Fritz walked into the Chicago office. It was weird being in his old stomping ground. He hadn't returned since his move to LA over a decade ago, and they had changed the place: different layout, different colors on the walls.
"Long time no see."
Fritz looked up. It was Krenshaw, his old partner from back in the day.
"No way." They shake hands. "How have you been?"
"Same old me. Same stupid criminals. New sycophants for bosses."
They went to grab coffee. "I have a new girl." Krenshaw would never be a one-woman man. He got bored after 3 months and was ready to move on. He had a fair share of angry exes who hated his guts.
"What's this victim's name?"
Krenshaw rolled his eyes. "Her name is Amanda, and she's a classically trained dancer."
"I didn't know they classically trained pole dancers."
"Very funny. She is a ballerina."
"So she's young enough to be your daughter."
"You are still cynical. You're going to be alone for life with that attitude."
"I remarried."
"Again. Didn't you learn your lesson the first time. Who's Cindy version 2.0?"
"I married Brenda."
"Just Brenda?"
"You know Brenda..."
Krenshaw gave him a blank stare.
"Brenda Leigh Johnson, worked for the Agency, from Atlanta."
Krenshaw was still oblivious.
"You always called her Blondie, and she never liked you."
"Oh! You married Blondie. You were hung up on her for forever. Wasn't she screwing her married boss?"
Fritz rolled his eyes. That's how he remembers her? "I was not hung up on her." He couldn't deny the other part.
"Sure you weren't. I bet you tied the knot first chance you got."
"Did not."
"How long did it take between when you met her again, and you remarried?"
"It was over three years."
"And how long did it take for you to date her once you found her."
Fritz stopped for a minute. He wasn't sure when they started dating, was that their first dinner? Their first kiss? Their first fuck?"
"Define dating?"
"So three days."
"More like a week."
"Damn. Can't say I'm surprised. You would have chased her until the end of time."
Fritz couldn't argue that.
"So what brings you here."
"I'm working on catching a crime ring. They buy goods return them with cheap fakes and sell them on ebay/craigslist etc."
"Why not sell the fakes?"
"The fakes aren't very good. They put them back in the box, so it seems like the original item is being returned. They bank on the employee not checking on the spot. It seems to work."
"You don't say. Well I won't keep you too long. Want to grab a drink tonight?"
"I'll come out, but I don't drink anymore."
"You too! Everyone joined AA. Everyone. Gino's 8PM, be there."
Fritz headed into the office. He didn't really know why they needed him.
Atlanta, GA (about a week ago)
The plumber was long gone. Joyce now settled down with an entrepreneur. He was off wining and dining investors and Joyce met with her lawyer.
Mr. Kensington, "So what do you want out of this divorce."
"Everything."
"What all is there?" Mr. Kensington knew this was going to be a tough case.
"A house. His pension, his 401K, I think we have a timeshare in Bermuda or something, and a vacation house in South Carolina."
"I take it you prefer the main house."
"I prefer them both, and I want alimony."
What is this guy a tycoon? "What does he do for a living?"
"Construction."
Kensington tried not to laugh. "You think you can get two houses and alimony from a man who work construction. Courts take into account present assets and income. They want to keep you at the same quality of life until you can make other arrangements. It doesn't sound like he makes that much and you're young enough to work."
"I'm not working, non-negotiable. Can you get it done or not?"
"I'll send a settlement proposal." That no idiot would ever accept.
"Very well. Don't call me unless you have good news."
With that she was gone.
"I don't blame that guy for leaving."
Kensington drafted a letter, requesting the house, alimony and a share of the pension fund and either ½ the proceeds from the sale of the vacation house or for him to buy out her half. He signed his name and filed it. Now to figure out who represents Mr. Johnson
Present time LA
Brenda had forgotten about the EAF case. She reviewed the files. Their head agent had no record himself, but his brother had two fraud convictions. She advised Hollywood to pick up the brother, give him a lecture on the 3rd strikes law, casually mention the robberies and let him go. Then, watch and see what happens.
She got back to her current case. She had a meeting with Jake tonight, and she was supposed to talk to Sam the next day.
How about Betty? Brenda sent Tommy to ask her some questions casually, see if he could get her chatting about FID. It didn't take Brenda long to see that Betty liked to look at Tommy, so she left him to it.
Major Crimes
Sharon finally got around to e-mailing her daughter. "Great, can't wait to see you honey?" She started to drink her tea when she heard a knock on her door.
