Chapter 9
Jamie was seated on the couch in his father's living room with two fingers of scotch sitting untouched before him. Frank sat across from him nursing his own glass as he waited for his son to start talking. Once he'd finally accepted his call, he'd asked him to come over to the house. He didn't want to discuss the situation over the phone, not only because of the seriousness of the matter, but because he also wanted to see for himself that Jamie was okay.
"I'll sit here all night if that's what you need from me, but I'd much rather talk." Frank's voice was gentle and patient as he swished the amber liquid around in his glass.
Jamie reached for his own and took a quick sip before responding. "You're my boss. You don't discuss IAB." His mouth snapped shut and bowed his head. He shouldn't have said that, but he was tired of this whole mess. It was always easiest to take it out on those closest to you.
Frank frowned at the coldness in his tone. "Jamie -"
Jamie finally met his father's eyes. "I didn't do what she said I did. She fell when I collared her. End of story."
"I know. I read the report."
"Then what else do you want me say?" Jamie closed his eyes, wondering how much worse this day would get.
"You can start by explaining why you didn't come to me about Nash."
Jamie's head snapped up. "What?"
"I know about Nash and the harassment."
Jamie just sat there.
When no response came, Frank continued, "We've been investigating Nash for a while now and we believe that this claim against you, by the prostitute, is his doing."
"Could of told you that," Jamie mumbled as he took another sip.
"Then why didn't you? Why didn't you come to me?" Frank's own frustrations were clearly evident in his tone.
"What was I supposed to say? This mess started because of the suspension. You couldn't break the chain of command then. Why would I think otherwise now? And what would you have done anyway? Called him down to 1PP and told him to leave me alone or else?" Jamie laughed sarcastically. "Yeah, that would have gone over real well."
Frank slumped in his chair, feeling like he'd been slapped in the face. He thought he'd done right by his kids by teaching them to stand on their own two feet out there and figure their own way out of the messes they got themselves into. He would not bail them or anyone out trouble because of their relationship to his office. But those lines weren't always so black and white and maybe he gave out mixed signals. He probably had to make concessions that duty didn't always take precedence over family when the department was involved and he sometimes needed to put the ultra-ethical-PC hat away. Especially if it meant that his kids would know they could still come to him.
Jamie had been holding back on him that night he showed up late to Sunday dinner, probably afraid he thought he'd screwed up again so soon after the suspension. So instead of pushing Jamie to open up to him, he'd let him go off on his own while he'd called on someone else to sniff around the 12th. Once they'd discovered what was going on, he'd still chosen to let his people work their investigation even when his son was the one bearing the brunt of his lieutenant's bullying. He wanted Nash to go down for all he was doing. He didn't want to interfere in the investigation and ended up putting the department before his son.
"What do you mean by we?" Jamie asked.
Frank looked down at the glass he was nursing in his hands. "You wouldn't talk to me about what was going on. So I had Sam Croft start looking into some things for me. Started talking to people, getting the scuttlebutt around the precinct, and found some things that merited investigating. Then he caught wind that Chief Arborgast had been making inquiries of his own on Nash after your first run in with him." Frank paused, wondering how his chief had seen this whole situation for what it was while he just stuck his head in the sand. "Dino said from the beginning that the charges he brought against you had been because of an ego trip. I knew that too because I know you. Funny thing is, those were Dino's words when he brought it to me, 'I know Jamie.'"
Frank got up from his armchair and sat next to his son on the couch. "But I was afraid of how it would look if I let Dino fix it." Frank sighed and looked at his son. "Jamie, I don't know if this mess could have been avoided if I had done something then, but I am sorry for what he's been putting you through. And I'm sorry if I have made you think that the job comes before you. Any of you."
Jamie nodded. He swallowed several times before he trusted himself to speak. The stress of the last few months had taken a toll on him. "I don't blame you, dad, and I don't expect you to bail me out of any jam. I guess I just didn't want to put you in the middle. It was all so stupid in the beginning - the crappy tours and complaints about reports. He wanted to get a rise out of me and I thought if I ignored him he'd get bored and stop eventually. But now with Lana Jensen...it's Nash that made her do it but I can't prove it."
"You don't need to prove anything."
"Dad, IAB-"
"IAB is working with Sam and Dino. They're looking into a whole lot of wrong doing by Nash, some criminal, in fact, but none of which I will go into with you now. We've had some tails on him over the last few weeks and caught him meeting up with a woman. We didn't figure out who she was until she came forward to file a complaint against you. They'll be re-interviewing her and they will clear your name."
"So what do I do now, just sit around and wait?"
"I know it's not what you want to hear, but trust me, no one wants this over more than me. For now, just stay clear of the precinct and Nash. But I will need you to come down to 1PP tomorrow morning to talk to Sam and Lieutenant Harmon from IAB."
Jamie nodded. "Trust me, not looking for any more run-ins with him. Probably finish what he tried to start."
"What do you mean?" Frank frowned.
Jamie sighed and slumped against the back of the couch. "After we collared Lana, after that tour, he cornered me in the locker room. He'd heard about 1PP looking into the precinct. Blamed me for it." Jamie didn't want to alarm his dad. Nothing had happened, but only because they were interrupted.
"What did he do, Jamie?"
"Nothing, dad. Just some shoving and trash talk. But I got so pissed, I shoved him back. Came at me, ready to knock my head off but Renzulli walked in."
Frank's lips formed a tight line. This had gotten out of hand. "So that's what Tony was referring to."
"Tony?" Jamie was confused. "Sarge talked to you?"
"He was concerned. He was nervous as hell when he came to talk to me. Said you wouldn't open up to him about Nash. He felt like his hands were tied but he would have felt guilty if he didn't at least try to do something." Frank placed his arm around Jamie's shoulders and looked at him in earnest. "You've got people looking out for you. I just need you to know you can come to me with things like this. You can't continue to keep things to yourself because they involve the department."
"Yeah," Jamie nodded.
Frank gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "It's getting late. Do you want to spend the night?"
"Thanks, but no. I think I just wanna go home and crash in my own bed." Jamie smiled thinly before getting up and heading to the front door.
"I'll see you in the morning." Frank opened the door as Jamie slid on his jacket.
"Yeah. Goodnight, dad." He looked at his father one last time before walking out the door.
"Goodnight, son." Frank waited until Jamie got into his car and drove away before he closed the door. He closed his eyes and slumped back against the wall wondering why he'd allowed things to get this far.
