Chapter 4

"Good to see you're up and moving already this morning," Frank commented to his father as he made his way into the kitchen early Monday before work and reached for the coffee. "You've been sleeping in a lot more often lately. I've been getting lonely having oatmeal for one."

"Hmph," Henry grumped as flipped to the next page in the sports section. "The way the Yankees have been playing there's no reason to get up early and read the box scores. Besides, I wanted to know how the big dinner went last night since I was already in bed when you finally decided to wander in. Tell me, what's the scoop on that Janko woman? How long is she staying? Is she really as bad as we thought? I mean Jamie gets this kinda blank pained look on his face every time her name comes up and that kid could warm up the ice queen with one smile… you know the one in that story from the big thick fairy tale book Kaylin loves when you read to her."

"It's an understandable look, Pop," Frank acknowledged. "And I think you mean Hans Christian Andersen's Snow Queen." He paused before quoting, "She was beautiful but all made of ice: cold, blindingly glittering ice; and yet she was alive, for her eyes stared at Kai like two stars, but neither rest nor peace was to be found in her gaze."

"Show off. Must you always be right, Francis?"

"No," his son conceded. "It's an apt analogy though. She's due to fly back to Rochester on Wednesday evening after Jamie and Eddie take her out to the McPherson's place to see the venue for the ceremony and reception. I bet the temperature drops up there by ten degrees the minute she arrives home."

"That bad?"

"Worse," Frank admitted. "Although to be honest Eva did her best to be civil last night while some of our own were kinda stirred up by those announcements you made yesterday afternoon about the college trusts and the plans you have for Jamie and Eddie with the old house. Danny's a proud man, Pop. Something like that shouldn't have been brought up in front of Jack and Sean. It makes him feel like he's not a good provider and he and Linda were at each other a bit again. Jamie had a situation at work and didn't arrive until dessert time so that didn't go over too well either. Eddie was excited about the house, but she took Eva by and I'm not sure that her mother could see the potential just yet."

"Well, then it's a good thing she lives a distance away and doesn't visit often. Those two certainly don't need someone interfering in their lives like that," Henry commented as he took a sip of his honey tea.

"Like that?" Frank tutted. "You mean like telling Jamie that he's not doing right by his daughter and pushing them into a home they might not be ready for?"

"You think I'm interfering? By giving all these kids a better life? You wait until you're in my shoes, Francis," the older man insisted with an annoyed tone in his voice. "When your whole life comes down to nothing more than the number of zeros in your bank account and what to do with them if you're lucky enough to have any. Look at what happened to Ella. Couldn't even take her damn cat with her, had to send him to the shelter because the hospice people said it couldn't be there with her for a few days or weeks until she passes. Broke her heart. I wanted some say in where my money went at least. Besides, the kids... they all have a choice. I'm not holding a gun to anyone's head."

"The others have a choice," Frank reminded. "Nicki, Jack and Sean can pick whatever college or major they'd like to pursue from anywhere in the entire world... and that was a wonderful thing you did for them, but you pretty much decided to root Jamie and Eddie here in Bay Ridge without asking if that's what they really wanted first."

"You don't think it is?"

"I didn't say that, Pop, but they should have had an option and not an obligation," his son advised as he gathered up his briefcase and phone. "Don't worry," he frowned when he saw the somewhat stunned look on his father's face. "Maybe I shouldn't have put it that way. They'll love living there once they get it fixed up and I know you just wanted the best for Kaylin. From what I saw Eddie is clearly over the moon about having their own home, which means Jamie will be excited about it too once he's had a few minutes in a row actually to sit down and think about it. It's been a rough couple of weeks for him over at the 3-5 and he needs some rest, but that's the life of a young sergeant trying to make his bones. My detail is here. Glad you're feeling better today. Gotta get going… busy schedule on tap."

Henry put his paper down on the table and frowned as he watched Frank leave. It had never even occurred to him that any of his grandchildren might have a reason not to want to be close to the Reagan family home here in Brooklyn.

###

"Alright everyone, I'm happy to report that as of tomorrow we should have a full roster available for duty once more," Jamie croaked out barely louder than a whisper as he struggled to hold his morning roll call meeting.

