Chapter 11

I'm so happy with the feedback on this story. It's almost over, just 2 more chapters after this one. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you feel), this chapter got pretty long. Hope you enjoy. ;)

Danny and Joe listened to every word from Reynold's account, feeling hopeful when he confirmed Jamie was still alive. That's what they wanted to believe, but this animal could be lying to escape their wrath.

It was still a race against time to find him.

"Where is he?!" Danny demanded.

Reynolds looked between the detectives as if he needed to be reminded to cooperate. "Off the 926 somewhere. We took the exit west and then it happened."

"Nothing just happened, you drove him off the road!" Joe corrected.

"Where on the 926?" Adler asked from behind, having quietly joined them in the interrogation room when Reynolds began to talk. He pulled out his cell and began to make a call, getting his people together for search and rescue.

"I don't know," Reynolds shrugged. "It was dark."

"Take a good guess!" Danny ordered.

"A few miles, nothing more. I chased him and then got up alongside him, he went off the north side. It happened fast after we got off the interstate. I swear!"

"You better hope he's alive, Reynolds, or you're going to go real fast," Danny warned.

"Let's go, Joe," he added, wanting to get on the road asap. Danny was already through the door when Joe stopped him.

"Wait," Joe said. His eyes were still trained on their perp.

"Why? What for? Let's go!" Danny fired back.

Joe ignored his brother. There was still something he needed to know. "Did you shoot him?" he asked. The question had been on his mind ever since they discovered the recently-fired gun.

"What? No!" Reynolds responded immediately. It was born from the uncontrollable habit of lying. It also was technically true - he didn't actually shoot the guy - at least he didn't think he did. He just shot at him.

"Then why'd you fire the gun?" Joe questioned, knowing they couldn't believe a word he said. Despite everything he said about the chase and accident, he never once brought up the gun. He was hiding that part of the incident to save himself.

Danny stood behind him wanting to know the answer too.

"I'm talking to you!" Joe's voice boomed through the small room when Reynolds hesitated, slamming his fist down on the table.

The redhead jumped, afraid this one would hop over the table to get to him. "I shot at the car when he almost ran over me, but I didn't shoot him!" he yelled back.

Joe glared at the piece of garbage in front of him. He would never understand people like him who had no qualms about hurting or killing another human. And for what? Whatever few bucks a law student had in his pockets? It was something he struggled with when he first came on the job. Obviously, he still struggled with it. Danny and his father warned him early on to quit that bad habit, nothing good would ever come from trying to make sense of why people do the horrible things they do. But It was especially hard to do that when it involved family.

"Technicalities won't save your ass. And you better pray you're right about that," Joe replied before turning to his brother. "Let's go already," he said, leading Danny and Adler out of interrogation.

"I know the area, not much out there the first several miles in both directions. Follow me, I got troopers and the fire department on standby," Adler advised.

...tax system has long been viewed, Jamie recited in his head before another grunt and cough interrupted the tax law lecture he'd memorized for his exam. His mind searched for distraction as he slowly pushed and pulled himself up the steep incline with only three out of four functioning limbs. The lame mantra of 'you can do it' only lasted so long, about as long as his hopeful reattempt to hobble up with a busted leg. For some reason, the dreaded lecture began to automatically play in his head.

"...as a mechanism for redistributing income...however, income tends to be redistributed…." Jamie sighed heavily and took a minute to lay back against the cold ground. He kept one hand around a birch sapling to keep from losing ground as he had before. He was wet and shivering and his pace had slowed significantly.

Jamie glanced to the top of the embankment, longing to reach the road. He was half way there but it felt more like a glass half empty scenario. He couldn't help feeling discouraged by how long it had taken him to make it this far.

The sun had yet to fully peek through the clouds, but even then he didn't need to check the time to know it was getting late in the day. Time to get back at it, Jamie. No time to waste.

So he went back to distracting himself and he inched further up the slope.

