It's been awhile since I posted the first chapter of this story, but I want to say thank you to everyone that has inquired about it and encouraged me to continue. I have always planned to go forward with it, but sometimes life gets in the way. Let me know what you think, and thank you again for sticking around :)
Murder on the Highway ch 2
"Shh, here comes the Chief. Somebody wake the Lieutenant up."
"I told you guys you shouldn't have had so much to drink. I'm not taking the blame for this one."
"Fine Buzz, nobody asked you to anyway. Tao, help me prop him against the back of that stump." Julio put his hands under one of the Lieutenant's arms and motioned for Tao to do the same.
"I don't know guys, I don't see how you're going to be able to hide this from any of them. Especially Raydor and Pope. Those two are like hawks, and it's not like we're on anyone's good side right now. I'm sitting over here so they don't mark me guilty by association."
"Good idea sir, I'm with you." Buzz sat on the ground beside Gabriel with his arms crossed over his chest in a defiant stance.
"You two are being paranoid. No one will notice a thing."
"They have may have a point, Julio. He is snoring pretty loudly."
"Yea, another good reason why I'm glad we didn't switch places with him. Let Taylor and Flynn put up with that. Come on Tao, we've gotta stick together."
"What do I have to put up with? Hey, why is Provenza slumped over on the ground. I could hear him snoring all the way over there. Sanchez, what'd you guys do?" Andy walked up behind them and stared at each face in the circle, giving his best intimidating stare.
"Why are you asking me, Sir? I'm innocent in all this." Gabriel's eyebrows raised high, he pursed his mouth into a sour position, and shook his head.
"Yea right. They had too much to drink, sir. And now we are sitting over here so we don't feel the Chief's wrath based solely on proximity." Buzz cocked his brows and scooted a little farther away.
"Yea Buzz, I don't think it works like that. I mean, you've met the Chief, right? You were guilty long before any of this even started. Move over Gabriel so I can sit down, too. And you two better wake him up, the bosses are on their way over."
"Sir, sir, you have to wake up now."
"Stop pushing me, Sanchez. And back up, I can smell the booze from your breath and it reeks."
"Sorry sir, but that's probably yourself you're smelling."
"Wiseguy."
Tao and Sanchez laughed amongst themselves at Provenza's ire, while the others just rolled their eyes and tried to shrink further back from the group.
"Gentlemen, good to see you all. Thank you for being on time." Pope nodded his head at each of them then turned to Brenda Leigh. "And where is Captain Raydor? She's supposed to be driving this train."
"I'm here, Chief. Sorry, I lost track of time on my walk." Sharon's eyes scanned the group and landed on Andy. His face turned and his eyes averted her stare, knowing full well she'd be able to read them if he acquiesced. Clearing her throat, she addressed the group before her. "Thank you everyone for being on time. I want to go around the circle, state your name and one piece of information that is unknown about you. I saw that eye-roll, Lieutenant. I know this seems a little campy, but this is what we are here for this weekend." Turning to Brenda Leigh, Sharon continued, "Would you like to start us off? And don't forget we are using first names here." She smiled coolly in return to the look she received.
She cleared her throat, willing away the sarcastic comment she so desperately wanted to hurl at the Captain. "I'm Brenda Leigh, and I like to knit in my spare time. Although, lately I seem to fill that with other trivial activities." She caught Will's threatening stare and let out one of her girlish giggles to cover her snark.
Tao sat up a little straighter when he noticed everyone staring at him, waiting for his statement. "Um, I'm Mike Tao and I was in medical school before I joined the police department."
"Trust me, Tao we are aware. The Captain said something we didn't know."
Mike blushed faintly in the firelight and stared quizzically at Provenza. "You didn't all know that, did you?" Every head shook in the positive and he threw his hands up in defeat. " Okay, okay. Let's see, I like to build model cars with my sons."
"Oh Lieutenant- I mean, Mike- that is just wonderful. I'd love to see one some time."
