First of all, I wanna thank my wonderful beta, Stands With A Fic. I never would have started (or kept) writing this story without her.
Then, thanks to alexifera, because she's my first inspiration when I've to write about Shandy. And she's not a Shandy fan. ahah
Then, I wanna thank lontanissima for the advices she gave me. They helped me to improve this chapter when I was very confused about it.
At the end, but not least, I wanna thank leveragus. She helped me even though she doesn't know she did. Dear, you will see why.

Chapter 3

June 12, 2015

There were very few times when Provenza agreed with his partner; during their long friendship there were more times when they argued than those when they were in agreement on something. Basically Provenza and Flynn were different, they were so much different. But over the years they had been able to make such difference the basis of the most solid partnership that the LAPD had ever encountered. This had brought them to the point where if one of them was wrong, the other necessarily had to emphasize it. And this time, Provenza wanted to do more than that.

So before Sharon started speaking about her night with Andy, the oldest lieutenant left her office, slamming the door behind him, pointed at Buzz who was standing next to the desk of Lt. Tao with his left index finger: "Is he alone?"

Buzz, confused by the question, nodded without saying a word.

"Turn off each camera and microphone in the room until my order."
"But... Lieutenant..."
Provenza quickened his pace without giving attention to the vain attempt of the young man to stop his action. This time Flynn had exaggerated.

He opened the door hastily, while Andy Flynn, the only suspect of the murder of his ex-wife's husband, raised his head, relaxing his face: "Wow, thanks. You remembered I'm here…"

"What the hell are you doing, Flynn?" Provenza closed the door behind him, then approached the table and slammed his hands on it.
"Oh, hello, I am also very happy to see you!" Flynn replied ironically, then added: "What could I ever do? They accused me of something I did not commit. And you know... "

Provenza interrupted him again, this time going straight to the pivotal point of his speech: "You slept with her."
Flynn opened his mouth slightly, with an expression of his face by between confused and surprised.

"You slept with her. You... " Provenza raised his right index finger pointing at his friend; "You slept with Raydor."
Andy raised his face towards the camera on top of the room: "Are you crazy?"

"They are off, but..." this time Provenza was really angry: "You slept with her."
Andy watched his partner for a few seconds; could scrutinize his anger, impatience, annoyance. "Ya, I slept with her. Well... we did a lot of things but sleeping. " he said, at last, with a hint of irony that sparked even more the reaction of the older lieutenant.

Provenza raised his hand and shaked it: "And you say it this way? Like a relic of war? You slept with Raydor. "
Andy put his right hand on his forehead, gently massaging it and trying to drive away the fatigue of the moment, then looked at his partner: "I slept with Sharon, not with Raydor."

They had never had any problems of that type. They both used to date younger women, and it didn't matter whether they could be their daughters' ages. Provenza had seen Andy in different situations; had seen him date a masseuse, a teacher, a stripper... He had seen him and knew his behavior. And he was (until then) convinced that his friend would never cast work and private life, not after his job (because of alcohol) had destroyed his family and his relationship with his children.
He took a deep breath never looking away from his friend, then sat down and shook his head: "She's your boss."

"No, Louie, she's your boss, but to me…" he smiled and looked at the table, as if he was remembering their last night together… "To me, Louie, she's much more than that." Andy said, almost smiling.

"Do you have feelings for her?" Provenza asked, keeping his eyes fixed on his friend.
"I do not know what I have, but for sure I've something for that woman."
Provenza laughed, ready to leave the room: "What a gentleman!"

Andy stopped his friend, by saying: "How did you know about us?"
Provenza turned around and shaked his head: "You will know it very soon." Then pointed his index finger at his friend: "Stay here, and behave. And please… don't do anything I would never do."
He left and Andy stayed there, thinking about his friend's words.

Twenty minutes later, it was Cole's turn to speak to Andy.
During all these years, Sharon had always been in charge. But in that particular situation, everything was in Adam's hands. She trusted him, she knew he was a good cop, she knew he was a great friend, but this story had already started badly and for absurd reasons her legs were shaking at the thought of how it could end.