...from those who have income and...uh...and wealth...to those who have political power, implying that...that there can be substantial overlap between taxpayers and, he continued with the internal monologue when the familiar and annoying tickle in his throat refused to go away. Another rough cough erupted from his chest and he turned on his side to brace his ribs as best he could until it passed.

"Jesus," Jamie groaned with a crackling breath, grimacing further when he readjusted his leg.

"'s not gonna help me," he rasped, referring to the dreaded course material. I'm gonna put myself to sleep, is what that's gonna do, he thought.

Sleep…sleep would be good. Jamie closed his eyes and his mind continued to wander and he relished a few minutes of rest.

Done with that damn class anyway...nor more tax law if I can help it ... definitely not gonna be a tax attorney, he declared.

That's not fulfilling at all…compared to legal aid….or the DA's office. Jamie's eyes opened slowly as he observed the thick brush in front of him.

It's nothing like being a cop, that's for sure.

"Wouldn't be here if I were a cop," he said out loud. I wouldn't be making this stupid drive to and from Boston all the time. I wouldn't be stuck here…I'd be in New York walking a beat, armed and able to deal with idiots with guns, he thought. Thoughts of different life choices crept through his mind.

Jamie was pensive for several minutes. This wasn't the time or place to be questioning his choices. But he couldn't help thinking that they were the same ones he'd question every time he got homesick or when Joe would call and he'd share his work stories with him….when he'd be home with the family, listening to his grandfather talk about his time on the job as he prepared himself for another trip back to New England. Even Danny's stories were memorable. And with his father now the PC of the NYPD, he was sure he had his own new stories to share each Sunday with the family as they sat around the dinner table...while he was stranded at school 200 miles away.

Doing it for mom, a tiny little voice said. He couldn't deny it, but thinking it made him feel guilty, as if he was blaming her for the decisions he'd made. It was pathetic and would get him nowhere.

But didn't he?

His brain teetered from one thought to another. In the end, he decided it was on him.

"Sorry…can't fault you," he whispered as he pictured his mother's worried expression at the thought of one of her kids in trouble. "You didn't force me to go to law school," he rasped as he chewed on his dry, chapped lower lip. "But I never could say no to you," Jamie trailed off when his throat became scratchy again.

I can guess how much you hated seeing Dad go off to work...it was probably the same way you felt about Danny and Joe being on the job. Groomed me to go into law early on….and you had Erin by your side encouraging me, Jamie thought.

"I could do some really good things with a law degree, but...'s not what I want," he said despite his irritated throat. Jamie's tired eyes widened at hearing himself finally say those words out loud. He'd thought them deep down, but never dared speak them for it would make it all too real - that he was doing what he didn't want to do, that he would disappoint his family if he did anything but….that he would disappoint his late mother.

Too late now, huh? Can't quit...halfway to a law degree...I can graduate at the top of my class. Can't throw it away, can I? He tried convincing himself.

Jamie's brow furrowed at the possibilities. Then he realized he was being stupid, chastising himself for losing his focus. Snap out of it. How did I even go down that pointless rabbit hole?

Jamie put his hand in his pocket and fingered the phone tucked away inside. He'd checked it twice already with no luck. Pretty soon the battery would die but he left it on in case, by some miracle, a call was able to get through to him. He'd be setting himself up for disappointment if he tried it again five feet from where he last checked for a signal, but he was a glutton for punishment and pulled it out anyway.

Jamie brought it to eye level, blinking repeatedly to make sure he was really seeing it - two bars in the upper right corner of the screen.

Jamie let out a hopeful laugh, praying it wasn't a fluke. He didn't hesitate and hit the speed dial button he used the most.

Joe and Danny drove south on I-91 behind Trooper Adler. They had the lights and sirens on and led a convoy of four troopers, a fire department truck and SUV, and an EMS rig to the area where Reynolds claimed to have rammed Jamie off the road.

The brothers were quiet after a phone call to their father, contemplating what they would find. Frank Reagan was already on his way, he had been as soon as they reported they had a solid suspect in custody. And now that they knew where to look, Frank had every intention of meeting them at the scene, unless they got to Jamie first and were able to transport him to a hospital.

