DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

A/N: Here is the next story following "Valentine's Day". Hope you all enjoy it!Chapter 1

It was a cool, crisp evening in the city of Los Angeles. The city was bustling with its night life. Many Angelinos were out, enjoying the nice weather they had been having. There was a traveling carnival set up at the Midtown Mall parking lot. There were lots of rides, including a Ferris wheel, games, and even pony rides. The carnival always seemed to draw a lot of people to them. This particular carnival was owned by Tom Johnson, whose family had been in the carnival business since the 1950s. Everyone at the carnival tonight was having a lot of fun. There was a line to ride the Ferris wheel and the worker at the base of the ride stopped the wheel when it was time to let the people on and off.

Mark Wallace was situated over at the top of the Midtown Mall shopping building and overlooked the carnival that was in the parking lot. He had a perfect view of the Ferris wheel. He knelt down and opened the case that was with him. He pulled out a sniper rifle, complete with a silencer attached at the end of the barrel. He looked around the area to make sure no one saw him from his sniper's nest and quickly set up the gun, facing the Ferris wheel. He waited for the worker to stop the ride and aimed in at the people located at the top of the wheel. He pulled the trigger twice and then took a deep breath.

Nobody was alarmed as the ride continued to move. Mark aimed in again as the ride stopped and pulled the trigger twice. The ride moved again. Mark decided that killing four people should bring a message to the carnival company and placed the weapon back in its case. He then made his way to the roof access point and quickly made his way down to his car. He got in and drove away.

The carnival worker kept moving the Ferris wheel ride until he got to the car that had the two dead people slumped over. He stopped the ride and saw that the car above the current car also had two dead people inside. He screamed and alerted other people and workers at the carnival.

Provenza drove up to the Midtown Mall parking lot and got out of his car. By the time he got to the scene, there was crime tape up and patrol officers were holding the press back. Provenza flashed his badge and made his way over to the dead bodies. "Flynn, what do we have here?" Provenza said to Andy as he came up to meet him. "Well, we have a total of four victims, not related to each other, riding a Ferris wheel and then getting shot dead" Andy said to Provenza as he walked with him to meet up with Kendall.

"Kendall?" Provenza said to him. "Lieutenant, looks like they all died from a gunshot wound to the chest. Dr. Morales can tell you the caliber of the gun, but if I had to take a guess, I would say .556 judging by the size of the entry wound" Kendall said to Provenza as he stood up from the bodies. Provenza turned around to face Andy. "Do we have any IDs on the victims?" Provenza asked. "Yes, I sent Amy and Mike to notify the families" Andy said as they made their way over to the Ferris wheel. Both Andy and Provenza looked up at the ride. "You come with someone to the carnival to enjoy yourself and have fun" Andy said to Provenza as he glanced at him. "And you end up dead" Provenza said to Andy.

Provenza and Andy then made their way over to Julio who was looking at possible locations where the shooter might have been. "Sir, the bullets had to come from somewhere over here, in this direction, in order for them to hit their target" Julio said to Provenza as he pointed at the main building of the shopping mall. "And, you need the right height and distance to get your shots off" Andy said to them. "Did anyone search the roofs?" Provenza said as he turned around to face Julio and Andy.

Andy, Julio, and some patrol officers got access to the roof overlooking the parking lot and the carnival and they searched the roof. Both Andy and Julio had their flashlights out and their weapons drawn. The patrol officers followed them as they cleared the roof. Andy made his way over to where they thought the shooter had set up. He looked over the area with his flashlight and saw possible shoe prints on the gravel part of the roof, standing in the location where they suspected the shooter was. "Get SID up here, this may be the shoe prints of our shooter" Andy yelled out to one of the patrol officers. Andy then looked out over the carnival. 'The shooter could have shot anyone from here' he thought to himself.

