Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Third Watch. And any opinions expressed by them in this story are in no way a reflection of the people that do own them.
Author's Note: Thanks for the wonderful reviews...I'm glad that you are all enjoying this story. Now this is what you've been waiting to read...
Previously in this story: Bosco and Cruz set up a sting to bust Buford and his financial backers for his drug cartel, using the information that Bosco stole from Faith. The two of them have a huge fight.
~Chapter thirteen~
It is after eight o'clock and the East Coast Ghost has just pulled away from pier 63. Cruz, along with Bosco and a team of 11, are waiting for a boat from the Port Authority to come and pick them up.
"I don't know why we didn't just bust them before they pulled out. It would have been so much easier to have them here on shore." Bosco says, annoyed and impatient to make the arrest.
"I told you...I do not want to run the risk of Buford getting away. Out in the water, he has nowhere to escape to."
"Well then we should have notified the coast guard...for backup...this is so much more dangerous for us."
"I said...I am not sharing this bust with anyone!" She glares at him angrily. "The coast guard will take this bust right out from under us, as soon as we get beyond the harbor."
"Whatever." Bosco groans.
Soon, they are on a boat, speeding towards the other. It is a warm clear night, with nearly a full moon. Bosco is staring at Cruz. She is leaning over the front rail, as if to be as close to Buford as she can possibly get. He can see her face, lit by the soft moonlight, and even that, with the backdrop of twinkling lights in the darkness beyond, her face looks hard. Yet she has a hint of a smile as she watches the boat they are gaining on, moving only to wipe a strand of hair from her face, then grabbing the rail again in a frozen position, like a cat stalking her prey.
Bosco wonders where he fits in all her plans now...now that he really has severed all ties with Faith. Is Maritza really going to bring him along with her as she claws her way up. Has she accepted him as one in her pride...or is she merely toying with him, the way a cat plays with a mouse, until she's tired of it...or it dies. He watches her, hoping to see something in her that he's never seen...tenderness.
As the boat draws near, Cruz orders the driver to stop the engines and coast up to the other boat, so they can slip aboard undetected. With all the noise of music and laughter coming from the larger boat, that shouldn't be too hard. And then she rounds her team together to give them one final set of instructions.
"Ok, we board the boat, and wait until every one is aboard before we make a move. Fuentes and Sergio, your job is to get the driver, and take over the controls. The rest of us just circle around on the boat, bringing every one we come across, to the deck...cuff their hands behind their back...and have them lay face down on the deck until we reach the shore. Keep them silent. I don't mean just quiet...I want them saying nothing to each other or to any of you. You know what to do." Several officers pull out a roll of duct tape.
Bosco looks in disbelief. "You have them bring duct tape?"
She says to him quietly, "They know my routine. I don't want any of them communicating...not to each other, not to my team. There is a lot of money on this boat...enough to turn anybody's head."
"You don't trust your team to turn down a bribe?" He whispers.
"I don't trust anyone."
[Shortly]
They have coasted up to the East Coast Ghost, and they are almost all aboard, without any encounters. As the last two men climb the ladder to board the boat, the music suddenly stops and a man's voice sounds out from the front of the boat, hushing everyone.
"Ok...quiet...can I have everyone's attention please. Is everyone having a good time so far?" A chorus of happy voices chime out their approval.
At the back of the boat, the officers split up into two groups and begin getting into position.
"Does everyone have a glass of champagne?" The response is a mix of yes and no, followed by the sound of glasses being filled.
The two groups, stealthily sneak around the upper cabin and prepare to run out onto the deck to encircle the group.
"I want to thank everyone for joining me on my boat. And I want to talk about a merger...a merger that I think will please everyone and be beneficial to all involved and to the future of each of our families..."
Suddenly the cops burst onto the deck, pointing their weapons and screaming for everyone to 'get down'. The women scream and the men, equally startled, call out in a flood of questions and demands for an explanation as to what is happening.
The officers brutally assist the men to the floor of the deck, barking viciously for them to 'get down' and 'shut up'. The women are pulled from their chairs and pushed to the floor also, and everyone is being bound quickly and efficiently with plastic tie wraps.
And as each man tries to sound off his disapproval to what is happening, a piece of duct tape is placed over his mouth along with any woman who can not stop herself from screaming. Within twelve minutes time, every man and woman on the boat is bound and gagged, and is heading back to shore for processing, as Cruz reads them their rights.
