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Chapter Three:
"Partners"
[The lieutenant is briefing the officers at roll call, it is a few days later]
"As I'm sure you all know, Lucas is still missing. She was last seen with this man." He holds up a drawing of a face and passes a stack of them out. "We got this description from the guy at the magazine stand. He said this man approached Lucas and told her his child was injured. He made Lucas follow him. This guy was distraught and 'convincing'. He led her into the parking garage and we have no evidence that she ever walked out. The blood in the garage belonged to Lucas and the broken radio tells us there was a struggle. People in the parking garage said that a black van had been parked in that spot earlier but we have no other description and we don't know that it was actually involved.
"What about the accident." Yokas asked. "Do they think it is somehow related?"
"Possibly. They're still looking into it. Just be aware that the accident was caused by someone firing a paint ball at the windshield of a car as it approached the intersection, causing it to loose control."
"What about Lucas' personal life? Could it be someone she knew?" Bosco asked.
"So far they have no suspects in that direction. I'll let you know more as it comes in. If there are no other questions...keep your eyes open out there. Especially for this guy...it's personal...it's family."
[The officers are gathered at the equipment cage]
Sully says, "I hear Martin is taking it pretty hard."
Davis asks, "Was Lucas married?"
Bosco pipes in "Nah...she was gay."
Sully replies, "Yah but she has a 'life partner'."
Bosco says in an annoyed tone, "It's not the same thing. I mean, it's not like she has a husband and kids waiting on her."
"What the hell does that mean?" Yokas barks. "What...people who are gay don't care as much as straight people?"
He was a little pissed that she snapped at him like she did. After all, he was actually putting her on a higher scale than Lucas. "You know what I mean."
Egging him on Sully says "No...why don't you explain it to us."
"I mean...it's not like she has a family or anything."
"Every one has family." Yokas says sharply. Then holding her hands up in a surrender motion she says, "Ya know what Bosco, I really can't deal with your stupidity today." and walks away from him.
Sully nudges Davis and says, "Just think what he'd be like without all his sensitivity training." And Davis adds, "I think it's gonna be a long day for 55David." They walk away from Bosco chuckling.
Bosco stands there looking confused as they walk away. "What...I can be sensitive. What's with everyone today?"
The only one still standing there is Gussler. "I think it may be the brotherhood thing."
Bosco squints at him and says, "Lucas isn't a brother...she's a girl."
"Yah...so it's kinda like someone messed with our sister I guess. Maybe that's why Yokas is upset. She's taking it more personal...being a female cop an all." The look that Bosco was giving him made him uneasy so he quickly added, "But what do I know."
Bosco looks at him angrily and says, "You're right...You don't know."
Faith walked out to the RMP, her mood darkening. She was tired of apologizing for Bosco, and for whatever reason, she somehow felt a connection to this case. She didn't know Lucas, not personally, but intuitively maybe...she knew that Lucas had gone into that parking garage. She felt that connection, laced with an uneasiness she couldn't shake. It was really annoying her that her partner was not taking this more serious.
Bosco walks out to the car and finds Yokas sitting in the driver's seat. Normally he would drive but he thought better of annoying her any more, so he climbed into the passenger side. As they drove away, he noticed the picture tucked under the visor. He took it and studied it.
Bosco always hated these artist renderings. They just vaguely looked like the person they were suppose to be. He looked at the face staring blankly off the paper. Glancing out the window he noted that this face could be the guy at the bus stop, the one loading the truck, or even the guy walking out of the diner. Then he noticed something else and said out loud "Hunh."
"What?" Faith asked.
"This picture was drawn by Gussler."
"No kidding? I guess they found something he's good at."
"Yah...coz he SUCKS at police work." Bosco spit that out a little too venomously. But what 'did' Gussler know...certainly not more about Faith than he did...her partner of seven years. Bosco looked out the window, wishing that someone would do something illegal right now. Right in front of him, so he could vent some of this anger he was feeling. Anger was easier than being sensitive. And he was 'angry' that Faith snapped at him, and even 'angrier' that Gussler was the one to understand why.
He couldn't stop thinking about what Gussler had said to him. About Faith being female. Bos never really thought of her that way. She was the toughest person he knew. But it was feasible to think of her like a sister. Not just in a cop kind of way, but in a 'listen to my problems...I'll be there when you need me,' kind of way. And God help the guy who tried to hurt her while he was around. He'd fuck 'em up, the way he did the guy that beat his mom. Boy...Martin really screwed the pooch yesterday, letting something happen to his partner like that.
