Gemini swallowed hard, but he refused to be intimated by the smaller man.

Bosco had figured this, so he smiled, a cold, hard smile that was by far more bitter than the chilly December morning.

And quicker than Gemini could blink, the young cop had his pistol out, and pressed up against his teeth.

Bosco grinned as he felt it reverberate against the pimp's teeth, and watched as his face turned a ashy gray.

"And if you think I'm joking 'bout using this, you better think again." Bosco whispered hard in his ear.

Gemini looked nervous, "But if ya kill me, how could ya find anything out, white boy?"

Bosco shook his head, and chuckled, like Gemini had said something mildly amusing, "Of course I wouldn't kill you outright. That would be stupid. I'd just shoot ya in the shoulder, the kneecap, hands, feet..." he trailed off, his eyes growing hard as steel, "Or you could just tell me what you know."

Looking at the little man's face, which was as impassive as a statue, Gemini realized that the cop would shoot him and bury him in a shallow grave if he didn't 'fess up.

So he spilled.

"Yo, ya see, one of my bitches, Charlie, she was workin' the corner where your brother got ripped."

"Why didn't she go to the police?" Bosco asked, still holding tightly to the pimp, but had pulled back on the pistol.

Gemini snorted derisively, "Oh yeah, like she was eager to end up like your brother? Nah, she told me she saw a guy get iced, and the she kept her trap shut."

"Where can I find your girl?" Bosco asked.

"No way in hell is a cop talkin' to her." Gemini snapped.

Bosco waggled his pistol threateningly in the air in front of Gemini's face, started to shove it in his mouth again. Tightened his grip around his throat.

"Fine, okay, okay. Three blocks away on Danner, should be working the corner," he winked "Business, ya know."

"What does she look like, so I can single her out?"

"Ahh, she looks like any other whore." Gemini shrugged

Bosco gave him throttled him viciously, "Like what's her hair color, and how tall is she, you idiot."

"Oh. She got blond hair, it's chin length and brown eyes, and she kinda little, she's probably only 'bout 5 '2." Gemini rattled off of this off helpfully.

Bosco nodded, and gave a saccharine sweet smile that didn't match his eyes, which were sharp and cold. He returned his pistol to his holster, and released Gemini's throat, who's hand automatically went to rub it. While he was attending to it, Bosco administered a unbelievably hard kick to the pimp's balls. Bosco watched in satisfaction as he crumpled to the sidewalk, his face a mask of agony.

"Don't call 'em "bitches" again. And you should've reported what happened to my brother. Maybe he would've lived."

Leaving Gemini squirming, crying, perhaps even pissing his pants for all Bosco knew, but he didn't look back.

He had a witness to find.

******************************************************************************

"Brr," Ty did a shuffling dance, his arms wrapped around his torso for warmth, breath pluming in the frosty air, "We've been out lookin' for three hours, I don't think Bos is here."

Sully hated to defeat, but he was starting to think that his young partner was right. He and Ty, along with six other officers had been scouring the area fruitlessly. While the temperature dropped mercilessly, the cold razor-sharp wind easily cutting through their winter gear, snowflakes sticking to their hair, and eyelashes.

A young pretty, dark featured patrolwoman trudged up to Sully, the cold obviously sapping her of strength. Her partner trailed behind her.

"Hey Sully, no sign of him." the woman said. Her name was Eva Rodriguez, and although she had only been on the force for about a year, she was rapidly ascending in status.

Her partner, a three-year veteran Angela Grady, had been silent in a effort to make her teeth stop chattering, was finally successful, added, "Yeah, so Officer Yokas had no idea where he was?"

Ty shook his head, and gazed skywards at the falling snow, "Nope, guess she was being uncooperative. Or at least hostile. Monroe sounded pissed, and if you're a partner with Bosco, it takes a lot to get a person pissed."

"Has anyone checked his apartment?" Eva asked.

The three older officers looked at each other. Duh.

"Uh, no. That's a good idea Eva." Sully said, and called Cruz to tell her that there was no sign of Bosco around the hospital, but they were going to check on his apartment.

"Okay."

