Thanks for all the reviews, I'm glad every one is enjoying this dark story.
Chapter Five:
"Irony"
The officers of the third shift are getting ready for roll call. They are just hearing the news that during the night another cop disappeared. They are all sharing whatever rumors they've heard, about who it was and how it happened. Bosco mentions that they should all hurry to roll call because he heard that they are forming some special task force. As he leaves the room they all joke about the fact that Bosco, who is always late for roll call, is now hurrying them along. Faith mentions that he has been acting pre-occupied and showing off lately, like he does when he is seeing a new girlfriend. "I hate when he's like this." She muses.
As they walk into roll call, they notice that there are six new uniformed officers, all female, waiting in the room. One by one they begin to recognize them. They are all female detectives from their own precinct.
Faith walks up to one and says, "Beth, I didn't recognize you in your blues."
"They aren't 'my' blues. I can't fit into my blues any more." They both laugh then Faith asks her what's going on. She confirms that another cop is missing. "It's getting pretty serious. Three in four days. This guy has huge balls. He is abducting these girls right out from under their partner's noses. So...we are going to saturate the streets with female officers and see what he does."
Faith gives a chuckle an says, "Huh...I love the irony."
"What irony?"
"The fact that you cops are going under cover...as cops."
The room is filled with catcalls and whoos. Faith and Beth look over to see sergeant Cruz walk into the room. She is wearing her uniform, but it doesn't fit her the same way every one else's does. Hers has been tapered in and pleated to accent her chest and it is unbuttoned to show her cleavage. The pants were also tapered so that they are skin tight on her and as a final fashion statement; she has her hat tipped slightly to the left.
Faith and Beth burst out laughing but quickly stifle it. Faith whispers, "You think she has a vest on under there?" and Beth answers, "She couldn't fit a band aid under there." And then adds, "I should have worn my own uniform...it would be just as tight as hers is." They share a laugh until the lieutenant calls for everyone's attention.
"Ok...listen up. As you've noticed, we have some new patrol cops." The guys start the catcalls again. "Settle down. We have a serious problem out there. I'm sure you've heard by now that officer Gina Ascioti from the 63rd is among the missing. This guy is getting bolder but also more careless. He called the 911 dispatch and said he had been mugged on the street. He made the call only two blocks away from the 63rd. Ascioti and her partner, Pete Conti, responded and found 'this guy'..." He holds up Gussler's drawing. "...standing on the street by a black van. The guy had blood all over him and was very convincing that he had been mugged. He told them that the mugger ran down an alley and had gotten in a car at the end of it. Pete went to check it out leaving Gina to tend to the victim. Pete told Gina to call for back up and a bus but, for whatever reason, she never made the call. By the time Pete had reached the end of the alley, Gina was not responding on her radio."
Bosco asks, "What kind of a black van was it?"
Lieu gives them the description and Bosco asks, "Do we have even a partial on the license plate?" Cruz answers "no" at the same time as the Lieutenant. They look at each other, and Lieu says, "You can direct your questions to Sgt. Cruz now. She is in charge of this assignment."
Cruz starts by telling them that there is going to be a shuffling of partners so in each car there will be one male and one female officer.
"We want you all to make yourselves visible. Especially you women. We want this guy to notice you."
Sully says, "Oh he'll notice you in 'that' uniform."
Everyone laughs but her. "I modified my uniform precisely for that purpose. I want to be the one to catch that bastard. When I walk out onto that street, I want him to see 'me'."
Faith says, "If I was wearing that uniform, I wouldn't be 'able' to walk."
Cruz shoots back, "Well then it's a good thing you're not wearing it officer Yokas, because you are going on foot patrol."
Faith snickers, "Why because I made a joke about your uniform?"
Cruz says, "No...because I put you in the schedule that way, that's why." She looks down at her paper and continues, "Yokas will be on foot patrol with Candy. Boscarelli...you will be riding with me. Sullivan...you will ride with McCain..."
As she continues reading off the list, Bosco looks over at Faith. He can tell she is pissed off. He whispers to her, "Why do you have to antagonize her."
She whispers back "She has it out for me. I didn't antagonize her, she made that list before she walked in the door."
Cruz finishes reading off the list and tells them, "Well...get goen. You ain't gonna catch him sitten here."
As every one else heads to the door, Faith walks up to the Lieutenant. "I need to talk to you Lieu."
Cruz walks up and asks, "Is there a problem officer Yokas?"
