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
"Do we know who stole the vehicle, Mike?" Sharon asked as she walked around the Murder Room. "No," he replied as he looked on his computer. "Has there been any recent burglaries that occurred with people posing as utility workers anywhere in the Los Angeles area?" Sharon asked her team as she glanced at her phone. "No ma'am," Julio replied as he turned around in his chair. She looked at Julio and then back at her phone. "Come on, Andy," she whispered to herself.
As Andy stepped outside onto the back porch area, he turned around and saw Matthew standing in the door way. He motioned him to stay there and Matthew nodded. He overheard voices coming from over the fence and saw the gate jiggling a little. Andy moved closer on the porch and stood there with his arms crossed. "Hey!" he yelled out to the two guys.
Marvin and Henry were trying to get in the backyard but were met with a locked gate. "Why isn't this opening?" Henry stated and Marvin jiggled it to see if it was stuck. "It opened so easily the other times," Marvin stated as they stood there. After they heard a voice that wasn't theirs, they froze instantly.
"I can see the both of you over there. Why are you trying to get into my yard?" Andy shouted to them. Marvin and Henry looked at each other and then took off running back to the front of the house. Andy turned around and ran back through the house, making sure he didn't run into Matthew and opened the front door. As he ran out the front of the house, he met up with Marvin and Henry just as they were clearing the driveway.
"Hey! LAPD! Stop!" Andy shouted at the two as he pursued them. Marvin dropped the bag of tools as he ran towards the car. Henry got into the driver's side and Marvin on the passenger side and the car drove off. Andy stood at the end of the driveway, catching his breath. "Dammit," he swore to himself as he had his hands on his hips. Andy saw that a bag of tools was dropped, but he needed a pair of gloves to pick it up as he didn't want his fingerprints to be on the bag for evidence.
He turned around to go back into the house and he saw Matthew and Moxie now standing at the front door. As he made his way back inside, he tousled Matthew's hair and closed the door behind him. "Go put that back upstairs where you got it," he told Matthew and Matthew ran up the stairs with the baseball bat. Andy then went into the kitchen to get himself a glass of water and a pair of gloves when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw Sharon's name on the screen.
"Hello?" he answered, slightly out of breath still. "Andy!? Is everything okay?" Sharon asked him as she stood in her office, Provenza right by her side. "Sharon," he said as he took a deep breath. "Andy?" she said as she glanced at Provenza with a worried look. "There were two guys trying to get into the backyard," he said as he leaned up against the counter. "What? Are you okay? Is Matthew?" Sharon said in a panic. "We're fine here, they ran off and I chased them but they got away in their vehicle," Andy said trying to reassure Sharon over the phone.
Sharon turned around again in her office and sat down in her chair, all the time listening to Andy talk and breath. "They dropped a bag full of their tools. I didn't pick it up yet because I wanted to get a pair of gloves first," Andy said to her as he made his way to the mud room to get his gloves he left there. "I'll send Mike over there to help process it, maybe we can get some fingerprints off of them, or something," Sharon said to him as she nodded to Provenza.
She waited until Provenza left her office before she spoke to Andy over the phone. "Andy, why didn't you tell me your suspicions earlier when we spoke?" Sharon said in a calmer voice. Andy sighed and rubbed his neck. "I didn't want you to worry," Andy said sheepishly. Sharon shook her head and closed her eyes. "Andy," she whispered. "Look, don't send everyone over here to process this as a crime scene, okay. Just send Mike," he said to her as she gathered her jacket and was heading out the door to join her team.
"Are you sure you are okay?" she asked him as the team gathered around her. "Yes, we are fine here," Andy said. "Okay, I'll see you later then," Sharon said. "Bye," Andy said and hung up the phone. Sharon looked around at her team. "Okay, so we have a call come in from a reliable source stating that two men tried to break into their backyard, and then when confronted, the two men ran away to their vehicle," Sharon said. "That was stolen," Provenza added. "And take off down the street," Sharon added. "These two men left a bag full of tools, which may have their fingerprints on them," Sharon said as she nodded to Mike.
Mike pulled out his desk drawer and grabbed his bag of tools to bring with him. "Buzz, I want you to come along and video tape the scene," Sharon said to him and he grabbed his video camera. Detective Sanchez, I would like you and Amy to go to the lot where this car was stolen from, find out if there's video footage of it, maybe we'll get lucky and get a picture of these guy's face," Sharon said and they nodded. The team started to walk out of the Murder Room. "You really think Flynn wants all of us over at your house?" Provenza asked as he and Sharon walked to the elevators. "It's not going to be all of us, Lieutenant," Sharon said as they stepped onto the elevator.
