Thanks for the reviews! I'm so happy you are enjoying this. Noble still has a lot more in store and this chapter spans over a full week to bring us to the point where some of Noble's activities will soon be known to Jamie and Eddie. Please keep reviewing and let me know what you think!
Chapter 9
Jamie knocked on the doorway his old TO's office to say a quick hello. "Hey, Sarge!" The one and only perk of the whole Sanfino mess was coming by his old house everyday and catching up with the people he'd worked with for so long. Things were going very well for him over at the 1-5, but he would always miss the 12th.
Renzulli looked over the top edge of his glasses, happy for a break from his paperwork. "Reagan!" he smiled brightly at his old boot. "I think I've seen more of your ugly mug around here in the past week than I did in all the years you were assigned to the 12th," he joked.
Jamie smirked at his mentor. "I miss you everyday. It's not fair that Eddie gets you all to herself."
"Ha! I'm sure you do. But your daily visits are giving JC false hopes that you're coming back here to partner up with him for good."
"What can I say? Everyone loves me," Jamie shot back.
Renzulli chuckled. "I think I saw Eddie head back to the locker room a little while ago," he advised knowing Jamie was here to escort her home as he'd been doing everyday since they both went on modified duty while the Sanfino mess got sorted. Renzulli sighed to himself, it was a hell of a thing for them to have deal with that particular blast from the past.
"Okay, thanks, Sarge," Jamie said, turning to go wait for his wife in the hallway.
"Cop a squat, Sergeant," Renzulli ordered, not quite ready to go back to work himself...plus he always looked forward to the kid's company. "So, you two gonna be under house arrest much longer?" he wondered as Jamie strolled further into the office.
"Probably not. There hasn't been a peep from Sanfino since he approached Eddie, no sign that anyone from his family even knows he's in town. The Commissioner can only keep us off patrol for so long," Jamie answered as he took a seat in one of the guest chairs across from his mentor.
"So maybe he slithered back out west," Renzulli surmised.
"Who knows, but he hasn't gone back to his old life, we know that much," Jamie said in frustration. It really was the not knowing that was driving them crazy. Both he and Eddie had been overly cautious during the past week while they waited for something else to happen. They hadn't really gone out all week, just to be on the safe side. And when they did go out, it was never alone; they tried sticking together whenever possible. He knew Eddie could take care of herself, but he felt better when he was by her side. And he was pretty sure she felt better watching his back too.
"Well, I made sure every officer in the precinct has the little rat's face permanently etched into their brain. If he's within our jurisdiction, we'll find him," Renzulli vowed.
"I appreciate that, Sarge," Jamie replied. It would be a relief once this was all over with.
"And Burton's a good cop. He'll have Eddie's back when she returns to patrol. You two just keep playing it smart and stick together when you're off duty," he said, pausing as a mischievous grin spread across his face, "not that that was ever a problem for you two, if I recall correctly. Isn't that right, Reagan?"
"Sarge...," Jamie smirked, knowing the man would never let him forget the fact that he'd called him out on his feelings for Eddie long before he was ready to admit them himself. Renzulli got his kicks from teasing him about it every chance he got.
"What?" he said innocently. "Was I right or was I right about you two? Look at you now, married to each other and everything. Who knows...you two may even end up with kids real soon."
Jamie couldn't help blushing, just like he did every time Renzulli started in on this topic. "There are no plans for kids in the near future," he advised considering the kid discussion he had with Eddie recently.
"Sure there aren't." Getting the desired reaction from the younger man, Renzulli decided to cut him some slack. "Alright, no more torturing you. You got enough going on. So do you think that thing with the flowers was his doing?" he asked, switching back to more serious matters.
Jamie shrugged as he bit the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. "No way to know for sure, but it's too much of a coincidence," he replied after a moment. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more certain he was that it was Noble's doing.
Renzulli could read his mind and agreed with him completely...it had to be Sanfino. "Yeah, well, even I knew that wasn't your style. You're more of a single-red-rose kind of guy than a rose-parade-sized bouquet type."
"I'm touched you remember that about me, Sarge," Jamie quipped.
"Yeah, well, don't tell my new boot, but you were always my favorite. I think it was that day I got you to tackle the guy in the hot dog suit...you were always so easy, Jamie," Renzulli teased.
"That's what she said," Eddie smiled from the open doorway.
"Hey," Jamie grinned back at his wife as he got up from the chair to meet her.
"You ready or am I interrupting a trip down memory lane?" Eddie asked with a raised brow. "'Cause I could come back..."
"Nah, we're done. I'm tired of seeing him around my precinct," Renzulli answered.
"Well, good, because I could use a drink," Eddie said.
"Alright you two. Have one for me and have a safe night," Renzulli dismissed them.
"See ya, Sarge."
Jamie waited until they left the precinct before sliding his arm over Eddie's shoulders, their lips finally meeting for a kiss hello.
"Long day?" Jamie asked as they walked arm in arm toward his Mustang.
"Yes and no," Eddie said, leaning against the side of the car once they reached it.
"Bored?" Jamie guessed, reading her mind. He understood; he was the same way, preferring to work patrol than ride a desk and this had had driven him crazy stuck behind a desk while everyone else worked to find Noble. He still thought he was the best person to help with that.
"Out of my mind. I miss being on patrol," Eddie replied as Jamie stood in front of her.
"Me too. But I think we'll be cleared to go back to normal on Monday," Jamie said, hoping to give her something to look forward to after Noble had disrupted their lives over the past week.
"Really?" Eddie asked, her expression full of hope.
