No mini-essay for this one. I'll pick it up again in the next chapter, if anybody wants me to. This chapter will be relatively short. It will be awhile before I can chapter again, so be patient with me. I'll be writing more chapters while I'm offline, so I can update more often.
Thanks for the reviews, too. They're much appreciated.
Bosco and Faith are back.
The hat in her hand felt like it weighed fifteen pounds. Her other hand gripped the back of the hard plastic seat, her knuckles turning white. At the other end of the room, Sergeant Christopher was delivering the standard pre-shift briefing. She didn't hear a word he was saying. Her mind was on vastly different things. Word had spread through the station house about Malloy and Turner the day before. Turner would be out for at least a week due to his leg and Malloy was expected back within two days. The idiot trucker who'd run the red light was cooling his heels in lockup alongside the Marine.
Things were happening too fast. Between the arrests that she and Bosco, the two detectives assigned to the case, and Andy O'Shea had made, the cells at the back of the station house were filling up. The last guy, Benny, had a nice shiner on his right eye. O'Shea must've gotten after him for something. He was in talking to the two detectives the last she knew. Was that why Christopher just kept talking?
"Yokas."
She looked up at once, startled to hear her name. Sergeant Christopher frowned at her, a mug-shot picture in one hand.
"See me after."
Her face flushed hot. She never spaced out during roll call. That was Bosco's department. The other officers shifted uncomfortably around her, unused to hearing the more sensible half ofFive-FiveDavid get called out for an after-roll conference. Bosco smirked to himself, grateful that for once, he wasn't the one in trouble.
The room stirred to life, but Faith saw none of it. She stood up and walked to the door, where she knew Christopher would be waiting. Her partner brushed past, and the self-satisfied smirk on his face startled her back from the daze that clouded her senses. You just enjoy it while it lasts, Bos.
"Yokas."
"Yes sir."
Christopher thrust out a paper at her. "This is one of the guys the informant gave up. Well-placed local dealer. Do your best to bag him." He turned on his heel and walked off to his desk.
"Yes sir." Faith muttered, confused by the lack of rebuke for not paying attention. She looked down at the mug-shot she held and smiled a little. She and Bosco had dealt with this guy before. It would be fun to rattle his cage for old time's sake.
"Tell us about Big T."
Benny leant back in the metal chair, his expression surly. "I already told you all I'm gonna. You got Jo-Jo and Bulldog. What more do you want?"
"They're just street level dealers. What can they tell us that's any different from what you've told us?" Wickes asked. "We want the guy who's behind this murder. It sure isn't anybody you've mentioned."
"And we're still waiting to hear what you know about Friday night." Asheby chimed in.
"I ain't tellin' you."
"Come on, Benny. It's not like we don't know what happened. We're interested to know what you know."
The dealer looked sceptical. "You ain't got nobody who's in on that, I'd know about it."
"Exactly! That's why we like you, Benny. You know things." Asheby said. "We know things too. There was a footprint found at the scene. The techs working to find out what brand of shoe made it, and from there we just need to grab somebody to check their shoes against it. We'll pick up every dealer and user in the city if we have to, and I'm sure your buddies won't like that very much."
"All you have to do is tell us what you know about Friday night, and we won't scare away too much business."
Benny looked from one detective to the other, his surliness slipping away. "If I talk, I get to walk, right?"
"Free and clear."
"Fine. It was two new guys out for Big T. Just picked up a couple packages for him. Your guy Staples comes along, they decide to jump him for some money, but he ain't got any. They fight, and one of the new guys stabs him in the back. They drag him to the alley and take off, scared like little girls. Ain't seen 'em around since 'cause they left Big T's packages behind." Benny sneered. "Them new guys ain't worth crap."
"Who were these new guys?"
"Don't know. They just started runnin' last week."
"Where are they now?"
"Don't know. Bet they're wishin' for the cops to find 'em before Big T does. He don't like gettin' stiffed that way."
"I think we got a problem."
"That doesn't sound good."
"It's not." Wickes rubbed his eyes. "Benny's story makes sense, except that we forgot to ask him about Mikey Boscorelli."
Asheby's face paled. "The guy whose brother works the night shift?"
