Chapter 4

Jamie's eyes struggled to open. Not even the brief flashes of light cutting through his closed lids were enough to pull him back to full consciousness. Then again, he didn't really care what waited on the other side. It was easier to let go, so he did.

Joe startled awake, momentarily disoriented as to his whereabouts until he looked around and remembered that he was at his father's house. He'd settled down on the couch in the sunroom after talking to Jamie and finished a late dinner while watching the end of a basketball game on ESPN. His plan was to wait up for his brother.

His father and grandfather had headed up to bed shortly after Joe's arrival from work and while they had not pulled a double shift like he had, they both had early mornings. With Joe home and planning to sleepover, they said their good nights but not without Frank first requesting that Jamie let him know when he was home, no matter the hour.

However, the day caught up with Joe and he soon felt himself dozing off. Sportscenter was now on the TV, analyzing the biggest plays and flops of that night's Knicks-Bulls game. Based on the programing, Joe assumed that he only slept for a short while and stretched his long arms above his head before making himself comfortable once more to follow the show. After a few minutes, Joe clicked on his phone to determine his brother's ETA when the time on the screen had him snapping up into a seated position. It read 3:51 a.m.

That can't be, he thought. Joe glanced between the television screen and his phone again, confused by the time, and reached for the remote to check the hour on the guide as well.

"Crap," Joe whispered to himself, surprised that he slept as long as he did. He wondered why Jamie didn't wake him when he got home. How had he even slept through his arrival? he questioned himself as he got off the couch in search of his little brother.

With his cell phone in hand, Joe poked his head into the kitchen, illuminated by the small bulb above the stove, only to find it empty. He then walked through the darkened living room and quietly padded up the stairs to Jamie's corner bedroom, ready to pounce on the little twerp as soon as he found him safely tucked in his bed.

But after he entered, Joe just stood in the middle of the empty room trying to understand why it remained untouched, just as his brother left it after Thanksgiving weekend. The house was perfectly still, nothing to indicate another soul was moving around in any other room. Joe stepped over to one window, pushing the curtain aside to search the driveway below for Jamie's car.

"What the hell?" he muttered, moving quickly to the other bedroom window to scan the street in front of the house as his fingers worked to bring up his brother's number on speed dial.

Joe began to worry as attempt after repeated attempt failed to raise Jamie. Did he call their father directly to announce another delay? But knowing he was waiting up, his father would have clued him in as well.

There was no way Jamie would be this late and not phone someone to let them know what was going on.

Joe couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He prayed he was overreacting, but each failed call had his gut twisting into knots and he'd hate himself later if he sat around doing nothing if he was right.

His father wanted to know when Jamie got in, so there was no doubt he also want to know that he was well past his scheduled arrival time. Joe strode toward the master bedroom where his father was softly snoring away. He quietly opened the door, hesitating for a moment as he got closer to the king-sized bed.

He hated to wake his old man only to alarm him but he needed to know. He was reaching out to him when his father sensed a presence and awoke on his own.

"Jamie?" he rasped, squinting at the dark form in the room and mistaking the familiar features for that of his youngest.

"No, dad. It's Joe," he said as he stood tall and stepped into the soft ray of yellow light spilling through the partially drawn curtains.

"Joe? Your brother home?" Frank inquired, assuming that was the news his middle son was about to deliver.

"No, Pop, he's not," Joe advised.

Frank heard the masked concern in Joe's voice and flicked on the small bedside lamp as he immediately began to get out of bed. "What time is it?" he asked while reaching for his glasses on the nightstand. Frank slid his feet into the slippers positioned alongside the bed while he reached for his robe.

"Four a.m.," Joe frowned, seeing the same concern he felt settle upon his father's expression.

"What? Where is he? Have you called him?" Frank fired back with worry, but he knew the answer to his last question already. Detective or not, Joe would have sought out Jamie's whereabouts as best he could before coming to wake him.

"I have, about a dozen times. It either goes to voicemail or I get a message that he's not in a service area. Dad, something's going on," Joe stated, following Frank out of the bedroom.

"Let's not start jumping to any conclusions," Frank said even though his stomach was already tight with worry. "What time did you say Jamie was going to be home after you spoke?"

"Sometime after midnight. He said traffic set him back. He should be here by now," Joe said

"Yes, he should," the older man fretted.

