"Flynn... Flynn..." Provenza said quietly, waving his hand at Andy to join him. Andy looked up in confusion and shrugged. What he was doing could wait a few minutes, so he put the papers down and walked over to Provenza.

"Yeah?"

"Come with me..."

Together they walked into the conference room and Provenza closed the door.

"What's up?" Flynn asked the other man.

Provenza took a deep breath, then ran his fingers through his hair. "We've got a... damn..." he shook his head, then met Flynn's eyes. "Look... Rusty came to me earlier today. His mother is in jail."

"Good. Drugs?"

"Huh... if only it was that easy. No, shoplifting. She told Rusty it was vitamins and some energy bars, nothing special. The line she gave him is she forgot and walked out of the store to see a friend."

"I take it she was a little light on details."

"Light... you can say that again."

"What's the real deal?"

"Two dresses, shoes, and a packet of meth."

"Ah jeez..." Flynn rolled his eyes.

"Yeah... well, Rusty asked me to look into it, so I did. The kid knew she was lying but he didn't know how bad."

"Poor guy."

"It gets worse."

'How much worse?"

Provenza sighed heavily. "I told the kid I would look into it, and I did. I showed him the police report where she had stollen more than she admitted. He knew, of course, but seeing the file was still hard."

"Yeah, I bet."

"But that's not all. I, ah..." Provenza cleared his throat. "I asked him when he saw his mother, then got Buzz to get the recording so I could see what was really said. She tried to get him to make bail."

"Bail? How the hell does she think she's getting bail? And from the kid? He doesn't have any money."

"Yeah... thinking of him wasn't exactly a top priority for her."

"She didn't tell him to hit up Sharon, did she? Police can't give anyone bail."

"Well, that was her second option. Number three was getting the Captain to make a deal."

"Number two and three? What was number one?"

Provenza lowered his eyes and shook his head. "I don't even want to say it, it's so damn disturbing."

Flynn was confused. "What? What could be so bad? What could she want him to do to get the money and..." his voice trailed off as clarity dawned. "No..."

"Yes..."

"She didn't..."

"Without even blinking..."

"Son of a bitch!" Andy cursed, physically reeling from the revulsion he felt. "Beck wanted her own son to go back on the street and make money for her?"

"She's not the first parent to try that."

"Oh my god... does Sharon know?"

Provenza shook his head. "No, that's why I came to you first. I know we have to tell her but we've got to do it gently."

"There's no 'gently' with this. Damn..." Flynn swore again, rubbing his eyes. "This is going to kill her. What's your plan?"

"Plan? I don't have a plan. You're the plan. You tell me. You know her better than anyone. How do you think we should tell the Captain?"

Flynn looked at Provenza for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "Look... we need to keep this just between us."

"Us and Buzz."

"Well yeah, just the three of us... for now. Let's finish this case. Beck isn't going anywhere, right? She's in County?"

"Yeah, and I've got some people watching her. She's still using."

"Of course she is. She probably never stopped. Okay... when this case wraps, we tell Sharon then. She will want to see it with her own eyes."

"You're going to be in there with me, right?"

"You kidding? I'm not leaving her alone with this. Okay, we keep this to ourselves until Officer Sherman is found, then we show her the recording. Sharon's been bending over backwards not to interfere with Rusty's relationship with his Mom. She needs to see with her own eyes how bad it can get. She's been too nice about this, and I know it's killing her just thinking about what Beck might do. With proof, I think we're gonna see Sharon step in. Man... that poor kid."

"I guess... I guess I'll do the dirty work," Provenza sighed.

"Hey, we're not doing the dirty work. Beck did that. We're just trying to stop it from getting worse. We'll let Sharon call the shots and let her know we have her back. There's nothing else we can do."