Swersky, Davis, Sully and the Captain had been going through
the radio calls for the last three hours. So far nothing had stood out as
not being routine and they were now getting close to Bosco's call to 232
56th street.
They heard the two calls for the domestic that Sully and Davis had taken right before Bosco's call. As Swersky put a mark on the black board marking the location of the call that 55-Charlie was responding to something finally became apparent. Sully was the first to realize it.
"Look, with us taking that call 55-David is the only unit free in the 55. For the first time all shift all the other units are either on a call or out on meal."
"According to central the call for the unknown dispute came in exactly two minutes after 55-Charlie took the domestic call," the Captain said looking at the report he had in front of him from central dispatch.
"Which if someone was monitoring where all the units were, it would give them enough time to put that call in and be sure that Boscorelli was going to be the one to answer it," Swersky commented. "It's a little to well timed for it to be coincidence or lucky timing."
"But proving it is going to be the hard. Besides the radio calls and the report from Central what else do we have to go on," Sully commented. "And what if it wasn't an inside job? What if they were just using a police scanner?"
"Assuming it was an inside job who in the department would hate Bosco enough to want to be in on a plot to kill him?" Davis asked. The question had been raised before without getting answered but it had to be raised again. It was one of the most important questions in this whole investigation.
"That could be a very long list," Sully said. "I think the only one in this department that we can leave off would be you Davis. I think everyone else has wanted to kill Boscorelli at some point or another, including his partner." The joke wasn't exactly in good taste but Sully was feeling frustrated and it was getting late. His normal shift had ended an hour ago. From across the table, Davis gave his partner a look that plainly said he wasn't amused. He wasn't the only one.
"Let's get serious here," the Captain told them. "If we assume it is an inside job who do we have as possible suspects."
"Well, Jensen, from the first watch, and Bosco have never gotten along. They've gotten into several fights off duty," Davis said thinking of the couple of times he had been out with Bosco drinking and had to break up a fight between the two of them.
"Fred Gubbine and Bosco have had a feud going ever since they were in the academy. I'm not sure exactly what went on but I heard people whispering about things back when the two of them started here," Sully said.
"And like it or not, I don't think that we can leave Sgt. Christopher off," Swersky said. "It has been apparent since Chrisptopher came on as field Sgt. that there is something personal between the two of them. Sometimes I think that Christopher goes out of his way trying to catch Boscorelli doing something wrong. He pounces on the littlest things. Personally, I've found its easier just to wait for him to do something really stupid." The time that Boscorelli had been caught on tape making love in the front seat of an RMP came to mind but he didn't mention it. After Sully's comment he didn't think it would go over well with the Captain.
Sully and Davis exchanged looks. Both of them had been thinking of Christopher as a suspect, in fact he was one the top of the list for bothe of them, but neither of them had wanted to suggest him. They were both thankful that Swersky had saved them from having to do so.
"I have to agree," the Captain said reluctantly. He hoped that it was none of the three, that in fact no one within the department was involved. "Is there anyone else?" He looked at the three of them in turn and recieved a shake of the head from each of them. "Okay, then that is the suspect list that we have at this point. Sullivan, Davis I want the two of you to question Jensen and Gubbine tomorrow. Try to do it discreetly. I'll question Christopher myself."
"Yes sir," Sullivan said.
"Let's all try and get some sleep now."
As they exited the Captain's office Swersky stopped Sullivan in the hallway.
"Go ahead and question Gubbine tomorrow but don't worry about catching Jensen. I have a few things I want to look into tonight, so I'll just hang around and catch him when he gets off his shift."
"Yes, sir," Sully said and then went to catch up with Davis who was still heading for the locker room.
"Thank-you, I'll be expecting you then," the Captain said into the phone and then hung it up. As soon as he let go of the phone it range again. He answered it quickly and listened to the voice on the other end.
"I didn't think you would release him this soon," the Captain said to Dr. Moralis.
"I'm not releasing him. He's going to leave AMA."
"Can't you stop him?" While he was in the hospital Boscorelli was fairly easy to protect. He knew Boscorelli wasn't going to take to well to having police officers following him around for any reason. He almost wished he hadn't let Yokas come back on duty today. At least then she would've already been at the hospital and maybe could have talked some sense into him.
"No, I can't stop him. If he wants to leave he can leave."
"Okay, at least try to stall him. I'm sending someone down to take him home."
"Alright, I'll try but no promises."