The pair had just made it to the top of the staircase when another door opened behind them. Henry's sleepy eyes questioned his son and grandson's presence in the hallway at this hour as he slid glasses onto the bridge of his nose. The family patriarch was a light sleeper and the hushed voices in the hallway had him jumping out of bed about as quickly as his old legs could carry him. Decades of service with the NYPD also taught him that not much good came from being pulled out of bed at this time of night. "Francis? What's going on?" he demanded.

"Jamie's not home yet, Pop," Frank said before heading downstairs with his son and father in tow.

"And he hasn't called?" Henry asked despite knowing the answer. Of course he hadn't, otherwise these two wouldn't be traipsing around the house in the middle of the night.

"No," Joe confirmed.

"Oh, dear," Henry tutted.

Frank led the group into the kitchen as he brought Jamie's number up on his own phone. "I'm calling him again," he said, praying that he'd receive a different result than Joe had earlier and that he would hear Jamie's apologetic voice after a few rings. "Where was he when you two spoke?" he questioned, disappointed when it wasn't so, receiving instead the standard recorded message that the subscriber was out of the coverage area.

"He was on the 91 somewhere in Connecticut south of Hartford. He didn't say more than it was an area with spotty reception because the call started cutting in and out on us, so he decided to end it. We were just saying goodbye when it dropped anyway. He was a few hours out, he should have been here by 12:15, 12:30 max."

"He would have called to let us know if he was delayed further," Henry insisted. No one would be going back to sleep, not unless Jamie suddenly walked through the kitchen door safe and sound, so he set about making a big pot of coffee. He needed to be doing something constructive even if it was inconsequential.

"Yeah, he would have. I told him I was waiting up for him, but I dozed off," Joe remarked, upset with himself for falling into such a sound sleep. If he had stayed up, he would have realized that something might be going on with his brother as soon as he failed to show up after midnight. They lost four hours already.

"He could be anywhere in Connecticut or New York without knowing more. It's at least a hundred miles or more that we're talking about here and we're not even sure if he stayed on the 91 or took another route," Henry commented as he scooped coffee grounds into the filter basket.

"Joe, did he say anything else? How did he sound?" Frank asked, recalling the tired and congested quality to Jamie's voice over the phone when they spoke less than 24 hours ago. He now wished that he would have insisted that his youngest make the drive in the morning after a good night's rest. Like Joe, he also regretted not staying up to wait for Jamie to make it home.

"He sounded fine, dad, I mean, except for the cold, but otherwise okay. We were mainly joking around and making plans for tomorrow...I mean today," he said as something came to mind. "Oh...but while we were on the phone he said some truck - a white pickup - was tailgating him. He had to switch lanes twice but he said the guy passed him and we just kept talking."

"Do you suppose something happened?" Henry pondered.

"Something has happened," Frank agreed even though he hated to admit it. His gut was telling him so, especially since his youngest child would never leave them to worry like this if he were able to contact them. "I'm just not sure what."

"We need to do something more than stand around here talking about it," Henry pleaded.

"We're going to start by making some calls," Frank said as he searched the long list of contacts his assistant stored on his phone.

"State police?" Joe guessed.

"Yes. I'll start with Connecticut while you reach out to the New York State Police," Frank instructed. "We need to check for any reported accidents first. If, God forbid, he's had an accident, we should be able to find him," he said, although it was more worrisome that Jamie hadn't contacted them himself if he was involved in a crash.

"That's a lot of area to cover, but don't be above using your title to get some answers, Francis," Henry urged his son, knowing he avoided taking advantage of his position as PC for his own personal gain.

"I'm not, especially under these circumstances," Frank said while turning to Joe. "If they give you the runaround, you pass them to me," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," Joe replied as he searched for the number for the state police on his phone. "Should we call Danny and Erin, dad?" he asked. His siblings should know what was going on. They might even need their help.

"Let's reach out to the state police first. Hopefully we'll have something more positive to report," Frank replied, praying that would be the case.

Thank you to all who have sent such nice messages!

Next up, the Reagan men, Danny included, begin investigating Jamie's whereabouts. After the next chapter, it will be more of the Danny and Joe show, as they dig deep into their brother's disappearance. I left Frank out of the investigation; I feel like that's normal for him when one of them is in trouble - he's usually at 1PP waiting for the all clear. It's strange...