He then thought of Martin walking out of the Parking garage yesterday, alone...without his partner. He looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. The hardest thing for a cop to accept was the loss of their partner. Lucas could be dead, it is certain she is hurt from the blood on the scene, and it happened fifty yards from where Martin stood.
Then he thought...what may be tougher than that, would be to face the family of that partner.
Reluctantly he pictured himself telling Fred that Faith was missing. It would be easier if she wasn't married...or like he tried to express earlier...easier if she was gay. And then he pictured Faith's kids crying for their mother. He pictured her parents. That would send her father drinking off the edge for sure, and for that matter, Fred too. And then he thought of how all the other cops would be looking at him, with sympathy, or worse...with accusing glances for losing her on his watch. For the first time Bosco felt bad for the Martin.
He glanced over at Faith.
She glanced back and said "What?"
"Nothing."
Expecting a sarcastic remark, she was kind of relieved that he looked...what was it...he looked sad. She was going to ask him what he was thinking about, but knowing Bosco, it was probably something trivial like...his latest fling is going away for the week-end and he doesn't know how he's going to get his bean waxed.
The radio came to life. '55 David...we have a 10-31...Burglary in progress...1217 Arthur...approach with out siren.'
Bosco answered "55 David 1217 Arthur."
They arrive at the scene and a man comes out of a doughnut shop. He runs to the car and says "I'm the one that called. There are two guys taking stuff out of the shop next door. They're in the back loading a truck."
They tell him to go back inside while they look down the alley. They can just see the bed of a truck that two guys are laying a tarp over. Bosco tells Faith to drive up to the next alley and cut them off while he approaches on foot.
He works his way up the alley ducking from dumpster to dumpster. So far he can see two of them, but he can't tell if they are armed. He has his gun drawn, as he inches closer. His adrenaline is pumping, and his mind is sorting through different scenarios of what may happen in the next few minutes. The one thing he is sure of...when he gets there, Faith will be there backing him up.
He is getting closer to the corner, and for just a split second, it occurs to him...what if she isn't?
Bosco's steps have quickened and so has his breathing, as he and the barrel of his gun, peek around the building. The two men are nonchalantly tying down the tarp as if they belong here. Bosco has the driver in his site. He can't let them get into the truck. He is psyching himself up to step around the corner and make the announcement that he is here. But he hesitates.
What if they are armed? What if really do belong here? Where is Faith?
The men are now standing at the front of the truck and they are opening the doors. Bosco has to make a move. He steps around the building and yells. "Stop right there jag-off!" as he fixes his gun on the driver. "Don't get in that truck!"
The men reel around to face Bosco and raise their hands in the air. There is a moment of relief, as Bosco has them looking like deer in his headlights. But for a split second, he takes his eyes off the driver and scans the alley ahead of them. Where the fuck is she? She should be here by now. What if...
Both men see it...the loss of concentration...his attention is distracted from them for a second, and they jump into the truck.
The tires squeal as they pull away and Bosco watches helplessly. Then suddenly...there she is. The RMP pulls out from the next alley, blocking their path. The truck skids to a halt and Faith jumps out of the car and lays her arms across the roof. She points her gun at them as she yells, "Put your hands where I can see them!"
The driver raises his hands. She yells again "Where I can see them!"
Bosco has run to the back of the truck and is slowly walking towards the drivers door with his gun drawn. The driver has both of his hands in the air sticking out the window. The passenger has not yet shown his hands.
Faith yells to them again..."I want to see your hands...NOW! Get them out the window!"
Paying no attention to the fact that Faith was getting no response from the passenger, Bosco opens the drivers door and starts to pull the driver out of the car. He is pissed off that he almost let them get away and he plans to take it out on the driver. "Get out of the car you asshole. Try to run from me? I'll kick your ass."
Suddenly, Faith sees the passenger raise his arm just slightly above the dash and catches a brief glimpse of a gun pointed towards the drivers window. She yells "GUN...BOSCO!" as she fires through the windshield hitting the passenger in the shoulder.
Bosco throws himself backwards against the truck as the gun the passenger was holding is discharged, striking the driver in the back. The driver falls out onto the ground. Faith runs to the passenger side of the truck, and at gunpoint, pulls the guy out and to the ground. He yells out in pain as she cuffs him. "Bosco...Bosco, you alright?"
"I'm ok, Faith! Jesus. I never saw it. I never saw the gun." Bosco is breathing hard and his hands are shaking. And he never would admit it to her, but this thing with Lucas is distracting him.
[Faith and Bosco are back at the precinct after escorting the two robbers to the hospital]
Gussler is at the front desk as they walk in. "Hey I hear you guys had a shoot out. Everyone ok?"
