Alison took pictures of the body.
"You beat us here." Danny called out to her. Alison glanced over at him.
"I was in the neighborhood working another scene."
"Baez, can you believe that my kid sister here spent almost a month in Las Vegas and then had the nerve to skip family dinner. I'm years of tradition out the window." Baez rolled her eyes.
"How was your trip."
"Busier than Greg or I planned." Danny looked at his sister.
"How is Sanders." Alison smiled.
"Ready to get his stitches out. That's part of the reason we weren't at dinner. With the time changes and his stitches, it just wasn't happening." Danny looked at her. The truth was that Alison and Greg just didn't want to talk about the letter. Greg had sent a message to Frank letting them know. Today Greg was at the lab delivering the evidence to Mac for him and Flack to look over. Alison turned back to the body.
"We got two entrance wounds, no exit. The ID says Charles Wright is 28 years old." Baez looked at the body.
"What was he doing in this area? No coat…" Alison looked around them.
"My money is on him getting pushed out of a car." Alison handed over a bag. "You might want to take a look at this." Danny took the bag looking at the phone.
"He was going to make a gun buy at 2 o'clock."
"621 18th street," Baez said, reading over his shoulder. She looked at her watch. "We have just enough time to get there."
"Alright, you get the warrant; I'll put the pedal to the metal," Danny said, handing the bag back to Alison.
"Let me know if you get another scene."
Greg walked up to the scene.
"What's with the get-up." Eddie said, looking at his CIS cover suit. Greg pulled out his clipboard.
"Well, I technically speaking still have a gunshot wound. I don't want to get what they have or give the scene what I have." Eddie nodded.
"Jamie said that you were going to take time off." Greg started making notes.
"No, I kind of just want to keep busy. Mac said he needed a level three here mainly to watch the level 2, so I volunteered." Greg said, handing the clip broad to one of the CSI's pulling out their camera.
"Well, before we get into this scene, I'll let you know that Erin talked the family into adjusting the meal order, so you're off the hook for the next 3 Sundays." Greg looked at her.
"Why do I get the feeling that there's a catch." Erin walked up to them with Antony.
"There is because you and Alison missed dinner without a doctor's note. You have to do meals for the 5 Sundays after that." Greg rolled his eyes.
"Alison had food poisoning from some airport food."
"Do you have proof?" Erin asked.
"No."
"Then you have no case." Erin turned to Eddie.
"What do we have?" Eddie led them into the house.
"It's a bad one. Single-shot to the wife in the kitchen then the husband in the family room. Their son tried to run but was shot twice in the back. Their 18-year-old daughter was the only survivor. She's on her way to the hospital due to shock. We weren't able to get a statement from her, but an officer did go with her."
"And Lindsey is going to meet her there," Greg added. Erin looked around the scene. Eddie stepped forward, lowering her voice.
"ATF is crawling around here too, something about a gun trafficking thing that the family might have been involved in." Erin pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Great, just what I need."
Alison sat in Danny's chair, drinking a cup of tea.
"What are you doing, her kid," Danny asked, walking over to her.
"Well, from the looks of things. The guns at that shop are getting bought down in Georgia legally and being sold up here illegally for 5x the original price." Danny looked at her.
"And you felt the need to come all the way down here, her tell me that." Alison looked at him.
"No, I came to see how beat up you were." She stood up. "I mean, you let them get away. I would have thought you would at least have a black eye." Danny's jaw worked.
"He shoved me back." Alison crossed her arms.
"And you didn't run after him, and Baez didn't shoot him." Alison shook her head. "I've seen enough crime scenes, Danny. Something isn't adding up. You can tell me now or wait and let the evidence tell me." Danny opened his mouth to say something by Jamie walked over, clearing his voice.
"Hey Al, can I talk to Danny alone for a minute." Danny held up his hands.
"She's going to know when the prints come back." Jamie looked at Danny.
"What do you mean."
"I pushed him up against the counter Al is going to get a hit." Jamie pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Al, who's running the prints." Alison looked between her brothers.
"No one yet. We are still going through the first scene with the body." Jamie let out a breath.
"I can have anyone running those prints except for you."
"Why I don't really work prints." Danny glared at Jamie.
"Because they're going to come back to a Joe Hill, you newie who had been working undercover for ATF." Alison's eyes shot over to Jamie.
