"Erin, it's Abigail," Baker said to her boss's daughter over the phone.

"Hey, Abigail, is everything okay?" Erin asked suspiciously when she heard Baker's voice. Usually, Baker didn't have good news when she was calling her.

"Well, it's about your father...," the young assistant started carefully.

"What? What's with dad?" Erin asked eagerly, worried for her father's wellbeing.

"I'm afraid he had a little health scare today," Baker informed the young mother as gently as she could.

"What health scare?" Erin wanted to know immediately.

"Well, we originally thought he had a heart attack, but the doctor assured us it was only a weakness..."

"Thank God," Erin sight out with relief. "Where is he? Is he in the hospital?"

"No, he is here in his office. He didn't want to make a big deal out of it. He didn't even want me to call you. But I thought you should know," Baker revealed to the young attorney.

"You did the right thing, Abigail," Erin agreed. "Listen, I will be there as soon as possible. I just have to figure out what to do with Nicki after I pick her up from the daycare..."

"I think it's not necessary for you to come over here, he is already sleeping. The doctor gave him something so he could rest...Garrett and I will stay with him throughout the night," detective Baker assured the other woman who was approximately the same age as she was.

"You sure about it?" Erin questioned. She really wanted to be with her father right now, but she had no idea what to do with her little girl, besides she still had some work to do.

"Absolutely," Baker assured her. "I just thought you should know what was happening so you guys could keep an eye on him."

"Alright, thanks for telling me Abigail," Erin replied, "I'll make sure he takes it easier."

"Yeah, but it still must have been a hell of a day for him," commissioner's assistant worried.

"What? What happened today?" Erin asked confused.

"Oh, Danny hasn't told you?" Baker asked surprised.

"Tell me what?" Erin repeated nervously. She had no idea what this was about.

Baker hesitated whether she should tell the commissioner's daughter or not, but then Erin had the right to know for she, after all, was Jamie's sister.

"We found a body earlier today, and for a moment we thought it might have been Jamie," Baker started.

"Oh, God!" Escaped Erin's mouth. Her eyes were full of tears as she remembered her little brother who was considered to be deceased.

"But the commissioner is pretty certain that it's not him," Baker assured her.

"How can dad be so sure?" Erin uttered between the sobs. Although it has already been six years since Jamie disappeared it still felt like yesterday. That sweet little boy.

"Well, the boy was apparently taller than your brother, that's also why your father is convinced it's not him. Yet, we will know for sure after the results from forensics..."

"Wait, how does dad know he was taller?" Erin wondered. But then it doomed on her. After all, she grew up in a family full of cops.

"He went to see the body?" She cried out. No wonder he had a weakness that reminded a heart-attack. The young woman thought to herself.

"He did," Baker nodded her head sadly. "Although, I did my best to convince him not to. But then, it's his child we are trying to find. Besides, he is the chief of police. He has every right to do whatever he decides," the loyal employee sighed tiredly. It was a long day.

***BB***

"Why didn't you tell me?" Erin asked angrily as she threw her handbag at the bar where originally Danny rested his hand as she was taking her coat off.

Fortunately, one of her friends agreed to watch after Nicki so she could have a word with her older brother.

"Excuse me?" Danny asked confused. He was about to take a sip from his bottle when he was met with Erin who seemed as if she was ready for a fight.

"I'm asking why didn't you tell me that you might have found Jamie," she asked her brother again.

"Well, that's maybe because we didn't find him. We just found some remains which could have been his, but they turned out not to," Danny defended himself.

"Don't you think I would have wanted to know that?" Erin asked irritated, raising her eyebrows as she was talking to Danny.

"Why would you want to know?" The detective wondered. "Erin, haven't you heard? The remains weren't even his."

"Yeah, Danny, but I would have expected you to tell me so I could at least check on dad," Erin pointed out.

"Is there something with dad?" Danny wondered. "He seemed okay to me."

"Well, according to Baker dad had a little health scare after he returned from the scene," Erin pointed out angrily.

"He did what?" Danny uttered shocked. "The old man alright?"

"Yeah, he is. Fortunately, it wasn't a heart attack, but rather someone kind of weakness. I think we should go and see him tomorrow," Erin, who was worried about her father ever since Baker told her, suggested.

"Yeah, sure," Danny agreed. "Is he at the hospital?" The detective wanted to know.

