Chapter 21

Danny hopped out of the truck and met up with Jackie and the other detectives as they pulled up in front of the Riordan duplex. They didn't need a large team to bring the woman in, just four detectives including himself and Jackie, but they also had two uniforms watching the back of the house in case Sherry Riordan was a runner; that was unlikely from what Jimmy had told them but you could never be too sure. There were a few other RMPs standing by in case of any trouble, but Danny didn't anticipate much except for a whole lot of useless jabbering from the woman as he fully expected her to plead her innocence the moment they announced the charge.

Frank's detail followed behind their boss as he too made his way to the house, but at a much slower pace. He wanted to get a good look at Sherry Riordan before tending to his son.

Danny nodded at Detective Gale who'd been tasked by his own commissioner to oversee the sting and make sure the NYPD had every resource available to them to ensure a proper operation. Commissioner Reagan was calling the shots, but the local LEOs would make the arrest in their own jurisdiction. Gale acknowledged the order and led the others to the house.

Back inside, as Frank and Danny left the confines of the surveillance truck, Sherry and Jimmy stared at each other with wide, teary eyes until Sherry angrily wiped at hers. She was done with this, with him, and needed to be left alone now. "There. You know the truth now. Get out," she ordered, hating that she had allowed herself to get emotional in front of him.

But Jimmy didn't move, instead he uttered her greatest crime. "You took everything from me," he said in a tiny voice that still couldn't comprehend how anyone was capable of this.

Each word from his lips infuriated her more and she reacted in a way that she had forbid herself from acting with him. Before she knew it, Sherry whipped her hand across Jimmy's face as hard as she could. The sharp crack of skin striking skin echoed in the room drowning out the cheery fast food jingle coming from the television.

Jimmy was stunned...he never saw it coming until his head was flung to the right and a fierce flash of pain exploded across his cheek which then turned disturbingly numb, never feeling the warm, thin trickle of blood that slowly began to spill from the corner of his mouth.

The palm of Sherry's hand matched Jimmy's cheek, both irritated and bright red. Sherry stared at Jimmy with wide eyes, waiting for him to react, maybe even fight back, because in the back of her mind she knew she probably deserved it. But all she saw were the sad, disappointed eyes of the one and only person who had ever truly craved her love and attention. Had she been allowed a few more moments, she might have realized that what she was starting to feel was actual remorse, but a forceful knock at the door gave her reason to walk away and allow herself a chance to regroup.

Sherry steadied her breathing as she opened the door, narrowing her eyes at the small group of suits waiting on her doorstep, but frowned when she spotted the police cars parked along the street behind them.

"Sherry Riordan?" the first detective asked.

"Who the hell are you?" she snapped suspiciously as she peeked behind her to make sure Jimmy hadn't moved into their line of sight.

"Detectives Gale and Renner, Buffalo PD," he announced with a flash of his badge. "We need you to step outside, ma'am."

"What's this about?" she demanded while pulling her arm out of the detective's grasp when he attempted to guide her out.

Detective Gale was quicker the second time around, taking hold of her bicep and he pulled her outside and swiftly turned her around to face the exterior wall of the house.

"Get your paws off me! You have no right to touch me! What the hell's this about?!"

"You're under arrest for the kidnapping of Jameson Reagan," Gale advised as his partner patted her down and fitted the cuffs securely around her wrists.

Sherry stilled as cold, prickly shock washed across her body. "What?! How?!" she stammered in confusion until her eyes went wide with understanding and she sought Jimmy out through the open doorway. "What the hell did you do?! You set me up?!"

"Hey, settle down!" Danny ordered from behind. He was having second thoughts about not being the one to escort this woman back to New York City; he had a lot to get off his chest about the pain she'd caused everyone in his family.

"I didn't do anything!" Sherry lied. "You got nothing!"

"We heard everything," Jackie fired back, "just in case you're not catching on to what's going on here." Then she turned to the Buffalo detectives and said, "Get her out of here!"

