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Booze, bunnies, and beat cops. Jamie scanned the bar for his partner and found him cozying up with a cute blonde that had badge chaser written all over her. Jamie rolled his eyes, left Vinnie to his own devices, and found the only open spot at the counter. Nodding at Lou, the bartender and owner, Jamie soon had a beer in hand and headache to chase it.
The tour had been long. Hell, in the last month every tour was beginning to feel like a chore. He loved being a cop. No question, no regrets. But… he couldn’t really explain it, there was an itch under his skin. A restless feeling growing each time a good deed came back punished or the red tape winding around every perp made his job a little harder. Lately, there had been a lot of red tape.
A thud of a bottle and the scrap of a chair had Jamie looking up. He nodded to the leaving cop and wondered why he was here at all, slowing letting his beer grow warm.
“Jamie boy! Where have you been, brother?” Vinnie clapped his on the back, mega watt smile stretching his lips. “Did you see the piece that was chatting me up? At least a 9, am I right?”
Jamie smiled back but it felt hollow. “Yeah, I noticed. How many cops has she dated before?”
Vinnie scoffed. “Don’t be like that. She used to roll with some 2-5 guy but let’s be real, once you go 12, you don’t go back.” Vinnie laughed and Jamie couldn’t help letting it ease the tension in his shoulders. His partner had a knack for stress release even when he wasn’t trying.
“You still bucking over what that girl said earlier?”
Jamie blinked and then quickly shook his head. He forced himself to drink the lukewarm beer trying to seem normal. “Nah hadn’t even thought about it.” Which was true. He hadn’t been thinking about the girl he had saved from being roughed up by her boyfriend. Well, not specifically anyway. She was just one in a long line of collars lately that made it feel like he was doing more harm then good. Instead of thanking him, she just screamed curses down and raged because he had arrested her boyfriend. Didn’t care about the black eye or the sprained wrist and no she wasn’t pressing charges.
Another scumbag let back into the streets. Thanks again, Jamie Reagan.
“Dude,” started Vinnie, “I know you. You can’t ever let anything go. That big brain of yours always has to analyze everything to death. We can’t do anything more than pick them up and hope they stay in the system.”
“I know. It was a good collar. It just sucks the victim doesn’t feel the same way. Would rather have that guy out of jail then admit he was hurting her.”
“Thought you weren’t thinking about it.”
Jamie scowled.
“Look, you’re just in a rut. It happens. The job stays with you and goes round and round in your head until it feels like you are up against the world. There are a lot of bad guys, you just need to remember that people still want and need our help. “
“Even when it doesn’t feel like it?”
“Especially then.” Vinnie grinned again. “You know what your problem is, Regan?”
“No, but I’m sure you are going to tell me. “
Vinnie waved his hand around the bar. “Look at all these bunnies, lining up to be arm candy for the night. And you don’t even take a glance! When was that last time you got laid, Jamie boy?”
“Shut up, Vinnie.”
“No, seriously. Check out that brunette by the dartboards. She has been eyeing you since you sat down. You should chat her up.”
Jamie looked at the girl in question. She was cute and when he caught her eye, she blushed and smiled.
Jamie acknowledged, “She is nice looking.”
Rolling his eyes, Vinnie said, “I’m not telling you to marry her. Just go talk to her. Maybe you will hit it off. Regan, you need more then the job. Let her help with that. It doesn’t have to be love.”
Vinnie signaled Lou for another beer. “Go ahead, Harvard. You owe me. My bunny seems to have found something better to chase since I stopped giving her attention.”
Sure enough, when Jamie glanced over at the blonde haired girl his partner had been chatting with, she was running her fingers along the bicep of a handsome beat cop with muscles for days. Grinning, Jamie pushed back from the counter and decided Vinnie just might be right. Even Sunday dinner with his family didn’t mean getting away from the job.
“So much for going 12 and not going back, huh Vin.”
“Bastard. She hasn’t had the honor yet. Who knows maybe she still has a shot?”
Jamie shook his head and stuck his hands in his pocket as he wandered over to the back with the pool tables and dartboards. The girl tried to be coy but her eyes darted his way every few seconds.
