AN - Hello! As promised, the second chapter. Thank you for all the reviews, I really didn't think this drabble would be so welcomed, but it was a happy surprise. What do you think about idea? Hey, psst... my mind is working overtime on another Dannycentric fic... maybe I'll post that one soon, but no promises... don't tell anyone. Hush! Let me know what you think about this chapter. As I wrote in the first chapter, this fic isn't going to be an apprehensive one, just a sidetrack to get my mind to focus on my other stories again. Have fun. Enjoy. Leave a review - you know how much I appreciate them. /K.
Chapter TWO) Thursday, 9.15 am, Brooklyn Heights
"Jamie, open the door!" Eddie called and knocked, no, pounded at the door. She was a little breathless, because she had jogged up the stairs to the right floor, not patient enough to wait for the elevator, which was travelling up. "Jamie?" she called again and actually tried the handle. She pushed open the door and looked inside, before pushing it all the way open, with just one finger. "Hey, Reagan, you descent?" she called through the hall and stepped inside, not that she really cared if he was dressed or not. Her eyes found her partner's phone on the counter, next to his keys and wallet, but she couldn't find his jacket, which would be draped over the chair at the table. "Jamie, this is not funny, you're supposed to be in court…" she trailed of when her eyes landed on the shiny, black gun on the floor, near the couch and looked around the empty space. "Jamie?" she called out once again, this time, her voice was laced with worry. She hurried through the room, checking both the bedroom and the bathroom but not finding anything. Or anyone. She caught her phone from her pocket and was about to text Erin, when her eyes were drawn to the small dots of dark red on the floor in the living room.
"Eddie, is that you?" a familiar voice called from the door and Eddie shook her head back to reality.
"Yeah, in here," she called back when Danny Reagan rounded the corner. "He's not here, but his gun is on the floor and I've found blood over there," she continued and pointed to the floor right in front of the table. "Phone, keys and wallet are on the counter," she added when Danny took a look around.
"Erin called me, so I pulled the GPS on his phone and came straight here," Danny said and hunched by the speckles of blood. It wasn't much, but enough to worry. "I'll call it in. When did you last see him?" he asked when he turned around to Eddie.
"Last night, we went out for beers. He took off early, around eight, because he wanted to practice his statement. The door was closed when I got here," she said, sounding a little bit distracted as she once again took in the sight. A glass of water on the table by the pulled out chair, it all looked untouched. A few lights were still on. No knocked over chairs, broken vases or paintings not hanging straight. Nothing. She was vaguely aware of Danny's phone call when she walked to the counter and touched the screen on her partner's phone. It came to life with eight texts and seventeen missed calls from Erin, five from another number, one from herself and one from Danny.
"You've got something?" Danny asked behind her and she shook her head no. "Maybe you should text Erin about this. The trial should have started already," Danny nodded and she could see the expression in his face that he didn't want to be the bearer of bad news. Especially, when no one knew just how bad the situation was. Jamie was missing, probably taken from his apartment sometime during last night and they had no clue about the who, where and why.
Thursday, 9.15 am, New York County Supreme Court
"Counsel, approach the bench, please," the judge ordered and Erin got to her feet like the criminal defense attorney from the other table. They walked up to the judge, Pete Worthy, one of the more senior judges in the city and with lowered voice, he spoke to the two of them. "Reagan, if your witness is not available in the next fifteen minutes," he began and held up a finger, when she was about to protest. "Fifteen minutes is me, being generous, trust me," he said before she could voice her complain. "No excuse of his can be justified. He's wasting valuable time," the judge said.
"Your Honor, I'm sure there's a very good reason for his absence, believe me, I grew up with him. Officer Reagan has a lot of collars and a law degree from Harvard. He wouldn't be late, unless someone made him," she said discreetly glanced across the room to the man in the orange jumpsuit. She hoped she could change the judge's mind about the first impression Jamie had given the old judge. The defense attorney, Ray Harrington, almost dropped his jaw at the hint Erin threw into the middle of this, but once again, the judge held up a finger to stop him from speaking.
"Are you implying that something happened to your witness, to prevent him from showing up today?" he asked but Erin could only shrug.
"Your Honor, you can't just let her manipulate you into this bullshit lie. Obviously, she can't explain her witness' absence, because she doesn't have a case, but she's implying that my client, a law-abiding citizen, had something to do with it. That's outrageous," the man said in a fiercely low whisper. The judge looked up at the burly man approaching the three of them. His stride was urgent and he had a phone in his hand.
"I'm sorry for interrupting, Your Honor," Anthony began and then looked at Erin. "Bad news. Jamie's missing. Someone grabbed him from his apartment last night. They found his weapon, not discharged, on the floor and some blood. No sign of him anywhere," the investigator informed the trio.
"What? Are you sure?" Erin asked in a hushed, hesitant voice.
"Officer Janko was first on scene, Detective Reagan only five minutes later. It's already reached One PP," he explained and Erin nodded before turning back to the judge and defense attorney, who looked just as shocked.
"Your Honor…" she began but she judge held up a finger to silence her.
"Say no more, you have twenty-four hours to find your witness, Reagan. Good luck. Mr. Harrington, if the investigation proves, that your client was involved in Officer Reagan's absence or somehow connected to it, it'll be worst for himself, do you understand me?" the judge said and the defense attorney nodded with mixed feelings in his face. The judge leaned back and grabbed his gavel. "Court is in recess until tomorrow, 9 am," he said loudly and conversations started immediately with the rustle of people. Erin walked briskly down to her table with Anthony by her side.
"We need to find out what happened. I want every god damn record and transcript of conversations, phone calls and carrier pigeons that came from that bastard, right since he was caught, got it?" she said. It was meant more like an order than a request, but Anthony nodded, already ahead of her. "If that doesn't pan out, I want you to run through all of Harrington's contacts as well," she continued and he nodded again when she pulled on her coat.
"Where are you going?" he asked, when she hurriedly packed up her things.
"To see Danny, maybe we'll find something," she replied and rushed through the lingering crowds. She punched the speed dial to her father while doing her best to suppress the tears she could feel behind her eyes. For a split second her thoughts moved back to the night Joe had died, but she forcefully pushed them away when she shoved open the doors to get outside.