Revenge
Chapter 13
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"Boscorelli. You're early," the Lieutenant's voice came from the doorway, making Bosco jump slightly.
"Yeah. I remembered something last night and I wanted to check on one of our reports from right before that car explosion where Davis got hurt," Bosco explained as the Lieutenant walked into the room.
"Yeah, that's what the detectives were telling me. So, did you find anything?"
"This report that we took around the corner, one of the guys' names was Paul Richards. I didn't remember it because Faith filled out the report. You think this guy got us over there on purpose?" Bosco asked his boss, turning to look at him.
"Could be. You got an address on the guy? We could go over and talk to him," Swersky suggested.
"Yeah. I was going to do that right after roll call. You heard from Faith?" Bosco asked.
"She called a little while ago to see if we'd found out anything. Said she tried to call you, but you weren't home. Must be because you were here. They got there okay. She's worried about you," the Lieutenant told him.
Bosco gave a half laugh. "Well, its what she does," he said, standing up because it was time for roll call.
"So, how're you holding up?" the older man asked him.
"Me? I'm fine. I just want to get this jag-off so we can get on with things. Davis is coming back today, I heard," Bosco said as they walked down the hallway.
"Yup. He got the okay from the doctor." They both walked into the roll call room and Bosco went over to shake Ty's hand.
"Welcome back, Ty," he said.
"Good to be back, Man. Whatta you say, we try to get this guy today?" Ty returned.
"Absolutely," Bosco said as the Sergeant called everyone's attention and the shift's briefing began.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
"Hey, Ma," Mikey called to his mother as he walked into the bar. "Heard from Mo today?"
"I talked to him this morning," she replied as she poured a drink for the man at the end of the bar.
"Anybody come in looking for him?" Mikey asked her as he sat down and she gave him a soda.
"No. You?" Rose asked as she put the drink in front of the stranger.
"Nah. Who'd want to do anything to me? Mo wouldn't even care," Mikey said.
"Don't say that, Mikey. You two are getting along better now that...," she trailed off.
"You mean, now that I'm clean and sober, right, Ma?" Mikey asked. "It's okay. I'm not proud of the way I was."
The man just sat and listened to the conversation, taking in all the details. Finally, Mikey stood up. "Gotta get to work. Talk to you later," he said, leaning over and giving his mother a kiss goodbye.
"Okay. Have a good night," Rose said as Mikey reached the door. He turned to face her again and yelled over. "Hey, Ma. Did Mo talk to you about next week, for your birthday?" Rose shook her head no.
"Well, we're gonna take you out on the town for the night, so get someone to mind the bar, okay?"
"Ah, a night with my two favorite men," Rose said with a smile. Mikey waved and then he was gone.
The man finished his drink, put money on the bar and started to leave.
"Sir, you forgot your change!" Rose called after the man, who'd put a $100 bill on the counter for a $4.50 drink.
"Keep it. Happy birthday next week," the man said cheerfully, going through the door before she could thank him.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^**^
Mikey was walking toward his job. He'd just gotten off the subway in a not-so-nice side of town where he was a night watchman for a company with a questionable reputation. But, he had to start somewhere to prove himself. No one would hire an ex-junkie, ex-con at the Trump Towers.
He just passed the alley and was at the building when he thought he heard something behind him. He slowed and started to look over his shoulder when he was struck near the temple with something hard. Everything went black and he fell to the ground hard, unconscious.
The man dragged him into the alley and stood over him, as if thinking. Then he took a piece of paper and pen out of his pocket. He scribbled a note and stuffed it into Mikey's coat before checking to make sure that he was still alive. Assured that he was alive, he calmly walked out of the alley and back toward the subway.
The old bum that had been by the dumpster waited a few minutes before moving, making sure that the man was gone. He slowly crawled over toward the unconscious figure and looked at him. In the light from the streetlight he could see blood on the side of his head. He felt around in Mikey's pockets and found his wallet. He took it and headed down the alley, pulling the small amount of money from the wallet and thinking of the new bottle of booze he'd buy with it.
*^*^*^*^*^*^**^*^**^
Bosco had had a quiet night at work. He went by the address that Paul Richards had given only to find out that it was bogus. Unless this Paul guy had underwater breathing apparatus he wasn't living in the river, which is where the street number he gave him would be.
He was sleeping soundly for a change when the sound of the phone ringing slowly broke through, waking him up. He reached for the phone as he looked at the clock. It was 6:30 in the morning. This couldn't be good news.
"Hello. Boscorelli," he answered in a sleepy voice.
"Bosco, it's Doc," came the voice from the other end.
"What? Doc? What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up and waking up fully. If Doc was calling him, it must mean that someone was sick or something.