"Come in."
It was Sykes. "Wasn't yesterday weird?"
"What do you mean?"
"Brenda shows up out of nowhere like she owns the place, steals Flynn and Provenza and they just resume working like nothing happened."
"And?"
"And aren't you going to do something about it?"
"Like what?"
Sykes just sat there.
"This is my squad now. I have it under control."
Sykes left it at that.
Atlanta, GA 3 days ago
Cousin Jacob got the letter and almost pissed his pants laughing. He checked the list against the assets that Bobby had listed. There was no vacation house. Jacob looked up the title records in South Carolina, using the online database. They had sold the home to a rental agency over a year ago. He added up all of their assets, 1 house, two cars, 1 pension, 2 401ks, personal effects and equipment. It sounded fair to Jacob for Bobby to get his truck, personal effects/equipment, and sole possession of his 401k and pension. She doesn't work, but she is getting the whole house without any mortgage. She can sell it or rent it out.
Jacob called Bobby to consider a counteroffer. If they could get a deal, they could get it approved by a judge and skip the trial phase.
LA Present Day
Andrea didn't know what the future held in store for her and Flynn. She sat at her desk, preparing a set of plea offers. Most of her cases were deals now a days. She kind of missed going to trial.
She sipped her tea as she worked on her paperwork.
She got a text. "I missed you yesterday."
"I missed you, too." She always wanted to wake up next to him. This is way too fast she thought to herself.
Flynn was having his kids over for dinner on Friday. He wanted to introduce them to Andrea, but he was afraid he would screw things up for all involved. He finally was on good ground with his kids. He was afraid they might react badly to him dating a younger woman. He also didn't want to scare Andrea away by moving too fast.
Provenza noticed that Flynn texted a lot more lately. Sharon spent more time alone in her office. Were they star-crossed lovers hiding on opposite sides of the door? How ridiculous.
Provenza was bored in the office. He went to go bother Buzz who was on the phone with his sister Casey.
Chicago
Fritz presented the results of his investigation to the Chicago team. He also reported on what his suspect had admitted thus far; a deal was still pending. The team added Fritz's information to their chart. The Chicago team had a lot more suspects but little understanding as to how the enterprise worked. Since Fritz resolved one hub, they would be able to use his information to sort out what they had. They got to work.
Krenshaw thought back to his times in DC. He couldn't believe Fritz married Blondie. She was cute but her mouth was too big. She just ran it all day long, not that he minded a woman with a large mouth, so long as she used it adequately. Krenshaw was also more into ruler type women.
LA
Tommy chatted up Betty. She told him that Branson had a reputation for hitting on other officers' wives in front of them. He apparently suggested to one he'd give her $50 for a blowjob. He also liked to hit on all of the secretaries. None of them appreciated it. Rumor had it he'd also steal people's lunch out the fridge, off their desk, he ate one guys sandwich in front of him.
Tommy reported back to the team. Jackie found one of the guys who transferred out. He didn't want to talk, but he admitted that if Branson hadn't been the boss, he likely would have stayed. His main problem was with with Branson's goons. He tried to talk to Branson about their behavior, but things just got worse. One day, he came to his car after work and it wouldn't start. He had to have it towed and his spark plugs were missing. The next day, he got a coffee and when he came back, the spark plugs were in the cup. He didn't see them do it, but …. After that, he decided to transfer.
Gabriel came back. He approached another officer about her transfer. He mentioned Branson and she started crying, so he left her with his card. "Whatever happened to her had to be ugly?"
Brenda shook her head. Now, she wanted to really wallop him. She told her team to keep it up and try and stay discreet.
A tan man with dark hair came into the office. "I'm looking for Chief Johnson."
"Jake, Thanks for coming. You can call me Brenda." She shook his hand and ushered him into her office.
Her team looked at each other quizzically.
"What can I do you for?"
"I was wondering if you could tell me about Branson, about how he runs FID."
"Branson's an ass and nobody likes him unless they're ass-kissers."
"I've noticed that, but I was wondering if you knew about the team dynamics."
"Why don't you ask his team?"
"He's under investigation, and if I ask them directly without anything to go on..."
"He'll know in a heartbeat, scare everyone into silence and poof."
"Pretty much." Brenda took out the bottle of Scotch and left it on her desk.
"I can see Provenza told you about me. Good man." Brenda poured him a glass.