"That's the one. He knew Staples and he probably knows some things too. But since his brother got him out, he's disappeared."
"Dammit. And I thought we had everything nailed after feeding him the line about the shoe print."
"Looks we need to do some more asking around." Wickes said, standing up from his desk. "So much for not scaring away business."
"What's the worst that can happen? This Big T isn't really that high-up on the ladder."
"Yeah, but he still knows people. I wouldn't be surprised if all our informants dry up real fast."
The traffic light glowed orange for only a few seconds before flickering and changing to red. As if someone had drawn an invisible line across that lane of travel, the line of cars stopped dead.
"Are we going to hit every red light in the city today!" Bosco exclaimed, his fingers choking the steering wheel.
"Relax, Bosco. This is a short light."
The light cycled back to green and Bosco pressed down on the gas hard. His partner turned the siren back on as the cruiser leapt out into the intersection. Cars ahead of the fast-moving RMP pulled over to get out of the way.
"There it is." Faith pointed at the burning wreck smashed against the bridge guardrail. "What a mess."
"Damn."
The two officers hustled over to the growing crowd, who watched the paramedics and firefighters work with practised precision. "Step back, folks, way back." Sully and Davis were on-scene and busily herding people back from the flames.
"What the hell happened here?"
"Drunk hit an elderly man. That's the old guy's car." Sully pointed at the burning vehicle. "Paramedics pulled him out just before it went up."
"Somebody must like him a lot."
"Yeah."
Faith turned away from the wreck to push some people back further away from the fire. The other three officers joined her after a few moments of watching the flames consume the metal frame of the vehicle. Senseless accidents like this one never failed to move her. She remembered arresting Fred when he had gotten into his accident. One of the hardest things she'd ever had to do, but she did it anyway. He had pleaded with her to bail him out when she and Bosco brought it another collar and she had ignored him. She remembered thinking that a few hours staring out the bars of that cell would serve him right.
"Hey, Yokas."
"Hmm?"
"Let's go. Just got a call from O'Shea. He's got a brawl down on FDR."
The two officers sprinted through the crowd of people to get back to their RMP. Once again, the sirens came wailing to life. Bosco guided the cruiser skilfully through traffic.
"Five-Five David, FDR."
"Ten-four, David."
"Slow down, Bosco!"
"O'Shea can't handle a brawl on his own."
"He's been around long enough, I don't see why – "
"He's in trouble, we help. That's it."
Her partner brought the cruiser to a screeching halt as a flying body tumbled across the hood. In an instant, both officers were out of the vehicle. O'Shea was wrestling with a heavy-set man who was bent on not getting arrested. Several other men were throwing punches at each other, intent only on doing damage.
"Knock it off! Break it up!" Bosco dove into the fight with an energy that startled Faith. Simple restraint wasn't the object today. He was out for blood. One of the men took a wild swing that caught Bosco in the ear.
"Bosco!"
"C'mere jag-off." Her partner grabbed the man's jacket and threw him down. "You, never, hit, a, cop." Bosco grunted, delivering a blow to punctuate each word.
"Bosco!" Faith moved in quickly to pull her partner back. "Lay off!"
O'Shea staggered over, nursing his left eye. His dark hair was tousled, his uniform was dirty, and there was a thin trickle of blood leaking out of his nose. The man he had been fighting with lay on his side on the ground, his wrists cuffed securely behind his back. "Thanks for the assist, mates. Bit worried there for a moment."
"Anytime. Glad to grab action when it comes." Bosco stood up, his chest still heaving. The older cop looked at his reddened face and nodded.
"Aye, you're young yet. You'll learn."
"What is there to learn? The whole point of the job is to bust the bad guys."
O'Shea shook his head and winced. "No, the whole point of the job is to serve and protect the public and look out for your fellows. That's what this means." He fingered the badge on Bosco's jacket. "You'll learn before too many years go by, Boscorelli. I just hope it won't take anything drastic."
"What an old duffer." Bosco watched the older cop returned to the man he had arrested and dragged him to his feet. "What does he know?"
"A whole lot more than you do." Faith replied simply.
"You wouldn't know it," her partner muttered, but he didn't sound as cocky.
"Come on. This guy needs to get to lockup."