Meanwhile, back at the house, Matthew joined Andy in the hallway as he was coming towards the front door. "Who were those men?" he asked Andy. "I'm not sure, kiddo. But they left something behind, I'm going to bring it inside and then Uncle Mike is coming over to take a look at it," Andy said to him as he opened the front door again. Matthew stood there looking at Andy. "Everything okay?" Andy asked as he placed his hand on Matthew's shoulder. "Can I go with you?" he asked him as he stood there. "Matthew, I'm just going to the driveway to pick up a bag and then coming right back inside," Andy explained to him. "I know," Matthew said as he shrugged his shoulders. Andy stared at the kid and then took a deep breath. "Okay, come on," he said and the two of them walked out the front door.
Andy and Matthew walked to the driveway and Andy bent down to pick the tool bag up. He peeked inside and saw the various tools that were in the bag. Andy then looked up to see two unmarked cars turning into the driveway. "Mom!" Matthew said and then ran up to the car he saw her in. Sharon saw Matthew running up to her, still in his pajamas, but at least he was wearing shoes this time. Sharon got out of the car and Matthew hugged her. "What are you doing here?" he asked her as he pulled away. "Well, Daddy called about the two men and we came over," she said as she saw Andy right behind Matthew.
"Go inside the house, Matthew," Andy said to him as he walked over to Sharon. On the way over, he handed over the bag to Mike. "I thought we talked about just sending Mike over here?" Andy said in a lower voice as he saw Buzz with his video camera. "Well, we received a call from a reliable witness and we decided to come out and see for ourselves," Sharon said to him, but Andy shook his head. "Sharon, I told you that everything was taken care of, Matthew is fine, I'm fine, the dog is fine," Andy said to her as she walked back into the house.
Andy stood there as Provenza joined him on the front porch of the house. "What happened to your hand?" Provenza asked Andy. Andy looked down at his hand. "That's not from this morning," Andy muttered to him. Provenza watched him. "It's nothing, alright?" Andy pleaded. "You better not be hiding things from her or from me for that matter!" Provenza lectured him. "Would you just get inside, please?" Andy said quickly to him as he held the door open. Provenza hesitated but then stepped inside the house and followed them into the kitchen.
"Mike ran the plates on the car that was parked out front, it came back to being stolen a couple of weeks ago. I have Julio and Amy at the Southern California ComEd looking into that right now," Sharon said to Andy. Mike was set up in the kitchen and laid out a cloth over the table. He then carefully took out the tools, one by one, and dusted them for fingerprints. Matthew watched him closely.
"Matthew, why don't you give Mike some room?" Andy said to him. Mike looked up. "Oh, I don't mind, besides I was just telling him about Badge of Justice and how," Mike started to say but Andy interrupted him. "Oh no! You are not corrupting him on Badge, oomph!" Andy said as Sharon slapped his stomach and gave him a look. He looked at her and couldn't believe she did that. "Matthew, why don't you go upstairs and get dressed, please," Sharon said to Matthew, not skipping a beat. Matthew climbed off the kitchen chair, reluctantly. "Okay, bye Uncle Mike!" Matthew said as he walked away.
"Um, Commander? What do you want me to video tape here?" Buzz asked Sharon as they were standing in the kitchen. Sharon turned to Andy. "They didn't break in, Sharon," he said to her. "Hmm, go show Buzz where the car was parked and then walk up the driveway towards the back fence, maybe they left something else that we don't know about," Sharon said. "Right, come on Buzz," Andy said as he waved at Buzz to follow him, and gave Provenza a glance before he left the kitchen.
Buzz was videotaping the area where the car was parked while Andy stood there and watched him. Andy shook his head and Buzz looked up at him from his camera. "Something wrong, Lieutenant?" Buzz asked him as he held his camera down and stopped taping. "Nothing Buzz," Andy said and then Buzz lifted the camera back up. "It's just that I don't think Sharon thinks I can take care of a sick kid. I mean I've done it before, granted it was a while ago, but I think I can handle it," Andy said and Buzz held the camera back at his side.
"What makes you think that, sir?" Buzz asked him as they stood on the sidewalk. "I told her to just send Mike over here when I spoke to her over the phone. She didn't have to send you and Provenza also, plus she didn't have to come here herself, either," Andy said to him. Buzz went to speak but Andy held up his hand. "I know what you're going to say, Buzz. She's worried," Andy said in a defeated voice. Buzz shook his head. "If you know the answer sir, why even ask?" Buzz said as he turned around to start filming the driveway. Andy looked at him, his arms now crossed against his chest and watched as Buzz started to walk along the driveway.
Meanwhile, Mike had pulled several prints off of the tools and placed them on the cards he had brought with. "We got some good prints here, Commander," Mike said as he started to put everything away. Sharon nodded and watched Andy and Buzz walk up the driveway from the sliding glass door. She could tell just by his stance that Andy was starting to get annoyed with everything. She decided to join him in the driveway but before she walked through the sliding glass door, she turned around to her Lieutenants in the kitchen. "Make sure everything is packed up, give me five minutes and then we will head back to the office," Sharon said to them. "Sure," Provenza said and glanced over at Mike who was standing by the table and gave him a wide-eye look.