They knew Jamie was injured, but they didn't know how bad.

Joe's phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket, expecting a call from his father again. Instead, he gasped at the number he saw on the caller ID, the same number he'd been trying relentlessly throughout the day.

"Danny, it's Jamie!" he announced, accepting the call before Danny could see the number for himself. Joe placed the call on speaker for the both of them to answer.

"Jamie!" they yelled simultaneously, eager to hear their brother's voice.

But only silence greeted them in return.

"Hello? Jamie? Can you hear me!?" Joe shouted.

Tears filled Jamie's eyes at hearing both of his brothers through the staticky line. His throat was thick with emotion and it took him a second to get anything out.

"Joe," was all he could manage as he willed himself to keep it together.

"Jamie, thank God!" Joe cried, feeling tears sting his own eyes.

Thankfully, Danny was there to ask the million dollar question. "Where are you, Jamie? Can you tell us where you are?"

Jamie didn't know where to begin, how to even tell them where he was. His frazzled mind could only state the obvious. "There was an accident," he said with a crack in his voice.

Danny would normally have a quick comeback for stating the obvious, but he could hear the pain in his brother's voice. "We know, kid. We know. We're on our way to you and we're going to find you," he said.

"Jamie, is there anything you can tell us about where you are? Anything that can help us at all?" Joe asked gently. The youngest Reagan was known for his photographic memory. Any detail could help them find him faster.

Jamie thought hard, but the adrenaline overload had his head throbbing again. "I don't know, the car went down a ditch or something. Off the 91, but we got off…I don't know."

"It's okay, Jay. We'll find you," Joe promised, sending Danny a worried look as he continued to press Jamie for information, even if it sounded like a dumb question.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"My leg, can't walk on it," Jamie started and rubbed his hand over his eyes. The relief he was feeling was overwhelming, even if they hadn't physically found him yet. Just having contact with his brothers was enough to feel like everything would be okay.

"Alright, what else, Jamie?" Joe asked. His reasons for asking were two-fold: to know how badly injured he was and to keep him engaged.

"My head hurts. Really cold and tired."

"I know, kid. But we'll be with you before you know it," Danny promised. His stomach tightened. This was his twenty-three year old kid brother but a part of him wanted to wrap him up in his arms like he was one of his boys.

"Are you visible from the road?" Joe continued. That would be a blessing, wouldn't it? To have him be in plain view somewhere.

"Don't think so. It's hard getting up."

"Try Jamie, if you can so we can find you faster," Danny pushed, hoping it would end their search sooner.

But Joe had other concerns. He was worried about Jamie causing himself more harm, wherever he was. "No. Just stay put, Jamie. We don't want you hurting yourself more than you are."

"I can try. Okay," Jamie said, determined to put an end to this. He sat up and did his shimmy, pushing off with one leg to inch back up the slope, but it was harder to do with one hand clutching his phone and he'd be damned if he was going to lose that connection.

The line went quiet aside from the sound of grunting as Jamie struggled to move.

"Don't hang up, Jamie," Joe said, afraid they would lose him.

"Won't," Jamie huffed as he pushed himself back.

"Joe's right, Jamie. Stop. Just stop whatever you're doing and just stay put. We'll find you," Danny ordered as the line cut in and out. He was afraid that with one small move, they'd lose Jamie too.

"I want to get out of here. Just come find me, please," Jamie begged. Once the words were out, the Reagan in him wondered how pathetic he sounded, but the thought left him quickly because he was seriously past the point of caring about putting up brave fronts.

Danny thanked the heavens when Adler finally took the exit west, reducing their speed as they looked for anything to indicate the site of the crash. He could be anywhere along the next several miles of road.

"We're coming, Jamie. Maybe stop and listen for the sirens, huh?" Joe suggested.

Danny was on the phone to Adler, telling him to slow down further because they'd made contact with their brother and he was listening for them.