"Except for you, Sarge," Stan Rossi quipped from the back.

"Yeah, thanks... for that..." Jamie faded out as he tried to clear his throat and failed make any improvement. Eddie had been adamant that he stay home this morning after she caught one good look at him as he rolled out of bed slowly after the alarm sounded, but he was determined to make it to the end of this shift before raising the white flag and banging out sick for as long as necessary after that. Luckily thus far the mess had stayed out of his chest or he would have found himself cuffed and under a blond armed escort down to see Dr. Holden after last summer's pneumonia scare; instead his major symptoms were limited to a sore throat, laryngitis, body aches and a stubborn intermittently spiking fever. Just eight more hours and this extended tour of hell would be over. At this point he'd gladly take spending the whole day on Wednesday in the car with Eva now if it meant being able to stay on the couch under a blanket tomorrow.

"Rossi, since you like... to talk... you can step forward and finish up here for me," Jamie ordered in a barely audible scratchy vocal as he left his notes on the podium. "Stay safe everyone. Rodgers, I'll meet you at the car," he rasped out to the rookie who was normally attached to one of the other shifts but now pulling his second leg of a double, before leaving the room and heading back towards the locker area to search for some of the organic honey-lemon cough drops that Eddie swore by and had proven to be a godsend over the past twenty-four hours or so. A quick glance at his watch showed he was nowhere near the time for the next dose of ibuprofen and it was obvious that his fever was starting to ratchet up again. Any more pills though and soon he'd soon be looking at a good case of ulcers at the very least.

"Why am I doing this to myself?" he muttered as he sank down on the bench in front of his open locker with his aching head in his hands, suddenly too tired to stand and see if some of those treasured lozenges might remain on the top shelf. Any other officer who looked like this would have been dismissed immediately, but supervisors were not usually afforded that luxury, especially in times like this when staffing was low and there were no other sergeants available to cover this tour. Maybe it would be better to stay in the precinct today and only go out on a call if absolutely necessary though.

Jamie was still sitting there considering his options when the door opened and Lieutenant Carson walked in to end his first shift back with a tired, heavy sigh. He had likewise been quite ill for nearly the whole of the previous week, but had ended up admitted to the hospital for a day with a severe respiratory reaction so was not afforded a choice when it came to returning to work or not as the doctor had refused to clear him until today. He took one look at Jamie and shook his head.

"You look like death warmed over, Reagan," he muttered gruffly.

"That would be a giant step up from where I am now, Robert," Jamie offered a bit more informally seeing as it was just the two of them in the room at the moment. Since being transferred to the 3-5 the previous August after making his sergeant's stripes, he had gotten on well with his new CO and the two of them had established a good working relationship with the older man proving to be a strong mentor.

"You should bang in and go home," Carson advised as he started to take off his white Lieutenant's shirt and hang it up. "Trust me, this bug will knock you on your ass for a week otherwise. I'm still not over it."

"Can't," Jamie reiterated as clearly as his weak voice would allow although hope sparked as he spotted a half-bag of his precious honey drops that had fallen to the bottom of his locker and reached over to pop one in his mouth. "With Patterson and Andre still out today I've got no one to partner with Rodgers and we're at minimum staffing," he sighed as he sucked on the lozenge. "I'm just gonna have him drive us out to roll through our area a few times and pull it in before lunch. I'll ride it out at my desk the rest of the tour."

"Well watch yourself. Eloise just about had a fit when I ended up at the ER the other night. She's all worried that I won't be able to drive the truck out and bring the girls home from Michigan State next weekend when their college finals are over. Bumped into that Addison girl you were running around with last year though. She still seeing that rook of yours who transferred out of here… George? Wouldn't ever picture the those two together."

"Yeah, think so," Jamie affirmed with a small smile. He'd remained friends with Addison after dating her for a brief time before getting together with Eddie the previous fall and had introduced her to his former rookie partner as an exercise in boredom one afternoon last December when he had still been confined to a hospital bed after the explosion and building collapse at the Bridgewater construction site. He'd never really expected the two polar opposites to hit it off so well though, and it still made him chuckle to think about the pairing. George had flamed out as a patrol officer due to multiple phobias, but had found his niche in the CompStat division over at 1PP with his genius level math skills and had quickly become a trusted advisor to the Commissioner himself. Who would have ever imagined that, Jamie thought tiredly as he tried unsuccessfully to talk himself into getting up once more. George will wind up being a chief down there someday and I'll still be cleaning out squad cars after my tour.