[Cruz and her team escort the boat load of people into the 55.]
"What the hell is this Maritza?" The lieutenant asks shocked. "I wasn't informed about any raids."
"I didn't use any of your people. We didn't need any backup. It went down clean...like clockwork."
"And what is this with the duct tape? Get that off of them right now." He orders her. Lieu is looking at the mix of people that is being escorted in, and half of them appear to be in their fifties and sixties. "Who is this you're bringing in?"
"Lieu...meet Buford." She says smugly, pulling Hector out of the group by his shirt. She orders her team, "You guys make these people comfortable in the lock up. Boscorelli...come with me. We're going to question this guy first." She takes Hector down the hall to an interrogation room.
Hector yells out, and even Bosco cringes, as Cruz rips the tape off his mouth. "Ahh...Jesus. You bastard." He has a hundred things to say, and doesn't even know where to begin. He gathers his thoughts as she cuts the tie wrap from his wrists.
Rubbing the marks they gouged into his writs, Hector speaks. "You have just made the biggest mistake of your lives."
"Oh no...should we turn him loose Sarge?" Bosco says sarcastically.
"Laugh it up smart ass. I'll have you're badge by morning. Along with hers and anyone else involved in this. You people have no idea who you just arrested."
"I think we have a pretty good idea...Buford." Cruz says, studying his reaction.
He squints and looks up at her. "You keep calling me that. My name is Hector..."
"Yah...I know Hector Pinaro...Hector Buford...Buford Pinaro... Harry Buford. I could go on...but why don't you just tell me which name you'd like to be booked under this time."
"Ya know what...I'm not talking with you morons. I want my lawyer here...and if you want to salvage what's left of your careers...you'll release everyone you man-handled from my boat."
"If you have nothing to hide...why do you need a lawyer? Tell me that?"
"Because I'm going to have you fired. And I'm going to sue this precinct." He says staring her down.
"Well...you'd better have a pretty good lawyer, because I plan to put you away for a very long time, Buford."
"I don't know who this Buford is...but you can verify who 'I' am, by running my name through the police computer. I'm a cop you idiot. I went to the academy right here in New York."
"Oh...that's very original. I don't think I've had anyone ever try that excuse to get out of jail. Have you Boscorelli?"
"Nope."
"While you're on the computer...or maybe you fools can get someone to help you...you can also look up the names of the other men you just degraded from my boat. My future father in law, captain Benjamin Braddock from the two three in Ocean view, Florida, and 'his' father in law, Florida's police-commissioner Jacob Ellicott."
Bosco looks from Hector to Cruz. This guy sounds very believable...and why would he make up such a far fetched lie that could easily be disproved. "Shall I run a check?"
Bosco asks Cruz, feeling a little stupid for needing to ask, yet a bit nervous because of Hector's self assuredness that he is speaking the truth. Cruz glares at him.
"No need...I have it all right here." She lifts up the thick file, then slams it down on the table and opens it up. "It says here that Harry P. Buford...claimed to be a cop once...but no badge number could be found for that name. He doesn't exist."
"Stupid...that is NOT my name. Look up MY name you fucken idiots. Where the fuck did you guys get this ridiculous information?"
From Faith. Bosco's stomach does a flip as he thinks about the paper she dropped...that she let him find...about that cop from Pennsylvania. What if this file...is also bogus information that she let him find.
"Sarge...can I have a word with you outside?" He needs to find out if she actually verified any of the information that was in that file that he stole from Faith. He is getting a bad feeling.
"Not now." She brushes Bosco off. "Tell me about this merger you were setting up on your boat."
"I was announcing my engagement...to the Commissioner's grand daughter." He rubs the red mark around his mouth, left by the duct tape. "You bastards are in so much trouble."
Suddenly there is a rapping on the mirrored window. "Go see what they want." She barks at Bosco. "I'm not through with him."
"No...we're through. I'm not saying another word without a lawyer." Hector says, settling back in his chair.
"Aw...I was hoping you'd tell me what they are going to find on your boat when they tear it apart." She taunts.
Bosco walks out into the hall to find an angry Lieu standing there. "Boscorelli...what the hell is going on. Was this a good bust?"
"Yes...of course it was, Lieu."
"These people are telling one hell of a story down in lock up. One guy says he's a police commissioner from Florida. He says he's here celebrating his granddaughters engagement. And he says for his one phone call, he's planning to call 'our' police commissioner."
