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“Eddie?” Jamie called, closing the door behind him and then hanging his keys up by the door. “You home?”
“In the bedroom,” she called back, emerging a few moments later with a soft smile. She wore a Harvard tee she’d obviously stolen from his side of their closet paired with yoga pants. “Hey.” She pressed a quick kiss to his lips in greeting, then continued on to the kitchen. “I didn’t feel like cooking, so I stopped by that Greek place you like and grabbed some takeout.”
“Sounds good,” Jamie replied, helping to gather plates and utensils. “Heard through the grapevine that things aren’t looking good for Shapiro.”
Eddie nodded. “Between what happened with Ramona and all the evidence Anthony says they have that the other ADA just decided to overlook, he’s going away for a long time. Your sister says Ruby is willing to testify, which’ll help their case, too.”
“That’s good. Hopefully this is the end of his little cult.”
“I hope so. Between Yelena, Ruby, Ramona, and all the others he’s gotten his hands on over the years, he’s left behind a lot of traumatized girls. He doesn’t deserve to be let out to do damage to any more.” Eddie grabbed two wine glasses from a cupboard. “Ruby surprised me.”
“People tend to do that when you give them the chance,” Jamie said dryly.
“I know, I just… she seemed so devoted to him in the beginning. I mean, you should’ve seen the look on her face when she found out I was a cop. She was, like, devastated. We had to practically threaten her with jailtime to get her to take us to Shapiro before he could kill Ramona, and now she is going to be a witness for the prosecution during the trial that might land him in prison for the rest of his life.”
“He had that girl brainwashed,” Jamie pointed out. “Maybe you talking to her the way you did helped her see sense.”
“She did hit him over the head to keep him from killing me,” Eddie remarked, wincing when Jamie’s eyes flew to hers. “I’d forgotten to mention that part, huh?”
“Yeah,” Jamie confirmed, voice shaking slightly. “You did.”
“It was really nothing. I wasn’t in any real danger. Anthony was right outside the entire time,” she told him, meaning her words to be comforting. “We just fought, that’s all. And then Ruby came up behind him with a - a log or something, and hit him, and it was over, and… you felt better about this whole thing before you knew all this, didn’t you?”
“Yeah,” Jamie admitted hesitantly. “But it all worked out. You and Anthony had it under control, and nothing happened, so I’m - I’m choosing to focus on that instead of what could’ve been the worst-case scenario.”
“Okay,” Eddie murmured quietly, pulling open the fridge door and pulling out the bag of food she’d stopped for on the way home. “Speaking of worst-case scenario, do you feel better now that you know the whole story about Espinoza and that rookie?”
“Slightly. He agreed to let me handle Officer Brooks’ discipline from here on out with no interference.” Jamie shrugged. “Time will tell if he’ll actually stick to the promise, but that’s what he said, and I’ve got no reason not to take him at his word.”
“You’ll do a good job with her,” Eddie replied confidently. “You’re a good commanding officer, Jamie Reagan.”
“Well, I’m glad my wife thinks so,” he returned with a wry smile.
“And your former partner,” she reminded him needlessly. “You were my training officer, and you never gave me free passes when I did something stupid, and you know what? It made me a better cop.”
“Espinoza’s scared it’ll make Brooks run,” Jamie confided.
“Maybe it will, but Jamie, if she’s going to run away after a little lecture, then maybe this girl shouldn’t be in a job where she might have to stare down the wrong end of a gun one day.”
“That’s a fair point,” Jamie acquiesced.
“Of course it is. You married a very smart woman, you know.”
“Oh, I know,” Jamie assured her, pressing a kiss to her cheek as he made his way past her to grab a bottle of wine from the shelf in the corner.
“Hey, so I talked to your sister, and she’s claimed Nicky all morning tomorrow, but she’s willing to let us have her for lunch. I don’t have to work until seven. I was thinking we could meet up for something quick while you’re on lunch break? It’ll be our last chance to see her, ’cause her flight leaves at five tomorrow afternoon.”
“Sure,” Jamie agreed readily.
“Great.” Eddie exhaled quietly. “I still can’t believe she’s leaving. First Jack, now Nicky. They are growing up entirely too fast.”
“Hey, we’ve still got Sean,” Jamie reminded her. “He’ll be around to annoy the hell out of his father for the next five or so years.”
“Danny’ll miss that like crazy the second they’re both gone,” Eddie predicted.
“Yeah. But they won’t be gone forever,” Jamie assured her. “This city – our family – it has a way of calling you back, sooner or later.”
“That’s a good thing for a home to have,” Eddie murmured.
“Yeah,” Jamie replied just as softly. “It is.”