Chapter Thirty Five
"Get him on facial recognition, run it until you get a name, then I want his life story, chapter and verse," Jamie told his team. "The second we get an address, get a unit over there, break the door down if you have to. Check calendars, computers, and appointment cards, see if he has anything planned after today. Check and see if there is food in the fridge, if there's evidence of a pet, is it in the house, or is there a claim tag for a boarding facility?"
"Why would we…" began one of the uniforms.
"A lot of these hostage situations are just elaborate suicide attempts," Jack replied, making Jamie very proud of him. "He's trying to get into is head, see if this is that or just a robbery gone wrong."
Jamie nodded, "Get on that now! I'm going to try to make contact."
The ringing was incessant. "Answer it Jeremy," Joey encouraged. "I know you don't trust cops, but the guys out there, on HNT, they really do care. Since my Dad took over, we all really had a lot of training on how to help people not just punish them."
Suddenly a voice came over the bullhorn, "This is Police Commissioner Reagan. I would really like for us to talk things out. Please pick up the phone and I promise that we can talk about this. No one else will be on the line but you and I."
"That's my Dad, Jeremy," Joey stated the obvious. "He's a good guy, he's really fair and I know he'll be able to help. I know he'll listen. Pick up the phone and just give him a chance."
When the phone rang again, Jeremy reached out and answered it. "You wanted me to answer, so now what!"
Jamie sighed in relief, "Tell me how you are doing?" Jamie asked. "Are you okay in there? Is everyone okay?"
"The old man and the girl are okay, pissing their pants, the cop's bleeding," Jeremy replied. "Yeah, I shot your son, you still want to be nice to me!"
"Of course I do," Jamie replied keeping his voice even though the rage was building. "I know how it can get. Sometimes life is just unbelievably hard."
"What the Hell do you know? I've seen you in the papers, you're handsome, your wife loves you, you have a family, you have a job, you have everything…"
"No one has everything…What's your name?" Jamie asked. "I'm Jamie…you can call me Jamie. What do I call you?"
"Jeremy" came the stiff reply.
"Jeremy…" Jamie replied. "My wife and I thought of that name when she was having our second baby. We always knew we wanted to call our first son Joseph after my brother. He passed away at 32 years old, he was probably my best friend in the world."
The talk continued while Jamie's team worked to get a full name on the perp. Finally it came up, Jeremy Johnson Peters. Two teams of uniforms sped to Jeremy's apartment to investigate per Jamie's orders. "It's pretty crowded out here," Jamie said. "Lots of people can hear us, that's probably why you don't want to talk to me. So I'll tell you what let's do…let me move some of these cars out of here, give us a little more space, and you let the old man and the young lady…"
"Stan and Lauren…" Jeremy corrected him much to Jamie's delight. He was identifying with his hostages as people."
"Stan and Lauren, you let them go…then you, me, and Joey we can all talk together. Do you think that would be a good idea?"
Jack watched in awe as Jamie ordered six of the ten RMPs to disburse to locations out of sight. Still, Jeremy didn't not release his other hostages. Stan looked like he might have a heart attack. Lauren had cried so hard her face was raw. Joey had to try something.
"Jeremy, look…My Dad moved the cars away, all right. He's done everything you asked for him to do. Let these folks go, I promise you I will stay, all right. I won't try to run. Just let them go, they are innocent in all of this. If you have beef with someone, we can work that out…but let them go. You don't want to hurt honest people. You don't…"
Between Jamie's act of good faith and Joey's soft but convincing words, Jeremy finally relented and let Stan and Lauren out of the jewelry story. Two teams of uniforms and medics ran in and whisked them away for medical evaluations and debriefing.
Jamie's heart swelled with pride, it was the first time he'd really worked with Joey as a team. "Way to go, Jeremy!" Jamie praised now pouring over data about the kid. He was 26, just a little older than Joey, had most of his family die in a fire when he was 9 and had been in and out of foster homes. From interviews with his super, it seemed his girlfriend had just left him and that rejection had sent him off the deep end. Jamie took a breath, "Uh, Jeremy, you know we have some pretty sophisticated tools out here. Some of my paperwork tells me you had it pretty rough growing up. I can't really relate to that part, I had my mom until I was 18, my Dad is still living…but I can relate to hard times, Jeremy. I'm doing this now from a wheelchair, and my wife…well when Joey was seven she got cancer and she's still suffering some side effects of her treatment…we never did anything to anyone either, that's just the hand life dealt us, Kid."
Jamie felt like he was talking to a brick wall. He was not getting the emotional connection he needed. He was getting incredibly tired and starting to feel the fatigue set in. Maybe he couldn't do this? Maybe he was making a mistake, one that might cost Joey his life.
The news was covering the hostage crisis, preempting all regularly scheduled programming. Eddie and Frank sat glued to the TV along with the rest of the family. "What is this?" the reporter asked. "It appears that Commissioner Reagan, who suffered a stroke more than six months ago, is coming out of the Mobile Command unit once again with the assistance of his uniform officers. It doesn't seem like his confinement to wheelchair has restricted him at all. We have learned that the final hostage is Commissioner Reagan's son, Joseph…" The screen splashed a picture of Joey on the screen.