"No, he didn't want to go there. He is at the office. Garrett and Baker are staying there with him tonight. Originally, I wanted to go there, but Abigail told me the doctor gave him something so he should be sleeping the whole night."

"Oh, God, I'm such an idiot!" Danny cursed for himself.

"What's going on?" His sister wanted to know.

"I was with him earlier today, how come I didn't see he was not alright? I mean, I thought it would be devastating for him to come to the scene and see Jamie, but when he inspected that child and found out that it wasn't Jamie, he seemed fine. I should have known better!" Danny berated himself.

"Yeah, we should have all know better by know how distressing any news relating to Jamie can be for him."

***BB***

The commissioner spent the night at the office. Garrett called Henry so the former chief of police wouldn't worry. He told him some made-up story that Frank fell asleep in his office and that he didn't want to wake him for the commissioner seemed really exhausted. No surprise, Henry has bought it without too much questioning.

It wasn't a lie, but also not the whole truth. Yet, Baker and Garrett agreed that they won't tell Henry anything because they didn't want the old man to worry.

"Baker and I had a little chat last night after you drifted off," Garrett revealed to his friend as the two of them were sitting alone in commissioner's office after Frank finally woke up. He has been asleep for twelve whole hours.

"You did?" Frank asked somewhat rhetorically than that he was really interested in what the two of them were talking about.

"Come on, Frank, Abigail really cares about you, Frank," Garrett revealed to his friend.

"I know she does," the commissioner nodded his head, "I care about her too."

"She even compared you to a father," Garrett announced to his friend carefully, not sure how he might react, taking into consideration that he was still grieving for his youngest son.

"Yeah," Frank sighed again." I care about her deeply too. It's just what kind of father would let his ten-year-old son leave the house without going after him?" The commissioner's voice died out.

"Frank," Garrett stated kindly, "it wasn't your fault! You couldn't have known that Jamie won't come home," the DCPI tried to soothe him.

"I should have, Garrett," the chief of police uttered with a heavy heart, "I should have known!"

There was a knock on the door and soon after detective Baker walked in.

"Sir," she addressed her boss, "I have the autopsy report of the boy we found yesterday," she announced sadly. "You were right, it wasn't Jamie.

The commissioner just took a deep breath, already in his let's get back to the business, shall we mode. "Is there something interesting in that report?" He asked.

"I'm afraid the boy was abused before his death, sir," Baker uttered weakly, handing the report to her boss.

She could see Frank swallowed hard. The one thing he dreaded the most, besides that the boy was his own son, was that the child was abused before his death.

"That's what I was afraid of, "he mumbled as he opened the report and started reading it.

***BB***

"Hey, what brings you here tonight?" Henry asked his grandson detective Daniel Reagan when he saw him enter the house.

"Hey pops," Danny replied, "is dad home yet?"

"No," the former commissioner shook his head, "I don't expect him to come home at least for another thirty minutes," he announced to Danny.

"Hey, guys," Joe greeted them as he opened the front door only to be followed by Erin who came only a few seconds after him.

"What are you all doing here?" Their grandfather wondered.

"Come on, gramps, can't we just come home to spend some time with you?" Danny teased the old man.

"Ha," Henry laughed, "on Tuesday evening? I don't think so." The former chief of police shook his head. "Besides, you should have called in advance, I would have made you some dinner. But because you didn't, I have only the soup I made for your father," Henry revealed to his grandchildren.

"Soup is just fine, gramps," Joe assured him as he was helping Erin out of her coat.

"Yeah, whatever is fine with me too," Danny agreed. "It will be my first sit-down meal this week," the detective complained.

"You still haven't explained to me why you all came here tonight," Henry repeated his initial question as they all went back to the kitchen so the patriarch of the Reagan family could serve his grandchildren some dinner.

"We came to see dad," Erin revealed to their grandfather after she exchanged a brief look with her brothers, wondering whether they should tell Henry about what was going on.

"Well, I kind of figured out you didn't come for me," the former commissioner mumbled.

"Come on, grams, we love you, you know that right?" Erin asked her grandfather hastily.

"I know you do, sweetheart," Henry teased her, "I was just testing you."

"Oh, Gramps! How could you?" Erin pretended to be mad at her grandfather.

"So what really brings you here tonight?" Henry asked again.

