Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from third watch...but I do own all the ones that don't belong to them. If you read this, please review it.

Chapter Two:

"The Calm Before The Storm"

It's June, and finally...it's a nice day. It has rained three or four days in a row. We get a nice day here and there, teasing that it will be summer soon, and then it gets cold and rainy again. It is sixty two degrees, and after a bitter cold winter, this feels warm...to New Yorkers any way. People are out in droves.

Faith watches, as a nervous mom hovers over her young daughter playing on the jungle gym. A bit too cautiously she thinks...maybe not. She switches her gaze over to another mom, yelling at her son for throwing stones. It's refreshing to see a child being disciplined for a change, unlike the two boys that are fighting precariously on top of the slide. Where are their parents? Oh well...she'll meet them soon enough in juvy court, she imagines.

Being a parent is more than just providing for your kids. It's also about caring for and nurturing them...guiding them and shaping them for the future. Being a mom, and a cop, Faith Yokas is all too aware of this.

She is thinking about her own children, hoping they are out enjoying the day and wishing that she owned a house with a yard, instead of the apartment that she has lived in all of her life. Someday ...

She and Fred are good providers, and she thinks that she is a good mother, although she wishes she could be there more for them. Be more involved in their lives. But there are worse parents out there. God...she knows that better than most, with the crap she has to see every day.

Bosco has them sitting near the park and the sun feels warm in the RMP. He is reading the sports page and Faith started to read the headlines, but they were depressing and ruining her good mood, so she tossed it aside, and is just enjoying the sun. She could sit here till it gets dark.

Bosco justifies them parking here, by saying that they are deterring muggers from bothering the working stiffs that are walking home through the park. Faith doesn't argue with him...not today. But she can see that he is almost done with the paper and she knows that soon, he is going to become his usual, mood wrecking self, his dark attitude, like a storm cloud moving in on this nice day. Any minute...he is going to kill the peace and...



"Man it's quiet today. We've been out here over an hour and no calls." He haphazardly folds the paper and stuffs it under the seat.

"Quiet is good." She says lazily.

"No, it's "too" quiet."

"It can't "be" too quiet." She's mildly annoyed by his interruption.

"Well today it is. I'm bored."

"Well I'm enjoying it. Don't jinx it."

Bosco says, "It feels like the calm before the storm. Ya know?" she glances at him as he continues. "There's some nutcase out there," he glances back at her, "and there are thousands of them, ...and he is just looken for some bonehead thing to do to mess up my day. He's thinken 'what can I do to screw with Boscarelli today."

"Don't the nutcases usually refer to you by your first name?" She asks, trying to keep the mood light. Just then the radio sounds off, '10-13 all units respond 104 and King.'

"Aw Bosco I knew you'd jinx it. Don't it bother you, that you and the nutcases are on the same wavelength?" She answers the call and turns on the siren.

They arrive at the scene, which appears to be a car accident. The EMTs are closing the back door to their bus and are preparing to speed away. There are three other patrol cars at the scene and a tow truck. Three more patrol cars are arriving and most of the officers, including Sully and his partner Davis, are questioning people in the crowd. Lieutenant Swersky is giving instructions to the foot patrol over his walkie-talkie.

"What's going on Lieu?" Faiths asks looking around "I thought this was a 10-13."

"It is." He answers. "Officer Lucas is missing."

"Missing!" Bosco says making a sour face.

"Were they involved in that accident?" Faith asks.

"No, they were on crowd control. Martin says he last saw her over there." The Lieutenant points towards the intersection where the ambulance was. "He said that Lucas radioed in that someone approached her and said their kid was hurt. She was going to check it out. He hasn't seen her since and she isn't responding on her radio."

"Did anyone see what direction she went in...or what the person looked like?" Faith asked concerned.

"I have several units questioning the crowd now."

