A Chance for a Better Life

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Jamie sent his dad a text and let him know that he'd be calling him later with the details that he'd learned from the Warden in Oregon. At this moment Jamie wanted to get back to his desk and focus on the new case file he'd been given.

"Hey kid, are you working the night tour?" Danny asked just arriving at the station.

Jamie looks up from his file. "No Danny. I worked a day tour."

"Why are you still here then?"

Jamie rolled his eyes. "I have work to do."

"I talked to dad on my way in and he says that you need to call him. Don't forget."

"I won't, now go to work."

Frank had let Danny in on a little about what was going on with Jamie but didn't want to share everything. Danny had been told to talk to his brother.

Jamie finally gave up and decided to go home and call his dad because he knew that Danny would tell him that Jamie was working so late after a long assignment.

"Hey dad."

"Jamie! I was beginning to think you forgot to call me."

Jamie laughed. His dad knew better. "No, I just got stuck on new case file."

"Did you talk to the warden?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go to Oregon in the next couple weeks and see Mason one last time."

"Okay. I'm going with you." Frank wouldn't let Jamie do this alone.

"Dad, I'll be fine. I'm not a kid anymore."

"I'm going with you." Eddie said from her spot on the couch.

Jamie couldn't believe what he just heard. He didn't want his wife anywhere near Mason. "Ed, can we talk as soon as I'm done talking with dad?"

Eddie shook her head yes.

"Jamie, I know that you can do this on your own, but we want to be there for support. Please just let us."

"Okay." Jamie said to both his dad and Eddie. He knew that he wasn't going to win this fight.

"Dad, can you look at your schedule for the next couple weeks and let me know when you have a couple days to fly out."

"I'll let you know tomorrow. Let me know if you or Eddie have a hard time getting the days off."

Jamie hung up the call with his dad and looked at Eddie for a moment.

"Ed, I love you, and because I love you, I don't want you anywhere near Mason." Jamie pulled her into his arms.

Eddie gave him a kiss. She knew how hard this situation was on him. "Hear me out. You always come with me when I got to visit my dad. Even before we got together, because you want to support me. Let me support you."

Jamie hung his head. "This is different. Your dad is in a minimum-security prison, and he'll be out in a few years. Mason is in a maximum-security prison with limited visitation and now's he's been moved to a medical unit."

"My dad's still in prison, and I have been to a maximum-security prison for work before." Eddied knew Jamie knew the truth.

"Ed, what if you come with me for support, but don't go in with me. I have a feeling that I won't get to talk to him alone. I bet my dad goes in with me and I won't win that fight."

"Let's make a deal." Eddie isn't gonna back down either.

"Okay." Jamie gave in.

"I go with you to Oregon, and you take a couple days off after to get your head back on straight."

Jamie smiled. "Deal."

A week later Jamie, Eddie, and Frank were in Oregon, and Jamie and Frank had an appointment at the prison. Jamie started his morning with a run while Eddie went out and got them coffee and breakfast.

Three hours later they were on their way to the prison. Eddie was going to wait in the waiting room.

"Jamie, you don't have to do this." Frank said as they walked down the hall.

"I know. I need to."

Jamie and Frank were given an update on Mason's medical condition, and it wasn't good. He'd be lucky if he survived to July.

"He's waiting for you along with his advocate." A friendly nurse stated. "You can take all the time you need."

"Family only." The nurse said as she stopped Frank.

Frank looked down at her. "I am family."

Jamie walked in the room ahead of Frank.

Mason had heard the entire thing from his hospital bed. He wanted to see his son alone without the guy who had arrested him.

"Jamie, I'm so happy that you were able to come." Mason smiled. He would do whatever he could to spend his final days in New York.

Jamie had to think of what to say. Mason looked about the same, but the way he was acting was off. "Hi Mason."

"Couldn't come alone." Mason sneered.

Frank just stood back and stared. He couldn't even dignify what Mason said with a response.

"I came to tell you that the reason that you were moved for hasn't changed. You'll be staying here." Jamie said with less feeling than Frank had ever seen.

Mason's anger became apparent instantly. "You little shit. You can't even stop thinking about yourself long enough to let me die where I belong. I never should've had to leave New York and wouldn't be in here if it wasn't for you."

Mason's advocate was shocked. She thought he was a nice man who'd made some bad decisions. She'd never seen this side of him before. She decided to make her way closer to the door. She knew both Jamie and Frank were cops.

