A/N: Hi guys, I'm back... I hope you're still around.

I hope you like this chapter.

Have fun!

Chapter 6

Stroh sighed as the woman in his arms snored softly, she was awake and a little tipsy. He couldn't deny that he would miss her, but the poor woman was just a means to an end. He needed a distraction while in LA and he literally ran into this woman, Diane Dorsey. He'd apologized and offered to pay for the coffee she'd spilled when they'd bumped into each other. If he believed in love he would say that fate was the main reason they were here together.

However, after a conversation and exchanged laughter he discovered that she worked at one of Hunt Sanford's companies, he couldn't believe how lucky he was.

"Hey handsome". Diane whispered. "Who are those people?"

"What people?" Stroh was surprised at the direction the conversation was going.

"The one on your list".

Stroh sat up in bed quickly and looked at her in surprise and suspicion. Diane looked startled by his reaction and didn't know what to say, just stared at him and studied his reaction.

"D-did you go through my stuff?"

"Of course not, you dropped it and I just returned it to the bag, but I took a peek. Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you".

Stroh could tell she meant it, but the idea of anyone seeing him short list was disturbing and extremely dangerous. He couldn't make that precipitating mistake anymore, and he thanked the universe that Diane was totally cut off from the daily news.

"Don't worry, you just surprised me". He tried to smile and saw that she relaxed, that was enough for him to continue with the farce. "It's a list of friends who have helped me in the past, I'm just running around the country to thank them".

"Really? You're so kind and generous, Brad". Diane threw herself into his arms again, she was delighted to have met this man and couldn't wait to introduce him to her daughter.

Stroh had the same thought, he needed to put up with this needy woman until the moment she introduced her daughter to him. Philip had been dreaming about the girl for the last few nights, he had seen a photograph of her and was surprised to see the difference between mother and daughter. Unlike Diane who was a beautiful brunette in her 40s or so, the young woman was a stunning blonde who didn't look more than 20. He could already feel his hands around her neck.

After a few minutes the woman fell asleep and he took the opportunity to review the list:

1. Sharon Raydor -

2. Rusty Beck

3. Emma Rios -

4. Brenda Leigh Jonhson

5. Hunt Sanford

6. Gwendolyn Stroh

7. Jim Bechtel -

8. Sarah Pérignon -

9. Lynn Carter -

Picking up the pen he added one more name and tucked the list away in his wallet and away from prying eyes.

10. Claire Dorsey

Now a little calmer he needed to devise a plan to do everything he needed to in this city and then escape as quickly as possible. He just had to figure out a way around Rusty's security.

Sharon opened her eyes slowly, she was lethargic and had a small headache. She held back a groan of pain as she moved too fast on the bed. She was a little confused as to how she got there, but slowly the memory of all the crying came back to her.

Cautiously she looked around and sighed when she saw that Susan and Peter were still there. The psychologist was the first to see her, she looked a little down and Sharon wanted to know if it was because of her.

"Hey Sharon". Susan came over with a glass of water. "Here, have a drink".

"Thanks". Her voice was husky and she cringed a little at the thought that she must have looked deplorable.

"How are you feeling?"

Sharon smiled a little at Susan's attempt to strike up a conversation without being awkward.

"Like a truck hit me".

"Oh... that's called emotional buildup. Way heavier than a truck".

"Susan, I know you want to help, but I don't think this is the right time for this psychology talk".

"Are you sure? Because I believe what happened hours ago was because you didn't want to talk to anyone".

"No one needed to hear my ramblings, and I was fine with sorting everything out".

"That's not what I saw".

"What do you want from me? Want me to tell you I can't handle all this?" Sharon bristled and glared at the defiant woman.

"Sharon, you are a strong woman, but I know you need help. I'm here for that".

"I don't need your pity, Susan". Sharon sat up quickly and regretted it when her vision blurred a little. Damn sedative.

"I never said I feel sorry for you, even because you never told me what happened to you. You've been here for a few weeks and I've never seen anyone visit you, you've never talked about having important people in your life. I can see that you are or have been married from the habit of always touching your ring finger".