"Ya...there is ." She snaps at her. "Why am I not worken with my partner."
"This is a special assignment, special circumstances." Cruz answers.
"Right, Male and female partners. I get it. But me and Bosco are 'already' a male female team. There is no reason to partner us with other people."
"Lots of people can't work with their regular partners. I don't hear anyone else complainen."
"You know that worken with a new partner adds an element of risk. You are purposely putting me in danger...out of spite."
"Now why would I do that?"
"Because you don't like me."
They stare at each other for a second, then Cruz says, "I'm not switching the schedule around to please one cop." She walks away, then turns back and adds, "If you're afraid, maybe you can take some vacation time until we catch this guy."
Cruz walks out the door and Faith starts after her. Bosco and the lieutenant stop her.
Lieu tells Faith that he agrees with her but he can't do anything about it right now. He tells her to work with Candy for today and he will talk to Cruz's boss and get it fixed. Reluctantly she agrees.
[Bosco and Cruz are going out on patrol]
Bosco didn't want to show it in front of Faith, but he was just bursting with excitement to be working with Cruz. She is the Sergeant in charge of the anti-crime unit, which he has been trying to get on. She was someone who could really help his career along. He loves her 'take no crap' attitude. She is pushy, bossy, and she knows how to get the job done, even if it means bending the rules a bit. She's also hot...and she specifically partnered herself up with him.
He struts out to the cruiser and finds her sitting in the driver's seat. "I usually drive." he informs her.
"Well today you get to ride." she tells him without looking up.
"That's fine with me...you know...in case I need to chase a skell or something."
"It frees you up to do the paper work, although we won't be taking any calls. We have only one goal out here today."
After riding together for a while his attempts at small talk prove to be futile. He tries to get a little more personal, to find out what kinds of things she likes, or a little about her family, but she notifies him that this isn't a date. She tells him...no she orders him, to study the picture of the perp and start looking for him.
She finally pulls the car over and tells him they are going to walk around and be seen. They park the car and he walks over to her and ask which way they should head.
"You just follow me. Stay about a half a block behind me. Maybe he will try to come after me."
"Right. Good plan." But he is really disappointed. He was hoping to buddy up to her a little so she would request to work with him more. She walks ahead of him and he keeps a keen eye on her. Man, he never saw a woman look so good in a police uniform before.
Maybe this lunatic will go after her and then 'he' will be the one to catch him. This could work out good after all. Still...he is bored walking alone. He misses Yokas.
His mind wanders off to when he and Yokas were new partners. They hit it off right away. Well, not exactly right away. She has a 'take no crap' attitude also. They have a way of venting at each other. That is what he misses most. He wonders how she is doing with Candy, although he's sure she'll be fine. Yokas can handle anything.
[Yokas is on Foot Patrol with officer Candy]
Candy says to Faith, "So who did you piss off to get stuck on patrol with me?"
Faith forces a little smile, knowing that his joke isn't far from the truth. "Oh c'mon Candy, you know I love foot patrol. The cold, the walking, being one on one with the dirt bags." They both chuckle.
He tells her, "It is kinda nice to have someone to talk to for a change. Let me know when you need to rest. I've got a running tab at every diner and coffee shop in the 55th."
Faith has always liked Candy even though he has a reputation for being on the 'take'. He is a plump, pleasant, black guy, with a wife and kids, and a popularity on the streets that is unequaled. All afternoon children have been approaching him and asking him for candy from the brown bag that he carries. His name has become his trademark. Even the older kids ask him for candy. Every one he passes knows him by name. He has carved himself a nice little career out here on the streets. So what if he rolls a drug dealer or two. The good he does, far outweighs the bad. This assignment is turning out better than she thought it would. It's a nice change listening to Candy's stories about his kids instead of hearing Bosco's stories about his latest romantic conquest.
[Daniel is out on his own patrol]
Daniel is on the prowl in his van. It seems that everywhere he looks he sees female cops, riding in the cruisers, directing traffic at an accident, writing tickets. He even saw one that looked like a hooker in uniform. She was disgusting, nothing like his mother. He never realized that there were so many of them. This would have been perfect yesterday. He could just cause an accident and then he would have his pick from two or three...but now his task is going to be more difficult.
He decides to drive to the 55th and leave his van parked a few blocks away. He will have to wait for one of them to end her shift and maybe even follow her home and wait till she is out of uniform. He watches the front of the precinct. There are many cops coming and going, all of them in uniform. He really hates not having a plan. Hunger finally gets the best of him so he walks a few blocks down and enters a diner.
