Hello! Guess who's back with an update! :) Surprise! It's me... and I apologize for the long wait, but I've been travelling to the other side of the world (four planes - 24 hours - not counting in the waiting at the airports). Now, here's a challenge for you: while you read this post, I want you guys to come up with a persona/personality for Danny's not-so-friendly acquaintance later on (how he looks, moves, speaks, thinks and so on). I did try to leave the character a bit open. And you may have to give me a break for the wording - it is in the middle of the night, I've been working extra hours at the shop and my horses demand a fairly good amount of time, too. I would like to know, however, what I can do better for the next chapter, so let me know - it will make my day if you will leave a review.
"I don't know how you managed to talk me into this," Eddie said when she walked through the front door to the Reagan's house. Her arm was still aching, but she could manage almost a whole day without the sling now. She had spent most of her the past week in the hospital, close to Jamie, where Henry and Linda had looped her into joining the family for dinner that Sunday and little could she do to change their decision. Jamie was ready to be signed out and Danny had offered to pick him up and bring him home.
"You'll be fine," Erin replied and put her bag on the floor. These past weeks had been somewhat awful for all of the family and she was quite exhausted. At least Jamie's condition hadn't deteriorated and he grew stronger by the day. "It's just dinner," she continued.
"I know… the famous Reagan Sunday family dinner," Eddie mumbled under her breath and left her jacket on the coat hanger like Erin did. Erin didn't seem to notice her comment and walked into the living room ahead of Eddie. Linda was the first to stand up from her seat on the couch and walk to Eddie. In one movement she had enveloped the younger woman who was still a little bit astonished. In one week, Eddie became good friends with Linda, who had known Jamie since his early teens and Linda could see how he had changed the last couple of years with the partnership of Officer Janko. They parted with a smile and Eddie was surprised how normal it felt, being around the Reagan's. Frank and Henry were in the kitchen, finishing up the roast and mash. It took Eddie a couple of times to not greet Frank with a salute but it still felt wrong not to do it. They all started talking and were quickly carried away. Jack and Sean described their week in school, Nicky complained about an essay and Linda worried too much about the new teacher. Not long after the front door opened and Danny scooted inside with a duffle bag in his hand. Everybody's eyes fell on Jamie, who appeared behind Danny and walked slowly inside.
"Look who finally showed up!" Danny called teasingly, so they all could hear it, and closed the door behind his brother.
"Shut it, Danny," Jamie replied, but the tiny smile didn't go unnoticed.
"Danny," Erin said warningly as they all stood. Danny winced and sucked in a breath between his teeth.
"Sorry, Sis," he glanced at Jamie and helped him out of his worn jacket.
"I'm glad, you're okay, Uncle Jamie," Nicky said from where she was leaning on the door frame.
"I have to say, it's good to see you upright, son," Frank said from behind all of them and the room full of Reagan's parted in the middle so he could pass.
"Hey, dad," Jamie said quietly. After his second surgery they had talked a lot about everything and nothing and Jamie felt strangely closer to Frank than he had for years.
"Let's eat before the food ends up cold. Dinner is served," he said solemnly and the family shuffled to the dinner table one room over.
"Come on, Uncle Jamie," Jack called from his seat when he noticed his uncle hadn't moved. Neither had Eddie, who had been standing a little away from the mass of Reagan's.
"Jack," Nicky reprimanded him, when she caught the atmosphere between the two young officers.
"What?" he asked, not knowing what he had just interrupted. Nicky rolled her eyes and all of them laughed, except for Jack. Only a few seconds had passed when Eddie and Jamie walked the few meters to each other and embraced. Jamie, shabby and drained, buried his nose in Eddie's hair and enjoyed the feeling of her arm around his waist.
"We'll get through this," Jamie whispered in her ear. They both knew what 'this' was and it needed no further explanation between them. Eddie pulled away, smiling bravely.
"We can survive anything," she countered, repeating what he had told her hours before they were found, thirteen days ago. Jamie smiled and turned to the dining room and sat down on the empty chairs. The loud conversation silenced and Frank looked at the members of the family in turn.
"Who wants to say grace?" he asked the people her cared the most for.
Linda leaned over and kissed her husband goodnight before she stood from the couch and moved to the stairs.
"Goodnight, babe," Danny hummed and looked in her direction before turning his eyes back to the television. Dinner had been distressing. At least, no heated discussion, this time. Everybody had been on their best behavior, trying hard to make Jamie comfortable. Eddie had been a huge contributor to that factor. For the first time in history, the shop talk had been minimal, despite the number of cops actually being present. Jamie and Eddie had left early, due to Jamie's fatigue and now, hours later, Danny was home with a beer on the table, next to his feet. He was just catching the ending of a movie with the volume on low and to be honest, he felt weakened from the last couple of weeks. He could only sigh and wish he was dreaming when his phone buzzed on the table.
"Reagan," he answered, cautious, when he noticed the blocked caller ID. Could it be possible to recognize breathing, he wondered, before hearing a voice on the line.
"5302, first Avenue, Brooklyn. One hour. Alone. Don't be late," the voice croaked. Danny sat up straight but didn't say anything. He glanced at the stairs, thinking of Linda for a brief moment. Before he could answer the line went dead and he thought he recognized the voice. There more he thought about it, the more faded it turned, so he quickly stood and grabbed the keys to the dark green Jeep before heading out the door.
"Thank you for doing this," Jamie murmured and let his head fall back on the pillow when he could finally relax.
"I told you, you're stuck with me, partner," Eddie replied with a wink and bent down at the waist to place a kiss on his mouth. It felt completely normal to do that now, a week into their slowly progressing relationship.
