Chapter 1:
Sharon.
Sharon Raydor walked along the endless corridor, or so it felt. Her heart was racing and she tried to breathe as usual, in spite of the heavy lump that she felt in her chest, which made it hard for her to draw air normally.
She wondered what the hell did Chief Taylor mean by calling her to his office, only 30 minutes after they had a meeting in that very office, regarding the case she was currently investigating with her squad.
It couldn't be something good, she thought, and it made her feel even worse. Due to the fact that she was already qualified for retirement, she was in constant fear that she might be forced to do so. Adding to that, other fears like one of her detectives getting fired or anything to do with Rusty, and Sharon's feet felt heavy like cement as she approached the office door and finally came to a stop. Her hand didn't feel any lighter when it made its way up, toward the brown wood that was the door.
"Come in," Taylor's muffled voice sounded from the inside and she felt her hand shaking just a little when she opened the door. "Have a seat," he said, putting down a pan on the desk.
Sharon pulled a chair and sat down, looking at him firmly, and trying not to reveal how nervous she really was.
"Anything changed in half an hour?" she asked, and was pleased to hear that her voice was steady.
"Yes, but not in your current case," he opened a folder that was lying to his right, on the desk. Sharon's heart was about to explode. "Do you remember Terry Anderson?" he asked.
How could she forget? Anderson was the prime suspect in a previous case of her squad and they had difficulties in finding evidence against him. Even though he wasn't a criminal mastermind, he managed to clean his DNA from the crime scene – a store, where he shot the vendor for cash – and the security camera wasn't actually working. A lot of small stores put fake cameras, just to scare off shop lifters and muggers.
Eventually, Sanchez was able to find a witness, when the squad went from door to door in that neighborhood. Unfortunately, on the day of the arraignment hearing, that witness was nowhere to be found, and they had to let him go for lack of evidence. By the time they found the witness hiding in her grandmother's house at The Valley, Anderson was long gone.
"Of course. We all do," she said quietly.
"Well, good news," Taylor didn't sound or look happy when he said it, "he was arrested in El Paso."
Sharon felt her heart losing all of the heaviness and turning light as a feather in just one second.
"That's… great," she said, relieved.
"Yes, it is. Once he's in our custody we can finally put him behind bars and put that embarrassing story to rest." He pulled a document from the folder and closed it.
"Are they bringing him here?" she asked after a few moments of silence, in which Taylor's eyes were fixated on the paper.
"No, that's the catch. Anderson is also a suspect in a murder over there, so they're not very eager to let him go. But, since he hasn't confessed to either crime yet, they're willing to give us a chance at breaking him. Maybe now that he could be facing a death sentence in Texas, he'll confess to you. Bottom line is, whoever gets stronger evidence against him, gets to put him on trial," he explained slowly. "We – you – are going to have to go there yourselves."
"Us?" Sharon's eyebrows came close together in a confused frown, as she tried to understand what he was saying.
"You – personally. And pick one of your lieutenants to come along. I want my best people on this. We're not going to screw this up again. Pope's been breathing down my neck ever since we lost the suspect," he paused for a second, looking somewhat insecure. "Oh, and… since our department is short of funds… you'll have to drive there." He finished talking and watched her carefully, getting ready for the protest that was sure to come.
"I will?" she couldn't find anything better to say at that precise second. He took her by surprise.
"The interrogation might take a long time. Two flight tickets and two hotel rooms cost too much. So you'll drive there and get two motel rooms."
"Chief, I'm sure I don't have to go there personally. Provenza and Flynn can do it perfectly on their own, or –"
"These two? They have a talent for finding troubles. No, no. I need YOU on this."
"But what about Rusty? It's a twelve hours drive to El Paso, plus the interrogation… it's going to take two-three days to drive there and back. I can't just leave him alone," she sighed. Her voice was stern, but she had a feeling it was a lost battle. He wasn't going to back down.
"He can stay with anyone from the squad for two or three days. Even with me." Sharon's shock must have been notable on her face, because he added quickly: "That's right. In spite of what you all think, I don't bite."
"I…" Sharon said in despair, but there was no way out. "Fine."
"Which of your lieutenants are you going to take with you?" Taylor seemed pleased with himself.
"Uh… Tao has a wife and kids at home, and Provenza is… Provenza. So I guess I'll take Lieutenant Flynn."
"Good. I'm giving you the joy of informing him of that. You're leaving first thing in the morning," he smiled, not very pleasantly, and waited for her to leave. "Oh, and if he feels like trying to convince me to send someone else, advise him against that."
Sharon crossed the room in a few quick strides and closed the door behind her, allowing herself to breathe deeply and fill her lungs with air again. At least no one's getting fired, she thought as she walked back to the murder room. This time, the corridor seemed much shorter than it was when she was heading for Taylor's office.
"Captain, I dumped the suspect's phone, like you asked," Tao said, standing on his feet as soon as she walked in.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. I'll have a look in a few minutes. Right now I need to speak with Lieutenant Flynn," she cast Flynn a quick look and entered her office. By the time she sat down to her desk, he entered the office and closed the door.
"Something wrong?" he stood behind the two chairs that were set at the other side of her desk.
"Terry Anderson was arrested in El Paso. But…" she added quickly when she saw he was starting to smile, "he's a suspect over there too, so… we have to go and try to bring him back here," she said hesitantly, but tried to make her voice sound as steady as always.
"We? As in…" she recognized the same desperate reaction that she had moments ago in Taylor's office.
"You and I," she said quietly.
