Thank you so much for all of your support for the first chapter! Here's the next installment. As usual, I welcome your feedback.
I do not own Major Crimes or any of the fabulous characters.
Chapter Two
The three stranded boaters watched as an LAPD boat approached them, carefully avoiding the sand bar that had claimed their own boat. One of the officers threw them a rope and Andy quickly secured it to his boat. Another LAPD boat had already arrived and begun the grisly task of collecting the remains from the water and the boat motor. Once they were given the okay, Andy, Sharon, and Provenza climbed out of their boat and trudged through the sand bar to the rescue boat. An officer helped pull them aboard, and Sharon quickly pulled her cover-up over her swimsuit.
"You Lieutenant Flynn?" The officer asked Andy. He nodded. "And you and your girlfriend and friend ran aground and unearthed the remains?" He added, trying to suppress his laughter. Provenza stepped in.
"His girlfriend is Captain Raydor, the head of our division, so she's the one you'll want to direct all your questions to," he clarified before moving over and taking a seat on the other side of the boat. The young officer looked a little embarrassed.
"Captain, I'm so sorry. They didn't tell me you were aboard," he said.
"It's not a problem," she assured him. "And yes, you seem to have correctly covered the sequence of events. Now, if you and your crew could just get us back to shore, we'll be able to begin working on solving this horrible discovery," she explained calmly. He nodded before walking back over to the rest of the officers. Meanwhile, Sharon took a seat and Andy quickly followed.
"I'm really sorry, Sharon," he said quietly. She shook her head.
"You can apologize later. Now, we need to focus on the case," she replied and he nodded.
The ride back to the shore was a quiet one, and the one in the car even quieter. With everything that had happened, none of them had a chance to go home and change before giving their statements. As Tao asked her questions about her unfortunate afternoon, Sharon couldn't help but wonder how she had found herself smack dab in the middle of one of Flynn and Provenza's infamous schemes. All the years of investigating the notorious lieutenants and their antics flashed before her eyes as she finished her statement. Mike got up to leave, giving her a nod on his way out of her office.
Sharon let out a sigh. In all honesty, it wasn't Andy or Provenza's fault what happened this afternoon. But, she supposed, that was the case with most of their antics over the years. Trouble did seem to have a way of following them. She was simply flabbergasted at the fact that she was now a part of it. Of course, she would be cleared, they all would, and no one had done anything wrong (well, other than Andy's oversight with the depth finder and the sand bar, but then again, it did lead to them uncovering remains that may not have been otherwise).
She glanced over to the glass windows separating her from her team. Her two lieutenants were returning from giving their statements. She studied them both. Provenza was still wearing the scowl he had been wearing earlier while Andy looked like a chastised puppy dog. She couldn't help but smile at that. He was nothing if not undeniably adorable when he was feeling contrite. She supposed she would have to let him off the hook sooner rather than later. Although, she was tempted to let him stew for a little longer.
"Nice swimming trunks, Sir," Julio smirked when he saw Provenza's Hawaiian-themed bathing suit. He was barely able to contain his laughter. "You gonna work the case in those?" He added, and Amy had to turn away to hide her smile.
"At least they're trunks and not the alternative," Buzz said, and everyone snickered to themselves. Provenza gave them an angry look.
"Ok, yeah, go ahead. Laugh it up," Andy said annoyed. "Like it's our fault there was a body dump".
"The lieutenant is right. We should be thanking him for his horrible boating skills. Otherwise, we'd all be home enjoying our Saturday instead," Julio said with his special breed of sarcasm. Andy just gave him a look. Thankfully, Sharon chose that moment to come out of her office and everyone fell silent.
"Andy, Lieutenant, you ready?" She asked. They nodded and she turned to the rest of the group. "Mike, call me when they let you know we've been cleared," she added as the three walked towards the exit. Tao nodded, and all four of them waited for their captain and lieutenants to leave before letting out the laughter that had been threatening to spill over all afternoon.
Andy dropped Provenza off before heading to Sharon's condo. He kept a suit, pair of underwear, and other necessities there just in case, and he didn't feel like driving the forty minutes back to his place just to change. His house couldn't sell fast enough as far as he was concerned.
They entered her condo, and Andy tried to gauge Sharon's mood. She hadn't said much since the incident earlier that afternoon, and Andy was worried that she might be upset with him for his colossal oversight. He knew there was something Gary had said about depths and being careful about sand bars, but he had gotten caught up in the fun and excitement of the boat. Sharon went straight to her kitchen, and he wondered if he should follow her or head down the hallway to get changed first.
"Are you hungry?" She called back to him. It seemed she was making the decision for him. He walked into her kitchen and found her staring into her fridge.
"Starving," he replied taking in her perfect, toned legs and beautiful wavy hair. She turned to look at him.
"I don't have much, but I can probably throw together a quick salad," she offered.
"That sounds perfect," he assured her. He watched as she went to work removing the ingredients from her fridge and placing them on the counter. He was mesmerized by the way her cover-up lifted up, revealing more of her sexy skin, whenever she reached for something in her upper cabinets and the way her hands rhythmically chopped the vegetables and tossed them into the waiting salad bowl next to her. He slowly walked up behind her and gently wrapped his arms around her slight frame before pulling her towards him. He tilted his head and brought his lips close to her ear.
"Is now a good time to apologize?" He rasped while nuzzling his nose into her hair, and he could feel the shiver of pleasure that ran through her body. Sharon closed her eyes, allowing the sensation to fill her. She paused her chopping motion, and brought her hands to meet his resting over her abdomen.
