Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson
Brenda chewed on the end of her pen, staring at a picture of Jack Ravera that someone had found somewhere. He was a handsome man, with thick dark hair, a strong jaw, and kind brown eyes. His face was scarred; Flynn explained that early on in his Army career a helicopter Ravera was piloting came under enemy fire. Though Jack had walked away from that crash, he had been injured. Brenda thought he wore the scars well.
It seemed strange to Brenda how this man, nearly two years dead, could be at the heart of everything that had happened. William Duncan had come to Sharon Raydor's house because of Jack. Sharon had lost her temper with Flynn because of Jack. Raydor blamed herself for everything because of Jack. Brenda suddenly wished she'd had the chance to meet him. To meet someone who could not only put up with Raydor, but love her.
Then again, Brenda knew a thing or two about reading people, and after watching Flynn and Raydor together, she had come to the unsettling conclusion that she was in fact good friends with one such man.
She sighed, rising out of her chair and reluctantly pulling on her jacket. William Duncan's brother-in-law Harry Bolding was sitting in an interview room, where he had been since Tao had brought him in. Since he'd tried to attack Raydor in the middle of Major Crimes. Brenda had been playing the events over and over in her mind for the last hour or two; watching Bolding enter; watching his face as he was overcome with rage; watching him lunge for Raydor as she tried to protect the little boy she held in her arms; watching Flynn leap to her rescue.
Brenda had sent Raydor and her children home. The investigation wasn't over. Brenda had no idea how much trouble Raydor was in, and wouldn't until she interviewed Bolding. She knew Raydor wasn't a flight risk, and trusted that the single uniform she'd sent with the Captain would be enough to keep an eye on her while Brenda sorted everything out.
Truth was, she'd been stalling. She had the nagging suspicion that this case still wasn't over. Raydor had cleaned every skeleton out of her closet, but Brenda wasn't satisfied. She'd been waiting for something; maybe fingerprints, or DNA, or a missing person's report, or another witness. Anything.
And nothing had come.
And so it was the Brenda wandered back to the interview room, where Flynn was waiting, his hands shoved deep in his pockets and a toothpick dangling between his lips.
"Chief-" he started, but Brenda just held up her hand.
"You can sit with me, Lieutenant, so long as you do not speak." She told him. She was still a little miffed at him. Busting up her interview with Raydor, hugging that woman. It was his fault Brenda felt so…sympathetic toward Raydor. It wasn't a feeling Brenda was used to where Raydor was concerned, and she worried she was beginning to lose whatever vestiges of impartiality she might have had.
Flynn just nodded, and opened the door for her.
Bolding was a big man, like Duncan. Broad shoulders, thick arms. His hair was close cut, and he had the makings of a beard on his cheeks. He'd been handcuffed the whole time Brenda had made him wait; she'd sort of forgotten about that.
"Lieutenant Flynn, I think we can uncuff Mr. Bolding here, don't you?" she said sweetly.
Flynn glared hard at her, but did as she asked.
Bolding rubbed his wrists as Flynn freed them, and watched Brenda warily.
"Well, Mr. Bolding, I am sorry to have kept you waiting, but there's paperwork involved when an officer is assaulted. Especially when that assault takes place in my murder room."
Bolding's face went pale. "Look, I feel bad about that. I shouldn't have gone after her when she was holding the kid. I just saw her, and I snapped. It's 'cause of that bitch I have to bury my brother."
Flynn tensed noticeably beside her when Bolding said the word bitch, but he said nothing. Thank God, Brenda thought. She couldn't handle any more of Andy Flynn's acts of heroism.
"I thought Colonel Duncan was your brother-in-law?" Brenda asked, trying to keep Bolding talking. She needed to know as much about the victim, and his relationship with Raydor, as possible.
"He's my sister's husband, but he's like a brother to me. Me and Will, we go way back. He was a good man before all this Army bullshit. And if that little tramp hadn't-"
"I'm sorry, sir, but from my understanding, 'that little tramp' is the only reason your brother came home on his own two feet instead of in a body bag," Brenda said coolly, laying her hand on Flynn's arm to keep him from jumping out of the chair. She was beginning to suspect that having him in this interview was going to be more trouble than it was worth.