"No! Wait! You can't do this!" a struggling Sherry yelled as Gale and Renner turned her around and forced her toward their unmarked car. They had just hit the sidewalk when the ranting woman came to a sudden halt and looked up into the stoney face of the New York City Police Commissioner, a face she knew well especially with that unforgettable mustache, but even the eyes were the same...they still carried the same pain she'd seen in them 25 years ago. "Jesus," she rasped as she began to consider that she would not be able to talk her way out of this mess.

Frank stared her down but didn't utter a word. He was riding on too many emotions and the last thing he wanted was to give her any valid reason to cry foul. But his appearance had done enough as Sherry Riordan shut her mouth and willingly proceeded to the police car all the while staring back at the man she never thought she'd see in person.

Frank turned toward the house, his eyes failing to locate Jimmy amongst the few individuals milling about after Riordan was led away. He did spot Danny and his partner at the front door, both looking inside but making no attempt to enter. Jackie excused herself as the commissioner approached, Frank taking her place beside Danny and finally took in the sight of his youngest in the small living room of the house.

A part of Danny wanted to go to Jimmy, assure him that it was over and that he could get on with his life now, but the words sounded hollow even to him and would do nothing to lift the spirits of his forlorn younger brother. He was probably better off letting his father handle this, Frank confirming as much after a few seconds.

"Give me a few minutes with him," he requested before taking a few cautious steps into the duplex. Frank's jaw clenched at the angry hand print on Jimmy's face.

Jimmy paid him no attention, his mind lost in thought as he gingerly brought the back of his hand up to wipe at the corner of his mouth with his tongue following suit to gently probe at the broken skin.

"Are you alright?" Frank asked softly while reaching into his suit jacket for his handkerchief.

Jimmy nodded automatically but refused to meet his father's eyes, he couldn't stand to see his pity. "Am I done? Can I take this off?" he asked and proceeded to reach under his shirt and tear the microphone from his chest without waiting for an answer. Jimmy then pulled at the belt Velcroed to his waist, throwing the wire and transmitter onto the warped coffee table.

"Yes," Frank answered needlessly as he watched his son jump to his feet, his breaths coming in short bursts as he searched the room. "Jimmy?"

"I need to get out of here...I gotta get some air," he mumbled breathlessly when suddenly he focused on the rear door and headed in that direction.

"Jimmy?" Frank called out again and was surprised by the outburst he received in response.

"That's not my name! Don't call me that!" he shouted over his shoulder hating the sound of it, of anything having to do with her.

Frank glanced back at Danny who had been watching while standing guard at the door, then headed after his youngest. If the boy wanted to get away, he chose the wrong way out.

Jimmy paced the compact backyard, kicking up a cloud of dirt as he spun around in one of the dusty bald spots of the patchy, unkempt lawn. There was no where to go but down the side of the house where everyone else was still gathered. His only other option was to start hopping some fences...Jimmy was almost tempted to do that. "I can't right now," he warned as Frank's shadow loomed nearby.

"Can't what?" Frank inquired.

"Talk!" Jimmy answered when he came to a stop and met Frank's concerned stare. "That's what you want, right? You want to know if I'm alright?" Jimmy waited but Frank still said nothing, so he answered his own question. "Well, I'm not," he confessed and dropped down onto a stack of cinder blocks near the back fence and leaned his elbows against his knees. "This is effed up," he growled.

"I know it is," Frank agreed as he leaned down to overturn an old, empty paint bucket and took a seat right next to Jimmy.

"She didn't even want me...did you hear that?" Jimmy whispered.

"I did," Frank sighed, pursing his lips as Riordan's admission replayed in his mind. "She would have been the only one to feel that way."

Jimmy knew he meant well, but that only made him sadder...it was just more proof of everything she'd stolen from them. "Why the hell didn't she just take me back?...or leave me on the side of the road somewhere?" he wondered. "Anything would have been better than growing up with her...I tried so hard to make her want me. I thought if I was good, got good grades...stayed out of trouble, I could make her proud...that she might care. But none of it mattered. It never would because I wasn't hers," he reasoned. "Why didn't I see it?"

