Title: It's Going To Be A Long Day
Author: Phyllis
Disclaimer: Characters belong to John Watson, NBC, and Warner Bros.-no profit made-
Only borrowing for a short time
Word Count: 8002
Warnings: None
Summary: Faith and Bos walk in on a robbery
IT'S GOING TO BE A LONG DAY
They were three hours into an eight-hour shift. The July sun beat down, causing the streets to heat up like an oven. Bosco sat looking miserable. Not even the squad air conditioner could cool him off. Once again he fiddled with the controls.
“Bosco, it’s on full blast. Turning it off and on is not going to make it work any better.” Yokas told him for the third time.
Bosco sighed heavily, slapping his hand against the dash. “ Why is it, we always get the equipment that does not work right?”
“It’s working fine, It’s just too hot to compensate. Calm down or you’ll never cool off.”
“This vest feels like it gets tighter every time I breathe.” He whined.
Yokas shot a glare at her partner, “You are NOT taking off that vest. It saved you once. You could need it again. This heat is making everybody nuts. We’ve already had four disturbance calls.”
Bosco knew she was right-about all of it-that didn’t make him any more comfortable. This heat was making for a very long day.
They rode in silence for a few minutes. Bosco could not stand it. Finally, he asked “ How about something cold to drink?”
“Do you want to eat now?” she asked
“No. I do not want to eat. I want something to drink. It’s too early to eat yet,” he replied through clenched teeth.
Faith smiled to herself. “You are aware that we have a dinner break due in less than an hour. Can’t you wait that long?” She thought to herself “This is just too easy.”
Bosco threw his hands up to his face and yelled “Ahhhhhhh….”
“There is no need to yell. I asked a simple question. Are you saying that you can’t wait?” Yokas asked again.
Bosco exploded. “No! No I can’t wait. If I wanted to wait, I wouldn’t have asked, would I? I would just wait. I’m hot and I want something to drink—now. Please!” Bosco turned in his seat to glare at Faith’s profile.
Trying to keep a straight face, she came back at him “ I’ve said this once. I will not say it a third time. There is no need to yell. I’m still sitting right here.”
“
“Now you sound like my mother” Bosco curled his lip and mouthed silently. “You don’t have to yell. Blah. Blah. Blah.”
”And you sound like my son. Only, he’s ten.” The look on his face did her in. She could contain her mirth no longer and burst out laughing.
Bosco just looked at her. He snorted and then grinned. He knew he was acting childish. Heat seemed to bring out the worst in people.
“OK. OK. Ha ha.” But the tension had been broken. The partners smiled as they cruised the area. “Could we, please, just get a cold drink?”
In the block ahead sat another cruiser with its lights flashing. Yokas pulled up beside the other unit. “Hey, Sully.” Bosco called to the officer sitting in the drivers seat. “Anything happening?”
“Nothing much. Traffic stop. The routine “I didn’t see the red light” claim” Sully shook his head.
“We thought we would go over to Franklin and get a drink at Murphy’s deli. Want to meet us there when you’re done?”
Sully glanced at his partner, Ty Davis, and then at the woman they had pulled over, then back to Bosco. He looked at his ticket book. They were about finished here. “Sure. Sounds good. Davis has been whining about the heat anyways.” At this, Yokas burst out laughing. This drew looks from both Davis and Sully. Bosco just dropped his head and lightly banged it against the door panel.
Sully smiled. He understood completely. Davis continued to look puzzled. Sully waved him off as to say “I’ll tell you later.” To Bosco, he said, “We’re two minutes behind you”
A few minutes later, Yokas parked in front of the building in the middle of the Franklin. The deli had been here for quite a while-probably twenty years or more. A pawnshop and cleaners flanked it. Both businesses were closed for the day. The deli was the only shop open on this side of the street.
Taking off her seat belt, Faith reached for the door handle as Bosco asked if she wanted to wait for the other two officers. Yokas looked back for the other cruiser and decided not to wait, “Nah, let’s go on in and sit down. It might take them a few minutes.”
Yokas exited on the street side of the squad, while Bosco got out on the curbside and headed for the door. He hesitated as Faith came around the car and stepped onto the sidewalk. Bosco opened the door and stepped inside, holding the door for his partner, Yokas’ head turned as she approached the threshold. “Hey, here they come now.” She stated as she stepped in the door.
