Alison sat in the back of the courtroom listening to Erin give her arguments.
She had just finished testifying in another case and was taking the opportunity to watch her sister work. It was nice being in the same courtroom as Erin without being grilled by her. She probably so does it more often. But then again, when did Alison have the time for that. Her phone vibrated, and Alison glanced up at the judge. He hadn't heard it, thankfully. That would get her kicked out. Slipping it out of her pocket, she looked at the screen.
"Danny picked up a case. It might be ruff. Do you want me to give it to someone else?" It was Mac. Alison took a deep breath leaning back in her seat. The fact that Mac wasn't telling her what it was about to show how close it could be. Turning back to her phone, she sent Danny a message.
"Mac might put me on your case." She held her breath, waiting for a response. Her leg staring to bounce the longer she waited. A message popped up on her screen.
"Good, I want the best on this one." Alison relaxed, smiling.
"I'll tell Greg you said that."
"Sanders was busy."
"Oh, so I'm your second choice."
"For this case, yes." That ripped the smile right off her face. Grabbing her bag, she slipped out of the courtroom. Pulling out her phone, she called Danny.
"What's this one." She did her best to keep her voice low.
"Girl was out with a friend and ordered a rideshare car. He took her somewhere she didn't want to go. She was able to get away, but it's not going to be easy." Danny took a deep breath. "She's about the same age as you were." Alison stopped slowly moving her mind over the information that Danny had given her. She had worked cases like this before and been fine. But she also had been having more nightmares since Greg finished the letters. She hadn't read them, but from the nightmares they had given Greg. She guessed that they were about as close to an existing account as anyone would ever get.
"Al" Danny's voice caused her to jump. Looking at her phone in her hand, she realized she had gotten lost in her memories. She didn't know how long time had passed. Danny and the rest of the family had gotten good over the years and knew when to let her mind wander or pull her back.
"Sorry." Alison started walking toward the exit.
"I can get someone else."
"No, I'll do it."
Greg walked over to Jamie.
"Sanders, thanks for coming by," Jamie said, shaking his hand.
"Any news on Bordon," Greg asked, leaning on his cane.
"He's still in surgery last I heard. The Doctors say it's still touching and go." Greg shook his head.
"This is the worst part of the job. What are you doing?"
"I have my men out there pulling people in. We have an NYPD gun out there that shot a cop. We need to get in the back before it gets used again." Greg looked around them.
"What do you want me to do."
"I need you to look into the footage so see if you can get an ID on the guy that did this." Greg tilted his head.
"You know that Adam could do that." Jamie held up his hands.
"I know that this is below your position, but I need his guy. His partner is blaming himself."
"Understandable. It always ruffs to be the one that doesn't get tagged."
"But not everyone says they want to put a bullet in the guy that did it. The soon we get this guy off the street, the better I'll feel."
"Is the partner out there looking." Greg didn't want to step on any toes, but He had to ask Jamie.
"No, I took him off duty last I heard he was at the hospital with his partner." Greg nodded.
"Good, the last thing we need is someone out there looking for revenge."
"Tell me about it."
"I'll let you know what I find."
Alison walked down the hallway next to Danny.
"Any leads." She asked.
"We spoke to her rideshare company. The Driver said when he arrived at the location, she wasn't there." Alison nodded.
"Which means it's possible that she got into the wrong car."
"The company apparently has been having a lot of problems with rogue individuals intercepting orders and posing as their drivers. Sean took one of those to a party once." Fear shot through Alison.
"You didn't tell me that. When was that." Danny looked over at her.
"About 2 months ago, don't worry, I grounded him for a week." Alison relaxed.
"I know that lots of people use them, but I don't know. I just hate the idea of getting into a car with a stranger."
"Tell me about it. What about you? Have you had any luck looking into security cameras?" "Yeah, a security camera about a block from the club picked up a black sedan pulling up about a minute before the girl was abducted." She handed over the report she had in her bag. "We got the tags, and Adam was able to find that it was registered to Dennis Strand." Danny looked over at her.
"You know you could have started with that." Alison raised an eyebrow.
"Why Flack is on his way to pick him up, and Baez is setting up the lineup." Danny stopped and looked at her.
"What since when." Alison crossed her arms.
"Since I ran into them on my way into the station. I told them and then had to spend the next 20 minutes tracking you down. You know, if you were at your desk for a change, then this would have been easier."
"Why didn't you just call me." Alison put her hands on her hips.
"I did 4 times on your desk and cell phone. That's why I came down her in the first place." Danny pulled out his phone, seeing the missed calls.
"I missed them." Alison rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, yah did."
Greg walked over to Jamie and Eddie, ducking under the police tape.
"So is this our guy," Greg called out point at his team to start taking pictures. Jamie nodded.
"Fits the description that you got us, and he was carrying the missing gun." Greg looked down at the body. There was a single gunshot to the head. Greg looked around at all the officers.
"I hate to say this, but do you know where his partner is." Jamie looked down and his feet.
"He left just before you got here. Saying that, he heard it come over the waves and wanted to make sure he got what was coming to him." Greg let out a deep breath.
"You can't go around saying things like that. Especially at a crime scene where the man that shot your partner is lying dead." Jamie held up his hands.
"Now I know this looks bad, but you don't think…." Jamie trailed off, getting closer to Greg.