"Bos. I'm here at Mercy. I think I just brought your brother in. He didn't have any ID, but it looks a lot like him. Somebody phoned in a man down in an alley. He's still unconscious. Maybe I'm wrong, but if not I thought you'd want to know," Doc explained.
"Yeah, thanks, Doc. Where did you pick this guy up?" Bosco asked as he hurriedly got dressed. He grabbed a shirt from his drawer and finished buttoning his jeans on his way up the hallway.
"Um, 22nd and 103rd. Somebody clocked him in the side of the head. I think he's gonna be okay, but he's still out cold," Doc explained.
"Thanks, Doc. I'm on my way. I'm gonna pick up my Mom first. Can you hang there with him unless you get a call? You know, tell him I'm on the way in case he wakes up?" Bosco asked him.
"Sure, Bos. It's been slow this morning anyway. We're in Trauma 4," Doc said before hanging up.
Bosco grabbed his cell phone, keys, and off-duty gun, dialing his mother's number on the way down the stairs.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
"Hey, Doc. He awake yet?" Bosco asked, walking into the Emergency Room and finding Doc at the desk filling out the paperwork. He followed Doc's gaze to a windowed room near the desk and saw Mikey lying on the hospital bed.
"Not yet. The doctor's in with him now. He's about to go to CT Scan, I think," Doc relayed. "Henderson and Williams are in the lounge filling out the police report. I think they canvassed the immediate area, but no one saw or heard anything."
"Thank you for taking care of him," Rose said, shaking Doc's hand. Bosco introduced them and then walked into the room.
"Doctor? I'm his brother. Is he gonna be okay?" Bosco asked Dr. Fields.
"Hey, Bosco. Doc said you were on the way over. I think he's just got a pretty bad concussion. We're gonna take him to the scanner to rule out anything more serious," the doctor told him, as a moan suddenly came from Mikey.
"Mr. Boscorelli. You're at Mercy Hospital. Your brother is here. You had a blow to the head, but you're going to be okay. Do you remember anything that happened?"
Mikey tried to sit up, but immediately fell back as a wave of dizziness and nausea attacked him. "Ahh," he said, putting his hands up to his head and shading his eyes from the overhead light. Dr. Fields reached over and turned off the light. "No. I mean, I was walking to work - just got off the subway. I heard something and started to turn, then nothing."
"Okay, Mikey. It's okay now. They said you didn't have any ID on you, so you must have gotten mugged or somethin'," Bosco said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Ma's outside. I'll go get her."
"Mr. Boscorelli, we're going to take you over to CT Scan, just to make sure there's no fracture in your skull. We'll keep you here for at least 24 hours just to make sure there're no complications. As soon as we make sure you're okay neurologically, we'll get you something for the headache that I'm sure you have," Dr. Fields said as Rose came into the room.
"Mikey? Are you okay?" Rose said, going to Mikey's side. Dana, one of the nurses, came over to Bosco as Dr. Fields explained Mikey's condition to Rose.
"Bosco. Here's the things he had when he came in. You might want to keep them so they don't get misplaced," she said hesitantly.
"Thanks, Dana," Bosco said.
"I found a note in his jacket pocket - it fell out when I was taking off his clothes to examine him. I gave it to the two officers. It was creepy," she said, a nervous look on her face.
"Thanks again, Dana," Bosco said, leaving to find the two officers.
*^*^*^*^*^**^*
Bosco found Henderson and Williams just finishing up their paperwork. "Hey guys, how's it going?" Bosco said, shaking their hands.
"Hey, Bosco. Doc said he looked like your brother. He going to be alright?" Henderson asked him.
"Yeah. He's hard-headed," Bosco joked.
"Ahh, it must run in the family," Williams retorted and they all chuckled.
"The nurse said she found a note that she gave you guys?" he asked.
"Yeah, it's kind of weird. We were gonna ask him about it when he woke up," Williams said, handing the note over to Bosco.
Bosco read it: "So, it should have been a get well card, not a sympathy card. I just didn't have the heart to kill him right before your mother's birthday. You see, I'm not that much of an animal. You won't be so lucky the next time. Paul."
"Dammit," Bosco said, grabbing a bag off the counter in the lounge and putting the note into it. Maybe they'd be able to get some prints off it. "Do me a favor and give this to the detectives when you get to the house. Tell them I'll be over just as soon as I make sure Mikey's okay," Bosco told them.
"Okay, Bosco. You want one of us to stay here with you?" Henderson asked him. All shifts were briefed no what was going on with Bosco in case anyone suspicious came asking around for or about him.
"Nah. We'll be okay. Thanks, guys," Bosco said again and went to the phone to call the detectives and let them know what was going on.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
TBC...
