Sloppy Police Work
*** Jamie and Anna have been married almost a year…and she is pregnant with their first child. Jamie and Renzulli are called to a scene where some sloppy police work has some deadly consequences.***
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Scene: a rundown apartment building
Sam Rossi and his partner Bruce Carlovato hugged the walls as they made their way to apartment 412.
The call had come out 'shots fired'…and that wasn't surprising. The neighborhood was home to two rival gangs…The Disciples and the Kingsmen. And this building was known to house a few members of the Kingsmen.
The two officers flanked either side of the door and Sam tapped twice.
"NYPD!" he called out.
They listened for a sound…any sound.
Nothing.
Sam turned the knob…and nodded to his partner.
No way in hell was he gonna go in first…
Sam opened the door and Bruce entered with his weapon drawn. Sam came behind him.
They practically tripped over the body lying on the floor in the front hall. It was a young African American male…probably somewhere between eighteen and twenty-one…and he was lying in a pool of blood. They could see the bullet wound high on his back…and it looked like he was heading for the door when his luck ran out.
They carefully stepped over the corpse and checked around the living room.
Signs of a struggle…and white powder all over the coffee table.
They continued to work their way back.
There was another body just outside the kitchen. He was about the same age as the first guy…and he was laying face down…with a bullet wound at the base of his skull.
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Rossi and Carlovato continued down the hall.
There were six doors.
The first led to a closet…then there were two doors on either side. Carlovato took the left, Rossi took the right.
Sam Rossi entered a bedroom. There was a stock pile of DVD players and laptops…and a couple flat screen TV's…obviously "purchased" off the back of a truck with a five finger discount. But there didn't appear to be anyone in the room.
Not that he looked real hard.
Carlovato had gone into what might be the master bedroom…assuming there was in fact a master. But he was checking the closet, under the bed, behind furniture…
Rossi moved on to the next door…also a bedroom. There were at least a dozen kilos of coke…maybe more…lying on a card table. There was a pile of cash on a beat up old dresser…and at least three semi-automatics lying on the bed and the card table.
Rossi gave the room a once over…looking left and right…completely ignoring the closet door standing slightly ajar in the back of the room.
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"All clear!" Rossi called out.
"All clear on the left!" Carlovato answered.
Rossi got on the radio and called for the detectives and CSU.
He left the door to the second bedroom open…completely oblivious to the pair of eyes watching him from behind the closet door.
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Scene: the crime scene
The apartment had turned into a full blown crime scene.
The ME was bagging up the two bodies…and getting ready to transport them to the morgue. Half a dozen crime scene techs were bagging and tagging evidence…dusting for prints, swabbing for biologicals…and there was a lot of it. It seemed people were getting busy in every corner of every room.
Two first grade detectives made their way from room to room. This was a big case…and the two seasoned vets were meticulous as they went through drawers and cabinets.
Detective Ned Foley was a twenty-three year veteran. He'd worked Narcotics, Vice, Sex Crimes…he often said he'd seen every depraved act one human being could commit on another…and now he was into re-runs.
His partner was August "Gus" MacDonald. The mother of two teenage sons had just celebrated her forty-first birthday and she was so ready for the five day leave she had coming so she and her husband could take a well deserved weekend in Vermont.
They finally worked their way to the back bedroom…and a crime scene tech, Steven Dee, was busy photographing and logging each kilo carefully.
Dee was a recent graduate of John Jay College and couldn't believe his good fortune to secure a position with the NYPD.
Everything was going along in an organized and deliberate manner…
Except for the man concealed in the closet, sweating buckets as he listened to the cops crawling all up in his crib.
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Scene: outside
Outside it was all hands on deck. More than a dozen units converged on the apartment building and canvas teams were being organized to go door to door.
Jamie and Renzulli were assigned to the southwest corner of the building to maintain the perimeter and conduct a primary search of the alley way.
They took up their position and started looking around…getting the lay of the land.
"So how's my Bambina doing?" Renzulli asked.
Jamie smiled…just thinking of his wife.