Bosco's face turns pale. "That's the same story we got from this jag-off." Bosco looks through the two way mirror, and sees Cruz is nose to nose with Hector, and she is screaming at him that he caused the death of her sister. She is getting too wound up.
"Get her the hell out of there. I need to find out more about this bust." Lieu says, heading for the door.
He and Bosco go in and pull her away from Hector, and Lieu tells her to get the file and bring it to his office. On their way, another officer approaches them and tells Lieu that the police chief is on his way over...and he sounds mad.
[an hour later]
There is soon a battery of lawyers, conferring with Hector and his family in a large conference room, while Cruz and Bosco explain their findings to the Lieutenant, the Captain and the Chief.
"Ellicott is a good friend of the Commissioner, and you are talking about his granddaughter's fiancé. So you had better be able to back up these allegations, Sergeant." The Chief says sternly.
"If you're right about this Hector guy, the commissioner will owe us a debt of thanks for exposing him. He may over look all the trouble you've caused. But if you're wrong...
"I've got it all right here boss." She slides the file across the table to him. "I have been tracking him for about a year now."
He opens the thick file. "This is very impressive. You have a lot of information on him." He looks at the computer print outs of all his aliases. "This is amazing how you tracked him through all this confusion. Nice work. Did you dig this all up on your own?"
As she says "yes", Bosco says "No". She glares at him.
He glares back. He knows that Faith did all the work that they are praising, and she should get the credit for a job well done. But also in the back of his mind, he doesn't know if he can trust the information. He wants to give credit where credit...or blame...is due, also. He just wants to cover his tracks.
"Well...is this your work or not?"
"Yes...But Boscorelli helped me. I want him to get the credit he deserves too." She gives him a look that means shut your mouth.
Bosco doesn't say anything more. He can't exactly call his Sergeant a liar right in front of her bosses. He feels better that he at least tried to get her to mention Faith. It was a feeble attempt, but none the less, he can say he tried.
The Chief pulls out the list containing all the names of the people on the boat. "You researched these people pretty thoroughly as far as their financial status...yet I get the impression you didn't realize that some of them were on the job. Why is that?"
"I ran out of time. When I found out who Hector really was, and that he was coming to town to meet with these people on his boat, I had to set up the sting. I didn't have time to finish checking on who they were."
"That is a very dangerous thing to do. You should always find out who you're dealing with before a sting. They may have had their weapons on them. This could have turned very ugly." The chief tells her with authority.
"Yes sir." She says humbly.
"We are in agreement that the others were innocent victims are we not?" The captain asks.
"Of course we are." The chief answers, although the question seemed to be directed at Cruz, who failed to give an answer.
Bosco glances quickly at her then back down to the table. He is still nervous. She is lying through her teeth, but pulling it off nicely. Damn...she's good.
"So what evidence do you have, that Hector is really Buford?" The Chief asks.
"It's right here." She flips through the file and pulls out a paper with a fingerprint on it. The post-it note attached says 'Getaway car'.
"This print was taken off the getaway car that Buford drove the last time we tried to bust him. We got no matches on it in the computer. But then I found out about Hector." She pulls out the second paper with a print, with a post it note labeling it 'Juvy'. "This is the only print in the system belonging to him. I got it out of his juvy file that had been previously sealed by a judge. I got it unsealed."
"Nice work Sergeant." The Chief says.
She smirks over at Bosco, just basking in the praise. But then the Captain says, "Is it just my eyes...or do these prints not match each other?"
"What?" Every one leans closer.
"You're right they don't match." Lieu says.
"They must match...the computer gave me the match." Cruz says.
"No they are different." the Chief states.
"Well I must have pulled the wrong print out." She says, digging through the file. But there is no other print.
"Well this is easily solved." Lieu says as he steps over to the computer and boots it up. "Give me the file number on the print from the getaway car."
He types the number in and a case opens up. "I must have typed the number wrong, this is the wrong case file." They all move in closer as he retypes the number and gets the same results. "What the...this print is out of the investigation on John Sullivan. What the hell is this doing in your file Maritza?"
She and Bosco shoot each other a stunned look.
"You are not part of that investigation. You are not authorized to have this information." Lieu says.
"So who's print is it?" The Captain asks.
"It belongs to a guy named William Tarnell and there is another case number attached."
"Wait...let me get on that computer." Cruz barks nervously, trying to push Lieu out of the way.