"You lost your right to choose where you live the first time you committed a felony. How you ever thought that I'd want you anywhere near me after you killed my mother and tried to kill me multiple times is beyond me. I'm neither stupid nor ignorant." Jamie sneered back. Not caring if he was going to be escorted out.

"I should have killed you. The fact that he." Mason pointed at Frank. "Saved you when I was so close and then again when I had you in my grasp. You weren't going to survive an hour after we left that damn mall."

Jamie laughed. "You understand that was a set up right! You never had a chance. You left a note saying you wanted me dead and admitting that you killed mom. The other times you never had a chance because you lived in a housing development with paper thin walls."

"You weren't old enough to know anything about any of those things."

Frank was proud watching Jamie. He was showing his strength. He hated that he had to do this at all.

"Mason, I'm a cop. I've read the police reports and gone over your legal case entirely."

Mason laughed. "That's right you're a dumb cop. You didn't understand any of the real legal stuff." Time and illness had caused Mason to forget that his son was well educated and a lawyer on top of being a cop.

Frank laughed. "Jamie is a Harvard Law grad."

"No way. My son isn't that smart. I didn't even let him go to school because there wasn't a point." Mason sneered.

"I have one thing left to say and then I'm leaving." Jamie took a deep breath. "You hurt and killed people for money. You're right where you belong. Don't contact me again."

Jamie walked out of the room and went right to the waiting room where Eddie was. He hadn't noticed that his dad hadn't followed.

"Mason don't contact him again. He's not your son, he's, my son."

Frank walked out to find Eddie holding Jamie. "Let's go."

The ride back to the hotel is quiet. Jamie wanted to drive while Frank and Eddie were trying to gauge how he was doing.

"Thanks for coming with me." Jamie was exhausted.

"Babe." Eddie wasn't sure what to say. She'd seen the entire interaction. She knew Jamie wasn't anything like Mason.

"I'll be okay Ed. Why don't you and dad go and get some lunch before you take him to the airport. I'm gonna go for a run."

"Jamie, my detail will take me to the airport, but I can stay. I don't have to leave yet."

Jamie just shook his head. "Dad, I'll be fine. Go home and tell everyone how terrible everything was and let them know that we'll be at dinner on Sunday."

"Please Frank." Eddie could hear the sincerity in Jamie's voice.

Frank knew he needed to respect Jamie's wishes. If he pushed, he'd only shut down.

"Okay, but can you come to the house before church on Sunday?" Frank wanted some time alone with his son and daughter-in-law.

"Yes dad. We'll be there."

Frank left knowing that his son would be taken care of by Eddie. Despite how they moved forward he was happy that he had her in his life.

Jamie left once he knew his dad would be on the road. He needed to run, and he had to keep telling himself that he wasn't running from Mason. He wasn't.

Jamie felt for the advocate in the room. She hadn't yet seen Mason's true colors and had yet to understand that he was where he belonged and that he was going to stay there. He'd learned that it was the warden writing the letters, but her. Mason was good at fooling people. He'd fooled his mom and Jamie understood it, but knew it meant that he would always be guarded. Jamie thought of both of his moms as he ran. He knew Patty would be upset that he traveled all this way just to see Mason. He knew Mary would be proud of him for doing what was right even though it was hard. Mason despite being a terrible person did deserve to hear that the remainder of his life would be spent in Oregon. Jamie thought back to the first time that he went to visit Mason when he was in college. He hadn't been afraid of him, but he hadn't wanted to go. Knowing this was the last time he was ever going to have to see the evil man had lifted a weight off his shoulders tht he hadn't realized he was carrying.

Frank however was full of worry as he and his detail headed home. He hated that a man so close to death couldn't see what a wonderful son he had for a moment and didn't understand how he could treat Jamie so poorly. On the flip side he knew Jamie had all the support that he needed, and he had his big family for support.

Eddie wasn't hungry. Her dad was in prison, and he had his issues, but she knew in her heart of hearts that he'd never talk to her the way the way that Mason had talked to Jamie. Jamie was a survivor in so many ways. He was so strong.

Eddie had been watching out the hotel window. She was waiting for Jamie to get back and then they were going to do something really anything to get him to open up.

Jamie had pushed hard during his run so by the time he got close to the hotel he was walking. By the time he got up to their room he was smiling.

"Are you okay?" Eddie asked cautiously.

Jamie smiled. "I am." Jamie could see how concerned his wife was. "I really am Ed. I know who Mason is, and nothing that happened earlier today surprised me. I am who I am because of my birth mom and the Reagans. Mason is nothing to me and for the first time in my life I truly understand that."