"She's going nuts having to stay home…" he said. "And everything she's craving's on her 'do not eat' list…"
Anna was almost thirty-six weeks pregnant. And she'd had to give up her job about two and a half months ago because she was having some trouble with her blood pressure. Pregnancy induced hypertension, the doctor called it. There had been a couple times they thought she might be developing pre-eclampsia…so she was on modified bed rest. Her blood sugar was also running high…but she was able to control it with a strict diet.
Jamie was counting down the days…he was so worried about her.
But he also couldn't wait to hold his daughter in his arms.
"Well…Marie and I'll be over this weekend. You and me can get started on that painting…and Marie'll keep Anna company." Renzulli said.
"Sounds like a plan, Sarge."
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Suddenly, they heard gunshots! One…two…three…four…five.
"What the hell?" Jamie said as he scanned the windows.
The shots came from above…and then they spotted a man bounding down the fire escape on the northwest corner of the building.
Jamie took off at a dead run.
"Police Officer!" he shouted out. "Freeze!"
Renzulli got on the radio.
"Seven Adam Twelve…shots fired at crime scene Twenty-sixth and Regency! We have a visual on the suspect running north…alley way behind the building…in pursuit of suspect on foot…"
And he took off after Jamie.
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Scene: inside the apartment
Shots rang out from the back bedroom…
People came rushing in from every room…and stumbled into their worst nightmare.
Foley was lying on his back…the blood stain on the front of his shirt spreading by the second. His eyes were open…unfocused…and there was a trickle of blood coming from his mouth.
By the time an officer got to him and felt for a carotid pulse…he was gone.
MacDonald was on her side…her right hand clutching at her neck as she tried to staunch the flow of her own blood…but she was rapidly losing the fight. Her left shoulder was bloody with a through and through wound…and her eyes drifted shut. A fellow officer got to her in time the hear her gasp out her husband's name.
Dee was curled into a ball clutching his abdomen as the pool of blood around him grew. There was a wound to the right side of his chest as well…and his shallow gasps told the officer hovering over him that his lung was punctured.
The back window was open and the blinds hung askew…the perp had practically torn them down in his hurry to get the hell out of Dodge.
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Scene: the alley way
Jamie was closing the gap between him and the perp.
He put on an extra burst of speed…and got within a couple feet of the guy. One last push…and Jamie took him down with a flying tackle. They hit the ground and he felt his right shoulder go out. But the adrenaline was pumping through his veins as he awkwardly wrestled the perp onto his belly. With his right knee he pinned the man's right arm against his side. His left knee was firmly planted and digging in between the SOB's shoulder blades and he had a good grip on the guy's left wrist.
But Jamie's right arm hung useless at his side. He couldn't get to his cuffs…and the scumbag beneath him was struggling to get free.
At that moment, Renzulli came running up…panting for breath. But he grabbed his handcuffs from his belt and slapped one on the perp's left wrist. Jamie rolled off and Sarge took over. He yanked the guy's right arm behind his back and cuffed his other wrist. Then he roughly hauled the perp to his feet.
Jamie sat, leaning against a dumpster, clutching his injured shoulder…the same shoulder a bullet had ripped apart just two years before.
"Seven Adam Twelve…" Renzulli said into the radio clipped to his shoulder. "Suspect is in custody. And we need a bus…"
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Scene: outside the building
Danny slammed his car in 'park' and jumped out.
The radio was blowing up as reports were coming in from the crime scene. Three officers down…one dead…now someone was calling for another ambulance.
Paramedics were rushing one officer…a woman from the looks of the hair…into a waiting ambulance.
Another ambulance was already screaming away from the scene.
Two patrol officers were dragging a tall, scrawny African American man toward a radio car. The guy was struggling against the cops…screaming at the top of his lungs about police brutality and how he needed to go to the hospital.
"Shut your stupid hole, you sonofabitch…" one of the officers growled at him.
And they stuffed him not so gently into the back seat.
Then Danny saw his brother coming out of the alley flanked by two medics. His right shoulder was immobilized…and he was favoring his right leg.
"Jamie! What happened?"
Jamie looked up…and Danny could see he was in terrific pain.
"It's nothing…dislocated shoulder." Jamie tried to downplay his injury. "I got knocked around worse than this under the basketball hoop by my big brother."
"Ha ha…" Danny said sarcastically as he watched the EMTs help Jamie into another waiting ambulance.
He turned to Renzulli.
