I'll be traveling over the next week, so chapters will be spotty for this story and my other.
"Evening, Lieutenant," Sharon said crisply, as she arrived on the scene. She'd already recorded her arrival with the incident commander who had the log book and had been pointed in the direction of the lieutenant. Sharon hated showing up in casual attire, but for tonight, she didn't have better options. She was grateful that her backup blazer was still in her office; she'd never taken it home when she was pregnant, and for tonight, it would do. Sharon hadn't lost all the baby weight; she wasn't sure she would ever, but she was mostly back to her normal self. The weight left on her seemed to have shifted, and some of her things just didn't fit the same. It was a problem she'd planned to address after getting the kids to school. She knew she might need to purchase a couple of new suits, but tonight, and at least through the duration of this case, she would make it work. Most of her dresses fit just fine, and paired with a blazer, they, too, could still give off the professional look she wanted.
"Captain," he nodded. "Well, if it isn't just our luck tonight; this is so bad we get the captain," he grumbled.
"Lieutenant, it wouldn't matter which detective from my division caught this case. I have a strong team, and we are all quite capable of doing our jobs well," she pointed out. As soon as the words left her mouth, it almost scared Sharon how easily she was able to go from the sweet, baby talking mom at home to the crisp captain here at work.
"Yeah, but there's something about having you assigned to yet another one of my cases," he complained.
"Lieutenant Provenza, I don't believe I've seen you in my office in what, well over a year?" she asked. "I do admit, I seem to catch most of your cases, yes, but it's been awhile."
He huffed, "A year or so, something like that."
"Now, I haven't had time to pull your jacket or that of this other lieutenant. As you can see, I wasn't dressed for work this evening; I was out to dinner with my kids. Looking at this report, where's your old partner? The name on this report isn't familiar to me."
"He retired," Provenza frowned. "Yeah, George is off to live the life he has always wanted. This is my new partner, but don't worry, Captain. He's a good one, nice guy. We've been friends for years, and when George put in for retirement, I called up Flynn for this transfer. We used to work together, long, long ago-decades ago, but well-you'll see it when you pull his jacket-drinking got the better of him for several years a long time ago, so he got transferred to Hollywood Division. Since then, he's gotten sober and been sober for a long time. He's kept out of trouble there, and now, he's back, and we're back together."
"Hmm," Sharon pursed her lips, "Isn't it a bit ironic that you two are back together, and you, Lieutenant are back into trouble?" she asked.
"Now, just wait a minute, Captain," he started to explain. "We were doing a good thing here tonight. We came down here to help the kids, to volunteer. It's not our fault we stumbled onto a dead body, and yeah, sure Flynn did take down the old lady walking down the street, but that was in pursuit of our suspect. I was securing the scene back here."
"Yes, because you don't run, isn't that correct, Lieutenant?"
"I was worried about the kids, Captain!" he exclaimed.
Sharon nodded, "Okay, just hold on. Let me get your official statement. Where's your partner?"
Provenza waved, "He's over there, other side of the mobile unit, on the phone with the hospital. He's trying to get an update on the lady he ran over. He feels terrible about things. Flynn!" he yelled out. "FID is here. Lucky us; we get the head honcho, the captain."
Sharon started to pull out her paperwork while she waited for Provenza's partner to join them. She hadn't had time to really study it; she'd only gotten the verbal account from Sergeant Staples.
"The captain! Provenza I haven't been in trouble in years! I was transferred back over here less than two weeks ago, and I already have to deal with FID, the captain nonetheless!" they all heard as he walked to them, completely irritated, spouting off about anything and everything. Sharon turned when she heard the voice, snapping her files closed.
"Flynn, this is Captain Raydor, and she and I have an unspoken agreement to annoy each other," Provenza rolled his eyes as he introduced the two to each other, not seeing the reaction Sharon had on her face. "Captain, this is Lieutenant Andy Flynn, my new partner in Robbery/Homicide."
Sharon wasn't sure how long she stood there speechless, but finally she stammered, "Ahh, umm, good to see you Lieutenant," she nodded to him, unable to say anything else. Truthfully, she had no idea where she'd found the ability to formulate any words that sounded remotely normal. She might have reached out to shake his hand, but she had a death grip on her files, now firmly clutched to her chest.
"Captain Raydor?" Andy asked, also completely surprised. He tilted his head at her, obviously unaware of her job and rank, as well as her presence at his crime scene.
"Yeah, she's not as nice as she looks, Flynn," Provenza waved. "We like to call her Darth Raydor. You'll learn. Normally, she comes out here, trying to look intimidating, in these dark trench coats, power suits, and massive high heels. Tonight, thanks to dinner with her kids," he waved, "you don't even get to experience Darth Raydor."
Sharon snapped her head to Provenza. He'd probably said something she should reprimand him for saying, but she hadn't heard a word of it. Still completely shaken, she turned to Provenza, "Lieutenant Provenza, would you give me a minute here with, ahh, Lieutenant Flynn?" Sharon even had to look at her notes, which was unusual for her; she was good at remembering the names of officers she was investigating, showing now just how rattled she really was and calling him Andy was definitely not professional right now. "I got a quick account from you," she continued, trying to regain her composure, "so, let me speak to him a moment, and then we can take official statements."
