A Chance for a Better Life
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Based on the ages of the children Jamie decided that giving a speech would be lost on them and boring. He wanted them to understand what he was saying and give them some hope. Having hope means more than people think.
Jamie had a bunch of toys and what Eddie didn't know was that they were going to be donated to the home at the end of the day. The kids needed something to help them remember the day.
When Jamie arrived, Eddie had three of the older kids following her around asking her questions while she set up one of the group rooms for the presentation. The room looked great, and Jamie knew that the audience would involve more than just the five kids that he was taking too.
"Hey Ed, the room looks great."
He heard two of the girls giggling behind him.
"Thanks, go ahead and make any changes that you need. I know you said that you wanted to do something different."
Jamie smiled. "No, the room is perfect. Thank you."
An hour later after Jamie helped Eddie and Marie move some furniture and set up a couple of the other rooms for some of the presenters. Jamie loved that there were so many success stories. Too often you only heard the bad things about kids who had been in the system.
Jamie decided to stand in the corner rather than in his chair at the front of the room. Once all the kids arrived, he had them sit on the floor and he grabbed the bin that he brought the toys in over to them and had them each pick something out to play with.
"Hi guys, my name's Jamie. Can each of you tell me your names?"
A couple of the kids put their heads down or tried to hide while the others gave their names.
"When I was a little kid, I lived in a place like this, and I moved around a lot. Any of you guys live in a lot of different places?"
Isaac didn't want to be the only one to say yes, but he and three of the other kids shook their heads yes.
"It's scary going to a new place, right?"
"Yes." Isaac said without hesitation, while all of the other kids shook their heads yes.
Jamie continued to talk and play with the kids. He made a point to ask each of them questions and give them one-on-one attention which he knew that they needed. He wanted this day to be a good day and hopefully create good memories.
Eddie, Marie, and a few others were sitting in the back of the room monitoring everything. The administrators didn't love that the first person that they were watching was one of the social workers spouses, but that changed as soon as Jamie started working with the kids.
"He's really good with kids." Marie whispered to Eddie.
Eddie smiled. "He's worked with kids his entire life."
"I thought he was a cop?" Amelia, the group home's administrator asked.
"He is, but he's volunteered in homeless shelters and in the kids oncology wing in the hospital. If he had a specialty, it would be kids going through difficult circumstances.
"Oh, he makes the hard choices." Lisa, Amelia's assistant thought out loud.
Jamie had all of the kids laughing and Isaac and Mei Lin the two youngest of the group had made their way to Jamie's lap. Mei Lin's a cute little five-year-old girl who ended up in the group home after both of her parents were killed in a car accident.
"What was it like when you found out you got adopted?" Eric the oldest of the group asked. He was seven.
"It was scary. I didn't think that it was real, but that day in the courtroom I was so happy. I found my forever family." Jamie smiled and hugged the two kids sitting in his lap.
It had only been an hour and Jamie wished he could spend all day with these kids. He wasn't ready for his time to be over, and neither were Isaac and Mei Lin. They didn't want to let go of Jamie.
The other three kids made their way to the lunchroom. They were hungry, but had a great time.
"Are you guys hungry?" Jamie asked.
"Yes, will you eat with me?" Isaac asked.
"Please eat with us!" Mei Lin asked.
Jamie smiled. "Okay lets go and see what they have for us to eat."
The lunchroom was full of kids from ages two to eighteen. Many of the older kids were helping some of the younger kids. They had a table reserved for Jamie and the kids that he'd spoken too. There were three big pizzas on the table and one smaller one. Two of the three big pizzas were peperoni, while the last was a meat lovers for the adults. The smaller one was peperoni and mushrooms. Jamie couldn't help but smile.
Again, Isaac and Mei Lin sat right next to him, and he found one of Mei Lin's little hands always touching him. At this point Isaac was telling him about everything he'd ever done. The other three kids were so happy that they got pizza. It was a special treat.
Jamie had a hard time leaving because he'd made a connection with Isaac and Mei Lin. They both had his heart, and he knew how they felt. Eddie could see Jamie's struggle and she understood it because she'd been having the same issues since she'd been assigned to the group home.
Eddie had a few more hours before she could head home. She could see Jamie's struggle. She hoped he went home and got some sleep. She needed to get the kids to their planned afternoon activities. Something that they always had planned when the kids were out of school for a day, and for the younger children who had yet to start school.
Jamie got home and decided to go for a run. He had to clear his head. Being back in the group home affected him more than seeing Mason again. He'd decided at seven years old that would be his life and he was okay with that. He still had the notes that he'd written to all of the Reagans when he thought his time in Bay Ridge was over. He understood that many of these kids didn't have a positive outlook for the future no matter how hard the staff worked.