Daniel can not believe his luck. Sitting right at the counter are two cops, a female and her partner, who is quite heavy and out of shape. He didn't even see a police cruiser out front.
He orders some food and tells the waitress that he is in a hurry.
In between bites of her hamburger, Faith is telling Candy stories about what he can look forward to when his children become teenagers. The two are laughing and enjoying their dinner so much, that they don't notice Daniel watching them. When they get up to leave, Faith tries to pay the bill but the waitress will not hear of it. It seems Candy was not kidding about his tab. He pays for nothing every where he goes. She feels uncomfortable about it, but finally she concedes and leaves a tip instead. As they leave the diner, so does Daniel.
This is working out perfect for Daniel. They are on foot patrol which means he can follow them from a block away and not be noticed. They won't be jumping into a car and speeding away from him. And now he can start forming a plan. He will watch her tonight and find out when her shift ends, what kind of car she drives and maybe even where she lives.
As Faith and Candy walk down the sidewalk, they come upon a little girl about four years old, crying for her mother. Several people walk past the child and no one stops to help her. Faith asks Candy if he recognizes her. He tells her no, he don't think she's from the neighborhood. He crouches down, says hello and offers her a piece of candy. She looks frightened. Candy asks her what her name is and she darts past him and wraps her arms around Faiths leg.
Faith bends down and picks her up. Resting the little girl onto her hip she starts talking to her in a motherly tone. The little girl calms down. Faith asks her if she is hungry. She nods shyly. "How would you like officer Candy to get you a hot dog and you can eat it while we go look for your mommy." She smiles and nods. Faith tells him to skip the bun and just bring her a red hot. While Candy walks over to the hot dog vender, Faith starts asking the girl questions about where her mommy might be. Was she in a store? Was she looking at clothes or maybe furniture?
Daniel is watching. He feels anger welling up inside. Look at her acting sweet to that little girl when in reality she wants to harm her. How dare she put on this show in front of people. Daniel starts pacing nervously. He wants to yell at her to put that child down. He wants to run and grab her away so she won't be harmed. Everyone is walking right by and no one is trying to stop her.
He starts shaking and his hands are balled up into fists. He looks around wildly. Why does no one else get it? They all see only the uniform and not what she really is underneath. It takes all of his self control to keep from running over there and pounding her until she lets the child go.
He follows them as they walk from store to store. He wants so badly to get that child away from her. Her partner walks with her, completely oblivious to what she is going to do when she gets that child home. And then finally, a woman runs up and does what he has been wanting to do. She takes the child from her. She picks the little girl up and starts hugging her. Thank God. But that was too close for Daniel. He has to stop her before she gets another chance. He follows them a little closer.
[Back to Bosco Following Sgt. Cruz]
Bosco is still about a half a block behind Cruz. He notices that a guy has stopped her. The two start talking. Bosco removes his hat so he isn't as noticeable as a cop and slowly approaches. When the two of them walk to the alley together Bosco bolts after them. He reaches the corner with his gun drawn and peeks around. She is coming on to the guy. When the guy tries to kiss her, she slaps him. He throws his hands up and steps back yelling obscenities at her. She does her best to goad him into doing something but the guy just storms away calling her names. This isn't the guy they are looking for.
Bosco's radio sounds off. "55David respond to 41 Harvest on the west end." He yells to Cruz, who is walking angrily towards him, "We got a call."
She walks past him and barks "So tell them we're busy. I said we ain't taken any calls."
"Right. It's not in our jurisdiction any way."
She snaps around quickly. "It's not? Ask if it pertains to our assignment."
Bosco radios in and the answer is yes. They run to the car and head to the scene. Along the way, Bosco says, almost to himself, "I wonder what they found."
Cruz answers, "A dead body."
Bosco looks over at her and asks, "You think Wilson's dead?"
"I'm sure of it." Bosco raises his eyebrows but before he can ask the next question, Cruz continues, "The coroner places Lucas' death four or five hours prior to Wilson disappearing. The minute he grabbed Ascioti, I knew that Wilson must be dead. Plus, this guy was covered in blood, you know, to look like he was mugged. He got some on Conti's jacket and it turned out to be Wilson's. She's dead...I'm sure of it. What I don't know is who's body did they find? Hopefully it's Ascioti's."
Bosco glances over at her and says, "You mean hopefully it's Wilson. We may still have time to find Ascioti alive."
