So this is officially the longest story I've ever written. Thanks to everyone who continues to read, favorite, like, alert, and review. You couldn't possibly know how much it means to me. Thanks todecadenceofmysoul, YaleAceBella12, roganjalex, Mikaela296 and the guests Coco and snowflake18540, for all your reviews of the last chapter. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Scenes from and references to 5x22, 6x20, and 6x22.
"Thank you for picking up. I know you're really busy," Linda said when she called one afternoon a few weeks after Jamie had. Anna loved her mother very much but like she had told Jamie when they talked and Danny when he had texted, she had been very overprotective and it was driving Anna nuts.
"I am perfectly fine, Mom," Anna answered, trying not to snap at her mom.
"I know. Look, Anna, I wanted to talk to you about that. Do you have a couple of minutes?"
"Yeah, I'm between classes but I don't want this to turn into a fight. I don't really have time for that right now."
"No arguments, I promise. I love you, Anna, and I will never stop worrying about you, it's a mother's right, but I will apologize. I know it hasn't been easy on you being 1000 miles away and fighting with your dad. I also know you have been worried about me since I was in the hospital. You have every right to worry. Things haven't been the same. I know that you were brought up well and you know how to protect yourself. You're also probably the smartest kid I have, at least street smart. You get that from your dad."
"My mom taught me a lot too."
"I know, but the thing about being a mom that no one prepares you for is when your babies grow up and they move away out there in the world and they don't really need you to keep them safe. It's hard to deal with that. Your relationship changes and lately it's been hard for me to adjust to those changes. After such a traumatic event, it's normal to want to pull your family close to keep them close and protected."
"I understand that, Mom, but I also understand how irrational that is. The tighter you pull them in, the more they're going to resist and pull away. You could inadvertently drive a wedge when you just mean to show how much you love them."
"Anna, it's going to take some time for me to learn how to adjust."
"Time? I've been gone for more than a year. Nearly one and half at this point, but like I said, no fights. Is everything alright between you and Dad?"
"Yeah, they're fine."
"Can I call you back in a few moments?" Anna asked nervously.
"Uh, yeah, sure. Everything alright?" Linda asked curiously.
"Yeah, just need a couple minutes."
"Alright."
Anna hung up and took a deep breath then another then got comfortable on her bed. She opened her video chat app and video called her mom.
"Anna, I didn't expect you to video call," Linda said shocked.
"It's okay, right? I just had to see your face."
"It's fine, Sweetie. You look well."
"You too. How's the wound?"
"Healing just fine. Doctors say there's been no movement of the bullet near my spine so that's always good. Are you doing ok? You look well, but you kinda look tired."
"Classes are a little difficult; takes a lot out of you."
"Ok. I'm glad you're ok."
"Thanks, Mom. I miss you."
"I miss you too."
Anna caught sight of the time and flinched. If she didn't get dinner now, she wouldn't make it to her online class on time. "I gotta go but I'll talk to you later. Love you."
"Love you too." They hung up and Anna sat down for dinner.
It was just after Easter when Anna got an email from Detective Baker informing her, she was invited to a statue dedication. It listed the date as a few weeks from then, on a Wednesday afternoon. It actually turned out that it would be less than a week before U.M.s online classes let out for the end of the spring semester and about two weeks before the Miami PD academy graduated. It also listed the location as Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park in lower Manhattan. Just after the email came in, she got a text on her under cover phone that told her about a big game going down that same weekend and knew she had to be there. She knew that her family would understand if she told them the truth but she couldn't tell them the truth without compromising the op so she stuck with a half truth, it was too expensive and she had classes. That's exactly what she told her grandpa when he called two Sundays before and reiterated when he called the next Sunday.
Before she got Frank's second call, she got one from Nicky freaking out. "You have to help me!" she begged.
"What did you do now?" Anna asked.
"I didn't do anything; it was my idiotic boyfriend."
"Right, the hot cop. Question stands, change you to he," Anna answered.
"He introduced himself to Uncle Jamie at a crime scene."
"Why is that a bad thing?"
"He's going to tell the rest of the family and they'll go ballistic and never let me see him."
Anna bit her tongue to keep from laughing. She felt bad for her cousin, she really did, but it seemed not so bad now that the shoe was on the other foot. "I'm surprised it hasn't gotten back to him sooner. They work out of the same house and all," she said as seriously as possible.
"You are so not being helpful right now."