"No Maritza...you just have a seat." Lieu orders her. He types the next file number into the computer. "I am looking at a report made out by this Tarnell guy, stating that he was mugged. The mugger, he claims, is a cop."
"Was it Braddock or Ellicott?" The Chief asks.
"Neither...the description fits you Maritza." Everyone looks at her. Lieu continues, "The amount of money stolen, matches the amount found in Sully's apartment. It looks like you planted the stolen money in Sully's apartment." They all look at her.
"I don't have to stand here and listen to this. Yokas made up this information...she put that in this file."
"I thought you said that you and Boscorelli made this file?" The Captain asks suspiciously.
Lieu takes a good look at the report on the second finger print. "You said this was taken out of a juvy record?"
"That's what I was told ." She says cautiously.
"Well the report shows that this print was taken four days ago...by our forensics lab."
"Taken from where?" The Captain asks.
Lieu types s few more numbers in. "It was taken from the trunk of a car that had been broken into. A girl named Jackie Harris was booked for possession. A large amount of drugs were found in her trunk, but forensics shows that the car had been tampered with and this is the finger print taken from inside the trunk."
"Why are you wasting time with this." Cruz says trying to avert their attention from it. "Forensics shouldn't have even wasted their time with it. She is a drug dealer. No one should have authorized them to check that car."
"It was authorized by you." The Captain says, reading a paper out of the file. "You signed the requisition papers to have the car searched."
Cruz tears the paper out of his hand.
"Wait...I'm lost...who broke into that car?" The Chief asks, confused.
Lieu types in the ID number of print and it opens up Cruz's police profile.
Slowly they all look over at her again. "The print belongs to Cruz." Lieu says. "According to this...you broke into the girls trunk and planted the drugs in there to frame her."
She stands up, looking furiously around the room. "I know what the hell is going on here...this report was falsified ...by officer Yokas. She is the one that put all this together. She is trying to make me look stupid. I have a tape recording of Yokas, Sullivan and Davis...in a restaurant...stating all these facts are true. They have set me up. Just ask Glen Parker...he placed the bug that gave us all this information."
Bosco can't believe she is falling apart. She can't even cover her tracks with that recording. Glen will deny the wire tap because she didn't get a warrant for it. They are in deep shit and they both know it.
Lieu types Hector Pinaro's name into the computer and his police profile opens up. "Oh my God. We've made a big mistake here." Lieu says. "Cruz...you falsified all this information just to bust Hector...because you thought he was Buford. Does anything in this file even pertain to Buford...or Hector."
"This was not my file. I've been set up with bad information. It was Yokas and Sullivan. They are out to get me. They are the ones who made these accusations. I just acted on their information."
Cruz begins gathering up the file, but the Captain stops her. "Leave it Sergeant. You better leave your badge and your weapon too. IAB is going to go over this with a fine toothed comb."
The Chief adds, "Lieutenant, notify the rest of her team that they are being placed on suspension, pending the outcome of their involvement in all this."
Bosco rubs his face with his hands. Stunned.
[at the end of the shift]
Faith has been called into Lieu's office. "Yokas...we had a little trouble here. A bad bust. Some very important people were falsely arrested."
"Really? I hope there won't be any repercussions from it?" She says a bit too innocently.
"Oh there will be. And...your name came up. Did you do a little research while you were working the desk?"
"Me...no. Research on what?"
"On a drug dealer named Buford." He says accusingly.
"Well...that would be ACU's job wouldn't it? I'm just a patrol cop."
Lieu stares at her as she explains, "Bosco said he and Cruz were going on a sting...something she'd been investigating for a year. My name must have come up because...you know...everyone associates me with him. But to be honest with you...we haven't been all that close lately. He seems to enjoy working on ACU...but I'm not really smart enough to figure out all that complicated stuff."
"Uh huh. That's probably it." he says seemingly un-amused. "There is one other thing. I was given this statement, taken by officer Pratt. It tells me that this girl named Sparkel Jones confessed to calling in false complaints about you."
"Really?" She says, trying to sound surprised.
"She says someone put her up to it."
"So...does that mean you're taking it off my record?"
"Yes." He studies her for a second. "Don't you want to know who it was that put her up to it?"
"Are you gonna tell me?"
"I'd better not. I wouldn't want you to do anything like...try to get even." He stares at her knowingly...but doesn't speak what he has already figured out. "I'm sure that person will get what's coming to them." He winks and gives her a smile then says Good night.