"What the hell happened?"
Renzulli was still trying to get his breath.
"The guy came down the fire escape…we went after 'im…and Jamie took 'im down."
"And what happened inside?" Danny asked.
"I dunno…we heard shots…five…but we were never inside." Renzulli told him.
Danny looked around in frustration.
He hated coming late to the party.
"Okay…" he sighed. "You follow Jamie to the hospital. And get a hold of Anna. I know it's against protocol…but I don't want her to worry unnecessarily, you know? If anybody's got a problem, they can take it up with me."
"Copy that…" Renzulli agreed as he headed toward his radio car.
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Scene: One Police Plaza
Detective Baker interrupted Frank's conference call with his counterpart in Hackensack, New Jersey.
"Excuse me, Commissioner. We have a situation."
"I'll have to call you back, Darryl…" Frank said.
He ended his call.
"What is it, Baker?"
"The incident on Twenty-sixth and Regency's escalated. There was apparently an unaccounted for suspect on location and he tried to shoot his way out. We have one officer dead…and three more injured."
"Who?" Frank asked
"Detective Ned Foley was pronounced at the scene. Detective Gus MacDonald is on her way to Saint Victor's…" Baker reported.
"Likely or not likely?"
"Likely." She said. "Crime Scene Tech Steven Dee is on his way to Saint Victor's as well, GSW to the chest and abdomen."
"And the third officer?" Frank asked.
"It's your son, Jamie. He apprehended the shooter…but he dislocated his shoulder in the process. He's on his way to Saint Victor's as we speak."
Frank walked quickly out of the office.
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Scene: the Emergency Room
Jamie lay on the cot…his right shoulder packed in ice.
He was cursing himself…why did this have to happen now? When his wife was about a month away from giving birth…he should be taking care of her. Now she'd be taking care of him…again…he knew her.
He'd heard the commotion in the ER…he knew the other officers had been brought in…but no one would tell him who they were, or what their condition was.
The door opened and he looked up to see Anna come into the room.
"Jamie!"
She flew to his side as quickly as she could manage…
Her stomach was absolutely huge…while the rest of her was a petite as ever.
"How'd you get here so fast?" he asked.
"Uncle Tony called me…" she told him. "He didn't want me to get one of those calls where they don't tell you an damn thing and leave you sweating till you get to the hospital."
She came around to his left side and he reached for her hand.
He didn't care how that how she found out wasn't exactly kosher…he was just glad she was there.
"What happened, Honey?" she asked.
Jamie grimaced and caught his breath as he shifted on the bed. He squeezed hard on Anna's hand as the pain hit him.
She caught her breath too. She felt the pain right along with him…she always did. It absolutely broke her heart to see him so uncomfortable.
"It's okay…it's gonna be okay…" she whispered to him.
Jamie took a deep breath to try and pull himself back together. He had to suck it up…he told himself. He had to be strong and not lean on Anna for everything.
But he let himself get caught up in the soft, soothing sound of her voice…her hand gently cupping his cheek…all the little things she did for him when he hurt.
In halting tones he told her everything…the call to the scene, the gunshots, chasing the perp down the alley…the flying tackle…the sickening 'crunch' as his shoulder hit the pavement.
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A doctor came into the room as he was telling the story…
"Officer Reagan? I'm Dr. Gilley…chief orthopedic resident."
Jamie nodded.
"Jamie…" he introduced himself. "And this is my wife, Anna."
Anna shook the doctor's hand.
"We need to set your shoulder…" Dr. Gilley said. "You'll probably be a whole lot more comfortable once we do…"
Jamie nodded tersely. He just wanted to get the whole thing over with so he could go home. Then he'd be a whole lot more comfortable.
"We're gonna give you something to help you relax…" the doctor started.
"I don't want anything…" Jamie said. "Just go ahead and do it."
"Jamie…" Anna said.
"I really think you're going to want the sedatives…"
"It can't hurt any worse than it does right now." Jamie said. "Just…pop it back in."
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The doctor shook his head slowly…then went out to get another resident to assist with the procedure.
"Jamie…" Anna said again. "You don't have to be a hero…"
"I just…wanna get this over with. I just wanna get home." He said.
Dr. Gilley came back with another resident in tow.