"Turn about is fair play. You weren't at all helpful with Jim, but I'm the bigger person so ... remind them that you're 19, you're just dating which is normal for a 19-year-old, and you're in New York where the Commissioner knows everything."
"I don't want him knowing everything about this."
"Look, it's not that he's going to have you surveilled or anything, he's just going to have his people keep a look or ear out for anything off. If nothing happens then nothing happens. If it does then he's got your back."
"Thanks, Anna, that helps."
"You're welcome."
Just as Anna had expected, the Sunday following Nicky's phone call, Frank asked Anna again about coming to the dedication ceremony and unveiling. She explained that she still had both classes and work and couldn't make it. On top of all that, getting there that short notice would be next to impossible unless one of them wanted to loan her money to cover a last-minute flight. Since no one could or would she would just have to miss out, though she did ask them to record it for her.
A day later, she had just cemented her place in the rumored larger game and was sitting in her handler Nate's car when she got a twitter notification from the NYPD. They tweeted every day, usually pretty benign stuff, but this one caught her heart in her throat with the urgent title at the top.
"Urgent! Have you seen me? Missing co-ed Nicole Reagan-Boyle believed to be with Thomas Wilder. Click for more." Then it showed a picture of Nicky and Wilder side by side.
"Oh, dear God," she muttered, cradling her phone in both hands. She didn't know whether to cry, get angry and throw a fit, or try to call Nicky and see if she could find her.
"Anna, talk to me," Nate demanded.
"My cousin Nicky ... My dad's been working this serial killer case in New York. It's been on the news. Thomas Wilder. He took my cousin Nicky."
There was a knock on the driver's side window that startled Anna. Nate rolled down the window. "Help you with something?" he asked, his face going hard. Anna too looked at the man out the window.
"Both of you step out of the car, please," the man asked.
"What's going on? Who are you?" Anna asked.
"Miss, please just step out of the car."
"Not until you tell me who you are."
There was a knock on Anna's window this time and Anna looked at the other man. This one too was in a trench coat but his hands were below the car's window level. She reluctantly put the window down and looked up at him. "This help?" he asked. Anna peeked over the window frame at it and saw a badge. He flipped it over to his ID. She frowned seeing the three-letter agency on the ID. She turned and looked at Nate.
"You ever worked with Feds?"
"FBI. Don't ask me to explain why."
"How can you tell?" He leaned towards her and whispered how to tell an authentic FBI badge and ID. Anna nodded. "They're Feds. At least this one is."
"Why didn't you say so?" Nate asked the man outside his window. They both got out of the car and Agent Patrick, the man outside Anna's window according to his badge, pulled her to the back of the car as his partner talked to Nate.
"You are Maryanna Reagan?" Agent Patrick said.
"Yeah, ID is in the bag on the floorboard," Anna answered.
"Who's the guy?"
"Miami PD."
"On a date?"
"No, just hanging out. Does this have anything to do with my cousin Nicky? Do you know where she is? Is she safe?"
The agent avoided her question and asked one of his own. "Your father has been trying to get ahold of you. You didn't answer. Why?"
"I don't answer the phone and he sends the Feds after me? That's pathetic," Anna scoffed.
"With what's going on?"
"Well as you can see, I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"Yes, as I told you, he's a cop. No place safer."
"Patty story checks," his partner called.
"Call your father. He's worried," Agent Patrick told her.
"Will do." The agents left and Anna climbed back in the car with Nate. When her father didn't answer her three calls, she huffed angrily and called her grandfather on his office line.
"Reagan," he said.
"It's Anna. I'm sorry I couldn't answer his call," she said as she tried not to snap.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Hanging out with a friend. My phone died so I couldn't answer. Grampa, Dad's on the case. He's going to find Nicky and bring her home. Son of Sam's mistake was a parking ticket. Wilder's mistake was taking Nicky." Though the part about her phone was a lie, she couldn't tell him the truth about why she couldn't answer his call.
"I know, sweetheart. I'm glad you're safe."
"Yeah. Thanks. Call me as soon as you know something."
"I will. Take care." They hung up and Anna slumped back in her seat. Nate raised an eyebrow.
"I love my family but Jiminy Christmas. We're good."
"Alright, I'll drop you off at home. Don't forget the plan for the game."
"I got it." Anna got a call later that night from Jamie letting her know that Nicky was safe, sound, and back at home. She also marathon texted with Nicky the following night and could tell the girl wasn't completely ok but she was getting there which made things better.