Bosco caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned toward it. Two men were standing at the counter. The clerk, the owners’ grandson Jamie, was staring wide-eyed at the officers. Even as the two men turned, the gun in the shorter one’s hand registered in Bosco’s mind. He turned back toward his partner and lunged toward her. “Gun!” he yelled as the weapon came to bear on Yokas standing in the doorway. Bosco threw up his arm and slammed into Yokas as the gun went off. He felt himself going down, but could not get his hands to obey the order to break his fall. He crashed headfirst into the pavement of the sidewalk and the world went black
Yokas barely had time to bring her head around after Bosco yelled, before he slammed into her. Time seemed to slow down at this point. She became aware of several things all at once-a gun fired, twice, Bosco’s hand hit her in the chest, and something hot hit her in the face. She stumbled backward two or three steps before going down. She hit the ground hard and rolled to the front of the squad car and around to the drivers side. Sully and Davis rolled up behind the 55-David squad and Sully threw the vehicle into park. Both officers bailed out on the driver’s side.
“Stay down!” Yokas yelled.
“What the hell’s going on?” Sully’s eyes searched her face as Davis threw his arm, gun in hand, across the back deck of Yokas’ unit. “Are you hurt?” Sully asked her.
Faith reached up and wiped at her face, reaching for her gun with the other hand. “No, I don’t think so.” She looked down at her hand as she spoke. There was blood smeared on it. “Oh, shit!”
Sully took her by the shoulders and turned her toward him. “Let me see.” He told her. He quickly looked over Faith over injuries and found a scrape on her forehead. He also spotted a bullet in her vest. “You’ve been shot. There’s a spent shell imbedded in your vest.” Sully noticed a tear in the elbow of her blouse, which was bloody.
“I didn’t feel anything. It didn’t even penetrate the vest.” She reached inside her uniform blouse just to confirm that statement.
Davis spoke up “I think it might be Bosco’s blood.”
With that, Yokas spun and looked around the front of the squad. She shivered at what she saw. Bosco was lying in the doorway of the deli. His legs were propping the door halfway open. He was face down on the sidewalk on a pool of blood that was staining the ground under his head.
“Oh, God! It’s Bosco’s blood on me.” Tears welled in her eyes, as she thought of her partner dead. “ I had not even thought about where he was. Can you tell where he got hit?”
Sully looked, but shook his head. “No. I can’t tell from here.” He looked at Faith and remembered how he had felt when his partner, Davis’ father, had died in that park so many years ago. It was a scene he did not want to remember, but now it came flooding back as if it had happened the day before.
“Faith, listen to me. You can’t think that Bosco is dead. He might be alive; just playing dead. It would be impossible for him to move without drawing more fire from the gunman.” Sully’s words made sense, but did little to convince Faith that her partner was alive.
“There’s so much blood. Isn’t there something we can do to help him?” Faith’s eyes begged him to say yes. “Do you think he was hit in the head? We have to do something.”
“Not now. We’ll have to wait. Davis has called it in. A bus is probably on the way now. The paramedics will be here, waiting, when we get him out. Be patient. That’s the best way to help him right now,” Even as he finished, they could hear the ambulance in the distance.
“I’ve got movement inside.” Davis called out
All three officers trained their weapons on the storefront. Sully flinched when the radio on his shoulder crackled. “55-Charlie”
He keyed the mike. “55-Charlie. Go”
“Sully. It’s Candy. I’ve got the back. What’s the situation?”
“Thanks, Candy. We’ve got one, maybe two, gunmen in the deli. There’s at least one hostage. Probably more. Yokas was shaken up, but she’s ok. Bosco’s down. Do you want some backup?” Sully waited for a reply, ignoring the look that his young partner gave him. Davis would not like it, but Yokas was too upset and he was the senior officer on scene. That left only Davis to go around back if Candy wanted backup.
“Nah, I’m OK. I have it covered for now. How bad is Bosco?”
Sully looked at the pool of blood under his head. “Can’t really tell from here. No movement. Lots of blood.” He paused and looked at Yokas. She had her head down, running the cold barrel of her gun across her forehead. “We’ll have to wait and see. Keep your eyes open and your head down.”
“You got it”
From a block down, Kim and Bobby could see the police lights flashing. Kim glanced at Bobby. “Must be the place.”
“Yep, I think so. I’ll circle around and pull up facing the store. That way we can still load the bus from the back if we need to.” Bobby checked the cross street, then turned right to circle around and come in from the north side. “We get around there, stay low”
“Right” was all Kim said as they rounded the building and screeched to a halt at the front of Yokas’ squad. Bobby and Kim got out on the right side and crouched behind the large rear dual tires. “Anyone we know?” Kim asked Bobby who was closest to the front.
Bobby told her “I can see Sully and Davis. Also Yokas.“ He leaned back against the warm side of the ambulance. Bobby bent down and peered under the bus as Kim said, “Bosco must be around back.” Bobby sat back up quickly. “Oh, damn.” Bobby muttered. Kim looked at him.
“What is it?”
