Leaping In

by Kadi

Rated T

Disclaimer: This is not my sandbox, this is just my favorite place to play. I promise to put all of the toys back when I'm done.

A/N: This chapter is for alyc96 – she knows why.

Chapter 12

"Evelyn Owen," Julio said, once the team was gathered back in the murder room. Notes from the case were still going up on the murder board, and it would be morning before they had the autopsy from Morales, but the rest of their investigation was off and running. "Age 49," he continued, bringing them up to date on the victim's wife, who he and Sykes had finally managed to question. "Married to Donald Owen for the last eleven years." It had been more than two hours since the murder and it had taken them almost forty-five minutes to get any information out of the victim's wife. If it was an act, Julio thought, then she was one hell of an actress. She was playing the distraught card like a pro.

"The house and most of the money belongs to Mrs. Owen," Amy picked up, walking around her desk as she spoke. "When the couple married eleven years ago, her kids insisted that they sign a prenuptial agreement. Apparently the money was all inherited from her first husband, also deceased."

"Car accident," Julio said, before anyone could jump on that as a sign of guilt. "He flipped his Mercedes over on Mulholland fifteen years ago." He sat down behind his desk and leaned forward against it while he rolled up his shirtsleeves. "Mrs. Owen's kids were worried that Mr. Owen was only marrying her for the money, so they insisted on the prenup."

"But," Amy said, interrupting with a smile, "when they signed it, it was to the stipulation that if they ever split up, each party would get half of the money, and if either of them was ever caught cheating…"

"The other spouse got the whole thing." Julio finished for her. "In other words, she tried to stick it to her kids for calling bullshit on her new love affair, and I think she stuck it to herself instead."

"Oh my god." Andy slapped the file in his hand against his leg as he groaned. He rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me that's what all of this is about?" He waved a hand at the murder board. "Hollings is doing the vic's wife, so first they get rid of his wife. Then they wait a little while, but not too long, and then they get rid of her husband? Now what? We spend all our time looking for a maniac that doesn't exist while they live happily ever after?"

Provenza leaned back in his chair. He suddenly looked incredibly disappointed. "It's a sign that we've been doing this too long when the really smart murder suddenly turns just as stupid as all of the others." He waved a hand at the murder board as he looked at the Captain. "Whatever happened to good, old fashioned psychopathy? Why does every murder have to be about greed, jealousy, or sex?"

"Because greed, jealousy, and sex keep us all employed." Jack Raydor's voice rang out across the room as he came to a stop near the Lieutenant's desk. He had his daughter beside him and a bag in his hands. He passed the bag to her while he looked around. "I'm dropping this one off," he nodded his head toward Emily when Sharon raised a brow at him in askance. "Also, I had a call from a client. Wanted me to come down and talk some sense into you?" He gave her a confused look. "Something about a bogus protection detail?"

"God almighty!" Andy stood up from where he was leaning against his desk. "There's your good, old fashioned psychopathy," he told his partner. "That crazy son of a bitch went and hired him," he grumbled, pointing a finger at Raydor.

Sharon pinched the bridge of her nose. Yes, that was rather irritating. "Let me guess," she asked, far more calmly but with an edge of frustration in her tone, "Martin Hollings?"

"That would be the one." Jack pushed his hands into his pockets and looked around the Murder Room. There were a myriad of reactions, the foremost being the anger that was radiating off his ex-wife's favorite Lieutenant. "Why? What did you do this guy?"

She dropped her hands with a sigh when Andy slapped the file in his hand against his desk. Already there was a headache brewing behind her eyes. "That is a very good question. Let's discuss it in my office." She waved him in that direction and looked around the room. "Lieutenant Tao," she said, when her eyes landed on him, "would you bring the information we took off Mister Hollings's computer and join us, please?" Her heels clicked against the tiles as she strode toward her office. She exchanged a long look with Andy as she passed him and watched his eyes darken when his gaze shifted to Jack, who had fallen in step behind her. She sighed quietly. The evening was going from unfortunate to worse.

Lieutenant Tao pushed the Captain's door closed behind him and walked over to place the thick file on her desk before taking up a position beside her as she took her seat. "That was everything that we managed to compile before Judge Grove dismissed the case," he explained.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Sharon placed her hand on the file for a moment. "Martin Hollings was, and still is, the primary suspect in the murder of his wife, Sue Hollings. Major Crimes picked up the case at the request of the DA's office, but we were not the arresting division."