"Thanks," he told her hanging the phone up once again.
He left his office and headed through the station to the small room where Davis and Sully were busy talking to officer Gubbine. He tapped on the window of the room to get the attention of those inside. When Davis looked up he motioned for him to come outside.
"What's up sir?"
"I need you to go to Mercy. Dr. Moralis just called me and Bosco is getting ready to leave AMA. She's going to stall him as long as she can. I want you to drive him home. At least that way we can make sure that he actually goes home."
"You got it." Davis told him although he knew it didn't really matter. Bosco wasn't going to stay at his house for long. He was going to be out on the streets looking for his brother and whoever else was involved before too long. "You don't actually think Bosco's going to stay there long though do you?"
"Not for a minute. However, this gives me more time to get a plainclothes unit out at his place. The last thing I need right now is Boscorelli out there looking for his brother." He didn't mention the fact that he was pretty sure they already had Christopher out looking on his own. Christopher still had one more day suspension but he knew the sergeant had pretty much figured out that he was under suspicion of aiding in the attempt on Boscorelli from the questioning this afternoon and Christopher wasn't exactly the one to sit around and do nothing either. If he was behind it he would be out making sure there was no evidence of his involvement. If he was innocent he would be out there proving his innocence. " Keeping him under surveillance is our only chance at protecting him once he leaves the hospital and he isn't even going to make that easy."
"Okay, well I'll be going before I miss him," Davis said not knowing what else to say.
As Davis left he looked back once over his shoulder and saw the Captain looking into the room where Sully was still questioning Gubbine. As Davis watched the Captain shake his head and walked back toward his office. Davis was definitely glad he wasn't the one in charge right now. This whole situation was a nightmare.
He put the lights on as he drove over to Mercy. It wasn't exactly an emergency but it allowed him to get to the hospital quicker. He parked the squad out in front of the hospital and hurried inside. He met Moralis in the hallway outside of Bosco's hospital room.
"Has he left yet?" he asked stepping off of the elevator.
"Not yet," Moralis told him, walking toward him. "He's getting dressed now though. If you had been too much longer you probably would've missed him."
Davis nodded and kept walking toward the hospital room, nodding to the two officers still standing guard on either side of the door. He paused outside of the room and knocked on the door.
"Come in," he heard Bosco answer.
Davis opened the door and walked in to find Bosco pulling his shirt on slowly. Davis winced at the sight of the bruises that still covered Bosco's body. Just looking at him hurt.
"Oh, look my babysitter has arrived," Bosco said when he saw Davis enter. "The Captain afraid I couldn't find my own way home."
"No, I just thought you might like a lift home. Your other alternative is the subway," Davis said innocently. He knew how much Bosco hated the subway.
"I guess Sully's with you too," Bosco said. Davis knew he had consented to letting him drive him home. He just wasn't going to admit it.
"No, Sully's still at the station working on something." Davis was purposely being vague. He didn't want Bosco know to many of the details about the investigation. The more he knew the more involved he was going to try to get.
"Good. I'm in no mood to deal with him right now," Bosco said slowly standing up. Now that he was feeling better he was embarrassed by his display of emotion in front of Sully the day before. The longer he could avoid Sully the better. "Let's get out of here." Bosco told him.
Davis let Bosco lead the way. The other officer was moving slowly and Davis wanted to let him set the pace. He also wasn't sure what Bosco's reaction to the other two officers in the hallway was going to be. As far as he knew, no one had ever told Bosco that a guard had been placed on his room.
When they got to the hallway, however, Davis saw that the other two officers had already left. Either the Captain had contacted them telling them to leave or they had been following the same line of thinking that Davis had.
The two officers slowly made there way down to ground level of the hospital and out to where Davis had parked the squad. Davis slowly pulled the car into traffic.
"Can you stop by the 55 fire station. There's some people there I would like to thank," Bosco said quietly from the passenger seat.
Davis quickly glanced away from the road toward the other officer. Just the walk down to the squad had seemed to wear Bosco out. He wasn't sure Bosco was up to a side visit but Bosco wanting to thank anyone seemed a little of a place period.
"You sure you up to it, Bos?"
"Yes," he answered insistently. "Don't make me get out of this car and walk at the next light you stop at."
"Okay," Davis said making a turn at the next street so that he could head over to the firehouse instead of Bosco's place.
The firefighters of the 55 could hear the two paramedics arriving back from their last call, as they made their way up the steps.