While he was running his mind was going a million miles a minute. He thought of the first time he'd been taken to live in a place like that. He was about three and he was scared to death. He'd never been around any other kids other than the ones that lived at Bitterman, and some were nice while others were already thinking about life in a gang. He was lost in thought when his phone rang.
"Hello." Jamie stopped so he could get his breathing under control.
"Detective Reagan." Warden Austin said.
"Hi Warden, how can I help you?"
"Mason died late last night." The warden wasn't sure what Jamie's reaction was gonna be.
Jamie had found a bench in the park he was running through. He needed to sit down. He was beginning to wonder if he could get through a week without something over emotional happening. "Is there anything that I need to do?"
"He left a will, and asked that he be sent back to New York, but other than that didn't have any other stipulations."
Jamie wanted to laugh but knew now wasn't the time. "What do I have to do to have his body shipped to New York?"
"Just give us the address."
"Okay, he'll be going to the NYU Medical College." Jamie smiled. Mason was going to do something good in this world.
"Okay, we need the address and contact name, and he left you some money. He said that you need to spend some of it on yourself and can't donate all of it."
Jamie smiled. He hoped it was enough to adopt one possibly two children. Maybe buy a house. "Okay, please keep me updated on anything that I need to do."
"Sounds good and thank you. Just so you know, your visit meant a lot to Mason. I know he acted terribly while you were here, but he told his advocate all about you before he died. He admired who you've become and the fact that you survived everything that he put you through. He told her about how much he abused you and your mother."
Jamie cringed. None of that could've been easy to hear about. He instantly had more respect for the advocate than he had before. "Thank you."
Jamie put his phone back in his pocket and took a few drinks of water before he decided to go on a longer run. He thought back to when he was living in Boston and had been a part of the running club. Maybe he'd try and find something like that again or maybe he just needed to spend more time at the boxing gym.
Jamie decided to stop running at the fifteen-mile mark. He was almost back at the apartment, and he decided to just walk back. Checking the time, he figured Eddie would be home when he got there.
Eddie was surprised to arrive home to an empty apartment. She'd hoped that Jamie was sleeping. She didn't know how she was gonna break his heart and tell him that they couldn't adopt two kids right now. They didn't have the finances or the room. They needed to be in a larger apartment if not a house before they brought home two kids. She was trying to decide if she was gonna tell Jamie that Mei Lin hadn't stopped talking about him all afternoon and probably wouldn't any time soon.
Jamie was sweaty when he walked through the door. Eddie couldn't read his mood. She loved her husband, but he could be very hard to read.
"Mason died last night."
Eddie wasn't prepared for that news. "Oh. I'm sorry Jamie."
"He left me some money. I hope it's enough for us to adopt Isaac and maybe Mei Lin."
Eddie smiled. She loved Jamie's heart. "It's gonna need to be a good amount, we need to get a bigger place to adopt more than one kid."
"I know Ed, and I know the reality of being able to adopt both of them is slim, but you can let me dream for a bit, huh!" Jamie laughed.
Eddie laughed. Hope! Everyone needed hope. "Yes, dream about our two cute little kids. Now shower you're taking me to dinner."
"Give me ten minutes and decide where you want to go."
Two hours later after dinner at their favorite Greek restaurant they came home, and Jamie went right to bed. He was mentally and physically exhausted. He would deal with Mason's stuff over the next few days.
The next few days are busy, and Eddie is getting constant questions about Jamie from the five kids that he talked to. Mei Lin and Isaac, the two who keep asking for him to come back and visit. The talk was really good for most of the kids, but it has her wondering if it's gonna end up hurting them. Each of the kids were still carrying around their toy from the day before too. They knew that they needed to share, but the other kids understood.
Jamie gets a case that could send him undercover for a while and he's worried about the possibility of adopting the kids and dealing with Mason. If it was just the stuff with Mason, he'd be fine, but he couldn't fail the kids.
"Ed, I might have to be away for a few months. Will that hurt our chances to adopt Isaac and Mei Lin?"
Eddie sat and thought for a few minutes. "No. Me changing jobs has the possibility to cause us some issues, but I think we have a better chance of fostering first. Do you think that your family would help me while you're gone?"
"Of course they will. I know my dad will stand up in court for us and the entire family will be there."
Eddie had her own apprehension. She'd seen too many bad things in her job and knew that families said that they would help and then when the learned the children's past made it a hard pass.
"I know they will because they were all there for mine including Linda and she and Danny weren't even engaged yet."
