No Such Thing as a Perfect Family (27)

" – don't see why you had to call me in if the suspect's lawyer isn't even here and the guy's not talking!" Emma rounded on her heels again, having paced the same bit of floor for the thirtieth time, and glared at the supposedly elite division who was promising to make her hair go gray ten years too early.

Seated leisurely at his desk, Lieutenant Provenza lowered the file he'd been reading. "The lawyer's on the way, and when he gets here we'll want this squared away as fast as possible."

"It's nine-thirty already! I've been waiting here for an hour doing nothing!"

He checked his watch, eyebrows arching in mild surprise. "Ah, what do you know, it has been an hour. Well, time just flies when you're having fun. You want another coffee? Buzz –"

"I don't want coffee!" She threw her hands in the air. "I want you to tell me why you called me in here 'urgently' when there's clearly nothing going on!"

Detective Sykes looked up from her own desk, disagreement plain in her expression. "We're one conviction away from wrapping up our case."

"A case that's not even mine to start with," railed Emma. "Hobbs is handling this, so I don't get why –"

"DDA Hobbs wasn't available," Provenza said pleasantly, "and we all want this settled ASAP. The carjackings case made the media, as you well know, so the faster we get our last suspect sent to jail, the faster we can get the press to stop questioning our unquestionable competence." He cocked his head at her. "Which I'm sure all our bosses will be thrilled about."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, and you couldn't wait until after the lawyer was here to call me?"

"We like to be prepared," he deadpanned, and Emma groaned.

These people were beyond the pale! First it was getting the so-called 'urgent' call pretty much the second she'd gotten to her office, and now here she was over an hour later having accomplished nothing but a major headache.

A styrofoam cup appeared to her right. "Coffee?" Buzz asked, all innocent courtesy.

Emma glared.

They all looked so engrossed in their work, bent over papers and computers at their desks, quiet and blatantly ignoring her. She stood there leaning against a desk, tapping her foot rapidly to the floor, until she couldn't take the idleness anymore.

"Are you serious?"

"The job takes patience," Detective Sanchez put in, and Emma glowered.

Like she didn't know what they were up to. She swore to god, they were like children.

Letting out a sigh, she crossed her arms. "I'm not planning to go wait for your captain at the airport, if that's what this is all about."

Lt. Tao looked up from his desk: "Captain Raydor is coming back today?" He looks so genuinely, innocuously surprised, that Emma wanted to strangle him.

"Don't even bother," she grumbled, then turned and headed for the door.

Provenza glanced up. "Where are you going?"

"To the courthouse," she retorted, "to do some actual work. Do you have any idea what's on my agenda for today? I don't have time to waste in your transparent attempts to cover for –"

"DDA Rios," the older lieutenant pulled off his most scandalized look, "are you saying that you don't want this criminal put away? He's helped hijack half a dozen cars," his eyebrows arched pointedly, "we have three dead bodies, not to mention the victims who are still alive and seriously injured… and you're going to walk out of here when we're almost ready to send one of the men responsible to jail for the rest of his life?"

She rolled her eyes at the unneeded histrionics. "We can't make a deal with him without his lawyer! And it's not even my case to begin with!" With another groan, she pulled out her cell phone.

"What are you doing?" Sykes looked suspicious. Emma narrowed her eyes.

"I'm calling Hobbs!" She could deal with all of them. Emma had had it.

It was a cause for worry when Lt. Provenza just smiled pleasantly and didn't try to stop her. "Why don't you do that," he agreed. "Meanwhile… I'll go look for our lawyer." Pulling out a folder from a drawer in his desk, he stood up. "If you can't get a hold of DDA Hobbs, just… hang around a little longer. I'll see if I can speed things along for you."

With that, he checked his watch and grabbed his jacket and walked out of the murder room, and Emma followed him with a grim look – whatever he was up to, it was highly doubtful that it would end up being helpful to her.

And if they thought that stalling her would be of any use, they were wrong. Whether it was in an hour or two or five, she was walking into a judge's chambers and filing her motion, and this time there was simply no way that she could be overruled.