Chapter 13
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Boscorelli. You're early," the Lieutenant's voice came from the doorway, making Bosco jump slightly.
"Yeah. I remembered something last night and I wanted to check on one of our reports from right before that car explosion where Davis got hurt," Bosco explained as the Lieutenant walked into the room.
"Yeah, that's what the detectives were telling me. So, did you find anything?"
"This report that we took around the corner, one of the guys' names was Paul Richards. I didn't remember it because Faith filled out the report. You think this guy got us over there on purpose?" Bosco asked his boss, turning to look at him.
"Could be. You got an address on the guy? We could go over and talk to him," Swersky suggested.
"Yeah. I was going to do that right after roll call. You heard from Faith?" Bosco asked.
"She called a little while ago to see if we'd found out anything. Said she tried to call you, but you weren't home. Must be because you were here. They got there okay. She's worried about you," the Lieutenant told him.
Bosco gave a half laugh. "Well, its what she does," he said, standing up because it was time for roll call.
"So, how're you holding up?" the older man asked him.
"Me? I'm fine. I just want to get this jag-off so we can get on with things. Davis is coming back today, I heard," Bosco said as they walked down the hallway.
"Yup. He got the okay from the doctor." They both walked into the roll call room and Bosco went over to shake Ty's hand.
"Welcome back, Ty," he said.
"Good to be back, Man. Whatta you say, we try to get this guy today?" Ty returned.
"Absolutely," Bosco said as the Sergeant called everyone's attention and the shift's briefing began.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
"Hey, Ma," Mikey called to his mother as he walked into the bar. "Heard from Mo today?"
"I talked to him this morning," she replied as she poured a drink for the man at the end of the bar.
"Anybody come in looking for him?" Mikey asked her as he sat down and she gave him a soda.
"No. You?" Rose asked as she put the drink in front of the stranger.
"Nah. Who'd want to do anything to me? Mo wouldn't even care," Mikey said.
"Don't say that, Mikey. You two are getting along better now that...," she trailed off.
"You mean, now that I'm clean and sober, right, Ma?" Mikey asked. "It's okay. I'm not proud of the way I was."
The man just sat and listened to the conversation, taking in all the details. Finally, Mikey stood up. "Gotta get to work. Talk to you later," he said, leaning over and giving his mother a kiss goodbye.
"Okay. Have a good night," Rose said as Mikey reached the door. He turned to face her again and yelled over. "Hey, Ma. Did Mo talk to you about next week, for your birthday?" Rose shook her head no.
"Well, we're gonna take you out on the town for the night, so get someone to mind the bar, okay?"
"Ah, a night with my two favorite men," Rose said with a smile. Mikey waved and then he was gone.
The man finished his drink, put money on the bar and started to leave.
"Sir, you forgot your change!" Rose called after the man, who'd put a $100 bill on the counter for a $4.50 drink.
"Keep it. Happy birthday next week," the man said cheerfully, going through the door before she could thank him.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^**^
Mikey was walking toward his job. He'd just gotten off the subway in a not-so-nice side of town where he was a night watchman for a company with a questionable reputation. But, he had to start somewhere to prove himself. No one would hire an ex-junkie, ex-con at the Trump Towers.
He just passed the alley and was at the building when he thought he heard something behind him. He slowed and started to look over his shoulder when he was struck near the temple with something hard. Everything went black and he fell to the ground hard, unconscious.
The man dragged him into the alley and stood over him, as if thinking. Then he took a piece of paper and pen out of his pocket. He scribbled a note and stuffed it into Mikey's coat before checking to make sure that he was still alive. Assured that he was alive, he calmly walked out of the alley and back toward the subway.
The old bum that had been by the dumpster waited a few minutes before moving, making sure that the man was gone. He slowly crawled over toward the unconscious figure and looked at him. In the light from the streetlight he could see blood on the side of his head. He felt around in Mikey's pockets and found his wallet. He took it and headed down the alley, pulling the small amount of money from the wallet and thinking of the new bottle of booze he'd buy with it.
*^*^*^*^*^*^**^*^**^
Bosco had had a quiet night at work. He went by the address that Paul Richards had given only to find out that it was bogus. Unless this Paul guy had underwater breathing apparatus he wasn't living in the river, which is where the street number he gave him would be.
He was sleeping soundly for a change when the sound of the phone ringing slowly broke through, waking him up. He reached for the phone as he looked at the clock. It was 6:30 in the morning. This couldn't be good news.
"Hello. Boscorelli," he answered in a sleepy voice.
"Bosco, it's Doc," came the voice from the other end.
"What? Doc? What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up and waking up fully. If Doc was calling him, it must mean that someone was sick or something.