“It’s Bosco.” Kim looked at her partner, not grasping his meaning. “He’s not around back.” With that, Bobby inclined his head toward the store.
Kim turned to look under the ambulance. She sat back up, a little pale. Tears stung her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. “I hate it when it’s someone I know, that I talk to almost everyday.” Bobby gripped her shoulder. He knew exactly what she meant. “Dammit!” was all she could think to say. She glanced over again, then stared across the street. “What do you think? It’s an awful lot of blood.”
“It could be anything. It always looks like a lot of blood.” Bobby sounded as if he were trying to convince himself as much as Kim.
Sully took Faith by the elbow. “You need to get checked out.”
“I’m fine. I’m not leaving”
Squeezing her good arm gently, Sully drew her attention back to him. “I didn’t say leave. I said get checked out. You have a scrape on your forehead and your elbow-hadn’t noticed it had you? Not mention the bruise you’ll have under the vest. Now, go over and ask Bobby or Kim to clean the scrapes.” He gazed into her eyes to make sure she was listening. Faith blinked once, then again slowly. She sighed and nodded. Staying low behind the car, she went over to where the ambulance sat.
Kim met Faith and led her to the back of the ambulance. Bobby exited the vehicle with the trauma box. He opened the box and started to clean Faith’s injuries. Kim stood by and offered Faith moral support, asking what had happened.
“It’s so stupid. Bosco and I were stopping to get a cold drink. Sully and Davis were right behind us. We just wanted to cool off. I started in behind Bosco when he yells out “Gun”. Then he straight-armed me out the door. I don’t know if he was trying to save me or just get out himself, but I felt something hit me in the chest and I went down. I got behind the car about the time Sully and Davis got here.” Suddenly, Faith started to cry-just tears at first. Next came the sobs. The female half of 55- David took a deep, ragged breath and released it slowly. “Sully told me I had blood on my face. I wiped it off and it occurred to me that it wasn’t mine. That’s when I saw Bosco.”
Faith turned her face toward the store. Kim gently pulled it back. “Don’t. You can’t do anything, so let us do our job and then you can get back to yours.”
Faith looked Kim straight in the eyes. “I think he took it in the head. Bosco’s probably dead.” The tears flowed again.
Kim could not stop her tears either. “Don’t bury him until we know he’s dead. Bosco’s hard to kill. I think he has the luck of the Irish. He’s not Irish-just has their luck. Besides, only the good die young and no one ever accused Bosco of being good.” They both chuckled at that.
“No. No one ever said he was good. He’s a hardheaded, bigoted, loud-mouthed dumbass most of the time. But, for all that, he really is a good cop. He tries hard to do the right thing. He doesn’t always succeed, but he does try.”
Kim nodded in agreement. “I know. We all know. Keep positive thoughts and we’ll say a little prayer for him. OK?” Kim squeezed Faith’s hands tightly.
Faith returned the squeeze. “OK.”
Just then, the radios crackled again. Muffled voices could be heard. Everyone was listening hard to hear the words. Sully’s eyes narrower and he took a hard look at Bosco. Had he moved? Faith swung in beside him. “Sully!”
“Shh.” Was all he said. They both knew what they were listening to-voices from inside the deli. Either Bosco had shifted onto his mike key or had keyed the mike himself. Sully had not seen him move, but they were hearing voices of the people inside.
“Bosco must be alive. He’s keyed his radio so we’ll know and can hear what’s going on inside.” The hope in her voice tore Sully up. It was more likely Bosco had settled onto the key as his body went slack with his last breath. But Sully could not bring himself to say that to Faith. Let her hope for a miracle. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
A third cruiser pulled up and Sully sent them around the back to backup Candy.
From the radios, they could just hear an argument.
“Ray, you’ve got to stop this. Stop it now. Give me the gun and let’s go outside. Mom….”
“Do NOT bring Mom into this. Mom doesn’t care! As far as she concerned, she only has one son-you-the college boy. You’re all she can talk about.” Mimicking his mother, Ray says, “ Why can’t you be more like your brother? James got a full scholarship to college. James makes good grades. James is such a good boy-never gets into trouble. Why can’t you be more like James?” Rays’ voice cracked with the last statement. “I’m not you. I’m not good in school. I’m not strong like you. I joined a gang. After you left, I didn’t have much of a choice. You were gone. You couldn’t protect me anymore.”
“Ray, please. You can’t do this. You cannot get away with this. Hell, the cops were here before you even get started. I didn’t come home to be a party to a robbery. Or to watch my little brother get shot.” The officers outside listened carefully to the exchange between the brothers. “ I don’t want to be part of this. Mom was worried and she called me to come see if I could help you. She was obviously right to be worried .”