"Don't you see? We all would have been better off if Will would have died in that helicopter. Do you know how much it kills me to say that? But it's true. He wasn't the same guy when he came back. He started drinking all the time, smacking Amelia around. And if that Raydor bitch would've kept her legs closed, or her mouth shut, none of this would have happened!" Bolding had worked himself up; he was practically growling by the time he finished speaking.
Brenda, for her part, was staring at Flynn. If that Raydor bitch would've kept her legs closed…I told him some things I shouldn't have told him… I tried to hate you… I trusted you most of all… The words bounced around her head and the realization that dawned as she connected the dots knocked the breath out of her.
Flynn had slept with Raydor.
Raydor had told her husband.
Holy shit.
"You were at Captain Raydor's house on Friday morning, were you not, sir?" Brenda asked Bolding, tearing her eyes away from Flynn. She couldn't deal with any of the personal mess now. She had to finish the interview. And she had to make sure that Bolding never found out exactly how involved in all of this Flynn was.
"Yeah, I was. Will said he was gonna come to LA, said he was gonna kill Amelia. Said all kinds of things. And I was just so pissed, and that bitch wouldn't answer her phone-"
"That's Captain Raydor, asshole. Call her bitch one more time and see what happens," Flynn said darkly.
Brenda sighed. She knew he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut.
Bolding rolled his eyes, and then continued, "All right, Captain Raydor wouldn't answer her phone so I drove over there. And then the…Captain slapped me! In front of people! Who the hell does that? And then this morning Amelia calls me in hysterics because Will shot himself in her driveway, in front of the kids and everything-"
Before the man could finish, before Brenda's brain could quite catch up with what she'd just heard, there was a hurried knock on the door, and Tao's bald pate appeared.
"Chief, I got something you're gonna want to hear."
"Just a second, Mr. Bolding," she said, rising and leaving the room with Flynn hot on her heels.
"Chief-" Flynn started, but she held up a hand to silence him.
"I know, Lieutenant. But I can only take one shocking piece of information at a time. Hold on. Now, Lieutenant Tao, what is it?"
Tao grinned. "Captain Raydor did not shoot William Duncan!" he exclaimed. When neither Brenda nor Flynn appeared appropriately shocked, he continued, "We got the prints back. Our victim is a psychiatric patient named Bradley Weaver. He's been arrested several times for breaking and entering, and the last time, he used a knife. He was released from a mental institution several months ago. Looks like Bradley went off his meds."
"All right, Lieutenant. Thank you. We'll be out in just a moment."
She signaled to Flynn, who followed her back into the interview room.
What the hell? Brenda thought. This whole ordeal… She didn't know how she felt. She didn't know what she thought. She just wanted it to be over.
"Mr. Bolding," she said, reaching into her purse and pulling out a photo of the victim from Raydor's house, "Is this your brother?" she asked, handing it to him.
Bolding took the picture, stared at it for a long moment, and then shook his head. "No. Never seen that guy before in my life. And like I just told you, Will killed himself in Amelia's driveway this morning."
Brenda sighed. "Alright, thank you, Mr. Bolding. You're free to go, Captain Raydor does not wish to press charges."
The man rose, and Flynn pointed his finger in Bolding's face. "But you listen to me," he said in a voice more like a growl than anything else, "You stay the hell away from Sharon Raydor. You hear me?"
"Hey don't worry about me," Bolding said, backing away. "The bitch may be the reason my brother's dead, but have you seen her? She's fucking miserable. That's enough for me."
Brenda motioned for one of the uniforms outside, and ordered him to take Bolding home. As they walked away, she leaned up against the wall, and Flynn joined her.
"So you slept with Captain Raydor?" Brenda asked, running a tired hand over her face.
She was amused at the terrified expression that crossed Flynn's face. "It's ok, Lieutenant, I'm assuming it was a long time ago."
Flynn didn't say anything. He was about as good at emotional situations as Brenda.
"Why don't you go tell Captain Raydor the good news?" she suggested.
"But Chief, the paperwork-"
"I'll handle the paperwork, Lieutenant. The Captain shot a deranged, violent psychopath who broke into her home and posed a serious threat to her life and her children. I'd call that a clean shot, wouldn't you?"
Flynn stared at her for a long moment before he turned and walked away.
Brenda continued leaning against the wall, letting the exhaustion wash over her. There was no way she was driving home after all this. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and called Fritz, grateful just to hear his voice on the other end of the line.