Returning the Favor
Chapter 5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sully and Davis reached the second floor and paused in the stairwell to listen for activity.
"Bosco, we're in the landing of the second floor. Are you ready?" Sully said into the radio.
"Yeah, we're ready," he said, looking over at his partner. "You go low and I'll go in high," he told her and she nodded confirmation that she understood.
"Go," Sully said into the radio and both teams entered from their stairwells.
They looked around and saw that everything was very still - almost like it was abandoned. Cautiously, Faith and Bosco took a step forward. Faith was crouched down low and Bosco was standing straight up, both with their weapons in front of them ready to fire if need be.
Sully and Davis did the same. Davis taking the low position and Sully the high. They made eye contact with each other from across the room and Bosco motioned for Sully and Davis to head to the left and told Faith to head right. Bosco and Faith took a few more steps and then Faith stood upright and followed her partner. Davis did the same.
Bosco heard something off to his right and immediately turned toward the noise, his weapon in front of him. Faith remained with her weapon trained on the area in front of them in case the suspect came out from behind a desk or something.
A whimper followed Bosco's sudden movement and he was pointing his gun right at the source of the noise; it was a young woman, lying on the floor in a puddle of her own blood. Alongside her was a man that wasn't moving. She was reaching out for Bosco, either too afraid or unable to move. Bosco put a finger to his lips, telling the woman to remain quiet. He mouthed to her, "We'll have you out in a minute." She nodded and tried to remain as quiet as she could.
Along their search routes, both teams came across many scenes like that. The two teams tried to calm the injured and continued their route, circling around the floor until they all met in the same location. There were numerous people injured and probably dead from the looks of their search.
"55-David to Command," whispered Bosco into his radio. "We've completed the search of the second floor and it's clear. There're numerous gunshot victims up here. What's the status of ESU?"
"Bosco, ESU is coming up the stairs now to your location. Can they bring EMS up with them?" came the response from the Lieutenant.
"Affirmative. Have EMS come up with them. We're gonna head up to the third floor," Bosco replied.
"Negative. Wait for ESU. They'll continue the search of the third floor," the Lieutenant ordered.
"Dammit!" Bosco whispered in anger.
"Bosco, just wait here like he said. They've got the better armor. We can stay here and help cover these people until EMS can get everyone out," Faith said to her partner, knowing that he wanted to keep looking for the suspect.
Suddenly, they heard more shots ring out from above them. "Command, we still have shots being fired above us. Repeat, shots fired above us," Bosco advised.
"10-4. ESU and EMS should be coming onto your floor now," the Lieutenant advised. As soon as he was done with that transmission, ESU came onto the floor, guns at the ready and EMS followed, staying close to the floor and began assessing and triaging the patients.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Kim, Alex and Littrell came upon the scene and waited for instruction. They were advised to remain outside of the building and treat patients as they came out, moving the most serious to waiting ambulances to be transported to the hospital.
Finally, the flow of patients seemed to have slowed down and the medics were able to take a break. "Let's get set up for the next floor of patients," Kim suggested. As the three went about restocking supplies from some of the other ambulances, Alex said, "So, tell us the rest of your story, Littrell."
"What?" asked Littrell.
"You know, about the intervention just in time," Alex reminded him.
"Oh, that," he smiled. "Well, it was during that Citywide blackout awhile ago. I was standing on the corner with a bunch of guys. We weren't doing anything wrong - at least not yet - but we were all getting pretty drunk just waiting for the power to come back on. Well, this cop comes over from nowhere and starts hassling us about drinking outside. 'Drinkin' on the public way,' was how he put it," Littrell said, laughing.
Alex and Kim had finished restocking and were listening to his story.
"Anyway, my mouth got the better of me and I said something I shouldn't have. The next thing I know, this cop, littler than me but with a big attitude, had me up against a fence and was going through my pockets. I had a small amount of weed - I didn't use it anymore - I don't know why I had it, but I just did," he said, being interrupted by Kim.
"Little cop with a big attitude?" Kim said, looking over at Alex.
"Gotta be Bosco," Alex said.
