A/N: Hey everyone. Here is the latest update for the story. It has been a busy couple weeks, and I didn't realize how I fell behind until I looked at when I last updated the story. So I hope you enjoy this update and as always Reviews are encouraged. Thank you.
Chapter 6
City Hall
Manhattan, New York
Frank walked down the hallway with his security detail. He turned and motioned them to hang back as he approached Michelle Ortega's office door. He sighed and opened the door letting himself into the outer office. The staff looked up and jumped to their feet. A young staffeer looked in surprise at Frank. "Commissioner, is the…"
"I just stopped by to talk to her for a minute." Frank said cutting the young woman off. He shifted on his feet. "If it is possible?"
"Absolutely sir." The Staffer answered going to the door and opening it for him. "Go right in sir."
Frank nodded his thanks and walked into the office. Michelle looks up from the paperwork as she heard the door closed. She gets up. "Frank what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Well you said call you when I have a spare minute." Frank answered with a small smile on his face. "I have some time."
"Really?" Michelle said in surprise as she came around the desk and motioned for him to take a seat in the chair as she took the other one. Crossing her legs, she looked at him. "I thought you had to catch the shooter of your officer?"
"Oh I have people for that." Frank answered with a small smile. He sighed and crossed his hands. "I thought about what you said, where do I see us going and if you really are a priority to me?"
"Frank you didn't have to come and tell me now." Michelle answered looking a little nervous.
"I want too, and I have a more clear understanding after I went and saw someone." Frank answered. He saw her face and took a breath. "Early on you knew about Mary and what happen to her."
Michelle nodded. "I did. I asked around when I first started and you told me more as we starting spending more time together."
Frank nodded as well. "For me, I dated after I mourned her, but many not got really serious. It was because I guess I was looking for someone like Mary. Tough, loving, determined, caring, emotional…."
"The whole enchilada if you will." Michelle added in to the conversation.
Frank nodded. "Correct, but no one really fit the bill until you came along. You challenged me from the start, but as we got to know each other I could see there was a different side of you. So as we started to see more of each, I continuously got to see a different layer of you. The tough determine woman here at the office, to the sweet, caring women who helped her elderly neighbor look after her pet when she went to go have surgery."
Michelle smiled at the comment but that died quickly when she still haven't heard what she was looking for. "Frank…."
"Mary was my one true love, and we had a great life together, and raised a beautiful family including our grandkids." Frank told her. He reached out and took one of her hands. "But you are different. I see us just like me and Mary were. Why because we are important to each other. The reason I never have you over or met my kids yet is basically beneath this exterior I was wondering what they would think, or react. But after talking to Erin, and visiting her grave and talking to someone there I came to realize something."
"Whats that Frank?" Michelle asked now tearing up, and not in a bad way.
"That you coming here was Mary's way of telling me it's ok to move on." Frank answered with a soft smile on his face. "I'm not asking you to replace her, just be you, the woman who can combat me on traffic control and how it effects economics to enjoying a nice home cook meal and glass of wine and a Jets game."
"49ers." Michelle replied with a smirk. She sighed and ran her thumb over her knuckles. "Go on."
"I want us to work, and I realize that my actions were hurting you more than me, and I never meant it to." Frank continued. He took a breath and decided to finish. "So I apologize for that. You are important to me, and I want it to work between us if you still want it to."
"I would like to do that Frank very much so." Michelle answered. She took a breath, looked down for a moment before looking up. "I know you were just trying to protect yourself and them, but I never wanted to replace her, far from it. I wanted to feel like I meant something to you, and obvious I do. Frank do you remember when I told you about my marriage?"
"The lawyer who ignored you and focused on his career." Frank said in more of a statement than a question. "Yes I do."
"That's how it seemed to be going with you and I wanted to protect myself, because Frank you are special to me." Michelle continued on. She took his hand again. "I'm looking for a person that projects everything you project, but can put aside his career for family, and you do that. Maybe not with girlfriends, but for family, and I am hoping to be included in that."
"I would like that too." Frank replied. He ran his thumb over her hand now. "So would you like to come over for Sunday dinner and meet the rest of the family?"
