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.
Chapter 4
It was now getting closer to 5 o'clock. Sharon called Nicole on the phone and asked her if she could pick up Matthew at school and then bring him home with her. "This case we caught is running late and I want to make sure he's okay," she said over the phone. "No problem Sharon, Do you need me to pick up Moxie as well?" Nicole asked. Sharon looked at Andy and then answered yes. "Okay, just call later and let me know what is going on," Nicole stated. "We will, thank you," Sharon said and then hung up her phone.
Sharon kept looking at Andy as he drove them to the marina. She knew this case was upsetting to him. It was upsetting in general. "Promise me Andy," she said to him and then he quickly glanced at her. He knew that look she was giving him. "He deserves a good beat down, anyone who does that to their kid," Andy replied and shook his head. She reached out for his right hand and squeezed it gently. She had to make sure that everyone would be safe in the take down of Colin, and that included Colin himself.
Sharon squeezed his hand again. "I know, but I don't need you being investigated for police brutality because you decided to take matters into your own hands," Sharon stated. Andy knew she was right with that and so he made her a promise. "Fine, I promise I won't lay a hand on him, unless he does something stupid," Andy mumbled.
The caravan of cars arrived at their destination and pulled up into the gated area. "I want a car posted here by the gate," Sharon said over the radio. "10-4," a patrol officer called out. The rest of the cars drove through and parked closer to the boat slips. Sharon and Andy got out along with Amy and Provenza. They already had their vests on. They met up with the SIS officers that were at the house with them and they decided on a game plan before heading over to slip 22.
"Use any force necessary and reasonable. Our emotions are running high from this case," Sharon said to all of them. Andy was thinking about how much he wanted to beat this guy when they caught him. He looked up and saw Sharon staring at him. They all acknowledged her orders and then made their way down the boat slips. Andy arrived at slip 22 first and then slowly approached the boat marked 'Beverly' as he drew his gun. Sharon was right with him, followed by Provenza and Amy.
Andy looked behind him to see if everyone was ready and they proceeded forward to the boat. Andy saw movement on the boat and he held up his hand to alert the others. His heart was pounding in his ear as he made his way forward. "Colin Paxson!" he called out as he stepped on to the boat. Amy and Sharon followed him on the boat while Provenza stayed on the dock.
Andy went around to the back of the boat where there were stairs heading down inside the boat. He stepped down one stair and immediately saw Colin inside. "LAPD! Put your hands were I can see them!" Andy yelled out and alerted everyone there. Amy came around the backside and was right behind Andy as he went down the stairs. "Lieutenant, what is this about?" he asked. "Get against that wall over there!" Andy instructed him as Colin held his hands up. Colin started to walk towards the back wall inside the boat and Andy followed him.
Colin placed his hands up against the wall and waited for Andy to get closer to him. Andy quickly glanced at Amy and saw she was covering him. Andy then holstered his weapon and placed his hands on Colin to pat him down. Sharon then came down the stairs of the boat. When Andy placed his right hand on Colin's back, Colin immediately turned around and went to punch Andy but Andy quickly pushed him into the wall. "I don't think so, pal!," Andy yelled as he threw all of his body weight against Colin.
Amy went to Andy's side and grabbed a hold of Colin's right hand. Andy turned Colin around so that his face was plastered into the wall. "We got some questions for you Colin. You lied to us this morning!" Andy gritted his teeth as he spoke to him. Andy then pulled out his handcuffs and cuffed Colin behind his back. Amy held him as Andy checked him to make sure he didn't have any other weapons on him. "He's good," Andy said to Amy and then she walked him outside the boat.
Andy turned around and saw Sharon standing there. Andy walked over to her. "I kept my promise," he stated as he continued up the stairs to follow them outside the boat. Sharon sighed and nodded. She then joined them outside. She saw Amy and Provenza walking Colin down the boat dock. But Andy was waiting for her at the entrance to the boat.
He held out his hand for her to take as she got off the boat. "Thank you," she told him as she stepped on to the dock. She looked at him and could see the conflict on his face. They walked down the dock and eventually made it to their car. Sharon saw that Colin was already sitting in the backseat of a squad car. "Are we ready Commander?" Provenza asked her as she walked by them. "Yes, see you back at the office," she said and then joined Andy who was standing by their car.
Sharon got inside the car and her phone immediately rang. She saw it was Nicole calling her. Andy slipped into the driver's seat just as she answered the phone. "Hi Nicole, is everything okay?" she said as she moved her hair out of her eyes. Andy started the car and drove them. "Yes, Matthew just wanted to say hi," she said and Andy heard as well. "Oh okay," Sharon waited for Matthew to be on the phone. She decided to place her phone on speaker so that both of them could hear him.