Carson's locker banged shut as he finished changing and he paused for one final look at Jamie before clearing his throat and taking his leave. "I mean it, Reagan. I don't want to see your face in here again until you kick this thing. I know you had to pull a lot of doubles last week to cover for me and everyone else. You'll wind up killing yourself and I don't want to have to explain that to your old man or that blond-haired whirlwind from the 12th you call a fiancée. I'm not sure who I'm more scared of, but I think she'd come after me packing if you miss that wedding."

"Yeah, she might," Jamie laughed softly while he recalled how excited Eddie had been before he left that morning as she was getting Kaylin ready to take over to pick up her mom on the way to have her dress fitted at the bridal boutique. Not to mention the shoe shopping... Eddie loved shoes, he thought ruefully. He hoped there was a spare room at the new house that could be turned into her own walk-in closet as the clutter at the apartment was starting to grind on his nerves and he was finding it hard to relax there. Then again, the clutter at his Grandfather's old house was that magnified by a hundredfold. It was a lose-lose situation at the moment and he wistfully longed for the peace of mind he found in a well-ordered space.

Another brief glance at his watch showed it to be quarter after eight and well past time to get up and out to the car to get this tour started. He sighed as he grabbed his bag of throat drops and jacket before slamming his locker door to follow Carson out of the room. Seven hours and forty-five minutes to go.

Meanwhile outside the 3-5 precinct's front doors, rookie Officer Martin Rodgers paused to straighten out his hat and stretch before proceeding down the steps and out towards the motor pool lot once Rossi had dismissed the roll call meeting. His first shift overnight had been uneventful, and he was hoping for the same this time around, especially since he had drawn the ride with the boy king of the famous Commissioner Reagan family. Nothing like being paired up with royalty he sighed as he made his way up the sidewalk before being approached by a thin man in a blue shirt and jeans about his own age coming the opposite way down the street.

"Excuse me officer," the young, heavily tattooed man with piercing light blue eyes stopped him. "Can you please tell me where I might find Sergeant Reagan?" he asked politely.

"Oh, sure," Rodgers answered. "He's my partner today and should be out this way in just a minute. Do you want to wait or have me give him your name?"

"Oh, no. I'll just walk up and see if I can catch him coming out of the precinct or I'll stop by to see him later. It's not important. Thanks again for your help, Officer Rodgers," the man smiled as he made a point of reading the patrolman's nametag.

Rodgers nodded and tipped his hat before continuing towards their assigned car and busying himself running through the morning checklist. He paid no attention to the fact that the soft spoken stranger had instead proceeded across the street and climbed behind the wheel of an old dark two-door 1985 Mercury Marquis while keeping an intent eye on him.

Those same light blue eyes lit up in anger a few minutes later as he watched a sandy brown-haired officer with a gold shield and stripes on his blue NYPD windbreaker walk up and join the other officer in the vehicle. "So that's you, Sergeant Reagan," Jared Quinlan sneered as he reached underneath the seat and fingered the stainless .357 Magnum Smith and Wesson loaded with heavy rounds that he had stored there, a gun and ammo chosen specifically because of its reputation for having the rumored capability to penetrate kevlar vests at close range or cause great bodily damage even if it didn't… not that he intended to aim for the vest anyway if things worked out right.

"I've got a few friends that want to meet you," he smiled as he put the car into gear and carefully followed behind as the final RMP for this tour pulled away from the precinct. "And pretty soon you're gonna find out what happens to people who take things that belong to me," he promised with gritted teeth.

Whoa! So where did this Quinlan dude come from and why is he so angry with our beloved NYPD sergeant? The truth will not be clear for a while and that much anticipated wedding date will definitely be in jeopardy now as what should have been a happy day turns tragic and the whole family is in for a difficult time.