"Lieutenant, I think I found something down here" Julio said as he knelt down next to the ledge from where Andy was standing. Julio picked up a rubber end cap and held it up for Andy to see. "It could be the rubber end of a tripod, for the rifle, sir" Julio said to Andy. Andy looked behind him as Provenza made his way up to the roof, along with SID and Buzz. "Buzz, I want you to film everything up here" Provenza told him as they walked closer to Andy and Julio. "So, what did we find over here?" Provenza asked Andy. "Well, for starters it looks like there is a shoe print from our shooter here" Andy said to him as he pointed at the area. SID moved in to get a good casting of the print. "And, we may have found the end cap to a tripod that could have been used in the shooting" Andy added and Julio showed Provenza what he had discovered.

"Ye gods" Provenza said to them as he pulled out his phone and dialed Sharon's number. "Uh, if you're calling Sharon, ask her how Matthew is feeling for me, will you?" Andy asked Provenza. Provenza just gave him a look. "Ask her yourself, Flynn" he started to say to him as Sharon answered her phone. "Yes Lieutenant?" Sharon said. "Oh, uh sorry to bother you Captain but it looks like we have a possible sniper on the loose" Provenza said to her.

"Is something wrong with Matthew, sir?" Julio asked Andy as they stood there waiting for Provenza to get off the phone. "Uh, he's got a stomach bug, poor thing. He was throwing up when we got called out to this mess" Andy told Julio. Provenza walked back over to them. "The Captain is on her way down to the morgue. I told her we would meet her there" Provenza said. Andy nodded and then pulled out his phone as it alerted him to a text message. 'Matthew stopped throwing up about 20 minutes ago. Rusty is going to watch him. I'll meet you at the morgue' Sharon's message said to him. 'Okay, talk more when I see you. Drive carefully' he texted back to her and then put his phone away. He looked up at both Provenza and Julio. "What?" he said to them. "You've got it bad, sir. I mean we knew that from the beginning when the Captain used to hang out and follow us around" Julio said to him. "We just thought you would get over it once you married her" Provenza said to Andy as Andy stood there with his mouth open slightly.

Andy shook his head at them and then headed down the building to the street level. Provenza, Julio, and Buzz followed him. "I was just concerned about our kid, he wasn't feeling good when he came home from school today and he threw up before I left for the crime scene, okay?" Andy said, defensively to Provenza. "Hey, relax Flynn. Now come on, let's go to the morgue. I don't want the Captain waiting for us" Provenza stated and then headed towards his car. Andy watched him walk away and then headed to his car. He got in and drove away towards the morgue.

As Andy was just pulling into the parking garage, he saw Sharon step out of her vehicle. She waited for him next to her car. Andy parked his car and got out to meet her. "Hey" he said to her as he walked over to join her at her car. "Hey" Sharon said, looking exhausted. "How's Matthew?" he asked her as they walked to the elevators, Provenza joining them. "He's okay, no fever so that's good. When I left he was trying to eat some crackers, so hopefully they stay down" Sharon said to Andy as all three of them stepped into the elevator. "Rusty's watching him, although he was pretty grossed out, but he promised to give me an update while we are here" Sharon said to them.

They entered the morgue and Dr. Morales was inside the examining room. All three of them gowned up and waited for Dr. Morales to be ready. The door opened and Dr. Morales stepped through. "Ah, good, you're all here" Dr. Morales said to them and then walked back inside the room. Sharon, Andy, and Provenza followed him in. As they walked in, they saw four bodies lying on the exam tables. "Each one of your victims dies from a single gunshot wound" Dr. Morales started to say. "What size round are we talking about?" Andy asked the doctor. "Uh, .556 Lieutenant. Here, I pulled this one out already" Dr. Morales said as he took the bullet from the tray and handed it to Andy. "We didn't find any casings at the scene" Andy said. "Which means our shooter took them with him as he left" Sharon said to them. "Thank you Doctor" Sharon said as she started to exit the room. "You're welcome" Dr. Morales said as Andy and Provenza left to follow Sharon.