"Maurice Boscorelli?" Littrell said. "That's the guy."
"What did you say to him to set him off?" Kim asked, smiling.
"I believe my exact words were 'step off, bitch,'" Littrell said, laughing.
"Oh, man. You're lucky to have survived that. He can be a little intense at times," Alex said.
"Yeah, well. He cuffed me and took me in. On the way to the station, he was driving on the sidewalk because the roads were gridlocked. All of a sudden this kid comes flying through a big window and lands on the front of the police car. There was blood everywhere. He got shot by some storeowner for shoplifting. It turned into a big racial incident and the crowd was getting pretty ugly. They had us surrounded. Anyway, I ended up helping to save this kid's life because of being a medic in the Marines. Later, at the hospital when we were getting cleaned up he asked me why I had the drugs, said I could be somebody. I mouthed off again and he cuffed me and brought me into the station," he finished.
"So, if you were arrested for drugs, how did you get a job with the City?" Alex asked.
"Well, after the blackout was over and he was doing all his paperwork for all the people he'd dragged in, he must have had a change of heart. Because he came over to the cell and called my name. There was a different look on his face than he had earlier - it was, I don't know - kind of a defeated look. Maybe it was just exhaustion. Anyway, he told the Desk Sergeant that he'd lost the evidence and was kicking me loose. Before he walked away from me he said that when I got on the job, if he called for a bus, he expected me to put him at the top of my list. A few months later, I got a call to start training. My instructor said that some cop had put in a good word for me and that's why I got the call," he said, finishing up.
"Wow. I never would've thought Bosco had it in him to actually let someone go," Kim said, looking over at Alex.
"Yeah, well, people surprise you everyday," Alex said, suddenly interrupted by excited transmissions over the numerous police radios around them.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Bosco, Ty, Sully and Faith were keeping an eye on things on the second floor while the medics finished up triaging and evacuating the patients. ESU had proceeded up to the third floor, but weren't having much luck finding the guy.
"Maybe he's one of the guys that we evacuated out of here," Ty said. "You know, maybe he offed himself."
"I don't think so. There was no gun found around here," Sully replied.
Suddenly there was a sound from the stairwell across the room. All four officers looked in that direction, expecting to see ESU coming back down. At the same time, one of the ESU guys came over the radio, "Command, we have an officer down on the third floor. Suspect has his weapon. He's left the floor, repeat he has left the floor with an ESU weapon."
They were shocked to see the deranged man, now armed with an ESU officer's high-powered weapon. "Hit the ground!" Bosco yelled out, firing a few rounds off at the man who was preparing to fire at the officers and remaining medics on the second floor. The man reached behind him and locked the stairwell door so that no officers could come from behind him.
Bosco signaled over to Faith, Sully and Davis to start moving toward the other stairwell to get out when the man was finally upon him.
"You don't understand! No one understands!" he screamed at no one in particular. Bosco tried to remain as quiet as possible so that the madman didn't know he was there. He didn't have a clear shot because he was behind some desks and he didn't want his shot to ricochet and hit one of the medics or his fellow officers.
The man moved away from him a little further and he was able to key his radio. "Faith," he whispered into his radio. "I'm going to draw his attention. I want you guys to get the rest of the medics out of here when I do."
"Bos, no," Faith started to say, looking over at Sully and Davis who also didn't want to leave Bosco in there by himself.
"Faith, I don't have time to discuss this. I'm behind him and you're near the stairwell. Now, I'm going on three. 1 - 2 - 3," he responded into the radio as he stood up.
"Hey!" he yelled, getting the man's attention. He swung around and took aim at Bosco as Faith, Sully and Davis moved the stranded medics to the stairwell. Bosco fired off a shot, hitting the suspect in the arm, but he didn't drop the weapon. Instead he ran over to the door that the officers just exited and locked it and ducked behind a desk.
Bosco heard Faith over his radio, "55-David to Command. We have evacuated the second floor, but my partner is trapped on the second floor with the suspect. Advise ESU that the stairwell doors have been locked from the inside. Repeat, my partner is trapped on the second floor with the suspect and shots have been fired."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...