Sharon had made him to go to school. He couldn't believe that she'd made him go to school! It had been like, eleven by the time they'd even made it there, but she'd argued that he'd only missed the morning classes and he could still make the last three and he should be happy that he's not missing another day. Which, seriously? But she'd dropped him off and had even gone in to speak briefly with Sister Margaret, and then she'd just – left him there.

"But, wait – Sharon, what about… Emma? What about… everything?" Rusty had stopped halfway up the front steps to the school, and she'd just given him a tight smile that had looked entirely unconvincing.

"Don't worry about that right now." And it might have sounded more reassuring if her voice hadn't nearly choked as she'd spoken. "You just have a good day at school, and I'll see you in the afternoon."

"But –"

"Go on, Rusty. You don't want to be late to class."

"Sharon…"

But that had been it, she'd made a quick retreat back to Lt. Flynn's car, and had left him with anxiety swirling in his stomach and no idea of what would happen to him next.

And truly, on the one hand, Rusty was happy that he didn't have to face Emma. He knew that Sharon was going to go and … deal with all of it, and he knew that she'd fight for his case a lot better than he could… But it wasn't fair, because she hadn't done anything and she shouldn't have to deal with this, not now. Not ever, really. It wasn't her fault.

He wondered what Lt. Provenza had given her at the airport. Her hands had been shaking when she'd signed whatever it was. She'd looked at a total loss, but the lieutenant hadn't explained anything. They'd parted ways in the airport parking lot, and Sharon and Lt. Flynn had driven him, much to his dismay, to St. Joe's.

And now he was stuck there for the next four hours and it was entirely possible that at the end of that, his fate would have decided for him… and just as he was finally beginning to better understand and feel secure about his place in Sharon's life, he was about to lose it.

When they pulled up in front of Sharon's building and she made no move to acknowledge where they were, Andy glanced over with no small amount of sympathy. She'd been mostly silent on the ride over from Rusty's school, one elbow on the armrest of the passenger door, her forehead leaning into her hand. He could tell that she was thinking. But however much he wished he could help, no solution occurred to him.

Something had occurred to Provenza, obviously, even though Andy didn't get it. Frankly, he could barely believe it when Sharon had signed the forms – she must've mostly been worn out by his partner's insistence. Her expression had been a mixture of reproach and resignation as she'd finally taken the proffered pen.

She'd humored Provenza way too easily. The situation must've looked so hopeless to her, that she thought nothing could hurt matters much.

A small jerk of her head let him know that she'd finally noticed where they were. Then she turned to him. "Thank you, Andy…" She looked distracted, and he couldn't blame her. "I… are you going home from here?"

"Thought I'd drop by the station first. Check in… make sure everyone's been behaving," he joked. There was too much going on to go home yet, anyway. "Don't worry, I'll have the squad car drop the kid off here after school."

She shook her head, reaching for the door handle. "That's alright. I'll get my car and follow you to the station. If you don't mind waiting a minute –"

"What? Sharon –" It took him a second to process what she was saying, it was that unexpected. Andy sighed. "You don't want to do that today. You know Rios and Taylor are gonna be there… Just…" Take another day, he wanted to tell her. No one would come knocking down her door until tomorrow, he and the rest of the team would make sure of that, if they had to stand guard outside her apartment themselves.

But there was a tired sort of determination in her expression as she opened the door. "The situation with DDA Rios needs to be addressed anyway. I'd rather have it done sooner than later. I'll only be a few minutes," she repeated as she stepped out of the car, "I can meet you by the garage exit."

"Sharon…" Andy knew a lost battle when he saw one; he leaned slightly across the passenger seat, to be able to see her fully. "I can drive us both," he offered. But she only shook her head again.

"That's not necessary, thank you. I'd rather you didn't have to come back here." She backed away half a step, than froze. "I – that didn't…" He heard her soft sigh. "I'm sorry, Andy, I'm not choosing my words right. I meant that I'd rather you didn't have to go out of your way again to drop me and Rusty off later."

"I got it. And it's no bother. Let me drive you." He was starting to get a headache.

But she only refused again. And then apologized, he wasn't even sure for what. That was a good signal for him to give up, really. With a long sigh, he complied with Sharon's wishes and pulled the car up by the garage door exit, and then ended up following her all the way to the station.