Bosco says, "We are...they ain't. Ya don't mess with my partner." He makes a gun with his thumb and index finger and blows on the tip. He's glad they ran into Gussler. For some reason he feels the need to show Gussler that he and Faith are still tight. She isn't mad at him...and he didn't loose her like Martin did.
"You should have seen us. Our teamwork was a thing of beauty. The timing was exact. We were in perfect synch. Right partner?"
"Oh yah...like a pair of Swiss watches." She says, then rolls her eyes.
As Bosco walks away, Gussler says to Faith, "Did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"Another female cop is missing. They just asked me to fax my drawing of our suspect over to them."
"Who? Who is missing?"
"Patty Wilson from the sixty third. She's partners with Tommy Collins."
"What happened?"
"Can't find her." He says matter-of-factly.
"I mean...where were they, that she is missing from?" she says, trying not to sound annoyed.
"Oh...they responded to a call about vandals in a parking lot. They split up to search for the perps and she disappeared. That's all I know...it just came over the radio a few minutes ago. The whole 63rd is looking for her."
"Well I'm gonna be doing reports at the desk with Bosco. Any thing comes in about it, I want you to come and tell me."
"Roger." He says, then struts away as if he was sent on important police business.
[A few hours later]
Faith was just finishing her report on the burglary. She looked up as she took a sip of coffee and found Gussler standing at her desk. "You got something Steve?"
"Yah...I thought you would want to know..." He looks down at the ground. Other cops were good at talking out bad news, but he was not.
"You hear something about Patty?" Faith asks.
"Uh...not exactly." He continued looking at the ground. "Umm...They found Maria Lucas." He then looked up to see her reaction, hoping it wasn't going to be emotional because he really didn't know how to handle that. "She's...uh...they found her body."
"Oh God...where?"
"Well...some joggers found her body in the park this afternoon. They didn't ID her until now."
Bosco looks up from his desk and says sarcastically, "They didn't recognize a cop from their own precinct, that has been missing, and that they have been looking for?"
Gussler looked at him and voiced what Faith had already guessed. "She was not recognizable. She was pretty messed up. I heard that her face was blown off."
Bosco says softly, "God Damn."
Faith got up and walked away.
Chapter Three:
"Partners"
[The lieutenant is briefing the officers at roll call, it is a few days later]
"As I'm sure you all know, Lucas is still missing. She was last seen with this man." He holds up a drawing of a face and passes a stack of them out. "We got this description from the guy at the magazine stand. He said this man approached Lucas and told her his child was injured. He made Lucas follow him. This guy was distraught and 'convincing'. He led her into the parking garage and we have no evidence that she ever walked out. The blood in the garage belonged to Lucas and the broken radio tells us there was a struggle. People in the parking garage said that a black van had been parked in that spot earlier but we have no other description and we don't know that it was actually involved.
"What about the accident." Yokas asked. "Do they think it is somehow related?"
"Possibly. They're still looking into it. Just be aware that the accident was caused by someone firing a paint ball at the windshield of a car as it approached the intersection, causing it to loose control."
"What about Lucas' personal life? Could it be someone she knew?" Bosco asked.
"So far they have no suspects in that direction. I'll let you know more as it comes in. If there are no other questions...keep your eyes open out there. Especially for this guy...it's personal...it's family."
[The officers are gathered at the equipment cage]
Sully says, "I hear Martin is taking it pretty hard."
Davis asks, "Was Lucas married?"
Bosco pipes in "Nah...she was gay."
Sully replies, "Yah but she has a 'life partner'."
Bosco says in an annoyed tone, "It's not the same thing. I mean, it's not like she has a husband and kids waiting on her."
"What the hell does that mean?" Yokas barks. "What...people who are gay don't care as much as straight people?"
He was a little pissed that she snapped at him like she did. After all, he was actually putting her on a higher scale than Lucas. "You know what I mean."
Egging him on Sully says "No...why don't you explain it to us."
"I mean...it's not like she has a family or anything."
"Every one has family." Yokas says sharply. Then holding her hands up in a surrender motion she says, "Ya know what Bosco, I really can't deal with your stupidity today." and walks away from him.
Sully nudges Davis and says, "Just think what he'd be like without all his sensitivity training." And Davis adds, "I think it's gonna be a long day for 55David." They walk away from Bosco chuckling.
Bosco stands there looking confused as they walk away. "What...I can be sensitive. What's with everyone today?"
The only one still standing there is Gussler. "I think it may be the brotherhood thing."