"Hi Mommy," she heard Matthew say. "Hello sweetie, are you doing okay there?" she asked him. "Yep, Avery got a new bike so he was showing it to me," Matthew sounded excited by that. "Well, that's good. Sorry we have to work a little later than usual," she told him as she glanced at Andy and wondered why he didn't say anything yet. "Is Daddy there with you?" Matthew asked. "Yeah buddy, I'm here," Andy said. "Okay, be careful," Matthew told them and then Nicole got back on the phone.
Sharon had told her that they didn't know how late they would be but they would call her later to let them know. Andy pulled into the parking garage at the PAB and parked the car. "Are you ready to interview this bastard?" Andy asked her as he paused for a moment before they left the car. "Yes, I would like someone to call Hobbs and notify her of everything that has happened so far," she said as she stepped out of the car and joined Andy.
They walked to the elevator and waited until the doors opened and then stepped inside. Andy hit the button for the ninth floor and the elevator started. "Thank you for controlling yourself when we caught him," she said to him and then he turned to look at her. She saw the sorrow in his eyes as he looked at her. She had seen that many times before on a variety of cases they had dealt with together and before when she was in charge of FID.
"It wasn't easy," he mumbled as the elevator opened on the ninth floor. He started to step away but Sharon grabbed his hand and pulled on it. He stopped walking and looked at her. They both stood there in silence. Sharon was about to say something when Mike stepped out of another elevator. "Ah, Commander," he said as he looked between Sharon and Andy. He figured he interrupted something by the looks on both of their faces.
"Yes Mike?" Sharon stated as she turned to look at him. "Lab results came back on the knife. Definitely human blood on it. There was some dried blood that remained at the tip of the handle, they were able to match it to Hudson Paxson," Mike stated. Sharon nodded and then Mike left them and headed to the office.
Andy still stood there; ready for whatever Sharon was going to say to him before they were interrupted by Mike. Sharon walked up to Andy and placed her hand on his arm. "Ready?" she whispered to him. He thought she was going to scold him from his earlier comment as that what it had looked like she was getting ready to do. She caught him off guard with that question. "Yeah," he answered quickly before she had a chance to change her mind.
They entered the office and Andy held the door open for Sharon. As they both walked in, they saw Provenza already there. "Ah, you guys are back. Mr. Paxson is in Interview Room 1 again, I thought he would enjoy being in that room twice in one day," Provenza stated as he took his suit jacket off and placed it on the back of his chair.
"Andy and I will conduct the interview. I want you to contact Hobbs and inform her of what has transpired," Sharon informed Provenza. "Sure, oh, and Commander, I did not tell our guest that we found Hudson at the state park," Provenza noted to Sharon and then briefly glanced at Andy before heading to Electronics.
Buzz came back from the morgue in time to see Provenza fooling around with the computer monitors. "Can I help you, sir?" Buzz asked him. "Where have you been?" Provenza said as he turned around to look at him. "I was with Julio down at the morgue," Buzz replied as he fixed each monitor that Provenza had touched. "Did Julio come back with you?" Provenza asked him as he sat down. "No, he was going to wait for the mother of the boy," Buzz answered and then turned on the monitors.
They saw Sharon and Andy walk into the room and closed the door behind them. "Hello Mr. Paxson, I'm Commander Flynn, and I believe you know Lieutenant Flynn," Sharon started to say as she took a seat. "You lied to us, Colin!" Andy said to him again as he sat down. "Before you answer that Mr. Paxson, I need to know that you have been read your rights, is that correct?" she asked him as she placed the file folder in front of her on the table. "Yes, I'm waiving my rights" Colin muttered back.
Sharon looked through the folder for something. "Look, why am I here again? Why did you pull me off my boat? Did you find my son, is that why I'm here?" Colin asked them. "Oh, you could say yes to both of your questions, Colin," Andy said as he gritted through his teeth. "Mr. Paxson, we did locate your son this afternoon, at the park where you left him," Sharon said and then placed a picture of the boy on the table. "What?" Colin exclaimed and sat back in his seat as he stared at the picture.
"It's pretty shocking to look at, isn't it Colin? I mean he must have looked different the night that you killed him, but this is your son," Andy said to him as he folded his hands together. Colin stared at the picture that was on the table as Sharon started to talk. "We do have some questions here, Mr. Paxson, that I'm afraid only you can answer," she stated. "What's that?" he asked as he looked at her.
"Fingerprints match, dried blood matches to the boy, knife matches the wounds as well," Mike said as he joined them in Electronics. "Sounds like all we need is a confession and then we can all call it a night," Provenza stated as he glanced at his watch.
"Well, for starters, why'd you do it?" Sharon asked him as she sat there confident in her question. Colin gave a shocked look. "Do what?" he asked. "Kill your son, Mr. Paxson," Sharon stated and they watched his demeanor change. "I didn't kill my son," he claimed. Andy had enough of his lying so he slammed his fist onto the table which startled both Colin and Sharon at the same time.