"Sure Chief, uh Brenda Leigh," he gave a nervous chuckle and ran his head over his scalp. "That's hard to get use to, sorry."
"Tell me about it. If any of you call me anything other than Sir, Lieutenant, or Provenza this weekend, I'm writing you up."
"You can't sir, you have no authority here in the woods." Julio's eyes crinkled with laughter as he baited the man next to him.
"Don't push it Sanchez. I'll make a note and when we get back, there will be hell to pay."
"Oh, you've got me shaking again, Sir." His laughter became louder and all eyes quickly flew to his face.
"That's enough now, boys. What did I tell y'all earlier, hmm? Detective, have you two been drinking? It smells awfully strong from where I'm sitting." The sarcasm in Brenda Leigh's voice had faded and was now bordering on threatening.
"That's the fire you're smelling, nothing to be worried about." Provenza glared at Sanchez, sending warning signs like lasers with his eyes. "Now something about me none of you know. I don't like talking about myself." He crossed his arms over his chest and glared steely-eyed, daring anyone to make him say a personal fact. He caught the eye of Chief Pope and shuddered. He elbowed Julio to get him to speak before someone else said a word.
"I'm Julio, as you all know. I like to play pick up games of basketball and baseball with the neighborhood kids. I like to think it keeps them out of trouble." He beamed brightly and settled back down against the stump behind him.
"That's very nice of you, Julio. We need more people like that looking out for the younger generation."
"Thank you, Captain. They just want to be kids, ya know. It's hard living in gang territory. That innocence gets taken away far too soon."
The air around the fire sparked with a nervous energy as they reflected on that last statement. When the spell broke, a thick accented voice began to speak. "Okay guys, you know I'm Andy. I've put together about 500 giant puzzles over the last several years. When I feel a little antsy or worked up from a case, I work on a puzzle. It helps me relax the way alcohol use to."
"What are you, an old cat lady?"
"Knock it off, Provenza, before I tell some of your secrets." Provenza growled from deep within his chest, but let it settle, not wanting his partner to reveal anything too damaging. Lord knew he and Andy had been into a lot together. He made the motion of zipping his lips and throwing away the key. Several of the men discreetly laughed, intent on not drawing attention to themselves lest Provenza take aim at them next.
Gabriel sat up straighter and looked toward each pair of eyes illuminated in the shadows of the firelight. "Well, as some of you know, my name is David. I don't have much to tell in the way of personal business since we've always been taught to keep our professional lives separate from the personal."
"Oh yeah, tell that to Daniels. We've all heard that story, amirite?" The men's eyes darted back and forth trying to avoid anymore wrath from the Chief until a deep rumble erupted forth from the culprit. He found himself losing control until a single word rang through the night air.
"Andy." Sharon was wearing her Darth face, and he knew she meant business.
"Sorry about that, Captain," he mumbled under his breath, not wanting to look a fool he felt in front of her.
Gabriel cast daggers with his eyes at the man beside him before continuing. "Fine. Two years ago, I went to a Halloween party dressed as E.T. It was my favorite movie as a kid. Satisfied, Andy?" He punctuated the last word with force, letting his irritation be known.
"Makes sense, I guess. Explains a lot, really. Eh, Sanchez?" The two began giggling and Provenza boomed over them.
"You two are ridiculous. Who cares if he's a grown man and wants to dress like some little alien kid. There's plenty other things to rag on him about, and it's just stuff that happened today." The three men continued their teasing and ribbing until four pairs of eyes rolled and looked in their directions.
"Gentleman, I believe we've gotten a bit off course. May I suggest we get on with things. I personally don't want to be out here all night. The fire in my cabin is calling my name and I don't feel like getting bitten up by the bugs flying around." Chief Pope swatted at his arm and the three clowns gave him a mock salute in reply. He squinted his eyes and turned to Gabriel. "Well done David, I hear it's a good thing to keep in touch with your childish side from time to time. Now Buzz, I believe you need to have a go so we can move along to the next portion of this evening."