Bosco squints at him and says, "Lucas isn't a brother...she's a girl."
"Yah...so it's kinda like someone messed with our sister I guess. Maybe that's why Yokas is upset. She's taking it more personal...being a female cop an all." The look that Bosco was giving him made him uneasy so he quickly added, "But what do I know."
Bosco looks at him angrily and says, "You're right...You don't know."
Faith walked out to the RMP, her mood darkening. She was tired of apologizing for Bosco, and for whatever reason, she somehow felt a connection to this case. She didn't know Lucas, not personally, but intuitively maybe...she knew that Lucas had gone into that parking garage. She felt that connection, laced with an uneasiness she couldn't shake. It was really annoying her that her partner was not taking this more serious.
Bosco walks out to the car and finds Yokas sitting in the driver's seat. Normally he would drive but he thought better of annoying her any more, so he climbed into the passenger side. As they drove away, he noticed the picture tucked under the visor. He took it and studied it.
Bosco always hated these artist renderings. They just vaguely looked like the person they were suppose to be. He looked at the face staring blankly off the paper. Glancing out the window he noted that this face could be the guy at the bus stop, the one loading the truck, or even the guy walking out of the diner. Then he noticed something else and said out loud "Hunh."
"What?" Faith asked.
"This picture was drawn by Gussler."
"No kidding? I guess they found something he's good at."
"Yah...coz he SUCKS at police work." Bosco spit that out a little too venomously. But what 'did' Gussler know...certainly not more about Faith than he did...her partner of seven years. Bosco looked out the window, wishing that someone would do something illegal right now. Right in front of him, so he could vent some of this anger he was feeling. Anger was easier than being sensitive. And he was 'angry' that Faith snapped at him, and even 'angrier' that Gussler was the one to understand why.
He couldn't stop thinking about what Gussler had said to him. About Faith being female. Bos never really thought of her that way. She was the toughest person he knew. But it was feasible to think of her like a sister. Not just in a cop kind of way, but in a 'listen to my problems...I'll be there when you need me,' kind of way. And God help the guy who tried to hurt her while he was around. He'd fuck 'em up, the way he did the guy that beat his mom. Boy...Martin really screwed the pooch yesterday, letting something happen to his partner like that.
He then thought of Martin walking out of the Parking garage yesterday, alone...without his partner. He looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. The hardest thing for a cop to accept was the loss of their partner. Lucas could be dead, it is certain she is hurt from the blood on the scene, and it happened fifty yards from where Martin stood.
Then he thought...what may be tougher than that, would be to face the family of that partner.
Reluctantly he pictured himself telling Fred that Faith was missing. It would be easier if she wasn't married...or like he tried to express earlier...easier if she was gay. And then he pictured Faith's kids crying for their mother. He pictured her parents. That would send her father drinking off the edge for sure, and for that matter, Fred too. And then he thought of how all the other cops would be looking at him, with sympathy, or worse...with accusing glances for losing her on his watch. For the first time Bosco felt bad for the Martin.
He glanced over at Faith.
She glanced back and said "What?"
"Nothing."
Expecting a sarcastic remark, she was kind of relieved that he looked...what was it...he looked sad. She was going to ask him what he was thinking about, but knowing Bosco, it was probably something trivial like...his latest fling is going away for the week-end and he doesn't know how he's going to get his bean waxed.
The radio came to life. '55 David...we have a 10-31...Burglary in progress...1217 Arthur...approach with out siren.'
Bosco answered "55 David 1217 Arthur."
They arrive at the scene and a man comes out of a doughnut shop. He runs to the car and says "I'm the one that called. There are two guys taking stuff out of the shop next door. They're in the back loading a truck."
They tell him to go back inside while they look down the alley. They can just see the bed of a truck that two guys are laying a tarp over. Bosco tells Faith to drive up to the next alley and cut them off while he approaches on foot.
He works his way up the alley ducking from dumpster to dumpster. So far he can see two of them, but he can't tell if they are armed. He has his gun drawn, as he inches closer. His adrenaline is pumping, and his mind is sorting through different scenarios of what may happen in the next few minutes. The one thing he is sure of...when he gets there, Faith will be there backing him up.
He is getting closer to the corner, and for just a split second, it occurs to him...what if she isn't?
Bosco's steps have quickened and so has his breathing, as he and the barrel of his gun, peek around the building. The two men are nonchalantly tying down the tarp as if they belong here. Bosco has the driver in his site. He can't let them get into the truck. He is psyching himself up to step around the corner and make the announcement that he is here. But he hesitates.