"Come on Kim, let me drive next time?"
"Not a chance, Carlos. Its bad enough I have to ride with you. I'm not letting you drive. I have no intention of rushing your next victim to the hospital."
"You're not being fair. I only hit a guy one time."
"Don't forget that collision with the car," Alex said helpfully from the table as the two walked into the kitchen of the firehouse. She was playing go fish with Lombardo and D.K.
"She didn't yield for an emergency vehicle."
"I don't care. You are not driving while I'm in the bus with you," Kim told him taking an empty seat next to Alex.
"Fine," Carlos said finally heading upstairs with his school books. He knew he wasn't going to win this time. Especially since Kim now had reinforcements.
"How's the new kid working out?" asked Kim as she watched Carlos disappear upstairs.
"You might not want an answer to that question," Lombardo said drawing a card from the almost empty pile. Getting a match he put the two cards down on the table.
"Alex, you got a five?" D.K. asked taking his turn. "Last I saw Doc and him I got the distinct impression that Doc was almost wishing he was riding with Carlos," he told Kim as Alex handed him a five. "How about a six?"
"Oh-oh. I can't imagine someone worse than Carlos," Kim said.
"Nope, go fish. At least he's keeping me off paramedic duty for one day. No offense Kim," Alex said as she looked at the last three cards in her hand. "Lombardo, do you have a two,"
"None taken," Kim said as Lombardo handed over the two.
"How about a three?" Alex asked as they heard footsteps on the stairs.
"Go fish," Lombardo told her, glancing at the stairs expecting Doc and the new guy to come up. Instead, they saw Boscorelli enter followed by Davis. "You're in the wrong place guys. Precinct is across the street."
"Cute," Bosco said.
"I didn't think they would've released you already," Kim said.
"They didn't. Bosco left AMA."
"That wasn't too smart," Alex commented handing a card over to Lombardo.
"Please, save me the lecture. I feel fine and those doctors are too cautious anyways. It makes them look good if they have patients there," Bosco told her. He took a calming breath and then said, "Look, I didn't come up here to spar with you guys. I just wanted to thank-you for everything you did for me the other night."
"Your welcome," Lombardo said the first to recover from the shock. None of them had expected to hear those words come from Bosco. "I'll pass it on to Jimmy, he's upstairs taken a nap right now."
"Okay," Bosco said and then turned to leave.
"If you need anything just let us know," Alex said now regretting her earlier comment.
Bosco just nodded and started for the stairs. Kim got up from the table and walked over to him.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked laying a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Maybe a little tired but I'll just go home and climb into my bed. It will be much more comfortable than that hospital bed."
"Okay," she said as he headed down the stairs. "Keep an eye on him," Kim said to Davis as he walked by her.
"We plan to," Davis told her. "Don't worry."
Davis rushed down the steps to catch up to Bosco which wasn't all that hard seeing that Bosco was moving in slow motion. The rest of ride to Bosco's place was driven in silence. When they got to Bosco's apartment building Davis parked the RMP and started opening the driver's side door.
"You don't need to come up with me. I'll be fine," Bosco told him opening the passenger side door. "Thanks, for the ride," he said getting out and heading for the front door.
Davis watched as Bosco disappeared into the building. He waited a few minutes before driving off and heading back for the station. Hopefully, the plainclothes units were in place.
Down the street from Bosco's apartment Jason Christopher sat in the driver's seat of a rental car. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a dark pair of sunglasses. He wasn't sure what he was doing here. When he had heard that Boscorelli was leaving the hospital he went out, rented the car and took up his post on Boscorelli's street. In the other direction, on the other side of Bosco's apartment building he could see one of the plainclothes unit. They were trying not to look obvious but Christopher's experience on the police force allowed him to pick them out. He knew there was probably at least one other unit in the area even though he didn't see them at this time. They would probably be able to do the same thing to him but he really couldn't worry about that. He still had another day of his suspension to serve so it wasn't like he was skipping work.
He would keep up his surveillance for the rest of the evening and most of tomorrow and then return to work the day afterwards. That is if the Captain didn't extend his suspension which was more than likely. His boss hadn't come right out and said it, but Christopher knew they suspected that someone inside the department had been involved in the attack on Boscorelli and he had found his way onto the list of suspects. Not that it surprised him really. It was really a secret that there was no love lost between the two of them. Although Jason really couldn't put his finger on why he still hated Bosco so much. It wasn't like either of them was still with Jennifer. To be honest he never had any intention of spending his life with her. She was just his latest fling at the time. And Bosco had apologized but something inside him just wouldn't let him forgive.
