Faith and I dropped Kim and Alex off and headed for ma's bar. After my conversation with Mikey, I had a bad feeling about ma's bar. Mikey was out $100,000, money that wasn't his. That much I was sure. What he would do to get that money back was what worried me. At some point he'd become desperate. I'd seen him in that state a few times. usually brought on by a need for his current drug of the week.
During the next couple hours, Mikey called me seventeen times. He was desperate to get hold of the money. Like it or not, Mikey and I are brothers and we share one thing...our stubborn streaks. I refused to give him back the money, refused to even acknowledge that I knew anything about it. Mikey refused to believe me, insisting that I had the money and he wouldn't stop until he got it back.
I didn't have time to deal with this. Faith and I had to get to work. The only problem was Mikey was right; I had the money. Now all I had to do was figure out what to do with it while we worked. Faith wasn't pleased with my decision. The safest place for the cash was with me. Faith refused to let me put it in the trunk of our RMP so I did the only thing I could do. I left it in my locker inside my duffle bag.
Mikey's calls continued. After the third call in a half hour, I stopped answering my cell.
"Bosco, why don't you just turn it off?" Faith suggested.
"Ma's still in the hospital," I argued. "The hospital has my cell number on ma's chart."
"I know Bos but they know you're a cop. If they need to reach you..."
"Son of a bitch" I shouted, pounding my fist on the steering wheel as I slammed on the brakes, making a U-turn.
"Bosco, what the hell's wrong with you?" Faith shouted.
"Mikey wants to talk to me. He thinks I have the money and he wants it back." I explained.
"Bosco, what's wrong?" Faith questioned. A million thoughts were screaming inside my head at that point.
"Mikey knows that ma's in the hospital Faith."
"Bosco, you don't think Mikey would do anything to Rose? Bos, listen to me. Mikey would never hurt your mother."
I was out of the car before it stopped. Rushing up the sidewalk I nearly ran over Doc and Carlos transporting a patient. I could hear Doc yelling, I imagine his anger was directed at me but I didn't care. I had one thing on my mind at that moment. I needed to check on ma.
I heard the yelling the moment we got off the elevator. Instincts told me to reach for my gun. Faith followed me as we ran down the halls, pushing everyone out of our way.
As we turned the last corner before ma's room, I slowed down, listening to what was happening. Ma was talking to someone. I moved across the hall getting a closer look. I discovered there were several people in the room with ma. My brother was no surprise. What surprised me were three others...Kim...Alex...and my father.
Kim was facing the doorway and she was the first one to spot me across the hall. She played it cool, not letting on that Faith and I were in the hall.
Faith and I listened to shouting, trying to make sense of what was going on. I was right about the money. It didn't belong to Mikey after all. It belonged, or had belonged to my father although I seriously doubted that was anything more than a possession factor. Not many cab drivers had access to $100,000 cash.
Kim and Alex's part it all this was most likely innocent bystanders. I guessed that the two of them had stopped to visit ma and unfortunately were in the wrong place at the wrong time. As far as my father was concerned, his time was running out.
I moved back into the hall after telling Faith what was going on. I nodded my head to the right trying to get Kim to move aside. I soon discovered that she lived in the right city, she just worked at the wrong job.
"Damn it Alex," she grumbled at her partner. "This is good, real good. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."
"What the hell," Alex responded, a little surprised at the sudden outburst.
"Look, I told you I was hungry right? I wanted to go back to the station and get something to eat. But no, you had to come up here for a visit. 'We won't stay long.' you say."
"Well it isn't my fault," Alex argued. "I didn't plan on walking in on these two...two..."
At some point, Alex must have caught on cause she and Kim got into a huge argument, shoving one another until they were clearly out of my sight causing quite a rucus in the process. The deafening sound of the two of them arguing drowned out any sound Faith and I made as we rounded the corner. The last thing I remember was my father raising a gun, pointing in the direction of my ma. What followed was gunshots, screaming and blood...a lot of blood.
When the dust had settled, two bodies on the floor, both had been shot. My life was moving in slow motion as I stepped over my father's now still body. I leaned over picking up the gun my father just moments ago had aimed at my mother. For her part, ma was alright, physically anyway. Mikey wasn't so lucky. He'd stepped in front of the bullet that was meant for my ma.
Moments later, the room was full of people; doctors, nurses and eventually other police officers... At some point, a sheet was placed over the body of what was once my father. Ma's doctor had brought in a wheelchair, putting ma in it and taking her to another room where they could check her out. Alex and Faith went with ma, trying to calm her down. I suspected they would need to drug her to get her to calm down, especially given her current heart condition.
The doctors were working on Mikey. He'd been shot at least twice that I could see. They loaded him onto a gurney. I followed them to trauma, never letting go of my brother's hand. I wasn't sure if he was conscious or if he could hear me but I kept talking to him. He was Mikey, my little brother and once again I had failed to protect him.
