Arrival Overdue

Chapter 16
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Beginning of the Shift....
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"Is your partner upstate?" Manny asked Faith as he walked over to her car. She had a message when she got in to work to meet him. She'd been tied up on calls until now.

"How'd you know that?" she asked him, knowing instantly that he had more information.

"Because word has it that Mr. Martino is headed upstate to 'take care of some unfinished business' for a colleague," Manny told her.

"Spill it, Manny," Faith said, tired of the games.

"I heard it around. Martino is headed upstate to meet with Mason who's having a problem with a particular cop - I think we both know who he's referring to," Manny said smugly.

"Yeah, and?" Faith prodded him.

"And, they're gonna take care of two things at once. Their deal and Boscorelli - I don't know in which order."

"You have information on when he's gonna go up there?" Faith asked him, reaching for her radio to get hold of the Lieutenant.

"He's leaving about now, I think," Manny said, looking at his watch. Faith gave him a look.

"Hey, Officer Yokas. I called you way earlier than this," he said in his own defense.

"Thanks, Manny," Faith said, putting the car in drive, pulling away and talking into the radio.

"55-David to Central," she said.

"Go 55-David," came the dispatcher's response.

"Patch me through to the Lieutenant," Faith requested.

"55-David. Go with the Lieutenant," the dispatcher advised after a moment.

"Lieu, we got a problem upstate. I'm on my way into the house now. You need to call Albany and tell them to check on that address. I'll fill you in when I get there," she said,

"10-4, Yokas. I'll make the call right now," the Lieutenant replied.

Faith then reached for her cell phone and dialed Bosco's number. She got his voice mail. His phone must have been turned off. She left a message. "Bos, it's Faith. It's 5:00. I got information that Martino is meeting with Mason in Albany and then they're coming after you - or maybe first. I'm calling Albany P.D. Be careful," she said, before hanging up.

She pulled out her notebook and looked up Jennifer's home number and dialed the phone. It just rang, but no answering machine picked up either and she thought it was odd for a doctor not to have an answering machine. She would later find out that the phone line had already been cut.

Faith reached the station and parked the car and headed in to the station as the Lieutenant rushed out. "Let's go. We got permission from the Captain to head up to Albany. I talked to Albany and they said they'll send a patrol car by and call me on my cell to let me know," he said as they headed back toward 55-David."

They had been on the Thruway for about an hour when the Lieutenant's phone rang. Faith listened to the Lieutenant's half of the conversation and when he hung up she waited for him to tell her what was going on.

"Albany had a car over there earlier," he said and Faith looked at him.

"For what?" she asked.

"Apparently, they weren't home earlier and the alarm system got tripped. The alarm company got no response so they sent the police. They got home just as the unit arrived and looked the place over. Nothing was wrong - they figured the door to the garage wasn't shut tight and the wind blew it open. They checked the house then left," he finished.

"Now what?" Faith asked as the sign on the road showed 40 more miles to Albany.

"They said they've had cars patrolling the area and will increase it. I told them what was going on and they're sending another car over there now to talk to Bosco," he relayed.

Either on purpose or unconsciously, Faith accelerated. She just had a bad feeling about this.
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Bosco started down the stairs, holding his hand up behind him to tell Jennifer to wait. He heard another sound in the kitchen and stopped on the step to listen. He heard another pane of glass break and the dog next door barked some more. Whoever it was, wasn't in the house yet. He waved Jennifer down behind him and when she reached him she clung close to his back. They went down the stairs until they reached the bottom step and listened carefully again. Bosco looked around the darkened rooms and saw no movement in the moonlight. He looked toward the door to the garage and didn't see any signs of danger. He pushed Jennifer toward the door with his back to her, facing the kitchen. He heard the door in the kitchen open slowly just as they reached the door to the garage.

"Go," he told her. "Go next door and call for help. Do NOT come back in here," he stressed to her.

"Come with me," she pleaded with him. He shook his head.

"No. If I don't take care of this now, he'll come back another time," he whispered.

"I love you," she said, kissing him on the neck as he opened the door and rushed her outside.

"I love you, too," he whispered before closing the door. "I'll be right out. Be careful and keep your eyes open in case he's not alone. Make sure to tell the police I'm in here," he added at the last moment and touched her face.

