"Hey, dad," detective Daniel Reagan addressed his father when the commissioner picked up the phone. It was already late in the evening, and the commissioner was tired.

"Danny," the middle-aged man replied, "what can I do for you, son?"

"Ehm," the detective cleared his throat, "I just wanted to check on you and see how you guys were doing?" Danny admitted honestly. He knew that these days were going to be tough on their father mainly because the commissioner never really stopped blaming himself for what happened to Jamie that unfortunate day six years earlier.

"I'm trying my best," the chief of the police uttered sadly, "and so is pops."

There was a moment when both men kept silent. Both lost in their memories. Alone with their pain. They were so close, and yet they were so distant.

It was the father who first broke the silence.

"I was just thinking about your brother," he admitted sadly to his oldest, "he would have been sixteen soon," the broken man uttered weakly.

"Yeah," the detective swallowed hard. He could feel a lump in his throat as he did every time someone mentioned his brother, "he would."

Jamie has been gone so long and yet the detective, who always pretended to be a tough guy, was unable to talk about his kid brother without getting emotional.

Danny hesitated for a moment before he asked:

"I saw, Baker has withdrawn some cold cases involving missing children for you from the archive...," the detective stated carefully, testing the ice, "ehm..., anything new?" He questioned.

He wished there was some new information that would lead them to his brother. Although Danny doubted there was a chance that they could find Jamie alive. Or at least, not after so many years have passed. The detective always believed that they would find Jamie one day or at least his remains, but he never thought his baby brother could be alive.

His professional guess was that Jamie became a victim of some perpetrator who most likely had abused the boy before he finally murdered him and then he probably buried him a shallow grave somewhere in the woods.

Man, how scared the kid must have been? Danny often wondered when he was thinking about his kid brother.

Naturally, he kept his assumptions to himself. The only one he shared his thoughts with was Joe who on the other hand was convinced that Jamie was alive.

As for their father, the commissioner always believed that his son was alive.

Of course, given the fact that their father was a detective too, the commissioner was well aware that there was an option that his son could have become a victim of sexual assault. He immediately refused to consider this option when it first crossed his mind because he was sure that just the thought of his boy being assaulted before his alleged death would most likely drive him crazy. To him, his son was still alive, although the odds were against them.

"I'm afraid not," Frank Reagan stated the truth, "it's just...,ehm..., I never could get over a feeling that we have overlooked something…," the broken man replied, pain evident in his voice.

"Listen, dad, I know you are looking for some closure and so are we, but we have all read Jamie's file over and over for a million times. There isn't anything we haven't looked into yet!" The detective tried to reason with his father.

However, the commissioner remained tenacious.

"There must be something, Danny," the commissioner insisted, "it's my cop's intuition that is telling me we have overlooked something..."

***BB***

"Hey, Joe!" Seargent Renzulli greeted his rookie when he spotted his favorite "driver" as he has called him walking towards him in front of the 12th. "Looking forward to be rolling the beat with me again?" He asked his partner cheerfully.

"Morning, Sarge," Joe replied with a weak smile on his lips. "Yeah, can't wait." The young man giggled.

"So, how are things in Reaganland these days?" Renzulli asked Joe as the two of them headed out to after the roll call.

Joe just sighed heavily as he bit his lower lip nervously.

He hesitated for a moment before he turned back to his TO.

"I'm afraid my dad's not doing well," the police officer complained. "I mean, he is just devastated about what happened to Jamie. Not to mention that mum died only a few months ago."

"Ugly thing with your brother," Renzulli shook his head sadly, thinking about the events that took place six years ago.

"I remember your father from the 12th back then. Poor guy wouldn't stop looking for your brother for weeks."Renzulli remembered. "We were all worried that he would never be able to let go, and from what I have heard he never did, did he?"

"It broke him inside," the younger man replied sadly. "The truth is, he never was the same..."

The two-man just walked silently side by side for a few minutes before Renzulli broke the silence.

"I remember your brother from when he was just a little boy — such a little giggle. Your old man adored him. I mean, not that he loved you guys any less… but Jamie was your mother and father's youngest child, besides you were all almost teenagers when Jamie was born and did not want to spend the time at home with your parents anymore."

"Sarge," Joe addressed his TO as he suddenly stopped in his tracks, "can I ask you what do you think happened to my brother that day?" The young police officer wanted to know, but Renzulli just shrugged his shoulders.

"Does it really matter?" He asked his rookie, wishing that Joe would preferably drop the topic.

"Sarge, you have been with the force for as many years as my dad, I want to know your opinion," he pleaded him.

"Come on, Joe, you are a cop yourself," Renzulli pointed out. This conversation was getting uncomfortable.

"Yet, I want to know your opinion."

The older man just took a deep breath, thinking his words through before he replied.

"I guess that Jamie got abducted that day whether it was by some random perpetrator or someone that held something against your old man. But my second sense is telling me that it was rather random unless something went wrong in case it was someone who held something against your father," Renzulli uttered thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Joe questioned.

"Come on, Joe. If it was someone who wanted to get to your father, then they would most likely want to make sure that Jamie stayed alive and they would let your father know they had him. That's, of course, in case that everything would go according to a plan."

"So, you think it's more probable Jamie was a random victim of some perpetrator?" The young police officer wanted to know.

But Renzulli just shrugged his shoulders.

"Guess we will never know, Joe. Or at least unless we find his remains." The Sarge stated sadly.

"But, hey, what do I know, maybe your brother is still alive," he added hastily once he saw Joe's bewildered look.

"I think dad never stopped believing that he will find him one day," the rookie uttered sadly.

Renzulli just nodded his head. "He is the father, of course, he is not going to lose hope until he knows for sure."

***BB***

"I don't want to talk about it, Linda," Danny stated as he was fixing himself another glass of whiskey.

Linda observed him with her watchful eye. It has already been his fourth glass that night.

"Honey, I really think you should not be drinking so much," she suggested carefully, although she knew her words were somewhat rhetorical because her husband was obviously trying to get drunk. He did that every year on the anniversary of Jamie's disappearance, but this year he started drinking a day earlier.

She decided to ignore it because she knew how hard it was for everyone in their family to get over the fact that Jamie had disappeared already six years ago.

"Honey," Linda addressed her husband as they sat on the couch next to each other, "you might want to consider talking to someone about what happened to Jamie if you don't want to talk to me."

"There is nothing to talk about, Linda," the detective replied resignedly. "The kid is gone, end of the story."

"Yeah, Danny, but that's the problem. Jamie might have been gone, but he is still pretty much present, isn't he?" Linda asked her husband worriedly. She knew that the last six years were hell for her family, but at the same time, she was well aware that they had to keep living their lives so they could survive the pain of losing Jamie and perhaps eventually be able to move with their lives.

"I can still see him, Linda," the detective whispered as few tears escaped his puffy eyes. "It's like he just closed the doors behind him… I don't know if this will ever stop," Danny whispered between the sobs.

"Oh, Danny," Linda whispered as she embraced her husband in her loving arms while she rubbed his shivering back.