Arrival Overdue

Chapter 18
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They were driving towards an old warehouse, following behind Kavanaugh and Franklin. Faith looked in the rearview mirror in time to see Bosco wince with the pain that his leg was giving him.

"You alright, Bos?" she asked him and the Lieutenant turned his head to look at him.

He removed the pained look from his face and said, "Yeah. Fine. So, where are we headed?"

"Troopers say they have information that Mason and Martino are meeting up at an old warehouse down by the Port of Albany where they plan on exchanging cash for the drugs. Apparently, Mason thinks your already dead because the guy in Dr. Tate's house - Paulie - told him that the guy Albany PD found in the park that later died had done the job. He never got a chance to tell him otherwise," the Lieutenant told him.

"Well, won't they both be surprised when they see me alive and well," Bosco said with a smirk.

"You're to stay in the car. This is the Troopers' gig and I don't want to take a chance of you getting hurt any more," the Lieutenant stressed - again with his finger pointing at Bosco.

"Yes, Sir," Bosco acknowledged. "I just wanna see the look on their faces when they see me," he added.

"Well, once they're in custody, you can come out of the dark and surprise them," Faith said as they pulled up to the curb behind the unmarked Trooper car. They all got out and met in front of Kavanaugh's car.

"That's the building up there - just to the left. We don't want to get any closer than right here for now. We have our and Albany's plainclothes units infiltrating the area gradually for the last hour so we don't draw too much attention all at once. My informant says that the two of them are in there with their men, heavily armed. He says that there was a semi making a delivery earlier - we're assuming that's the drugs. The truck is still parked at the loading dock of the warehouse," Franklin explained.

A voice came over the radio and Kavanaugh answered, "10-4. Wait for my 'go,'" he advised the other units after being informed that everyone was in position.

"You want us to do anything?" the Lieutenant asked.

"Of course, Lieutenant. I thought I'd have you and Officer Yokas come in with us. You up for that?" Kavanaugh asked them.

"Absolutely," Faith said, removing her gun from her holster and re-checking that the clip was full. The Lieutenant did the same and everyone looked at Bosco.

"What's up?" Franklin asked, observing the look on Bosco's face.

"Oh, that. Nothing. He's just upset that he can't come out and play today," Faith said, patting Bosco on the back.

"Ahhhh. I see," Kavanaugh said, turning to open the back door of his unit and retrieving a radio from the back floor. He handed it to Bosco and said, "You can listen in if you want."

"Thanks," Bosco said, somewhat placated, but not much. He still had a pout on his face.

"I promise I'll tell you all about it, Bos," Faith teased some more, eliciting a disgusted look from Bosco.

"Okay. Let's get ourselves into position," Kavanaugh said as the four walked up the sidewalk in the dark.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

"Are you sure you're alright?" Jennifer's sister, Kathy, asked her again as she gave her a cup of hot tea.

"Yeah. I'm just a little keyed-up," Jennifer assured her sister. She had just returned from checking on Jordan for the fifth time in the hour since she'd been dropped off by the police officer. Jordan was sleeping soundly after a full evening of playing with her cousins.

"Well, I don't know why. Doesn't someone break into your kitchen every night? You'd think you'd be used to it by now - almost expect it," her sister teased.

"It's still so unbelieveable," Jennifer said, thinking of Maurice and hoping that he was safe. She remembered some of the stories from his partner and friends - and from his mother - about how he was always in the middle of everything - how he loved his job.

"Jen?" her sister repeated. Apparently, she had asked Jennifer a question, but she didn't hear her.

"What?" Jennifer asked, taking a sip of her tea.

"I said, 'What's going on with you and this Bosco?'" she repeated with a grin.

"Bosco? How do you know his nam...? Okay, what'd Jordan tell you? You know she blows everything out of proportion," Jennifer said, blushing.

"Well, I'd say from the blush on your face that she wasn't too far off. She really likes this guy, Jen. She's not gonna get hurt, is she?" Kathy asked her. She was liking this conversation. They hadn't talked into the wee hours of the morning since they were kids still living at home. They'd talk for hours in their rooms after their dates, only to be yelled at to go to sleep by their parents after a while.

"He's... I don't know. He's really something," Jennifer said.

"You - at a loss for words?!?!? I don't believe it!" she teased her.

"Stop. It's just that. In some ways he's so like Jeff and in others nothing like Jeff. I don't know. He'll say something just like Jeff used to say it and I get this terrible guilt feeling," Jennifer explained.

"Jen. Jeff's been gone for a little over two years now. You loved each other so much and he was great and we all miss him. But, do you honestly think that he'd want you to just sit alone, missing him, forever?" Kathy reasoned.

"I know. I know. I tell myself that a thousand times a day. I'm working on it. But, Maurice has been great about it. He understands and he's not rushing me," she said, smiling as she remembered their night of love before everything went crazy.

"Jen?" Kathy said, leaning forward to look at her sister's downturned face. "Oh my God! You slept with him!"

"What? Of course not. What would give you that idea?" Jennifer said, not doing a very good job of lying.

"Jennifer Tate! You know you can't lie to me. I know what every one of your faces and expressions means. And I can tell by the look in your eyes that you did," she said, laughing.

Jennifer tried to stifle her laugh, but was unsuccessful. "It was - wonderful. He was so tender and worried about what I wanted. It was just, I don't know - amazing. I hate to say this, but I don't think I was this comfortable with Jeff when we first made love. It was just so...," she said trailing off.

"Right," Kathy completed for her. Jennifer looked at her sister and nodded.

"I'm so happy for you, Jen. What are you gonna tell Jordan?"

"Woah! I'm not telling her anything. As far as she knows, we're just two friends. I'm - we're - taking it very slowly. I mean, I work and live here and he works and lives in New York City. From what I've heard from his mother and his friends, he loves his job and lives it. I don't know that he'd want to leave that behind. And I don't want to uproot Jordan. All her friends are here, her school. I just... This is way too early to be talked about anyway. We're just getting to know each other," she finished, taking a deep breath that formed into a yawn.

Kathy stood up. "I'm sure you'll work it out if it's meant to be. You need to get some rest. The guest room is all ready because Jordan wanted to sleep in Rebecca's room for a slumber party." She thanked and hugged her sister and headed toward the bedroom. She stopped and went back to her purse and took out her cell phone. "He's supposed to call me to let me know he's okay," she explained to Kathy as she tried to hide the concern and worry in her face.

"Jen. He's gonna be fine. I know you're worried about him getting killed doing his job, but you can't dwell on that. You could be with anyone and they could still die. From what you've told me, he's very good at his job. He'll be fine."

"I know you're right, Kathy. It's just. I don't know. It's just me being me," Jennifer said.

"Yeah, the family worrier. Some things never change. Get some rest. I'll see you in the morning," Kathy said, turning out the lights in the living room and heading to her room too.
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TBC...