She answers with absolutely no remorse, "No...if it's Ascioti, that means he will be out hunting for another. We have a better chance of finding him while he's hunting."
Bosco looks away from her. He can't believe how cold she is. Was it working Anti-Crime that made her so hard he wonders. He considers how different she is from Faith. He thinks about something Faith had said about her, 'she is so wrapped up in doing the job... that the people she is suppose to be doing it for, mean nothing to her'. Faith said point blank 'She's no good'.
They arrive at the scene. The street is roped off with police tape and is surrounded by police cars. Forensics is there and so is the coroner. In the middle of it all lies a body, bloodied and broken, and clad in a police uniform. The body is lying face up just off the side of the road. Her left arm is bent backwards in an inhuman position and most of her face is missing.
As they approach, Bosco slows his pace unsure of whether or not he really wants to get a closer look. He can't believe how hard this is for him. He has seen hundreds of dead people and even bodies that have been dead for weeks, but this...all he can focus on is her uniform. This could be any one of the people that he works with every day.
As he gets closer, he can hear the flies. There are thousands of bugs crawling over the flesh, that was once her face. Her shirt sleeves are rolled up and there are large blisters...burns maybe, on her arms. Bosco can see dark bruises around her wrists. But there is little blood. She was obviously killed somewhere else and dumped here. Another odd fact that Bosco noticed...her clothing seemed wet.
He suddenly feels queasy. Cruz walks right up and starts looking the body over. The first thing she does is pull back her collar and check her neck. There is what looks to be a rope burn and bruises in a finger like pattern. She is asking questions and barking orders and Bosco can only stand there trying not to puke. After what seemed like an eternity, Cruz tells him to drive them back to the house.
They drive back in silence. Bosco is trying to get the image out of his mind. He can't bring himself to talk to Cruz. He wonders if she noticed how much this is bothering him. He guessed not. She was pre-occupied with her role in all this, as she writes notes on what she saw. Faith would have noticed. She could always tell what was going on in his head. He had an urge to radio her, to make sure she was alright, but thought that would really make him look weaker in Cruz's eyes. And he don't know what he would say to her anyway. He really just wants to know that she is ok. He decides to just concentrate on the road and try to pull himself together.
Back at the station house, Cruz takes Bosco into the anti-crime meeting room.
He has never been in this room. It is restricted to authorized personnel. The room is divided into three different sections of clutter, each one holding all the clues and secrets to a different crime. There are bulletin boards with crime scene photos with various notes written and tacked up around them. Across the top of the boards is a time line with different times circled and notes written all over it. It is the accumulation of evidence and theories all laid out to be studied by teams of cops working to solve the most horrific of crimes in the city.
Cruz walks over to a stack of files and picks one up mumbling something to herself, and starts riffling through it. Bosco picks up a sheet of paper that has an extensive list of license plates from black vans printed on it. Then he walks up to the bulletin board and begins, against his better judgment, to look at the photos.
He recognizes the photo of Maria Lucas in her uniform. The same photo they ran in the paper. Then a photo of her body lying in the grass face...faceless...down. Next he is looking at photos of bruises and burns and the same rope burn around her neck. He knew that she had been abducted and killed but he didn't know what she actually went through.
He says out loud, "What else don't I know?" Cruz looks at him puzzled. He says to her, "What did this guy do to her...before he killed her?"
For the first time, there is no apathy in Cruz's voice. "He's a sick son-of-a-bitch. It seems that he likes to inflict pain. He must get off on it. In fact, Lucas was already dead when he shot her in the face. He apparently wasn't trying to kill her. He shot her out of anger because she didn't survive his torture. The Bastard. That's what the profiler is telling us. And it looks like he did the same to the one we found today, which ever one she is. Without a face we'll have to wait until Forensics IDs her. "
Bosco asks, "Are we gonna be here for a while? I have a phone call to make. I gotta cancel an appointment." She tells him to go ahead.
He goes straight to the Lieutenant's office and asks him if he talked to Cruz's boss yet. Bosco tells him that as much as he wants to ride with Cruz and be involved with Anti-crime, this case is something that he and Yokas would be perfect working together on. He tells him that Cruz has a different way of working a case and he has some leads he wants to follow but his hands are tied because Cruz is a Sergeant calling the shots.
The Lieutenant tells Bosco that he did in fact talk to Cruz's boss and even he agreed that it would be foolish to separate them during this assignment. "Tomorrow you two can ride together again. I'll tell Yokas tonight when she finishes her shift."