Chapter 5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sully and Davis reached the second floor and paused in the stairwell to listen for activity.
"Bosco, we're in the landing of the second floor. Are you ready?" Sully said into the radio.
"Yeah, we're ready," he said, looking over at his partner. "You go low and I'll go in high," he told her and she nodded confirmation that she understood.
"Go," Sully said into the radio and both teams entered from their stairwells.
They looked around and saw that everything was very still - almost like it was abandoned. Cautiously, Faith and Bosco took a step forward. Faith was crouched down low and Bosco was standing straight up, both with their weapons in front of them ready to fire if need be.
Sully and Davis did the same. Davis taking the low position and Sully the high. They made eye contact with each other from across the room and Bosco motioned for Sully and Davis to head to the left and told Faith to head right. Bosco and Faith took a few more steps and then Faith stood upright and followed her partner. Davis did the same.
Bosco heard something off to his right and immediately turned toward the noise, his weapon in front of him. Faith remained with her weapon trained on the area in front of them in case the suspect came out from behind a desk or something.
A whimper followed Bosco's sudden movement and he was pointing his gun right at the source of the noise; it was a young woman, lying on the floor in a puddle of her own blood. Alongside her was a man that wasn't moving. She was reaching out for Bosco, either too afraid or unable to move. Bosco put a finger to his lips, telling the woman to remain quiet. He mouthed to her, "We'll have you out in a minute." She nodded and tried to remain as quiet as she could.
Along their search routes, both teams came across many scenes like that. The two teams tried to calm the injured and continued their route, circling around the floor until they all met in the same location. There were numerous people injured and probably dead from the looks of their search.
"55-David to Command," whispered Bosco into his radio. "We've completed the search of the second floor and it's clear. There're numerous gunshot victims up here. What's the status of ESU?"
"Bosco, ESU is coming up the stairs now to your location. Can they bring EMS up with them?" came the response from the Lieutenant.
"Affirmative. Have EMS come up with them. We're gonna head up to the third floor," Bosco replied.
"Negative. Wait for ESU. They'll continue the search of the third floor," the Lieutenant ordered.
"Dammit!" Bosco whispered in anger.
"Bosco, just wait here like he said. They've got the better armor. We can stay here and help cover these people until EMS can get everyone out," Faith said to her partner, knowing that he wanted to keep looking for the suspect.
Suddenly, they heard more shots ring out from above them. "Command, we still have shots being fired above us. Repeat, shots fired above us," Bosco advised.
"10-4. ESU and EMS should be coming onto your floor now," the Lieutenant advised. As soon as he was done with that transmission, ESU came onto the floor, guns at the ready and EMS followed, staying close to the floor and began assessing and triaging the patients.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Kim, Alex and Littrell came upon the scene and waited for instruction. They were advised to remain outside of the building and treat patients as they came out, moving the most serious to waiting ambulances to be transported to the hospital.
Finally, the flow of patients seemed to have slowed down and the medics were able to take a break. "Let's get set up for the next floor of patients," Kim suggested. As the three went about restocking supplies from some of the other ambulances, Alex said, "So, tell us the rest of your story, Littrell."
"What?" asked Littrell.
"You know, about the intervention just in time," Alex reminded him.
"Oh, that," he smiled. "Well, it was during that Citywide blackout awhile ago. I was standing on the corner with a bunch of guys. We weren't doing anything wrong - at least not yet - but we were all getting pretty drunk just waiting for the power to come back on. Well, this cop comes over from nowhere and starts hassling us about drinking outside. 'Drinkin' on the public way,' was how he put it," Littrell said, laughing.
Alex and Kim had finished restocking and were listening to his story.
"Anyway, my mouth got the better of me and I said something I shouldn't have. The next thing I know, this cop, littler than me but with a big attitude, had me up against a fence and was going through my pockets. I had a small amount of weed - I didn't use it anymore - I don't know why I had it, but I just did," he said, being interrupted by Kim.
"Little cop with a big attitude?" Kim said, looking over at Alex.
"Gotta be Bosco," Alex said.