That made Eddie smile. "Right, when do we tell them and when do you think that you're going away for work? It will take a few months of background checks and other things we have to do before they could even live with us."
"Let's tell them this weekend, and I already have most of it. I looked into fostering to adopt a few years before we got married."
Eddie wasn't surprised, that was Jamie. "Okay so we just need to update some of your paperwork, and I don't think that they will let us foster the two of them in this two-bedroom apartment unless you have a way to split the bedroom."
"Okay, let's go to work and then regroup on this tonight."
Jamie spends the day reviewing case files and researching the organization who he'd be going undercover with. Danny hadn't heard from Jamie or Eddie that week, and when he lived in Staten Island he was used to it, but now he missed his brother and sister-in-law.
"Hey kid. You and Eddie have been busy." Danny could see he was concentrating, but he wanted to know what was going on.
Jamie rubbed his eyes. He hadn't slept good the night before. He had too much going on and his brain wouldn't shut off. "It's Eddie's last week at Social Services. She's already started her new job, and we are dealing with some other things."
"Want to go for a beer after tour and talk about the other things?"
"I can't. I have a lot of work to do, and I need to meet up with an attorney later."
"Okay." Danny wasn't happy with the response. He'd always hated when Jamie was stressed, but he also understood that in many ways Jamie had always handled stress better than he did.
Jamie worked until he had to leave for his appointment with the probate attorney. He wasn't looking forward to it, but it had to be done. At least he'd been able to find someone he'd attended Harvard with, and they could spend a little time catching up.
"Hey Jamie!" Andrew, his friend from Harvard said. He'd been happy to help out an old friend who he knew helped everyone around them. "Sorry for your loss."
"Thank you for helping me with this."
Andrew knew and liked Jamie. Jamie was part of why he'd been able to graduate Harvard. He'd tutored him through some of the hardest classes. In his mind Jamie was why he had his law practice. "Jamie, anytime you need anything I'm happy to help. I received the documents from the prison this morning."
"Have you had time to review them?"
Andrew hoped that Jamie would be happy with what he'd found. "Yes, and Mason O'Hare left everything to his son, so you'll need all of your adoption paperwork. He left you a letter that I didn't read, but he showed his dislike that you'd been adopted by a cop."
Jamie couldn't help but laugh. He knew all of this. "I have all that paperwork so that won't be an issue. Before we continue, is it enough to go through all of this? I don't want to waste your time."
Now it was Andrew's turn to laugh. "Oh yes. Manson was very good with money. You and Eddie won't have to worry about anything, and helping you is never a waste of time."
Jamie had mixed feelings about anything regarding Mason. "Ok, how much?"
Andrew pulled out a document and handed it to Jamie. "A little over twenty million, and he owns three different properties, and he has some other investments. Everything will bring in a good income for you and your family."
"Are all the properties are in New York?"
"Yes, and all are managed by a management company. Everything is legal, and that's where a majority of the money seems to have come from. I haven't had time to determine where the money for the properties themselves came from, but he's owned them since before you were born."
"What kind of properties?"
"Two apartment buildings, a warehouse, and several different retail locations, all in Brooklyn."
Jamie picked up the paper again and saw the address of one of the apartment buildings and found it was his current address.
Andrew was getting concerned. "What is it, Jamie?"
Jamie pointed to the first apartment building on the list. He couldn't believe he overlooked it when he first read through the document. "This is where Eddie and I live."
Andrew laughed. "Well, I've notified the management company. I asked them to contact you about new instructions and now I'll let them know that you're a resident in one of the apartment buildings. I know when I spoke to them, they did ask if the new owner would be willing to meet and go over all of the specifics."
"One management company for all the properties or one for the residential and one for the commercial?"
"Yes, two separate divisions, but you have a single point of contact."
"Great. So, we have a guaranteed income." Jamie couldn't help but think how Mason had acquired these properties and he wasn't sure that he wanted to know.
"Yes, and I know that you can do a lot of good with that money regardless of its origin."
Jamie smiled. He and Andrew spent a lot of time together when he'd been tutoring him, and Andrew knew he spent so much time volunteering. "What do you need me to do?"
"Get me the adoption paperwork and I'll have everything I need for court, but because of the size of the inheritance it will take some time going through the courts."
"How long do you think? We are trying to adopt two children and we will be able to now. Plus, there's a four-bedroom apartment in the building I was looking into, but we couldn't afford it before."
"Two to three months at the most."
Jamie got up and shook Andrew's hand. This was the first time Mason had ever given him something positive in life. He couldn't believe the level of excitement he had and felt bad that he was excited over something so negative.