Eddie smiled. "That is amazing and I'm so proud of you babe. Do you want to shower and then get something to eat, or do you need to do something else?"

"Yeah. Give me ten minutes to shower, and then you can pick whatever you want to eat." Jamie gave her a quick kiss.

While Jamie showered Eddie sent Frank a quick text that Jamie's run had been good, and that he was in a good place. She hoped that it would help Frank worry less. She knew after such a rough morning she wouldn't be able to dispel all of his worry.

"Ready?" Jamie asked breaking her out of her thoughts.

Lunch was nice and relaxing, and Jamie apparently worked up a quite an appetite on his run. Eddie hated running herself but loved the effect that running had on Jamie. The happy mood continued for the next couple of days. It took Jamie years, but he'd finally found peace.

Frank wasn't having the same experience. He was still upset over the entire visit and how it came about. He'd heard that Mason's advocate had requested not to work with him any longer after she saw how abusive he was to his son. She was happy to learn that Jamie had been saved a long time ago and she was going to write Jamie a letter of apology. She knew that she had a lot to learn about her chosen profession.

Frank and Henry have late nights discussing everything that happened. Henry traveled to the prison to meet Mason once when Jamie was sick. He wanted Mason to know what a strong and amazing son that he had. Henry knew that it fell on deaf ears because Mason couldn't be reformed. Henry's hope was that this last visit for his grandson didn't do too much damage.

Eddie and Jamie's plane was delayed for six hours. They didn't arrive back at their apartment until after two in the morning. Jamie sent his dad a text that they were going to sleep for a while then they'd head straight to the house.

Frank didn't want to go to church. He wanted to stay home and see what Jamie's mood was, but he knew his youngest would understand his dad's worry. At the same time Jamie would remind him that he is an adult just like his brother and sister. In the end he decided to go to church.

Jamie and Eddie slept through church and knew that they wouldn't make it to the house before the family arrived back home.

Danny was worried when Jamie and Eddie hadn't arrived at the house yet. All he could think was that Mason's evil words had gotten into his baby brother's head. "Dad, have you heard from him?"

"No, but he should be here soon." Frank tried to reassure his oldest, but he'd actually been in the room and heard the terrible things that Mason had said.

"Dad." Erin said worried more than Danny.

Jamie walked in while they were talking. Eddie had found Henry and was talking to him in the other room.

"Hey guys." Jamie said knowing that they hadn't heard him enter the room.

Erin ran over and gave him a hug. Jamie had a big smile on his face. He loved being part of a big family.

"I love you too Erin."

Danny noticed Jamie smiling and that it wasn't a fake smile either. "Kid, are you doin' okay?"

Jamie looked around the room and saw the worry on everyone's faces. "I'm great. I have everything I need and I'm thankful for my family and friends."

"Jamie…" Erin was at a loss for words.

Danny was expecting Jamie to be even quieter than normal as he worked through the horrid things that he had to deal with.

"You guys know that I go with Eddie to visit her dad in prison, right?"

They all shook their heads yes.

"Her dad realizes what he did was wrong, and he's learned from it. He hates that he missed our wedding and he's realized what he did was wrong." Jamie took a breath. "The difference is that Eddie's dad knows what he did was wrong, Mason doesn't know anything he did was wrong and never will."

"Right." Danny says because no one has any idea what to say.

"It took me a while, but I realized that I'm nothing like him, and I will never be anything like him."

Erin, Frank, and Danny all took a sigh of relief. Jamie was theirs and Frank knew in his heart that he was always meant to be a Reagan.

"Kid you are the furthest thing from him."

Jamie shook his head. "Not totally, I have killed and taking a life is taking a life. The difference is that enjoyed it and profited from it, and I will never forget or be the same person because of what I've had to do to save others."

Frank, Danny, and Henry all understood. They've all had to do something similar happen to them, it was part of the life that they chose.

Eddie had been listening in the corner after Henry joined the rest in the kitchen.

"Jamie really is good. We relaxed out west for a couple days and talked a lot. He's ready for more sleep because flight delays suck and to get back to work tomorrow."

"Okay, ten minutes and we'll eat, and you guys can get back home." Danny smiled.

Eddie looked at everyone. "But you didn't cook, did you?" Danny was doing better but family dinner was a big deal.

"Yes, but Erin helped." Danny laughed.

Jamie and Eddie were happy for the good meal. They hadn't gotten to eat anything yet and didn't realize that they were starving. The mood during dinner was light and Danny was cracking jokes like when Jamie was a kid. At one point Jamie was laughing so hard that he was crying. He missed when Sunday dinners were always so much fun. He felt that they all needed more laughter in their lives.