"Hollings hired me last week," Jack explained, "to take over the lawsuit that he filed against the city. He's citing excessive force and prejudicial detainment. I put in the request for the case notes a couple of days ago; the Department hasn't sent them over yet. The City Attorney's office is dragging their feet." Jack snorted. "Like usual." He shrugged. "I got to say, it doesn't look good, Sharon. The guy files a lawsuit against the city and now you're confining him to his house with a police guard? I can win this with my eyes closed."

"If that were the limit of our involvement," she said, "I'm sure that you could." Jack's arrogance never failed to surprise her. In this instance, with the very little about their case that he knew, she couldn't say that it was entirely misplaced. Sharon shook her head. "It is a little more complicated than that. We have a great deal of reason to believe that Mister Hollings not only killed his wife, but planned the event to the most finite detail of expecting Major Crimes to investigate the crime." She pushed the file in front of her toward him. "Somehow I think I expected him to retain you, as you can see, he paid a great deal of attention to me in his research."

Jack arched a brow at her. He stepped closer to the desk and keeping one hand in his pocket, he reached out and flipped open the file. A frown drew his brows together as he paged through it. There was a little there about her team, but she was right, most of it had to do with Sharon and her history. "I admit, that's damned disturbing," he said, "but it hasn't got anything to do with my lawsuit. Sharon, if your division didn't arrest the guy, then it's got nothing to do with you. All of this is just…" He waved a hand at it and scowled. "Creepy, but I don't get paid by a lot of normal people. You know that."

"Yes." She folded her hands together against the top of her desk. They had argued about that often enough during the early years of their marriage, until they learned to simply live with the fact that he defended those that she arrested. Sharon drew a breath and let it out slowly. "Jack, your client turned up tonight at the scene of our murder, which incidentally was located just a few blocks from his home. He involved himself by claiming that the same person who killed his wife murdered our victim. Now, if he is innocent, which is a stretch, he has put himself in danger by claiming to be a witness. The Department is well within its rights to see that Mister Hollings is properly protected. What we think is that Mister Hollings and our current victim's wife conspired to get rid of their spouses."

"Can you prove that?" Jack shrugged at her. "Sharon, come on, you can't just toss a guy in jail based on theory. I need to have some proof here. What do you want me to do?"

"Well, Jack," she tilted her head at him, "the wise thing to do would be to recuse yourself due to a conflict of interest."

"Unless you want to be implicated when the Captain files charges for stalking," Tao stated. "It wouldn't look good. People might think you encouraged him to stalk the ex-wife for your own gain."

"You have to be kidding me?" Jack continued to stare at his ex-wife. "Come on, Sharon. I don't like this anymore than you do," he waved a hand at the file. "It's damned disturbing, especially the information he dug up on the kids. Don't you think it will look a lot worse if I pull out now just because you ask me to?"

"I think that Martin Hollings is an incredibly intelligent suspect," Sharon stated. "I also think that he hired you because he could easily state that all of the research he did prior to that had informative purposes. I also think that he believed that pitting you and I against one another would distract me from our current case." A slow smile curved her lips. "I am afraid he was mistaken. Jack, you can continue to pursue this if you would like, but I believe it would be in your best interests to let this one go."

Hollings had called him, and had not mentioned the new murder or why he had police protection. Jack rocked back on his heels while he thought about it. "Alright," he said slowly, "I tell you what I'll do. I'll stall the lawsuit as much as I can. That should give you time to try and make your case without it hanging over your head. When you get ready to go to the DA, let me know. I'll recuse myself then. If not…" He shrugged. He would just be doing his job at that point.

Sharon's eyes narrowed as she studied him. "Fair enough," she decided. "Lieutenant Tao will get you copies of the protection order. Make sure that your client understands that he is not under house arrest, but that we are just cautioning him to be careful in his movements."

Jack leaned forward, hands braced on the edge of her desk. He grinned crookedly at her. "That's fine. I just want to know one thing. Do I get points for playing along?"

She leaned toward him. Her face was impassive. "Absolutely not." He was long past winning any favors with her, and she was well beyond being the least moved by his poor attempts at flirting. Sharon sat back in her chair. "Lieutenant."

"This way." Tao waved him back toward the door. He was fighting the urge to grin. No wonder Flynn wanted to have a fit every time he came around. "The paperwork is on my desk."