The underground poker game rolled around on Sunday. Getting in was easy, so were the first couple rounds of play. What wasn't easy was identifying the key players that needed to be there before OCS could raid the place. Eight games in, she finally saw the final player in the sting information and he sat at her table. She made small talk for a while before she uttered the phrase that tipped off the cops. They came in and arrested everyone on site. Anna sat down in the holding cell for the night until her friend and defense attorney Oscar Warsaw walked and got her out with no charges filed. He was useful to have though he didn't know she was working undercover for the cops. She met with Nate in their predetermined spot and handed over her paperwork before she headed home to catch some sleep.
Before she knew it, she had passed the police academy and had received her associate's degree in business. She posted a selfie of her holding her degree on her page. She then began applying to different districts inside the Miami PD. While graduating the academy was a great move it was only the first step. She worked one more week at the diner then took a desperately needed vacation.
"Anna, have you seen this video?" Riley asked when Anna met her for lunch. Anna nodded seeing the Perez shooting from New York. "How could they just—"
Anna held up a finger to cut her off. "I don't care what language you speak because in any language approaching a cop with a weapon in your hand is a bad idea. I don't want to get into this Ri, it's the same argument I'm going to have with my cousin when I go home this week."
"You're going home? Damn. I was hoping to borrow your car. My bro's out of town so he can't pick me up from the dorms and my stuff won't fit on the bike."
"Trade me. I can ride a bike to New York."
"Triumph or the Harley?"
"Harley, definitely." Riley had both a mid-90's Triumph and a 2002 Harley-Davidson Softail Heritage with it's fender and gas tank painted in dark green. The Harley was way more comfortable to ride for long periods of time than the Triumph was. The Triumph was more of a sports' racing bike.
"Deal, just have it back before next Friday. My dad's coming back and he wants to go for a ride."
"Will do. Thanks."
"No. Thank you. This makes my trip home easier."
"Welcome." Anna grinned.
"What do you think will happen?" Riley asked, glancing down at her phone.
"Things will get out of hand, riots will ensue, and worst case someone's going to shoot a cop."
"Let's hope not." Anna agreed whole heartedly with Riley's statement.
"Knock, knock!" Anna called as she entered the Reagan family dining room.
"Anna! "Jack and Sean cried rushing to hug their older sister. No matter how old the pair got, Anna would always see them as the happy and bouncing five- and two-year old's rushing to greet her when she came home from her first day of third grade.
"Did you miss me?" Anna asked, hugging her younger brothers because honestly there was nothing little about the boys anymore.
"We haven't seen you in like 6 months, of course we missed you," Sean answered.
"Kids, dinner," Linda told her children.
"Got to wash up first," Anna answered as Jamie pulled the spare chair up to the table between himself and Henry. "I know I've been driving all day but it doesn't feel right if I don't," Anna explained as Nicky got up to get another place setting. As Anna went towards the kitchen to wash her hands, she paused next to Henry and bent to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Missed you."
"Missed you too," Henry answered.
After washing her hands, Anna slipped into the chair and looked around the table.
"Anna, why don't you say grace?" Frank asked. She looked at him to protest, but thought better of it. Instead, she bowed her head, folded her hands, and did as requested. Soon plates were filled and everyone was eating. The talk was about random subjects, mainly about her brothers' week and Nicky's.
"You know, I think this is what I miss most when I'm in Miami," Anna said.
"Us talking about our weeks?" Sean asked.
"Family dinner?" Nicky added.
"Being glared at from across the table?" Jack suggested, glancing at his dad.
"Home cooked food?" Jamie suggested.
"Bingo," Anna answered, nodding to her uncle. "Do you know the last time I had food that wasn't microwaved or in between school and work?"
"The last time you came home?" Jamie said. "I missed it too while I was at Harvard. It was the best part of coming home."
"You're the one that chose to go to college out of state," Danny said, though it wasn't clear if he was talking to his brother or his daughter. His brother answered anyway.
"Yeah, well, it was the best school," Jamie told his brother.
"I meant Anna," Danny said.
"Yeah, well, New York was getting a little small for me," Anna said.
"So, you thought a school over 1000 miles away was a good idea?" Danny asked roughly.
"Can we not get into this here?" Anna tried not to snap. The entire table lapsed into silence.
"So," Henry started, hoping to calm things down a little. However, it wouldn't work. "How's the case against the guy who shot our cop?"
"Not good enough for the DA's office," Danny answered.
