his mom in back. It wasn't right.none of it...Miguel witnessing the shooting then he gets threatened.breaking into his home..getting shot in the bus. I wanted that guy so bad and I was ready to do anything to bring him down."

"I know that Bosco. Miguel was the real victim there. The kid didn't do anything to deserve what happened to him and I know how much you hate it when kids get hurt."

"That was no excuse for what I did. I let Cruz lead me around like a lost puppy. She's a dirty cop Faith. I knew it and I kept right on working with her. Hell, I did more than just work with her."

"Bosco?" Faith replied. I knew what she was thinking and she was right. Trouble was I couldn't bring myself to actually say the words. She saved me the trouble.

"You slept with her?"

Faith could read me like a book and usually she did so through my eyes. I could talk a good lie but when it came down to my eyes, the truth was always right there and Faith knew that. It took everything I had to look her in the eye at that moment. But, I also knew I'd be facing a lot worse when I got to the precinct.

"Yeah, the night her sister died in the fire," I admitted. "It was just the one time although that was more than enough for me. Cruz though, she wanted more. I just couldn't do it. Hell, I lied to her and told her I couldn't get it up just so I wouldn't have to sleep with her again."

My last comment brought a smile to Faith's face. It was one of those 'I'm really trying not to smile but I can't help myself' smiles. I didn't blame her. Just the fact that she smiled at me was a good sign.

"So what are you gonna do now?"

"I'm headed over to talk to Lieu and see what he thinks. He's gonna be pissed and he has every right to be."

"He will be Bosco but Lieu's a fair guy. He always has been."

"Yeah, I know. From there, I don't know what's gonna happen. I lied about evidence Faith and I'm not sure how the departments going to deal with that."

"I don't know but whatever happens, I'm on your side. You know that right?"

"Yeah, but it's nice to hear you actually say the words."

"So all this is a result of talking with Nicole?"

"Like I said, we had a long talk."

"Sounds like it. From after eleven 'til four o'clock. Damn Bosco, you and Nicole, together at her place for five hours and all you did was talk?"

"Well there was this one little kiss."

"A ha, just like I figured. Remind me to thank her by the way. She got through to you in one night after I failed to do so with weeks of effort."

"Was that an "I told you so"?

"Nope, that my friend, was an "I'm on your side".

"Thanks Faith. I better get going."

"Call me later?"

"Yeah, I'll do that."

I left Faith's apartment with a somewhat lighter heart. I knew I hadn't lost my best friend and she still believed in me despite having lied to her. I had a feeling that talking to Faith was going to be the easy part of my day. But, at least I still had my partner. Now all I had to do was save my job.

My next stop was to talk with Lieu and I caught up with him at the 55th. He was more than curious as to what I needed to talk to him about since I had been vague on the phone earlier.

"Hey Lieu," I replied.

"Boscorelli, I was beginning to think you wouldn't show."

"Sorry 'bout that. I stopped off on the way over and talked to Faith."

"So you wanted to talk."

"Can we go some where a little more private?" I inquired.

"Of course," Lieu replied leading the way into an office. Closing the door behind him, Lieu turned to face me, his mind full of questions.

"First of all, what I have to say is not good. Actually it can't get much worse than what it is right now."

"Why don't you start at the beginning," Lieu suggested.

"It has to do with Cruz and anti-crime," I replied, still standing although Lieu had taken a seat after I told him this wasn't good.

"I figured as much," he replied but gestured for me to continue which I did.

"I may as well just tell you the worst thing first. I lied about evidence in the case with Miguel."

I watched as Lieu's face remained unchanged. For now he was content with just listening to me.

"I didn't actually hear the dying confession. Hell, I thought the guy was dead so how could he give a dying declaration?"

I went on to explain everything. I told Lieu about the drugs Cruz had on her, the way she 'discovered' evidence, the manner in which she used the kids. I knew that was wrong but at the time, I just wanted something, anything, to keep Miguel from having to testify in that case. The kid had been through enough. I explained the situation with Cruz's sister right down to the night after her sister died. For some reason, I don't think that part surprised him. At one point, he excused himself. He returned with the case file. I wasn't sure why but he scoured the thing from page one to the end.