When Jamie got home Danny was sitting in his apartment looking worried. Jamie shook his head and started laughing.
Danny sat there staring at Jamie like he lost his mind. It wasn't lost on Danny that Jamie clearly had something on his mind.
Eddie wasn't sure what was going on either. The amount of stress they had been under recently might have sent them over the edge.
"Jamie are you okay?" Eddie was watching him closely.
"I'm great, and guess what?" Jamie momentarily forgot Danny was in the room.
"So, everything went good with Andrew?"
"Ed, we are going to be able to move into the four-bedroom apartment upstairs and we can foster and adopt Isaac and Mei Lin. It's gonna take about three months to get through the courts, but when it's done, we're not going to have to worry about money anymore and we'll be able to help a lot of people."
Danny hadn't heard anything besides move and that they were going to become parents. "You guys are adopting! That is great! I'm so happy for you. If I can do anything to help let me know."
Jamie ran over and hugged Eddie and then Danny. "You can help us move and don't pay us back for the furniture that we gave you. Keep your money."
"Only upstairs, right?"
"What if we don't get the apartment?"
Jamie smiled. "We will get the apartment." He had to take a deep breath. "I'm glad that I didn't know this information when I was looking for somewhere to live because I never would've chosen this building. Mason owned this building."
"What! How?"
Jamie sighed again. "According to Andrew, he acquired all of the properties that we will now own before I was born. That's also where the money is coming from."
"Okay, so three months and our world will be changing for the better."
"Yes."
"Okay, lets either order in or go out and celebrate." Danny was happy that there wasn't anything really wrong.
Jamie didn't want the information he'd learned to be too well known, so they decided to order in. Danny couldn't believe his little brother owned the building he lived in. He knew Jamie would struggle with this because of the ties to Mason.
The following week Jamie had to go back undercover and would be out of contact until further notice. Andrew knew to contact Eddie and Frank if something urgent was needed otherwise he knew to just wait until Jamie got back. Which he didn't see as an issue because Jamie was well known at the courthouse. He had a feeling that this was all going to go smoothly and be alright.
Eddie put in their request to foster Isaac and Mei Lin. She knew nothing would happen until Jamie's assignment was done, but she hoped to hear something positive sooner than later. She knew that they'd be able to give the kids a family and a good life.
Jamie's worked his way into a high-end auto theft ring. He'd always been good cars. He loved working on the Chevelle in his spare time. It brought him closer to Joe. He remembered riding around in the Chevelle after Joe got it all fixed up. It was what his mom deemed as a safe activity to get him out of the house so soon after leaving the hospital.
"Hey Barry (Jamie) are you ready for tonight?" Adam the ringleader asked.
"Yeah, five cars tonight, right?"
Adam laughed. "Yeah, about $500,000's worth. It's gonna be a good night."
Not for the people whose cars we're stealing, Barry (Jamie) thought to himself. "Yeah. Party after?"
"Once we deliver them and not before. We have a long night ahead."
Barry (Jamie) sighed. "Okay, how many teams? How long of a night is this gonna be?"
Adam laughed. "Three teams, five are too high risk."
Barry (Jamie) led the one team that stole two cars. The team with the highest risk and reward. Barry (Jamie). Barry (Jamie) had already proven himself.
He didn't get back to the house his team stayed in until three in the morning. Jamie was ready to take these guys down. The cars that they were stealing were ridiculous, but the people or most of the people who bought them worked hard for them.
He just needed to find the final locations where the cars were being shipped. Once he had that information, they could take down the entire ring.
While Jamie was away working Eddie was diving into her new job full time. Working with her mom was an interesting experience. She was learning that working from home was when she was going to get the most done. Even if they did have two five-year-old's running around. She and Danny were back to sharing meals when it worked out for both of them.
"Any idea when the kid will be done with this case?"
Eddie smiled. "None. He didn't even get his couple days to prep this time. One day he was home and the next day he was gone."
Danny didn't like the sound of that. There had been too many ghosts from his past popping up and too many big changes happening in his life. "But he was okay before he left, right?"
"Danny, he was great before he left. He got the closure that he needed in Oregon. If anything, this case is good, it gives him something to focus on while we are waiting to find out if we get approval to foster."
It was hard for Danny to forget the scared seven-year-old or the sick pre-teen. They'd spent a good amount of their own lives worried about him worrying too much, and it was hard habit to break. It didn't matter that he was an adult. "Good but let me know if I can help if things changes."
"I will Danny."
Jamie was hard at work and had found a drug connection that would take longer than he'd expected but would be worth it in the end and his boss had been happy that he'd found the connection.