"Yesterday Baker called me, and she told me dad had some kind of health scare at the office. I wanted to come, but she assured me she and Garrett had it under control. Besides, according to Baker dad didn't want us to know." Erin explained to her grandfather as she remembered the phoned call she had with Baker.

"What kind of health scare?" Henry inquired nervously.

"Well, Baker told me that originally she thought he had a heart attack, but the doctor assured them that it was just some kind of weakness or something, I don't really understand what that's supposed to be..." Erin shrugged her shoulders apologetically.

"I'm telling him he needs to take it easy all the time," the former commissioner cried out upset. He and Francis had this conversation countless times. "But he just won't listen."

"Gramps," Danny uttered weekly, "I'm afraid dad had a pretty good reason to have a health scare," the detective suggested carefully.

"What are you talking about?" Henry asked his grandson confused. "This wouldn't have happened if your father wasn't overstretching himself all the time!"

"I'm afraid it would," the young detective gave his grandfather a sad smile.

The Reagan patriarch looked at him as if he didn't understand what Danny was trying to tell him.

"Listen, gramps, we found a body yesterday, and for a moment we thought it could have been our Jamie," Danny explained as gently as he could to the old man, being well aware of the pain even a slightest mention about his baby brother who disappeared six years ago brought to their hearts.

"Oh my God," came out of Henry's mouth. "But it wasn't him, right?" He wanted to make sure.

"No, it wasn't," the detective shook his head. "Dad drew that option out almost immediately… the boy we found was according to dad good 58 inches tall, while our Jamie had only about 53 inches at the time he disappeared." Danny explained.

"He went to see the body?" The former commissioner asked horrified.

"What do you think?" Danny raised his eyebrows. "If your child disappeared six years ago wouldn't you want to know for sure what happened to him?"

There was a long silence when neither one of them was saying anything. They were all just lost in their memories of that sweet little boy and his big goofy smile.

They were all still lost in their thoughts when the side door to the kitchen opened, and the commissioner walked in.

"Hey, what are you all doing here?" He asked surprised when he saw all his children sitting around the table with pops eating their soups.

Erin stood up immediately and ran to her father to give him a warm hug only to be followed by Joe who hugged their father simultaneously from the other side.

"I don't know how I deserved that, but it's nice to know that you are appreciated even by your grown-up children," the commissioner smiled, embracing each one of his children with his hands.

Joe and Erin just kept cuddling to their father as if they were never going to let him go.

"Alright the two of you, let go of your father so he can have some dinner. He surely must be hungry," their grandfather interrupted them after a while.

As the commissioner went around the table towards his usual seat, he gave Danny's shoulder a tight squeeze. It was their way of showing their affection for each other for neither one of them was really a kind of guy who showed their emotions. But then, Frank got softer after what happened with Jamie, plus when his wife died, he realized he needed to show more affection towards his remaining children, especially towards Erin and Joe who were asking not only for his attention but also his love.

"So, what were you guys talking about?" Frank asked as he sat down. "Thanks, pops," he thanked Henry who gave him a bowl with some left-over soup.

"Ehm, nothing...," Joe lied, looking hastily away from his father's eyes.

The commissioner just looked at them one by one.

"You have never been a good liar, Joe, you know that right?" The commissioner asked his son.

Joe just gave his siblings a helpless look, wordlessly begging them for help.

"We were just talking about that boy we found yesterday," Danny revealed to their father as the commissioner was about to take a sip of his soup.

"I see," Frank sighed heavily, putting his spoon down.

There was a silence when Frank was pretending that there was nothing more compelling than Mary's old China.

The rest of the family just exchanged a hopeless look.

"Why didn't you tell us anything, Francis?" Henry broke the silence.

"Because it wasn't him, pops," the commissioner stated calmly.

"And why haven't you told us about your health scare either?" Erin questioned.

The commissioner just stopped for a moment.

"Baker told you, huh?" He asked before he took a sip from his soup which was getting cold.

"Come on, dad, she worries about you, we all do!" His daughter cried out.

"Erin, I'm doing just fine as far as I'm concerned," Frank insisted.

"This case is too much for you, dad," Erin started carefully, "don't you think it would be a good idea to leave it to someone else?"

"Erin, I'm the chief of police, I'll decide when it's time to hand the case over if you would let me!" The commissioner stated strictly. He didn't mean to be harsh with his daughter, but when it came to finding Jamie, nothing was more important than that.

