Chapter 9: Lending A Helping Hand
Alex sits in his boss's office.
"Well I'm not surprised you didn't get anything." She admits "It was worth a shot…" She dismissively adds "…but not surprising – way more experienced people then you have tried and failed." She tacks on before simply picking up a stack of files and holding them out to him "Here, goes through these and file them with the appropriate departments." She instructs as she just moves on.
Alex says nothing. He just offers his boss a tight awkward smile of acceptance as he takes the files but inside he is now more determined than ever to not be lumped into the same category of all those other people that failed…
...granted he currently had absolutely no idea how he would make that happen but some how, some way, he would...
….
It's a super hot day and Jamie and Eddie are sitting in a traffic jam in The Chevelle with the windows down.
"Jamie…" Eddie begins with a bit of annoyance in her voice "You know I love you and this car but could we not have taken the Porsche?"
"Why?" Jamie inquires.
"BECAUSE IT HAS AIR CONDITIONING!" Eddie tosses out.
"Oh." Jamie replies before sighing "Right."
"At least if we were moving…" Eddie points out "…we'd have a breeze but with us just sitting here stuck we are going to melt into the pavement!"
"Just think of it like spending some time in the sauna at a spa." Jamie offers "But the best part is, it's free!"
Slowly Eddie turns her head to glare at her husband "Not funny." She growls.
"It's a little funny." Jamie insists.
"I'm too hot to laugh." Eddie deadpans out as she fans the front of her shirt in and out trying to create a breeze.
Watching his wife, a playful look appears on Jamie's face "Oh you definitely are hot." He confirms hoping to get at least a smile out of her but Eddie again turns her head to just unhappily stare at him.
"Wow." He notes at seeing her look "Tough crowd."
Suddenly the couple hear shouting and honking coming from a few vehicles ahead of them "COME ON LADY GET THAT BUCKET OF BOLTS OUT OF THE WAY ALREADY!"
Honk.
"YEAH MOVE IT!" Another person shouts.
Honk. Honk.
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK.
Turning to look at one another, the cop instincts in Jamie and Eddie take over so in a throwback to their patrol days the couple both simultaneously open their car doors and get out to go investigate.
"MOOOOOOOOOVE!" Yet another person screams out.
"Okay calm down." Jamie instructs the screaming and frustrated driver as he passes him in his vehicle "Just give us a minute to see what's going on alright?"
"59, 58, 57…" The person unhappily starts to count.
"And you thought I was a tough crowd." Eddie tosses at her husband over the roofs of the cars as they keep walking forward and when they get to the front they see an elderly woman in a panic in an old clunker of a car desperately and repeatedly trying to start the car but failing.
"Ma'am." Jamie greets as he leans down to look into the vehicle through the open driver's window while Eddie leans down to look in through the passenger's window "You okay?"
"Come on!" they see the woman plead to her car as she again cranks the key in the ignition for longer than she should causing Jamie to cringe.
"Okay… okay…" Jamie soothes as he gently reaches a hand inside the car trying to get the woman to stop "Ma'am I'm Jamie and that over there is my wife Eddie." He introduces as he gestures to Eddie across the seats.
"Hi." Eddie warmly greets "What's your name Ma'am?"
"Martha." The woman shakily replies in defeated frustration.
"Martha." Jamie accepts. "Okay Martha, well how about you pop the hood and let me take a look okay?"
"JUST PUSH THE DAMN CAR OUT OF THE WAY ALREADY!" someone in a nearby vehicle shouts out in frustration.
Seeing the elderly woman about to break down in tears at the comment, Eddie immediately stands up and turns to face the crowd.
"HEY!" Eddie snaps back at the person "Give us a minute here okay? This could happen to anyone!"
"YOUR MINUTE IS UP!" that same person who started counting down a minute before yells back.
Immediately 'ONE MORE WORD OUT OF YOU AND I'M GONNA FEED YOU THE STEERING WHEEL!' pops into Eddie's mind but she wasn't in uniform - or even in New York City - and certainly couldn't use the fact that she is a cop to gain authority over the situation so instead she holds up her hands in a non threatening surrender.