"Fine, Captain," he waved. "I'll check in with the rest of my team and let them know the latest."
Sharon spun around, but before she could say anything, Andy spoke first, "You're the head of FID? I never knew you were a cop!"
Sharon's eyes grew huge, "Me?" she hissed. "I didn't know you were one either. I've been in FID for years, head of it for awhile now. I never even knew your last name to look you up!"
"Same here! I knew of Sharon, that's it, Sharon. Well, knowing this now, not that I would have wanted to be around anyone from FID anyway. Head of FID," he grumbled. "Just great. Word gets out, and I'll never hear the end of it. So much for my transfer."
"I really need to speak with you when all of this is settled," she told him.
He waved her off, "Don't bother. You know," he lowered his voice when he realized he'd drawn a bit of an audience, "I really liked you, but I never would have slept with you had I known you were in FID." He looked upward and then back at her, "I even asked you about your job, but you didn't want to talk about it."
"Would you?" she hissed. "Look at the warm welcome I get."
"Just great," he sighed. "This is like a bad joke," he grumbled.
"Well, the joke is on you tonight, then, Lieutenant," Sharon said as she schooled her features. She had slipped out of her captain mode for a few minutes and realized that this was not the time nor the place for personal matters. She mentally had to force herself into captain mode again. She started again, "The joke is on you tonight, Lieutenant because I am the one investigating you and whatever mess you may have caused here tonight. So, as much as you want to blow up at me and get mad about things we cannot change, how about we focus on taking care of work?"
It took her almost two agonizing hours to clear the scene. Sharon was exhausted, not from work, but from the mental shock that she'd just run into Andy, her Andy, yet, the Andy of her past. Apparently, he was like many of the officers she'd encountered in the department; he hated FID and anyone tied to it. She'd worked hard to focus on work, the facts of the case. She'd completed numerous interviews to include Andy, Provenza, and several witnesses who had seen Andy knock down the older woman while pursuing the suspect. Now, here she was, back in her service vehicle, and ready to break down. She put her head on the steering wheel, well aware there were still several officers and detectives milling around the scene. Of all the ways she envisioned running into Andy, this was not even on her radar. She never would have guessed Andy was a detective, never. She'd made it a rule after her divorce to not get involved with anyone in the department; she was FID, and on the off chance anyone would even want to date her, it was just too much effort. Now, here she was, breaking, no shattering her own rules. Not only had she gotten involved with someone from the department, she'd had his baby. Now, at the time, of course, neither adult knew that about the other's careers, and to this day, Andy still didn't know about Brady.
"I really need to speak with you when all of this is settled," Sharon heard the words over and over in her head, the words she'd told Andy almost as soon as they'd gotten a moment alone. He'd blown right over those words, intent on completing his interview and nothing else. As soon as she had finished her interview with him, he'd hurried off to be anywhere else. She hadn't seen him since. Even during the interview, his answers had been short and simple; he hadn't noted anything about their personal history, and Sharon didn't dare comment herself. She was afraid she'd break down if she did. Now that she'd found him, Sharon was going to have to figure out how to proceed. She didn't believe in hiding Brady, but this was a lot more complicated than she could have ever imagined. She pulled her head up, wiped away the lone tear, and she dialed the house.
"Mom, how's the case?" Ricky asked when he answered the phone. Sharon smiled as soon as she heard her son's voice.
"Hi, Ricky," Sharon sighed as she smiled into the phone. "The case took an unexpected turn, but the case itself should be wrapped up within my 72-hour window."
"Oh, that's good," Ricky said. "So, will you be home to say bye to Grandma and Grandpa?"
"I'm going to stay here through the night and get some work done. Tell you what I'll do; I do need to come home and change if I'm going to be working the next couple of days. I'll come home for breakfast, see everyone, and I can say goodbye then. Hopefully, I can catch Brady awake too. How is he?"
"He's fine, Mom," Ricky told her. Grandma hasn't put him down all night. She's feeding him a bottle right now, and then she said she's reluctantly going to put him to bed. Then, I'm going to take Grandma and Grandpa back to their hotel."
Sharon chuckled at that, glad to hear that Brady was safe at home. She was still very rattled by her run-in with Andy and was going to need some time to figure out her next step. "Okay, well don't stay up too late yourself, Ricky, and please tell Grandma and Grandpa I'll see them in the morning."
"Mom, I'm 18. By the weekend, I'll be in college," he smirked.
"Yes, I know," Sharon told him. "Still, I can and will always worry. I need to get going. Give my love to everyone, and I'll be home for breakfast."
"Bye, Mom. Love you too. Be safe out there. There are a lot of crazies out there doing crazy things."
Sharon hung up, sighing at just how accurate Ricky's statement was to her own life-crazies doing crazy things. She'd been one of those crazies, with Andy of all people, and the product of her "crazy thing" was currently finishing his nighttime bottle. Wow. This case. Flynn. His name was Andy Flynn, and now that she had a name, she was going to do what she'd promised herself; she had to figure out a way to tell him about Brady.