"He's an even bigger IDIOT that I thought!" Provenza bellowed, Patrice next to him, patting his arm to quiet. The two were standing in the doorway to the bedroom, Sharon still there, now sitting on her bed. She'd not locked the door when she'd come home, which was unusual, but after entering the house and calling Andy's name, she'd grown worried when she hadn't heard from him. She'd left the door unlocked in her search, and when Provenza and Patrice had arrived, they'd found her still in the room, sitting on the bed, still crying. She didn't look like her usual, fierce work-self.
"Sharon," Patrice gave Provenza a look to pull himself together because this wasn't about him, "I am so sorry," she said, as she moved to sit next to Sharon on the side of the bed, Andy's side of the bed. Sharon hadn't moved from that spot since she'd done a quick search of the closet and bathroom. Patrice put her hand around Sharon's shoulders, "We'll find him. You and I have said it takes special people to love these two," she gestured toward Provenza and frowned at Sharon. "You and I put up with a lot. This is part of the horrible charm," she frowned again and looked at Provenza, "let's call it Lieutenant Stupidity, shall we? Andy is scared and worried. He's told us that he felt like he dragged down people his whole life. This sounds like his bad attempt at redeeming himself, trying not to hold anyone down. We all know though," she said as she looked to Provenza and frowned again, "it was a dumb thing to do, and Louie," she pointed at him, "before you start going on and on about how stupid your friend is, let's remember you've done your share of stupid things. It's a rare occasion I can walk into the LAPD without someone asking, as they laugh, what number Provenza wife I am. So, you just hush."
Provenza looked at Patrice, a look of horror on his face, but he didn't say anything. He turned to Sharon again, "I don't even know what to say. We will find him, Sharon."
Sharon looked up at them, her eyes swollen from crying. She bit her lip and just nodded, the note still in her hands.
"Sharon, I know it's probably personal, but could you tell us what was in the letter, nothing about personal things, but are there any clues?" Patrice asked.
Without saying anything, Sharon handed Patrice the letter. Patrice took it and started to scan it. Provenza, curious about what it said, stepped toward Patrice. She held up her hand, almost as if to tell him to just wait and give her a moment. Patrice pulled out her glasses, put them on, and she started reading the letter. Sharon pulled out worn tissue from her side and wiped her face again. Provenza stood there, anxious to get the letter. As they were standing there, there was noise at the door.
"Hey guys, I'm home," Rusty called out. Sharon's head snapped up; she hadn't even called Rusty yet. He walked to the doorway and suddenly, panic overtook his face. "Sharon, what's going on?" Rusty looked from Sharon to Provenza to Patrice, his eyes darting around.
"He's gone!" Provenza bellowed, throwing up his hands. "He's gone!"
"Wait, what?" Rusty said, now the panicked expression turning to horror. "Andy? Andy's dead? Wait, what happened?" Rusty's face couldn't even express all of his emotions. He dropped his things and put his hand up to his face.
"Rusty, no!" Sharon sprang up, the words hitting her as she realized what had been implied. "He's not dead," she said, finally talking more than she had since Provenza and Patrice had arrived. "He's not dead, although I want to kill him. He left," she said gesturing to the letter Patrice had just finished and was handing to Provenza.
"Gone?" Rusty asked, his facial expressions still a mess. "What, wait, gone? Sharon, what is going on?"
Patrice stood, the one trying to maintain a calm atmosphere and also the only one who wasn't an emotional mess right now. "Rusty," she said walking over to him and putting her hand on his shoulder. She looked him in the eye, "Sharon came home from work to find most of Andy's things gone and a note. He left because he said he loves her too much to stay and let her stay with a man who isn't recovering well from a heart attack."
"Wait, you're serious?" Rusty asked, looking over to Sharon. His expression now had turned to sorrow, and he nodded to Sharon, "Sharon, he really left? Where is he?"
"We don't know," Sharon cleared her throat.
"Flynn!" Provenza yelled as he read the note. "You always find a way to disgust me. Problems in the bedroom! I didn't want to read about that!"