"This is Dr. Burke. He'll be assisting me." He told Jamie and Anna. "Are you sure I can't change your mind about the sedation? We can get an IV started in just a few minutes…"
"No…Just go ahead…please?" Jamie said.
"Okay…" Dr. Gilley said reluctantly.
He thought Jamie was crazy, wanting to do this with no drugs on board.
The doctor lowered the head of the bed so Jamie was lying flat.
Dr. Burke braced himself to hold Jamie down and provide the counter traction.
And Jamie turned his head so all he could see was his wife. He gripped her hand as Dr. Gilley used one hand to press his shoulder down and the other to jerk his arm hard.
"AAAHHH!" Jamie cried out…then he heard a 'thunk' as his shoulder popped back into the socket.
Then it felt better…it still felt like someone had tried to yank his arm off…but it was way, way better than before.
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Scene: the crime scene
"I don't care if we just went over it…" Danny said…his voice tense with frustration. "We'll go over it again…and again till I get what went down here…and how Detective Foley wound up dead. And how three more officers wound up in the hospital!"
Sam Rossi and Bruce Carlovato stood in front of him.
Carlovato looked shocked, stunned…sick to his stomach by everything that had happened.
Rossi looked bored. It was already an hour past the end of his tour. But it looked like Danny was just getting started.
He was probably gonna miss dinner.
"Now…from the top. What did you do when you arrived on scene?" Danny asked.
Sam's attitude hadn't escaped him…and he was about two seconds from wiping that dopey expression right off his face. He'd never struck a fellow officer before…but there was a first time for everything.
Carlovato told Danny how they had arrived entered the apartment…him in the lead, how they observed two males down…how they had split up to search the rest of the apartment.
"Which rooms did you search?" Danny asked him.
"The bedroom on the left side of the hall, the bathroom, and the closet at the end of the hall." Carlovato answered immediately.
Sam glared at his partner. He couldn't believe Bruce'd just throw him under the bus like that. At least he could have said they both searched…he didn't have to make a point that they split up.
"So that means you took the rooms on the right, huh, Rossi?" Danny said.
"That's right." Sam said, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.
"And you do remember how they taught you to clear a room at the Academy, don't you?"
"Of course I do! I ain't a rookie, Reagan."
"No…you're just a screw up."
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Scene: Anna and Jamie's house…a couple days later.
Jamie shifted uncomfortably on the couch in the family room.
He was absolutely miserable…and Anna had gone to get him something for the pain.
His entire right side was black and blue. In addition to his arm tucked into a sling, he had an ugly bruise over his ribs that hurt like hell when he even breathed…and a massive contusion that covered his entire hip and thigh.
When he'd tried to get up in the ER, after they'd popped his shoulder back in place…he couldn't. He couldn't put any weight on the right leg…forget walking.
The doctor had wanted to admit him…but he refused. So Anna brought him home, hobbling on a crutch.
If he could, Jamie would have kicked himself. He had been right about Anna taking care of him…when she needed to be resting.
Linda came over twice a day to take her blood pressure and check the numbers on her blood sugar…and every time she did, Jamie held his breath anxiously.
But she was within normal limits…on the high side of normal…but within the limits.
Anna came back with the medicine, a glass of water and an ice pack.
"Here you go, Honey…she said as she sank down onto the ottoman beside him.
There was a time when she could have sat on the couch with him…but the baby girl she was carrying made that impossible.
Jamie took the pills and swallowed them, before he took the glass of water and took a sip to chase them down.
Then he leaned back and closed his eyes.
"And where do you want the ice?" she asked.
It broke her heart to see him so uncomfortable.
"My hip…" he answered, as he mentally braced himself for the pain he knew was coming.
Anna gently eased the cold pack against his hip and thigh…grimacing herself as he winced in pain at the pressure.
Even though Anna had the most gentle touch in the world…it hurt like hell.
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The doorbell rang.
"Who could that be?" Anna wondered.
It was too early for Linda to come…and she usually let herself in with her spare key.
All the Reagans had them…as well as the Renzulli's…
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Anna opened the door.
Two men in suits held up gold shields…
"Mrs. Reagan? I'm Detective Danvalle, and this is my partner Detective Raasch…we're from IA."