The sight of a marked police car pulling up to the apartment building brought his attention out of his thoughts and back to the apartment building. After a few moments he saw Boscorelli get out of the car and head slowly toward his apartment building. The driver of the squad, who he couldn't make out from this distance, stayed in the car. The driver waited until Boscorelli was inside the building before driving away. As the car approached his position Christopher picked up the paper he had bought and pretended to read it, like he was sitting here waiting for someone.
He waited for about a minute after he heard the squad go by before looking up from his paper. He glanced in the rearview mirror and watched the squad car disappear around the corner. He then looked back at the apartment building. All he could do now was wait for Boscosrelli to leave his apartment building which Christopher knew he would eventually do. Bosco would be out looking for his attackers on his own.
"So, where do we stand with our suspects," the Captain asked Sullivan and Swersky as they stood in the room where Sully had just finished questioning Gubbine. Davis had yet to return from driving Boscorelli home from the hospital.
"I think we can scratch officer Jensen off the list. Yes, he didn't seem too upset about what happened to Bosco but he said he was at the ER at County with his little boy who fell out of a tree he was climbing that afternoon. I checked with the doctors and nurses at County, who were working that night, and they confirm that he was indeed at the ER that night. They said he came in with the boy at about three thirty that afternoon and didn't leave until about eight o'clock that night. There was no way he could've been monitoring the units in the 55 that night without someone being aware of it at the hospital."
"Sullivan, what about Gubbine?"
"Well he wasn't working that night. He claims he was at home all evening and has no alibis. He seemed nervous though especially when I started asking him questions about what he knew about the attack on Bosco and their relationship. I think we need to keep an eye on him."
"Okay," the Captain said. "As much as I hate to say it, we can't rule Christopher out either. He of course was on duty and its his job to supervise the units in the 55. He was in the perfect position to be helping out with the attack without raising suspicion. And there is the fact that he wasn't checking up on Bosco that night when he failed to report in."
"I also talked with Lieutenant Johnson this afternoon," Swersky informed them, looking up as the door to the office opened. As Davis joined them he continued. "They have determined that the fires in the building had been burning for about two to two and a half hours before they were put out. The one upstairs was set after the one downstairs and both fires were set deliberately."
"Any word on who called the fire in?" Davis asked.
"They don't know. The call came in anonymously from a pay phone six blocks away. They voice was muffled with something so they can't do a successful voice trace on it. Our best bet is to keep looking for Michael Boscorelli and then hope he'll rat out his accomplices."
"Well we need to pick up the search for Michael Boscorelli. I want us to find him before his brother does," the Captain told them. At their questioning looks he went on. "Bosco left the hospital AMA this afternoon. I had Davis take him home and I have three plainclothes units keeping his apartment under surveillance. He's going to be hard to trail though."
"What about bringing him back on duty tomorrow," Lt. Swertsky said. "At least that is eight hours we can keep him from doing something stupid," he continued as Davis joined them in the office.
"There is no way Bosco would come back for desk duty and I don't think he's ready to be out on the streets yet. If the doctor's had released him from the hospital I might take the chance but not with him leaving AMA. We'll have to hope the units on scene can keep him from doing anything stupid."
"I'ld like to go out and join the search for his brother," Sully said. "I have some contacts who may have heard about his whereabouts or something."
Davis nodded in agreement with his partner. He would much rather be out searching for Michael Boscorelli then hanging around the station like they had been doing lately.
"You need them for anything right now Swersky?"
"No, not right now."
"Okay, go ahead. But stay safe," the Captain told them. "And catch up with Yokas. She wanted to be in on the search and right now I need as many officers as possible on it."
Sully and Davis left the office and headed for there RMP anxious to get back out on the street. It was now a race as to who would find Michael Boscorelli first. Sully hoped it wouldn't be Bosco.
The sun had almost set by the time Christopher finally saw movement from the apartment building he was watching. He watched closely as a lone figure made its way out of the front door. It was definitely Bosocrelli. He was wearing jeans, his leather jacket, and a baseball cap on backwards. Instead of going for his car Boscorelli turned left and started walking down the sidewalk toward Christopher's car.
Christopher immediately looked interested in the newspaper and waited for Boscorelli to pass by. He then quietly got out of his car, locked it and started following at a safe distance. He didn't want Boscorelli to know he was following him. At least not yet.
