Chapter 4

Detective Reagan led me to his car. His partner offered me a blanket to cover myself. "Thank you," I pulled the blanket around myself after they kindly removed the cuffs.

"You look familiar," Reagan stated. I didn't feel the need to comment. "Have you been arrested in New York before?" he asked.

"No," I answered, fighting back a laugh. I undoubtedly knew why Reagan recognized me. I'm almost a carbon copy of my biological mom, Cassie Plum.

He was driving the car towards the precinct. My dad is quite attractive. I can easily see how my mom fell for him.

"Danny Reagan is your dad?" Detective Baez asked. "You're like what? Twenty-five? He would have been either getting married to Linda or already married to her. Danny isn't a cheater. So you're probably lying," she said, jumping to conclusions. Crap! I didn't mean to say that aloud.

As Baez was talking, I thought, 'I'm thirty-one, not twenty-five.'

"If you're thirty-one, I would have been like sixteen. Do you always have the habit of speaking your thoughts?" Reagan asked. Detective Baez asked someone to check my background. I smiled, thinking I could dig up more information about myself than they could.

"Unfortunately," I admitted. "It's truly annoying, but I never repeat anything confidential."

Baez's phone rang. She answered and held it to her ear, saying very few words. "Thank you. We're on our way now," she said before hanging up. "Her lawyer's at the station." Neither of them asked me further questions. I have nothing to hide.

If they unlocked my phone, they could read the information I just received from ancestry for additional proof. Detective Reagan kept looking at me in the rearview mirror. I could tell he was trying to place my face. Maybe I can have uncle Frank send me a photo. He has the photo album Nonna left for me. There must be a picture of mom at sixteen somewhere in the album.

Detective Baez escorted me into the precinct. I followed Baez towards an interrogation room where she said my lawyer was waiting for me. "I need to speak to my dad," I heard a teenage boy say to another officer. A heavy-set, football player built boy approached Detective Reagan.

"Take her to the interrogation room," Reagan instructed his partner. "How can I help you, Sean?"

I heard Sean answer, "Dad, another member of the Reagan family appeared on that DNA site. Her name is Stephanie Plum. The DNA says she's my half-sister." I smiled as Baez continued to direct me to the room.

Thank you, Hector, for the undetectable mic and earpiece. Where is my slippery Hermano hiding? He has to be near my dad and brother, or I wouldn't be able to hear their conversation as clear as I could. Hector waved as the interrogation room door closed behind me. His mic was on. He obviously knew I was still wearing mine, and it was still transmitting. I didn't feel comfortable wearing the earpiece and mic while in the interrogation room. For some reason, it just felt wrong.

After waving at the officers behind the two-way mirror, I removed the earpiece and reached into my bra. An officer barged into the room to stop me. "I'm removing my wire," I stated.

Detective Baez entered the room to assist. "Hand it over," she ordered.

"It's Rangeman property," Mark Hudson held out his hand. I placed the earpiece and mic into my lawyer's hand. If NYPD wants the items, they'll need a warrant. It wasn't my fault they didn't notice I was wearing a wire when they searched me. He quickly turned off the devices before placing them in a small plastic case for storage. I saw my name engraved into the top of the case.

A handsome, older man with black hair and warm brown eyes entered the room. He was wearing a suit fitted to perfection. Judging from the white-haired man standing behind him, I knew he was an important man. "Do you know who I am?" he asked, getting to the point.

"No, but I assume you must hold a high position within the police department. You have one bodyguard here and two more watching the door. Which makes you the police commissioner?" I asked, allowing my spidey sense to guide me. "You carry yourself like my Merry Men. They are mostly ex-military." I tilted my head to the side to assess him further. Not from the Army. So Navy or Marine, I took a gamble. "You are an ex-Marine. A man of honour. Fair."

"You've done your homework, Ms. Plum," he replied.

"No homework involved. I've been trained by the best," I countered. "You have me at a disadvantage. I don't know your name."

"Pardon my manners. I'm police commissioner Frank Reagan," he finally told me.

"My grandfather," I whispered. He seemed surprised I made the connection.

"My grandson, Sean, brought me some interesting information. It appears you are his half-sister. What do you know about this?" he politely asked. I told him everything I learned from Frank Plum.

"I didn't know about Sean until today," I finished. He nodded. "I'm sorry, but, umm, does anyone have clothes I can borrow?" I opened the blanket, exposing my skimpy clothes.

"Garrett?" he asked his bodyguard for assistance.

"Abigail is bringing some clothes for her," he replied. "I'm Garrett Moore, special assistant to the commissioner," he introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you," both my lawyer and I replied.

"Is my client under arrest?" Hudson asked.

"No, she is not," Reagan replied. "Ms. Plum's team verified her story." I wanted to see my man and go home. "I'm curious to know, how did you get past my men wearing a wire?"

I suppressed a laugh and pushed my device case towards him. He pulled it towards him and opened the box. "They're tiny," I said, pointing into the box. "It was designed at Rangeman."

"Impressive," he stated before closing the case and pushing it towards me.

Detective Reagan entered the room carrying a hoodie and track pants. I pulled them on and quickly removed the tiny red leather skirt. "Thanks, I feel much better," I said to the younger Reagan. The clothes were a bit large on me, and I had a feeling they belonged to my dad. The NYPD crest was on the hoodie.

"You're free to go," he stated. I followed my lawyer from the room. My man was waiting for me and pulled me into his arms.

"I'm so glad to see you," I whispered as I nuzzled into his neck.

"Me too. We're staying in New York for the night," he informed me. I noticed my new family was waiting to speak to me.

"Come over for brunch before you leave," PC Reagan ordered. "You can bring your team," he quickly added.