"And You know how Jamie knows that it's because he's been acting as Joe's handler." Jamie stepped closer.
"Listen, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you, but I'm worried about Joe. He told me that he's under suspicion because of Danny's takedown." Danny laughed.
"Oh, my takedown. Well, my takedown never would have happened. If you had told me what was going on. So, I'm supposed to feel bad about it." Jamie held up his hands.
"No…No, I'm just wondering how the whole thing went down. How'd you hear about the guns?" Danny smiled over at Alison.
"Al told me. She found evidence at a Homicide this morning. A body was dumped. We had no idea that Joe would be the seller." Jamie nodded.
"Okay. Well, you two just keep me in the loop." Danny looked at Alison.
"Kind of like how you kept Al and me in the loop."
Greg sat in Erin's office going over trial notes.
"You know I could have helped Danny," Greg said, looking over at her. Erin smiled. One of Danny's witnesses linked the family to the gun bust.
"I know, but I want Danny and Anthony to get along, and forcing them to work together seems like the only way to do that. Besides, you were shot." Greg rolled his eyes.
"I was cleared." Erin took her glasses off.
"Sanders, you were cleared for low impact work. Overseeing crime scenes and testifying in court. I'm not going to send you there just to have you end up right back in the hospital." Erin shook her head. "This would never have happened if you and Alison stayed in New York." Anger shot through Greg.
"Listen!" it came out louder than he intended. He leaned forward, lowering his voice. "Listen, Alison has been having a letter sent to her on the day she was taken for almost 15 years. We just wanted to see if it still happened even if we were in a different state." Erin glared at him.
"And while you were there, Alison was in a helicopter crash, and you were shot, so yes, Sanders, you did a great job protecting my sister." Her words cut through him, and he slid back in his chair. Erin pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sanders, I didn't…." She was cut off by Danny walking into the office.
"Max Fagan's girlfriend, Charlotte, Confirms his alibi." He said Anthony close behind him.
"Al's checking their phones to see if it gives us their location at the time of the murders." There was a knock on the door, and the ATF agent joined them.
"Hi, hope I'm not interrupting." Erin stood up.
"Special Agent Evens, this is Detective Reagan, my brother. Also, working the case." Evens shook his head.
"I met your sister-in-law," He pointed at Greg. "And Brother-in-law yesterday. How many of you are there?"
"A whole bunch of us." Danny said, sizing the guy up.
"Agent Evens is AFT." Erin explained.
"Mm-hmm," Danny nodded.
"So, you're following the gun?"
"Ans, the shooter. As I'm sure Erin already told you, we think Max is responsible for at least five murders down in Georgia." Danny looked over at Greg, giving a smirk.
"Mm, too bad you're not good at catching him."
"Well, I guess you're not either." Danny looked over at Erin.
"I would have caught him already, but my hands are tied."
"Can we stay focused, please?" Erin asked. She looked at Evens. "How can I help you?"
"Ballistics compared the bullets from our homicides to the Watkins family murders. It's a match." Danny nodded.
"We know the CSI on my team already sent over that report." Evens smiled.
"Well, I'm sure your guy is good, but we like to be thorough." Anthony laughed.
"That CSI is their sister and his wife." Erin held up her hands.
"Anyways, so ballistics tie the murders together, but don't tie them to Max Fagan."
"Okay, but there's got to be something," Danny said, looking at Greg. "Something at the Watkins family crime scene that connects Max Fagen."
"Hairs were found," Greg said.
"Which turned out not to be human." Evens said.
"And the family didn't have any pets." Danny looked at Anthony.
"You thinking what I'm thinking." Anthony nodded.
"Max has a dog." Okay, so you know that you have to do." Erin said.
"Why is it that Anthony and I are the ones sifting through garbage. While you are leaning against the car drinking hot chocolate." Danny said over to Alison.
"Because Erin wanted me to come and make sure you didn't muck anything up but also said that you two needed time to bond." Danny tossed his bag of trash down.
"Well, there's nothing here." Alison shook her head.
"There has to be. Nick's dog sheds just as much as Max's dog. He even had a lint roller by the door for people as they left his house." Anthony tossed his bag down.
"Well, Al, I'm sorry to say there's nothing here." Alison shook her head.