“Hey, you are both so right. Ask anyone. I’m worthless. So, why don’t you just leave? Go home and tell Mom that you tried. Better yet go back to college. I didn’t ask you to come. And I didn’t want your help!”
“No. You don’t, but Mom does. Whether you believe it or not, Mom’s worried about you. That incident in September at the music store, was that because of the gang? Did they put you up to it?”
“It was a little shoplifting. That’s all. “
Sully jotted down the information that would help identify the gunman. He passed the notepad to Davis. “Get on a landline and call the station. See if they can put a name to this information.” Davis nodded and headed behind the ambulance to find a phone. Sully turned back to the store. He could just make out vague shapes of people as the sun dropped behind the buildings, but not make out who was who.
Ray’s voice came on again. “Can’t you keep that kid quiet? He’s sniffling is making driving me crazy.” There was a muffled answer from a woman. It sounded like it came from across the store. Sully looked at Faith. She shook her head. Neither of them could make out what she had said.
Ten minutes later Davis came back. “They say his name is Ray Gentry. He’s sixteen, has one prior for shoplifting. Brother James-two years older. No priors. They live over on Chandler. They’re sending a squad over a find the mother. Charges were dropped on the shoplifting because the mother intervened. The older brother was away at college at the time.”
“Yeah. From the conversation, the older one had no idea what the kid had in mind. It may have been a spur of the moment thing.”
“Just me and Bosco’s luck to show up when we did. Five minutes either way and the punk would have been gone.” Faith said.
“OK. We know what we’ve got in there. Let’s see if we can get him out.” Sully looked at the two other officers and they nodded in agreement.
Sully looked at the front of the store. He still could not see anything on the inside. He wondered if the lights were an automatic turn on type.
“Hey! In the store! This is Officer John Sullivan. Can you hear me?” The chatter inside stopped; even the crying could not be heard. “We just want to end this as peacefully as possible. Can we talk to the person in charge?” No answer. Sully could hear some shuffling noises, but no one answered him. “Whoever is in charge, we need to talk-find out what you want. I’m going to call on the phone. Please pick up.”
The radio got quiet for a minute as Sully dialed the number. He could hear the phone ringing inside the store. After three rings, he could hear muffled voices. Then Ray’s voice –louder-said “You! Pick it up!”
“Hello?” Sully recognized the voice of Jamie Murphy, the owners’ grandson.
“Jamie. It’s Sully. How’s it going in there? Everyone OK in there?”
“Well, everyone inside the doorway is, so far.”
“Yeah, speaking of, can you tell if Bosco is alive?”
There was a pause, and then Jamie came back. “Sorry, Sully. I can’t tell from here.”
“Right. Can I talk to Ray?” Sully ran his hand over his face, wiping away the sweat to cool off-it didn’t work. Jamie’s voice was heard saying, “He wants to talk to you.” Sully thought he must have been holding the phone out to Ray, because both voices were away from the receiver.
“No, I don’t want to talk to him. Ask him what he wants.”
“Jamie.” Sully said.
“Still here.”
“Sorry to put you in the middle. Tell him that this will go a lot easier for all of us if I talk to him direct. It will go a lot faster and with less confusion.” Sully waited as Jamie conveyed the message to Ray. After a few moments, Rays voice was heard. “OK, so talk.”
“Ray, they call me Sully. Listen, we both want the same thing-you and your brother and all those people out of there. Safely out of there-with no more bloodshed. Am I right?”
A reluctant “Yeah ” was heard over the phone. “OK, then. What’s it going to take to get you to come out? Short of all the cops leaving?”
Ray chuckled “You must be reading my mind.” Sully heard a small crack in the kid’s voice. This kid was in way over his head. “ Sully, I don’t see anyway out of here with everything intact.”
“Come on, don’t be thinking like that. We can work this out. How about, as good faith, you send those people out? We won’t come in. We can wait until you’re ready. How about it Ray? You don’t want to hurt anyone else.”
“Man, I am so screwed. I shot two cops. I’m as good as dead. Dead, man.” Sully could hear the fear in the kid’s voice. Ray was losing his composure.
“Ray! Ray! Listen to me. Do not assume the worst. The female officer is not injured. You need to maintain control. You’re in charge in there. So, you have to remain calm. Why don’t you let those people come out. That will go a long way with the DA. A show of compassion-they love that stuff.” Sully heard other voices in the background. Ray’s brother was trying to talk to him, telling him to give up before he got killed.
“Shut up, James. I can’t talk to both of you at once.” Ray was becoming agitated again. “Sully?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“You can have one-my brother. I want him out of here. Now.” In the background, Sully could hear James’ protesting. “Now, Sully.”