She heard Emma Rios long before she saw her, the younger woman's shrill voice echoing along the empty walls outside the Assistant Chief's office. The words were impossible to discern, but the tone was undeniably irritated, demanding, adamant.

Sharon refused to falter in her steps, but had to force herself to reach for the door handle.

She wasn't ready. However much she'd tried, no miracle solutions had occurred to her. There were no new arguments that they hadn't already discussed on the day that DDA Rios had found the letters. No aces up her sleeve. All she had were the same points she'd raised before, still valid now, and the determination that she was not walking out of that office having lost that one battle.

Rusty was not leaving her custody.

He was family.

Her fingers were shaking when she curled them around the door handle.

Emma pounced almost before the door clicked shut again, her expression incensed, scandalized. "Captain Raydor. I hope you en…" She cut herself off before actually saying 'enjoyed', not that anyone was fooled. The momentary slip only gave her pause for one second, then she recovered, sprung again: "…realize that… there are consequences to… what happened."

Her shoulders straight, her posture unintimidated, Sharon took two more steps toward the desk and dipped her head slightly in a quiet greeting. "Chief. DDA Rios."

"Captain." Taylor's voice was equally pleasant, and he actually stood up to greet her. "Again, I'm very sorry for your loss. I hope your family is doing well."

She acknowledged with a brief nod. "Thank you. As well as can be expected."

With a long breath, Emma cleared her throat. "Look… this can wait. Okay?" she conceded in a calmer voice. "It can wait. A day, two, whatever. But… I just thought I should let you know… I'm appealing your guardianship with the DCFS."

Sharon's lips pressed together. "On what grounds, exactly?"

"Seriously?" Emma threw her hands up in incredulity. "You took my material witness away against my express wishes – and without, I might add, DCFS permission! You're lucky I don't take you to cour –"

"DDA Rios," Taylor interrupted, in a patient voice. "Need I remind you that we have been through this before. Captain Raydor had no knowledge of the boy's intentions, and I can attest to that, and to her efforts to retrieve him once he left home."

"Yes, because he just ran off to Minnesota of his own volition, out of the blue!"

"Oh it wasn't out of the blue, I think we can agree that there was ample cause," the Chief acknowledged serenely. "But yes, it was of his own volition, and that much is plain."

"Really?"

The unexpected defense from Taylor surprised Sharon, but she confirmed: "It's true. I had no prior knowledge of those plans, and I did try to prevent them. You were there yourself," she reminded the DDA. "By the time word reached me, Rusty was already on the plane and there was nothing to be done."

"Well then he's lucky that I don't charge him. Or your son!"

Sharon took a step forward. "Please," her voice dropped dangerously low, "don't ever threaten my children, Emma. I assure you, I do not take that lying down."

"Are you – " The younger woman cut herself off again, an angry huff leaving her as she did so. "I'll admit that there's no proof of how exactly they pulled it off. But … "

"If there is no evidence, then I believe you of all people should know, there is no case." Sharon lifted her chin, fixing the DDA with a steely look. "So please stop trying to go after Rusty – or anyone else in my family for that matter."

Emma's eyes narrowed. "The only one 'going after' Rusty is the author of those letters, and since the boy is unfortunately the central pivot of the state's case against Phillip Stroh, it's my job to make sure he'll be around by the time he has to testify! Which in your custody, is looking less and less likely!"

"Rusty's safety is my first priority," Sharon growled, anger punctuating almost every word with a shaky breath.

"That's not what your behavior in this matter demonstrated," retorted the younger woman, "and combining that with the fact that you all completely disregarded the law, I think I can get any judge to agree with me that –"

Sharon crossed her arms. "You're free to take this matter in front of a judge, but before you do so," she advised, "you should remember that it's not illegal for Rusty to have left on his own. Which is precisely what happened," she reiterated. "There was no disregard of any laws."

Emma rolled her eyes again. "So you're saying that Rusty, a minor, left his home without your prior knowledge or consent, got on a flight – probably illicitly and certainly without permission from DCFS – and flew all the way to Minnesota, where you just happened to need to go, is that right?" She put a hand on her hip and waved the other in a gesture of disbelief. "And you had no idea of any of this before it happened."

