Chapter 3

Jamie plugged his earbuds into his cell and selected the playlist he'd carefully crafted for his early morning runs. With plans to meet up with JC and some of the other guys from his old precinct for beers after tour, he was looking forward to getting some cardio in before work. The guitar riff to his favorite AC/DC song began blasting as he locked the apartment door behind him. Jamie was headed toward the elevator when a small, dark mound on the floor caught his attention just before he went to take his next step. "Oh, Jesus!" he shrieked and scampered quickly to his right to avoid trampling over it. Jamie ended up pressed against the wall as he stared down at the large, dead rat in his path and placed his hand over his racing heart. Growing up in New York and often having to chase perps down dark, filthy alleys, he wasn't one to normally startle at the sight of rodents, he just wasn't expecting to see one on his way out of his apartment and so early in the morning.

Jamie brought his hands up to his hips and let out a heavy sigh. That was strange, they never had any problems with pests in the building before, he thought. He glanced down both ends of the deserted hallway; Eddie and a few of his other female neighbors certainly would not appreciate the sight and being the gentleman that he was, he decided it probably would be best if he got rid of it instead of letting the super take his time with the task. Jamie blew out a heavy breath as he turned back toward the apartment and into the kitchen in search of a dustpan and garbage bag.

That was how Eddie found him when she shuffled out of their bedroom, releasing a large yawn as she went to meet him. "You decided to come back to bed, didn't you?" she smirked, referring to her attempts to talk him out of his early morning run a short while ago.

Jamie looked up to meet his wife's smiling eyes. "No, as convincing as you were, I'm still planning to get a run in," he laughed.

"What are you doing?" she asked when she reached the kitchen, jutting her chin out at the items in his hands.

"There's a giant, dead rat in the hall way," he informed her. Maybe he was exaggerating it's size, but it was big nonetheless. "I barely made it one step out the door before the thing scared the crap out of me."

"Gross," Eddie grimaced as she fixed herself a cup of coffee. "Outside our door?"

"Not right in front, kind of in between ours and Leah's."

"Nasty. I'm glad you went out there first, Reagan," Eddie said as she took her cup to the living room and turned on the morning news, leaving him to his clean-up duties.

"Thanks, Janko," Jamie huffed with mock annoyance as he made his way back out the door.

"Hey, if you would have stayed in bed like I wanted you to, it could have been someone else's problem!"

Eddie stared wide-eyed at the ceiling of their bedroom. It was two o'clock in the morning and she was desperate for an uninterrupted, full night's sleep after a week filled with extended tours. At her wit's end, she pulled the pillow out from under her head and pressed it firmly over her face before letting out a muffled cry of frustration.

Jamie snorted beside her, although he was equally annoyed with the disturbance. "This is like the third time this week," he commented as a rhythmic thumping sound came from the wall behind their headboard, the one they shared with their neighbor's bedroom which seemed to be a hub of activity as of late.

"Guess Leah's got a new friend," Eddie replied, her face still hidden under the pillow.

"Yeah, one who has no regard for her neighbors," Jamie huffed.

Eddie lifted the pillow and raised a brow at Jamie, which went completely unnoticed in the darkened room. "Really? Cause it's just him in there, huh?" Eddie shot back, preferring to lay blame on all parties involved.

"Just saying…that's never been an issue before."

"That we knew of," Eddie sniped, instantly regretting how that came out. Their neighbor, Leah, was a young, professional who was very pleasant any time they crossed paths with her in the building and Eddie didn't think any less of her because she had an active social life, she just preferred not to know about it. "I didn't mean that, I'm just tired and grumpy."

"I know," Jamie said as he reached for her hand.

"We gotta say something, Reagan. I'm gonna be the walking dead on tour tomorrow…well today actually."

"Yeah, I agree. You should do it."

"Me?! Why me?" Eddie squawked.

"Cause you're a girl," Jamie replied.

"Yeah, so?"

"Leah's a girl. I can't be the one to go over there and tell her to pipe down when she's got company. That would be awkward."

"And it won't be awkward for me?"

"Maybe a little," Jamie shrugged. "If she were a guy, I would do it," he reasoned.

"Lucky you," Eddie sighed. "I'll see if she's around tomorrow after work."

Jamie was staring at the ceiling when a smirk spread across his face and he turned toward Eddie. "We could always show them how its really done," he joked while running a few fingers up and down her arm.

Eddie chuckled, rolling over to face him. "Nice try, Reagan. But I'm not up for any competitions tonight."

All of the sudden, the knocking stopped and peace settled over their bedroom once again. Jamie and Eddie stared at each other for a few seconds before breathing out a joint sigh of relief.

"Think they're really done?" Jamie asked.

"They better be or I might get tempted to have a look at this new guy for myself."

"Hey!"

Some very strange things are starting to happen, question is whether they're all related to Jamie's old friend...