Kim pulled me away from him as they wheeled him in. It seemed like hours when it was really only a few minutes before they brought him out again, taking him up to surgery. I pleaded with anyone to tell me how he was doing. I had no idea how long he'd be in surgery and I needed something to hold onto.
What information I got was not putting my mind at ease. Mikey was bleeding internally and he was losing a lot of blood. They didn't know the exact cause yet. They'd know more after they opened him up.
I slumped into a chair just as Swersky and Hancock walked in.
"Boscorelli?" Hancock replied in that authorative voice that I hated. I was in no mood to talk and I told him so. He jumped all over me, yelling and throwing his weight around. I didn't need to hear about procedures. I've been a cop long enough to know procedure. I just didn't want any part of his 'procedure'.
Faith walked in about that time, drawing Lieu's attention away from me.
"Can we talk Lieu?" she asked.
Lieu followed her down the hall. Eventually Hancock gave up trying to talk to me and went in search of the two of them. He walked in on Faith's version of what had happened.
"Bosco and I were on our way to see his mom. We got off the elevator and made our way down the hall to her room. As we got closer to her room, we heard voices, angry voices."
"Did you recognize the voices?" Lieu asked.
"Yeah, well one of them anyway. Two guys were arguing, one older guy and a younger one. The younger one I knew. It was Bosco's brother Mikey...Michael. I don't know what they were arguing about. They were both yelling at each other and I couldn't make out what was going on."
"Was anyone else in the room?"
"Yeah, Kim Zambrano and Alex Taylor were there too."
"The paramedics from across the street?"
"Yeah, that's them. When Bosco's mom had the heart attack, Kim and Alex were the ones who got the call. They've been stopping in and visiting her. I guess they were visiting today when the guys came in. Anyway, the shouting went on and Bosco made eye contact with Kim. He used his head to motion for her to move to the right side of the room. She started arguing with Alex. Eventually the two of them moved aside so Bosco and I could get a clear look. About that time, the older guy aimed his gun at Bosco's mom. We suspected he had a gun cause otherwise Kim and Alex would have left the room. It made sense. Anyway, as the older guy aimed, Mikey jumped forward. He was shot protecting his mother."
"The old guy...you know who he is?"
"At the time of the shooting, I didn't but yeah I know who he is. He's Bosco's father...uh, he was Bosco's father. He's dead. He was shot."
"I'm going to need to take your gun and I'll need Boscorelli's too."
"I understand sir. Actually I have all three...mine, Bosco's and Bosco's father's."
Lieu checked out all three guns.
"Officer Yokas, did you fire your gun?" Hancock asked.
"No, I shot him," Bosco replied from the doorway. "Son of a bitch tried to kill my mother...he shot my brother...he deserved to die."
During the next couple hours, Mikey called me seventeen times. He was desperate to get hold of the money. Like it or not, Mikey and I are brothers and we share one thing...our stubborn streaks. I refused to give him back the money, refused to even acknowledge that I knew anything about it. Mikey refused to believe me, insisting that I had the money and he wouldn't stop until he got it back.
I didn't have time to deal with this. Faith and I had to get to work. The only problem was Mikey was right; I had the money. Now all I had to do was figure out what to do with it while we worked. Faith wasn't pleased with my decision. The safest place for the cash was with me. Faith refused to let me put it in the trunk of our RMP so I did the only thing I could do. I left it in my locker inside my duffle bag.
Mikey's calls continued. After the third call in a half hour, I stopped answering my cell.
"Bosco, why don't you just turn it off?" Faith suggested.
"Ma's still in the hospital," I argued. "The hospital has my cell number on ma's chart."
"I know Bos but they know you're a cop. If they need to reach you..."
"Son of a bitch" I shouted, pounding my fist on the steering wheel as I slammed on the brakes, making a U-turn.
"Bosco, what the hell's wrong with you?" Faith shouted.
"Mikey wants to talk to me. He thinks I have the money and he wants it back." I explained.
"Bosco, what's wrong?" Faith questioned. A million thoughts were screaming inside my head at that point.
"Mikey knows that ma's in the hospital Faith."
"Bosco, you don't think Mikey would do anything to Rose? Bos, listen to me. Mikey would never hurt your mother."
I was out of the car before it stopped. Rushing up the sidewalk I nearly ran over Doc and Carlos transporting a patient. I could hear Doc yelling, I imagine his anger was directed at me but I didn't care. I had one thing on my mind at that moment. I needed to check on ma.
I heard the yelling the moment we got off the elevator. Instincts told me to reach for my gun. Faith followed me as we ran down the halls, pushing everyone out of our way.
As we turned the last corner before ma's room, I slowed down, listening to what was happening. Ma was talking to someone. I moved across the hall getting a closer look. I discovered there were several people in the room with ma. My brother was no surprise. What surprised me were three others...Kim...Alex...and my father.
Kim was facing the doorway and she was the first one to spot me across the hall. She played it cool, not letting on that Faith and I were in the hall.
