Luca and Street stared away at the ambo that rushed off with Amila. The last they saw were the EMT's performing CPR. Luca was a mess; tears rolled down his eyes as he stared at the pool of blood on the walkway,
"I should have been here", He stated sadly. Street rubbed his back,
"Come on, man. Don't do that. There was nothing you could have done", he softly says.
An angry Captain Cortez approached both Luca and Street with a pissed off expression,
"THIS IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE OFF DUTY?", She snapped at them.
Street gazed down at Amila's blood on his hands, clearing his throat he looked up to Cortez,
"We were trying to locate a missing neighborhood kid and when we did, it led us here", he pointed over to Sosie's house.
"And then their was an officer-involved shooting. AMILA IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION FROM THE BULLET SHE RECEIVED", Cortez yelled at them. She could see the hurt expressions on their faces, she sighed,
"Have any idea why the suspect became aggressive?", she asked.
"Uh, Sosie Galvez", Street handed over a photo of the young woman, "earlier today, kid witness's saw her get grabbed by a couple guys in a dark sedan about three blocks that way", he explains.
Luca chipped in,
"Yeah, about the same time our dead guy, armed with a gun, forced his way into the house, telling Sosie's mom that he's gonna sit with her for a while", Luca says looking back at Captain Cortez.
Street nods,
"We're thinking whoever took Sosie must want something from her", he tells her.
Luca gazed back at the pool of blood, shaking his head, he couldn't help but to know Amila's condition. He couldn't just stand there and not do anything,
"I'm gonna inform the rest of the team. They need to know about Amila", he walked away with his head casted down.
~~HEADQUARTERS~~
As everyone was working on conducting a file for the shooting, Tan had rushed into the room out of breath,
"Heard about Amila. Came in early to see if I can help out....do we know how Amila is doing?", he asked looking over at Captain Cortez who shook her head as she was on the phone with the hospital for updates.
He looked down at the screen as he was sent some documents. He informed Hicks that the tech finally cracked Elvin Villamayors cellphone as well as found picture and photos of the home/mansions.
"We were able to match all the women to homes that have been hit, except this one", he pulled up a picture of an older looking woman.
"Number 27 bus", Hick stated.
"That's east Hollywood again. A lot of house keepers take that line to go to wealthy homes on the west side", Cortez had taken notice.
"Street sign, Hyperion Avenue"
Cortez squinted at the photos looking over at Tan,
"When was the photo taken?"
Tan lifted the tablet,
"Yesterday, it's the most recent one", he tells them.
It all had come to a realization for them,
"She's got to be their next target", Cortez says staring at the woman's photo before alerting, Luca, Street and Chris.
✨✨✨✨ ✨✨✨✨
Luca, Street as well as Chris had checked out Hyperion Avenue, showing a photo of the woman they were looking for. The people around the bus area either was too scared to talk or they really didn't know anything. Or they were just plain scared to talk to cops.
"Look, we know this community's right-knit. Somebody here can ID this woman, you know?", Luca says with frustration.
Chris shook her head,
"Won't be easy getting them to talk when they're afraid we'll ask their immigration status", she stated a fact.
Luca and Street spots Shorty walking past their vehicle, they look to each other and nods,
"Hey Shorty", they call out but Shorty ignored them and kept walking.
"Shorty, hold up, man. Shorty", Street rushed out.
"Hey Shorty, come here. Hold up. Please, hold up", Street stops him pulling out his cellphone, "I got no beef with you, man. Just come here. We're trying to find this woman...", he shows Shorty a photo of the woman he instantly recognized, "you know who she is don't you?", he asked.
Shorty inwardly sighed looking away before looking back at Street,
"You know her!", Street says watching Shorty who stares at the photo.
Shorty licked his lips,
"That's Rosario. My brother knows her", he looked at them before walking off. He had taken notice that Amila wasn't amongst them. He was hoping to catch her before his brother did.
Shorty had walked back to the neighborhood only to see his brother waiting across Amila's house and sees Marcos holding the phone to his ear but snapped when he didn't get an answer,
"Ay bro...heads up", he gestured behind him. Marcos looked behind to see Luca pulled up in front of their house, stepping out he sees Street and Luca with another female, but it wasn't his girl.
The trio walked over,
"Should we tell him about Amila?", Street softly says but Luca shook his head,
"We wait!"
The trio stopped in front of Marcos who eyed them up, scoffing, "twice in one day", he shakes his head.
Street exhaled,
"We need Rosario's work address right now. She's in serious danger", he tells Marcos who just stands their with his hands crossed near his thighs,
"Oh yeah? From who? Most of the neighborhoods scared of you", he retorted.
"We get that, but we're not ICE and neither are the guys that are after Rosario", Chris speaks up. Marcos scoffed looking away,
"Every second we waste, her life in in more danger", she said with her hands in her pockets.
"Can you help us or not?", Luca looked Marcos directly in the eyes. Marcos stared back,
"Rosario's like family. She took care of my abuela when she got sick", he stated.
Luca nods, "well, nows your chance to return the favor", he suggested.
Marcos shrugged,
"Her family hates cops"
Luca looked at Marcos,
"Yeah, but she trusts you", he said seeing that Marcos wasn't going for it, "look, all gentrification jokes aside, you've seen us around here for months now. You know who we are and how we roll", he raised his voice seeing Marcos get in his car, "helping people, trying to make things better", he approached the open window,
"Look, if you care about these people...about Amila, the way you claim you do. Then why are we the only ones who give a damn about finding Rosario", he snapped at Marcos trying to get a point across.
Luca slammed his hand on the roof of the car which caused Marcos to angrily step out and up into Lucas face, " watch it!", he glared.
Street pushed them apart,
"Look, man....", he frowned, "Amila was shot...the crew that's going after Rosario are responsible", he tells Marcos who froze looking at Luca who couldn't even look at him.
Shorty stepped up beside his brother,
"Why didn't you tell us that?", he snapped as Marcos glared angrily at them,
"We haven't heard anything back on her condition...but please, if you can help us, please do it for Amila at least. Not us", she tells them.
They watch Marcos look to Shorty motioning for him to get in the car,
"Please, Marcos, for Amila", Luca begged.
Marcos opened his car door looking to Luca with hatred,
"Rosario cleans house for a family named De Leon in Beverly Glen....you got what you wanted!", he hissed before getting in and driving off the hospital. His knuckles turned white as he squeezed the steering wheel. Now he knows why she wasn't answering him.
He could only pray the love of his life would be okay.
😢😢😢😢😢😢