"Oh, come on, Colin. We found the hunting knife that you used to stab Hudson in his chest! We found the sleeping bag you used to carry his body in as it was still full of dried blood! We also have your fingerprints on the knife, Hudson's dried blood on that knife, and there was blood residue in your sink in the garage from when you tried to clean the knife off!" Andy explained to him loudly and Colin just sat there.
Sharon could see the anger from Andy and she needed him to calm down. She touched his knee with her hand and Andy stopped and looked down at the table and his hands. He took a deep breath and then looked at Colin.
"You see, that's the problem with blood. It never goes truly away no matter how many times you try to get rid of it," Andy said as Sharon pulled out more pictures of the knife, of Colin's garage, and the sink inside the garage. "So, why'd you kill your son? The only son you had. Who most fathers would do anything for their children," Andy spoke.
Andrea had then walked into Electronics at that point. "I understand you called the DA's office. You're lucky I was still there writing a case study," she said as she leaned up against the file cabinet in the back. "Yes, Hobbs we are lucky you can grace us with your presence tonight," Provenza said sarcastically. "So what do you have?" she asked them. "Well, we discovered the body of a nine year old boy who had been missing since March of this year, and it looks like the father is about to confess," Provenza stated as they all continued to listen to the interview.
Colin looked up from the pictures directly at Andy. "You don't know what it's like to have your child taken away from you by the courts. And then to get a stupid judge to grant you visitation rights, but only every other month? My ex-wife did not deserve full custody of our son!" Colin stated. Andy knew exactly what that felt like, although his background was different than Mr. Paxson's.
"I do know what that is like, Colin. You see, I was there at that point where all I wanted to do was see my children as they grew up, but my ex-wife had gotten full custody of them and I only saw them every other weekend, and I had to prove that I was fit to be a father," Andy started to talk to him. Sharon lightly touched Andy's left arm as he continued. "But, unlike you, I would do anything for my kids," Andy stated as he looked at Colin.
"She took him away from me," Colin muttered as Andy quickly glanced at Sharon. "So now I took him away from her, forever," he added as he sat there staring at the pictures. He showed no remorse for his actions. Sharon broke the silence when she passed over the notepad to Mr. Paxson. "We need you to write down everything you just said for us," she stated to him. He picked up the pen and started writing everything down.
"So, Hobbs, what is the charge going to be in this?" Provenza turned to Andrea who couldn't believe what she had just heard from Colin. "Murder one," she said as she shook her head. Provenza nodded at Mike who then left the room and headed to his desk.
Colin was done writing and passed the notepad across the table to Sharon. Sharon picked it up and read it. It was his confession. She nodded to Andy and Andy then stood up and walked over to where Colin was sitting. "Stand up," he told him and Colin stood up. "Turn around," Andy instructed him as he pulled out his handcuffs and placed them on Colin's wrists as he held them behind his back. "You're under arrest for the murder of Hudson Paxson," Sharon informed him and watched as Andy led Colin out of the room.
He met up with Provenza and they both walked Colin down to booking. All the while, Colin never showed any emotion as Andy led him away. When they arrived down at booking, Colin remained silent during the whole process. All Andy wanted to do was pound into the guy, but Sharon's voice inside his head told him otherwise. Provenza kept a close eye on Andy as well while they were down there.
It was now after ten o'clock at night; they both returned back to the Murder Room and saw Amy clearing the board. Sharon walked out of her office and saw her team all there. "Why don't we all head home now, we can finish this up tomorrow, like around nine am," Sharon suggested. "Hey Andy, I typed up the booking paperwork for you while you guys were down there, all it needs is your signature," Mike said to Andy. "Thanks," Andy said as he signed the form and handed it back to him.
The team started to leave which left Provenza, Andy, and Sharon there. Provenza walked over to Andy. "Are you going to catch a meeting tonight?" he asked him. Andy looked at his watch and shook his head. "No, but I'll catch one tomorrow night," he said quietly and then turned around to see if Sharon was ready to leave. "We still got to pick up Matthew and Moxie from Nicole's house tonight," he added and Provenza nodded. "Okay, then I'll see you tomorrow," Provenza said and then walked out of the office.
Sharon was talking to Nicole on the phone and informed her that they were getting ready to leave and should be at their house in twenty minutes, considering there wasn't traffic this late at night. She then gathered her bag and met Andy by his desk. She ran her hand on his shoulders as she came around to his side. "I spoke to Nicole, she said he was no trouble at all, did his homework, and he's on their couch right now," she said as she ran her hand down his arm.
Andy looked up at her from his chair and took her hand in his. "I know you're worried about me," he started off in a whisper. "I am," she said as she took her free hand and cupped his face. They were both exhausted from this case. Andy stood up and pulled Sharon in for a hug. "Let's get our son, and the dog, and go home," he whispered in her ear. She closed her eyes as he hugged her.
TBC