The ride's not over for Jamie, but it's time to switch back to the investigation and a couple of very worried family members. Don't worry though, we'll be seeing no the Eddie and Jamie real soon.

Chapter 21

Despite the late hour, the main conference room at 1PP was at capacity as Frank had ordered the investigation into his officers' abductions be conducted just a few short paces from his office. No one dared to question whether or not that was solely because of the missing officers' connection to the Commissioner, but everyone was in agreement on one thing - they needed every available resource to locate and ensure their safe return. No matter what their last names were, they were NYPD family to all of them.

Danny checked in with one of the TARU techs who had been working diligently to get a hit on Jamie's phone which had not been located in or near the apartment building, but so far they had nothing. Danny sighed in frustration as he looked to the closed door connecting the conference room to his father's office. He'd been with them while Danny hand-picked a number of their best detectives from Major Crimes to scour through the old OCCB files on the Sanfino-Cavazerre investigation and Maria doled out several other assignments in search of anything that would lead them to Sanfino and their missing officers. But after everyone dived into their tasks, a sullen Frank Reagan had retreated into the confines of his private office.

Danny decided it might be a good time to check in on the old man and quietly entered, finding his father staring out through the window at the darkened city below. "How are you holding up, dad?"

Frank didn't turn around and remained fixated on some distant point outside. "What do we know?" he asked in return, avoiding his son's question all together. He was doing about as well as any father would be while waiting for news on his missing children. But right now, he couldn't show any cracks, he needed to remain professional and focus on the investigation to get Eddie and Jamie back safely...anything to ignore the way his stomach twisted painfully with worry.

Danny bit the inside of his lip, seeing that deep down his father was struggling to hold it together just like he was, so he did the one thing that was helping him get through this and focused on the job...like father, like son. He hated to consider his little brother and his wife a case, but he might lose his cool if he didn't do just that. "Baez should be here any minute to update us on the girlfriend. TARU hasn't gotten a hit on Jamie's phone; they think it's off, but they're still at it in case the GPS pings," he reported.

Frank turned around, his PC mask firmly in place as he listened to his detective.

"We found nothing at Eddie and Jamie's apartment. It was spotless and locked up tight, so they must have cleaned up and headed out as soon as they were done. CSU is still processing the evidence from the neighbor's apartment, but we already confirmed Sanfino's prints at her place."

"That's a start but we need something to lead us to their current location," Frank pointed out. He didn't mean to come across as harsh, but he wanted them found as soon as possible.

"I got guys on that already, dad. Sanfino's been out of the city for years with no real connections unless he wants a hit squad after him. It was because he has no one here that he reached out to that dealer," Danny said.

"And we know he was quick to let it be known that Sanfino was back," Frank sighed, concerned that Sanfino would not be the only one they'd have to worry about.

"Yeah. Lucky for Sanfino, he was good about losing the dealer when he tried to tail him," Danny said, having had the same thought run across his mind. "The bastard has had luck on his side this whole damn time; must have sold his soul to the devil," he muttered before shaking his head to refocus. "Anyway, we're making a list of his old haunts so that we can start checking those places out first. I'm thinking he might return to places that are familiar to him. I got a guy working on his old apartment and businesses...any properties really. I'm afraid to leave anything out at this point. And another guy's going through Jamie's old reports for the places they hit together or anything else that might give us a lead."

A knock from the conference room door interrupted them and Maria Baez was soon walking in. She was hesitant to interrupt the two men, but she was smart enough to know they would be waiting for her.

Danny was relieved to see her, praying that Leah Daubert could provide them with a solid lead. "Hey. Did you get anything from the girlfriend?"

Maria acknowledged her boss through a silent nod before addressing both men. "Yeah. Just not certain if any of it will help. It took the docs a while to check her out and get her settled down enough to talk to me."

"What did she have to say?" Frank pressed.

"She first met Sanfino at the bodega around the corner from the apartment building almost a month ago. He struck up a conversation, flirted with her and they hit it off from there."

"I'm sure they did," Danny mumbled under his breath.

"Anyhow, she says they started dating and it wasn't long before he started coming over to her place and it was always to her place, he claimed he was settling back in town and sharing an apartment with an old friend. He never spent the whole night, some days they'd come home late after a night out and he'd leave before sun up, other times he'd reach out to her in the middle of the day for a quick -"

"So that's how he'd get in the building," Frank interrupted, sparing Maria from having to go into the those sordid details.