"Uh, yes Sir. Well, I don't have to tell you all my name since you've each known it since our first meeting, but I am Buzz. I always wanted to be a detective. Every year for my birthday, my friends put on a murder mystery night and I get to play detective. It's silly, but it's better than nothing I suppose."
"Yes, well maybe someday Buzz. I hear dreams can come true, not for me per se, but I've heard they do." Everyone looked at Taylor and silently prayed he'd hurry up. No one was paying much attention until his voice became exuberant. "My name is Russell. My wife and I like to go to the theater. We recently saw a production of "Death of a Miner" and the female lead was phenomenal."
"Okay, well very good Russell. That's certainly a noble endeavor. Well I believe most of you have heard Brenda Leigh call me by first name enough that you should each know it by now, but for the sake of brevity my name is Will. I like to eat dessert, but sadly for the last few months I've been holding back on the sweets. It is not going well, in case of any wondered. Now Captain Raydor, I believe that just leaves you."
Provenza rolled his eyes at Andy and made a nod like 'Get a load of this guy' attitude. Andy smirked back and rolled his eyes in return.
"Yes, well thank you, Will. Thank you for all the interesting tidbits about yourselves. I am Sharon, and I collect various tea mugs and swim in my free time." She looked toward Andy, and he felt his face flush. He said a silent thanks that the fire's glow hid most of it from the others. "As the weekend moves forward, the goal is to share more and more about ourselves. It's just another way of bonding more tightly and opening ourselves to trust the team as a whole more and more. Now if everyone would stand up and move a little further from the fire we will be doing a small exercise before we call it a night. I hear there may be some rain later, and I'd hate for any of you to melt." She smiled and shooed her arms in big sweeping waves to encourage her instructions.
"Help me up Julio, and no funny tricks either."
"I wouldn't dream of it sir. Hey Mike, you might want to give me a hand. Wouldn't want him to break a hip or anything."
"I said watch it, Julio. I wasn't joking about writing you up."
"Oh don't worry, I was only teasing, Sir. Besides, I wouldn't want you to miss the Kum Bah Yah portion of the night. I'm pretty sure this is where we all hold hands and sway back and forth like they do at summer camp."
"Boys, y'all settle down now. Lieutenant, you alright over there? Good. Now, I'm sure Sharon would have us all singin' and holdin' hands. Wouldn't ya, Sharon?" Brenda Leigh's voice raised an octave and dripped with sugary sweetness. She wanted to get back to the cabin so she could call Fritzi and complain about her weekend so far.
"No, Brenda Leigh. We are going to be doing what is called 'trust falls' with each other. We will each have a partner and take turns falling back into the other's waiting arms. You have to have confidence that the other person will not only catch you, but will keep you safe to not allow a fall."
"No one is putting their hands around my waist, or under my arms, or touching me in general." Provenza swayed a little before putting his hand on his forehead. He was beginning to regret playing cards earlier.
"Just pretend it's one of your usual Friday night hot dates and you'll be fine. Besides, don't you usually play this game with them every week anyway, Provenza? I mean you are kinda getting up there, I'd think you fall a lot at that age."
"Watch it, Flynn. I might just let you fall on your ass you keep that up."
"Hold on, you two. I've got a fair way of deciding who will be holding who around the waist, as the Lieutenant puts it. By the way, let's try not to let anyone fall on their backsides please. This is a team building exercise, not a 'let's see who can go to the hospital first' kind of thing." Sharon tried to hold back the glare she desperately wanted to aim at the two. She shook her head silently and wondered how two grown men could be so childish sometimes. She produced a small bag with pieces of paper tucked inside. She held it up for all to see before slowly walking around the small circle. "Everyone take a piece of paper. On it you will find a number written on it. The person with the corresponding number will be your partner over the next two days, including tonight for each activity."