"Listen, I don't like the idea of a cop doing something like this any more than you do. I'm just saying that it doesn't look good. My team and I will collect the evidence and let you know what we find."
Alison stood next to Baez as the girl Kerstin got ready for the lineup.
"You good," Baez asked. Alison tilted her head, and Baez pointed to her hands that were clenched tightly around the clipboard. Alison shook her head, forcing herself to relax.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Baez nodded, walking over to stand by the Kerstin. Allowing Alison to move further back. She leaned against the wall, trying not to take on the emotions of the girl in front of her. He had been here before in this very room. Her family was all waiting outside for her to point the guy out. It hadn't been him either of them. But that fear of seeing one of their faces again was palpable. It was all for nothing. They pulled up the blinds and had the six men slowly step forward and say something. She, just by glancing, knew that neither of them was there. Flack had wanted her to be sure, and she quickly shot him down.
"No, he's not there. Can I go?" She had shouted at him. Pulling her arms close around her body, much like how Kerstin had hers. Flack had nodded, and Alison walked out. Her father walked up to her, and she shook her head.
"Great job. I'm proud of you." He said simply before they joined the others. Her father must have given them all a signal as none of them asked her anything. That was the only lineup they ever did for her, and it wasn't long after that Mac had to put the file in a pile. It stayed there until she was taken again. After they found her, the file was finally closed and taken out of the pile. But that all ended this week. The door to the room opened, and Alison jumped as Danny walked in to join them.
"Kerstin, how you doing?" he asked but was looking at Alison. He had clearly seen her jump. She gave a small smile.
"Kind of nervous," Kerstin said, not noticing the exchange.
"They can't see you, so just take your time." Danny pulled up the blind
"If you recognize anyone, just let us know and let us know where you recognized him from, okay?"
"I…I just can't be sure." Kerstin said before leaving the room.
"Now what," Baez said.
"Search his car. Maybe we can get something to tie him to Kerstin." Danny said. "That will give me time." Alison looked up at that.
"Give you time for what," Baez asked.
"Time to have a conversation with that scum bag." Alison locked eyes with Danny.
"She isn't me."
"Don't you think I know that?" Danny snapped, causing her to flinch.
"I know you think you know. I just want you to hear it from me."
Greg sat next to Alison at the dinner table. His hands were sweating.
"Great pie, gramps," Danny called out.
"It's a new recipe," Henry explained.
"Apparently, not everyone is a fan of the new recipe," Jamie said, pointing out Sean's forlorn look.
"Yeah, what's going on, Sean?" Erin said.
"You haven't said two words this whole meal."
"Girl problems," Danny said, taking a sip of coffee.
"Dad, could you just not," Sean called out.
"Did you and Lisa break up?" Eddie asked, leaning forward.
"No, Lisa broke up with him." Danny corrected her. Greg flinched and closed his eyes. He hadn't heard about that one.
"What happened," Henry asked.
"Give the man a little privacy," Frank said.
"Since when has this table respected someone else's privacy," Erin said, holding up her hands.
"Since never." Danny agreed.
"Lisa accused me of flirting with Britney Carmichael," Sean explained.
"Have you tried to work it out?" Frank asked.
"His last name is Reagan," Erin said.
"Which means every Reagan has a reputation of bad breakups." Eddie looked over at Jamie.
"Is there something I should know?"
"Did he ever tell you about Gina from his law firm," Danny said.
"She was convinced that Jamie was going to propose," Erin explained, causing Danny to laugh at Jamie's embarrassment.
"Laugh it up, Romeo. Have you heard from Nancy Drake lately?"
"About as recent to Tom Felton." Erin's mouth slammed shut. Eddie looked over at Alison.
"What about you. Did you have any bad breakup?" Alison smiled.
"No, just Greg."
"Oh, sure, that's an adorable lie," Danny called out.
"This little heartbreaker over here had a string of boys chasing after her in high school." Greg looked over at that.
"Really?" Alison smiled.
"What can I said I have high standards."
"Which she had to give up when she married you," Jamie said smiling.
"Laugh it up. I work in a corner office."
Alison sat across from Danny and the suspect's friend doing her best to track the call.
"Listen to me," Danny said into the phone. "If she comes out of this okay, you could still come out of this okay. Now put her on the phone." It was a lie. Alison could see it on his face, but his voice thankfully didn't give anything away.
"It has been lovely talking to you, detective. Thanks for the call." The line went dead. Danny looked up at her.
"His phone is pinging in the vicinity of Greenwich and West 11th."
"Good, I want every uni in the area looking for that vehicle." Danny stopped at the door, looking at Alison. "You coming." Alison shut the computer getting to her feet.
"Defiantly."
Greg walked into the dining room, where he was met by the Reagan family. Sean and the other grandkids weren't there, along with Alison. This was a meeting she was going to miss.
"How's it going," Henry asked as he took his seat. "Where's Alison?" Greg glanced at the others.
"She's not going to make it but sends her love." He smiled. The other Reagan glanced at each other.
"So, what's going on," Erin asked Frank.
"I didn't call this meeting," Frank said, holding up his hands.
"I did," Greg said. They all looked at him. He took a deep breath. "Alison wasn't taken by one man. She was taken by two." he reached into his bag and set a stack of letters on the table. "And the one that's still alive has been sending her letters every year on the anniversary of her abduction ever since."