Sharon was about to once again confirm it, when from the corner of her eye she caught Taylor's expression, and paused.

And with a flash of dismay, it suddenly dawned on her that she wasn't deconstructing Emma's case at all. She was all but making it for her. Had she been more present and less emotionally invested, she should have seen it from a hundred miles away. Misdirection. The same trick she'd employed in her interview room dozens of times. She'd been defending herself on one front, and leaving herself wide open on another.

Oh god, she should have seen it. How could she have missed it?

Her consternation at having been caught so off-guard must have shown on her face, but it was too late. Emma crossed her arms slowly.

"You might as well just admit it, Captain," she said with quiet finality. "There aren't three ways that this could've gone down. Either you planned to take Rusty away without permission, which you should remember is illegal – or you were negligent enough to allow this little escapade to happen under your watch." Her nod was grimly victorious. "Either of those is more than enough grounds for a hearing."

All the blood drained out of Sharon's face. "You're reaching, DDA Rios."

"No, you were," countered Emma, "if you were hoping that we'd take this 'runaway teenager' story sitting down. And it's the second time he's done it, so with that prior strike I should have no trouble convincing a judge to void your guardianship. After all, this time the kid 'ran off' thousands of miles away without your consent," she said sarcastically, "who knows what he'll do next."

"Emma…" Sharon could hear the pleading note in her voice, but the younger woman only scowled harder.

"I told you not to take him," she railed. "And fine, you know what, I even believe you – he probably did run off on his own! But that doesn't change the fact that he did so because it's what you wanted, and that's undue influence and I don't need to tell you what even the mention of that could do in the Phillip Stroh case!" She held up a warning finger. "So you should've listened to me from the start, and let me put him with the Broades, and that's exactly what's going to happen now because even you can't talk down two instances of a minor running off while under your supposedly 'positive' guardianship!"

"He didn't…" Sharon lowered her forehead against her joint hands for a second, trying her hardest to think of a way out, but…

"No – Captain Raydor, there's just no way to spin this, okay?" Emma's tone was unyielding. "Either you made Rusty leave for Minnesota, or he ran away from you – and I believe you when you say it was the latter, and believe it or not I'm glad because I didn't actually want you brought up on charges," she added, "but that's still more than enough to make my case. And I'm sorry to say that I should have no problems proving that you're not fit to keep our witness safe and out of trouble." She crossed her arms again with stern satisfaction. "And that Rusty should get relocated to a more suitable environment."

The words echoed mercilessly in the silent office, and Sharon could hear her heart pounding loudly in her ears.

She actually lowered herself into one of the chairs, her right hand gripping the edge of the Chief's desk tightly.

Emma dipped her chin to give her a determined look. "I'm sorry, but it's true. Rusty will be better off with Broades and without all the ... drama, and the Stroh case will be better off with him there. And you'll be better off without this mess on your hands," she added persuasively, and turned to Taylor for support: "Right?"

He sighed. "It's not really my place to say..."

His reluctance didn't seem to bother her; having clearly made her case, Emma's posture lost some of its vehemence, and she shrugged. "Well… if that's all… I expect a judge to see us in the next two days," she told Sharon, then took a step closer to the chair. "Look, I know you won't believe me, but I am sorry that you're sad about this." She ignored the incredulous look that crossed the Captain's face. "But it really is for the best. "

With that, she turned on her heels and headed for the door.

"Have a good day, Captain Raydor, Chief Taylor."

"Oh, one last thing, DDA Rios," Taylor remembered, his tone mild as he reached into one of his drawers. "You left this here last week."

Emma gave him a questioning glance, and wondered why the folder in his hands looked so familiar.

Walking around the desk, he opened it and browsed the contents with a cursory glance. "I believe it's the temporary guardianship agreement that Captain Raydor gave the Broades when she was preparing to leave for Minnesota."

Emma frowned.

Sharon looked up from her seat.

The DDA took a step back, alarm crossing her features. "She never signed that. You never signed that!" she all but shouted to Sharon, who couldn't help the rush of blood to her face.

With an expression of polite interest, Taylor flipped to the last pages. "Looks signed to me," he commented. "By both of you. And there's the DCFS stamp… pre-approved, I believe you called it?"