"I'm going down there," Eddie threatened for the tenth time. "That's my son and my husband down there! How can I…"
Danny put a staying hand on Eddie's shoulder, "Because this is what Jamie wants. It is dangerous for him out there, he'll be distracted if he's worried about you. Jamie's good with these types, just give him time, he'll talk the gun out of his hand and he and Joey will be home safe."
Eddie knew Danny was right, she wouldn't get near the scene anyway and she could possibly derail any good Jamie was doing. "I just…"
Linda and Erin put their arms around Eddie, "He's your baby," Erin empathized. "I know…he's your baby, but he's Jamie's baby too. You have had such incredible faith that Jamie would get well and he's come so far, have faith in him now. He won't let anything happen to Joey."
Eddie had to agree, if Jamie did nothing else, he protected his family, especially his kids.
That was why in spite of growing fatigue he pushed his wheelchair closer to the building to get a look inside. "Jeremy, it's late. I'm getting tired, I'm sure you must be exhausted. We have the money now for your trip, the chopper is at the airport, we can't land it here, so we'll take a ride, you and I…"
Still nothing Jamie was saying was making the slightest dent. Joey could hear the strain in his father's voice, he had to get this thing ended once and for all. "What's her name?" Joey asked getting on his feet. "The girl…This has to be about a girl man, I know. Believe me I just got my heart handed to me on a plate a few weeks ago myself. And let me tell you something, they are just not worth it. If she doesn't love you…"
Jamie watched in horror as Jeremy went ballistic. He swung around trying to hit Joey with the butt of the gun. Joey managed to duck but the blood loss made him dizzy. He lost his balance and felt Jeremy's arms got around him mere seconds before the cold metal gun was pressed to his head. "You take it back!" Jeremy shouted. "Stupid pig, you take it back now!"
Jamie's heart was pounding, Joey, his little one…he had to think fast. "I'm sure your friend was worth all this," he said keeping calm in spite of his horror. "I know that is hurts, Jeremy. So does Joey, he understands too. You already know Joey is my son, so I know better than anyone that he knows how it feels to be hurt. I am sorry you didn't have a father to feel your hurt, your triumphs…"
Jamie could see that Jeremy was getting very antsy. His hands were shaking, his jaw was clenched, Jamie knew the stance, he knew the expression, he had lost his connection with Jeremy. Trying to save both lives was no longer a priority.
Jamie cut the sound feed and radioed, "SWAT, get into position. Prepare to take the shot on my order, try to keep him alive but above all else, preserve the life of the hostage."
"The proudest moment of my life," Jamie said gently. "When Joey was about eight. He was such a good athlete…strong and fast, oh boy was he fast. City championships and he hits a line drive to deep center, about 20 or thirty yards past second base…When he started to run I kept saying to myself, move Joey, move…"
Jamie prayed that Joey was getting his subtle message. Joey never played baseball but there was no way Jeremy knew that. Joey did in fact pick up on Jamie's trick. Slowly, he began to slowly turn, all while Jamie was talking. Jeremy was distracted by the sound of Jamie's voice and let himself be inched around until he was facing the door with Joey in front of him as a human shield.
"Sir, we don't have a clear shot," the SWAT leader radioed in. "We can put someone behind for a try…"
"You'll have a shot, just hold your fire until I tell you," Jamie barked and turned his attention back to his skittish gunman.
"Jeremy, I don't know what else to do…I got you the money, I gave you my word we'd take a car together to the heliport. I signed a denial of extradition myself…but you won't let Joey go yet so I just have one thing to ask you, just one little thing…" Jamie prayed to anyone who would listen that Joey remembered their code, "Please don't hurt my family."
Before Jamie finished the sentence Joey quickly elbowed Jeremy and dropped to the ground, seconds later he heard the sound of gunfire and the unmistakable groan of a person hit by several bullets. The glass crunched under the shoes of the approaching officers and medics, Joey lifted his head and got shakily to his feet. He looked back to see Jeremy was still alive but in far worse shape than he was. The first bus sped off with Jeremy in it. "You good Reagan?" an officer from Joey's precinct asked.
"I'm good, I uh, need some stitches…" Joey replied getting dizzy and tired now the adrenalin was wearing off. "My Dad out there?"
The officer nodded, "Let's go, he's right outside…" He held Joey's arm until he delivered him to Jamie.
"Joe, you need a doctor son," Jamie said softly whished his could hold his boy but from his wheelchair he didn't have the leverage. "Let's get you in a bus, I'll call Mom and be right behind you."
Joey smiled, Jamie's figure was growing hazy. "Dad…" Joey's voice was soft and weak.
"We need a medic!" Jamie shouted seeing Joey's legs start to buckle. "I need a medic now!" Two teams ran over to the Joey and lowered him to a stretcher seconds before he gave in to the pain, dizziness and blood loss, his eyes falling closed, the last thing he remembered seeing, his father's worried face.
A/N: Another huge thanks to Lawslave and Werks for guiding me through this and the previous chapter. I am not typically an action writer, I write romance and medical drama but things like this were new to me. Thank you ladies. I learned so much from you.
This story will update again on Saturday evening, tomorrow's update will be for my post episode Jamko series, Pillow Talk. Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting. I cherish each comment and look forward to your reactions to this story.