Sharon watched them go and rolled her eyes. She sat there for just a moment before rising from the desk. She sighed as she crossed her office. Her feet were beginning to ache. She was wearing the wrong heels for a night at the office. She told herself that she would dismiss everyone soon, and not just because she wanted the unhappy, scowling man at the desk outside her office to rub her feet. She offered a smile and tilted her head at him as she passed, an invitation for him to join her as she crossed the murder room.

Emily was standing at Buzz's desk while the two of them, along with Rusty, inspected the contents of the paper bag she had brought. The bag bore the name of the restaurant where Sharon had intended her daughter's celebration to take place. She smiled brightly as she joined them. "Emily." She hugged her daughter to her side with one arm. "How was dinner?"

Her mother was giving her an apologetic smile. Emily had already decided to let it go. She had enjoyed the evening with her father and her brother, despite the fact that the rest of her family had been called away, or bailed, as the case may be with Rusty. She couldn't blame him, she imagined it would be awkward to be stuck with her and Ricky and their father all by himself. "It was really good." She tapped a finger against the side of the bag. "I brought you something. You had to leave before the appetizers came. I know you must be starving."

She wasn't until that moment. Sharon watched Buzz lifted a covered, tin dish out of the bag and felt her stomach clench in response. The smell of roasted meat reached her nose and she almost sighed. "You are an absolute love," she told her daughter. She kissed the side of her head before leaning over to peek into the bag. Their names were written on the carryout tins. She found two with her name on them and a third for Andy. She lifted all three and passed them to him.

Since Jack was still milling around the murder room he jerked his head toward the hall. "I'll take these to the break room," Andy said. That seemed like the only way that they were going to get a minute alone. Having to deal with that guy wasn't going to do a lot for his appetite and he really didn't want to get into it with Sharon over the ex.

"Good idea." Sharon let her hand trail down his arm as he stepped away. She turned her attention back to her daughter. "I am sorry that our night got cut short. We'll try to do it again soon," she promised.

"It's okay." Emily shrugged. "It happens, right?" It wasn't the first time, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Emily leaned against Buzz's desk. "Don't feel bad. We had a good time, and you got to be there to see me dance. That's the part that really matters. We have dinner together all the time," she said.

"Still." Sharon cupped her chin. "We will do something together soon. I am going to go and take advantage of a few quiet moments and eat while I can. Is your father going to take you home, or…"

"She's picking up my car," Buzz explained. He was sitting on the edge of his desk. There was a carryout container in his hand. He already had the top off and was enjoying the shrimp and basil salad that she brought him. "Rusty is going to take me home later."

"Okay then." Sharon touched her daughter's arm as she stepped away. "Come and see me before you leave," she told her.

"I will." Emily waited until her mother had gone before she turned back to her boyfriend and brother. Rusty was seated on his other side. "So, I guess I don't have to ask how your night is going."

"Dinner might have been more entertaining," Rusty said. He wasn't going to pretend that he hadn't completely escaped. "What happened to Ricky?"

"He went back to the Condo." Emily leaned against the desk. She reached over and stole a small piece of shrimp from Buzz's salad. When he scowled at her, she only grinned and popped it into her mouth. "I might have led him to believe that our mother is never with her boyfriend in any sort of relationship capacity at that location."

Buzz rolled his eyes at her. "Emily." He shook his head. "You know that isn't true."

Rusty snorted a laugh. "Yeah, but Ricky is still in complete denial. Good job." He nodded in approval. "If we have to deal with it, he has to deal with it. Every sibling for themselves when mom is having too much dating fun."

"Even if that means completely embarrassing her," Buzz pointed out. "I'm trying to figure out how that is in any way appropriate. Getting even with your sibling is one thing, but you know that your mother will be embarrassed if he sees more than he should."

Emily pouted at him. "Don't take the fun out of it. Ricky deserves what he gets. He still thinks they're not doing more than hanging out and going to the occasional movie together."

"Now that he is home for a visit," Buzz pointed out, "I'm sure that he will realize that it is a lot more than that. Without you interfering." He smirked at her. "Emily, how would you feel?"

She groaned. "Great. You've ruined it. Fine, I won't screw with Ricky at mother's expense. Are you happy now?"

"Incredibly." He leaned over and kissed her before he stood up. "I have to get back to work. Rusty."

"I know, I know." He shoved a bite into his mouth and stood up. "Time to assist. Thanks for bringing dinner," he told his sister.