"Louie!" Patrice snapped at him. She reached over and snatched the papers out of his hand, mindful not to tear them. She gave Sharon a sympathetic smile, and Sharon just nodded and took them back. Rusty was confused, and at the mention of that, made a disgusted face.
Provenza started pacing the room, "I'm sorry, Captain. I shouldn't have said that; I know you allowed us to read your private letter. I appreciate that and am trying to get an idea of what Flynn might have been thinking. What an idiot! He didn't say anything to me."
"Can someone tell me exactly what is going on without my having to read that," he gestured at Sharon. She cleared her throat.
"Rusty, I sent Andy home from work today at lunch. We've been wrapping up a case. You know he's not doing field work. Anything he needed to do was already done, and he's not been feeling the best. Plus, as you know, he's always checking his blood pressure, and it hasn't been going down. Nothing is helping it right now. It seems that he got this idea in his head that he said he's been planning now for a few days to just leave, that leaving us is for the best, that he's not here dragging us down." She sighed and shook her head as she looked to the floor. She looked back at Rusty, tears again in her eyes, "He believes that he's holding me back, that I wouldn't do what I'd want to do-professionally and even personally-if it wasn't for his heart attack and everything else. He thinks I'm holding myself back from jobs-the NFL, the chief job-all of it." She put her hand to her face again and wiped away her tears, turning slightly away from the group. Patrice squeezed her shoulder and stood right next to her. Rusty tried to take in everything Sharon was telling him.
"Lieutenant Provenza, do you have any idea what's going on, where Andy would be?" Rusty finally asked.
Provenza looked at him and with a very firm shake said, "No. I have no clue. Flynn hasn't mentioned a word to me. Of course, things at work have been busy. I haven't been around him much because of this current situation. He's been the glorified desk monkey while the rest of us have been chasing down the streets. None of this makes sense," he said, gesturing with his hand. Suddenly, his eyes got wide. He looked panicked to Patrice and Sharon.
"Ahh, Captain, the last time I spent any time with Flynn was a couple weeks ago. He and I got a bite to eat. You had some meeting that ran late, and Patrice was away visiting her granddaughter at the prison."
Patrice thought back, and her eyes widened too. She looked to Provenza, "Louie, no," she shook her head. "Let's just leave that. You and I can discuss it later."
Sharon looked between the couple, her eyes narrowing. She might be upset, but she wasn't that out of it. "What?" Sharon said it with a snap to it, demanding an answer. Something was off.
"Louie!" Patrice exclaimed again, irritated he'd started to say anything. She shook her head at him. Sharon looked to her for an answer, and Patrice deferred to Provenza nodding at him. "Tell her. You had to say something."
"This was what, three weeks ago? I'm sorry, I can't even remember, but it's been some time. Oh, right, it was right before Valentine's Day because I thought he was going to be a total idiot," he rolled his eyes. Sharon gave him a look, and he gestured as he continued, "We were out for the evening. We got some dinner, and he ahh," he scratched the back of his head. "He wanted to get my approval on a purchase. Sharon," he said, and with that, she closed her eyes, knowing that when he used her name, he wasn't in work mode. He was in friend mode, something that seemed odd for Louie Provenza, but he had developed a genuine friendship with her. "He bought you an engagement ring, which makes this entire situation even more ridiculous! What was that idiot thinking?" Provenza gestured wildly with his hands. Sharon's eyes widened, as did Rusty's. Sharon put her hand to her face, trying to absorb it.
"An engagement ring? Are you sure? He bought it? Are you sure? Maybe he just showed it to you," she stammered, shaking her head.
"He bought it that night," Provenza sighed and gestured to Patrice. "That's why she knows. I went home and told her. Idiot had been looking at them for months. I can't understand why after all this time, he'd buy it only a few weeks later to just up and leave."
