Obsession (11/13)

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A/N: Sooo, you're going to find out what Charlie's decision was. You ready? :) Btw, for those who do not know me, I'm NOTa shipper, so you'll never find any hints in my stories.

Enjoy!

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Chapter eleven

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Bosco sighed and slid down deeper in his chair.

The meeting was taking way too long, and once again they were coming out if it empty-handed.

Detective Johnson and Lieutenant Swersky had just called a much-needed break to make some phone calls and asked him to stay around to discuss about Faith's safety.

His offer to let her stay in his own apartment had been turned down for fear that the man might be able to locate it. Whoever he was, he sure wasn't stupid, and they couldn't risk losing one, if not two, of their best officers.

That's what Swersky had said.

For Bosco however, it would be a lot more than losing a fellow cop. He would lose a part of himself, something he couldn't even bring himself to consider, especially now that they'd worked things out after the mess with Cruz.

Legs outstretched and crossed at the ankles, he reached into his jeans pocket to retrieve his own cell phone, just to find out that it wasn't there.

He immediately rose to his feet and searched again, first one pocket, then the other. Nothing.

Shit, he muttered.

He wanted to call the hospital to check on Faith and tell Mary that he was going to be late, but the damn thing was apparently lost somewhere.

Maybe I left it in the car, he thought to himself as he turned around and walked out of the room.

"Bosco." The Lieutenant called as soon as he reached the top of the stairs.

"Yeah."

"Care to explain why we got a call from Mercy Hospital asking if you were alright?"

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

Swersky crossed his arms over his chest. "A woman called a few minutes ago. She wanted to know if something had happened to you."

"Was it Proctor?" he inquired as he rubbed the back of his neck, the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach coming back full force to haunt him.

"Who?"

"Mary Proctor. She's a... never mind, I'll call her back." he said, heading toward the front desk and grabbing the nearest phone.

"Bosco, wait, what's this all about?" the older man called. "Bosco!" He frowned in confusion and followed him down the stairs.

--

Faith gave the cab driver a crumpled 20-dollar bill and jumped out of the car without bothering to wait for her change.

Her heart was loud in her chest as she entered the building. The growing sense of panic that had held her in its grip since she'd left the hospital had almost completely taken hold of her, though there was still one thought clear enough to keep her moving: Bosco.

She wouldn't be able to live with herself if something happened to him. She'd already caused him too much pain.

Climbing the stairs two at a time, she finally reached his floor and dug into her purse for the key to his apartment door.

She was so focused on getting inside that she failed to notice the lack of police force on the street and in the hallway that usually appeared on the scene every time a cop was injured or killed.

"Bosco?" she called.

Everything was silent.

She drew in a shaky breath, then let it out and unlocked the door, slowly pulling it open.

--

"She WHAT?" Bosco screamed into the phone, his stomach immediately tensing.

He backed away from the desk, then took a step forward and leaned the upper-half of his body on the counter. "Oh no... oh God no..." His heart began to pound so loud he thought others could hear it.

Swersky frowned, hearing the pain in the young man's voice, and came closer.

"One of my nurses got a call, and this man said something had happened to you. We couldn't stop her" Mary Proctor tried to explain on the other end of the line.

"What'd I tell you, huh? Don't let her leave without me!"

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that it wasn't true? I wasn't even there!" she countered. "We had a major MVA, and next thing I know, she's not in her room anymore."

"You should've been there! I trusted you!" he insisted, his hand balled into fist at his side as anger threatened to take over.

"Bosco, I'm sorry, but this is an emergency room. We save lives, and we get backed up. I had no way of knowing that we'd get that call. Look, I'm sure she's okay." Her tone was gentle but persuasive. After years of dealing with desperate patients, upset relatives and angry cops, she was good at making her point without sounding too harsh.

Bosco sighed again and rubbed his forehead. "No, it's... I know, I'm sorry." It's my fault. I should've known. "Listen, I... I gotta find her, so I need to know everything about that call. Did she say where she was going?"

There was a moment of silence as Mary weighted the question. "Hold on, I'll ask Carol. She's the one who answered the phone."

Bosco heard a muffled noise as she moved the receiver from her ear and the sound of footsteps quickly shuffling down the hall. He closed his eyes and lowered his head on the arm that was resting on the desk. This isn't happening, he told himself. This can't be true.

"Bosco, what happened?" The Lieutenant's voice was grave.