Jamie smiled at the happiness on her face. "Yeah. I talked to dad earlier. There's been nothing on Noble, no chatter on anyone knowing his whereabouts, no activity with his new identity...zilch," he informed her, disappointed that he was back in the wind while also hopeful he was out of their lives. But if Jamie was honest with both Eddie and himself, he'd admit that Noble wouldn't have shown up without a specific purpose; he had to be up to something yet patience and thorough planning had not been Noble's strong suit as far as he'd seen. "We still need to be careful, but it doesn't make sense to make us ride desks forever."
"Now that's something to celebrate!" Eddie exclaimed, the boredom she complained of a moment ago suddenly a distant memory as she reached up to kiss him again. "Buy a girl a drink?" she asked before moving to slide into the passenger seat, looking forward to getting out for a little while.
"Just one?" Jamie asked with a questioning look.
"It's Friday night and we both got the weekend off, babe. Depends on how lucky you're feeling," Eddie said with a smoldering look.
Jamie huffed out a laugh and shut her door. "Yeah, I think one will be enough," he said to himself as he made his way around the front of the car.
"So you two were back on patrol this week?" Linda asked as she refilled Danny's coffee mug.
Jamie nodded as he glanced across the table at his sister-in-law. "Yeah." He and Eddie had gone back to their regular assignments and while he'd worried about Noble popping up out of the blue once again, he'd made no more attempts to contact him or Eddie.
"And everything was good?" Erin asked.
Eddie brought her mug down onto the table, thankful that Jamie's undercover friend had disappeared and hopeful that he had wisely chosen to leave them alone. "Yes, everything was fine," she answered.
"I don't get it," Danny mumbled as he chewed on his dessert.
Nicky sent a questioning look across the table. "Get what, Uncle Danny?"
"Sanfino," Danny said as he finished his pie. "He just comes out of the woodwork? For what? Just to cause a little worry and then scurry back into hiding?" The detective in him hated that the trail had gone cold on Sanfino, not that it had ever been hot to begin with. This guy couldn't be risking his life by coming out of hiding just to introduce himself to Eddie. As much as he wanted that to be the case, his gut was telling him something else was going on.
Jamie looked across the table and met his brother's eyes. He knew exactly what Danny was thinking and shared the very same concerns. But they were going on two weeks since Noble had appeared in front of their building and he had not resurfaced since nor had he returned to Colorado. The only thing that he knew for sure about Noble Sanfino was the fact that he was not patient by nature and if he'd wanted to hurt them in some way, he assumed that Noble would have done something by now.
"Maybe he finally realized he was putting a target on his back," Henry guessed.
"I'm not sure he's that smart," Frank said. He saw the silent exchange between his boys, hating nothing more than known unknowns. He wasn't good with waiting around for the other shoe to drop and with people like that, he feared that would eventually happen. Meanwhile, his son and daughter-in-law were exposed to those possible dangers. He knew they would continue to be watchful, but Frank wished he could do more to protect them.
"Coming back to New York is proof of that," Jamie commented as he pushed away his plate.
"Question is: where is he? Because he's not where he's supposed to be," Erin said as she crossed her arms on the table. She glanced worriedly at her little brother, an image of his battered face flashing across her mind as she thought of his involvement with the Sanfinos.
"So long as he's anywhere but here," Eddie said.
Frank brought his mug to his lips as he looked to the other end of the table. "I agree, but it would also be better to get a handle on him."
Noble chugged the last of the beer from his bottle, smacking his lips appreciatively as the hoppy IPA settled in his full belly with the rest of the lunch he'd thrown together from the well stocked refrigerator. He hadn't been very surprised by the amounts of fruits and vegetables in the fridge, a woman lived here after all and God knew they were always watching their weight, but he had skipped over those healthier choices for the tastier items he'd discovered and made himself a hell of a hero, pairing it with some of the salty and sugary snacks hidden away in one of the cupboards. He thanked God his old buddy kept the kitchen stocked with enough junk food that he didn't have to resort to the little woman's rabbit food. It wasn't a fancy Sunday dinner, but the premo craft beer had been enough to appease him. It wasn't like he had time to cook himself a hot meal anyway after spending the better part of the afternoon snooping around the tidy apartment.
He had to give the Reagans credit, they lived in a pretty nice place for two civil servants earning crappy salaries. It was small, but it was nicer than the ratty apartment the Feds set him up with back in Colorado. Noble hadn't been shy about making himself at home and was making himself out to be the world's worst houseguest, snooping through drawers, rummaging through closets, and letting it be known that he'd been through every square inch of the place, just as he intended. He hadn't trashed it - he wasn't that much of a jerk - but he certainly was better acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. Jameson Reagan after a more thorough inspection of their home than the first time he'd allowed himself entry. He had not been familiar with their lives and daily activities like he was now. The first time he'd been here had been simply a mission to plant the nifty little device his new favorite tech geek had set him up with. But now? After weeks of watching them come and go and listening to their every conversation, Noble decided it was time to crank things up a bit.
Noble distractedly leafed through the wedding album as he lounged across the same sofa that had been the center of attention these past few weeks. He passed quickly over the posed family church photos, but stopped when he came across a large image of the happy couple caught in a kiss on some roof top with the shimmering New York City skyline in the background. He sighed, almost feeling bad for what he was doing, but then he'd think about everything he'd been forced to leave behind after Jimmy Riordan came into his life and he easily refocused on what needed to get done.
Noble sat up and threw the open album onto the coffee table next to the empty bottles and dirty dishes he had left scattered about. He noticed the late afternoon sun shining through the windows of the living room and checked his watch. It was about time he headed out, before his old friend came home. He wanted to make sure he had a front row seat for when Jamie eventually found the mess he was leaving behind.