"No, there's one more bag you have to go through." She pointed at the one they had missed. Danny glared at her.
"Since you found it, why don't you go through it." Alison shook her head.
"No, I think you and Anthony should flip for it." Danny raised an eyebrow.
"That is a great idea." Danny pulled out a coin.
"Call it." Danny flipped it.
"Tails," Anthony said. Danny smiled, showing him.
"Heads." Anthony cursed, going through the last bag.
"Every bet I make with you, I lose," Anthony complained. Danny held out the coin.
"That's because I have a two-headed coin." Anthony looked over at Alison.
"And you knew about this." She shrugged her shoulders. "I like your husband better." Alison smiled.
"He's the one that gave Danny that coin."
Greg sat next to Alison taking a drink of his water at the dinner table. If he had known that Sunday dinner would be tense, he would have skipped this week and not last.
"Pass the potatoes, please." Henry said. Greg reached out to grab them, then winced. Sean seeing this held them.
"Sure, thing pops." Greg nodded his thanks.
"it's delicious, Erin." Eddie said around a mouth full of food.
"I like these roasted potatoes."
"Thank you."
"Yeah, well, there's going to be a lot of leftovers, especially because Grandpa, Dad, Aunt Al, and Uncle Jamie are barely eating." Alison held up her hand.
"Erin was the one that made lasagna." Erin smiled at her.
"And you're the one that skipped dinner over food poisoning. Which is rich considering how many times you gave it to all of us."
"I don't know what's worse. You guys arguing." Eddie said, pointing at Erin and Alison. "Or you guys not saying a word." She looked at Jamie, Danny, and Frank.
"Anyone cares to fill us in." henry asked.
"Don't ask me to talk to Dad or Jamie. They're the ones keeping all the secrets." Greg looked over at Alison. She took another sip of her water, forcing down a bit of lasagna. She knew something. He could see it in the way she looked over at Jamie.
"Okay, what's going on?" Erin called out. Frank didn't say anything turning back to his food.
"You're not gonna get nothing out of them," Danny said.
"I'll just say that gun trafficking operation we're working—You know, the one where the family was massacred. There's been a man on the inside. The whole time. And they didn't think to tell Alison or me. So she ended up having to work the rest of the week processing the evidence by herself so that person's name wouldn't get leaked." Greg leaned over to Alison.
"I thought you said you had Messer helping you." Alison blushed.
"I figured you wouldn't ask him." Greg shook his head.
"That's great," Erin said to Danny.
"Yeah, except you won't think it's great when you find out who it is." Erin looked over at Frank.
"You're so anxious to share," Frank said, shaking his head. "Just tell 'em." Danny nodded.
"Fine, since you won't, I will. You guys know the Reagan that we never knew existed, who showed up and then vanished without a trace or an explanation? Well, now we know why. Joe Hill is the man on the inside." Greg, who had been taking a drink, choked, and Alison looked over at him. He held up his hand, stopping Sean from slapping him on the back.
"I'm fine." He whispered out.
"What?" Erin said to Danny.
"Joe's working undercover." Eddie said.
"Don't ask me. Ask your husband." Danny said, holding up his hands. "He's known the whole time."
"Is this true," Henry asked Jamie.
"Yes."
"Just like his dad." Sean said what everyone was thinking.
"I don't need you to remind me, Sean," Frank said.
"How long," Henry asked.
"Six months," Jamie said. Sean shook his head.
"So right around the time, you told us that he was taking time off. You lied to us."
"Nobody lied." Frank snapped. "Joe reached out to me about a week after that. ATF had contacted him. he wanted to work undercover. That's it." Erin pushed her plate back.
"Great, so nothing too dangerous." Eddie was looking at Jamie.
"How long have you known?"
"Since the beginning." Alison leaned over to Greg.
"For the record, I found out when Danny did actually a little after that. Eddi shook her head.
"You didn't tell anyone. You didn't tell me?"
"He shouldn't, so he couldn't," Frank called out. "Come one, Eddie, you're a cop. You've gotta know if he could share that weight he's carrying on his shoulders, he would." Danny shook his head.
"How about the weight we would have felt if Joe would have died the same way his father did? Killed by a cop while he was working undercover." Danny's voice was getting louder.