“I don’t know Ray. I mean, James is family. It’s not like a real hostage. How about someone else. The woman and her kids-how about them? You said the crying was making you nuts.”
“No. I need James out of here. James can come out. And, I ‘ll have him bring out the cop also.”
Sully clenched the phone. If Bosco were alive, they would need to get him medical attention soon, if he was going to stay that way. But if he was dead…Sully shook that thought out of his head.
“Ray. I really do think that’s a great idea, but the city will not allow negotiations for officers in hostage situations. How about the woman and her kids. Your brother, also. How will work for you?”
Ray did not want to let the woman go, but decided to allow her and the kids to leave. As long as James left, too. “OK, Sully, You can have the woman and the kids and my brother comes out with them.”
James protested again. “I’m not leaving here without you.”
“Yes, you are. And you want to know how I know that? Because, those four are going with you. That is the only way they get to leave now. You go and take them with you.”
James looked at the young woman and her three kids. Finally, he turned and looked at the door and Bosco. “If I’m leaving, they go out first. And I want to take the him with me” pointing to the downed officer.
Ray nodded in agreement.
Sully looked at Yokas. Her eyes locked with Sully’s. It just might be that they could get her partner the help that he needed.
James stepped over to the woman and helped her up. She gathered the three children close around her. “I’m going pick up the officer. You hold the door until I have him, than go outside. OK?” She nodded that she understood.
Movement at the door let everyone know that it was happening. A young blond woman pulled the door back from Bosco. James stepped to the door and rolled Bosco onto his side. It was then that the radios went silent again. Sully was surprised when he saw James. He must be six foot six at least. He reached under Bosco and lifted him as easily as he would a three-year-old child. James put his back against the door and let the woman and children leave the deli first. Davis was standing to the left of the door and called to the group as they came out. The young woman picked up the youngest child and hurried the other two in his direction. Davis scooped up the other two children and took the group around the corner, out of harm’s way. James came out with Bosco and headed straight to the ambulance. Bobby and Kim were already bringing the stretcher toward him. Faith got to James first, but could not bring herself to touch her partner, fearing the worst. James gently laid Bosco on the stretcher, and then stepped back out of the way of the paramedics. Sully came up behind the taller man and placed his hand on James’ arm.
“James, I have to detent you until the investigation is complete. We all heard what was being said inside and know that you were not a part of it, but we have hold you since you were with Ray when he went it in. Do you understand?” Sully cuffed him even as he nodded an acknowledgement
From the corner of his eye, Sully could see the paramedics working on Bosco, as we pushed the stretcher around to the back of the ambulance.
Kim felt for a pulse. She smiled as she turned to Faith. “I’ve got a pulse. He’s alive, Faith.” Yokas felt weak from the relief. Bobby and Kim started checking to see what damage had been done to the hotheaded young officer.
Bobby checked the vitals, while Kim started a visual check of the injury.
“ Blood pressure is 120/80. Pulse is fast-110 and thready. I got 26 breaths per minute.” Bobby looked at Bosco’s head where he hit the sidewalk. “He took a good whack to his head when he fell.” Bobby used a penlight to check the pupils. “His pupils are responsive but, unequal. He may have a concussion.”
Kim had cut away the uniform blouse and was removing the vest when she said to Bobby “ I have an exit wound in the top of his shoulder. It looks like it may have hit his collarbone and ricocheted upward. His clavicle is broken.“ Lifting the vest and removing it completely, she searched for an entrance wound. “There’s no entry wound in front. Bobby, pull him up and let me look at his back.” Gently, Bobby reached across Bosco and lifted his shoulder. “OK. I still have no entry. No. Wait. I’ve got some blood here.” Kim moved Bosco’s arm away from his body. She found what she was looking for. “Got it. I have an entry wound between the fifth and sixth ribs. It looks like it went straight up from there to the shoulder. He must have been stretched out when he got hit. That’s why your vest stopped it, Faith.”
Kim turned back to Yokas, who was standing at the foot of the stretcher. She had her right hand lying on her partner’s ankle. She had removed his weapon belt while the paramedics were examining him, which she now had slung over her left shoulder. Her left wrist was looped through the belt, holding it tight on her shoulder. The concern for her partner was clearly written on her face. As Kim stanched the bleeding, she talked to Faith. “I don’t think there’s any internal bleeding. His breathing seems ok. It’s a little fast, but that’s probably due to shock because of blood loss and /or the bump on his head. His lung seems fine. Except for the possible concussion, he’s in pretty good shape. Considering all he’s been through, he’s good.” Faith seemed unconvinced. “Faith, I’m very serious. I’ll go out on a limb and say that he’s going to be fine. Trust me.”