Chapter Five:
"Irony"
The officers of the third shift are getting ready for roll call. They are just hearing the news that during the night another cop disappeared. They are all sharing whatever rumors they've heard, about who it was and how it happened. Bosco mentions that they should all hurry to roll call because he heard that they are forming some special task force. As he leaves the room they all joke about the fact that Bosco, who is always late for roll call, is now hurrying them along. Faith mentions that he has been acting pre-occupied and showing off lately, like he does when he is seeing a new girlfriend. "I hate when he's like this." She muses.
As they walk into roll call, they notice that there are six new uniformed officers, all female, waiting in the room. One by one they begin to recognize them. They are all female detectives from their own precinct.
Faith walks up to one and says, "Beth, I didn't recognize you in your blues."
"They aren't 'my' blues. I can't fit into my blues any more." They both laugh then Faith asks her what's going on. She confirms that another cop is missing. "It's getting pretty serious. Three in four days. This guy has huge balls. He is abducting these girls right out from under their partner's noses. So...we are going to saturate the streets with female officers and see what he does."
Faith gives a chuckle an says, "Huh...I love the irony."
"What irony?"
"The fact that you cops are going under cover...as cops."
The room is filled with catcalls and whoos. Faith and Beth look over to see sergeant Cruz walk into the room. She is wearing her uniform, but it doesn't fit her the same way every one else's does. Hers has been tapered in and pleated to accent her chest and it is unbuttoned to show her cleavage. The pants were also tapered so that they are skin tight on her and as a final fashion statement; she has her hat tipped slightly to the left.
Faith and Beth burst out laughing but quickly stifle it. Faith whispers, "You think she has a vest on under there?" and Beth answers, "She couldn't fit a band aid under there." And then adds, "I should have worn my own uniform...it would be just as tight as hers is." They share a laugh until the lieutenant calls for everyone's attention.
"Ok...listen up. As you've noticed, we have some new patrol cops." The guys start the catcalls again. "Settle down. We have a serious problem out there. I'm sure you've heard by now that officer Gina Ascioti from the 63rd is among the missing. This guy is getting bolder but also more careless. He called the 911 dispatch and said he had been mugged on the street. He made the call only two blocks away from the 63rd. Ascioti and her partner, Pete Conti, responded and found 'this guy'..." He holds up Gussler's drawing. "...standing on the street by a black van. The guy had blood all over him and was very convincing that he had been mugged. He told them that the mugger ran down an alley and had gotten in a car at the end of it. Pete went to check it out leaving Gina to tend to the victim. Pete told Gina to call for back up and a bus but, for whatever reason, she never made the call. By the time Pete had reached the end of the alley, Gina was not responding on her radio."
Bosco asks, "What kind of a black van was it?"
Lieu gives them the description and Bosco asks, "Do we have even a partial on the license plate?" Cruz answers "no" at the same time as the Lieutenant. They look at each other, and Lieu says, "You can direct your questions to Sgt. Cruz now. She is in charge of this assignment."
Cruz starts by telling them that there is going to be a shuffling of partners so in each car there will be one male and one female officer.
"We want you all to make yourselves visible. Especially you women. We want this guy to notice you."
Sully says, "Oh he'll notice you in 'that' uniform."
Everyone laughs but her. "I modified my uniform precisely for that purpose. I want to be the one to catch that bastard. When I walk out onto that street, I want him to see 'me'."
Faith says, "If I was wearing that uniform, I wouldn't be 'able' to walk."
Cruz shoots back, "Well then it's a good thing you're not wearing it officer Yokas, because you are going on foot patrol."
Faith snickers, "Why because I made a joke about your uniform?"
Cruz says, "No...because I put you in the schedule that way, that's why." She looks down at her paper and continues, "Yokas will be on foot patrol with Candy. Boscarelli...you will be riding with me. Sullivan...you will ride with McCain..."
As she continues reading off the list, Bosco looks over at Faith. He can tell she is pissed off. He whispers to her, "Why do you have to antagonize her."
She whispers back "She has it out for me. I didn't antagonize her, she made that list before she walked in the door."
Cruz finishes reading off the list and tells them, "Well...get goen. You ain't gonna catch him sitten here."
As every one else heads to the door, Faith walks up to the Lieutenant. "I need to talk to you Lieu."
Cruz walks up and asks, "Is there a problem officer Yokas?"
"Ya...there is ." She snaps at her. "Why am I not worken with my partner."