"What can I do for you gentlemen?"
"We'd like a word with Officer Reagan, ma'am. Is he available?" Raasch said.
Anna stepped aside to allow the two men in. then she led them to the family room.
"Jamie…these gentlemen from IA need to speak with you." She said tersely.
Jamie opened his eyes…then struggled to sit up. Anna quickly came to his side to help him.
Once she got him positioned as comfortably as she could, she went to the kitchen to get some iced tea.
She knew the drill when it came to being a cop's wife…
"What do you need to know?" Jamie asked.
There was no love lost between him and IA that was for sure.
"We're talking to everyone that was at the Twenty-sixth and Regency crime scene, Officer." Danvalle began.
"Do I need my union rep?"
"No…no, not at all." Raasch assured him. "We just want to know what you did at the scene…where you were…who you talked to."
Jamie took a breath.
"My partner, Sergeant Renzulli, and I reported to the incident commander. We were given a perimeter assignment…and told to make a cursory search of our immediate area." He began. "While we were doing that we heard shots fired…looked around…and we saw the perp coming down the fire escape."
"Then what?" Danvalle asked.
"I yelled at him to stop…but of course he didn't…and I took off after him. I chased him up the alley…and I tackled him. I got him on his belly…but I couldn't cuff him 'cause of my shoulder." Jamie continued. "Then Sergeant Renzulli came up on my left and he took over. He cuffed the guy…radioed in."
The detectives looked up as Anna came back into the room carrying a tray with four glasses of iced tea on it.
She set the tray down on the coffee table and took a seat next to Jamie.
"Officer Reagan…do you have any knowledge of Officer Sam Rossi's actions that day?" Detective Raasch asked.
Jamie and Anna both looked surprised.
What did Sam have to do with any of this?
"I've never has any professional contact with Officer Rossi. I didn't even know he was there." Jamie said.
"We're…aware…that Officer Rossi is your brother-in-law." Raasch said.
"What's that got to do with anything?" Jamie asked.
Detective Danvalle was staring at the framed photos on the wall between the two windows. Jamie followed his gaze.
He knew where this was going.
On the wall were department photos of Frank, Henry, Danny, Joe, and Jamie, Renzulli, Anna's father, her uncle Sal, and her cousin Dominick. Sam was the only family member not represented on the "blue" wall.
Jamie sighed…and grimaced in pain.
He had to remember not to do that…
"Look…yes, Sam's my wife's older brother…but we're not what you'd call 'close'. I think we've seen him three or four times since our wedding last year. But I've never worked with him…" Jamie said.
The Detectives studied him for a moment…they were used to officers stonewalling them…but Jamie was telling the truth.
The men stood up.
"Well, thank you for your time, Officer Reagan. And thank you for the tea, Mrs. Reagan." Detective Danvalle said.
Anna hauled herself up off the couch to show them out.
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Scene: One Police Plaza—the next day
Detective Baker knocked on the Commissioner's door.
"Enter." Frank called out.
Baker let herself in.
"Excuse me, Sir…but we just received word that Detective MacDonald passed away."
Frank looked down.
Losing an officer was like losing a member of his own family.
"Thank-you, Baker. Would you have the car brought around? We'll be making a condolence call."
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Scene: Jamie and Anna's house-later that evening
Renzulli knocked on the door to announce himself as he opened the door.
"It's just me!" he called out. "Jamie? Anna?"
"In here, Sarge…" Jamie called back.
Renzulli poked his head in the family room.
"I brought dinner…"he said. "Chicken Vesuvio from Leonardo's…"
"We'll be right there." Jamie said.
Anna slowly helped him off the couch and gently held him till he found his balance.
He steeled himself for the walk to the dining room…taking short, hopping steps…only touching his toes to the floor for balance. And Anna walked slowly alongside him, her right hand resting gently against the small of his back.
Renzulli watched his young partner for a moment, then he turned around to take the food into the other room.
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By the time Jamie and Anna got to the table, Renzulli had the place mats, dishes and silverware out. And as Anna helped Jamie into his chair, he went to get glasses and the pitcher of water from the fridge.
Anna was unpacking the food when Renzulli came back.
"Where's Aunt Marie tonight?" Anna asked.