Frank wanted to take Danny's example and spare him the empty, useless words, but despite his claim that he didn't want to talk Jimmy needed answers to help him understand this, Frank just didn't have any. "Son, I don't know if we'll ever get the answers to the hundreds of questions we have to make any sense of this...I wish we did and that I could get them for you, but Sherry Riordan is not well...never was and I'm sorry that fate had her crossing our paths. All I can tell you is that we're here for you, whatever you need, you've got me, pop, a brother and sisters who want nothing more than to get to know you and offer you the love and support you should have gotten over the last 25 years. You also got a niece and two nephews, who are all pretty fantastic by the way, that would love to have you as their uncle."

Jimmy was both comforted and frightened by the thought of suddenly having such a large family, but there were still two members missing to truly complete them. "I'll never get to know mom...or Joe," Jimmy said sadly. "It's not fair."

Frank pursed his lips and looked off into the distance...he couldn't agree with him more. "I know it isn't. I've felt that way many times."

"I don't want to see her again. I'm done with her...I don't care what happens to her."

"I'll do everything I can to make sure you're left alone," Frank swore. What happened to Sherry Riordan was up to the DA and the courts, but he would see to it that he would be left out of it.

Jimmy looked up to his father, his eyes pleading for answers. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Frank inhaled deeply wishing he could make everything better with a few choice words. "Right now, you let me take you home."

The sun had set by the time the commissioner's SUV rolled up in front of Jimmy's apartment building. Frank had checked in with Danny back at the Riordan home before leaving with Jimmy. He would be staying back in Buffalo to oversee the search of the property in the hopes that they'd locate more evidence for the DA's case. Erin had been working with the Brooklyn DA to get the proper paperwork filed so that Riordan was transferred to New York City. Jimmy and Frank had caught a late afternoon commuter flight out to New York during which Frank had unsuccessfully worked to convince his son to come back home with him. He hated the idea of leaving him alone tonight.

Frank looked out through the window at the rundown building Jimmy called home. "You sure you don't want to go back to Bay Ridge with me? I'm sure pop is cooking up one of his usual high-carb, high-fat comfort meals," he said, trying to entice him with a promise of a home-cooked meal.

Jimmy smiled at his father's persistence, but declined. "No...thanks. I think I just need to be here. I have a lot of things to figure out."

"What are you thinking?" Frank asked, hoping for a response that could alleviate the worry that had begun to build again.

Jimmy looked down and sighed. "To tell you the truth, I really don't know. After this, I just need to get my head on straight," he said

Frank looked out the window and prayed that he wouldn't lose Jamie a second time. He'd give him a little space after today's events, but he didn't plan to sit and wait for him to make the next move.

Jimmy could see that it wasn't what he wanted to hear, but he didn't know of any other way to do this. "I'm not even sure what people are supposed to call me," he commented.

Frank turned back with a small smile. "I know of one good name."

Jimmy grinned and nodded. "I guess it wouldn't be such a stretch as far as first names go, but I'm guessing if I want to stay with the department, the Reagan name will be a game changer," he said, pausing to wonder about how that would work. "I'm just not sure if it's good or bad."

"Yeah, that it would and I won't lie, it has it's drawbacks," Frank admitted. "If you want to talk about it, you know how to reach me."

"Yeah."

"You know we're here if you need us. You don't have to go through this alone," Frank reminded him.

"I know...it's just not something I'm used to. I usually just figured everything out on my own."

"Change can be a good thing, son," Frank said.

Jimmy gave him a tight smile. He appreciated the sentiment but he wasn't so sure of that. "I'll see you."

"Alright," Frank said and watched as Jimmy stepped out of the SUV and grabbed his overnight bag before closing the door and disappearing into his building.

"Let's go," Frank ordered, ready to head home and throwback a glass of scotch. He had to be patient now and trust that his son would be able to decide what was best for him. But that didn't mean he couldn't try to give him a nudge in the right direction.

So Sherry wasn't expecting any of that, huh? Especially the commanding presence of a particular mustached individual. No worries though, Frank will have a chance to unload on her eventually.

Short chapter tomorrow, but it will help set up the rest of the story as 'Jimmy/Jamie' makes some big life decisions.