"This is a special assignment, special circumstances." Cruz answers.
"Right, Male and female partners. I get it. But me and Bosco are 'already' a male female team. There is no reason to partner us with other people."
"Lots of people can't work with their regular partners. I don't hear anyone else complainen."
"You know that worken with a new partner adds an element of risk. You are purposely putting me in danger...out of spite."
"Now why would I do that?"
"Because you don't like me."
They stare at each other for a second, then Cruz says, "I'm not switching the schedule around to please one cop." She walks away, then turns back and adds, "If you're afraid, maybe you can take some vacation time until we catch this guy."
Cruz walks out the door and Faith starts after her. Bosco and the lieutenant stop her.
Lieu tells Faith that he agrees with her but he can't do anything about it right now. He tells her to work with Candy for today and he will talk to Cruz's boss and get it fixed. Reluctantly she agrees.
[Bosco and Cruz are going out on patrol]
Bosco didn't want to show it in front of Faith, but he was just bursting with excitement to be working with Cruz. She is the Sergeant in charge of the anti-crime unit, which he has been trying to get on. She was someone who could really help his career along. He loves her 'take no crap' attitude. She is pushy, bossy, and she knows how to get the job done, even if it means bending the rules a bit. She's also hot...and she specifically partnered herself up with him.
He struts out to the cruiser and finds her sitting in the driver's seat. "I usually drive." he informs her.
"Well today you get to ride." she tells him without looking up.
"That's fine with me...you know...in case I need to chase a skell or something."
"It frees you up to do the paper work, although we won't be taking any calls. We have only one goal out here today."
After riding together for a while his attempts at small talk prove to be futile. He tries to get a little more personal, to find out what kinds of things she likes, or a little about her family, but she notifies him that this isn't a date. She tells him...no she orders him, to study the picture of the perp and start looking for him.
She finally pulls the car over and tells him they are going to walk around and be seen. They park the car and he walks over to her and ask which way they should head.
"You just follow me. Stay about a half a block behind me. Maybe he will try to come after me."
"Right. Good plan." But he is really disappointed. He was hoping to buddy up to her a little so she would request to work with him more. She walks ahead of him and he keeps a keen eye on her. Man, he never saw a woman look so good in a police uniform before.
Maybe this lunatic will go after her and then 'he' will be the one to catch him. This could work out good after all. Still...he is bored walking alone. He misses Yokas.
His mind wanders off to when he and Yokas were new partners. They hit it off right away. Well, not exactly right away. She has a 'take no crap' attitude also. They have a way of venting at each other. That is what he misses most. He wonders how she is doing with Candy, although he's sure she'll be fine. Yokas can handle anything.
[Yokas is on Foot Patrol with officer Candy]
Candy says to Faith, "So who did you piss off to get stuck on patrol with me?"
Faith forces a little smile, knowing that his joke isn't far from the truth. "Oh c'mon Candy, you know I love foot patrol. The cold, the walking, being one on one with the dirt bags." They both chuckle.
He tells her, "It is kinda nice to have someone to talk to for a change. Let me know when you need to rest. I've got a running tab at every diner and coffee shop in the 55th."
Faith has always liked Candy even though he has a reputation for being on the 'take'. He is a plump, pleasant, black guy, with a wife and kids, and a popularity on the streets that is unequaled. All afternoon children have been approaching him and asking him for candy from the brown bag that he carries. His name has become his trademark. Even the older kids ask him for candy. Every one he passes knows him by name. He has carved himself a nice little career out here on the streets. So what if he rolls a drug dealer or two. The good he does, far outweighs the bad. This assignment is turning out better than she thought it would. It's a nice change listening to Candy's stories about his kids instead of hearing Bosco's stories about his latest romantic conquest.
[Daniel is out on his own patrol]
Daniel is on the prowl in his van. It seems that everywhere he looks he sees female cops, riding in the cruisers, directing traffic at an accident, writing tickets. He even saw one that looked like a hooker in uniform. She was disgusting, nothing like his mother. He never realized that there were so many of them. This would have been perfect yesterday. He could just cause an accident and then he would have his pick from two or three...but now his task is going to be more difficult.
He decides to drive to the 55th and leave his van parked a few blocks away. He will have to wait for one of them to end her shift and maybe even follow her home and wait till she is out of uniform. He watches the front of the precinct. There are many cops coming and going, all of them in uniform. He really hates not having a plan. Hunger finally gets the best of him so he walks a few blocks down and enters a diner.