What Jamie didn't know was that another member of his team was working on this drug connection and looking for a way in. They had yet to be successful and he'd just broken the case.
Jamie was sitting in his room looking out into the city thinking about the new information he'd found. Adam had been unsure of Barry (Jamie) at first. He wasn't worried that he was a cop he was worried that he would leave the group. It was hard to find good help.
"Barry (Jamie), we're moving into some new endeavors, and I need a partner. The last guy that I asked to get two cars ended up being picked up by the cops."
Jamie just looked at him wondering why he hadn't heard this information earlier although he already knew all about it because it was that guy that gave him an opening. Adam wasn't smart enough to put two and two together. "Aren't you worried that he's gonna talk?"
Adam shook his head. "No, he knows not to talk no matter what deals they try and offer him. He knows that I'll take care of him when he gets out."
"Does the same go for me if I were to get caught?"
"Yes."
"Okay, let's go and discuss the changes."
Jamie was happy with the new developments. He was going to get what he needed to take these guys down and maybe others. Sadly, this meant that he'd be spending more time away from home.
What he thought would be simple turned out to be very complex. "Barry (Jamie), we have a three houses in each borough. One where we make the drugs, store the drugs, and the last one is where we sell out of. Myself and two other people are the only ones that knows the locations of all of the houses. Because you've done so well with the car thefts, we've thought that you could help us solve some of the issues with our drug business."
"Okay. Where am I going?"
"Queens. We are gonna have you at all three houses."
Jamie smiled. Now if we only he knew how things were going at home.
Eddie and Danny were now having weekly game nights. It was a good way to cut the tension. Danny was getting used to as life of a divorcee. He needed Erin to back off. He and Linda had reached a custody agreement and they were slowly becoming friends. It wasn't how he imagined his life, but everyone was happy and that's all that mattered.
Eddie love the boys weekends too. There had been a couple weekends when Danny had been called into work and she and the boys would spend the day together. She couldn't wait until Isaac and Mei Lin were with them too. She knew the age differences might cause some issues on what types of activities they'd do.
Linda had even started driving one way, so Danny wasn't spending so much time in the car. She'd been impressed by his apartment and guessed that Jamie had helped him.
Eddie had noticed that the building super had been around herself and Danny more. He was making sure that everything was working in both of their apartments. Danny couldn't help but laugh each time after he'd left.
"He does know that it's technically Jamie that will own the building, right?" Danny asked as he finished his turn of their game.
Eddie smiled. "I think so, but everything happened so fast, and Jamie's been gone almost a month and half. Andrew said that everything might be done in a couple of weeks. The only thing he'll need is for Jamie to sign some paperwork."
"Wow, ya know our mom would've loved that this happened for Jamie. She always protected him from Mason, but at the same time she wanted to find something good about him to help with Jamie's fears."
"I'm just ready for Jamie to get home."
"How's it been working for your mom?"
Eddie laughed, and it wasn't lost on her that Jamie and Danny both worked for their dad. "Now that I'm working from the apartment full time it's great. We just work better together when we're apart."
"Dad and I always butt heads when he's directly involved in one of my cases. I don't know if Jamie does any better than I do."
Eddie knew Jamie's relationship with his dad was better when work wasn't being discussed, and the fact that Jamie and in another long-term UC assignment only made that tension worse. "That's a tough subject. You and Jamie can discuss that topic after he gets back."
"Okay."
Jamie felt like his assignment was moving so slowly. He'd gotten a couple of big breaks, but things were taking longer than he'd hoped. He wanted to be at home focusing on his future.
Then his big break came, and he was able to move up again. He had to laugh. He could hear Danny heckling him about being perfect at everything, and the worry in his dad's voice when he spoke about anything work related. He knew his dad hated any time he went undercover, and it was more about how dangerous it was than about him wanting to flip sides.
It took him another two weeks to gather all of the information that he needed. He was able to meet with Mark so they could set everything up. Two days later the organizations were taken down and Jamie's cover was safe.
Eddie's days were long. They only had two weeks before the yearly run benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in memory of Alex.
Jamie was tired. He hadn't slept in two days, and it had been three months since he'd slept in his own bed with his wife.
"Jamie!" Eddie ran up to him just as he got in the door.
"Hey babe. I'm so happy I'm home." Jamie didn't want to let go.
Eddie had happy tears in her eyes. "Any chance you're gonna get a couple days off. You look exhausted."
"I only took two days this week, so I can take a few off to help set up for the run."
Eddie loved her husband so much. She could tell he needed a break, but he knew how important the run was to her.