"Gentlemen, I really don't want to inform Chief Howard that we have a sniper on the loose in LA" Sharon said to them as Andy and Provenza glanced at each other. "What else do we have?" Sharon asked them. "Well, SID made a casting of a shoe print that may or may not belong to the shooter" Andy said to her as they made their way back towards the elevators. "We also found an end cap to a tripod of some sort, maybe the shooter used that to steady the gun" Andy concluded as they stepped in the elevator. "I know, not much to go on, Captain" Provenza said to Sharon. "That's an understatement, Lieutenant" Sharon said as the doors closed.

Sharon looked down at the floor as Andy grabbed her hand. Provenza saw this and rolled his eyes. Sharon checked her phone and saw Rusty had left her a text message. 'He's sleeping now, crackers helped, hasn't thrown up since you left' the message said. Sharon glanced at the time on her phone. Rusty had sent it about twenty minutes ago and it was now after midnight. She placed her phone back in her pocket. "What did Rusty say?" Andy asked her. "Matthew's sleeping now. The crackers I gave him before I left seemed to have helped him" Sharon said as she looked over at Andy. "Good" Andy said, giving Sharon a slight smile as the elevator doors opened to the ninth floor.

They made their way towards the Murder Room and as they entered, Sharon saw Julio and Buzz putting up pictures on the Murder Board. Sharon walked to her office and placed her bag inside by her desk. She then joined everyone by the Murder Board, looking over the pictures that were taken at the scene. "Do we have a setup of the carnival and the buildings of the mall that are around it?" Sharon asked Buzz. "Uh, yes ma'am. Judging by where all the buildings were located in these pictures, I can draw a makeshift diagram for you" Buzz said to Sharon. "Thank you Buzz" Sharon said to him and then she walked over to join Andy who was sitting at his desk.

Amy and Mike walked back in to the Murder Room after making the notifications. "Amy, Mike, anything stand out with the families when you made the notifications?" Sharon asked the two as they sat down at their desks. "No Captain, it looks like the victims were at the wrong place, at the wrong time" Amy said to Sharon. Sharon nodded and then turned her attention back to the board. "Any connection between the victims?" Sharon asked. "Hector Alonzo and Julia Mayweather were boyfriend/girlfriend for ten years, both in their twenties. According to Julia's parents, they met at college, USC. Julia worked for an insurance company and Hector was attending graduate school" Mike said to Sharon.

"What about the other victims? Were they a couple as well?" Sharon asked Mike but Amy answered that question. "Yes, Captain. Lucas Kaminski and his girlfriend Joanna Sanchez had been seeing each other for five years, according to Lucas's brother. Both parents died, so his brother was Lucas's next of kin" Amy said and Sharon nodded. "According to his brother, Lucas met Joanna at work" Amy continued. "Ah, another work romance" Provenza stated and everyone looked at him. Andy gave him a glare and so did Sharon before turning her attention back to Amy. "They worked at the Omni Hotel in downtown LA. Lucas worked as the morning desk manager and Joanna worked in the reservations department" Amy stated and then placed her notes back on her desk.

"Okay, so we have four people, both couples with no ties to the other couple who were killed by a sniper on the roof of the mall. Were they the intended targets or is there something else to this murder?" Sharon said to the team as she looked around the room. "Captain, I would like to take a look at the crime scene in the morning, maybe get some trajectories from the roof to the Ferris wheel" Mike said to Sharon before she retreated to her office. "Go ahead and do that Mike" Sharon said as she turned around, but stopped short of entering her office. She glanced at her watch again. It was now nearing 2 in the morning. She turned around and faced her team. "But first, go home, get some sleep everybody and we'll start fresh in the morning" Sharon said to her team and then stepped in to her office.

Andy followed her in to her office and looked back at everyone who was leaving. "I'll drive us home, we can leave your car here" Andy said to Sharon as she gathered her things. Sharon shook her head in disagreement. "I don't think Matthew will be able to go to school tomorrow, so one of us is going to have to stay with him" Sharon said to Andy. "That's okay. I can stay home with him" Andy volunteered. "I need you on this case though" Sharon said to him. "Sharon, our kid is sick. I can stay home with him and skype you and the rest of the team, like I did when I had my blood clot" Andy said to her as he shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, I think the team needs their Captain here with them" Andy added as he grabbed Sharon's hand.

