"Hello," mumbled Fred into the phone as Faith groaned and put the pillow over her head.

"Fred? This is Kim. Is Faith there?"

"What? Kim, it's like two o'clock in the morning!" Fred grumbled. Faith pulled the pillow off her head and turned toward Fred.

"Bosco's Kim?" she asked him. He nodded and she reached for the phone. "Kim? Is everything alright?" Faith asked her.

"You tell me. Bosco hasn't come home yet. Two detectives from Internal Affairs just knocked on my door looking for him. Before they showed up, I was worried and called the station and they said that you guys had checked out at the end of your shift. What's going on, Faith?" Kim asked, somewhat perturbed.

Faith sat up. "Did you try his cell phone?" she suggested.

"Yeah. I've been calling it and all I get is his voice mail. I left like five messages," she said, starting to worry now. "Tell me what's going on, Faith."

"I don't know. We had a call that we kind of screwed up on tonight," Faith said, thinking that maybe it was about that. She thought back to what he said. "What was it? Oh yeah - 'I can't be that guy. I can't be that guy that let that girl get raped,'" she remembered.

"What do you mean screwed up on? Did he get hurt?" she asked.

"No, no. Neither one of us got hurt. It's just that," she paused as Fred groaned and turned over. She made a face at him and went back to her conversation.

"Well, we missed something on a call and a girl got raped tonight," Faith said.

"What?!" Kim said in shock.

"We thought she was a prostitute, but it turns out..., It's a long story, Kim," she said finally. "Anyway, Bosco was pretty upset. Maybe he's at Haggerty's with some of the guys and doesn't know his phone is off," Faith said.

"Maybe. I'll try there. Will you call me if you hear from him?" Kim asked her.

"Sure, Kim. And let me know when you hear from him, okay?" Faith said.

"Okay. Thanks, Faith. Sorry to wake you," she apologized.

"No problem. He's just probably out blowing off steam somewhere," Faith assured her.

"You're probably right. G'night, Faith."

"G'night, Kim," Faith said, hanging up the phone. She had just laid back down when there was a knock on the door. "Maybe that's Bosco," she said getting out of bed.

"Not if he knows what's good for him," Fred commented.

"Fred! Don't be a jerk," she said as she threw her robe on and went to answer the door. She looked through the peephole and saw the two men in suits; the one with his identification showing she recognized. "What the heck is Internal Affairs doing here?" she said as she unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door. Fred came up behind her.

"Faith? Where's Boscorelli?" said the one she knew.

"How the hell should I know?" Faith replied, not liking the tone of the man's voice. "He doesn't live here. Why? What's going on?"

"We tried his apartment, he's not there," the detective said.

"Yeah, I know. His wife just called me scared to death. Now, what's going on?" Faith said, getting more than a little angry now.

"Where else would he be?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"I'm not saying anything until you tell me what's going on, Dave," she said, raising her voice.

"That rape case you had tonight. The suspect was found shot to death in his car. And now we can't find Boscorelli. Now, any idea where he could be?" the man replied.

"What?! No. I have no idea where he could be. But, if I hear from him, I'll tell him to give you a call," Faith said, getting worried.

"You need to come down to the station and account for your whereabouts tonight, Faith," the other detective said.

"First, it's Officer Yokas to you. And, second I can tell you my whereabouts from right here. I got off work at 11:30 and came right home, just like every other night," she said.

"Look, Officer Yokas," the detective replied. "Are you gonna make us call in a supervisor to order you to come to the station?"

"You can't do that!" Fred said angrily. "Can they do that, Faith?"

After a moment, Faith replied. "Yeah, Fred. They can. I'll meet you down there after I get dressed," she finally replied, starting to close the door.

The detective she knew as Dave said, "Why don't you just come down with us, Faith?"

"Because I don't plan on having to stay there and I don't want to have to wait around for you to have time to bring me back home," she said, raising her voice. "I'll be there in 20 minutes," she said before closing the door.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Angela Rose Boscorelli looked over at her son while he was looking the other way. "Something bad happened," she thought to herself. She could tell by the look on his face. She watched as he walked over to the bar and poured another drink from the bottle that he'd taken from behind the bar. He'd almost finished the bottle and was definitely in no condition to walk - let alone drive - anywhere.

"What happened, Maurice?" she asked him, taking the rest of the bottle and pouring it down the sink.

"You ever wonder whether bad traits are hereditary?" Bosco said with a slur.

"You're drunk," Rose said, trying not to laugh. "What are you talking about?"

"Just what I said. Do you think that bad traits are hereditary? Do you think I'm destined to screw up? Like Mikey? Like Dad?" he repeated, this time stumbling slightly as he walked closer to his mother.

"Does Kim know where you are?" Rose asked her son. "It's three o'clock. Don't you think she'll be worried?"

"She's better off without me. I'm a screw up," he said, slumping with his head on the bar.

"C'mon upstairs and sleep it off. You can use your old room. I'll call Kim and let her know where you are," Rose said, guiding Bosco up the back stairs to her apartment.

She got him onto the bed and he mumbled something about not being able to trust himself anymore and fell soundly asleep.

*^*^*^*^*^*^

"Yes, he's okay. He mumbled something about not being able to trust himself and then passed out. He's got a pretty good drunk on," Rose said into the phone to Kim. "You okay? Do you need anything?"

"No. As long as I know he's safe, I'm okay," Kim said, relieved that Bosco wasn't laying in an alley somewhere.

"So, do you have any idea what this is about?" Rose asked her.

"Not much. Faith said they had a call tonight and from what I could gather, they thought she was a prostitute. Turns out that she was some girl getting raped," Kim explained, leaving out the part about Internal Affairs looking for Bosco. She didn't need to worry Rose unnecessarily. She'd tell Bosco in the morning when she talked to him.

"Oh, God," Rose said. "No wonder he's so upset. It really upsets him when women are attacked or abused. I think it comes from his Dad beating me up regularly. Anyway, it really upsets him and if he thinks that because of his mistake this girl got raped-. Well, that just explains his comment about not being able to trust himself. He's talking about his instincts, Kim. He has incredible instincts. He always has and if he can't trust them anymore-," she said not finishing the sentence.

"Do you think I should come over there?" Kim said, her heart aching for him.

"No. Nothing you could do except watch him sleep it off. I haven't seen him this drunk in a really long time. He's not gonna wake up for quite awhile," Rose said, looking across to the room he was in and seeing him sprawled on the bed.

"Do you think he needs to go to the hospital, Rose?" Kim asked.

"No. He's not that bad. I'll keep an eye on him, Kim. You just get some rest. I'll call you in the morning or if I need you. And give Joey and that little Johnny a big kiss from me," she said.

"Okay. But, Rose, please call me if you need me. My Mom can be here in like ten minutes," Kim said.

"Okay, Kim. G'night." Rose said, hanging up the phone.

Rose walked over to the doorway and watched her son sleep. He had flopped on his stomach, fully dressed. She walked over and took off his shoes and put a blanket over him. She knelt on the floor next to the bed and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Always so hard on yourself, Maurice," she said softly as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Mmmph," was the only sound he made. Rose got up and turned off the light on her way out.