When Monday rolled around Jamie was happy to be back at work. Some of his friends thought he was crazy, but work wasn't as stressful for him as it was for his friends. He had to laugh because they got the high paying jobs that they wanted after graduation. They were making a lot of money, but they didn't get to enjoy it because all they did was work.

Mark was already at his desk when Jamie got in. "Hey Mark. Did you have a nice weekend?"

"Yeah, how was your trip?"

Jamie sighed. "Our flight was delayed for six hours. What did I miss while I was out?"

"I picked up a case yesterday that we need to meet with Detectives Baez and Reagan on. There's been a series of assaults across three blocks. They keep hitting over and over and they know where the cameras are the attacks seems are planned, so we think that there's a stalking element too."

Two hours later Jamie had made it through the entire file, and there had been several attacks at this point. Another thing that Jamie found interesting was that when patrols had been increased along those blocks the attackers were able to adapt and none of the attacks happened when the patrols did. It made Jamie think that they must have a police scanner. That was his best-case scenario. Worst was that a dirty cop was involved, and he hoped it wasn't the case this time.

"Let's go meet with your brother." Mark said hoping that this went well.

Danny was standing behind Maria's desk as they talked through the case. They had only caught one of the cases and were working their way around to talk to the other detectives who worked on the earlier cases. Intelligence had been monitoring the case since the second one came in.

"Hey Danny." Jamie knew interrupting him wasn't a great idea.

"Hey kid. Whatcha doing over here?"

Jamie smiled and pulled out their file. "I heard you caught the Arthur James case."

"Yeah, we're working on it now. We just got back from the hospital."

"How's Mr. James?" Mark wanted to know and hoped the news was good.

"He's doing okay. He has a concussion, broken arm, and some minor cuts and bruises. He'll be at the hospital overnight and should be able to go home tomorrow."

"I'm glad that he'll be okay. Does he remember anything?" Jamie was happy that his injuries weren't worse. One of the other victims was still in a coma.

"Not much. His head injury has affected his short-term memory." Baez explained.

"Mr. James is one of several attacks that have happened over the last couple of weeks. As we get more information, we'll let you know." Mark explained.

Jamie could see Danny getting upset and then he instantly cooled off. "Thank you."

Baez had seen Danny have the same reaction. Mark and Jamie make their way back to the intel unit.

"Danny are you okay?" Baez was surprised.

Danny laughed. "Yes, why?"

"I thought you were gonna rip their heads off when Mark said that they'd keep us updated. Why didn't you?"

Danny sighed. "I know Jamie and Mark will keep us updated and they are good at their jobs."

Two days later Jamie and Mark took over all of the cases. Danny and Baez weren't happy, but they knew they didn't have a choice. A week later they learned that the case had been solved. It had been two former police officers who were fired for multiple reasons, and they had both worked out of the 5-4.

Frank asked Danny to watch Jamie when he was at work. They were all optimistic that he really had found peace when it came to his birth family, but Frank and the family were worried that he seemed to work through it too quickly. They didn't realize that this wasn't quick. It was something Jamie had been coming to terms with since he was about eighteen and had started visiting Mason in prison.

Eddie was working with a group of kids who were between the ages of six and ten who had spent most of their lives in the system. Some of them still had hope while others felt like they'd never get a family. There was one little boy that reminded her of her husband. He had blond hair and blue eyes. He was small for his age and despite everything that he'd been through some terrible things he was the sweetest little boy she'd met. The only problem was he didn't say much.

Life was good. Jamie's newfound freedom had allowed him to live without the heavy weight he'd been carrying most of his life.

Eddie was exhausted and hadn't been able to sit in her office any longer so she brought home her files so she could keep working.

"Hey babe, do you need anything?" Jamie was worried about Eddie.

Eddie smiled at him. "Good loving homes for about twenty kids."

"Can we start with one kid and go from there?"

Eddie cocked her head. "What?"

"Do you think we could be approved to be foster parents and when the time's right, adopt?"

Eddie always had the foster and adoption paperwork with her, but she had something else on her mind too.

"Eddie, what's up? You have something on your mind, and it seems like it's more than work."

"My mom asked me to run the non-profit." Eddie said quickly wondering what Jamie's response would be.

Jamie smiled. "Is that something that you want to do?"

Eddie had been thinking about this for a couple of weeks. "Yes, more so if we are thinking about kids. We both can't work sixty hours a week if we have kids."