"Where are you?" Sully asked

"A bar called Meteor. He talked about going to it a few times with his girlfriend Nicole. It's a long shot, but hey, what the hell."

"Yeah, what the hell," Ty echoed, wrapping his arms around his torso for warmth, "So we'll head over to Bosco's apartment, and if he's there, we'll call."

"Okay."

******************************************************************************

Bosco stepped onto Danner Street, his weary dark eyes scanning the various working girls, trying to find the girl, Charlie, who might have witnessed his brother's murder.

He saw a lot of blonds, but none of them were as small as Gemini had described. Then he saw someone who fit the description...

Tiny, as Gemini said, thin bordering on the point of boniness. Short light blond chin-length hair, with round light brown eyes framed with sooty dark lashes.

She eyed him as he walked over to her, and he was silently thankful that he wasn't wearing his uniform.

"Hey." she said, her voice was soft and innocent. It sounded like a child's. He wondered if it was her real speaking voice, or if it was an act.

"Hey. You wanna earn a hundred bucks?" Bosco stepped closer.

She was wary, "Why? What do you wanna do? What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing. I just want some information. On what you saw this morning." Bosco said quietly.

He watched as fear flare up in the girl's soft brown eyes, and she whirled, trying to flee.

But Bosco was quick. He neatly snagged her small wrist with one hand, holding her still easily.

She struggled fiercely, her eyes going wild now. She raised her other hand, and with her long, manicured fingernails, raked them down his left cheek.

He hissed with pain, but didn't let go.

"Listen to me. I'm a cop..."

"Yeah, tell me somethin' I haven't figured out, you bastard." she spat, still struggling.

"But I'm not here as a cop. That guy this mornin', he was my brother. I need to find out who killed him." he said, his face deadly serious. He felt something wet trickle down his cheek, and swiped at it, his fingers coming away dappled with blood.

She stopped fighting, going still, "Really? He was your brother?"

"Yeah. My younger brother, Michael." Bosco said, his voice tight.

"Nobody will know this information has come from me...will they?" Charlie asked, her brown eyes looking at Bosco nervously, then around the streets, as if she would spot the man any minute.

Bosco nodded, and waited. He felt depressed, but edgy. He needed to find his brother's killer, and quickly.

He needed to make him pay... slowly and painfully. Just as Mikey had died.

But before he could do anything, he needed a name. But before he could get a name, he needed a face.

And this young, pretty hooker could supply it. If she would stop jumping around.

Bosco would never treat her the way he had treated Gemini. He would never, ever hurt a woman. He didn't have many moral rules, but that was one of them. It was second. The first was never hurt a kid, second never hurt a woman...

His subconscious asserting that he wouldn't become his father.

So he took a deep breath, tried to quell the mixture anger and impatience, and asked, "Can you tell me what the guy looked liked?"

Charlie sighed, looking trapped and defeated, "Will you protect me...can you? Promise?"

"I promise." Bosco vowed, his eyes locking on hers.

She nodded, and closed hers, He was tall, six-foot three, powerfully built, broad shoulders. He had light brown hair, like yours, cut about like yours too, pretty short. His nose looked like had been broken before, ya know? He had thin upper lip, and a full lower one.

Bosco was writing all of this down, excited at the detailed description, What was he wearing? Black leather jacket. Black long sleeved shirt, blue jeans. Running shoes."Charlie finished.

"That's great, you did a great job. Here's your money."

Bosco handed it to her, and she promptly stuffed it into the tiny purse she carried.

Bosco wanted to take off, but something about her made him stop.

Can I ask you a question?

She was wary, but she nodded.

"How did you do that? Remember everything about the guy? I mean, most witnesses manage to tell us that the guy was white, had brown hair...but that's 'bout it. How did you do it?"

"I was an artist...or I was studying to be. But something happened, I ran out of money, and..."

"You ended up on the streets." Bosco said. There was no scorn in his voice, only sadness.

"Yeah."

"When all of this over, I'm coming back. I'll help you, Charlie. Bosco vowed.

She smiled, but there was more than a little of her own sadness in it,"Forgive me for sayin', but I'm not gonna hold my breath. Goodbye Officer Boscorelli, I hope you find the man."