"Bos. I'm here at Mercy. I think I just brought your brother in. He didn't have any ID, but it looks a lot like him. Somebody phoned in a man down in an alley. He's still unconscious. Maybe I'm wrong, but if not I thought you'd want to know," Doc explained.
"Yeah, thanks, Doc. Where did you pick this guy up?" Bosco asked as he hurriedly got dressed. He grabbed a shirt from his drawer and finished buttoning his jeans on his way up the hallway.
"Um, 22nd and 103rd. Somebody clocked him in the side of the head. I think he's gonna be okay, but he's still out cold," Doc explained.
"Thanks, Doc. I'm on my way. I'm gonna pick up my Mom first. Can you hang there with him unless you get a call? You know, tell him I'm on the way in case he wakes up?" Bosco asked him.
"Sure, Bos. It's been slow this morning anyway. We're in Trauma 4," Doc said before hanging up.
Bosco grabbed his cell phone, keys, and off-duty gun, dialing his mother's number on the way down the stairs.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
"Hey, Doc. He awake yet?" Bosco asked, walking into the Emergency Room and finding Doc at the desk filling out the paperwork. He followed Doc's gaze to a windowed room near the desk and saw Mikey lying on the hospital bed.
"Not yet. The doctor's in with him now. He's about to go to CT Scan, I think," Doc relayed. "Henderson and Williams are in the lounge filling out the police report. I think they canvassed the immediate area, but no one saw or heard anything."
"Thank you for taking care of him," Rose said, shaking Doc's hand. Bosco introduced them and then walked into the room.
"Doctor? I'm his brother. Is he gonna be okay?" Bosco asked Dr. Fields.
"Hey, Bosco. Doc said you were on the way over. I think he's just got a pretty bad concussion. We're gonna take him to the scanner to rule out anything more serious," the doctor told him, as a moan suddenly came from Mikey.
"Mr. Boscorelli. You're at Mercy Hospital. Your brother is here. You had a blow to the head, but you're going to be okay. Do you remember anything that happened?"
Mikey tried to sit up, but immediately fell back as a wave of dizziness and nausea attacked him. "Ahh," he said, putting his hands up to his head and shading his eyes from the overhead light. Dr. Fields reached over and turned off the light. "No. I mean, I was walking to work - just got off the subway. I heard something and started to turn, then nothing."
"Okay, Mikey. It's okay now. They said you didn't have any ID on you, so you must have gotten mugged or somethin'," Bosco said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Ma's outside. I'll go get her."
"Mr. Boscorelli, we're going to take you over to CT Scan, just to make sure there's no fracture in your skull. We'll keep you here for at least 24 hours just to make sure there're no complications. As soon as we make sure you're okay neurologically, we'll get you something for the headache that I'm sure you have," Dr. Fields said as Rose came into the room.
"Mikey? Are you okay?" Rose said, going to Mikey's side. Dana, one of the nurses, came over to Bosco as Dr. Fields explained Mikey's condition to Rose.
"Bosco. Here's the things he had when he came in. You might want to keep them so they don't get misplaced," she said hesitantly.
"Thanks, Dana," Bosco said.
"I found a note in his jacket pocket - it fell out when I was taking off his clothes to examine him. I gave it to the two officers. It was creepy," she said, a nervous look on her face.
"Thanks again, Dana," Bosco said, leaving to find the two officers.
*^*^*^*^*^**^*
Bosco found Henderson and Williams just finishing up their paperwork. "Hey guys, how's it going?" Bosco said, shaking their hands.
"Hey, Bosco. Doc said he looked like your brother. He going to be alright?" Henderson asked him.
"Yeah. He's hard-headed," Bosco joked.
"Ahh, it must run in the family," Williams retorted and they all chuckled.
"The nurse said she found a note that she gave you guys?" he asked.
"Yeah, it's kind of weird. We were gonna ask him about it when he woke up," Williams said, handing the note over to Bosco.
Bosco read it: "So, it should have been a get well card, not a sympathy card. I just didn't have the heart to kill him right before your mother's birthday. You see, I'm not that much of an animal. You won't be so lucky the next time. Paul."
"Dammit," Bosco said, grabbing a bag off the counter in the lounge and putting the note into it. Maybe they'd be able to get some prints off it. "Do me a favor and give this to the detectives when you get to the house. Tell them I'll be over just as soon as I make sure Mikey's okay," Bosco told them.
"Okay, Bosco. You want one of us to stay here with you?" Henderson asked him. All shifts were briefed no what was going on with Bosco in case anyone suspicious came asking around for or about him.
"Nah. We'll be okay. Thanks, guys," Bosco said again and went to the phone to call the detectives and let them know what was going on.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
TBC...