*****
Stay tuned for the final wrap up chapter.
Author's Note: Thanks for the wonderful reviews...I'm glad that you are all enjoying this story. Now this is what you've been waiting to read...
Previously in this story: Bosco and Cruz set up a sting to bust Buford and his financial backers for his drug cartel, using the information that Bosco stole from Faith. The two of them have a huge fight.
~Chapter thirteen~
It is after eight o'clock and the East Coast Ghost has just pulled away from pier 63. Cruz, along with Bosco and a team of 11, are waiting for a boat from the Port Authority to come and pick them up.
"I don't know why we didn't just bust them before they pulled out. It would have been so much easier to have them here on shore." Bosco says, annoyed and impatient to make the arrest.
"I told you...I do not want to run the risk of Buford getting away. Out in the water, he has nowhere to escape to."
"Well then we should have notified the coast guard...for backup...this is so much more dangerous for us."
"I said...I am not sharing this bust with anyone!" She glares at him angrily. "The coast guard will take this bust right out from under us, as soon as we get beyond the harbor."
"Whatever." Bosco groans.
Soon, they are on a boat, speeding towards the other. It is a warm clear night, with nearly a full moon. Bosco is staring at Cruz. She is leaning over the front rail, as if to be as close to Buford as she can possibly get. He can see her face, lit by the soft moonlight, and even that, with the backdrop of twinkling lights in the darkness beyond, her face looks hard. Yet she has a hint of a smile as she watches the boat they are gaining on, moving only to wipe a strand of hair from her face, then grabbing the rail again in a frozen position, like a cat stalking her prey.
Bosco wonders where he fits in all her plans now...now that he really has severed all ties with Faith. Is Maritza really going to bring him along with her as she claws her way up. Has she accepted him as one in her pride...or is she merely toying with him, the way a cat plays with a mouse, until she's tired of it...or it dies. He watches her, hoping to see something in her that he's never seen...tenderness.
As the boat draws near, Cruz orders the driver to stop the engines and coast up to the other boat, so they can slip aboard undetected. With all the noise of music and laughter coming from the larger boat, that shouldn't be too hard. And then she rounds her team together to give them one final set of instructions.
"Ok, we board the boat, and wait until every one is aboard before we make a move. Fuentes and Sergio, your job is to get the driver, and take over the controls. The rest of us just circle around on the boat, bringing every one we come across, to the deck...cuff their hands behind their back...and have them lay face down on the deck until we reach the shore. Keep them silent. I don't mean just quiet...I want them saying nothing to each other or to any of you. You know what to do." Several officers pull out a roll of duct tape.
Bosco looks in disbelief. "You have them bring duct tape?"
She says to him quietly, "They know my routine. I don't want any of them communicating...not to each other, not to my team. There is a lot of money on this boat...enough to turn anybody's head."
"You don't trust your team to turn down a bribe?" He whispers.
"I don't trust anyone."
[Shortly]
They have coasted up to the East Coast Ghost, and they are almost all aboard, without any encounters. As the last two men climb the ladder to board the boat, the music suddenly stops and a man's voice sounds out from the front of the boat, hushing everyone.
"Ok...quiet...can I have everyone's attention please. Is everyone having a good time so far?" A chorus of happy voices chime out their approval.
At the back of the boat, the officers split up into two groups and begin getting into position.
"Does everyone have a glass of champagne?" The response is a mix of yes and no, followed by the sound of glasses being filled.
The two groups, stealthily sneak around the upper cabin and prepare to run out onto the deck to encircle the group.
"I want to thank everyone for joining me on my boat. And I want to talk about a merger...a merger that I think will please everyone and be beneficial to all involved and to the future of each of our families..."
Suddenly the cops burst onto the deck, pointing their weapons and screaming for everyone to 'get down'. The women scream and the men, equally startled, call out in a flood of questions and demands for an explanation as to what is happening.
The officers brutally assist the men to the floor of the deck, barking viciously for them to 'get down' and 'shut up'. The women are pulled from their chairs and pushed to the floor also, and everyone is being bound quickly and efficiently with plastic tie wraps.
And as each man tries to sound off his disapproval to what is happening, a piece of duct tape is placed over his mouth along with any woman who can not stop herself from screaming. Within twelve minutes time, every man and woman on the boat is bound and gagged, and is heading back to shore for processing, as Cruz reads them their rights.
[Cruz and her team escort the boat load of people into the 55.]