"As long as your youngest doesn't ticket me again." Michelle answered with a laugh referring to a incident just shortly she arrived in the city. She then stood up with Frank following suit. "I would love too."
"Good. I'll pick you up after mass, and we eat about 5." Frank said. He heard a knock at the door. He chuckled. "Must have been in here a while."
"Yeah. Come in." Michelle called to the door. It opened and in walked one of her staff. "What is it Lauren?"
"You have that meeting with the mayor in 15 minutes."
"Right, thank you Lauren." Michelle told her. Her aide nodded and closed the door. Michelle chuckled before turning her attention back to Frank. "So dinner and meeting the family. Anything I should bring?"
"Just you and your charming personality." Frank replied with a smile. He gripped her shoulders and gave her a light kiss on the lips. "Maybe a nice bottle of wine too."
"Deal." Michelle replied gripping his shoulders now. She released him and started towards the door. She turned to him as she opened it. "We'll save the tequila shots for next year's Super Bowl."
"Not on your life Ms. Ortega." Frank answered with a smirk and a laugh as he walked out of the office with Michelle laughing right along with him.
She turned to her staff as Frank left the office. They were standing there smiling. She smirked at them. "Get back to work. We do have one of the busiest transportation networks to maintain."
Everyone laughed as they went back to their work.
Madison Street and Market Street
Manhattan, New York
Eddie tighten the straps on her vest as she and Jamie approached the group that was assembling. It contained ESU, detectives from the warrant squad, her precinct and some members of the 12th Precinct as well. One of the detectives held up a picture. "Alright according to the friend, Marcus Jenson has been staying with him for about a month. He is out of town on business and gave us permission to enter the apartment."
"We have a warrant to display just in case any way." Another detective also added in. He motioned to the picture. "Now the friend didn't know about the robbery so he is innocent as of now, but lets be careful. This guy put one of our own in the hospital, so we know he isn't afraid to shoot."
Everyone nodded and the group broke up getting ready to head inside. Renzulli spotted Eddie and Jamie, so he walked over. "Eddie you and Jamie will cover the exit by the alley in case he decides to bolt."
"Sarge I want to make…." Eddie started to say but noticed the look on Renzulli's face. "Yes sir."
Renzulli patted her on the shoulder. "Good because I don't want to deal with your husband if something were to happen to you."
Eddie spun around and saw Jamie's face and it was in agreement with Renzulli. She just sighed and turned back around. "Yes sarge."
"Good." Renzulli answered giving her a reassuring smile and another pat on the shoulder.
A couple minutes later the group moved towards the apartment building as Jamie and Eddie took up their positions just outside the ground floor exit and alley that had a gate in front of it. A few moments later, the radio crackled. "Preparing for entry."
Jamie and Eddie waited. A moment later shouts could be heard coming from the apartment. Eddie looked up and saw the suspect climbing out a window and down the fire escape. She started towards the gate. "Suspect is going out the window."
"Eddie wait." Jamie called to her as he started to follow her.
Eddie scaled the fence and climbed over as the suspect reached the alley and started after him. She could hear Jamie call out on his radio. "Suspect heading towards Catherine Street."
The suspect continued to run up the alley as Eddie ran as fast as she ever did. The young man reached the end of the alley only to find another gate blocking him, so he turned right and headed towards a courtyard. Eddie turned the corner and saw the man look back to see the distance he had on her. Yet he didn't see the concrete slap that was raised up by the tree root, so his foot caught it and he fell to the ground. Eddie pounced on him a moment later. "Ow, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shoot at you. I was scared."
"You're sorry, SORRY?" Eddie shouted to the man as she rolled him over and pointed the gun in his face. "My partner may never work again because of the round you put in her. HOW ABOUT I PUT A ROUND IN YOUR SHOULDER AND HAVE IT EXIT YOUR BACK TO SEE HOW SORRY YOU ARE HUH?"
Eddie heard the running footsteps of her husband coming up behind her. "Babe don't do this. Taylor will find something to do if she can't return to the job. We'll make sure of that. We won't forget her, because we are family. That is what we do for each other. Take care of each other."
