9:30 PM

"Any news on the boy?" Andrea asked quietly as she perched against Sharon Raydor's office door, clutching two coffee cups in her hands. It had been forty-eight long, grueling hours since their last kidnapping victim had been found discarded along a trail in the Hollywood Hills, a cryptic note pinned to her t-shirt with a hint that the same crime would happen again all too soon. Sharon shook her head, a look of longing and lust in her eyes as she caught sight of the Starbucks cup Andrea was holding out to her. Andrea smirked as she moved nearer to her friend and seated herself across from the older woman. She could feel her feet swelling in her stilettos as she took the pressure off of them by sitting for the first time in what had to be at least twelve hours. Andrea wordlessly slid a coffee cup across the desk directly in front of Sharon. "You'll need it, we're obviously not leaving anytime soon," Andrea muttered as she brought her own cup to her lips. As the note pinned to the victim's body had promised, another child had been taken in the early hours of the previous morning and no one had left the police station since it happened, Andrea included.

"Thank you," Sharon practically moaned, immediately taking the cup in her hands so she could take a long sip of hot coffee. As a veteran member of the force she had pulled countless overnighters in the police station on various cases, but she had to admit they were getting less and less fun as she got older.

"Flynn and Provenza are out checking on the search party, Buzz is running surveillance leads from every camera in the area where our victim was abducted yesterday morning, Lieutenant Tao is working on some evidence with the lab and Detective Sykes is questioning a few interesting prospects to see if we can't get this story unwound a little more."

Andrea could hear the exhaustion in Sharon's tone as she recited her team's whereabouts; she had to wonder how Sharon managed to do it day in and day out and still take care of Rusty on top of it all. She reclined in her chair and crossed one long, lean leg over the other, pulling the hem of her pencil skirt down a little further as she watched Sharon carefully, looking for any cracks at all in the older woman's resolve. Wasn't she exhausted? How on earth was she still going strong after this many hours in the station? Andrea felt like she could barely see straight. Her head was dizzy with the chaos and torture of one murdered child and another missing with no solid suspects to blame for either crime, not to mention a complete and total lack of sleep for the last two days. Of course, they had taken shifts for sneaking in cat naps, but nothing that could substitute for a real night's sleep at home in her own bed. Andrea couldn't begin to fathom the thought of going home to continue the care of another human being once this marathon was over. She had to hand it to Sharon, what she was doing for Rusty was beyond admirable. It was enough to be a mother when the kids had actually come from one self, but to do it when a child shows up half-grown off the streets? Andrea wasn't sure she actually possessed the strength of character to do what Sharon had been doing for Rusty all these months. The thought of Sharon's generosity and kindness brought a smile to Andrea's lips. She was a good woman.

"Yes?" Sharon asked curiously, peering over the top rim of her glasses at Andrea. That particular smile of hers happened to be one that drove Sharon crazy; it was a smile she often found herself thinking of when her mind wandered away from her work and on to things of a more distracting nature; namely Andrea.

"Do you think at this point it's worth it for you to stay at your desk, or should you go home and get some rest, Sharon?" Andrea asked quietly, raising an eyebrow as she watched Sharon stifle a yawn.

Sharon's yawn turned into a grin as she eyed the younger blonde across from her. Andrea Hobbs had no reason to care about her but she always seemed to have Sharon's best interest at heart. It was the first thing Sharon had noticed about the DA when she first transferred to Major Crimes; Andrea always seemed to be concerned about those around her before she was concerned about herself. It was also one of the first qualities that had stood out in Sharon's budding attraction to Andrea. Sharon pursed her lips and shook her head gently.

"I shouldn't leave while everyone is still here, and I could afford to go interview the two gentlemen Sykes is holding…." She trailed off, noticing for the first time just how tired Andrea actually looked. She could use a lesson or two in Andrea's tactics in thoughtfulness, she thought to herself, as she took a second look at the dark circles lining the blonde's eyelids. "You should go home, Andrea. You need some rest. I'll need you to be alert when it comes time to make a deal…or not...with the lucky winner of this little game."

"What, and miss all the fun here?" Andrea pursed her lips disapprovingly and crossed her arms over her chest, rooting herself deeper into the chair across from Sharon, "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Has anyone ever told you you're stubborn, Andrea Hobbs?" Sharon countered, crossing her own arms over her chest to match Andrea's stance.

"Mmm. A few times," the younger blonde mused, rolling her eyes, "I've got to grab some things from my office, then I'll go- but only if you promise you'll be home by midnight yourself. Rusty needs someone to check in on him, Sharon…" Andrea knew if she played Rusty against Sharon, she'd win. She knew Sharon often felt guilty about how much time she spent away from her condo and, as such, away from her foster son. Tonight, Andrea didn't feel so bad playing that card against her if it meant the captain might get even a few hours of uninterrupted rest. Andrea had the sinking feeling this case wouldn't be over any time soon; there was no sense in Sharon exhausting herself within the first few days.

Sharon considered Andrea's proposition carefully for a moment and finally nodded her head, closing her eyes against the movement. "You're right. I can't keep sending patrol cars to my building with him and pizza money to deliver him at the end of the evening," Sharon muttered, somewhat guiltily, as she opened her eyes to gaze at Andrea. "I'll go home in a few after I interview our new friends. I'll even text you when I get there. Deal?"

Andrea nodded, satisfied. "Deal. You have until 12:15 to text me, otherwise I'm coming to get you, and I don't care if I have to drag you out of here kicking and screaming."

"Yes, ma'am," Sharon smirked as she watched Andrea stand to leave. The idea of texting Andrea when she got home made Sharon want to leave the station much sooner than she'd originally planned.

9:50 pm

Andrea sauntered along the abandoned corridor of the court building, lost in deep thought. It had been a whirlwind forty eight hours and she wasn't sure where to go from where they were with putting together any sort of possible prosecution. Sharon had no solid leads for her to play off of and surely her boss would be on her back before long for a suspect to start a building case against. Time wasted with no suspects to prosecute was money wasted- money the county of Los Angeles didn't have. On top of that, if Sharon didn't apprehend a solid suspect soon, they were going to have an outright media frenzy on their hands with a "serial kidnapper". Technically it needed to be three children for it to be serial, but tell that to the panicked masses. Andrea let out a heavy sigh as she approached her office door and let herself in. Sharon would come through, she always did. This time would be no different; the woman was a damn good cop.

As Andrea settled into her chair behind her desk, a prick of panic shot up her back. Something wasn't right, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. It felt as though her office was somehow…. changed, or soiled. Things had been moved. Her desk calendar was on the wrong date, her mouse pad a few inches off. Someone had surely been in her office. She reached for the light near her computer screen and switched it on, telling herself not to be ridiculous. She just needed to check her email and go home. It was then, as she was waiting for her email to load that she noticed it. Next to her email, someone had opened a word document on her computer. In it, they had left a note:

It's a shame you have to go, DDA Hobbs. We're sure you'll be missed, but you'll be in the way. Riley's dead, Jacob's gone. You're next.