Bobby looked at Kim. “He’s stable, Kim. Let’s load him up and get him to the hospital.” Kim nodded. They lifted the stretcher into the ambulance. Faith called to Sully and indicated that she was going with the bus. Sully watched as Faith got in the back of the ambulance and they drove away.
Sully had loaded James in a squad around the corner and left Davis with him. Then he went back to the phone and Ray. “Ray, you still there?” There was no answer at first. Then he heard someone pickup the receiver.
Ray’s voice screamed into the phone “Man, what’s the deal? I told you that James had nothing to do with this. It was all me. You can’t arrest him.” Sully could almost feel sorry for the kid. Almost.
“ He’s not under arrest. But I have to detain him because he was with you. As soon as I can talk to the detectives, he’ll be released. James is not going to be in trouble. That’s my promise to you. You hear me, Ray?”
“Yeah, I hear you. “
“Now, can we work on getting the rest of the people out of there? That includes you, Ray. I want to get everyone out with no one else getting hurt.”
“I don’t want to let anyone else go. I just….” There was a pause. Then Ray continued. “I just want to go home. To go back to yesterday. This is not the way it was suppose to go. I never meant to shoot anybody. The stupid thing just went off. “ Ray took a ragged breath. “How is he? The guy I shot. I didn’t …” his voice faded off at that point.
Sully spoke into the receiver. “Officer Boscorelli is alive. The paramedics say he’ll be ok. So, it’s not as bad as you think. Give up the gun and come out. No one wants to hurt you. And we don’t want anyone else to get hurt. What do you say? Can we end this now?”
“Sully. I’m really scared. I don’t want to get shot, but I don’t want to go to jail, either.”
Sully felt bad for the kid. He was in deep. Only sixteen, according to his sheet, and already in major trouble. “Ray, man, I wish I could turn back that clock and make this all go away, also-for you and for Bosco. But I cannot do that, so we have to play the hand we have. You are in deep trouble. I won’t lie to you. But you’re young. You can turn things around for yourself. Why not come out and let us see what we can do. I know that you’re scared, but, please, do not give up on yourself.” There was silence from inside. Night had descended on the street. The only light came from the lamps at intervals along the street. Any open stores, had been emptied by the police hours ago. There were still no lights on in the deli. Even the outside light had not come at dusk. As Sully waited, the sergeant who had arrived twenty minutes earlier, clasped Sully’s shoulder. “You’ve done well, Sullivan. We may be able to end this thing soon.” As if on cue, Sully heard a click as someone hung the receiver inside. Sully fought the urge to throw the phone across the street. He considered redialing the number, when movement at the door drew his attention. The door opened a few inches and a handgun was tossed out. From inside, Jamie Murphy called out. “Sully, we’re coming out. You hear me, Sully?”
Sully stood up and called back. “I hear you. Ray! You need to come out first.” Seconds ticked away, then the door opened and a tall skinny kid stepped out with his hands on his head. Sully walked over to him. “Ray? Your under arrest.” Sully handcuffed the kid and read him his rights. Then he turned the kid around to face him. “You did the right thing. You’ve got a long, hard road in front of you, but your decision to come out was a big step in the right direction. James and your mom are at the station. Your brother seems real standup. I think he’ll be there to support you when you need him. Let him do that for you. The same thing applies to your mother from what I’ve heard. I know she helped you when you got in trouble last year. She’ll be there for you now, also. I told James before he left that I would help where I can. I’ll tell you the same thing. I’d like to see you come out of the right side of this, so call me. You understand me?” Sully looked him square in the face.
“Yes, sir” was his answer. Ray returned Sully’s look with an inner strength that would help the kid in the days to come.
Sully led him to a waiting squad car. “I have to stay here a while. These two officers will take you to the station and start you in the system. You can see your family after your processed. I’ll see you later. Ok?” Ray nodded as Sully turned him over to the officers at their waiting car.
Davis was waiting for Sully with Jamie. Sully glanced back as Ray was driven away. He turned back to his partner and the young clerk. “Hey, Jamie. You ok?”
“I think so. The kid was more scared than me. Can’t speak for Chuck or the others in there. Chuck’s been with us a while, but this was his first robbery. I hope we don’t lose him over this. He’s really good with customers.”
“The sergeant has Candy and a couple of others interviewing the rest of the customers. What should we do?” Davis asked his partner.
Sully stood with his hands on his belt. “Well, let me check with the sergeant. Then, I thought we’d go to the hospital. They’ll want us to go back and make out the reports.” Davis shook his head. “I know. Sorry, Ty, But it’s going to be a long day.”