"You're welcome." She took their containers and placed them back in the bag. "I have to go see mom. I'll put these in the break room for you." She was also going to have to do something else with Ricky for the night, just in case her mother decided to go home when she left the PAB. Emily's lips pursed. She supposed she would drop by and pick him up. He could spend the night with them. Buzz would just have to deal with the brother inquisition. Emily smiled as she left the murder room. Next time he might not be so against plotting against her mother.

Sharon found Andy waiting for her in the break room. He already had the tops off the carryout containers and was standing at the counter pouring two cups of coffee. He looked up as she came into the room. "Your daughter adores you." He nodded his head toward the table. He refused to think the items on it had been anything but Emily's doing.

"Oh?" Sharon walked over and took a good look. There was a salad that she knew was for Andy, and the roast chicken that she had smelled in the Murder Room. In another container there was a dessert that already had her mouth watering. "Yes, she does."

Arranged carefully in the carryout tin was an array of freshly baked beignets. There was also fresh fruit, sliced strawberries and oranges along with a selection of succulent looking blueberries. In two plastic cups centered between the beignets were the dipping sauces, a creamy white chocolate and a golden caramel. Sharon completely ignored her dinner as she tore one of the beignets in half. She dipped one of them in the caramel before taking a bite. Her eyes closed immediately. She hummed as the mixed flavors of pastry, powdered sugar, and caramel flowed over her tongue. There was also an underlying taste of banana that she knew was the dipping sauce. Sharon hummed appreciatively. Emily knew just how much she loved ordering the Beignets from Collections Café, although she did not allow herself to indulge very often.

Andy's brows shot up while he watched her. The corners of his mouth twitched toward a grin. He walked over and stood nearby. His head tilted. He had seen that look on her face before, just never at work. He cleared his throat quietly. There was amusement dancing in his dark eyes. "Keep that up and I'm going to have to take you home."

Her eyes opened. She looked up at him and laughed. "Oh hush. Try it." She swirled the remaining half of the beignet in her hand around the lip of the caramel container and held it out to him.

Rather than take it from her he leaned forward and closed his mouth around the bite while she held it. He watched her eyes flash and her teeth scrape across her bottom lip. Andy leaned back and tilted his head at her. She was right, it was good, but her reaction had been even better. "Not bad," he said, once he'd finished, his thick voice rumbling in the room. He reached out and swept away a fleck of powdered sugar from the corner of her mouth with his thumb.

She was smiling as she stepped away from him. Sharon put the table between them as she took a seat. "Behave," she admonished gently. It was not the time or place to let themselves get too carried away.

"You started it," he pointed out with a grin. Andy reached across the table and placed her coffee in front of her. "I was just following your example." Where he stood he had a very good view of her dress and the way that it dipped, giving him a glimpse of her cleavage and what she wore beneath it. His eyes darkened as he watched her. When she met his gaze, his brow arched. "Did I mention you looked good tonight?"

Although her cheeks flushed a light shade of pink, and a pleased smile curved her lips, she pointed at the chair across from her. "Sit." Sharon reached for one of the plastic forks that he laid out for them and pulled her dinner over. "Do not make me have to send you home alone, Lieutenant." Her eyes sparkled up at him. "You know that I will."

Andy grinned as he pulled his chair around, near enough so that when he did lower himself into it, his knee bumped hers. He was still far enough away for propriety's sake, however. He knew that he could push her only so far. She was willing to play, and flirt, and tease, but they had approached that line that she wouldn't cross. "We gave SID a list of the gun parts we were still missing from the Hollings case," he said, bringing the conversation back around to a more appropriate topic. "They're going to look for them at the Owens' estate, but it's a long shot." He doubted those missing parts were anywhere that they would find them, but it was worth a look.

"I want to start building a list of any other commonalities between the two murders," Sharon said. "I also want to know if they have any friends, committees, country clubs, or anything of the like that would link them together. These two murders are related, and I want to know how."

"Besides the obvious." He shook his head. "We'll canvas the neighbors again tomorrow, find out how well everyone knew them, and drop in a few questions about the Hollings while we're at it. We'll see if either Mister or Mrs. Hollings were friends with the victim. Who knows, maybe they were the ones having the affair."

"This is awfully well thought out for a revenge killing," Sharon said. "Especially when all Mrs. Owen had to do was prove that her husband was having an affair and she could divorce him with her finances intact." She made a mental note to get a copy of that prenuptial agreement on file.

"We've seen killers do crazier things," he pointed out, "and dumber." Andy looked up when the break room door opened. He jerked his head toward it. "Sharon."

She rose as Emily came in to the room. "Are you going?" Sharon held out her arms and pulled her daughter into a hug.