Jennifer made her way through the dark garage and out the side door. She looked around as her eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight. She walked around the side to the driveway to go next door to get help. She took a step out and tripped over something. She looked down to see a man lying on the sidewalk and jumped back managing to hold in a scream. She looked down the driveway and saw a police car parked at the bottom of the driveway. She looked back down and saw that it was a police officer lying on the ground in front of her. He must have stumbled across the guy and paid for it. She crouched down and felt for a pulse. He had a pulse and she whispered that she'd be back with help and ran across the driveway to the house next door, causing Rufus to bark again.

"Rufus, quiet!" she whispered loudly. "It's me," she told the dog and he seemed to settle down. She knocked on the front door and was relieved when the light inside came on. "Who's there?" came the man's voice from inside the door.

"Jerry, it's Jennifer. I need you to call the police and an ambulance. There's a man in my house with a gun. Tell them to hurry, Jerry," Jennifer finished as Jerry opened the door.

"Jennifer! What's going on?" he asked as Jennifer rushed inside.

"Jerry, just call the police first. I'll explain after that. And make sure they send an ambulance and tell them one of their officer's is hurt in my driveway," she said, pushing Jerry toward his phone as his wife, Alicia, came downstairs.

Alicia came over to Jennifer and led her to the couch, feeling Jennifer tremble. Alicia asked Jennifer what was going on, but Jennifer waited until she heard Jerry give all the information to the 9-1-1 operator first. "Where's your friend?" Alicia asked her.

"Wait, Jerry! Tell them that New York City Police Officer Boscorelli is inside the house already," she remembered and he relayed the information and hung up. Jennifer's attention was caught by the flashing lights coming down the road. "That was fast," Jerry said as they all stood up. "Jennifer, what's going on?"

"In a minute, Jerry. Thanks," she said, walking out the front door and down the steps. She didn't recognize the police car as one of the Albany police units, but recognized Faith's form coming up the driveway with another officer.

"Faith," she called and both officers stopped.

"Jennifer! Where's Bosco?" she asked as Jennifer rushed over to her.

"He's inside. There's an officer down over there in the driveway," she told them. "The police and an ambulance are on the way. Please, Faith. Go help him."

"Okay, stay here," the Lieutenant said, pushing her back toward the neighbor's door and motioning for them to take her in the house.
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Paulie heard the dog barking again as he came through the door. He looked around to get accustomed to the layout of the house, all the time wary about Bosco's whereabouts.

Bosco was slowly making his way toward the kitchen, trying not to make too much noise with his cast. He held the gun in front of him. He was just about to enter the kitchen when he saw the flashing lights of an oncoming patrol car. He breathed a sigh of relief when he knew backup was there, because he knew that it meant Jennifer had made it to a neighbor's house safely.

He was close enough to the intruder to hear him take in a breath at the site of the flashing lights outside the window. He knew now was as good a time as any to surprise the intruder while he was distracted by the commotion outside. Bosco peeked quickly around the corner and located the man in the corner of the kitchen.

"NYPD. Put your weapon down," Bosco ordered the man.

"Can't do that Officer Boscorelli," came the reply. "I have my orders."

"Yeah, well I don't give a damn about your orders. You see the police are outside and I'm sure there's more coming, so it'd be suicide for you to try anything now," Bosco tried to reason as the sound of sirens got closer.

"I'm dead if I don't do it," Paulie told him. "Mason'll see to that," he added.

"Well, drop your weapon and you can help us take Mason down. Then you won't have to worry about him anymore," Bosco said, moving around the corner and pointing his weapon at Paulie. Paulie had his gun up also and it looked like a stand-off.

"Yeah, right. Mason's bigger than that. He's got people everywhere. I won't be safe anywhere," Paulie said as he slowly moved his free hand toward his back pocket, the motion undetected by Bosco in the dark. He felt his hand grip the knife that was in his pocket. He'd throw it at his target and then follow it up with a gunshot he planned to himself.

"You know you can't win this. Just put the weapon down and give it up. He's not worth dying for," Bosco continued taking another step closer.

Faster than Bosco could see, Paulie's arm moved and Bosco sensed something was coming at him rather than seeing it. He used his arm to knock the knife away at the same time that Paulie took careful aim with his gun.

In that split second, two shots rang out in the night. Jennifer cringed as Alicia grasped her more tightly. "Oh my God," she thought to herself. "Not again," she finished her thought, thinking that she'd lost Maurice.
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TBC...