"OKAY MY HUSBAND KNOWS HIS WAY AROUND CARS." She announces to the ever growing group of frustrated drivers "GIVE HIM A MINUTE TO FIND OUT WHAT'S WRONG BUT IF HE CAN'T FIX IT, THEN YES…" Eddie confirms as she lays out a plan to all the stranded drivers "…WE WILL PUSH THE CAR OUT OF THE WAY OKAY, BUT TO DO THAT, WE WILL NEED HELP SO DO I HAVE ANY VOLUNTEERS?"
"IF IT GETS US MOVING!" Someone calls out "FINE!"
"AGREED!" Another person calls out.
"THANK YOU!" Eddie appreciatively accepts before heading to the front of the car and Jamie "Well?" She prompts.
"It might the alternator here." Jamie explains to his wife as he points out the part before leaning over so he can look at the woman in the driver's seat "OKAY MARTHA!" He calls to her "TRY AGAIN!"
Martha turns the key but the engine doesn't start.
"Yeah that's what I was afraid of." Jamie sighs "Sometimes if you jiggle it, or hit it with something like a hammer you can get it to start." He quickly informs his wife "But we don't exactly have time to figure that all out right now."
"So we push?" Eddie deduces.
"We push." Jamie confirms so Eddie moves to again address the crowd while Jamie moves to talk to Martha.
"OKAY FOLKS!" Eddie calls out "LOOKS LIKE WE ARE PUSHING SO ALL MY VOLUNTEERS – LET'S GO!" She instructs as she makes a repeated 'come here' gesture with her hands.
So with guidance and instruction from Jamie and Eddie and help from the few volunteers that stepped forward, Martha's car begins to get moved off the road out of the way right as a RMP arrives on scene.
It's Caitlin and her partner.
"Hey isn't that the guy you were giving directions to the other day?" Caitlin's partner asks her as he brings the RMP to a stop.
"Is it?" Caitlin innocently queries as she tries to pretend she doesn't immediately recognize Jamie even though she does "Oh yeah, I guess it is." She then adds as they open their doors to get out to the sound of cheers and clapping as the road opens back up to traffic.
"Everything okay over here?" Caitlin's partner inquires as they walk up.
Turning, Jamie and Eddie see Caitlin and her partner standing there.
'What are they the only RPM in this town?' Jamie silently states in his head before plastering a smile on his face then leaning slightly forward to Caitlin's partner's name plate "Well if it isn't Officer Keene…" he states before purposely shifting his eyes to read Caitlin's name plate even though he already knows her name "…and Officer Reagan."
Caitlin smiles at Jamie then shifts her attention to Martha "Mrs. Ryerson." She greets "Are you okay?"
Jamie and Eddie look a little surprised Martha and Caitlin know one another but before either can say anything Martha gushes "Oh yes!" as she unexpectedly pulls Jamie into a big grateful hug and squeezes.
"Oh!" Jamie notes in surprise "Okay!"
"These nice people came to my rescue!" She continues to explain to Caitlin while suddenly releasing Jamie, turning to Eddie and hugging her next.
"It was our pleasure." Eddie genuinely reassures her with a little amused laugh as she returns the hug.
"And I can fix your car." Jamie adds as a horn starts to honk again "I just need a part." He adds as he looks towards the sound and realizes it's now his car that is blocking the traffic "Sorry, be right back." He quickly apologizes as he jogs off to go move The Chevelle out of the way.
"A part?" Martha states in alarm to Eddie "How expensive is this part? I don't have a lot of extra income to spare and..."
"Okay hang on." Eddie soothes "Let's wait for Jamie to get back and we'll figure something out okay?"
"Mrs. Ryerson." Caitlin jumps back in "I thought you just had this car repaired?"
"I did!" Martha confirms "I replaced the alternator."
Eddie frowns at hearing that "Jamie thinks that's what could be wrong."
"What?" Martha protests as Eddie getting an idea, looks at Caitlin "Can I borrow your asp?"
Knowing Eddie is a fellow cop, Caitlin makes a slight move to hand it over but then freezes and retracts her hand remembering her partner doesn't know that so instead she gives Eddie a little 'excuse me?' side look for appearance's sake.
Realizing what she just asked, Eddie explains further "If you hit the alternator." Eddie repeats "Sometimes that is enough to get it to start."