Jamie did that. He let himself lay back down and focused on the sounds around him.

"I don't hear anything," Jamie said, more to himself than his brothers.

"Just listen, Jamie," Joe instructed him.

They waited.

Jamie strained to hear something other than the sound of the wind rustling the leaves above him. As the seconds ticked by, he began to worry they were looking in the wrong place.

But then he heard it. It was faint, but coming from a family of cops and living in New York all of his life, nothing was more distinguishable than the sound of police sirens. "I hear you! It's far, but I hear you!" Jamie cried. The sirens grew stronger and Jamie's eyes misted over again.

"Okay, okay, little brother. We're gonna slow down. You tell us when we're on top of you," Joe replied while silently thanking God. He started scanning the road as Danny spoke to Adler and they slowed even further.

Jamie blinked away his tears as the sirens grew even closer. He turned to watch the top of the embankment and waited.

Almost…

Almost…

Then Jamie's voice erupted through the phone.

"Stop! Stop! I hear you!" he shouted. "I hear you!"

The sirens echoed through Joe's phone as well. "We got you, Jay. We're here," he said, jumping out of the car before Danny could get it in park. Adler screeched to a stop ahead of them.

Danny scrambled out of the Jeep and followed Joe with the rest of the team assigned to assist in the search. Joe scanned the dense embankment for Jamie or the car, but it was when he saw the tire marks that he finally narrowed on Jamie's location.

"Jamie!" Joe yelled out loud, hoping for a response as he skidded and hopped down the embankment, watchful of so many obstacles in his path. He refused to end the call, not until he had Jamie in his sights.

"Jamie!" Danny repeated as he scrambled behind Joe.

The tears ran freely when his brother's voices echoed from above.

"I'm here," he called.

"Jamie, where?" Joe shouted and dropped the phone from his ear. He could hear his voice, but had yet to lay eyes on him.

"Jamie, where are you?" Danny repeated and went to the right of where Joe was searching to cover more area.

"Here! I'm here," Jamie repeated until finally…

"There! There, Joe!" Danny pointed to another break in the brush revealing his brother.

"Jamie!" Joe snapped his phone shut and shoved it into his pocket. He skidded further down the embankment, faster than he planned and came close to slipping right past Jamie if not for a quick grab of a tree branch.

"Hey! We're here, Jay. We're here," Joe said with a big smile. Relief oozed from every part of him when he grabbed his brother's icy, cold hand.

"Joe." Jamie's focus was on his middle brother until another voice called his name.

Danny. His oldest brother appeared to his left and now he had two lifelines to clutch on to.

Finally.

Danny went down on one knee and dug his other foot into the soil. He took hold of Jamie's phone and then enveloped Jamie's free hand between his, squeezing gently to reassure him and provide him some warmth. "Hey, kid. Jeez, you're a real mess," he joked to hide how he was really feeling right now. He was relieved, obviously, but seeing his brother beat up like this was a punch to the gut.

"We need a medic down here!" he called out to the troopers. A series of orders came from above, but they only had eyes for Jamie.

"More help is coming. They're on their way down," Danny soothed.

Both brothers took stock of Jamie, making mental notes of every visible scratch, bump and bruise. They saw no signs of a gunshot wound but who knew what lay hidden underneath his clothes. He was covered in dirt and debris and the adrenalin was wearing off as Jamie's mouth and hands trembled.

Joe's stomach clenched at the amount of dark, dry blood trailing down the side of Jamie's head and neck. "How are you feeling, bro," he asked, needing to keep Jamie talking. It looked like his brother was ready to pass out.

"Tired…ready for a real nap now," Jamie confirmed, managing only a half turn of a smile.

"Not yet, let's get you checked out first, huh? The medics are gonna wanna play twenty questions with you," Joe said. He was no doctor, but he suspected a concussion immediately. Lord knew what else he had going on inside.

"You're gonna be okay, little brother. It's gonna be okay. You'll be home in no time." Danny wasn't sure if he was still trying to reassure Jamie or himself, but they all would be home eventually.

