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 11

Sharon watched from her office as her team walked back into the Murder Room. She got up from her chair behind her desk and walked out of her office. Andy was holding onto Ronald Dawson as he was led into the room. She gave him a slight nod and he returned her nod with a smile and a wink. She watched him lead Ronald Dawson into the interview room along with two other patrol officers.

Provenza followed Mike into the Murder Room, who was carrying a box of evidence they had collected regarding financial books. "Don't worry Commander, everyone was safe, I made sure of it," he told her. "Thank you, Lieutenant," Sharon smiled and turned to see Andy walking back towards them.

"Hey," he placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and was about to say something but they were interrupted by the commotion that was coming from the hallway.

"Ah, Commander I think that's our illustrious runaway, Charles," Provenza stated and all three of them walked towards the hallway.

Julio and Amy led Charles Dawson down the hallway and he was not making it easy for them. "You do realize you have a right to remain silent, correct?" Amy shook her head as she had one of his arms, while Julio held the other one as they led him towards the other interview room. "My dad is going to get me a lawyer and we'll sue all of your asses!" Charles shouted as they led him down the hallway.

"How many weapons are we talking about here?" Sharon asked Provenza as they looked down the hallway from where they were standing. "Last I heard the count was over a hundred," Provenza sighed. "Well, at least we got them off the streets," Andy chimed in and nodded to Sharon. She gave him a small smile.

"Yes, but who knows how many they sold and for how long?" Sharon asked in general. All three of them turned to head back into the Murder Room, with Julio and Amy catching up with them.

"What's the game plan, Commander?" Provenza waited until they were all gathered together in the middle of their office. "Let's play them off of each other, I want to know O'Malley's involvement with them, let's see what they will tell us now that we've uncovered their secret," Sharon said and they all acknowledged.

Meanwhile, down at the theater where the performance of The Nutcracker is being held, Emily and the rest of the cast is holding their final rehearsal. The director is speaking to one of the male leads and Emily is taking a much-needed break with the rest of the act.

"So, are your parents coming to see you tomorrow night?" one of the girls asked her. "I hope so, my mom and my step-dad are coming, as long as they solve some big case they caught, and my dad, well I gave him the details and he said he was coming but who knows," Emily shrugged as they waited to go back on the stage.

Emily walked over to where one of the scenery stands was located with the same girl. "I think Richie likes you," she whispered to Emily. "What?" Emily whispered and swatted at her shoulder. "I'm not joking, he keeps looking over here at you," she said, smiling at Richie, who was standing at the opposite starting point.

Emily looked over at Richie. Yes, he was very attractive but she never thought he would be interested in her. "I'll make sure you two get to talking at the party tonight," the girl giggled and Emily shook her head. The director was done speaking to the other male lead and they were all set for the rehearsal to continue.

Back at the PAB, Sharon and Andy were sitting in the interview room with Charles. "So, why did you run from my officers this morning?" she asked but Charles refused to answer any questions. His left hand was handcuffed to the chair he was sitting on and he tugged on that a little.

"Hey, Charlie," Andy leaned on the table. "You and your father were caught with the weapons in the pallets, they were found in your warehouse, I mean, I think it's best to cooperate here, and maybe you can get a better deal than your father," he continued.

Charles just sat there looking at the ceiling above them and didn't say anything. Andy leaned back in his chair and shrugged his shoulders at Sharon. "I guess he doesn't want a deal," he muttered to Sharon. "Hmm, I guess not," Sharon said and then proceeded to stand up. "Maybe we should just talk to his father and let him take all the heat," she added.

Andy stood up after Sharon and started to follow her out of the room. "Wait!" Charles demanded as they were almost outside. "What kind of deal are we talking about?" he asked them. "Charles, you asked for a lawyer, until your lawyer comes, we cannot make any kind of deals," Sharon told him and started to walk out.

"Wait!" Charles again shouted at them and they both stopped. "I'll tell you what you want to know," he muttered prompting Sharon and Andy to close the door and sit back down at the table. Both Sharon and Andy knew that this was too easy.

Meanwhile, Provenza and Julio were having a similar time with Ronald. "You know, Mister Dawson, we caught you and your business, in possession of unregistered weapons, and questionable money practices," Provenza leaned on the table, placing his hands down. "Now, we can wait here for your lawyer, or you can start cooperating and maybe we can work with you," he finished.

Ronald looked at both Provenza and Julio but he shook his head. "No, I'm waiting for my lawyer," Ronald said and sat back in his chair. "Fine, as we wait here for your lawyer to show up, I'm just going to review a few things with Detective Sanchez," Provenza explained and turned to Julio.