“Yeah, I know. But I’ve got to get something to eat first. Lunch was hours ago.” He turned to Jamie. “ You going to be able to get this cleaned up tonight?” Davis looked at the shattered door. It must have been the second shot that hit the glass door.
Jamie looked at the door. Then at the sign hanging over the door. “I don’t know. Looks as if he hit the sign, also. It should have come on now.” Davis shown his light up towards the sign. They could see where the second bullet had entered the sign. “That is weird. How did he hit the sign when it’s above the door?”
Davis shrugged his shoulders. “Beats me. I’ll let the suits worry about figure it out. They get paid to investigate the incident.”
Jamie surveyed the damage again. “My granddad is not going to happy about this. Need to replace the door and probably the sign, lost his evening business-I’m never going to hear the end of this.” Jamie laughed under is breath. “I should have had Sully call him. He’s known Granddad longer. Plus, then I wouldn’t have gotten yelled at twice.”
Davis looked at Jamie. “Twice?”
“Sure, when I called and when he gets here.”
Davis nodded. “I got you. Well, maybe Sully can smooth things over for you.”
“Smooth over what?” Sully asked as he came up behind his partner.
“Things with Jamie’s grandfather.”
“No, thanks. I want nothing to do with it. We’re leaving. Jamie, sorry, my friend, you are on your own. I’ve known your grandfather a long time. I like and respect him a lot, but I’ve had my share of tongue-lashings from him over the years. I’m not ready for one tonight.” Just then, a cab pulled up to the curb and a small elder man stepped out. “Speaking of, it’s time for us to go. Davis, get in the car. Jamie, see you later. Good luck.” Jamie looked at his grandfather and then back at Sully. His eyes laughed, though his mouth dared not to, as his grandfather bore down on him. Sully tipped his head as the older man passed. “Evening, Mr. Murphy”
“Officer Sullivan. James, what in the world have you been doing to my business?”
Davis was half in the car when he heard Mr. Murphy start in on Jamie. He quickly climbed in and shut the door. Sully jumped in on the driver’s side and started the vehicle. Putting it in drive, he waved at Jamie and drove off. Turning to Davis, Sully said “Hospital first, then we’ll get something to eat.” Sully glanced in the rear mirror. He could see the younger and elder Murphy’ standing in front of the deli. The old man was waving his cane around the lethal intensity. “Ray’s lucky that old man wasn’t behind the counter. I’ve seen some of the old man’s past robbers-or maybe I should say victims. He’s dangerous since he started using that cane to get around.” Both officers just chuckled as they drove away.
Faith looked at her watch again-seven a.m. Bosco was still asleep after surgery to put in a pin his shoulder. The collarbone had been shattered by the bullet and would have been left weak if not repaired with surgery. She had talked to Fred, her husband, around ten last night, some nine hours earlier. She had told him about what happened and that she planned to stay at the hospital until Bosco woke up. Fred told her that some reports of the hostage situation had been on the news. No one was named, but film had shown her and Sully very clearly. He brother had called to ask if Faith was ok. Since Fred had no information yet, he informed him that he would call as soon as he heard anything. Fred had asked Faith if he could come up-for moral support he had said. The new sober Fred was so sweet, she thought to herself. As much as she could use the support and shoulder to lean on she told him to stay home and watch the kids. They had not seen the news, according to Fred, so he might need to explain them why “mommy” was not home yet. Fred asked once more if she was sure-that Mrs. Phillips across the hall could watch the kids. Then he said that he really wanted to see her and make sure that she was ok. Faith was moved to tears with this admission. The Fred of last year would not have volunteered to come up. He would probably have gotten mad that she was not coming home. But since starting AA, Fred was very much like the man that Faith had married. She had asked if he could please stay home tonight and possibly call work and take some personal time. She wouldn’t be home until morning and she really needed to spend some time with her family-all of them. She would explain to the kids in a way that would not scare them.
Bosco’s mom and Nicole, his girl friend, had been at the hospital by the time Faith had been checked and released by doctors in the emergency room. Sully and Davis were also waiting when Faith came out of the ER. They waited with Faith and the other women until the doctor came out of surgery to let them know Bosco was out and doing well. Sully told Faith that they would see her later and to give her partner their best. Then they left to go eat and then fill out reports for the rest of the night. After surgery, the three women had been allowed into recovery to see Bosco. He was still groggy, but spoke briefly to each of them. They were told Bosco would be moved to his room in the early hours of the morning. Until then, they should go home and rest. Visiting hours were after nine in the morning and they could see him then. He should be more alert by then. She looked over at his sleeping form. He still had not moved. The goose egg on his right temple was still very evident and, now, it was beginning to bruise. Her young partner was going to have one butte of a shiner. Bosco’s mom had been angry last night, as she had listened to the story of the shooting. Nicole had cried. Faith convinced them both to go home. She would stay through the night and would call if anything happened, but she did not expect to have to make that call. The doctors were confident about his condition improving. He was still sleeping, but it was a good sleep and though he was still pale, he looked better than he had twelve hours earlier. Faith settled in to wait until Bosco woke up. She needed to talk to him before she went home.