Sharon was in the electronics room, with Provenza and Buzz; eyes fixed on the screen while Adam entered the room where Andy was now.

"Lieutenant Flynn, I'm Captain Cole... You need to answer some questions". Adam sat down, carefully watching the lieutenant sitting in front of him.

This was the man Sharon slept with; the man who had brought down the Iron Lady of the police department of Los Angeles. Flynn was more powerful than he could ever imagine.
Andy nodded: "At least we'll end this story once and for all."

Adam pretended not to hear and started with the first question: "Did you kill David Fisher?"
Andy smiled: "Wow, what a question!"

"Answer, Lieutenant."
"No!" Andy's face suddenly turned serious. This questioning would be harder and longer than expected.
"What did you do last night, Lieutenant Flynn?"

That question provoked a shiver over Sharon's back. She was terrified by that question, or at least she was terrified by a true answer to that question. Of course she knew that it was the only very important question to ask.

Andy took a deep breath, focusing his eyes on a dead point of the table. "I was busy."

Adam nodded: "Busy alone, or with someone?"

"I really need an alibi?"

Adam gave him a menacing look: "Your gun was found next to the body of the victim. An alibi is the most important thing you might need at this time."
Andy nodded in turn: "With someone."

"A woman?"
"Do I look like a gay?"
The irony did not seem to be accepted by Captain Cole.

Andy breathed again: "A woman."
"May I know her name?"

It was the moment of reckoning? It really was the time when Sharon's name would have jumped out? Andy swallowed nervously, then replied: "I do not know her name."

Adam laughed sarcastically: "So you spent the night with a woman you don't even know?"
Andy nodded.

"A prostitute?"
This time Andy smiled, trying to deflect the conversation: "No, she's not, but for sure she acted like that."

Meanwhile, in the electronics room, Sharon opened her mouth, astonished. He really said that she acted like a prostitute? Surely he was trying to ward off any suspicion from her, but why using such rough words?
She was probably right in believing that she was just a whim to satisfy.

Adam looked down, aware that the lieutenant was lying. "And until when you have been with her?"

Andy brought his left hand through his hair and tried to remember the time: "Until around 5, I think."
"And then?"

A few minutes of silence filled the room.
"Lieutenant, listen to me, maybe you did not understand what's happening. If you do not help us, you will be accused of the murder of a man. Do you really want this? Do you really want your kids from now on see you like the man who murdered their stepfather?"

Those words did startle Andy; family for him was the only very important thing of his life.
Thus, he folded his arms across his chest and breathed deeply: "I spent the night at her house, then I got a call. It was David. He wanted to meet me, so, around 5 am, I left her home and headed to the place where David wanted to meet me."

"The parking lot?"
Andy nodded, then shook his head, as if he was remembering what had happened.
"Did you have a fight?"

This time Andy did not answer; shook his head again, and after a few minutes he said: "As long as you will not have the results on David's body and on my gun, you cannot accuse me of anything. I know very well how this works. And I'm not going to talk about anything without a lawyer."

Adam stood up and pointed to the man: "You're risking, Flynn."
"Maybe it's worth it."
Adam left, confused about what Andy had told him. He needed to find out the truth, but it'd not have been easy. He knew it.

And it'd not have been easy above all for Sharon.
After 35 years of career, she barely remembered a terrible day like that one. Before her eyes many cases had passed, but this one was breaking her heart. In many ways. Her thoughts were now for Nicole, James, to the people who were suffering more.
She brought her right hand through her hair and raising her head, took a deep breath; she could barely stop the tears. The world had turned upside down in a single day. In front of her, on the desk, there were photos of Fisher's body and a stack of documents to be evaluated, all of which had the same name on: Andy Flynn.
What was he doing? Why didn't he tell her that Fisher had called him? Why did he leave her house that way?

A knock on the door brought her back to reality.
Sharon raised her head, the door opened in a few seconds, but to Sharon they seemed like interminable hours. The figure of Provenza appeared and she could not help but get up and remain silent.