They heard the two calls for the domestic that Sully and Davis had taken right before Bosco's call. As Swersky put a mark on the black board marking the location of the call that 55-Charlie was responding to something finally became apparent. Sully was the first to realize it.
"Look, with us taking that call 55-David is the only unit free in the 55. For the first time all shift all the other units are either on a call or out on meal."
"According to central the call for the unknown dispute came in exactly two minutes after 55-Charlie took the domestic call," the Captain said looking at the report he had in front of him from central dispatch.
"Which if someone was monitoring where all the units were, it would give them enough time to put that call in and be sure that Boscorelli was going to be the one to answer it," Swersky commented. "It's a little to well timed for it to be coincidence or lucky timing."
"But proving it is going to be the hard. Besides the radio calls and the report from Central what else do we have to go on," Sully commented. "And what if it wasn't an inside job? What if they were just using a police scanner?"
"Assuming it was an inside job who in the department would hate Bosco enough to want to be in on a plot to kill him?" Davis asked. The question had been raised before without getting answered but it had to be raised again. It was one of the most important questions in this whole investigation.
"That could be a very long list," Sully said. "I think the only one in this department that we can leave off would be you Davis. I think everyone else has wanted to kill Boscorelli at some point or another, including his partner." The joke wasn't exactly in good taste but Sully was feeling frustrated and it was getting late. His normal shift had ended an hour ago. From across the table, Davis gave his partner a look that plainly said he wasn't amused. He wasn't the only one.
"Let's get serious here," the Captain told them. "If we assume it is an inside job who do we have as possible suspects."
"Well, Jensen, from the first watch, and Bosco have never gotten along. They've gotten into several fights off duty," Davis said thinking of the couple of times he had been out with Bosco drinking and had to break up a fight between the two of them.
"Fred Gubbine and Bosco have had a feud going ever since they were in the academy. I'm not sure exactly what went on but I heard people whispering about things back when the two of them started here," Sully said.
"And like it or not, I don't think that we can leave Sgt. Christopher off," Swersky said. "It has been apparent since Chrisptopher came on as field Sgt. that there is something personal between the two of them. Sometimes I think that Christopher goes out of his way trying to catch Boscorelli doing something wrong. He pounces on the littlest things. Personally, I've found its easier just to wait for him to do something really stupid." The time that Boscorelli had been caught on tape making love in the front seat of an RMP came to mind but he didn't mention it. After Sully's comment he didn't think it would go over well with the Captain.
Sully and Davis exchanged looks. Both of them had been thinking of Christopher as a suspect, in fact he was one the top of the list for bothe of them, but neither of them had wanted to suggest him. They were both thankful that Swersky had saved them from having to do so.
"I have to agree," the Captain said reluctantly. He hoped that it was none of the three, that in fact no one within the department was involved. "Is there anyone else?" He looked at the three of them in turn and recieved a shake of the head from each of them. "Okay, then that is the suspect list that we have at this point. Sullivan, Davis I want the two of you to question Jensen and Gubbine tomorrow. Try to do it discreetly. I'll question Christopher myself."
"Yes sir," Sullivan said.
"Let's all try and get some sleep now."
As they exited the Captain's office Swersky stopped Sullivan in the hallway.
"Go ahead and question Gubbine tomorrow but don't worry about catching Jensen. I have a few things I want to look into tonight, so I'll just hang around and catch him when he gets off his shift."
"Yes, sir," Sully said and then went to catch up with Davis who was still heading for the locker room.
"Thank-you, I'll be expecting you then," the Captain said into the phone and then hung it up. As soon as he let go of the phone it range again. He answered it quickly and listened to the voice on the other end.
"I didn't think you would release him this soon," the Captain said to Dr. Moralis.
"I'm not releasing him. He's going to leave AMA."
"Can't you stop him?" While he was in the hospital Boscorelli was fairly easy to protect. He knew Boscorelli wasn't going to take to well to having police officers following him around for any reason. He almost wished he hadn't let Yokas come back on duty today. At least then she would've already been at the hospital and maybe could have talked some sense into him.
"No, I can't stop him. If he wants to leave he can leave."
"Okay, at least try to stall him. I'm sending someone down to take him home."
"Alright, I'll try but no promises."
"Thanks," he told her hanging the phone up once again.
