A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! Your thoughts regarding Sydney's reappearance are very interesting... ;) And have inspired me to post another chapter today. :D See the first chapter for the disclaimer. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and please review. :)

Chapter Seven

Erin was in the waiting room with Henry, Nicki, and the kids when Danny walked up alone later on in the day. "Hey sis," he said quietly. "Buy you a cup of coffee?"

Everyone in the room read that comment for what it was: a chance for Danny to talk to Erin alone. Yet, no one said anything as Erin nodded. Danny gestured for his sister to go first, and the two of them entered the elevator alone.

"What's up?" she asked him as soon as the doors closed.

"Andre Jasper," he replied.

"The murderer that got convicted last month? What about him?"

"You, me, and Jamie all worked the case."

She shrugged. "Much to the defense's playground. That's why Heath was lead on the case. I thought it'd get thrown on conflict of interest when he had to leave before closing arguments. Judge Hedley allowed it, though. Why does this matter?"

"You remember anything about his family?"

She nodded as the doors opened. "Close knit," she said as they stepped out. "Mother had five kids before the father walked out. They survived by leaning on each other, which is why they couldn't believe what Andre had done. They were devastated. It'd be like if one of us were to have…" Her voice trailed off as realization took over. "You think they did this?"

"They'd have motive," Danny replied as they walked out of the hospital to the coffee shop down the street. "Plenty of it against all of us."

"But why Jamie?" Erin asked. "You and I were a bigger part of the case than he was. He didn't even take the stand. Renzulli did."

"Yeah, but Andre sure as hell knew who Jamie was. Jamie was the one who held him at the scene."

"So you think he's involved too."

It was a statement, not a question, but Danny nodded anyway, holding the door open for his sister. "Brother Nate's sure been to visit a lot," he commented.

"Still, why Jamie?" Erin asked as they entered the shop.

"Baez's theory," Danny started. "Jamie was the easiest to get to with the least amount of collateral damage."

Erin thought about that for a moment. "Because he's single," she said.

"Exactly. Single and no kids."

"A car crash would likely injure only him."

Danny nodded. "Insuring you got the one person you wanted, and no one else has to get hurt."

"So, the question becomes, are they done after Jamie, or do we need to worry too?"

"That's a really good question, sis."

The two of them returned to the waiting room with enough coffee and hot chocolate for a small army. Nicki took the cups for herself and the boys before walking back over to where they were playing at their cousin's insistence. Frank joined the group in the waiting room, looking at his two oldest children.

Erin watched as Danny shifted his position on his feet. "We think we have a solid lead," he told them all. "We're just waiting for the approval to go see him."

"My office is working things with the courts," Erin added. "To be able to offer him an incentive to work with us."

"Who is it?" Henry asked.

"Andre Jasper," Danny replied.

"Murderer who was convicted last month," Frank said. "Mother just died a week ago."

Erin looked over as Danny said, "yeah, I know. And he has a few siblings who are probably willing to go after the family that put him away, considering Mom fell apart after Andre went upstate."

"If he's involved, he doesn't need leniency from the court," Henry grumbled.

"If he's involved, he's facing another crime and more severe punishment," Erin countered. "Not to mention his whole family going to prison. Perhaps the least we could do is get his brothers all in the same prison if they all cooperate."

"And if not, there are plenty of prisons around that they can all be in separate ones," Danny added with a grin.

"And there's evidence to suggest the sister is involved too."

"What a family," Henry remarked bitterly.

"Tell me about it," Danny replied.

Erin sighed, looking at Danny.

Danny shifted position again. "I should, uh, I should go see him," he said, gesturing toward the doors of the ICU.

"I'll go with you," Erin volunteered.

Danny looked over at her before shrugging. "After you, sis."

As the door to Jamie's room closed behind them, Erin turned to her older brother. "What else aren't you saying, Danny?" she asked abruptly.

Danny sighed. "Sydney came to see me," he replied.

"Sydney? As in…"

"Jamie's ex-fiancée, yeah."

"Why'd she come to see you?"

Danny tilted his head toward Jamie in response.

"She heard," Erin said, answering her own question.

Danny nodded. "Wanted to know how he was doing."

"What'd you tell her?"

"That he was hangin' on. Slowly improving, but that he'd been through a lot."

She nodded, looking over at Jamie.

"Told her she was welcome to come by," he continued.

"I'd like to see her again," Erin said, shrugging. "Not sure how Jamie would feel, though."

"Come on. We all know those two didn't break up because they stopped loving each other. She just couldn't handle marrying someone who was married to the job."

Erin looked back to Danny. "Yeah, I know. But sometimes, it's still not easy. Her walking out the door was heartbreaking for him."

"Yeah, I know," Danny said, mirroring Erin's previous statement. "But, she was family. That don't go away so easy."

"True," Erin conceded.

"And Jamie's gonna need all the support he can get."

"Yeah," she breathed, looking at her youngest brother solemnly. Hoping that he would just wake up. Anything else, they could deal with. But this waiting…

Danny wrapped his arm around her shoulders, as if he could read her mind. She rested her head against his shoulder. "Think if we brought him some beer, he'd wake up?" he asked with a smirk.

Erin chuckled. "Beer?" she said. "No. Whiskey or Irish coffee? Maybe."

Danny laughed slightly. "What was that thing he had as a kid that he couldn't go without?"

Erin sighed, thinking back. "Wasn't it a giraffe or something?"

Danny threw his head back slightly with a snort. "That's right. Geoffrey Giraffe."

Erin laughed. "Remember when we tried to convince him that he was spelling Geoff's name wrong because both words started with a J?"

Danny laughed. "He believed it, too. Until Joe set him straight."

Erin shook her head. "Joe was always looking out for him."

Danny shrugged. "Still is."

Erin nodded, knowing what Danny had meant by that. Jamie's injuries had been extensive, deadly to most. Yet, Jamie still managed to run a long distance in that condition to get away from his captors.

His captors…

"Wait a minute," Erin said. "How did Jamie escape?"

Danny shook his head. "Hard to tell from his injuries," he replied. "Why? What are you thinking?"

"If he fought his way out…"

"They could have turned up at a doctor's office for treatment."

"And now that we know who we're looking for…"

"We can track them easier." Danny kissed Erin on the temple. "You're a genius."

Erin shrugged with a slight eye roll. "True. I'll get working on warrants for any medical records of the siblings while you two check clinics." She grabbed her phone as Danny was already rushing to the door.

"Thanks, sis."

"No problem."