Eddie not taking her eyes off the suspect took a couple breaths and slowly lowered the gun and put it back in her holster. She rolled the man over and cuffed him as other detectives and officers came into the courtyard and took over for her. She stood up and walked away from the man that wounded her partner, and straight into the loving arms of her husband.
Major Case Squad
Manhattan, New York
Danny walked into the interrogation where Baez and Claire Jacobs was sitting with her lawyer that Mr. Jefferies had provided her were sitting. He set a file down on the desk. "Ms. Jacobs, thank you so much for coming down here to speak with us."
"Now like I had much choice detective." Claire answered as she shifted in her seat as she tried to get comfortable. "I didn't kill Louis."
"Oh we know you didn't." Danny answered picking up the file and setting it down on the desk. There was a picture of her at a dinner. "We know you a dinner for local tech companies."
"So my client is free…" The lawyer started to say.
"But what has us confused is where your boyfriend was." Danny said cutting off the lawyer and pulling out another picture. "This was at a conference earlier in the week where you two made an appearance."
"The same conference that Louis Garland was also attending." Baez added in as well. She pulled out another piece of paper from the file. "We had officers ask around. Seems both of you were missing from the same seminar for a couple hours."
"What does that have to do with everything?" The lawyer asked.
"Well it turns out the head of security is a former detective so they keep footage for a while." Danny added in. He walked around behind Claire. "Turns out Claire is pretty flexible."
Baez looked at Claire with a straight face. "Which is my partners way of saying we'll let that one little crime slide if you can help us out here?"
The lawyer looked at Claire and shook his head but Claire ignored him. "Look yes I was dating Nathan but Louis was different. I was in love with him."
"Really?" Danny answered scoffing. He looked at Baez. "Dating one man and being in love with another must be the whole new things these days?"
"Its true." Claire said defending herself to the remarks Danny made. She looked at Baez. "Look when I first met Louis, we both just wanted a fling, but it grew to be more, but finding time together got to be hard."
"So why not break it off with Nathan Jefferies and be with Louis?" Baez asked as Danny now looked at Claire.
"Because Nathan is extremely jealous." Claire answered. She handed over her phone to them. "He didn't even want me to attend the conference even our bosses had already registered me. Said he felt I didn't need to attend with all those horny out of towners."
"Wow, jealous is right." Danny said scrolling through the text messages. He handed the phone to Baez. "So how did you and Louis pull off this relationship then?"
"Lunches, sometimes these conferences and seminars, or even a late business dinner." Claire answered.
Baez stood up and motioned Danny over to the corner. "Danny I don't think it was her?"
"I don't either." Danny said. He walked away from the corner. "Claire, did you have a computer at Nathan's place or yours where you could have sent other emails from?"
"No. I emailed him strictly from my office email…" Claire started to say. Then something hit her. "My phone. My phone has my office email on it."
"Could Nathan gotten to your phone?" Baez asked coming back over to the table.
Claire thought about it. "The night before Louis died. We arrived back at my place, and I placed my phone on the counter. When I went to change it was on table. At the time I thought maybe I forgot where I set it down, but when I opened it my email was open. I keep my email app open."
"How did he get past your passcode?" Danny asked.
"I don't know, but when I came out, Nathan said he had something to take early so he left." Claire answered Danny's question. She shifted in her seat. "I didn't think about it at the time as anything."
"Does he own a gun Claire?" Baez asked.
Claire nodded. "A revolver. He has permit to carry because sometimes we do work for government agencies."
"Alright sit tight, we'll be back." Danny said walking to the door with Baez right behind him. As soon as the door closed he looked at Baez. "I think we are looking at this all wrong Baez."
Baez nodded her agreement. "I'll pull Nathan Jefferies permit to see what kind of gun he carries."
"And I have our techs and people check into Nathan to see what shakes out." Danny said as they started to their desk.
Additional note: The case comes to head as Danny and Baez close it out. Eddie talks to Taylor again about how close she came to violating that line, and Michelle officially meets the family.