Jamie laughed. That was very true. His dad had usually worked a lot of hours and his mom was always busy. Somehow one of them was always there for them. "No, we can't, but my family is always available to help if needed. I don't want you to change careers and not be happy."

"I do like my job, and I've learned a lot since I became a supervisor, but it's not the same. I will miss it, but I'm ready to try something new."

"Eddie, I don't care what you do for work, what matters to me is that you're happy. I've worked in a profession where I wasn't happy, and the days were long and harder than my bad days working in a job that I love. If you want to do something else, I support you 100%."

Eddie smiled. She loved that her husband was so supportive. She needed that support every day. "I'll talk to my mom tomorrow and find out where she wants me to start and if I'll be working out of her place or ours. After I talk to her, I'll put my notice in."

"Great. Now will I still be talking to the kids at the group home? That was supposed to happen next week, right?"

Eddie grabbed her planner and looked at her hectic schedule. "Yeah, next Friday, and you can stay for lunch if you want. Marie asked to talk to you about maybe doing this every so often. She's found a couple other kids like you that were adopted later and they're gonna come in and speak at different time."

Jamie smiled. "Good, and I'll work with her. Are you at the group home all week?"

Eddie sighed. "I am, and there's a little boy that I want you to meet. He made me think of you when you were little. Erin loves showing me pictures of when you first became a Reagan."

Jamie rolled his eyes. Erin always made it sound like she loved having him there all the time. "Yeah, she thought I was pretty cute until I got sick."

"She worried a lot about you when you were sick, and every day with out on the job." Eddie smiled. "Now the little boy's name is Isaac and he's five, he's been in and out of the system his entire life."

"Isaac okay, are his parents still in the picture?"

Jamie knew the system well, and that was something that she loved about him. "No, his dad is in prison and his rights were taken away when he sentenced to life and his mom signed away her rights before she went in rehab the last time before she died of an overdose."

"How long has he been in the group home?" Jamie knew how the kid felt.

"He's been in the group home for two years now." Eddie was watching Jamie closely.

"What's dad's name? What's he is prison for?"

Eddie sighed. "Murder, multiple counts. He was a hired hitman." Eddie cringed. She wasn't sure how Jamie was going to handle those facts they hit close to home for him.

"Okay, is he in prison in New York or somewhere else?"

"New York."

"Okay. What's his name?"

"Andrew Hicks. He won't ever be eligible for parole."

Jamie smiled and was happy that Eddie had all the information, but he could see the concern in her eyes. "Great. I can't wait to meet Isaac."

The next few days were hectic as Eddie was finalizing everything with her mother to run the non-profit and organizing her case files to hand off. Marie hadn't been surprised when Eddie put in her notice. She knew that this would happen eventually. She had taken a break when she was raising her kids too.

It was hard for Eddie to turn in her notice, but she knew the work that she was going to do would help people and have an impact too, just in a different way. Jamie was doing everything that he could to support her.

Leana was over the moon with happiness. She never thought her daughter would ever give up her job as a social worker. She never really wanted anyone other than family running the non-profit, and Jamie and his family had all gotten involved too. It wasn't a big surprise to her that they all stepped up to play a bigger role, but they were all so supportive, that is just warmed her heart.

"Edit, are you sure that this is what you want to do?" Lean wanted to be sure.

Eddie smiled. "Yeah mom. You've done great, and I know that the families that you help appreciate everything that you do, and scheduling the volunteers alone is a full-time job."

Leana couldn't help but smile. It had only been a week since her daughter said she'd take over and she already had gotten caught up on a lot of what was going on.

"Take your time and don't stretch yourself too thin. You have another week left with social services. Once you're done then we will really sit down and go over everything. I'd like you to work here a day or two a week for the first couple of months."

"Okay. I can do that."

The next couple of days Jamie and Eddie hardly see each other. Jamie's caught a new case and has been asked to take lead and Eddie was finishing up everything for the next day when Jamie would be talking at the group home. She hoped he'd still be able to make it with his new case.

Jamie's case hit a stand still Thursday night and they wouldn't be able to get any more information until at least Saturday.

Friday morning Eddie was trying to gather everything up for the presentations.

"Ed, go, I got my stuff. I took the day off. I can get there early if you need me." Jamie smiled and tried not to laugh. Eddie was freaking out a little.

"Okay, be there at ten."

Jamie smiled. "Got it. Let me know if you need me to bring anything or do anything else."

"Thanks babe."

Jamie's plan was to relax and he needed some quiet time.