"Yes. I'm going to swing by and pick Ricky up. He's staying the night with us." Buzz just didn't know it yet. "He was going to hang out at the condo, but I don't want you to feel like you have to rush home," she teased.

"She just became my favorite," Andy decided. With Ricky at home, Sharon would want to go back to the Condo, and even if he tagged along with her that would severely limit their evening. After the display that she just put on, he wasn't looking forward to sharing her.

"He is insisting on getting himself in trouble." Sharon swept Emily's hair over her shoulder. "Are you sure? Ricky can sleep on the sofa. It isn't going to hurt him. He's done it before. I think he's even old enough now to spend the evening alone."

"Buzz has a spare room," Emily told her. "He can sleep in a bed. Then in the morning he can pretend he isn't the little brother. He'll have fun. I'll have fun."

"The boyfriend won't have fun." Andy pointed his fork at her. "She is definitely my favorite." He was grinning widely. He had a sister of his own; he could just imagine what Ricky would come up with over breakfast for topics of discussion.

"You two are awful!" Sharon reclaimed her seat. "No teasing Buzz," she told them. "He puts up with enough, and I am putting my foot down. If Ricky is going with you, make sure that he knows that I will be very unhappy with him if he does anything out of line."

Emily's lips pursed. "Define out of line…"

"Emily Ann." Sharon gave her a pointed look. "Go home." She pointed a finger at Andy, who was still laughing. "It is not funny."

"How did we lose control of this situation?" Emily shook her head as she turned. "I'm going. What Ricky may or may not do is out of my hands, but I will tell him what you said."

"You know, if you keep taking his side," Andy leaned toward her as Emily left, "I'm going to start to worry."

"If you don't start behaving yourself," she told him, voice dipping toward a low, teasing tone, "I am going to start wondering why I like you so much."

"You love me." Since they were alone, and there was no one to see them, he kissed her quick and then leaned back in his seat. "And you like it when I misbehave," he pointed out.

Sharon groaned at him. She couldn't discount that. She had known that he was trouble. "Just be a little kinder. I think he gets enough teasing for dating the boss's daughter without the boss's family joining in on the fun. He's one of the good ones, Emily could do a lot worse."

Andy shook his head at her. He read between the lines without even having to try. He just knew her that well. "Yeah, he is. And if Emily ends up moving back to Los Angeles because she wants to be with him, you'll be that much happier. Did it ever occur to you," he pointed out, "that he might end up moving to New York?" Andy reached over and took one of the blueberries out of the dessert container. "This thing could go either way, Sharon."

"I know." She sighed. She was just really hoping that, if at some point that relationship did become that serious her daughter would end up back on the west coast. "You cannot blame a mother for being hopeful."

"Nope." He grinned at her. "I wouldn't either. I'm just making sure that you've thought about it all." He dipped a slice of strawberry in the white chocolate sauce and held it out for her. "Gotta say though, I hope it goes the other way." He wanted her to be happy, and he knew that nothing would make her happier than having Emily back home.

Her smile warmed as she took the strawberry from him. Her hand curled around his wrist for just a moment as she accepted the bite. She gave it a squeeze before pulling away from him and shifting her attention back to their previous discussion. "I do not want to allow Martin Hollings to walk away from another murder. Canvas the neighbors, and after we get Doctor Morales's autopsy results, I want to invite the wife back in for a chat." Her head tilted. "Is it too much to ask that the bullets will be the same caliber?"

"Probably." He shrugged. "Weirder stuff has happened around here. We won't know until Morales gets back to us." That wasn't going to happen until morning. All they could do tonight was the preliminary fact finding. "What do you say we finish putting everything together and get out of here? Not much more we can do until tomorrow anyway."

"Soon," she agreed with a nod. "I want to look over the statements that we got from the neighbors this evening. I would also like to take a look at the original interview with the victim's wife." Sharon turned her wrist over and glanced at her watch. "Maybe an hour?"

"Better make it two," at her look he sighed. "It took them a while to talk to the wife. She put on a good show."

Sharon sighed. "Alright, two it is." She wasn't staying much beyond that point, however. She reached for another beignet and broke it in half. "Then you are driving me home." Her eyes sparkled when she looked at him.

Andy watched her coat the beignet in caramel sauce with a smirk. If she kept that up, it was going to be a long two hours. To think, she called him trouble. He was beginning to realize that he had been a bad influence on her. Damned if he wasn't enjoying it.

-TBC-