"And he knew Jamie and Eddie's work schedules, so he knew when to come and go," Danny added, growing more and more irate with each new piece of information.

"What else?" Frank prompted her along.

Maria took a breath and continued with everything else Leah Daubert had shared. "He asked her about her neighbors once. Claimed that they looked familiar to him. Leah said she didn't have much to say about Jamie and Eddie other than she knew they were cops and seemed nice enough. She said she really didn't speak to them much other than the usual pleasantries in the hallway when they were coming and going. She had no clue that he really had any more interest in them other than those few, general questions he had that one time."

"So what happened tonight?" Danny asked.

"It starts the night after Sanfino let it be known that he'd been watching them. She comes home with him-"

"Right past our guys?!" Danny barked.

"Yeah. Leah said they came home late from a bar, she was a little buzzed and he was all over her as they were making their way to the building," she added.

"Our people see nothing but guy all over his girl," Frank offered. He had no interest in laying any blame on anyone but the one person solely responsible for this mess.

"Unfortunately," Maria sighed with a grimace. "She mentioned to him that she was a little freaked out because something had happened next door that had the cops there for hours. That was when he offered to spend the night at her place. They go home, he has his fun with her and when she gets up the next morning for work, he convinces her to call in sick so they can play hooky, but that's when he turned on her. He tied her up, had her gagged and started to threaten and torment her if she didn't help him 'get the cops next door.' The docs found evidence of physical and sexual assault...that's how she spent the next two days."

"Sick bastard," Danny whispered along with some other more colorful language.

"And tonight?" Frank asked.

"They heard Jamie and Eddie moving around next door -"

"Sanfino guessed they'd come back eventually," Frank said.

Maria nodded at her boss. "Leah said that he was watching the hallway through her peephole and caught one of them coming and going with garbage. That's when he set up his trap at the rear of the building. He grabbed a couple of large boxes from someone's storage locker in the basement and had her waiting at the door with her car parked out back for what he hoped was another trash run by either Jamie or Eddie. He had a gun and told her he'd shoot her dead if she so much as uttered a word for help."

"Yeah, we found his gun, damn thing was freaking toy. The stupid thing looked real to her, but now he's got Jamie's gun; his off duty weapon was no where to be found. Not in their apartment, the alley or the stairwell where Eddie's things were found with Daubert," Danny said, sending a worried glance in his father's direction.

Maria hated what she was about to report; it would be difficult for both her partner and her boss to hear. "Jamie was the first one down. He helped Leah with the box and Sanfino cold-cocked him when he was turned away at the trunk of her car. He then texted Eddie from Jamie's phone, she comes down and he grabbed her from behind. Leah said he choked her from behind, cutting off her air supply until she went limp."

Danny turned away, running a hand up and down his face angrily. It was going to take all his strength not to kill Sanfino with his bare hands once they found him.

Frank stood stock still, taking deep even breaths as he processed everything. "They're both still alive," he said firmly. He wasn't willing to accept any outcome other than they were alive and would come home in one piece.

"Sorry to interrupt, sir," the detective working the OCCB files came into the office after a quick knock on the door.

"What's going on, Melendez?" Danny questioned, knowing the man wouldn't have dared to interrupt them if it wasn't urgent.

The Detective Melendez glanced at Danny before his eyes landed on the highest ranking member of the department. "It's Officer Reagan, she's been found at a vacant restaurant site on the Upper East Side," he informed them quickly.

"Alone?" Frank asked worriedly.

"Yes, sir," Detective Melendez confirmed.

"Is she alright?" Danny asked already heading to the main doors of the office with his partner. Frank followed closely behind, reaching for his coat as he fully intended to go to the scene with them.

"As far as they can tell; she's asking for you both," Melendez advised as he walked with them to the elevators. "One more thing, detective."

"What is it?"

"The address, it's the same one we found in Sergeant Reagan's first report, where he first met Noble Sanfino."

Danny exchanged a look with his father as they waited for the elevator, his gut certain they were on the right track with Sanfino's old haunts. "Get me the locations of every place they hit together, you hear me?"

"On it."