She must have drifted off to sleep for a few minutes. A rustling noise awaken her and she turned toward the bed. Bosco was watching her, looking a little confused. “Hey, you.” Faith stood and smiled. “ So, you ready to go to work?”
Bosco flashed her a crooked smile. “Sure. You drive. “
She laughed at him. It was good to see him smile, even briefly.
Bosco looked around the room. “Ok. I know where I am, but I don’t know why I’m here. I hope you can tell me.“
“You were shot. We went to Murphy’s to get a drink? Sully and Davis were going to meet us?”
Bosco thought for a moment. The image of a skinny kid came to mind. He had a gun aimed at Yokas. “That punk shot me?”
“Yeah, well, you jumped in front of me. Got shot for your trouble, too.”
Faith looked at Bosco and noticed a panicked look on his face. She reached for the call button, as she asked, “What’s wrong? Are you all right? I’ll get a doctor.”
“No. I’m ….” Bosco looked hard at his partner. “Faith, I can’t move my left arm?”
“You got shot. The bullet hit you under the arm and came out your shoulder after hitting your collarbone. They immobilized your arm so you wouldn’t tear out the stitches. There wasn’t any nerve damage. Your arm is ok.” A look of relief came over his face. “I’m sorry. I should have told you earlier. They put a pin in your shoulder, also, but I’ll let the doctor explain all the technical stuff to you,. You are now a new and improved model.” Bosco had to smile at that. “Your mom and Nicole were here last night. Do you remember talking to them?”
“No. Not really.”
“Well, that’s ok. They’ll be back to see you this morning.”
“And I bet my mom was angry, wasn’t she?”
Faith nodded “Yes, she was definitely angry. Does she always react that way?”
Bosco said, “She doesn’t handle strong emotions very well.”
“It’s her way of showing she loves you. I might have the same reaction if my son was hurt by someone.” Bosco just shook his head. “It doesn’t matter how old you are, you’re still her baby.”
“Yeah, and she’ll be here later today to chew on her ‘baby’s’ butt about his career choice. Nicole got an earful last night I’m sure. So, how was Nicole last night?”
“She cried. She was pretty scared for you. I think that she loves you very much.” Bosco winced and glanced away for a moment. He did not want to Nicole to be hurt because of him. Yokas seemed to understand. “I wasn’t sure what to tell her. So, I just told her what Kim told me. That is that only the good die young and no one accused you of being good. That brought a smile to her face. Of course, then she volunteered more information than I was prepared to hear and your mom simply walked away.”
Bosco laughed out loud at this and then winced at the discomfort it brought him.
Faith stood for a moment and then got serious. “Bosco, I just wanted to thank you. You possibly saved my life last night when you jumped in front of me.” He started to speak, but Faith cut him off. “No. I’m serious. You did it on purpose. You may not have done it consciously and I know you did not intend to get shot, but you intended to prevent that from happening to me, which you did. And I have to thank you.” Faith had tears in her eyes when she finished.
“Do not make more of this then it is. I don’t know what I was thinking. I might have just been trying to get my ass out of there, so don’t act like I’m some kind of hero or something. I just reacted, no thought.”
Faith watched as Bosco flexed his jaw muscles.”Ok. I will not say another thing about it.” She saw Bosco’s jaw relax. “I will believe what I want and if anyone asks I’ll tell them what that is. You don’t want to be a hero-fine. But you are my partner. And I thank you for being there for me.” She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. “Now, I am going home to my husband and two babies. I’m going to fix us all some breakfast. And I’m going to explain why next time “Uncle Bosco” comes over that he gets an extra hug. I will see you tomorrow.” She went to the door and started out. She stuck her head back in to say, “You’ve got company coming, partner. I’ll see you later. Get well soon. I need you out there.”
Bosco heard her speaking to someone and then heard Nicole’s voice. He swiped at his eyes before his mother and girl friend walked in. His mom came over and gave him a kiss. “Morning, baby.”
“Good morning, ladies. How are my favorite girls today?” Bosco got a kiss from Nicole, as his mom looked on. Bosco had seen that look before. He glanced over at Nicole and could tell that she knew what was coming, but would stick by him though it all.
“Don’t even try that innocent act with me….”
Bosco took a deep breath, thinking to himself, “It’s going to be a long day.”
Feed the Wolves