"We start investigating the murder of an Assistant District Attorney, which leads us to his company," Provenza points to Ronald sitting across from them and Julio nodded. "Our investigation further finds the money not adding up," Julio adds. "Prompting us to conduct a search warrant," Provenza furthers along. "And we find the weapons stashed inside pallets," Julio concluded.

Provenza thinks for a minute and then places his finger on the table. "That all sounds like a payoff gone bad, plus the movement of the weapons could be considered interstate commerce, which is a federal offense," he added and then leaned on the table. "You don't want the Feds involved in this," he told Ronald.

"I told Charles to leave O'Malley out of this!" Ronald blurted out in the room. Provenza looks at Julio. "I thought you didn't want to say anything until your lawyer gets here," Julio asked Ronald.

Ronald just sat there, staring at the table. "O'Malley was an old drinking buddy of mine. We used to go out every now and then to a bar and we would discuss life," Ronald started to talk.

Back in Electronics, Mike, Amy, and Buzz watched both computer screens of the two interviews. "Shouldn't they have both waited for their lawyers?" Buzz asked. "It depends on how you see it, Buzz," Mike explained. "They were caught with the hidden weapons, their financials speak volumes, so they can't really deny their involvement," he added.

Back in Interview Room 2, Charles was informing Sharon and Andy of O'Malley's involvement with their business.

"Yeah, I met him several times with money in exchange for him looking the other way," Charles confessed and Sharon held up her hand to stop him for a minute.

"Charles, I need to inform you that if we go further, you may incriminate yourself without your lawyer present," Sharon told him and he nodded.

"Getting O'Malley involved was dad's idea, he was his drinking buddy and so they knew each other pretty well," Charles continued. "He thought, given his status as an ADA, my dad could get O'Malley to look the other way and suggested we pay him for doing so," he confessed as Sharon took notes.

"But, that only lasted a few months before O'Malley started threatening my dad by stating he was going to throw an anonymous tip to the police about the weapons running," Charles stated. Both Sharon and Andy knew that Charles was about to confess to the murder of O'Malley.

"I went to my father with the news and he didn't believe me, said O'Malley wasn't a threat to us and to just keep paying him, but I didn't believe that for a second," Charles huffed at that statement.

"I called him up, told him I needed to meet with him regarding something urgent, and he agreed," Charles stated, shifting in his chair. "I knew he was meeting TJ for dinner at the Hamilton building that evening, so I waited until they were done before calling him because I didn't want her involved in this," he added.

Back in Electronics, Mike made a phone call to Andrea's office. "Andrea, it's Mike Tao, you better get down here to the PAB, we are about to have a confession on O'Malley's murder," he informed her and hung up his phone.

"He met me in the building and we talked," Charles continued.

"What did you two talk about?" Andy asked. "I told him that he needed to stop extorting us, because he was demanding more money in order to keep quiet. That we weren't going to pay him the amount that he wanted," Charles stated as he looked up at Andy.

"Then what happened?" Sharon asked him. Charles hung his head and looked downward towards the floor. "He threatened to turn us both in, but then I reminded him that if he did just that, he would also be in trouble," he muttered. "He said it would be easy for the police to believe an Assistant District Attorney than us," Charles chuckled at that thought.

"Guess it's not easy now," he mumbled as he sat there, a slight grin on his face. Sharon watched him and thought to herself that he had no remorse on anything that he did.

"What happened after you spoke to him?" Andy asked, bringing him back on track. "We continued to argue, he said he was leaving and started walking away, I said we would see about that and went out a different way then him," Charles stated.

"I got in my car and had two other cars waiting with mine. We drove around to the front of the building and I saw O'Malley starting to get in his car. I called his name and he turned around, that's when I shot him," Charles confessed and still didn't show any remorse.

"Why did you have the other cars with you?" Sharon asked him. "I wanted it to look like a drive by shooting," he shrugged his shoulders and sat there staring at the both of them.

Just then, Buzz got on the intercom and told Sharon through her earpiece that Andrea had arrived and was in Electronics. Sharon nodded in acknowledgement and then slid the pad of paper over to Charles.

"One of the Assistant District Attorney's is here now, I need you to write down everything you said to us, and perhaps the ADA's office will give you a deal," Sharon told him and then stood up from her chair.

Andy looked at her and she waved him off, letting him know that she was fine. He nodded and stayed where he was, sitting across from Charles, while she walked out the door.