Sharon stepped outside and joined Andy and Buzz by the back fence. "Buzz, I think we got enough video. Mike is packing up inside, why don't you see if he needs any help," Sharon said to him as she walked up to Andy. "Yes ma'am," Buzz answered and then went back inside the house. Sharon ran her hand up Andy's right arm. "Is everything okay here?" she asked him as he looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact with her. "I can take care of Matthew when he's sick, I don't need you to check up on us, or send someone to check up on us," Andy said to her in a low voice as to not bring attention to them outside.
Sharon took a deep breath before she spoke. "I know that," she said quietly. She lifted his chin so that he was looking at her. "Andy, those fifteen minutes when you said you would call me back, I couldn't breathe. I imagined the worse that was happening. I trust you, Andy," she said to him. He looked at her and stood there, not moving. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her but Sharon shook her head. "What are you sorry for?" she asked him as a tear started to fall down her cheek. Andy wiped it away with his right thumb. "For worrying you," he said to her.
They stood there for a couple of minutes before Andy spoke again. "Don't get mad," he started to say as Sharon looked at him. "What did you do?" she said in a teasing manner. Andy huffed. "No, not me, but earlier this morning, before I confronted those two guys, Matthew told me that he saw that car from the electric company, outside our house last week before we went to Disneyland," Andy said in a serious voice. "He did?" Sharon stated in a louder voice. "Look, I already spoke to him, but I thought I would tell you," Andy said as he grabbed her hand in his.
They made their way inside the house and Mike had already packed up the bag of tools along with the evidence they gathered from them. Andy walked Sharon and the rest of them to the front door. Matthew came downstairs dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. He was carrying his pillow and his stuffed Goofy animal. "Bye sweetheart," Sharon said to Matthew. "You're leaving already?" Matthew asked her and gave her a pouted look. "I have to go back to work, but Daddy is here to take care of you, okay?" she said to him and he nodded as she ran her hand on his face, checking to see if he had a fever.
She turned around to Andy. "I'll see you later tonight," she said to him, giving him a smile. He smiled back at her and then she stepped outside. "Bye," he said to her. Provenza waited for her on the front porch before walking behind her towards the car. They got inside and drove back to the office. Andy closed and locked the front door. He turned around and saw Matthew walking into the family room with Moxie following him. Andy placed his gun back in the safe in the hallway closet. He then made his way into the kitchen, pulling an ice pack out of the freezer and placed it into the shoulder sleeve that he had received from his physical therapist a couple of weeks ago. He placed the sleeve on his left shoulder and let the coldness of the ice pack sooth the pain his shoulder was giving him. He then joined Matthew in the family room.
"Can we watch a movie?" Matthew asked as Andy walked inside the room. "Sure buddy, what do you want to watch?" he said as he made his way to the TV. "LEGO Batman," Matthew said as he placed his pillow on the couch and curled up. Andy shook his head at the choice but pulled out the Blu-ray disk of the movie and placed it into the player. He grabbed the remote control and sat down on the couch as well. Matthew moved next to Andy and curled up into his side. "Is your shoulder bothering you again?" Matthew asked him as the movie began to play. "A little bit, but nothing to worry about," Andy said to him as they settled into the couch to watch the movie.
Meanwhile, at an unknown location, Marvin and Henry were arguing with each other. "I can't believe you left the bag of tools at that house!" Henry yelled at him. "I didn't see you carrying it, that bag was heavy!" Marvin said back to him. Henry's phone rang in his pocket as the two of them stood in a room. "Great," he muttered to himself as he took his phone out of his pocket and saw who was calling him. He glanced at Marvin before answering it. "Hello?" he said in the phone. "Is it done?" the other person on the phone asked. "Um, well, we ran into a little problem. You see, while we were approaching the house, you wanted us to enter, that cop was home," Henry said as he looked at Marvin.
"Which one?" the other person asked. "The man," Henry said and then he continued to plead their story. "So, we tried going through the backyard gate, but for some reason it was locked or something and then the cop came out and confronted us so we ran back to the car," Henry explained. "I see," the other person said and then paused. "I guess I hired a bunch of buffoons then!" the person said over the phone. "I give you one job to do, and you mess it up!" the person yelled. Henry moved the phone away from his ear for a second before returning it.
"That's not the only problem we have here," Henry started to explain and heard silence from the other end of the phone. "Marvin left the bag of tools at that house, and I'm pretty sure the cops have it now," Henry said. "What!" the other person yelled into the phone again. Henry cringed as he looked at Marvin. "You better pray that the cops find you first before I do, otherwise you're not going to like what happens," the person said and hung up the phone. Henry placed his phone back in his pocket and walked over to where Marvin was now sitting at the table. "We need to move," Henry said.
TBC