What if they are armed? What if really do belong here? Where is Faith?
The men are now standing at the front of the truck and they are opening the doors. Bosco has to make a move. He steps around the building and yells. "Stop right there jag-off!" as he fixes his gun on the driver. "Don't get in that truck!"
The men reel around to face Bosco and raise their hands in the air. There is a moment of relief, as Bosco has them looking like deer in his headlights. But for a split second, he takes his eyes off the driver and scans the alley ahead of them. Where the fuck is she? She should be here by now. What if...
Both men see it...the loss of concentration...his attention is distracted from them for a second, and they jump into the truck.
The tires squeal as they pull away and Bosco watches helplessly. Then suddenly...there she is. The RMP pulls out from the next alley, blocking their path. The truck skids to a halt and Faith jumps out of the car and lays her arms across the roof. She points her gun at them as she yells, "Put your hands where I can see them!"
The driver raises his hands. She yells again "Where I can see them!"
Bosco has run to the back of the truck and is slowly walking towards the drivers door with his gun drawn. The driver has both of his hands in the air sticking out the window. The passenger has not yet shown his hands.
Faith yells to them again..."I want to see your hands...NOW! Get them out the window!"
Paying no attention to the fact that Faith was getting no response from the passenger, Bosco opens the drivers door and starts to pull the driver out of the car. He is pissed off that he almost let them get away and he plans to take it out on the driver. "Get out of the car you asshole. Try to run from me? I'll kick your ass."
Suddenly, Faith sees the passenger raise his arm just slightly above the dash and catches a brief glimpse of a gun pointed towards the drivers window. She yells "GUN...BOSCO!" as she fires through the windshield hitting the passenger in the shoulder.
Bosco throws himself backwards against the truck as the gun the passenger was holding is discharged, striking the driver in the back. The driver falls out onto the ground. Faith runs to the passenger side of the truck, and at gunpoint, pulls the guy out and to the ground. He yells out in pain as she cuffs him. "Bosco...Bosco, you alright?"
"I'm ok, Faith! Jesus. I never saw it. I never saw the gun." Bosco is breathing hard and his hands are shaking. And he never would admit it to her, but this thing with Lucas is distracting him.
[Faith and Bosco are back at the precinct after escorting the two robbers to the hospital]
Gussler is at the front desk as they walk in. "Hey I hear you guys had a shoot out. Everyone ok?"
Bosco says, "We are...they ain't. Ya don't mess with my partner." He makes a gun with his thumb and index finger and blows on the tip. He's glad they ran into Gussler. For some reason he feels the need to show Gussler that he and Faith are still tight. She isn't mad at him...and he didn't loose her like Martin did.
"You should have seen us. Our teamwork was a thing of beauty. The timing was exact. We were in perfect synch. Right partner?"
"Oh yah...like a pair of Swiss watches." She says, then rolls her eyes.
As Bosco walks away, Gussler says to Faith, "Did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"Another female cop is missing. They just asked me to fax my drawing of our suspect over to them."
"Who? Who is missing?"
"Patty Wilson from the sixty third. She's partners with Tommy Collins."
"What happened?"
"Can't find her." He says matter-of-factly.
"I mean...where were they, that she is missing from?" she says, trying not to sound annoyed.
"Oh...they responded to a call about vandals in a parking lot. They split up to search for the perps and she disappeared. That's all I know...it just came over the radio a few minutes ago. The whole 63rd is looking for her."
"Well I'm gonna be doing reports at the desk with Bosco. Any thing comes in about it, I want you to come and tell me."
"Roger." He says, then struts away as if he was sent on important police business.
[A few hours later]
Faith was just finishing her report on the burglary. She looked up as she took a sip of coffee and found Gussler standing at her desk. "You got something Steve?"
"Yah...I thought you would want to know..." He looks down at the ground. Other cops were good at talking out bad news, but he was not.
"You hear something about Patty?" Faith asks.
"Uh...not exactly." He continued looking at the ground. "Umm...They found Maria Lucas." He then looked up to see her reaction, hoping it wasn't going to be emotional because he really didn't know how to handle that. "She's...uh...they found her body."
"Oh God...where?"
"Well...some joggers found her body in the park this afternoon. They didn't ID her until now."
Bosco looks up from his desk and says sarcastically, "They didn't recognize a cop from their own precinct, that has been missing, and that they have been looking for?"
Gussler looked at him and voiced what Faith had already guessed. "She was not recognizable. She was pretty messed up. I heard that her face was blown off."
Bosco says softly, "God Damn."
Faith got up and walked away.