"Staying the night?" he asked, half asleep already and pulling her closer, so she would eventually fall down on top of him.
"You need to rest, Jamie, doctor's orders… go to sleep, Boy Scout," Eddie protested with a hand on his chest. He sighed, let her go and she pulled the cover over him, before she left the bedroom. This whole development had changed everything. For starters, she felt guilty for Jamie's injuries. She wanted him to be safe and apparently she could easily become a target through her father. She let herself sprawl out on the couch for a moment when her mind was too busy to concentrate on anything else. If she could be a target, Jamie would be too. And she didn't know if she could handle it. Two weeks ago, she realized that. And this last week had been a dance on roses with the thorns threatening to sting. She sighed again and squinted her eyes to make the involuntary images go away. When she finally stood up an hour had passed and she realized she had drowsed on the couch. She went to the kitchen, where she found a glass of water and the painkillers marked 'vicodin' Jamie had been subscribed. Silently she walked into the bedroom and set the glass and the pill bottle on the nightstand, easy to find if he woke up in pain.
"Sweet dreams, Reagan," she whispered to the slowly breathing pile under the blanket and left the apartment.
5302 on First Avenue looked like a storing facility for bigger shipments. It took Danny half an hour to get there, circle the block and park the car a bit away. He didn't know how the person got a hold of his phone number and he was pissed, that someone had the nerve to call him like this and demand his presence. He could have chosen to ignore it and go to bed, but he knew it would haunt him for hours. So he had decided to go for a drive in the middle of the night. He had thought of how to approach this disturbance – to lurk from the corners until someone showed up and tail them when they left or to actually meet the guy and scare the shit out of him. He had gone with option C – a GPS tracker in his pocket to place on the guy if necessary, a sniper on a rooftop close by, a couple of TARU guys, who owed him a favor, and Baez lurking from the shadows. And now he was right on time, when he walked through the open-all-hours-gate in the dim light of the street lamps. His cap was shading his face. He had prepared for the worst. He stopped in the middle of the open lot… and waited. Nothing happened for five minutes. Until his phone rang.
"Where are you, numb nuts, come out from your hiding hole and let's talk," he said when he accepted the call. There it was again, the breathing.
"I'm disappointed in you, Detective Reagan…" Danny was puzzled. "Making that call to Detective Baez, when you walked from your house to the car… it hurt my feelings," the voice said. Danny froze, his heart almost stopped beating. It couldn't be… the unfamiliar car he had spotted down the road from his house. Had this psycho been watching his house? "How was the old man's roast?" the voice asked, like jumping to the next item on the to-do-list. "I bet your dad think it's nice to see the whole family assembled once again. Your brother looked good, considering. Almost like your fatigued sister," he said casually.
"What do you want?" Danny asked in a low, growling voice. He certainly didn't have the patience to this idiot's game. The mere thought of someone staking out the Reagan family was that of horror.
"Oh, no… I don't want anything from you… yet," the voice snickered. The man let out a tiny laugh. "For now, I just need you to know, how close I can get to your family," the voice laughed again.
"If you do anything to anyone, you won't get the pleasure of seeing the inside of a cell. You would go straight six feet under, asshole, without anyone knowing about it," Danny snarled at the phone.
"Good luck with that, Detective. I will be in touch, when the time is right," the voice said and hung up. Danny cursed the man to a far away hole in the ground and glanced around before he headed to the gate. Right now he needed to get home. And tell his family. Baez approached him from the opposite street corner with a couple of men on her trail.
"What happened? We didn't see nobody," she started.
"Asshole didn't show. He's been watching my family all day… he even knew what we had for dinner, that son of a bitch," Danny barked and kept walking to his car. "I'll see you later… thanks for the back-up, guys," he called over his shoulder.
Eddie's phone buzzed on the table where she left it, when she got home. The screen read 'Danny' and she grabbed it quickly, surprised and anxious about a call after midnight.
"Danny? What's going on?" she blurted out quickly. She could hear the sound of an engine doing its best to satisfy the foot on the pedal.
"Are you and Jamie all right?" Danny demanded. Tires screeched and a car horn muffled Danny's aggressive shout out to the driver. Eddie was standing now and unconsciously glanced out the windows, down on the street.
"I'm fine… Jamie should be sleeping at his place… I don't understand, what's going on?" Eddie asked frantically. This wasn't funny the least. She was already running for the car keys again, now rushed by the adrenaline. She slammed the door behind her, not bothering to turn off the lights.
"Eddie, could you…" Danny started before Eddie interrupted him.
"On my way… call me later," she said when she hastily ran down the stairs. She heard a muffled 'thanks' and slipped the phone in her pocket when she reached her car.
Frank was still awake when his phone started singing. A call at this hour could only mean one of two things. And he didn't know anybody, who was anywhere close to giving birth at the time. He didn't glance at the screen, but answered it quickly.
"What is it, Garrett?" he asked, already making his way to the kitchen. He could sense, he needed a pot of coffee for this.
"Dad? Have you seen anything suspicious outside the house today?" Danny's voice sounded hectic in the phone, rushed, somehow. Frank was puzzled enough to pause halfway through the entrance. At least the sentence hadn't begun with Garrett's voice saying 'something has happened'. He thought about the question and the answer belonging to it.
"Maybe a car… it didn't look familiar," Frank answered, suspiciously. "What's this about, Danny?" he continued. Danny relayed the entire phone call and Frank decided to call him back later. He had some calls to make and strings to pull.
Anything good in there? let me know, guys! Thanks for reading - you are awesome!
K.