"Well, from what I gather Branson is a type-A bully. He does whatever he wants to do to people who can't fight back, officers facing a force investigation, subordinates who have little seniority, etc. He's the guy who will drink your beer right in front of you, but write you up if you punch him for it. The short-tempered get suspended, the wise get lost and the fearful cower. He has too thugs, Byron and Mac who are his enforcers. They show up late, boss everyone around, get overtime they don't deserve. I would take a good look at their time sheets. Sandy asked them about one that didn't add up. I don't know what Branson said or did to her, but she never asked about timecards again, to anyone, ever."
Brenda wrote down Sandy's information. "Do you know anything about Byron and Mac?"
"Byron allegedly abducted a girl in college."
"WHAT!"
"He said it was a frat prank. Allegedly, he grabbed a girl, tied her to a tree and left her there for hours. She got really messed up, afraid and stuff. He didn't touch her, well you know where, but he messed with her mind. Normally, a guy like that gets expelled from school, but his parents hired a fancy lawyer, bought her off and donated a bunch of money to the school."
Brenda sighed.
"Mac has no such history. He just seems like a lackey, will go where Byron goes. I don't see how this helps you." Jake poured another glass. "Everyone knows he a jerkface, but anyone who isn't scared of him isn't going to be around him in the first place. What do a bunch of stories with no names accomplish?"
"You've been a great help. The easiest way to catch a bad guy is to understand his pathology, figure out who he is and what makes him tick. The more I learn about his cronies, the more easily I can dismantle him."
"And I told you something that is that useful."
"Yes, you did."
"You spend a lot of time getting into people's minds. Every try and get into mine?"
"I have a feeling you've seen and gone through too much in your life. My head might explode."
"Smart lady." He poured himself some more Scotch.
Thursday - 3AM
A murder came up for Major Crimes. The gang was all hauled out of bed to get to the crime scene. They got there and a woman was dead on the side of the road.
"Why is this a major crime?" Provenza asked, unhappy about being awake at this hour, well awake without a woman in his bed.
"Because she robbed a bank in Santa Barbara last week," Tao answered. "And the money's still missing."
Morales took the body, no obvious signs of how she died yet, but healthy young women usually don't drop dead on their own. The squad photographed the scene and sketched it, looking for tread marks, tracks anything that could give a clue.
They collected what they could and headed back to the station
Andrea woke up in her bed alone, tossing and turning. She wanted a Flynn. She curled under her sheets and stayed there.
Brenda slept alone. She tried not to touch herself. It mostly worked. She wanted to knock Fritz's socks off the moment he came to the door.
Bobby couldn't wait for his date on Friday. He slept hugging his pillow, wishing it were Raydor instead.
Mid day
The case wasn't that hard to figure out. Their victim had two roommates who were her best friends in college. They all had low paying jobs and a lot of debt. They both didn't show up for work today. Bolos were put out on their cars, their passports flagged, SBPD, the coast guard and border patrol were notified. Now, time to wait.
Mid Air
Fritz slept like a baby while on the flight. He sat by the window and passed out before his neighbors appeared. Ginos was a hot mess the night before. Krenshaw got a drink thrown in his face by a bartender. There was a bunch of arguing over the game, over who was a bitch, etc. Fritz got exhausted just watching the ruckus.
Andrea texted Flynn. Can you sneak away for a few minutes?
"Sure. Meet me by the park down the street." They met there about 20 minutes later; Andy greeted her with a kiss.
She hugged him. "I missed this."
"I missed you. I don't like waking up to find that you are gone."
"I had to go to work."
"I know, still sucks though."
"What are you doing tomorrow?"
"I have dinner with the kids."
"That's nice. Want to come over after?"
"Yes."
They kissed again and held each other for a little bit. They both had to return to work.
Sharon hoped this case would be wrapped up before tomorrow night. She did not want to change her plans.
Tao was coordinating between all of the groups investigating, He made a program that showed on a map regions of interest, so each force knew if the other forces found something to investigate. Instead of calling each other in conferences all day, we could actually see the mission unfold.
Sykes rounded up everyone who knew the victim or her friends to try and see how they would have come up with such a scheme.
Sanchez was friends with a detective in Santa Barbara. They discussed the case and strategies for luring the suspects into public.
Brenda went to pick up Fritz from the airport. She was wearing her pink trench coat, with nothing underneath it.