"Home's good," Jamie agreed.

"Make way!" a medic called out as he led his partner and a pair of firefighters down the embankment to the trio, loaded with bags of equipment and a back board. Two troopers remained up top with additional equipment when needed.

"We'll be right here, Jamie. We aren't going anywhere. Let these guys take a look at you so we can get you outta here," Joe soothed and squeezed his hand before he broke contact.

"'Kay," he nodded as the shakes continued.

Joe shuffled over to let one of the medics take his spot next to Jamie. Danny carefully made his way over to Joe, elbowing him in the ribs as he nodded down the embankment. Joe followed his line of sight and his brows shot up into his forehead when he spotted the Honda for the first time. Two other firefighters had just made the trip down the embankment and were clearing the vehicle.

"Jesus," Joe said quietly, not wanting to alarm Jamie.

"Yeah," Danny replied. He had a strong urge to race back to police headquarters to beat the crap out of Reynolds.

The medics were clearly very experienced as they effortlessly positioned themselves along the incline, with one on either side of Jamie. They began with quick and easy questions, getting simple one word answers from Jamie in return as they began their assessment.

Danny and Joe watched as they treated Jamie, taking vitals and swiftly cutting away Jamie's jacket, tee shirt and pant leg for a quick examination. They winced in sympathy at the bruising along his torso and then at the grunts Jamie couldn't contain as they probed around his chest and abdomen.

With an IV started and Jamie immobilized, they maneuvered him onto a board and then into the basket. Once they were ready to move, a line of troopers, firefighters and two NYPD detectives positioned themselves up the embankment to help transport the law student.

Jamie's eyes remained closed on the way up, but the tense expression on his face indicated that it was not a peaceful rest. Joe could see Jamie's careful breathing was his attempt to keep from getting sick through all of the jostling.

Jamie was moved from the basket to an awaiting stretcher, and then swiftly deposited into the ambulance.

"We got life flight standing by a mile in the opposite direction. They're ready to take your brother to a Level 1 Trauma in Hartford," Adler advised the brothers as the medics sorted Jamie out inside the ambulance.

"I'm going with him," Joe declared, without so much as a glance at Danny. There was no way he was leaving him alone.

"They got room for one more," Adler confirmed, curious to see if there would be a disagreement about who went with the youngest sibling.

Danny nodded right away as his sights remained stuck on his brother inside the ambulance. He hated not going with him, but Joe was better at this stuff and would make sure he was being looked after.

"Yeah, you go. I'll call dad on the way and meet you there," Danny said.

Joe was surprised that there was no argument from Danny, but decided to leave that for another day.

"Alright, D. I'll let you know when we get there," he said and patted Danny on the back before jumping into the rig.

Danny watched as the ambulance made a u-turn and sped away with an escort.

"You alright there, detective?" Adler asked. It had been a long day, he could only guess what this man was feeling.

"Yeah, a lot better than I was this morning," Danny smiled, but it in no way met his eyes.

Adler shook his head. "Well, we got a tow coming to help get the car out. After that we'll take it to the impound lot where our accident investigators can go over it. On quick inspection, we found a bullet hole in the rear right quarter panel of the car. We shouldn't have any trouble putting a nice big bow on this case for the prosecutors. We'll make sure of it."

"I know you will, Jim. Thanks for all your help," Danny said and reached out to shake the man's hand.

"No problem. I'll be by when your brother is up to giving a statement. You need anything else, you let me know," Adler responded.

"I will."

Danny turned to look down at the car one more time and shook his head. He then turned to head back to his Jeep. Once inside, he grabbed hold of the steering wheel and let out the breath he'd been holding since he first heard Jamie was missing. It had been a hell of a day, one he prayed would end well, but fear sure had a way of creeping in sometimes. Danny shook those thoughts from his head and began the drive to Hartford. Once he hit the interstate, he made the first of many calls to deliver the news.

"Dad? It's me. We found him."