Major Crimes Mysteries

The Family McCoy

Chapter 28

Sharon sat at her desk waiting for the murder room to empty out. When Amy, the last detective in the room waved good night to her, she waved back and gave a warm smile. Sharon continued to sit at her desk unable to move. Trying to build the momentum and courage she needed to face what she knew her deepest fears were, she sat petrified staring at the box sitting on her conference table less than 10 feet from her.

Finally gathering the courage, she pushed her chair back and stood up. She walked over to the box. Sharon felt herself slip back into her role as an FID detective. This time, it didn't feel good to catch the bad guys. This time, she knew that this investigation could be costing her everything she held dear to her heart.

Sharon opened the box and separated out all the reports into the neat piles like she did during her days in FID. Each pile represented different aspects of the investigation, including statements from all involved.

Sharon ordered dinner in, craving a glass of wine to go with it, but knowing it was just her anxiety popping up. To try to put some joy into what faced her, as she waited for her dinner to arrive, she put on her favorite show and screenshared it to the tv that was in her office. She was so happy the day Buzz taught her how to screen share. She had to admit to herself that it felt like the day Buzz taught Louie how to watch kitten videos on his phone.

Leo Mason stopped by to see her before he left. "What are you still doing here, Sharon?" He asked her. "I figured you and Andy would have left hours ago." He then looked down to the paperwork spread throughout Sharon's office and frowned. He put his hand on the box on the table that had "Phillip Stroh OIS Investigation" written on it. "Sharon, what are you doing with this? Stroh has been dead for years. Why are you investigating this?" He asked his friend with a deep concern to his voice.

"I don't know, Leo. There is something off about this case." Sharon told him.

"Are you saying you don't trust Camacho, Sharon? You trained him. He has been in the role since you came to Major Crimes and has done a phenomenal job." Mason sighed deeply and shrugged his shoulders. "Do you think he would have missed anything you wouldn't have missed? The guy is a bigger pit bull than you were in the job. Sharon, you need to go home. I won't order you to, but you need to go home to your husband."

"I'm just doing it for my own piece of mind, Leo. I just keep having nightmares about it. Maybe this will stop the nightmares." Sharon told him sadly, looking off in the direction of the television.

"Have you thought about getting some counseling for these nightmares? I heard you have been having some doozies." Leo asked her.

Sharon replied, hoping this would be the last question on the topic, "I've seen Dr. Joe a couple of times. He is the one that came up with the idea. He thinks if I do my own investigation and for me to see that it was done correctly, that it will settle my mind and end the nightmares. So, that is what I am doing. I just don't want to do it during the day while the McCoy case is still going on, but I need to get it done so I can get some sleep and Andy doesn't divorce me.

With that, Leo shook his head in a yes motion. "OK, then I am going to let you get it done. Hopefully, you will settle it quickly and go home to sleep. Have a good night, Sharon." With that, Leo exited Sharon's office.

Sharon's food arrived and she wolfed down her meal while reading the first set of reports. Nothing odd stood out to her in the ballistic reports. Provenza had stated he had taken Rusty's gun away from him before they walked up the stairs. He admitted to the FID investigator that he had forgotten to put the safety on after he took it away. "It was an honest mistake." Sharon thought to herself.

Next, she had picked up the interviews and read each one meticulously. She made copies and highlighted certain quotes and referenced back to other detectives' interviews including Andy's.

By four in the morning, she had come to the last pile of reports. Nothing in the reports prior to this had stood out and Sharon thought that maybe she was wrong in her thoughts and nightmares. The last pile contained all the measurements and such that FID had taken at the crime scene. Sharon looked at the report that stated the diagonal of where the shooter was to where Phillip Stroh was standing when shot. She swallowed hard and her heart fell into the pit of her stomach.

Sharon jumped up from her desk and ran to the stack of interviews. She specifically picked up Rusty's and Provenza's statements and reread both of them. She then went back to the report she was last working on triple checked the measurements of the shooter to Phillip Stroh. There was no way that Louie Provenza shot Phillip Stroh. While it wasn't off by much, it was clear her son had been the shooter who killed Phillip Stroh.

Sharon sat at her desk going back and forth looking at the reports that just sealed all of their fates and started to cry. Andy was not there to console her this time. Andy was not there to tell her everything would be ok, and she knew it wouldn't be.

As she continued to sit and ponder next steps, her cell phone rang. She looked down and it was a number she didn't recognize. "Good morning, Commander Raydor speaking." Sharon responded. "Commander, sorry to wake you." Sharon didn't bother to correct the caller. "This is Deputy US Marshal David Sanchez. We got him, Ma'am. We got your fugitive Tristan Roberts in custody and are transporting him to the LA County jail. You have a great morning, Ma'am." He answered and then hung up not bothering to tell her goodbye.

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