He left his office and headed through the station to the small room where Davis and Sully were busy talking to officer Gubbine. He tapped on the window of the room to get the attention of those inside. When Davis looked up he motioned for him to come outside.
"What's up sir?"
"I need you to go to Mercy. Dr. Moralis just called me and Bosco is getting ready to leave AMA. She's going to stall him as long as she can. I want you to drive him home. At least that way we can make sure that he actually goes home."
"You got it." Davis told him although he knew it didn't really matter. Bosco wasn't going to stay at his house for long. He was going to be out on the streets looking for his brother and whoever else was involved before too long. "You don't actually think Bosco's going to stay there long though do you?"
"Not for a minute. However, this gives me more time to get a plainclothes unit out at his place. The last thing I need right now is Boscorelli out there looking for his brother." He didn't mention the fact that he was pretty sure they already had Christopher out looking on his own. Christopher still had one more day suspension but he knew the sergeant had pretty much figured out that he was under suspicion of aiding in the attempt on Boscorelli from the questioning this afternoon and Christopher wasn't exactly the one to sit around and do nothing either. If he was behind it he would be out making sure there was no evidence of his involvement. If he was innocent he would be out there proving his innocence. " Keeping him under surveillance is our only chance at protecting him once he leaves the hospital and he isn't even going to make that easy."
"Okay, well I'll be going before I miss him," Davis said not knowing what else to say.
As Davis left he looked back once over his shoulder and saw the Captain looking into the room where Sully was still questioning Gubbine. As Davis watched the Captain shake his head and walked back toward his office. Davis was definitely glad he wasn't the one in charge right now. This whole situation was a nightmare.
He put the lights on as he drove over to Mercy. It wasn't exactly an emergency but it allowed him to get to the hospital quicker. He parked the squad out in front of the hospital and hurried inside. He met Moralis in the hallway outside of Bosco's hospital room.
"Has he left yet?" he asked stepping off of the elevator.
"Not yet," Moralis told him, walking toward him. "He's getting dressed now though. If you had been too much longer you probably would've missed him."
Davis nodded and kept walking toward the hospital room, nodding to the two officers still standing guard on either side of the door. He paused outside of the room and knocked on the door.
"Come in," he heard Bosco answer.
Davis opened the door and walked in to find Bosco pulling his shirt on slowly. Davis winced at the sight of the bruises that still covered Bosco's body. Just looking at him hurt.
"Oh, look my babysitter has arrived," Bosco said when he saw Davis enter. "The Captain afraid I couldn't find my own way home."
"No, I just thought you might like a lift home. Your other alternative is the subway," Davis said innocently. He knew how much Bosco hated the subway.
"I guess Sully's with you too," Bosco said. Davis knew he had consented to letting him drive him home. He just wasn't going to admit it.
"No, Sully's still at the station working on something." Davis was purposely being vague. He didn't want Bosco know to many of the details about the investigation. The more he knew the more involved he was going to try to get.
"Good. I'm in no mood to deal with him right now," Bosco said slowly standing up. Now that he was feeling better he was embarrassed by his display of emotion in front of Sully the day before. The longer he could avoid Sully the better. "Let's get out of here." Bosco told him.
Davis let Bosco lead the way. The other officer was moving slowly and Davis wanted to let him set the pace. He also wasn't sure what Bosco's reaction to the other two officers in the hallway was going to be. As far as he knew, no one had ever told Bosco that a guard had been placed on his room.
When they got to the hallway, however, Davis saw that the other two officers had already left. Either the Captain had contacted them telling them to leave or they had been following the same line of thinking that Davis had.
The two officers slowly made there way down to ground level of the hospital and out to where Davis had parked the squad. Davis slowly pulled the car into traffic.
"Can you stop by the 55 fire station. There's some people there I would like to thank," Bosco said quietly from the passenger seat.
Davis quickly glanced away from the road toward the other officer. Just the walk down to the squad had seemed to wear Bosco out. He wasn't sure Bosco was up to a side visit but Bosco wanting to thank anyone seemed a little of a place period.
"You sure you up to it, Bos?"
"Yes," he answered insistently. "Don't make me get out of this car and walk at the next light you stop at."
"Okay," Davis said making a turn at the next street so that he could head over to the firehouse instead of Bosco's place.
The firefighters of the 55 could hear the two paramedics arriving back from their last call, as they made their way up the steps.
"Come on Kim, let me drive next time?"