"Book Club…" Renzulli answered as he took a seat.
Anna dished up a plate of food and cut the meat and potatoes up before she set it in front of her husband.
Jamie was embarrassed…he hated having even his partner see him unable to do such a simple task.
But Renzulli was digging into his own food.
"Had me a little sit down with the good folks from IA today…" he said.
"Yeah…they were here too." Jamie said. "They seemed awfully interested in what Sam Rossi was doing…"
Renzulli sighed.
"It looks like Sam's lazy ass ways just caught up with him."
Anna and Jamie waited for him to explain.
"Scuttlebutt around the department is that Sam failed to clear the room where the shooting took place. The perp was hiding in the closet…which Sam apparently didn't open."
Jamie shook his head in disgust.
That sounded exactly like Sam.
"And now two detectives are dead…and Jamie and the Crime Scene Tech…" Anna started.
"Dee…" Jamie said. "Steve Dee."
"Are injured…" Anna finished.
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Scene: Jamie and Anna's house-the next morning.
Anna helped Jamie down the stairs.
That was the worst part of the day…going up and down the stairs.
Today was Detective Foley's funeral…and as much as he wanted to be there…there was no way.
But there was supposed to be some coverage on the news.
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The doorbell rang, and Jamie changed directions to go answer it.
It was his brother-in-law.
Jamie's eyes opened wide in surprise.
Sam had never been to their house before.
"Sam." He said, unable to keep the edge out of his voice. "What're you doing here?"
"I gotta talk to you."
Jamie didn't move.
Sam waited to be let in…but when he saw that wasn't happening, he got to the point.
"IA's on a witch hunt." He said. "They're lookin' for someone to blame for this whole stinkin' mess…and they're lookin' at me."
"And this concerns me how?" Jamie asked.
"I need your help." Sam said. "I need you to talk to your old man…"
Jamie just stared at his brother-in-law incredulously.
"Wow…I gotta hand it to you, Sam." He said. "You really got some set on you."
He stood in the doorway, his right arm folded in the sling across his chest, leaning on his crutch…his pregnant wife standing at his side looking as shocked as he was.
"You've got the stones to come to me…to us…" Jamie stopped to acknowledge Anna beside him. "and ask me to go to bat for you with my dad. When Detective Foley's Mass is going on as we speak…"
"They're actin' like this is my fault!" Sam cried out. "Just because I forgot to check one place…they're after my shield! This is my job we're talkin' about!"
"It's two detectives' lives!" Jamie shouted. "And a twenty-four year old kid's lying in the hospital in critical condition! And the least of all…my wife…your sister…is a month away from giving birth…and I'm laid up here…I can't even take care of her! Instead she's gotta take care of me!"
Jamie was positively livid.
"And you're only worried about your own ass. If your damn job is so important to you…you should have followed proper procedure, instead of doing a half ass job!"
"So what're you sayin'? You're not gonna help me?" Sam asked. "We're family! That oughta mean something!"
"What the hell do you know about family, Sam?"
Anna couldn't hold her tongue any longer.
"I'm your brother, Annamarie! Your own flesh and blood! But you only care about Tony and Marie…"
"Watch your mouth Sam." Jamie said. "Talk like that to my wife and I'll take this crutch and beat you to death with it."
"Familia is more than a name, Sam." Anna told him…her eyes narrowing in anger. "Family takes care of one another…they look out for you and support you. Jamie is my husband…and Uncle Tony and Aunt Marie have been taking care of me my whole life…while Ma was fawning all over you as un figlio della casa."
Sam looked like he was going to say something back to her…and Jamie decided this visit had gone on too long.
"Get outta here, Sam…get the hell off my steps…whatever IA and the department decides to do with you…you should be grateful! 'Cause as far as I'm concerned you killed two good cops when you were too goddamn lazy to do your job."
And Jamie shut the door in his brother-in-law's face.
He and Anna just stood there in their front hallway for a moment…trying to calm down. Then Jamie slipped his good arm around his wife and brought her as close to him as he could. He leaned down to tenderly kiss her forehead.
Once he'd pulled himself together…
"C'mon…let's go in the other room."
And slowly, they made their way into the family room to catch the coverage of Detective Foley's funeral…and pay their respects to a fallen brother.