“Hey.” Nice, Jamie thought; blow her away with your wit.
“Hi.”
“Name’s Jamie. Would you mind if I took a seat?”
The girl fluttered her hands wildly and shook her head. “Please do. I’m Lily.”
“So, Lily, what brings a pretty girl like you to this old dump?” Jamie smiled trying to mean it but he wondered if it looked as dim as it felt.
The girl didn’t seem to notice.
“This place is wonderful. I mean I don’t come here often, just with a couple of friends every now and then.” She was emphatic, trying too hard to say the right thing and Jamie’s interest in this charade dropped another notch.
He laughed, hoping it would set them more at ease. “Not sure what’s so wonderful. Just a bunch of old beat cops. Nothing like that place on Madison with all the celebrity sighting.”
Lily brushed some hair from her face. Smiling at him in a vacant way that told Jamie she wasn’t really listening. She had a sweet round face and freckles across her nose. He shifted in his seat, hands drumming on the table. A pretty girl and Jamie couldn’t figure out why the itch beneath his skin only grew worse.
“Oh,” replied Lily, “I think cops are the real celebrities. You put your life on the line everyday for ordinary citizens and I find it so inspiring. I couldn’t thank you enough for your service.” She reached out and laid her hand on top of Jamie’s, a flush spreading her cheeks as her eyes darted down demurely.
Lily was a badge bunny. Most likely a sweet girl, but looking for the shield all the same. James saw in her eyes the future she concocted for them. A house in Brooklyn, a yard and a few kids, she would stay at home, raise the family and he would come back to glass of scotch and a paper waiting every night. That future may have made her starry eyed and giddy but Jamie’s chest tightened and his jaw locked as the walls began to close around him. He needed to get out. He needed some air.
Jamie forced the grin to stay on his lips. He turned his hand and squeezed hers gently. She still smiled, growing brighter with his attention. “It was nice to meet you, Lily. I appreciate your thanks. It’s been a long tour though and I think I should turn in early.”
Her face crumpled like he told her he kicked puppies. “Of course, you must be very tired from all your hard work. I wish you could stay.” She looked mournful but mustered a flirty hair twirl. “My friends and I usually stop by on Wednesdays and Fridays. If you feel like looking me up.”
Lily looked down as is she had been too forward but glanced up with a teasing grin on her face.
“It’s been a pleasure, Miss Lily. Have a good night.” Jamie nodded and left the table, thinking the only pleasure was getting away before hyperventilating in front of her. He spared a brief thought for Vinnie but decided against finding his partner. He would see him next tour and Vinnie was probably in the middle of wooing his way into some girl’s pants.
Jamie elbowed his way out the crowded bar, nodding as he passed familiar faces. He walked out the front to a blast of hot smog and the stench of garbage. The neighborhood teemed with passersby going about their night, and the noise of the city that never sleeps made breathing just a little easier. His car was a few blocks away and the one beer he drank felt like a lifetime ago. Still, the walk would do him good and hopefully settle the restless beat of his heart.
“Well, if it isn’t Jaime Regan, or was it, Jimmy? You know I never did quite get an answer for that one?”
No such luck for Jamie’s heart as it began to race like it hadn’t for two years. He turned not quite believe what his ears were telling him. The eye didn’t deceive though. There stood Noble Sanfino, the first in the long line of people he saved that would rather spit in his face than offer up gratitude.
“I told you Jimmy was fine.” Jamie squared his stance. He made no move for his off duty weapon but stood ready for anything. Noble had never harmed him, not intentionally, but one never knew and two years was a long time. Though had they really ever known each to begin with? Jamie wasn’t so sure.
“Yeah, except Jimmy isn’t who you really are. He was a fake and everything that went along with him.” Noble walked up to him but stopped a few feet away. Far enough not to alert Jamie’s defense bells but close enough that Jamie could see the lines beneath his eyes and the fractured set of his grin.
Their eyes met and the city fell away. Bodies passed two and fro and they stood in the middle, an island unto themselves. Jamie swallowed. “All good lies are built upon truth.”
“Regan family secret?”
“Something like that.”
Jamie frowned. Something wasn’t adding up. “Aren’t you supposed to be witness protection? What are you doing in New York?”
