A Hopeless Wound (11/?)

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A/N: I just realized it's been quite a while since I posted a new chapter, so I spent most of my morning ignoring my work and focusing on part 11. Here it is. :)

I've been apologizing a lot lately, but I don't really have a lot of time to write and I usually want to give my chapters all the attention they need before uploading them, which should partly explain the delay.

Btw, I haven't mentioned my wonderful beta reader in a while so this is for you, Bobbie. Thanks for being always there for me.

This said, please bear with me. I know this is sad, and I know I've probably stretched it too far, but there's things that needed to be written and events that just had to happen before Bosco's finally found. I promise it won't be long. (Next chapter? ;) )

Enjoy!

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Chapter eleven

***

"Mom?" Emily called, stepping into her parents' bedroom where her mother was getting dressed.

"Yes, honey?"

"There's a cop at the door." She paused for a second. "Dad's talking to him."

Faith looked up to meet her daughter's gaze, fear immediately knotting her stomach. "What cop?"

"Uhm... tall, black guy. He's not wearing a uniform but I think I remember him from the hospital."

"What did he... Nevermind. Thanks, Em." She quickly pulled on a white, long-sleeved shirt and hurried out of the room.

"You're welcome."

The young girl's words were lost to Faith's ears, her mind already racing with panicked thoughts about her former partner. Why had Davis showed up at her place instead of giving her a call? It sure couldn't be good news.

Making her way to the living room, she spotted Fred standing next to the half-open door, arms folded across his chest.

"What happened?" She asked, swinging the door completely open and moving next to her husband.

Ty gave her a small smile. "Faith. I'm sorry, I know it's still early, but I just got off from work."

That had to be good, right? She reasoned. He was smiling. Maybe they'd found Bosco.

"Did you find him?"

"Find who?" Fred inquired. He'd been less than pleased to see the young officer and had tried to question him about it, but the man had insisted that he needed to talk to Faith and that it was important. Figures.

"Not yet. But we might have a lead."

Faith looked from her husband to her friend, unsure of what to do, then placed one hand on Fred's shoulder. "Give me a minute."

Davis took a step back and she followed him out of the apartment.

"It's Bosco, isn't it?" Fred asked again as the door slowly closed behind them, his voice harsh with disbelief.

Faith sighed and leaned against the wall.

"He's still holding a grudge against Bosco?" Ty couldn't hide the surprise in his tone.

"You can say that." She raked a hand through her hair, dreading the moment she'd have to get back inside and face him. "So, what's going on?"

"Lieu got a call from Rikers. They said an inmate claims to have information about the missing cop."

Faith's brow creased. "An inmate? How... I mean, when? When did this happen?"

Davis ran a hand over his face. "I'm not sure. Sometimes last night, I guess. Sul and I were out on patrol."

"Why would someone at Rikers know about Bosco?"

He shrugged. "It happens, you know? Inmates looking to flip on other inmates in return for favours or other consideration. The detectives get plenty of calls like that."

"But very few actually lead to anything..." her voice was barely audible.

"Cruz was heading there when I left. Thought I'd let you know."

Faith nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Ty."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll see you later, okay? I'm beat, I need to get some shut-eye before the next shift."

She gave him a half-wave gesture. "Of course. Thanks again."

"Sure." He turned around and disappeared down the hall.

Faith closed her eyes for a moment, said a silent prayer hoping that this man, whoever he was, would really be able to help, then opened the door and went back inside.

Fred's inquisitive stare greeted her as soon as she stepped in. "What'd he want?"

She held his gaze and took a step forward. There was really no point in lying to him now. "He's assisting in the search for Bosco. We all are."

Her husband's lips pursed in anger but he managed to keep it under control. "What happened to him?"

Faith walked over to the couch and sat down. "His mother died two days ago, and we have reasons to believe that the men who killed her were going after Bosco. No one has heard from him since yesterday..." She finished as her voice trailed off.

Fred saw the pained expression on his wife's face, but that did nothing to soothe his temper. "I thought we agreed he'd stay out of our lives."

Faith's eyes narrowed. "This has nothing to do with our lives, Fred. We're talking about a crime here. About a police officer who's missing."

She rose to her feet and stared him down.

"I have an obligation to him as a cop, and I'm concerned about him as a friend. He's been my partner for ten years, you can't ask me to forget that."

He started to pace back and forth, shaking his head. "It's too soon, Faith. You shouldn't be involved in this. You just got back."

"But I WANT to be involved in this. And I was reassigned to full duty. Davis said there might be a lead, it's worth a shot."

"It's not worth -being- shot." He replied, letting out an angered breath.

"Look, I'm not expecting you to agree with my decision or to be happy about it, I'm just asking you to respect it."

A full minute passed as they both stood there, hands on their hips, waiting for the other to say something. When it became painfully clear that Fred's apology would never come and that Faith wasn't going to back down, the first lowered his gaze to the floor and the second walked away.

"Faith..."

"Get the kids off to school. I'm going to work."

***

The room was small. Too small. And the clock was ticking fast. Too fast.

Maritza Cruz sighed in frustration as she stood in the middle of the interrogation room, her back to the wall, trying to get some useful information from the man seated in front of her.

"What's up, mama? Having a bad day?"

She took a few steps toward him and placed her hands on the table, leaning forward. "Wipe that smug grin off your face, Vernon, or I'll do it for you and I promise it's gonna hurt."

"Oooh, you're scaring me..." He said, faking a frightened tone.