"How come..." Sharon sighed and looked across the room, it was only then that she realized that Peter had left leaving the two of them alone.

"That's my job, Sharon. I don't want to overwhelm you or try to prove you're incapable. I'm here to help you. Please let me do this".

"I can't". Tears came back to the Commander's eyes with a suddenness that startled her.

"Is that what you're afraid of?"

"Why do you insist on knowing what I'm afraid of?"

"It's the easiest way to solve the problem, I promise I'll be here for you. Just say it Sharon. Just say it". Susan pleaded and hoped it would work.

Sharon stared at her helplessly, she wanted to trust this woman but it was so hard for her. In her experience, trusting people has always hurt her, she had to learn very early on to fend for herself and work things out without help. Sharon Raydor was the person who was always in front of any problem, she was the one people went to when they needed something. She has never seen a hand extended towards her and the few people who have offered her that kind of trust, she has refused.

"I- I have a lot of fears, Susan. More fears than I'd like to be". She started and decided to blow everything up. "But my worst fear is losing control. Control of my emotions, my career and my life. And now it's like I've lost everything".

Susan breathed a sigh of relief as she realized this was the first step toward healing the woman in front of her. Now Sharon let the tears flow, but without the despair of the day before.

"Okay- that's a start". She smiled and sat down next to Sharon on the bed. "You may be feeling that way right now, but it's not entirely true. You're overwhelmed, I understand. You don't have to tell me everything at once".

"I don't know where to start". She whispered and took a deep breath.

"How about you try to tell me where all this feeling of helplessness started? When did you think you weren't in control?"

"As you may know I am the LAPD Commander". Sharon looked at her with a small smile.

"You didn't tell me..." Susan tried to argue, but gave up when she looked at Sharon.

"Honey, I know you need to ask questions before you can really help someone. And Peter must have said something yesterday". Sharon smiled a little, she was starting to feel better about finally talking about this.

"Guilty!" Susan smiled. "But I only know a little. And from what he told me..." She sighed and stared at Sharon. "This latest event is just the tip of the iceberg".

"You're right". Sharon settled better on the pillows. "It's going to be a little long."

"I like stories". Susan grinned now.

"Ok... Months ago we arrested a man fanatical about Nazism. As a Nazi he committed several crimes and luckily, we managed to arrest him and prevent more deaths. However, things started to go wrong on the day of the trial. He opened fire inside the courtroom, he shot five people and killed four before I shot him three times".

"Did you kill him?"

"Yeah, hours into surgery and he died on the table. He killed my boss, his lawyer and the prosecutor. He killed a police officer and nearly killed our forensic psychologist".

"What did you feel?"

"Nothing, that was the problem. For days I didn't feel anything, I had taken a life and I didn't feel anything".

"And that was a problem why?"

"I was so worried about not being worried that I didn't notice a clue that was right in front of us. It would have cost more lives. Even the people I care immensely".

"Oh..."

"That's not even half of what's happened since then, Susan". Sharon looked at the woman in front of her and was undecided if it was worth sharing this burden with her.

"I'm not going anywhere Sharon". The encouragement was enough for her to continue.

"Soon after Lieutenant Flynn, who is my husband now". She smiled as the word left her mouth, it was like a dream come true, but her smile was replaced by a small frown. "He had a heart attack at the office and..." She hesitated once more.

"Sharon, I promised to listen to you. And that's what I will".

"Ok". Sharon took a deep breath and took another sip of water. She would have to risk it, keeping it all to herself didn't seem to work. "And when he passed out… it was chaos".

Will Pope was a man who made the tough decisions in his line of work, but he knew they weren't always good decisions, he sometimes made rash decisions and he always managed to put the blame on someone lesser. But this time he would be alone, no one to blame but him, but the desperation to put Stroh in jail spoke louder.