"Andy, there's nothing to apologize for," she said quietly.
"You mean other than getting us stuck," he teased. She laughed softly. "And don't worry, next time I will definitely use the depth finder. Lesson learned," he assured her.
"Hmmm... Yes, that would be nice," she agreed, but he could hear the mirth in it. He held her close for a few more silent moments before his voice rumbled through the quiet of her kitchen once again. "You looked really good on that boat," he rasped before placing a soft kiss to the spot just below her ear. "Still do".
Sharon could feel the tantalizing mix of heat rushing from her chest to her cheeks and the shiver of goosebumps spreading across her skin at his charged words. "Well since we're confessing, I found you terribly sexy behind the wheel of that boat," she cooed. He pulled her closer and began trailing wet kisses along her neck. Sharon leaned her head back onto his shoulder allowing him better access. As his lips continued blazing a trail across her neck, his hands freed themselves from hers and began a slow path up her ribs and finally stopping on her breasts. He palmed them fully, allowing his hands to massage her soft flesh through her cover-up and bathing suit.
Between the assault on the sensitive skin of her neck and amazing things he was doing with his hands, Sharon was on fire. She let a small moan slip out, and Andy spun her around and finally brought his lips to hers. The kiss was filled with passion and all of the intensity of their feelings and desire for each other. She wrapped her arms around his neck and settled her hands on the base of it, pulling him impossibly closer to her, while his hands found purchase on her hips. Neither was sure how long they had been standing there, making out like that, but the sudden familiar voice of Rusty broke them both out of their reverie, and Andy instantly sprung back from Sharon before the kid saw something that would scar him for life.
"Hey, how was your boat trip or whatever-" he started, but suddenly stopped with a suspicious look on his face when he saw the blush across his mother's face and the uncomfortable look on Andy's. Sharon quickly cleared her throat and turned back towards the counter to continue with the abandoned salad.
"It was... eventful," she said while she chopped more vegetables.
"Eventful? Wait, is this something that I want to hear about?" He asked cautiously. Sharon rolled her eyes while Andy laughed.
"Yeah, Kid. It's safe for your delicate ears," he said with a grin. Sharon gave him a look and he shrugged in a "what?" motion. "I might have hit a sand bar and got the boat stuck. And then in an effort to get it unstuck, found a body," he explained to a wide-eyed Rusty.
"Wait, you did what?" He asked incredulously. Sharon shook her head as she tossed the last of the ingredients into the bowl and began mixing them together with the salad tongs. "Is that even real?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Sharon replied as she carried the salad bowl to the table. Andy just shrugged at the kid.
"Wow. I'm not even sure what to say to that," Rusty said, still shocked.
"Don't worry. There's really nothing to say. We're working the case, or at least we will be once we're cleared," Sharon said. Rusty chuckled to himself.
"On that note, I'm going to go work on some stuff for Buzz's case. I'll be in my room," he said.
"Ok, honey. We're just grabbing a quick bite to eat and changing, and then we're heading back to work," Sharon explained. He nodded and retreated down the hallway to his room. Sharon looked over to Andy and saw the shit-eating grin he was wearing. "Don't," she warned him and pointed her fork in his direction to punctuate her point.
"What? I was just thinking how close that was," he said innocently. "And it's a good thing he started talking before he came into the kitchen. I never even heard him come in".
"I swear, he didn't make a single sound," she replied. They both laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation before finishing their very late lunch.
Once they had changed, they headed back to the PAB to hopefully wrap up the case. Unfortunately, the team had hit a bunch of dead ends. Thankfully, Sharon, Andy, and Provenza were cleared to work the case, so they delved right into the investigation.
By the end of the day, they had finally made an identification thanks to an unusual tattoo. The discovery had them all feeling recharged until they dug into their victim's extensive record. He was an international drug dealer who had ties to many of the gangs in Los Angeles. Sharon knew they only had a small window of time before the Feds swept in and stole the case.
They were in the middle of running down leads when Taylor walked in with a herd of suits behind him. Sharon turned from her position near the white board and pursed her lips.
"Chief, gentleman, what can we do for you?" She asked pleasantly.
"Captain, you remember Special Agent Morris," Taylor asked. Sharon nodded.
"Captain, good to see you again," Agent Morris greeted her.
"And you, Agent Morris," she replied.
"I'm afraid we're here for your case files," he said.
"Well, we are in the middle of working a murder, so in the interest of inter-agency cooperation-" Sharon began, but was instantly interrupted by her superior.
"I'm afraid this is not a case that the FBI will be working with the LAPD on," Taylor said.
"But Chief, we're the ones who found the victim-" Provenza tried, but Taylor raised a hand to silence him.
"This is not a discussion, Lieutenant. The order came down from Washington and it involves a classified investigation," he explained. Sharon collected what little information they had and began handing it over to Agent Morris. Provenza finally got up and relinquished his file to the FBI Agent.
"You guys love to throw around that word 'classified' in order to stomp all over other departments," he complained.
"It wasn't my decision either, Lieutenant," Agent Morris said. "But your dead drug dealer is a big piece of a much larger puzzle".
"Well, good luck putting your puzzle together without the people who found the remains," Provenza retorted. Agent Morris held up a file.
"Got your statements right here," he said before turning towards Sharon. "Captain, always nice to see you. And thank you for your continued cooperation," he added with a nod. She returned it. And with that Agent Morris and his herd of suits were gone from the murder room.
"Well, that's just great! What the hell do we do now?" Andy asked annoyed.
"Now, we do our jobs," Sharon stated simply.
TBC