When she came back to her original starting position, she reached inside and extracted the last piece of paper. It had the number three written on it. She held it up and looked around to see who had the matching number. Provenza snorted when he saw it was Andy sheepishly holding his copy of the number three up as well. "Way to go, big guy. You deserve it." He taunted Andy with the imitation of flying a broom behind Sharon's back. Brenda Leigh tapped him on the shoulder and shook her head. Her eyes were wide and frantic, and she was shaking her head no as Sharon turned toward them.
"Does everyone have your partner? If so, go ahead and get into position: one person with their back facing the other's front, and that person with their hands out ready to catch the other. Be sure to work together, and take turns."
Slowly the others began pairing up as Sharon walked toward Andy. Buzz and Brenda Leigh stepped off to one side and got into formation. While Julio and Russell moved to another side, they were joined by Mike and David, who chose to stand a little too close for Russell's comfort. "No offense, but you may want to step over that way some. I'd like to keep my hide out of the fire tonight, and my whole self off the ground."
"Oh, sure thing Russell," David answered snarkily before scooting over several paces. Mike just shrugged his shoulders and offered himself to be the first to fall.
Provenza and Will stared each other down a moment, neither wanting to make the first move. Finally Will broke the silence, "Listen, I don't want to do it anymore than you do, but you know if we don't she's gonna be over here giving us a lecture. So just fall backwards and I promise to catch you. Besides, no offence but you do reek of liquor and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be easy to pick up off the ground. By the way, I hope you saved some of that because I have a feeling that by the end of the day tomorrow I'm gonna need to take several swigs."
"End of day? I'll be lucky to last past breakfast. Fine, let's get this over with."
Sharon smiled at Andy. "Would you like to fall first?"
"I don't think you could handle me, Sharon."
"Give it a try, you never know what someone's made of, Lieutenant." She smirked and raised her eyes over her glasses to give him a sultry eye smirk.
Andy fell easily into her arms. He popped up quickly, feeling nervous at her touch. There was laughter and grunting all around them as each team took turns falling into one another. He turned to face her and offer his arms in reply. Sharon took a deep breath and contemplated trusting her "partner" before allowing herself to fall. This had always been her least favorite exercise in these types of situations, and this time was no different. She appeared calm and cool on the inside, but the reality was that she didn't have a very good relationship with anyone from Major Crimes. In fact, she didn't have good standards with anyone outside of Professional Standards, and she wasn't too confident that anyone there wouldn't just let her fall on her backside while the rest of them stood around laughing.
She released her breath, determined to let her guard down, when a series of events transpired in a matter of seconds. A violent shaking of thunder pierced the air, and vibrant streaks of lightning cast a web of purples and red across the sky. The heavens opened and a torrential onslaught of rain wreaked havoc on all those below. Russell slipped from Julio's arms and slammed to the ground. The men around him began laughing and sliding in the mud. Brenda Leigh was fretting over her beloved black bag as she ran toward her cabin, and Sharon fell backwards. Andy wasn't expecting her in all the chaos, and he nearly dropped her. At the last second he reached back out and caught her firmly about the chest.
"Careful there, Lieutenant."
He leaned in closer and whispered, "It's Andy, Sharon. Just Andy."
She righted herself, flustered at his breath on her ear, and scrambled to pick up her belongings. The wet cacophony had begun to create a bit of a problem. The group had begun to disperse in different directions, the night's activities brought to a screeching halt. Sharon looked toward Andy one last time, wondering once again at his intentions, before bending down to retrieve her towel from her earlier dip in the lake. She tried collecting herself but nearly slipped on the mud puddle forming near the fire pit instead. Her shoes felt like skis underfoot sliding over a snowy pass. Her arms began to flail, and just as she was sinking lower to the ground, a strong pair of hands grabbed her around the waist and hauled her upright again.
"We've got to get you out of this storm before you have a bigger problem than just some wet clothing." Andy's voiced echoed in her ears as they ran across the open field towards her cabin. They stumbled up the steps as another threatening boom of thunder rocked the ground below them. Her hands shaky from the tumultuous trek toward her safe haven, Sharon pushed the door open and pulled Andy inside with her.