Having the opportunity to catch a famous serial killer would boost his career even further and he would finally be able to run for mayor. It would be quite a feat, he would make his children proud. Yet every time he thought about this he remembered what he had to do, he could still hear Sharon's choked voice asking him to cancel whatever strategy they had, she was sick. He still remembered her words: "I don't have time anymore, Chief. I want to be with my family".

Pope wasn't a good listener, he preferred to take charge and act, often without paying attention to the feelings of others. This led him to a life of solitude, with no friends or family to support him. He could count on his fingers those who would listen to his side of the story and help him. One of them's number was glowing on his phone screen, he just had to hit call and his load would lighten.

Taking courage, he dialed and put the device to his ear, his heart pounding furiously. He thought about hanging up before the call went through.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end filled his ear and he felt the breath leave his body.

"Hey, did you miss me?"

"Will". A sigh was heard "Not as much as you'd expect".

"Sorry..."

"For what?"

"Apparently everything".

"Will, why are you calling me?"

"I need a friendly ear".

"Am I a friend now?"

"Always has been".

"You have a funny way of showing this". The person on the other side took a deep breath. "What happened?"

"Remember Sharon Raydor?"

"The one that died almost a month ago?"

"That's right..." Pope ran a hand over his bald head before settling in his chair. "She's not completely dead".

"WHAT THE FUC-"

"Listen to me, I need you to listen to me until the end".

"Will, I hope this is worth it or you can forget I exist".

"Deal". He stated and began his account, he prayed to God that the phone would not be muted.

Provenza was going through Stroh's finances once again and with nowhere to go, the thugs were calm for now and they hadn't had any affairs lately. Mason seemed to cooperate as well and was giving them time to get Stroh.

The entire team was emotionally exhausted, Christmas was in two days and the reality of the date was making everyone a little depressed, but they needed to get on with the job and make Sharon proud.

"Did anyone manage to find anything important?"

"Still working on it." Cami's voice traveled through the murder room and the others just nodded.

"Can we find out who Stroh's mother is?" Andy commented upon remembering that they didn't know who she was.

"I still find it hard to believe he has a mother." Julio snorted with a smirk.

"The devil had to find someone to copulate with, don't you think, Julio?" Nolan spoke up and grinned. Amy rolled her eyes, but found it a little funny.

Suddenly Tao jumped out of his chair and pointed at his computer screen. He looked happy.

"Here, I found"

"What did you find?" Provenza was the first to arrive at his table.

"Oh... we just have a little problem." He spoke while sighing. "I can't find the social security number."

"For God's sake, Tao. What the hell are you talking about?"

"Rick spoke to me yesterday, he was worried and wanted to know how he could help". Tao started. "I said I couldn't involve him, but he countered that he had an idea".

"Yes, he said he could find the IP of whoever looked up the names of Stroh victims, especially those that were accidental". Rusty spoke as he entered the murder room and approached the group.

"He said he talked to his boss and the boss solved it. So, he sent me an IP from Nepal. Anyway... several names came up, but one caught my attention: Gwendolyn".

"Do you think she was..." Andy tried to follow what Tao was explaining.

"I don't just think so, but look at this. Gwendolyn Stroh, extremely wealthy lived until the year '92. Then... poof... disappeared". Tao interrupted him.

"No social security, no ID... Nothing?" Amy questioned.

"Nothing".

"What do we have on her before 92?" Amy insisted.

"Not a lot".

"Oh God... when I think everything is going to work out". Provenza sighed in frustration.

Mason walked into the murder room and asked for an update, he needed the Emma Rios case closed. Tao quickly explained what happened.

"So, we can't access that number, law enforcement wouldn't have access".

"Why not?" Cami asked intrigued.

"Even when you change your name and social security these data are crossed. Unless it was secret". Tao explained.

"So, you're saying she went into witness protection?" Buzz commented and glared at Julio. That would be good information to pass on to Sharon.

"Exactly".

"And how are we going to get access to that?" Nolan stared at the others.

"That would be with Chief Mason". Amy stared at the Chief, daring him to take action.