We stayed in a hotel not too far from the precinct. To reduce our expenses, we shared rooms. Okay, okay. I'll be honest. We had no choice except to share rooms. The hotel only had a few suites available. I was sharing a room with my man, Lester, Bobby and Hector.

Tank, Manny, Cal, Ram and Vince were in the room beside us. We unlocked the doors adjoining our rooms and left them open.

"Morning, Steph," my man said before kissing me. "Shower with me?"

I let him drag me from bed. While in the shower, we made love. His lips quickly silenced my scream. After a few more pumps, I could feel him empty inside me. "I love you, Steph," his words formed on my lips.

"I love you too," I replied. A sudden thought passed through my mind. "Do I have anything to wear?" I was ready to wear the borrowed clothes from my dad. It was better than wearing the skimpy outfit from the distraction.

"Last night, the guys retrieved our emergency bags from the cars," he replied. I wrapped a towel around myself before leaving the washroom. Lester and Bobby already changed their clothes for the day; both were wearing huge smiles. My secret was now in the open.

With my back to the men in my room, I dropped my towel once I pulled on my panties. I smiled when I heard them gasp. When I put on my bra, I turned around to sit on the bed. All the men were standing in my room watching me dress. "Seriously, guys? All of you saw me in a bikini before," I stated.

"Not that lacy, Beautiful," Lester replied. "You are one very sexy woman. When did you get those abs?" He didn't mention my lack of abs when we were hooking up.

"These?" I asked as I stroked a finger down my body to tease them. His eyes darkened as he followed the motion. "I had them since I passed all of Rangeman's tests. I'm surprised you didn't notice them before now."

"Lucky bastard," Les mumbled. He precisely knew what he was missing.

I finished dressing and used my phone to check the address of Frank Reagan's home. We double-checked to ensure we had everything before checking out of the hotel. Almost an hour later, we were parking in the driveway of a sizeable red-bricked two-floor home.

An older gentleman answered the door when we arrived. "Hi, I'm Henry Reagan. Please come in," he greeted us. I followed him into the house to a large dining room. After all the introductions, Ella started bringing the food to the table.

"Hija," Ella said when she saw me.

"When did you get here?" I asked as I hugged her.

"A few hours ago," she replied. I noticed Hal and Junior were in the kitchen helping her prepare brunch. She pointed to a chair to Frank Reagan's left. As I took my seat, Danny and Sean arrived. "Your Uncle Frank asked me to bring this to you." Ella handed me the photo album filled with pictures of my mom.

"Thanks," I quietly replied, opening the album. "Will you adopt me?" I joked.

"In my heart, you're already my daughter," she replied.

Danny was staring at me as though he was trying to place my face. "This is her, my mom," I pointed to the woman in the photo. I looked identical to her at the same age. Mom was seven months pregnant in the photograph.

"Cassie," he said with recognition. "You look just like her." I set aside the album so we could eat. As usual, I moaned my way through brunch. "She had the same habit," Danny stated.

"So good," I said before taking another bite of my cinnamon roll.

"How can you eat so much and not gain weight?" Sean asked after brunch.

"Exercise. How else do you get this kind of abs," I replied as I bared my midriff to my half-brother. He whistled in appreciation.

It was time to leave, but I wanted to stay longer to learn more about my family. "Little girl, stay longer to visit. Get to know your father," Tank passed me a set of keys. My Merry Men left the house. Only my man stayed behind. Ella, Junior and Hal were catching a ride with the other men.

I opened the album to look at her photo again. It's a shame I never had the chance to meet her. "Where is she now?" Danny asked as he touched her picture.

"In one of Italy's graveyards," I answered. He looked almost heartbroken.

"How long ago?" Henry asked.

"Thirty-two years this December. She was killed by a drunk driver leaving a Christmas party," I replied. "I was raised by my uncle Frank and aunt Helen. They were mom and dad until I received my DNA results."

"Which is how I found you," Sean added. "It was part of a school project." He told me how he discovered his cousin Joseph Hill. My match just appeared on his app yesterday, which was the same day I received notification.

The Reagans are an Irish Catholic family. It's no surprise why I have a wicked temper. I come by it legitimately. "Thank you for letting me stay longer, but I really should head back home to Trenton," I said to my new family.

"It was our pleasure to visit with you," Frank reciprocated. Erin, Jamie and Eddie arrived as I prepared to leave. They introduced me to my aunts and uncle.

After exchanging phone numbers, it was time to leave. Each person hugged me before I left. "Don't be a stranger," Henry yelled from the front door. I gave them a wave as we pulled away.

"Everyone was so nice and accepting," I said as we took the ramp to the highway.

"Steph, you come from a large family."

"So do you. If I remember correctly, you have three brothers and a sister. I just met my family, and I already miss them," I sadly admitted.

'Can I visit this summer?' Sean texted.

Me: Sure, if it's alright with your dad.

Sean: Our dad. He said to ask you.

Me: Okay. Let me know when.

Sean: Is after my last exam too soon?

Me: Maybe. My apartment only has one bedroom.

Sean: Your boyfriend said he has a house. Could we stay there?

"Hey, Honey, if Sean comes to visit this summer, can we stay at your house?" I asked.

"About that, Stephanie, will you move in with me? Your lease is up in a few weeks," he asked.

"I would love to," I replied. "We're practically living together anyway. I haven't slept in my apartment for months." Living with my man didn't scare me at all. He was still waiting for my other answer. "Yes to your other question too," I was looking forward to spending my life with this amazing man. He's everything I could ever want or need.

Me: I'm moving in with him. We'll set up the guest room for you.

Sean: I will text the date. Thanks, Steph.

Me: No problem, Sean.