They walked out of her office and headed in to the hallway. "So was that you politely telling me that you can drive yourself home?" Andy said to Sharon and she chuckled. "I can drive myself home, I'm awake" she said to him as they stepped on the elevator. Andy pulled her in for a kiss as soon as the doors closed. They walked out to their cars, Andy making sure that Sharon was all set in her car before heading to his. "I'll see you at home" Sharon called out to him through the window. Andy got in his car and then he followed her out of the parking garage to their house.

They both arrived home and Sharon pulled into the driveway behind Andy's car. They walked into the house and were greeted by Moxie. Sharon made her way further inside to the family room where Rusty was sleeping sitting up on the chair. Matthew was asleep on the couch, a bucket below him on the ground in case he had to throw up again. Sharon was glad to see the bucket empty and then made her way to wake Rusty up. "Rusty" she said rubbing his shoulder. Rusty woke up and looked over at Sharon. "Oh good, you're home" Rusty said as he looked over at Matthew, who was still sleeping. Rusty stood up from the chair he fell asleep on. "If you want, I don't have any classes tomorrow, I can stay with Matthew if you're not sending him to school" Rusty said to Sharon as she walked with him back to the kitchen. "Hmm, Andy was going to stay home with him. You don't mind staying home with a sick child?" Sharon said to Rusty.

Rusty shrugged his shoulders. "We're a family and we help each other, right?" Rusty said to Sharon. Before Sharon could answer, Andy came back inside the house with Moxie. "What's going on?" Andy said to the two of them. "Rusty said that he could stay with Matthew tomorrow because he doesn't have classes" Sharon said to Andy. "Are you sure you want to take care of a sick kid. I mean I heard you were pretty grossed out before" Andy said to Rusty. "I was but it's fine if he's not throwing up" Rusty said to Andy. "Oh, I see" Sharon said to Rusty. "No, no, Mom. You guys just caught a huge case and you probably need everyone in on the investigation" Rusty said to Sharon. Sharon gave a laugh. "It's okay Rusty" she said to him. "If you want to help out, which we both appreciate, go get some sleep and be back here around 7am sharp" Sharon said to Rusty as she placed her arm on his shoulder and walked him to the door. "Got it" Rusty said as he left.

Sharon then walked back to where Andy was in the family room. "I hate to wake him up" Andy whispered to Sharon as they watched Matthew sleeping. Sharon moved her hand to feel Matthew's forehead. "Still cool" she said to Andy. Sharon bent down to rub Matthew's back gently. "Matthew, sweetie" Sharon said his name, lovingly. Matthew stirred and woke up. "Is it time for school?" Matthew said in a groggy voice as he opened his eyes. "No sweetie, but I do need you to wake up so you can go sleep in your bed" Sharon said to him as she helped him sit up. "How are you feeling?" Andy asked him as Matthew stood up. "Better" Matthew muttered as Andy walked with him to the stairs and they went up to his room.

Sharon tucked Matthew in his bed as Andy watched them both from the door frame. "Good night Matthew" Sharon said to him and then turned around to leave his room. Andy moved out of her way. "Good night buddy" Andy said to him and then closed the door. Sharon and Andy then walked over to their bedroom where Sharon sat down on the edge of their bed. Andy walked up to her and started massaging her shoulders. They were tense as he tried to work the kinks out. "What's the connection with this shooting?" Sharon said as Andy kept massaging her shoulders. "Maybe the shooter doesn't like carnivals, I don't know Sharon" Andy said to her as he felt her relaxing. She pouted when he stopped massaging. "Come on, let's go to bed, we have to be up in four hours" Andy said to her as he made his way to their closet to put his firearm away. Sharon joined him there as she did the same. She then made her way to the bathroom to change into her pajamas. Andy threw on his pajama pants and climbed into bed, waiting for Sharon to join him. Once she did, they both fell asleep, knowing the case they had in front of them was going to take a lot of energy to solve.

TBC