Daniel can not believe his luck. Sitting right at the counter are two cops, a female and her partner, who is quite heavy and out of shape. He didn't even see a police cruiser out front.
He orders some food and tells the waitress that he is in a hurry.
In between bites of her hamburger, Faith is telling Candy stories about what he can look forward to when his children become teenagers. The two are laughing and enjoying their dinner so much, that they don't notice Daniel watching them. When they get up to leave, Faith tries to pay the bill but the waitress will not hear of it. It seems Candy was not kidding about his tab. He pays for nothing every where he goes. She feels uncomfortable about it, but finally she concedes and leaves a tip instead. As they leave the diner, so does Daniel.
This is working out perfect for Daniel. They are on foot patrol which means he can follow them from a block away and not be noticed. They won't be jumping into a car and speeding away from him. And now he can start forming a plan. He will watch her tonight and find out when her shift ends, what kind of car she drives and maybe even where she lives.
As Faith and Candy walk down the sidewalk, they come upon a little girl about four years old, crying for her mother. Several people walk past the child and no one stops to help her. Faith asks Candy if he recognizes her. He tells her no, he don't think she's from the neighborhood. He crouches down, says hello and offers her a piece of candy. She looks frightened. Candy asks her what her name is and she darts past him and wraps her arms around Faiths leg.
Faith bends down and picks her up. Resting the little girl onto her hip she starts talking to her in a motherly tone. The little girl calms down. Faith asks her if she is hungry. She nods shyly. "How would you like officer Candy to get you a hot dog and you can eat it while we go look for your mommy." She smiles and nods. Faith tells him to skip the bun and just bring her a red hot. While Candy walks over to the hot dog vender, Faith starts asking the girl questions about where her mommy might be. Was she in a store? Was she looking at clothes or maybe furniture?
Daniel is watching. He feels anger welling up inside. Look at her acting sweet to that little girl when in reality she wants to harm her. How dare she put on this show in front of people. Daniel starts pacing nervously. He wants to yell at her to put that child down. He wants to run and grab her away so she won't be harmed. Everyone is walking right by and no one is trying to stop her.
He starts shaking and his hands are balled up into fists. He looks around wildly. Why does no one else get it? They all see only the uniform and not what she really is underneath. It takes all of his self control to keep from running over there and pounding her until she lets the child go.
He follows them as they walk from store to store. He wants so badly to get that child away from her. Her partner walks with her, completely oblivious to what she is going to do when she gets that child home. And then finally, a woman runs up and does what he has been wanting to do. She takes the child from her. She picks the little girl up and starts hugging her. Thank God. But that was too close for Daniel. He has to stop her before she gets another chance. He follows them a little closer.
[Back to Bosco Following Sgt. Cruz]
Bosco is still about a half a block behind Cruz. He notices that a guy has stopped her. The two start talking. Bosco removes his hat so he isn't as noticeable as a cop and slowly approaches. When the two of them walk to the alley together Bosco bolts after them. He reaches the corner with his gun drawn and peeks around. She is coming on to the guy. When the guy tries to kiss her, she slaps him. He throws his hands up and steps back yelling obscenities at her. She does her best to goad him into doing something but the guy just storms away calling her names. This isn't the guy they are looking for.
Bosco's radio sounds off. "55David respond to 41 Harvest on the west end." He yells to Cruz, who is walking angrily towards him, "We got a call."
She walks past him and barks "So tell them we're busy. I said we ain't taken any calls."
"Right. It's not in our jurisdiction any way."
She snaps around quickly. "It's not? Ask if it pertains to our assignment."
Bosco radios in and the answer is yes. They run to the car and head to the scene. Along the way, Bosco says, almost to himself, "I wonder what they found."
Cruz answers, "A dead body."
Bosco looks over at her and asks, "You think Wilson's dead?"
"I'm sure of it." Bosco raises his eyebrows but before he can ask the next question, Cruz continues, "The coroner places Lucas' death four or five hours prior to Wilson disappearing. The minute he grabbed Ascioti, I knew that Wilson must be dead. Plus, this guy was covered in blood, you know, to look like he was mugged. He got some on Conti's jacket and it turned out to be Wilson's. She's dead...I'm sure of it. What I don't know is who's body did they find? Hopefully it's Ascioti's."
Bosco glances over at her and says, "You mean hopefully it's Wilson. We may still have time to find Ascioti alive."