"Not a chance, Carlos. Its bad enough I have to ride with you. I'm not letting you drive. I have no intention of rushing your next victim to the hospital."
"You're not being fair. I only hit a guy one time."
"Don't forget that collision with the car," Alex said helpfully from the table as the two walked into the kitchen of the firehouse. She was playing go fish with Lombardo and D.K.
"She didn't yield for an emergency vehicle."
"I don't care. You are not driving while I'm in the bus with you," Kim told him taking an empty seat next to Alex.
"Fine," Carlos said finally heading upstairs with his school books. He knew he wasn't going to win this time. Especially since Kim now had reinforcements.
"How's the new kid working out?" asked Kim as she watched Carlos disappear upstairs.
"You might not want an answer to that question," Lombardo said drawing a card from the almost empty pile. Getting a match he put the two cards down on the table.
"Alex, you got a five?" D.K. asked taking his turn. "Last I saw Doc and him I got the distinct impression that Doc was almost wishing he was riding with Carlos," he told Kim as Alex handed him a five. "How about a six?"
"Oh-oh. I can't imagine someone worse than Carlos," Kim said.
"Nope, go fish. At least he's keeping me off paramedic duty for one day. No offense Kim," Alex said as she looked at the last three cards in her hand. "Lombardo, do you have a two,"
"None taken," Kim said as Lombardo handed over the two.
"How about a three?" Alex asked as they heard footsteps on the stairs.
"Go fish," Lombardo told her, glancing at the stairs expecting Doc and the new guy to come up. Instead, they saw Boscorelli enter followed by Davis. "You're in the wrong place guys. Precinct is across the street."
"Cute," Bosco said.
"I didn't think they would've released you already," Kim said.
"They didn't. Bosco left AMA."
"That wasn't too smart," Alex commented handing a card over to Lombardo.
"Please, save me the lecture. I feel fine and those doctors are too cautious anyways. It makes them look good if they have patients there," Bosco told her. He took a calming breath and then said, "Look, I didn't come up here to spar with you guys. I just wanted to thank-you for everything you did for me the other night."
"Your welcome," Lombardo said the first to recover from the shock. None of them had expected to hear those words come from Bosco. "I'll pass it on to Jimmy, he's upstairs taken a nap right now."
"Okay," Bosco said and then turned to leave.
"If you need anything just let us know," Alex said now regretting her earlier comment.
Bosco just nodded and started for the stairs. Kim got up from the table and walked over to him.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked laying a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Maybe a little tired but I'll just go home and climb into my bed. It will be much more comfortable than that hospital bed."
"Okay," she said as he headed down the stairs. "Keep an eye on him," Kim said to Davis as he walked by her.
"We plan to," Davis told her. "Don't worry."
Davis rushed down the steps to catch up to Bosco which wasn't all that hard seeing that Bosco was moving in slow motion. The rest of ride to Bosco's place was driven in silence. When they got to Bosco's apartment building Davis parked the RMP and started opening the driver's side door.
"You don't need to come up with me. I'll be fine," Bosco told him opening the passenger side door. "Thanks, for the ride," he said getting out and heading for the front door.
Davis watched as Bosco disappeared into the building. He waited a few minutes before driving off and heading back for the station. Hopefully, the plainclothes units were in place.
Down the street from Bosco's apartment Jason Christopher sat in the driver's seat of a rental car. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a dark pair of sunglasses. He wasn't sure what he was doing here. When he had heard that Boscorelli was leaving the hospital he went out, rented the car and took up his post on Boscorelli's street. In the other direction, on the other side of Bosco's apartment building he could see one of the plainclothes unit. They were trying not to look obvious but Christopher's experience on the police force allowed him to pick them out. He knew there was probably at least one other unit in the area even though he didn't see them at this time. They would probably be able to do the same thing to him but he really couldn't worry about that. He still had another day of his suspension to serve so it wasn't like he was skipping work.
He would keep up his surveillance for the rest of the evening and most of tomorrow and then return to work the day afterwards. That is if the Captain didn't extend his suspension which was more than likely. His boss hadn't come right out and said it, but Christopher knew they suspected that someone inside the department had been involved in the attack on Boscorelli and he had found his way onto the list of suspects. Not that it surprised him really. It was really a secret that there was no love lost between the two of them. Although Jason really couldn't put his finger on why he still hated Bosco so much. It wasn't like either of them was still with Jennifer. To be honest he never had any intention of spending his life with her. She was just his latest fling at the time. And Bosco had apologized but something inside him just wouldn't let him forgive.