Faith and I listened to shouting, trying to make sense of what was going on. I was right about the money. It didn't belong to Mikey after all. It belonged, or had belonged to my father although I seriously doubted that was anything more than a possession factor. Not many cab drivers had access to $100,000 cash.
Kim and Alex's part it all this was most likely innocent bystanders. I guessed that the two of them had stopped to visit ma and unfortunately were in the wrong place at the wrong time. As far as my father was concerned, his time was running out.
I moved back into the hall after telling Faith what was going on. I nodded my head to the right trying to get Kim to move aside. I soon discovered that she lived in the right city, she just worked at the wrong job.
"Damn it Alex," she grumbled at her partner. "This is good, real good. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."
"What the hell," Alex responded, a little surprised at the sudden outburst.
"Look, I told you I was hungry right? I wanted to go back to the station and get something to eat. But no, you had to come up here for a visit. 'We won't stay long.' you say."
"Well it isn't my fault," Alex argued. "I didn't plan on walking in on these two...two..."
At some point, Alex must have caught on cause she and Kim got into a huge argument, shoving one another until they were clearly out of my sight causing quite a rucus in the process. The deafening sound of the two of them arguing drowned out any sound Faith and I made as we rounded the corner. The last thing I remember was my father raising a gun, pointing in the direction of my ma. What followed was gunshots, screaming and blood...a lot of blood.
When the dust had settled, two bodies on the floor, both had been shot. My life was moving in slow motion as I stepped over my father's now still body. I leaned over picking up the gun my father just moments ago had aimed at my mother. For her part, ma was alright, physically anyway. Mikey wasn't so lucky. He'd stepped in front of the bullet that was meant for my ma.
Moments later, the room was full of people; doctors, nurses and eventually other police officers... At some point, a sheet was placed over the body of what was once my father. Ma's doctor had brought in a wheelchair, putting ma in it and taking her to another room where they could check her out. Alex and Faith went with ma, trying to calm her down. I suspected they would need to drug her to get her to calm down, especially given her current heart condition.
The doctors were working on Mikey. He'd been shot at least twice that I could see. They loaded him onto a gurney. I followed them to trauma, never letting go of my brother's hand. I wasn't sure if he was conscious or if he could hear me but I kept talking to him. He was Mikey, my little brother and once again I had failed to protect him.
Kim pulled me away from him as they wheeled him in. It seemed like hours when it was really only a few minutes before they brought him out again, taking him up to surgery. I pleaded with anyone to tell me how he was doing. I had no idea how long he'd be in surgery and I needed something to hold onto.
What information I got was not putting my mind at ease. Mikey was bleeding internally and he was losing a lot of blood. They didn't know the exact cause yet. They'd know more after they opened him up.
I slumped into a chair just as Swersky and Hancock walked in.
"Boscorelli?" Hancock replied in that authorative voice that I hated. I was in no mood to talk and I told him so. He jumped all over me, yelling and throwing his weight around. I didn't need to hear about procedures. I've been a cop long enough to know procedure. I just didn't want any part of his 'procedure'.
Faith walked in about that time, drawing Lieu's attention away from me.
"Can we talk Lieu?" she asked.
Lieu followed her down the hall. Eventually Hancock gave up trying to talk to me and went in search of the two of them. He walked in on Faith's version of what had happened.
"Bosco and I were on our way to see his mom. We got off the elevator and made our way down the hall to her room. As we got closer to her room, we heard voices, angry voices."
"Did you recognize the voices?" Lieu asked.
"Yeah, well one of them anyway. Two guys were arguing, one older guy and a younger one. The younger one I knew. It was Bosco's brother Mikey...Michael. I don't know what they were arguing about. They were both yelling at each other and I couldn't make out what was going on."
"Was anyone else in the room?"
"Yeah, Kim Zambrano and Alex Taylor were there too."
"The paramedics from across the street?"
"Yeah, that's them. When Bosco's mom had the heart attack, Kim and Alex were the ones who got the call. They've been stopping in and visiting her. I guess they were visiting today when the guys came in. Anyway, the shouting went on and Bosco made eye contact with Kim. He used his head to motion for her to move to the right side of the room. She started arguing with Alex. Eventually the two of them moved aside so Bosco and I could get a clear look. About that time, the older guy aimed his gun at Bosco's mom. We suspected he had a gun cause otherwise Kim and Alex would have left the room. It made sense. Anyway, as the older guy aimed, Mikey jumped forward. He was shot protecting his mother."
"The old guy...you know who he is?"
"At the time of the shooting, I didn't but yeah I know who he is. He's Bosco's father...uh, he was Bosco's father. He's dead. He was shot."
"I'm going to need to take your gun and I'll need Boscorelli's too."
"I understand sir. Actually I have all three...mine, Bosco's and Bosco's father's."
Lieu checked out all three guns.
"Officer Yokas, did you fire your gun?" Hancock asked.
"No, I shot him," Bosco replied from the doorway. "Son of a bitch tried to kill my mother...he shot my brother...he deserved to die."