Noble’s smile broke and bitterness settled over his face. He had always been an open book, bad for poker and bad for a gangster. It was probably the reason he had always been on the outskirts of the Sanfino crime family. High enough up to deserve deference but really just a wild party boy indulged by his doting uncle. The NYPD had dug but could never link Noble to a body count or the arms trafficking.
“Haven’t you heard being a cop and all? The Sanfino family is no more. My uncle was killed in prison. Half the ranked members were killed. The rest were recruited and the low levels just left to rot in prison. No one cares about me and Bianca anymore.”
Horns blared and the streets thinned as people settled in for the night. It was going on 12 and Jamie had to be ready for his tour at 9 tomorrow.
He couldn’t make himself leave.
Noble chuckled a sound that edged the line between amusing and desolation. “You can relax, Regan. I’m not here for revenge. I’ve been back in the city for 4 months. Never expected to run into you.”
“Why would you come back at all?” Jamie brows furrowed and he racked his brain. “Bianca? Did she come back as well?”
“No,” scoffed Nobel. “Bianca made a life where they sent her. I’ve only ever been able to talk to her a couple of times. She has made it very clear that she wants nothing to do with the Sanfino name. Including me.”
Nobel looked away and Jamie could see it was a bitter pill to swallow. He couldn’t ever imagine one of siblings turning their back on him. Even at each other’s throats, the Regan gang had an unconditional bond of love that always won out in the end.
“After everything,” began Noble, “the price on my head, being shot, going into witness protection, I was pretty messed up. Not that I hadn’t been before, but it hard to see those things when your life hasn’t gone to shit. Starting over was hard. Rehab was hard. Standing on my own two feet for the first time in my entire life was really hard. I survived it though. When I got word that I didn’t need to be in the system anymore, they gave me a choice to remain where I was or I could go back to New York but keep the identity. A fresh start, they said.” Noble took a deep breath like the words were costing him more than just his time. His voice dropped but shakily he continued on, “When I thought about it, I realized there was only one thing I wanted. One thing I missed. It wasn’t the family, the drugs, or the power; I wanted to go home. I missed the noise and the lights and getting Chinese a 2 am. The little things, you know.” Noble’s hand ran through his hair and he still refused to look Jamie in the eye.
“I would miss it too.” Jamie wanted to say more. Had wanted to say more for a very long time. Two years hadn’t erased their bitter end and while apologies couldn’t be forced from his lips, there was guilt there that had never been assuaged.
Noble smiled and his eyes found Jamie’s again, softer and greener then they had ever been. “This has been, well I can’t say fun, but cleansing I guess. I have work in the morning though so I’m going to head out.”
“Where do you work?”
Noble’s eyes widen with surprise, but answered all the same. “A restaurant up the street; I’m working as a chef. Why? Looking to check up on me?”
“Nah,” Jamie said. “You wouldn’t have bother stopping me if you had anything to hide.”
Noble fidgeted with his collar before steeling himself. He bridged the few steps between them and laid his hand on Jamie’s shoulder. Looking him straight in the eye, Noble said, “I didn’t just stop to catch up. Two years ago, I…”Noble stopped frustrated. “Look I can’t apologies for who I was two years ago. I could but it wouldn’t mean anything. I just wanted to say, I wish things hadn’t ended like they had between us. You had save my life, but I couldn’t say I was happy you did. It took a long time to find my way. And, for whatever its worth, I’m sorry it took so long for me to say this, but thank you. I didn’t deserve it,” Noble paused then smiled, “but I appreciate it all the same.”
“Everyone deserves a second chance.” Jamie whispered.
“Some would say I had more second chances then a person has a right to.” Noble squeezed his shoulder then dropped is hand. “Goodbye Jamie Regan.”
He turned to leave but stopped and turned his head back, smile gleaming in the lamplight. “If you are ever in the neighborhood, look me up. Only make sure you ask for Thomas Jones.” Nobel winked and then walked away.
Jamie stood staring after Nobel until he was swallowed up in the remaining foot traffic of New York’s never empty streets. Finally, he turned back toward the direction of his car walking swiftly all the while thinking about the restless itch that was no longer there.