"Everything in this file that has a signature is that of Sgt Cruz. However, if I know her like I think I do she'll do anything and that includes dragging your name into this. Now she is the senior officer in this which is why her name in on the reports. That's in your favor. It's also in your favor that you are not a full-fledged member of Anti-Crime so that being the case, there was no probationary period for you so she's responsible for your actions while under her command."

"Now the problem is this. You're a sworn officer of the law and lying about evidence is not to be taken lightly. On the other side of this, Sgt Cruz doesn't have a clean record. You've had a few scrapes within the department as well but nothing that serious; a few too many tardies isn't that serious. It's not good but it's not that bad."

"What do you think Lieu? Bottom line?"

"Bottom line, I think you're looking at a suspension although I wouldn't make a guess as to how long. There are some other extenuating circumstances here that may factor in to that."

"So what do I do now?"

The next few hours I felt like a kid in the principal's office and the principal wasn't my pal either. I've witnessed murder suspects getting less questioning that I got that afternoon. I faced more brass than I ever cared to see. To be honest, for the first time since I joined the force, I was afraid.afraid that I was going to lose my job. I know Lieu thought I was probably facing a suspension and that should have made me feel a little better but it didn't.

The worst thing that could happen was to drag this out any longer than necessary and that was exactly what happened. I worked with Faith that night. 55-David rides again. I told her everything that had happened. She thought it wouldn't be so bad. Besides, if they were going to terminate my job, they surely wouldn't have put me out on the streets right? I hoped she was right.

I was headed for another sleepless night. Once in a while that was something I could handle but two days in a row.even I would admit I was getting a little too old to pull that one off. So I took a sleeping pill, tried to calm down, and at some point, fell asleep.

I woke up around 7:30 the next morning. I was just getting out of the shower when the phone rang. It was Lieu. They wanted to talk to me.as soon as possible.

Now I could end this right here and leave you all to wonder what happens but I'm too nice to do that to you. So, read on and see what happens.

I arrived at the station around 9 o'clock. I sat in an eight foot by ten foot office for another hour before Lieu came in. They were ready to see me,

The same brass was there again only this time they were all in one room at one time. They were prepared to offer me a deal. It didn't matter if I agreed or not, I was facing a two week suspension for lying about evidence. I could accept that. Any additional action against me depended upon the deal they were offering.

Bottom line is they wanted Cruz and I was the guy who they wanted to take her down. They offered no immediate details on how or when that would take place. That wasn't part of the deal. I either agreed to whatever they came up with or there was no deal.

"You want me to take down another cop?" I questioned with some serious doubt.

"We need your help," was their only comment.

"Dirty cop or not, she's still another cop," I argued although from the look on Lieu's face, it was pointless. Reluctantly I agreed although I had heard too many stories about what happens when one cop turns on another. I felt I had no choice.

"So, when does the suspension take effect?" Faith asked me later when we were on patrol.

"I'm not sure. They don't want to raise suspicion by suspending me now. I'll serve my suspension afterwards.'

"So you help them take down a dirty cop and you serve a two-week suspension, that's it?"

"No, the rest was pretty cut and dried. I'm out of anti-crime for at least two years. I have basically no chance at ESU and I'm not allowed to sit for the sergeant's test for two years."

"And how do you fell about all of that?"

"I can't get far enough away from anti-crime. I'd pretty much given up on ESU after the whole Hobart incident and the Sergeant's test?....you've seen me and desk duty right? You think I wanna do that full-time?"

"So you're really okay with all of this?"

"I guess that depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Depends on if you still need a partner?"

"You know anyone who'd be interested?"

"Maybe."

"It's a full-time position. I don't want a partner who works here two days a week and three days somewhere else. I'm not always an easy person to work with and I'm not talking about that time of the month either. I get to drive at least half the time. I'm looking for a long term commitment; at least say..two years."

"Yeah well your demands are a little tough. You might have a hard time finding someone who meets your standards."

"Yeah I guess."

"So, until you find the right person, I guess you're stuck with me."

"I can live with that."

You know they say family is family and friends are friends. You get to choose your friends but your family. You're either born with them already there waiting for you or you're there when they come into the world. In my case, I got a father somewhere and I got a little brother somewhere. Neither one of them was my choice. Just the way it is.

Faith and me, that was my doing.well, our doing. It's a friendship that takes time and it takes a little give and take and sometimes it takes an ex- girlfriend. But whatever it takes, when you find a good one, you hang on with everything you got and then.you give a little more.

To be continued.