Sharon let out the breath she seemed to be holding when she was in the room listening to Charles. She shook her head and proceeded to walk down the hallway towards the Murder Room. She slipped inside Electronics and saw Andrea was there standing behind Mike.

"I heard you got a confession," Andrea said as she nodded her head towards the monitor with Charles and Andy on it. "We did, how are Lieutenant Provenza and Detective Sanchez doing with the father?" she asked to the group after acknowledging Andrea.

"He still doesn't want to cooperate," Mike answered her as they looked toward the monitor that had the father, Provenza, and Julio on it. Sharon then glanced back at the monitor with Charles. She saw him writing something down on the pad of paper she gave him before she stepped out. Andy was watching him.

"What did she mean maybe the DA could get me a deal?" he asked Andy as he stopped writing. The pen he was holding was still touching the paper as he looked up where Andy was sitting across from him.

Andy gave him a curious look before answering him. "Well, it's up to the DA's office what type of deal they offer you, Charlie," he told him. "Only my friends call me Charlie," Charles muttered as he sat there and thought about his next move.

"One of my sons, his name is Charlie," Andy said back to him. "Well, that's good for him," Charles said and looked down at the paper as he stretched his neck a couple of times.

Andy did not like the sudden change in Charles demeanor as he sat there. "She said that I would get a deal, that if I told you want happened, that I would get the deal!" Charles raised his voice a little.

"Hey pal! Why don't you just calm down!" Andy raised his voice and stood up from the table.

Charles shook his head. "How'd you know to call me Charlie? Did someone tell you that?" Charles asked as he dropped the pen on the table.

Andy was not about to reveal anything to Charles about what Grady had told them. "Just write down your confession so we can move on with it," Andy told him as he leaned over his hands that were on the table now.

"What are you going to do if I don't old man?" Charles said and Andy smirked at him.

Everyone was watching what was unfolding before them from Electronics. Mike stood up from his chair and started to head towards the interview room where Andy and Charles were located. Sharon nodded as Mike left the room. He was going to give Andy some backup in case things went haywire with Charles.

Sharon was secretly hoping that Andy wasn't going to provoke Charles by saying something to counteract the line about being old. Wishful thinking on her part but she knew Andy and he wasn't going to let that slide.

"Who you calling old?" Andy countered and Charles stood up. His left hand was still connected to the chair by the handcuff so he really couldn't stand up straight. Just then, Mike entered the room. "Everything okay here?" he asked Andy and Andy just nodded.

"Oh yes, everything is just fine here, isn't it Charlie?" Andy said and smirked again as he watched Charles sit back down on his chair. Charles then picked his pen back up and continued to write down his confession.

Andy walked over to the back of the room and leaned up against the wall as he watched Charles continue his writing.

Meanwhile, in the other interview room, Ronald Dawson had just told Provenza and Julio about how he was friends with O'Malley and that he would never hurt him and so on.

Sharon picked up the microphone in Electronics and informed Provenza of Charles's confession. She thought by hearing that news, it could provoke a response from Ronald.

"Good news Ronald, your son confessed to the murder of ADA O'Malley, so you're in the clear for that, but there's still the fact that you and your son were running weapons out of your legitimate construction business, if we can even call it legitimate, so you're still on the hook for that minor detail," Provenza informed him.

"You will be arrested for that and maybe as an accessory to murder, depending on what the DA's office wants to do," Provenza continued and Ronald was silent. The door then opened to the room and two patrol officers walked in to take Ronald down to booking. Julio and Provenza both stood up and Julio walked over to Ronald and asked him to stand up.

Julio placed Ronald in handcuffs and the two patrol officers walked him out of the room. "I'll go down with them sir," Julio told Provenza and left with the officers.

Provenza walked back towards Electronics and was met by Andrea and Sharon outside the room. "Ah, Hobbs, going to offer the little dirtbag a deal now?" he said speaking about Charles's confession. "Unfortunately, yes, Lieutenant, let's just hope his court-appointed lawyer will do what's right in this case," Andrea said and then walked towards the other interview room.

"Commander?" Provenza said wondering if Sharon was okay. "I'm thinking about turning over the investigation into O'Malley's behavior at the DA's office to the Chief of Investigations in the Office of the District Attorney," Sharon didn't bat an eye when she told that to Provenza.

"Of course, Commander," he said and watched her walk away, following Andrea. "And I'll call down to holding and see if we can let Grady go free," he added and Sharon gave him a thumbs up as she stepped into the hallway.

TBC