She answers with absolutely no remorse, "No...if it's Ascioti, that means he will be out hunting for another. We have a better chance of finding him while he's hunting."
Bosco looks away from her. He can't believe how cold she is. Was it working Anti-Crime that made her so hard he wonders. He considers how different she is from Faith. He thinks about something Faith had said about her, 'she is so wrapped up in doing the job... that the people she is suppose to be doing it for, mean nothing to her'. Faith said point blank 'She's no good'.
They arrive at the scene. The street is roped off with police tape and is surrounded by police cars. Forensics is there and so is the coroner. In the middle of it all lies a body, bloodied and broken, and clad in a police uniform. The body is lying face up just off the side of the road. Her left arm is bent backwards in an inhuman position and most of her face is missing.
As they approach, Bosco slows his pace unsure of whether or not he really wants to get a closer look. He can't believe how hard this is for him. He has seen hundreds of dead people and even bodies that have been dead for weeks, but this...all he can focus on is her uniform. This could be any one of the people that he works with every day.
As he gets closer, he can hear the flies. There are thousands of bugs crawling over the flesh, that was once her face. Her shirt sleeves are rolled up and there are large blisters...burns maybe, on her arms. Bosco can see dark bruises around her wrists. But there is little blood. She was obviously killed somewhere else and dumped here. Another odd fact that Bosco noticed...her clothing seemed wet.
He suddenly feels queasy. Cruz walks right up and starts looking the body over. The first thing she does is pull back her collar and check her neck. There is what looks to be a rope burn and bruises in a finger like pattern. She is asking questions and barking orders and Bosco can only stand there trying not to puke. After what seemed like an eternity, Cruz tells him to drive them back to the house.
They drive back in silence. Bosco is trying to get the image out of his mind. He can't bring himself to talk to Cruz. He wonders if she noticed how much this is bothering him. He guessed not. She was pre-occupied with her role in all this, as she writes notes on what she saw. Faith would have noticed. She could always tell what was going on in his head. He had an urge to radio her, to make sure she was alright, but thought that would really make him look weaker in Cruz's eyes. And he don't know what he would say to her anyway. He really just wants to know that she is ok. He decides to just concentrate on the road and try to pull himself together.
Back at the station house, Cruz takes Bosco into the anti-crime meeting room.
He has never been in this room. It is restricted to authorized personnel. The room is divided into three different sections of clutter, each one holding all the clues and secrets to a different crime. There are bulletin boards with crime scene photos with various notes written and tacked up around them. Across the top of the boards is a time line with different times circled and notes written all over it. It is the accumulation of evidence and theories all laid out to be studied by teams of cops working to solve the most horrific of crimes in the city.
Cruz walks over to a stack of files and picks one up mumbling something to herself, and starts riffling through it. Bosco picks up a sheet of paper that has an extensive list of license plates from black vans printed on it. Then he walks up to the bulletin board and begins, against his better judgment, to look at the photos.
He recognizes the photo of Maria Lucas in her uniform. The same photo they ran in the paper. Then a photo of her body lying in the grass face...faceless...down. Next he is looking at photos of bruises and burns and the same rope burn around her neck. He knew that she had been abducted and killed but he didn't know what she actually went through.
He says out loud, "What else don't I know?" Cruz looks at him puzzled. He says to her, "What did this guy do to her...before he killed her?"
For the first time, there is no apathy in Cruz's voice. "He's a sick son-of-a-bitch. It seems that he likes to inflict pain. He must get off on it. In fact, Lucas was already dead when he shot her in the face. He apparently wasn't trying to kill her. He shot her out of anger because she didn't survive his torture. The Bastard. That's what the profiler is telling us. And it looks like he did the same to the one we found today, which ever one she is. Without a face we'll have to wait until Forensics IDs her. "
Bosco asks, "Are we gonna be here for a while? I have a phone call to make. I gotta cancel an appointment." She tells him to go ahead.
He goes straight to the Lieutenant's office and asks him if he talked to Cruz's boss yet. Bosco tells him that as much as he wants to ride with Cruz and be involved with Anti-crime, this case is something that he and Yokas would be perfect working together on. He tells him that Cruz has a different way of working a case and he has some leads he wants to follow but his hands are tied because Cruz is a Sergeant calling the shots.
The Lieutenant tells Bosco that he did in fact talk to Cruz's boss and even he agreed that it would be foolish to separate them during this assignment. "Tomorrow you two can ride together again. I'll tell Yokas tonight when she finishes her shift."