"What the hell is this Maritza?" The lieutenant asks shocked. "I wasn't informed about any raids."
"I didn't use any of your people. We didn't need any backup. It went down clean...like clockwork."
"And what is this with the duct tape? Get that off of them right now." He orders her. Lieu is looking at the mix of people that is being escorted in, and half of them appear to be in their fifties and sixties. "Who is this you're bringing in?"
"Lieu...meet Buford." She says smugly, pulling Hector out of the group by his shirt. She orders her team, "You guys make these people comfortable in the lock up. Boscorelli...come with me. We're going to question this guy first." She takes Hector down the hall to an interrogation room.
Hector yells out, and even Bosco cringes, as Cruz rips the tape off his mouth. "Ahh...Jesus. You bastard." He has a hundred things to say, and doesn't even know where to begin. He gathers his thoughts as she cuts the tie wrap from his wrists.
Rubbing the marks they gouged into his writs, Hector speaks. "You have just made the biggest mistake of your lives."
"Oh no...should we turn him loose Sarge?" Bosco says sarcastically.
"Laugh it up smart ass. I'll have you're badge by morning. Along with hers and anyone else involved in this. You people have no idea who you just arrested."
"I think we have a pretty good idea...Buford." Cruz says, studying his reaction.
He squints and looks up at her. "You keep calling me that. My name is Hector..."
"Yah...I know Hector Pinaro...Hector Buford...Buford Pinaro... Harry Buford. I could go on...but why don't you just tell me which name you'd like to be booked under this time."
"Ya know what...I'm not talking with you morons. I want my lawyer here...and if you want to salvage what's left of your careers...you'll release everyone you man-handled from my boat."
"If you have nothing to hide...why do you need a lawyer? Tell me that?"
"Because I'm going to have you fired. And I'm going to sue this precinct." He says staring her down.
"Well...you'd better have a pretty good lawyer, because I plan to put you away for a very long time, Buford."
"I don't know who this Buford is...but you can verify who 'I' am, by running my name through the police computer. I'm a cop you idiot. I went to the academy right here in New York."
"Oh...that's very original. I don't think I've had anyone ever try that excuse to get out of jail. Have you Boscorelli?"
"Nope."
"While you're on the computer...or maybe you fools can get someone to help you...you can also look up the names of the other men you just degraded from my boat. My future father in law, captain Benjamin Braddock from the two three in Ocean view, Florida, and 'his' father in law, Florida's police-commissioner Jacob Ellicott."
Bosco looks from Hector to Cruz. This guy sounds very believable...and why would he make up such a far fetched lie that could easily be disproved. "Shall I run a check?"
Bosco asks Cruz, feeling a little stupid for needing to ask, yet a bit nervous because of Hector's self assuredness that he is speaking the truth. Cruz glares at him.
"No need...I have it all right here." She lifts up the thick file, then slams it down on the table and opens it up. "It says here that Harry P. Buford...claimed to be a cop once...but no badge number could be found for that name. He doesn't exist."
"Stupid...that is NOT my name. Look up MY name you fucken idiots. Where the fuck did you guys get this ridiculous information?"
From Faith. Bosco's stomach does a flip as he thinks about the paper she dropped...that she let him find...about that cop from Pennsylvania. What if this file...is also bogus information that she let him find.
"Sarge...can I have a word with you outside?" He needs to find out if she actually verified any of the information that was in that file that he stole from Faith. He is getting a bad feeling.
"Not now." She brushes Bosco off. "Tell me about this merger you were setting up on your boat."
"I was announcing my engagement...to the Commissioner's grand daughter." He rubs the red mark around his mouth, left by the duct tape. "You bastards are in so much trouble."
Suddenly there is a rapping on the mirrored window. "Go see what they want." She barks at Bosco. "I'm not through with him."
"No...we're through. I'm not saying another word without a lawyer." Hector says, settling back in his chair.
"Aw...I was hoping you'd tell me what they are going to find on your boat when they tear it apart." She taunts.
Bosco walks out into the hall to find an angry Lieu standing there. "Boscorelli...what the hell is going on. Was this a good bust?"
"Yes...of course it was, Lieu."
"These people are telling one hell of a story down in lock up. One guy says he's a police commissioner from Florida. He says he's here celebrating his granddaughters engagement. And he says for his one phone call, he's planning to call 'our' police commissioner."