"Maurice Boscorelli?" Littrell said. "That's the guy."
"What did you say to him to set him off?" Kim asked, smiling.
"I believe my exact words were 'step off, bitch,'" Littrell said, laughing.
"Oh, man. You're lucky to have survived that. He can be a little intense at times," Alex said.
"Yeah, well. He cuffed me and took me in. On the way to the station, he was driving on the sidewalk because the roads were gridlocked. All of a sudden this kid comes flying through a big window and lands on the front of the police car. There was blood everywhere. He got shot by some storeowner for shoplifting. It turned into a big racial incident and the crowd was getting pretty ugly. They had us surrounded. Anyway, I ended up helping to save this kid's life because of being a medic in the Marines. Later, at the hospital when we were getting cleaned up he asked me why I had the drugs, said I could be somebody. I mouthed off again and he cuffed me and brought me into the station," he finished.
"So, if you were arrested for drugs, how did you get a job with the City?" Alex asked.
"Well, after the blackout was over and he was doing all his paperwork for all the people he'd dragged in, he must have had a change of heart. Because he came over to the cell and called my name. There was a different look on his face than he had earlier - it was, I don't know - kind of a defeated look. Maybe it was just exhaustion. Anyway, he told the Desk Sergeant that he'd lost the evidence and was kicking me loose. Before he walked away from me he said that when I got on the job, if he called for a bus, he expected me to put him at the top of my list. A few months later, I got a call to start training. My instructor said that some cop had put in a good word for me and that's why I got the call," he said, finishing up.
"Wow. I never would've thought Bosco had it in him to actually let someone go," Kim said, looking over at Alex.
"Yeah, well, people surprise you everyday," Alex said, suddenly interrupted by excited transmissions over the numerous police radios around them.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Bosco, Ty, Sully and Faith were keeping an eye on things on the second floor while the medics finished up triaging and evacuating the patients. ESU had proceeded up to the third floor, but weren't having much luck finding the guy.
"Maybe he's one of the guys that we evacuated out of here," Ty said. "You know, maybe he offed himself."
"I don't think so. There was no gun found around here," Sully replied.
Suddenly there was a sound from the stairwell across the room. All four officers looked in that direction, expecting to see ESU coming back down. At the same time, one of the ESU guys came over the radio, "Command, we have an officer down on the third floor. Suspect has his weapon. He's left the floor, repeat he has left the floor with an ESU weapon."
They were shocked to see the deranged man, now armed with an ESU officer's high-powered weapon. "Hit the ground!" Bosco yelled out, firing a few rounds off at the man who was preparing to fire at the officers and remaining medics on the second floor. The man reached behind him and locked the stairwell door so that no officers could come from behind him.
Bosco signaled over to Faith, Sully and Davis to start moving toward the other stairwell to get out when the man was finally upon him.
"You don't understand! No one understands!" he screamed at no one in particular. Bosco tried to remain as quiet as possible so that the madman didn't know he was there. He didn't have a clear shot because he was behind some desks and he didn't want his shot to ricochet and hit one of the medics or his fellow officers.
The man moved away from him a little further and he was able to key his radio. "Faith," he whispered into his radio. "I'm going to draw his attention. I want you guys to get the rest of the medics out of here when I do."
"Bos, no," Faith started to say, looking over at Sully and Davis who also didn't want to leave Bosco in there by himself.
"Faith, I don't have time to discuss this. I'm behind him and you're near the stairwell. Now, I'm going on three. 1 - 2 - 3," he responded into the radio as he stood up.
"Hey!" he yelled, getting the man's attention. He swung around and took aim at Bosco as Faith, Sully and Davis moved the stranded medics to the stairwell. Bosco fired off a shot, hitting the suspect in the arm, but he didn't drop the weapon. Instead he ran over to the door that the officers just exited and locked it and ducked behind a desk.
Bosco heard Faith over his radio, "55-David to Command. We have evacuated the second floor, but my partner is trapped on the second floor with the suspect. Advise ESU that the stairwell doors have been locked from the inside. Repeat, my partner is trapped on the second floor with the suspect and shots have been fired."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...