The sight of a marked police car pulling up to the apartment building brought his attention out of his thoughts and back to the apartment building. After a few moments he saw Boscorelli get out of the car and head slowly toward his apartment building. The driver of the squad, who he couldn't make out from this distance, stayed in the car. The driver waited until Boscorelli was inside the building before driving away. As the car approached his position Christopher picked up the paper he had bought and pretended to read it, like he was sitting here waiting for someone.
He waited for about a minute after he heard the squad go by before looking up from his paper. He glanced in the rearview mirror and watched the squad car disappear around the corner. He then looked back at the apartment building. All he could do now was wait for Boscosrelli to leave his apartment building which Christopher knew he would eventually do. Bosco would be out looking for his attackers on his own.
"So, where do we stand with our suspects," the Captain asked Sullivan and Swersky as they stood in the room where Sully had just finished questioning Gubbine. Davis had yet to return from driving Boscorelli home from the hospital.
"I think we can scratch officer Jensen off the list. Yes, he didn't seem too upset about what happened to Bosco but he said he was at the ER at County with his little boy who fell out of a tree he was climbing that afternoon. I checked with the doctors and nurses at County, who were working that night, and they confirm that he was indeed at the ER that night. They said he came in with the boy at about three thirty that afternoon and didn't leave until about eight o'clock that night. There was no way he could've been monitoring the units in the 55 that night without someone being aware of it at the hospital."
"Sullivan, what about Gubbine?"
"Well he wasn't working that night. He claims he was at home all evening and has no alibis. He seemed nervous though especially when I started asking him questions about what he knew about the attack on Bosco and their relationship. I think we need to keep an eye on him."
"Okay," the Captain said. "As much as I hate to say it, we can't rule Christopher out either. He of course was on duty and its his job to supervise the units in the 55. He was in the perfect position to be helping out with the attack without raising suspicion. And there is the fact that he wasn't checking up on Bosco that night when he failed to report in."
"I also talked with Lieutenant Johnson this afternoon," Swersky informed them, looking up as the door to the office opened. As Davis joined them he continued. "They have determined that the fires in the building had been burning for about two to two and a half hours before they were put out. The one upstairs was set after the one downstairs and both fires were set deliberately."
"Any word on who called the fire in?" Davis asked.
"They don't know. The call came in anonymously from a pay phone six blocks away. They voice was muffled with something so they can't do a successful voice trace on it. Our best bet is to keep looking for Michael Boscorelli and then hope he'll rat out his accomplices."
"Well we need to pick up the search for Michael Boscorelli. I want us to find him before his brother does," the Captain told them. At their questioning looks he went on. "Bosco left the hospital AMA this afternoon. I had Davis take him home and I have three plainclothes units keeping his apartment under surveillance. He's going to be hard to trail though."
"What about bringing him back on duty tomorrow," Lt. Swertsky said. "At least that is eight hours we can keep him from doing something stupid," he continued as Davis joined them in the office.
"There is no way Bosco would come back for desk duty and I don't think he's ready to be out on the streets yet. If the doctor's had released him from the hospital I might take the chance but not with him leaving AMA. We'll have to hope the units on scene can keep him from doing anything stupid."
"I'ld like to go out and join the search for his brother," Sully said. "I have some contacts who may have heard about his whereabouts or something."
Davis nodded in agreement with his partner. He would much rather be out searching for Michael Boscorelli then hanging around the station like they had been doing lately.
"You need them for anything right now Swersky?"
"No, not right now."
"Okay, go ahead. But stay safe," the Captain told them. "And catch up with Yokas. She wanted to be in on the search and right now I need as many officers as possible on it."
Sully and Davis left the office and headed for there RMP anxious to get back out on the street. It was now a race as to who would find Michael Boscorelli first. Sully hoped it wouldn't be Bosco.
The sun had almost set by the time Christopher finally saw movement from the apartment building he was watching. He watched closely as a lone figure made its way out of the front door. It was definitely Bosocrelli. He was wearing jeans, his leather jacket, and a baseball cap on backwards. Instead of going for his car Boscorelli turned left and started walking down the sidewalk toward Christopher's car.
Christopher immediately looked interested in the newspaper and waited for Boscorelli to pass by. He then quietly got out of his car, locked it and started following at a safe distance. He didn't want Boscorelli to know he was following him. At least not yet.