Bosco's face turns pale. "That's the same story we got from this jag-off." Bosco looks through the two way mirror, and sees Cruz is nose to nose with Hector, and she is screaming at him that he caused the death of her sister. She is getting too wound up.
"Get her the hell out of there. I need to find out more about this bust." Lieu says, heading for the door.
He and Bosco go in and pull her away from Hector, and Lieu tells her to get the file and bring it to his office. On their way, another officer approaches them and tells Lieu that the police chief is on his way over...and he sounds mad.
[an hour later]
There is soon a battery of lawyers, conferring with Hector and his family in a large conference room, while Cruz and Bosco explain their findings to the Lieutenant, the Captain and the Chief.
"Ellicott is a good friend of the Commissioner, and you are talking about his granddaughter's fiancé. So you had better be able to back up these allegations, Sergeant." The Chief says sternly.
"If you're right about this Hector guy, the commissioner will owe us a debt of thanks for exposing him. He may over look all the trouble you've caused. But if you're wrong...
"I've got it all right here boss." She slides the file across the table to him. "I have been tracking him for about a year now."
He opens the thick file. "This is very impressive. You have a lot of information on him." He looks at the computer print outs of all his aliases. "This is amazing how you tracked him through all this confusion. Nice work. Did you dig this all up on your own?"
As she says "yes", Bosco says "No". She glares at him.
He glares back. He knows that Faith did all the work that they are praising, and she should get the credit for a job well done. But also in the back of his mind, he doesn't know if he can trust the information. He wants to give credit where credit...or blame...is due, also. He just wants to cover his tracks.
"Well...is this your work or not?"
"Yes...But Boscorelli helped me. I want him to get the credit he deserves too." She gives him a look that means shut your mouth.
Bosco doesn't say anything more. He can't exactly call his Sergeant a liar right in front of her bosses. He feels better that he at least tried to get her to mention Faith. It was a feeble attempt, but none the less, he can say he tried.
The Chief pulls out the list containing all the names of the people on the boat. "You researched these people pretty thoroughly as far as their financial status...yet I get the impression you didn't realize that some of them were on the job. Why is that?"
"I ran out of time. When I found out who Hector really was, and that he was coming to town to meet with these people on his boat, I had to set up the sting. I didn't have time to finish checking on who they were."
"That is a very dangerous thing to do. You should always find out who you're dealing with before a sting. They may have had their weapons on them. This could have turned very ugly." The chief tells her with authority.
"Yes sir." She says humbly.
"We are in agreement that the others were innocent victims are we not?" The captain asks.
"Of course we are." The chief answers, although the question seemed to be directed at Cruz, who failed to give an answer.
Bosco glances quickly at her then back down to the table. He is still nervous. She is lying through her teeth, but pulling it off nicely. Damn...she's good.
"So what evidence do you have, that Hector is really Buford?" The Chief asks.
"It's right here." She flips through the file and pulls out a paper with a fingerprint on it. The post-it note attached says 'Getaway car'.
"This print was taken off the getaway car that Buford drove the last time we tried to bust him. We got no matches on it in the computer. But then I found out about Hector." She pulls out the second paper with a print, with a post it note labeling it 'Juvy'. "This is the only print in the system belonging to him. I got it out of his juvy file that had been previously sealed by a judge. I got it unsealed."
"Nice work Sergeant." The Chief says.
She smirks over at Bosco, just basking in the praise. But then the Captain says, "Is it just my eyes...or do these prints not match each other?"
"What?" Every one leans closer.
"You're right they don't match." Lieu says.
"They must match...the computer gave me the match." Cruz says.
"No they are different." the Chief states.
"Well I must have pulled the wrong print out." She says, digging through the file. But there is no other print.
"Well this is easily solved." Lieu says as he steps over to the computer and boots it up. "Give me the file number on the print from the getaway car."
He types the number in and a case opens up. "I must have typed the number wrong, this is the wrong case file." They all move in closer as he retypes the number and gets the same results. "What the...this print is out of the investigation on John Sullivan. What the hell is this doing in your file Maritza?"
She and Bosco shoot each other a stunned look.
"You are not part of that investigation. You are not authorized to have this information." Lieu says.
"So who's print is it?" The Captain asks.
"It belongs to a guy named William Tarnell and there is another case number attached."
"Wait...let me get on that computer." Cruz barks nervously, trying to push Lieu out of the way.