"Want a good reason to be scared? Death penalty." She said quietly, leaning even closer and emphasizing the last two words with two taps of the hand. "That's what a new charge can do."

He cocked his head to the side and tossed her a cold look as he stared her down, his big body squeezed into the small metal chair.

"Murder in the first degree, Vernon. Kidnapping of a police officer." She shook her head. "That won't look good in your file."

The man remained silent, his fingers fidgeting with the shackles.

"Now let me explain this to you one more time."

"What you want from me, Cruz? I ain't do nothing!"

She slammed her fist down on the table. "That's bullshit! We already know you're involved in this. All I need is a name. One name and I'll tell the D.A. you're to good to die."

"No way." He said firmly. "No fucking way. That ain't gonna happen."

Cruz raked a hand thought her dark hair. This was going nowhere. Their time was running out, and with it the chances of finding Bosco alive.

Despite everything that had been said and done, she'd shared a part of her life with him, and felt compelled to help.

Half the precinct had stared at her in astonishment when she'd announced she would be working a double, but she'd ignored them all and focused on doing her job as best as she could.

Just as he'd told her she didn't deserve the rape, she was positive that he didn't deserve what was happening to him either.

And if he was suffering for his mother even half of what she'd suffered after Lettie's death then she would find the bastard who'd killed her and make sure he got the same treatment as Richard Beauford and Thomas Warner.

She moved around the table, her gaze never leaving his side.

One hand on the arm of the chair, the other gripping the edge of the table, she bent forward until her mouth was just inches from his ear. "I don't have time to play with you, Vernon. Now here's how it works. You're gonna listen to me, and listen very carefully. I don't care if you don't tell me who your buddy is. I'm gonna find him anyway. Phone records, visit schedules, I can get them all. It'll just take me a little longer, and you straight to the chair." She shrugged, watching tiny beads of perspiration glisten on his forehead.

His eyes slid off Cruz's toward the dull gray walls.

"It's up to you. Let's see how much you care about your own life."

Silence hung over the room, the Sergeant's patience wearing thin by the second as she waited for him to say something.

"I want a deal."

"I don't make deals."

"Sure you do. I give you the cop, you cut me some slack."

Cruz shook her head, a derisive smile curving her lips. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me."

She grabbed the man by the collar of his prison-issued jumpsuit, anger threatening to finally take over. "I don't think you get it, Vernon. If Bosco dies, there's gonna be no deal. You hear me? Nothing. Now give me the damn name." Her voice rose as she let go of him and crossed her arms over her chest.

Vernon slouched down, a defeated expression on his face. "Okay." He finally said, hunching forward in his seat.

***

"Vernon Marks?"

"Yeah."

"God..."

Faith stared at her boss with wide eyes as the news slowly sunk in.

The man's name definitely rang a bell, echoing sad memories of a time that had marked the beginning of the downfall of her relationship with Bosco and had led to the dissolution of their partnership.

Although she didn't know the details of the case for it had been handled by Anti-Crime, she'd always known that Vernon was bad news. Obviously, the man had it in for Bosco since he'd put him away and had planned some kind of revenge.

The Lieutenant leaned back in his chair. He had the tired features of someone who hadn't gotten any sleep at night, but the determination in his eyes spoke volumes about his resolve to find one of his best officers.

"The call came in around midnight. This man, Louis Sherman, has shared a cell with Marks until last week. He's serving ten years for assault and offered to trade information in exchange for mitigation of his sentence."

"What'd he say?"

"Well, it seems that the two of them were pretty tight, and that Mr. Marks liked to talk about how he was going to get his revenge on the cop that had ruined his life. Sergeant Cruz drove up to Rikers as soon as she heard the news."

"Yeah." Faith whispered as she looked away.

Swersky leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. "I know you two don't get along. But she gets the job done. And right now we need all the help we can get."

"I know." She nodded. "I just wish I could do something too."

"You will. And if not as a cop, you can be there for him as a friend. If I know Bosco like I think I do, when this is over he's gonna need you more than anyone else."

Faith raised her head to meet his gaze and couldn't help but smile at how well the man seemed to know them. She was about to reply that she was looking forward to it when the phone started to ring.

The Lieutenant cleared his throat and picked it up. "Swersky. ... Really? ... When? ... Okay. Keep me posted, Sergeant." He lowered the receiver down on its base and rose to his feet.

Faith instinctively did the same. "That Cruz?"

"Yeah. She got a name. Apparently Marks' brothers are involved in this too. He gave her the address where he thinks they're keeping Bosco." He walked around the desk and headed to the door. "Let's go."

***

'Maurice? Maurice, wake up. You can't stay here.'

The voice was soft but firm, and was calling out to him.

Bosco heard the urgent plea and tried to remember where he was and why he was supposed to move but the reason was lost to him, along with any other coherent thought.

The only thing he was aware of was the pain, fierce and unrelenting, and a numbing cold sweeping through his body.

'Maurice? Come on, baby, open your eyes. Your friends are looking for you. You need to wake up.'

"Ma?" He whispered through his dry, cracked lips as he finally recognized it.

Summoning up all his strength, he slowly opened his eyes.

Blue.

Through his cloudy vision, all he could make out was the light blue of the morning sky.

"Ma..." he called again in a child-like moan, his confused mind longing for that kind of reassurance only a mother can give, but his cries remained unanswered as he lay on the frigid ground, his eyelids once again drooping in exhaustion.

The voice was gone, replaced by an overwhelming quietness. The same resigned calm they say you experience when you realize you're about to face death.

TBC…