"But, dad, you have got thirty thousands of trained officers on your command, and I'm pretty sure that the majority of them are well-abled. So, why do you have to overstretch yourself when Jamie has already been gone for six years," Erin urged, worried for her father's wellbeing.

"Because that's my boy who is still out there," Frank raised his voice.

He just had it enough.

"Whether he is alive or not," he continued after a while a little bit calmer when he overcame the initial anger.

"And that's also why I have to find him, to bring home so he can be with us or to be laid to rest next to his mother," the commissioner stated decisively.

"Now, if you would excuse me, I have a work to do," he announced right before he stood up and left the room, leaving the rest of his family speechless.

"That went well," Joe whistled when the commissioner has left.

"Couldn't you just drop it, Erin?" Danny asked his sister annoyed.

"What did I do?" Erin tried to defend herself.

***BB***

Joe knocked on the door to their father's study.

"Ehm, dad, can I come in?" He asked his father as he peeked into the room.

The commissioner just looked up from the file he was reading.

"What do you want, Joe?" He asked. He still hasn't forgotten about the argument he just had with Erin a few moments ago.

"I came to apologize," Joe uttered as he walked closer to his father, "we had no right to tell you what you should or shouldn't do," he spoke in a low voice as he sat down opposite to the commissioner.

"Not, you hadn't," Frank agreed.

"What are you reading?" The young police officer asked curiously.

"It's just that boy's autopsy report. I'm trying to find something that could lead us to Jamie," the commissioner revealed to his son.

"What makes you believe that there is some kind of connection that could lead us to Jamie?" Joe questioned.

"Well, first of all, they were about the same age, and second, he was in that ground for six years, which corresponds with the time when Jamie has disappeared." The commissioner counted out. "I just wish we already had his identification so we could find out whether he and Jamie had something else in common," the older man uttered with a sad voice.

"Dad," Joe interrupted him, "we are really worried about you...," he stated carefully. "I mean, thank God it wasn't heart-attack..., why don't you take some rest and let the detectives to their work?" Joe kept pressuring his father.

"Joe, I have to know," Frank told his son with a broken voice.

"Every night I wake up at 4:21 wondering whether Jamie is alive or not. And if he is, where is he? Is he safe? Is he cold... I'm pretty sure that If I go on like this sooner or later, I will go crazy for sure..." the broken man entrusted to his middle son.

"Dad...," Joe took his father's hand and gave it a soft squeeze, "you still have us," he reminded to the broken man. "We need you too!"

"I know that," the commissioner whispered, "but I still need to find out what happened to our Jamie. You understand that, right?" Frank asked his son as he was looking into Joe's eyes.

"Yeah, I do," Joe agreed. After all, he was a police officer too.

"Just take it easy, dad," the young man pleaded him, "because neither one of us could survive if something happened to you too," Joe whispered as he leaned to his father and planted a kiss on the top of his head. Something he didn't often do. But he felt the urgency to express his emotions for the man who raised him and whom he owed everything for becoming the man he was today.

"I love you too, Joe," Frank whispered. They didn't need the words to speak the same language at this moment

***BB***

"I just want him home, pops," the commissioner admitted to his father as the two men were sitting together in the living when everyone else has already left. Joe and Erin took the taxi back to the city, while Danny headed to Staten Island.

As for Frank and Henry the two men were now nursing their whiskey in their hands, remembering their sweet little boy.

Henry gave his son a sad look.

"He was just such an adorable child," the former commissioner remembered their little one. He has always loved the children equally, but they all agreed Jamie was exceptional. He was such a ray of sunshine, that little giggle.

"Yes, he was," the commissioner nodded his head sadly.

"I don't even remember what that fight was about…, must have been something stupid...Not a day goes by that I don't regret it...," Frank whispered.

"Francis, Jamie knew you loved him, he did," Henry assured him as he gave his forearm a tight squeeze. "And he loved you back! You just have to forgive yourself!"

"But how can I, dad? When it is was my fault that my son went missing." The commissioner questioned, unable to let go of his little boy. He knew that Jamie will always be in his heart until his eyes close shut forever.

***BB***

AN:

Longer chapter today. Let me guys know what you thought. Do you think Jamie is alive? How do you think this will turn out? Good news, guys, in the next chapter we will shift the story forward in a new direction.