Chapter 164

"Bosco?" Kim said, wondering if he was still on the other end of the phone. He was awful quiet – too quiet. She knew that meant something was brewing. She hoped it wasn't with his brother. He hadn't called her after Mikey's bail hearing and then not for his entire shift.

"Yeah," Bosco said and Kim noticed how tired his voice sounded. "Was it a tired or depressed tone?" Kim thought to herself.

"What's wrong?" she said, sitting up from where she was lying on the couch watching the news.

"Nothing. It's just been a rough day. I'm goin' out with a couple of the guys to unwind. I just wanted to let you know not to wait up," he told her.

"Bosco..., what happened? Is Mikey okay? You didn't call me," she said, standing up now to pace while she talked to him.

"What? Yeah, he's fine. I'm sorry. He'll probably be out by the morning. I should call my Ma," he thought absently.

"Out? Well, that's great. At least he won't have to sit in there until his trial," Kim said brightening, but still wondering what had her husband in such a somber mood.

"Yeah, well, there may not be a trial. I think the judge basically threw out the confession. Martin brought up the fact that as a police officer, I didn't marandize Mikey before I talked to him," he told her. He briefly relayed the rest of the bizarre bail hearing and Kim realized that Bosco was pissed at this attorney for making him look bad.

"Anyway, I gotta find Mikey a new lawyer," she heard him say.

"Why? It sounds like he's doing good for your brother," she said.

"Yeah, well, it's a long story. I can't really talk about it now," he said, and Kim could visualize the frown of his brow through the phone.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I just won't be able to sleep right now. Go ahead and go to bed. I won't be too long. Kids okay?" he asked.

"They're fine. Don't be too late, okay? I love you," she told him.

"Me too. Bye," he said, hanging up the phone and putting it in his jacket pocket. He looked around the locker room and saw that everyone else from the shift had left – even Faith. Of course, he'd told her to leave – that he'd process Martin. His mind drifted back to the dark blue/black of the bruises that covered both Rebecca and Jan and he wondered again why Jan hadn't asked for their help while she had the chance. If not for herself, how could she have let her daughter go through all that? He saw again the bruises that covered both mother and daughter and the description of the apartment that Faith had given him.

He hadn't realized that he'd been sitting there for quite a while when his cell phone rang. As he looked at the caller id, he noted the time that appeared in the screen of the phone as well. 3:00 a.m. He wouldn't have been surprised if it was Kim calling to check up on him, but the phone number that displayed did surprise him.

"Hey," he answered, expecting one voice, but hearing another.

"Boscorelli, where's Faith?" came the gruff voice of Fred Yokas through his phone. A sudden panic went through him. What did he mean, where's Faith? She should have been home along time ago.

"She's not home?" he replied, trying to keep himself calm.

"Well, I sure as hell wouldn't be callin' you if I didn't have to," Fred said meanly. Bosco closed his eyes to the sound of hatred in Fred's voice.

"Well, she left here a while ago. I finished booking our last arrest," he told him.

"Well, she's not here. I figured you had her involved in some kind of crap again," Fred sneered through the phone.

"No, Fred. Not this time. Look, I'm still at the house – I was just leaving," he said, standing up and closing his locker. "I'll head home by way of her route and see if I see anything. If you don't hear from her soon, call me back. I'll let you know if I find her," he said, swinging the door to the locker room open and striding out.


She was asleep, sitting in the chair next to the bed. She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped, spinning to face whoever was there at the same time.

"Faith? What're you doin?" he asked his partner as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"Bosco. What're you doing here?" she asked in surprise as she gathered her thoughts together.

"Fred called me. He wanted to know where you were. I told him you left work on time. Have you been here the whole time?" Bosco asked her in a whisper as he glanced over at Rebecca, so small and pale in the bed.

Faith nodded. "I just can't get her out of my mind, Bos. I mean, what if I missed her trying to ask me for help. I feel like I failed her," she said, fresh tears starting to form in her eyes. "I remembered when we were walking out of that restaurant, she grabbed onto my hand. I gave her a glance, but I didn't' really pay attention. What if that was when she tried to get help? I blew it," she said, looking over at the peaceful child.

"Faith. It's not your fault. We didn't know. I wish to God we did, but we didn't," he told her, squatting down next to her, one knee on the floor.

Faith cleared her throat, changing the subject. "How'd you find me?" she asked.

"Well, when Fred called I was still at the house. I just followed your route home in case something happened along the way. When I got to your apartment, Fred was outside on the steps waiting. He said you hadn't come home yet. I had a hunch so I came over here," he explained.

"Fred called you?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah, he was real pleasant too. Wanted to know what kind of crap I'd gotten you into now," Bosco said dryly.

"I'm sorry," Faith said as Bosco stood up.

"Forget it. I deserve it. C'mon, I'll give you a ride home. You can't do any more for her now. We just have to wait and hope for the best. I mean, she's hung on this long, right?" he said.

"No. I'll grab a cab. Kim'll be pissed at me for keeping you out all night," Faith said.

"I told her I wouldn't be home 'til late. I needed to unwind after tonight. C'mon. But, you better call Fred and tell him you're on your way," Bosco said, giving her a soft punch in the arm and walking out of the room to give her time to say goodbye to Rebecca. He stole a glance at the little girl as he left as well.