"No Maritza...you just have a seat." Lieu orders her. He types the next file number into the computer. "I am looking at a report made out by this Tarnell guy, stating that he was mugged. The mugger, he claims, is a cop."
"Was it Braddock or Ellicott?" The Chief asks.
"Neither...the description fits you Maritza." Everyone looks at her. Lieu continues, "The amount of money stolen, matches the amount found in Sully's apartment. It looks like you planted the stolen money in Sully's apartment." They all look at her.
"I don't have to stand here and listen to this. Yokas made up this information...she put that in this file."
"I thought you said that you and Boscorelli made this file?" The Captain asks suspiciously.
Lieu takes a good look at the report on the second finger print. "You said this was taken out of a juvy record?"
"That's what I was told ." She says cautiously.
"Well the report shows that this print was taken four days ago...by our forensics lab."
"Taken from where?" The Captain asks.
Lieu types s few more numbers in. "It was taken from the trunk of a car that had been broken into. A girl named Jackie Harris was booked for possession. A large amount of drugs were found in her trunk, but forensics shows that the car had been tampered with and this is the finger print taken from inside the trunk."
"Why are you wasting time with this." Cruz says trying to avert their attention from it. "Forensics shouldn't have even wasted their time with it. She is a drug dealer. No one should have authorized them to check that car."
"It was authorized by you." The Captain says, reading a paper out of the file. "You signed the requisition papers to have the car searched."
Cruz tears the paper out of his hand.
"Wait...I'm lost...who broke into that car?" The Chief asks, confused.
Lieu types in the ID number of print and it opens up Cruz's police profile.
Slowly they all look over at her again. "The print belongs to Cruz." Lieu says. "According to this...you broke into the girls trunk and planted the drugs in there to frame her."
She stands up, looking furiously around the room. "I know what the hell is going on here...this report was falsified ...by officer Yokas. She is the one that put all this together. She is trying to make me look stupid. I have a tape recording of Yokas, Sullivan and Davis...in a restaurant...stating all these facts are true. They have set me up. Just ask Glen Parker...he placed the bug that gave us all this information."
Bosco can't believe she is falling apart. She can't even cover her tracks with that recording. Glen will deny the wire tap because she didn't get a warrant for it. They are in deep shit and they both know it.
Lieu types Hector Pinaro's name into the computer and his police profile opens up. "Oh my God. We've made a big mistake here." Lieu says. "Cruz...you falsified all this information just to bust Hector...because you thought he was Buford. Does anything in this file even pertain to Buford...or Hector."
"This was not my file. I've been set up with bad information. It was Yokas and Sullivan. They are out to get me. They are the ones who made these accusations. I just acted on their information."
Cruz begins gathering up the file, but the Captain stops her. "Leave it Sergeant. You better leave your badge and your weapon too. IAB is going to go over this with a fine toothed comb."
The Chief adds, "Lieutenant, notify the rest of her team that they are being placed on suspension, pending the outcome of their involvement in all this."
Bosco rubs his face with his hands. Stunned.
[at the end of the shift]
Faith has been called into Lieu's office. "Yokas...we had a little trouble here. A bad bust. Some very important people were falsely arrested."
"Really? I hope there won't be any repercussions from it?" She says a bit too innocently.
"Oh there will be. And...your name came up. Did you do a little research while you were working the desk?"
"Me...no. Research on what?"
"On a drug dealer named Buford." He says accusingly.
"Well...that would be ACU's job wouldn't it? I'm just a patrol cop."
Lieu stares at her as she explains, "Bosco said he and Cruz were going on a sting...something she'd been investigating for a year. My name must have come up because...you know...everyone associates me with him. But to be honest with you...we haven't been all that close lately. He seems to enjoy working on ACU...but I'm not really smart enough to figure out all that complicated stuff."
"Uh huh. That's probably it." he says seemingly un-amused. "There is one other thing. I was given this statement, taken by officer Pratt. It tells me that this girl named Sparkel Jones confessed to calling in false complaints about you."
"Really?" She says, trying to sound surprised.
"She says someone put her up to it."
"So...does that mean you're taking it off my record?"
"Yes." He studies her for a second. "Don't you want to know who it was that put her up to it?"
"Are you gonna tell me?"
"I'd better not. I wouldn't want you to do anything like...try to get even." He stares at her knowingly...but doesn't speak what he has already figured out. "I'm sure that person will get what's coming to them." He winks and gives her a smile then says Good night.
*****
Stay tuned for the final wrap up chapter.