"And what if I was the cop? I could have been. Or Al could have sent his fingerprint through the system and blown his cover."
"If we knew he was working in the city, we would have told you," Jamie argued.
"Yeah, well, you didn't."
"If you were his handler, you would have done the exact same thing," Frank added.
"How could you let him do this," Erin asked, shaking her head.
"Joe asked to do it." Jamie said.
"So, what."
"He's a grown man. It's his choice." Frank said. "Look, it's as simple as it is complicated. It is my job to keep people safe. And none of you had a need to know. Excuse me." Frank moved to get up. Erin tossed her napkin down.
"Great, this family is all about keeping secrets. First Alison's letters and now this." Erin shouted. Alison shot back in her chair.
"Hey, this has nothing to do with that," Greg said, but it was too late Alison was gone. He could see it in her eyes. She slowly moved, getting up from her seat heading for the kitchen. She stopped at the door, looking at Frank.
"We needed to know." The door shut behind her, and Greg rested his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry," Erin said. Greg took a deep breath.
"I know. She's just disappointed that the trip didn't work." Frank sat back down.
"How did she get it." Jamie asked. Greg leaned back in his chair. One of the flowers arrangements sent to my hospital room was a set of roses. The card said to look in the top drawer, and there it was." Jamie shook his head.
"I'm sorry." Greg shrugged his shoulders.
"Like Alison says. That day is over. We get a whole year before it comes around again."
Alison ran her hands through her hair.
"Well, what are we going to do now." She asked Danny.
"I don't know. Greg was able to match the dogs, but by the time we got there, he was gone." Greg shook his head.
"I don't like this. He's out there, and so is Joe." Alison shook her head.
"I filed all of the evidence that could link him to the scene in the forgotten box." Danny looked over at that.
"What." Greg rolled his eyes.
"The box of evidence that just seems to keep getting miss filed."
"Oh, really, I would have never thought Al to use something like that." Alison shrugged her shoulders. Jamie walked over to them. "What are you doing here?" Jamie nodded at Greg and Alison.
"I wanted to keep you three in the loop about Joe," Jamie said.
"Little late for that, don't you think?" Jamie looked over at Greg and Alison.
"I think I'm going to go get a cup of coffee," Greg said. Alison hopped to her feet.
"Yes, and I will help you." They walked away, giving the brothers time to talk alone.
"What do you think?" Greg asked her.
"I think that Joe needs to come in." Greg leaned against the wall, absently rubbing his side.
"What makes you say that." Alison looked over at Danny and Jamie.
"Because, like it or not, Joe's tied to this Max Fagen that killed that family." Danny signaled for them to come back over.
"What's up," Alison said. Ignoring the fact that Greg hadn't gotten any coffee.
"Joe's doing one more buy with Max." Alison shut her eyes.
"What do you need."
Greg sat in the back of Danny's car with Alison.
"They're switching cars," Jamie said.
"I see." He looked back at Alison. "Let Aviation know in case they missed it." Alison nodded.
"We're gonna lose the GPS feed-in Joe's car," Jamie said. Danny looked over at him.
"We got eyes on in the air and on the ground." Greg leaned forward.
"His wire is still good. We won't lose him." Jamie shook his head.
"We could just go in and take down Max right now."
"But we could also put him in danger if we do," Danny said.
"Let's just say on him." Danny pulled the car onto the road to tail them. His phone rang. "Yeah." Erin's voice came over the speakers.
"Danny, Sarah Watkins was murdered." Greg looked up at this.
"Sarah was murdered by who?" Danny asked. He glanced at Greg.
"By Max."
"Don't know, just got here. Two bullets to the chest, and he left two more bullets standing on the counter." Danny sighed.
"It's Max. He's sending a message. Joe is in a car right now with him."
"Danny, stay close to him. I called Mac. He's going to work the scene here."
"Will do." Danny hung the phone up. Alison ripped her headphones off.
"We just lost the wire, Danny. He's been made."
"Has Aviation got a bead on them," Danny asked?
"Not yet," Greg called up. Alison held up her hands.
"Gunshots a few blocks ahead." They pulled up to the scene where the car they had been following was on fire. They all got out, pulling their guns, but there was no sign of anyone.
"Sanders." Danny pointed, and Greg nodded. There was one body in the car to burned to be ID.