"I'm going to make some calls". He spoke reluctantly and left the room.

The team saw Mason leaving and they smiled contentedly, it looked like everything was moving in the right direction, they just needed to be patient. But the main question was: What did Stroh want? Why come back?

Diane waved at Philip and walked into the office, she was happy to have found a person who understood her and it made her glow. Last night when they went to the new restaurant that had opened near her house, she couldn't contain her emotion and talked nonstop. But Philip didn't seem to mind, they spent a few hours there being well taken care of by a friendly young waiter, Gus, as he introduced himself. She couldn't wait to get back.

Memories aside, she walked into the room where her desk was and smiled at her boss, Hunt was at the company today and it would be her job to make him happy. And suddenly she remembered Philip's list, she had a feeling the boss's name was there, but she wasn't sure. It was dark and she was a little drunk. Shrugging, she went back to work oblivious to her lover taking a picture of the building and staff.

It was lunchtime when Buzz got a text, his heart froze and his eyes widened. Looking around the room he faced Julio and made a small sign for them to go to the break room, he thanked God that everyone seemed to be concentrating on their work.

"What's it?" Julio asked as soon as they walked through the door.

"I got a message from Dr. Torres".

"And what does it say?"

"I don't know, I haven't read it". Buzz was shaking and afraid it was bad news, Julio understood and was feeling the same, but he wouldn't stand there anxious.

"Give me that". He took a deep breath and opened the message box.

'Buzz, yesterday our valuable cargo was shaken. I believe there were many emotions and the dam broke. It was scary. But everything is fine now. Just hurry up, the cargo needs to be transported home where it's really safe'.

Julio and Buzz looked at each other and sighed in relief, apparently, she had a little emotional shake because she missed them. They understood her and looked forward to their reunion.

Julio decided to answer simply, to avoid suspicion. Or almost.

'Peter, I believe our cargo is in good hands. We promise that soon everything will be ready for the safe return of the cargo. The charge will always be in our thoughts.'

Pressing send Julio faced Buzz and they could breathe more easily, now it was necessary to work harder to bring her back. With that in mind they returned to their tables.

Rusty saw Julio and Buzz come back more relaxed from the break room and wanted to know what they were hiding, one moment Buzz looked terrified and the next it was as if nothing had happened. Curious he got up and went towards the officer looking for information, but when he saw Gus coming in with a pot in his hand he changed direction.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Sorry, I was going to warn you, but I wanted to surprise you". Gus smiled a little.

"Well- I'm surprised". Rusty's smile was tight and he didn't look happy, but he sighed and shrugged. "But I could use a little distraction".

"If you say so, I made a sop..." Gus started, but his voice died away as he stared at the picture on the whiteboard. "Is this- is this Stroh?"

Everyone turned towards him, Provenza felt that this would be the clue that would help them unravel all this.

"Yes, why? What do you know?" Andy approached him hopefully.

"He- he had dinner last night at my restaurant. I served them".

"Have you seen him? Wait a minute... what do you mean served THEM?" Provenza questioned him almost vibrating.

"Yes, he had dinner with a woman".

"A woman? Oh God- what did that woman look like?" Amy questioned a little apprehensively.

"She had black hair, in her 40s, almost 50s. She was beautiful and well-groomed. She was friendly and seemed very..."

"Very?" Cami encouraged him.

"In love?" Gus looked nervous. "I don't know, she seemed happy with him and I don't know if she knows who he really is".

"Do you remember her name?"

"No, and they paid in cash, without any identification".

"What about the cameras? Are there cameras in the restaurant?" Buzz questioned already in front of his computer.

"Yes, we have one at reception".

"Great, we're close, guys". Provenza spoke and smiled. "We're close".

Andy and Provenza looked at each other and smiled, it was the first time they could see the light at the end of the tunnel. They needed to push themselves and follow every lead the way Sharon would, they were the best the LAPD had, that's what Sharon always talked about, and the two Lieutenants were more than willing to prove this.

To be Continue...