"Where?" Caitlin inquires as she pulls out her collapsible baton, whips it open to full length and looks down into the engine herself.
"There." Eddie replies as the points to the part.
"Boy." Officer Keene chimes in "Not a lot of people know we call them asps now. Most people say nightstick."
Eddie flashes a half smile and offers a dismissive little shrug "Saw it on a documentary once."
"Anywhere?" Caitlin interrupts as she tries to steer the conversation back to Martha's car while moving her head around trying to gauge the right angle to use to hit the part.
"Maybe let's wait for Jamie." Eddie suggests realizing she doesn't actually know.
"I'm here." Jamie states as he walks back up.
"I suggested to Officer Reagan here..." Eddie begins to her husband "…that she use her asp to try hitting the alternator to see if that gets it to start because according to Mrs. Ryerson – Martha…" She clarifies "…she just replaced the alternator."
Jamie shifts his gaze from Eddie to Martha.
Martha nods yes.
"So anywhere on the alternator?" Caitlin inquires.
Jamie leans down and points at the right spot while Eddie directs Mrs. Ryerson "Martha, why don't you get back into the driver's seat and we'll try this again okay?"
"Okay." Martha accepts so when everyone is ready, Caitlin hits the alternator and Martha turns the ignition key.
The vehicle roars to life.
"Yup." Jamie concludes as everyone pulls back and he moves to shut the hood on the car.
"But I just replaced it!" Martha protests as everyone moves to stand around the driver's window.
"Okay we'll you're going to have to take this back to the place that repaired it and have them look at it again." Jamie prompts.
Martha's eyes go wide at the thought.
Seeing the fear and apprehension on Martha's face, Eddie jumps in with "And we can go with you because I'm betting being a – and please don't take this the wrong way but – being an older woman you probably aren't exactly all that knowledgeable about cars right?"
Martha shakes her head "No."
Eddie smiles a reassuring smile at her "Me neither." She admits before hooking her thumb towards Jamie "That's why I have him."
A sad melancholy look appears on Martha's face "Yeah, my late husband used to take care of things like this."
Eddie nods in understanding before leaning down onto the window ledge as if to tell her a secret "If you want, I'll let you borrow him – but you have to promise me you won't try to steal him away from me or anything okay?"
Martha can't help but laugh a bit at the thought "Maybe if I was 40 years younger." She counters "But I promise you have nothing to worry about."
"I better not." Eddie playfully warns "Because I'm quite fond of him."
"Are you done renting me out without even consulting me yet?" Jamie cheekily tosses at his wife.
"Oh I'm not renting you." Eddie corrects as she stands back up and looks at her husband "I'm offering out your services for free."
Jamie huffs out a bit of a laugh at his wife's come back before shifting his gaze to Martha and extending his hand out to her "Hi. Once again, I'm Jamie and I'm at your service."
For the first time since Jamie and Eddie met her, Martha genuinely smiles and it's a move that does not go unnoticed by Caitlin.
"Thank you." The elderly woman sincerely accepts.
"Well seeing as things are well in hand here." Officer Keene suddenly announces "We need to be going. Reagan come on."
"Mrs. Ryerson…" Caitlin states as she moves to follow her partner "I'll check in with you later okay? See how things went?"
"Thank you Dear." Martha appreciatively accepts.
Jamie, Eddie and Martha watch Caitlin and Keene get back into the RMP.
"So…" Eddie begins as she looks at Martha "How do you know Officer Reagan?"
"Oh, she's my neighbor." Martha reveals.
Eddie looks at Jamie and Jamie looks at Eddie.
"Small world." Jamie admits to his wife before again looking down at Martha "Now how about we follow you to this mechanic's shop of yours and see what we can work out okay?"
Martha nods her head and sighs in pure relief.
….
"They are absolute angels!" Martha gushes to Caitlin later that night "That Jamie, bless his heart, got them to agree to fix my car properly and he even gave me his number saying if I have any more trouble with the car or the mechanic to give him a call and that Eddie is an absolute sweetheart! She is so funny and kind - just a pure delight!"
So living up to the Reagan name… Caitlin silently notes in her head as she plasters a smile on her face saying "Well I'm glad things worked out for you."
...