Sharon shook her head too and crossed her arms, "He's had a couple of recent doctor's appointments. He's been discouraged with them. Initially, the doctor thought that getting through the holidays, Andy's blood pressure might level off and return to normal, especially with his new meds. That didn't work. He'd told Andy he felt certain that by six months out, he would be back to normal duty. It was coming up on that," she sighed. "He was in last week, and I know they discussed changing his medication. They didn't let, but that was on the table. I can't believe that he did that," she looked to Provenza, the sadness on her face. "He really bought me a ring?"
"Yeah," Provenza nodded, looking to the floor. "I mean, didn't you two discuss the future?"
Rusty snorted, "Nicole and Emily tried to marry them off at Christmas," Rusty added, a small smile on his face at the memory. "The whole family talked about it."
Sharon shook her head and bit her lip, "We hadn't put any pressure on ourselves. Andy and I were just living life. Being together here," she gestured to the room, the condo, "it was enough for now. I wasn't against marriage, not at all, but I didn't expect a ring now."
The room grew quiet for a few moments, and then, Sharon moved quickly, taking the couple of steps to Andy's nightstand. She opened the drawer, and her hand quickly covered her mouth. She sat down on the side of the bed, and the others watched as she pulled out the box. Patrice moved to her side again and looked into the drawer. It was about half full, some paperwork, but the box was unmistakable.
"Oh, Sharon," Patrice sighed and squeezed her shoulder as she put her arm around her. "I'm sorry."
"That idiot!" Provenza exclaimed. "It's like a bad movie! Rusty," he said looking at him. "Why don't you give your mom a minute, make yourself useful. Why don't you make her, make us all some coffee?"
"Oh, ahh, sure," Rusty said, dropping his head. No one wanted to be here right now watching Sharon sit there holding a box as her hand shook. "I'll put on some tea for you, Sharon."
Sharon nodded and continued to stare at the box. Patrice spoke softly to her, "Sharon, you don't have to do this."
"I know," she said, letting out a deep breath. "I'm still trying to understand his mindset, but I suppose that's part of the problem. He has been quiet lately, but we've been tired and working a lot. Things here at home have been good," she said with a sad smile as she looked at Patrice. "I would have said yes," she said as she closed her eyes. "Why did he do this? He has everything here?"
"Sharon, we will find him. You know we will," Patrice patted her leg. "Louie?"
"Captain, we'll be on it. You've always said we were the best in the business. We are. Fritz still has his contacts at the FBI. We'll find him," Provenza told her. Sharon nodded.
Without another word, she snapped open the box and looked at the ring. She just stared at it and finally nodded. She put the open ring box down on the nightstand there and nodded at it, looking over at her two friends.
"He knows me well," she sighed, "at least about rings. He's completely wrong about all of this. I know work has been my life, but that doesn't mean my life isn't big enough for him. Priorities shift. I turned down the NFL because I wanted to, not because of Andy. The thought of living on the road, even at my age, no," she shook her head. "That was my decision. It sounded wonderful and would have been in some ways, but my mind is with criminals. It's not with organizing security. I wanted to stay with Major Crimes, still do, and that's why the promotion at work also means nothing to me. I want to stay with our team because I love my job. I love working with all of you. This," she gestured to the box, "is exactly what I wanted. I fought a relationship for so long, pretended we weren't dating, did the whole 'friend' thing for so long with him, but," she sighed and gave them both a small smile, "when I fell, I fell hard. I might not have shown it at work or to people because that's just me, but I absolutely 100% with all my heart love this man. He got the ring exactly as I would have picked myself. Jack," she shook her head, "Jack bought me this gaudy, hideous pear-shaped ring with stones on either side. It wasn't big, but it was just not my style at all. This, the simplicity, the cut-all of it, Andy knows me," she sighed and shook her head. Without warning, she reached over and snapped the box closed. She looked to her friends.
"I dare say you both go home at this late hour, so like anything, I suppose we should get to work?" Sharon asked.
"Captain, we will find him," Provenza said as he shook his head. "The one thing I told him when he started chasing you was not to hurt you. I'll be the first in line to strangle the idiot."