Anna watched her aunt suddenly stop. "You know it's not, Danny," Erin answered. Anna turned out the further responses not sure what they were talking about and wondered which cop they were talking about. She was pretty sure it had something to do with the viral video she had seen but didn't want to interrupt and be wrong. It wasn't until Frank tried to be a peacekeeper that it hit her. "The standards for evidence haven't been met," Erin explained.
"You're talking about the case with that viral video. The one with that officer that shot and killed the suspect with the knife," Anna said.
"Yeah," Jamie sighed. "A few days later his partner was on patrol and was shot."
"You know about that?" Jack asked.
"I watch the news. Believe it or not their news down there does actually cover things in New York," Anna answered. "But unlike here, Miami cops are required to know three phrases in Spanish: Police, freeze i.e., Policía, congelar; Drop the weapon, suelta el arma; and Hands up or show me your hands, manos arriba or muéstrame tus manos," Anna told them.
"You know that how?" Sean asked.
"Wanted to know after I saw the video. However, it could be because 51 percent of Miami's population speaks Spanish at home so it's nice for the police to know too."
"What I don't get is, the tape clearly shows Perez coming up to a cop with a knife out, what did he think would happen?" Jack asked, looking towards his father and grandfather.
"Exactly right," Danny said.
"Really?" Nicky asked, glaring at her uncle.
"What other option was there, Nicky?" Anna asked. "Guy's coming at you with a knife and in the two seconds it takes him to reach you and plunge that knife in, what other option did he have?"
"There had to be something other than deadly force," Nicky answered.
"I'm still waiting for you to tell me what that option was."
"I'm not saying that I know what it is. I'm just saying—"
"What? That he should have talked this out? The guy didn't want to listen to the officer no matter what he said."
"She's not saying that, Anna," Linda told her daughter. "She's just saying that these things seem to happen more often."
"Because there are video cameras everywhere nowadays; that, and news stations prefer to sensationalize the crap out of cops shooting a person instead of stories of cops doing things like saving babies or victims or stuff like that," Anna answered.
"From where I sit," Frank said, drawing their attention. "Officer Russell did the right thing." He paused as he looked down at his plate. "The problem is somewhere along the line, the trust between cops and the public broke down, and there is plenty of blame to go around. But until both sides start working to restore that trust, neither side's gonna be safe." Everyone sat in silence as those thoughts sank in. For the next few minutes, the only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of cutlery on China and soft chewing.
"Well, I for one, am glad to see not much has changed around here," Anna said. "I was worried that I'd come home and we'd have a Sunday dinner where everything was a polite discussion of topics and no one got heated."
"That would be nice," Linda said.
"That would be boring," Nicky said.
"I'm with Nicky," Henry said.
"I agree with Linda. It might be nice for once," Erin answered.
"How long are you staying?" Jamie asked, changing topics again.
"A few days. I have an interview with a company out in Northern Miami on Friday and my waitressing job doesn't give me more than a week off every couple of months. Speaking of staying …" Anna trailed off. Her eyes turned to her grandfather at the head of the table. "Grampa, would you mind if I stayed here while I'm in town?"
"And what's wrong with coming home?" Danny asked, putting down his fork and knife and turning to look at his oldest.
Anna looked back at her plate. "Nothing per say, but I kinda prefer the comfort of an actual bed to that of a couch or air mattress in the basement," Anna said. "Besides it's not like Grandpa's hurting for space or that I'll be doing much of anything at home. The boys still have school every day and you and Mom still have to work."
"It's fine by me, Pops?" Frank answered, looking to his father.
"You know I love having my grandkids in the house," Henry answered.
"Fine, but you will come over for dinner at least one night while you're here?" Danny asked.
"Sure." Anna smiled.
"That wasn't a question."
"Could have fooled me," Anna muttered.
Danny sent her his fatherly glare but didn't otherwise comment. Talk turned to the Mets and all former hostility seemed to dissipate.
So what do you think? The bottom half of this chapter, the part after the second line is part of the first chapter I ever wrote for this story way back in 2016 after it aired on TV. It's been edited since then since it didn't make a whole lot of sense with the way the story developed but parts of it are still there. The part about her being a cop, the fight with her dad, her moving to Miami, all that is what I originally had planned for her when this started.
Also, I'm sorry that Anna wasn't in New York when Danny was chasing Wilder. I know people have been asking for that for the past couple of years but part of me just couldn't make Anna deal with him. At least not head on. You'll see that Wilder still does get to Anna, though probably not in the way any of you expect.