"It's up to us."
She nodded, trying to keep calm, headed for the room where his lieutenant had been since the early hours of that morning.
Provenza went in the electronics room with Buzz and Sanchez, while Sharon after a long, deep breath, opened the door and for the first time after hours he was there.
When she saw him, she felt the strong desire to close the door and escape; before her eyes she saw the pictures of the previous night which had flowed fast, like a river in flood.
Andy raised his head and looked at her, while she slowly closed the door behind her shoulders and sat in front of him. She put her hands on the table and began nervously rubbing her fingers.
Andy watched carefully, aware of how much she was embarrassed and under pressure. So, he smiled and approached his fingers to hers, entwining the right index finger with hers. Sharon raised her head and shook her head in the negative, then drew back her hands, taking them on her lap.

At the sight of that gesture, Sanchez looked surprised at Buzz, who turned toward Provenza.
The older man, visibly irritated by the curiosity of the two, and by the stupidity of the other two, waved his hands in the air: "Please, do not ask and shut up!"

Meanwhile, Sharon had finally found the courage to speak: "So… you spent the night with a prostitute..."
Andy looked away and snorted: "Oh... Come on, Shar..."
"It's Captain, lieutenant." She interrupted him and continued: "Then you got a call from the victim and left her house to meet him."

Andy nodded.
It seemed that insecurity had given way to anger. It looked like Darth Raydor had replaced Sharon.
"Why? Why did he want to meet you? "
He looked at the woman carefully, hoping to change the subject, unnoticed: "I did not kill David and the reason why he wanted to see me is unimportant. When I left him, he was still alive."

She nodded, "Lieutenant, you're right, we cannot hold you back, but I suggest you to call a good lawyer."
Then she stood up and without a word, left the room.

A few minutes later, Andy was able to leave as well, although he had been suspended, pending clarification about the murder. But he still remained the most likely suspect.
Tired and worn, Andy walked over to his desk.

"Lieutenant, we will find out what happened." Amy said from her seat, smiling.
Andy nodded and after grabbing his jacket, turned his gaze to Provenza: "Let's see if my family still wants to see me."
He nodded and watched his friend go away, while silently in turn glanced toward Raydor's office. Sharon was inside, with Captain Cole.
There was much to work on. And Sharon had to do it, without allowing her personal life to influence her judgment.

Adam was sitting in front of her, his hands over his chest and blabbering things that her ears could not perceive. Then, suddenly stopped and silence filled the room.
"Shar..."
After the umpteenth call, the woman stood up and said: "Sorry..."
Adam smiled: "Look, you're not alone. We'll find out the truth, and if he is innocent, everything will be fine."
Sharon nodded: "If he is..."
The man stood up and approached her: "I'm here as Captain of FID, but also as a friend. You know you can always count on me."

Sharon nodded again and put her hand on his arm, caressing it slowly.
"I'm so glad you're here."
He smiled and caressed her hand on his arm: "I'm glad to be here."

The ringing of her iPhone broke the moment, Sharon smiled at Adam: "Excuse me…"
He nodded.
She approached her purse and took her iPhone from it. The name on the screen made her breath irregularly. She took the call.
-Yes?!-

-I need to see you. Alone.-
She shook her head in a negative way as if he could see her gesture. –No. I've a ton of things to do.-
He insisted, his voice was serious: -I really need to see you. Alone.-

Sharon turned to look at Adam and opened her mouth to say something that she wasn't able to say.
Then he continued: -Before saying the truth to that very funny guy there, I need you to know the truth.-

She touched her neck, nervously, turned around again, so her back was toward Adam. –Ok.-
-At my place. I'm going to my family now, or at least I hope I still have a family. Text me when you can stop by.-

Sharon hung out, saying nothing. Turned toward Adam and pretended to smile: "My son Rusty… you know…"
She put her iPhone on the desk, then approached him again.

Yes, it'd have been a very long case.

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