Swersky stood in one corner of the holding cell room, watching Sullivan and Davis trying to get a statement out of Bruce.
"You threatened to kill her, even in front of cops – that's not a smart move, pal!" Sully let him know.
"I didn't do anything to her!" Bruce insisted, looking uneasily towards Swersky. The sheer presence of the Lieutenant seemed to scare him.
"Then why should she be scared of you?" Davis now wanted to know, moving into the view between the suspect and their superior.
"I don't know! She was a crazy bitch!" he replied, not aware that he was raising his voice to make his point.
"She looked perfectly sane to me when she came here," Swersky stepped in, his arms folded across his chest when he approached the cell. He had enough of that crap and Sullivan and Davis could read it in his face.
"She seemed sane, but scared to death. Why would she be afraid for her life when you never did anything to her?" he demanded to know.
"I don't know!" Bruce insisted again, almost yelling.
"Why are you so upset, Bruce? Are we hitting a nerve?" Sully calmly asked. The man in the cell fell silent and from that moment on, Sullivan and Davis shared the certainty of their superior. He had killed his girlfriend. All they had to figure out now was the why.
Another uniformed female officer walked in, handed Swersky some folder and headed out again. The Lieutenant opened the folder, read what was written inside and put it onto the table.
"You're full name is Bruce Aloisius Stargher?" Swersky asked matter-of-factly.
The man in the cell nodded, wondering why he would ask.
Swersky signed Sully to open up the cage door, without offering any explanation.
"You're under arrest," Swersky said and had him handcuffed.
"But what for? You can't prove anything!" Bruce yelled, trying to fight off the cuffs.
"We just got your record, pal! You have an outstanding warrant for unpaid parking tickets," he explained. He wasn't satisfied with that, but it was a start.
"Hey, boss, didn't that sound like an admission of guilt?" Sully asked with a slight smile.
"Just get him out of my sight…Let the DA deal with this scum…"
He watched them guiding Stargher downstairs and sighed. He was getting to old for this. So he made a decision and went to his office to do it.
Boy 55-3 with Alex Taylor and Sidney Edwards parked just outside the firehouse. They were running late and still needed to change. Upstairs in the bunk room, Charlene Converse was buttoning the jacket of her dress uniform, making sure everything was neatly in place. Edwards and Taylor hurried to get changed, so they could leave in time.
"You know you don't need to do this," Charlene heard Walsh say behind her and turned to face him. "You're still on medical," Billy let her know unnecessarily.
"Yes, I do. And you are on medical too," she contradicted in a whisper. Talking still hurt, so she tried to avoid it whenever possible. She had only been released from the hospital this morning and only on the promise that someone would be there to monitor her. There was still the possibility of lung damage. The same was true for Billy. He still needed to recover from his concussion, so for now Charlene was staying with him and his family.
The woman looked at Walsh and approached him to straighten his tie. They looked at each other. The memories of Brian Converse's funeral were still vivid, although it had been almost 4 years ago. Billy closed his arms around her when he saw the pain in her eyes sparkling for a moment.
"I thought I had lost you," she whispered and let her head rest against his shoulder.
"You scared us good too," Walsh returned and kissed her on top of her head.
"Okay, let's go!" Alex said and grabbed her jacket. Walsh and Converse parted again and together, they went downstairs to meet with the others.
It was the day of the funeral of John Martin, Captain of Squad 18, who had died days earlier. Neither of them had known him, but they all felt it their duty to pay their respects to a fallen brother by attending this funeral.
Downstairs, Lieutenant Johnson was changing into his dress uniform as well. With every time he had to do it over the past few months, it took him longer. It was as if his body was struggling against it. He took his hat and turned to join his crew in the squad room. But in the doorway, he stopped. Every member of Squad 55 was in their blues, even the temporarily assigned Converse and Edwards, who were just coming down from the bunk room. Johnson felt pride rising inside of him. This was his squad, the best in the whole city. His family. He would miss it, once he had retired from active duty.
The sky was perfect blue. Not a white spot to be seen. The sun was rewarding the inhabitants of New York for their patience. An old church was rising against the blue sky, its stone towers in harsh contrast to the background. John Sullivan was nervous. He sighed and once again looked at the wooden church doors that were openly inviting him in. One last time Sully looked over his dark blue suit, his bordeaux coloured shirt and dark blue silk tie. He still couldn't believe it that in a few minutes he would be the Godfather of a small child. John knew about the responsibility, that he was supposed to care for the kid in case there should ever happen something to its parents. A smile formed itself on Sully's face when he remembered how Ty Davis, his partner had reacted. And soon the whole precinct had known. They had collected some money for a present, but Sully had decided it would be better to open up a fund for the child instead. So now, he stood in front of that church, a small teddy bear in police uniform in his arm. When Davis had seen that little furry fellow, he had bought it for the boy.
"Are you gonna stand here all day or do you plan to go in?" he suddenly heard a voice behind him and jerked around. It was Abigail Sinclair.
"I thought you were inside already…," was all Sully managed to say.
"You're not gonna chicken out now, are you?" Abby wanted to know with concern.
Sully smiled reassuringly and gave her a welcome hug.
"No, don't worry," he said and gave her the teddy.
"It's from my partner," Sully explained and also told her about the collection and the fund for her son.
Her eyes watered and she quickly looked away. This was more than she had hoped for.
"Thank you," was all she could say while she tried to keep the tears down.
"I knew I chose the right Godfather for Johnny…"
Sully put an arm around her shoulder.
"Shall we?" he asked and when Abigail nodded, they went into the church together.