Just then Sully walks up. "Well this is what we got so far." He glances quickly at his notes, and says, "I found a lady that said Lucas was talking to a tall guy with dark hair, a guy told me it was a short guy with blonde hair and a black hat, and that whack-job on the corner says she was abducted by aliens and the FBI knows all about it. Oh yah, and a little kid said it was the guy running the magazine stand."

Faith asks the lieutenant, "Where do you want us?" at the same time Bosco says "Well it looks like you have plenty of help..."

Ignoring Bosco, the lieutenant says to Faith, "Why don't you start in the 105 block. Ask people if they saw Lucas, or an injured kid. It could have happened a block or two from here."

Faith nods and looks around. She starts walking slowly up the street. Bosco is complaining at her side. "Aww...what a waste of time. She's probably off using the ladies room somewhere. Or doing some personal feminine thing, and she doesn't want to be bothered so she turned off her radio."

Faith does her best to ignore him, like usual. She is more worried about the missing officer than Bosco's need for excitement. But sometimes...like right now...she has the urge to grab his ear lobe, like she does to her son, and tell him to stop his whinen.

She stops, looking across the street, and slaps Bosco in the shoulder with the back of her hand. "C'mon." She holds her hand up to slow an approaching car and hurries across the street.

"Where are we going?" he asks as he hurries after her.

"Lucas either turned off her radio or she is somewhere that she can't get reception."

Bosco looks at the end of the alley that she was leading them down and he noticed a sign that read 'Underground Parking-Customers Only'. He says to her, "Smart thinking, I'll bet a radio won't work in there."

They enter the garage through a ramp. There are only five cars parked inside and nothing else. They walk to the middle and notice four doors, two at either end, each leading to a different store. "Damn it." Faith puts her hands on her hips and looks around frustrated.

"Try your radio." Bosco says.

She tries calling the Lieutenant. No response. Then she tries calling central. Nothing.

"She was here. I just know it. Where would she go from here?" After a second she says, "Lets split up. You check those doors and..."

"No...were not splitting up. One person is missing already."

"Bosco...are you worried about me?" she says, mildly surprised.

He gets a bugged look on his face and says, "Yah right...I just don't want to be here all night looking for two of you."

"Your concern is overwhelming." As they walk towards one of the doors, Faith steps on a piece of plastic and it breaks with a loud 'crack'. "What is that?"

"Looks like garbage to me."

Faith picks up several pieces and examines them. "This looks like a broken radio?" She walks up to Bosco and compares the pieces to his radio. "I think it is. Go get the Lieutenant."

[an hour later]

The garage is tied off in crime scene tape. There are several detectives looking at tread marks on the ground. Some officers are questioning the owners of the vehicles that were parked in the garage and forensics is dusting for fingerprints and taking samples of the drops of blood that were on the ground near the broken radio.

The lieutenant is talking to Maria Lucas' partner, officer Dale Martin. He is looking at the ground and rubbing his forehead with his hand. His shoulders are sagging, and having to tell his version of what happened, over and over, is taking it's toll on him. It's obvious he is pretty upset. The Lieutenant puts his hand on Martin's shoulder and nods to him. Martin puts his hat on and walks out slowly.

Faith heard that Martin and Lucas were pretty close. This stood out in her mind, because Bosco is the one that told her. He mentioned it to her casually one day in the car, and it struck her as odd that he would care about something like that, much less mention it to her out of the blue.

Faith is watching him sadly, then she turns to Bosco and says "We're cleared to leave. Let's get out of here." She looks at Bosco who is also watching Martin and she realizes his thoughts are far away. "Bosco...what is it? What are ya thinking about?"

"Huh...I was just thinken that Martin don't seem to be doen much to help his partner. She disappeared, right out from under his nose. You'd think that he'd be feeling a little responsible. I mean...I would be running all around the city trying to find her."

"What good would that do? Runnen all around the city like a mad man. All the clues are here. Everyone is working on it."



"Then where the hell is he goen?"

"I would guess...to tell Lucas' family."

"Oh." Bosco's expression changed. He got suddenly quiet and that far away look came back.