"Give me a sec," he mouthed, holding up his finger to silence him.

Mary's voice came back a short while later. "She said she went to your place."

Bosco straightened up. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. That's what the man requested."

He nodded his head even if he was aware that she couldn't see him.

"Who's this guy anyway? Is she in danger?"

"It's a long story. Just pray that everything's gonna be alright. Thanks, Mary," he said as he lowered the receiver down on its hook and started to walk away.

"Boscorelli!" Swersky's authoritative voice stopped him in his tracks. "What the hell just happened here?"

"She's gone, Lieu."

"What do you mean?" The older man stared at him with the flat eyes of someone who was expecting bad news and just wanted to get it over with.

"I gotta go. Some jag-off called saying I was hurt or something and she left the hospital," he said as he headed for the front door.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"To save my partner!" he yelled, drawing a few curious stares from his fellow officers.

Swersky grabbed his arm. "Wait. Don't do anything stupid."

Bosco broke free of his superior's grasp. " Don't you get it? It's him. It's HIM! He knew we were together and... he knew that she'd come no matter what if something happened to me and I let him." He slammed his hand down on the nearby desk. "I LET him!"

"Take it easy, okay? We don't know that yet," the Lieutenant lied, trying to sound convincing. "But if it is then that's one more good reason to calm down."

He stared at the young officer in front of him. His eyes were intent, hard. He'd seen the look before, when despair and vulnerability made him hostile and self-destructive. "Do we know where she went?"

"My place," Bosco said briskly. He leaned against the wall, arms folded over his chest, hands hidden beneath his elbows so no one would see them shake.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do. I'll call Johnson, and we'll send a couple units over."

As if on cue, the detective made his way down the stairs and approached them.

"What's going on?"

"Why don't YOU tell me, huh?" Bosco snapped, his finger stabbing the air. He was beyond caring what the consequences of his words could be now. Faith was in danger, and that was all that mattered. "What's your theory, detective? Oh wait, you don't know. You don't know anything about this case, you're just making it up as you go along!"

He raked a hand through his hair and went on, unable to stop himself. "Gather the evidence, build the case, nail the son of a bitch. Isn't that how it works?"

The man nodded his head.

"Then do something! This guy killed two cops for Christ's sake!"

Johnson stood still, his eyes wide. "We're doing everything we can, officer. And we might..."

"Well, here's what -I-'m gonna do: he lays a single hand on Faith I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna rip his head off with my bare hands and you know what? I'm gonna feel good about it!"

"Bosco, I'm warning you..." Swersky said seriously.

"Will you let me finish?" Johnson had to raise his voice to get the men's attention.

"What?" Bosco asked, glaring at him. Swersky put his hands on his hips and turned to face him.

"We found an abandoned car two blocks from Officer Yokas' apartment building. There was a box with a single red rose inside, pictures that match the one she found in her bedroom, a city map with a sector circled in red and a time, 10pm written on it and a .22 which turned out to be Miller's service gun." He took a deep breath and braced himself for the questions he knew were coming.

"When?" the Lieutenant asked.

"Half an hour ago. They just told me."

"How do we know it's the same guy?"

"We hope. They're dusting the car and the box for fingerprints." He paused and glanced at the clock. "And we got 15 minutes to reach the location marked on that map."

"Maybe that's where he plans to bring her." Swersky reasoned.

"Fine. You check the address, I'll drive to my place," Bosco said harshly, pulling his car keys out of his jacket pocket.

"That might not be..."

"Look, I'm not gonna sit and wait while my partner's in the hands of a lunatic. I won't." He shook his head and stormed outside before any of the two bewildered men he left behind had a chance to stop him.

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It was dark.

Faith closed the door behind her and squinted her eyes, trying to peer into the thick obscurity that had gathered into the small apartment, but it didn't do her any good.

The room was bathed in silence and for one, long second, she stood frozen in place, then pushing her fears aside she swallowed hard and slowly inched forward.

Bosco's place wasn't really familiar to her, so even a simple task like trying to locate a light switch proved to be difficult.

She blinked, straining her eyes against the darkness, and advanced another step.

Something was blocking her path.

Heart thumping loudly, she held out one hand. A couch.

Her gaze traveled past it. Was that a window?

The window... she shivered, remembering the dream she'd had at the hospital.

Something was wrong. Something was about to happen and she was unable to stop it.

Then a noise sounded on the right. Faith turned her head...

TBC...