Speechless, Emma shook her head. "But…"

His expression grew thoughtful. "Well, that does present a problem," the Chief hummed. "According to this document, legally, the Broades were responsible for the boy when he ran off. If we were to make his…actions…public in a hearing, I suppose a judge might see that as evidence against your case…"

"That's not a valid – that's not... Why are you doing this!" Emma gave him an almost desperate look.

"I didn't get, pre-approve or pre-file this request, DDA Rios," he reminded her. "I'm just returning it to you."

Her cheeks reddened furiously. "But you agree with me! This situation is unacceptable and unprofessional! You…"

Taylor held up his hands and shrugged. "Like I said, it's not really my place to say…"

Her mouth open in indignation, the DDA stared at him for a few seconds, then she shook her head again and slammed the folder shut with an irate snap.

As Emma had stormed out of the office, hands gripping the offending forms that had put such a significant hole in her case, Sharon had leaned her head against the back of the chair and tried to take a deep breath. She felt as though she'd run a marathon.

Standing only a few feet away, Taylor looked down at her. His lips pursed in his usual expression of displeasure. "Do you need a glass of water?" he asked her.

She turned down the half-hearted offer with a wave of her hand. "You had that all along. Lieutenant Provenza…" She paused, shaking her head.

"Yes, DDA Rios happened to leave the file here last week and I was just too busy to return it…" the Chief shrugged, his tone perfectly casual. "So I gave it to Provenza to return it to her… but today he admitted that he'd forgotten." His eyebrows arched meaningfully. "He gave it back to me so I could pass it along to Emma."

Her throat feeling impossibly dry, Sharon tried to swallow. "Why…" But she trailed off. She could've asked why he'd decided to help, and if he had, why he hadn't just brought the folder out from the start, but she didn't truly care; he'd done it in the end and that was what mattered. "Thank you…!"

The same vague displeasure flashed across the man's features again. "Don't thank me," he advised in his mild tone. "I do happen to agree with Rios. But she went too far on this, crossed the wrong lines. She needs to learn that this isn't how things get done." A beat, and then: "But if you ask me, sooner or later she's going to come after this guardianship issue again – probably sooner. And she really does hold all the cards."

Sharon let out a slow breath. "She doesn't hold all the cards," she said softly. "I have Rusty."

And Taylor sighed. "That's exactly the kind of thinking that's going to cost you the guardianship," he commented." And that's why I let Emma make her case before giving her the files. I hope you remember how it felt when you thought she was winning, Captain," he told her with a pointed look, "because if you or the boy go so much as an inch outside the rules again, she'll bring you to court and no stunt is going to save you next time."

Sharon nodded silently.

When she walked back into the murder room a minute later, everyone paused what they were doing and looked up, and they didn't even try to disguise their anxious curiosity.

Her eyes found Provenza, and she joined her hands and mouthed, "Thank you," with a grateful look that still held some tears.

He shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable, but a smirk lifted the corners of his lips. Next to him, Flynn slapped his back.

The strap of his backpack kept slipping off, and Rusty adjusted it twice as he walked through the school gate. The squad car usually parked a little further up by his request, but they didn't seem to be there yet. He was so focused on the strap and looking for the black-and-white car, that he completely missed the SUV right out front, until a brief honk made him turn.

His eyes widened "Sharon!"

She smiled from behind the wheel, and motioned for him to get in.

He rushed to open the passenger door. "Is everything okay? Why are you here?"

His anxiety earned him a sympathetic gaze. "Everything's fine," she assured him. "I left the station a little early so I could pick you up. I thought we could spend some time together, maybe go for an early dinner somewhere."

He was instantly wary. "Why? Are they making me move? Sharon – " He cut himself off and gritted his teeth. "I mean that's … that's okay too, but… can I at least still –"

"You're not going anywhere," she interrupted, then smiled at him again. "Except perhaps dinner, if you take me up on my invitation." Seeing that he was far from reassured, she sighed, her expression turning serious. "Rusty, I'm not going to lie to you. Emma, and others, think that our current living arrangements are creating… conflicts of interest. And with the added pressure of the threat letters…" She swallowed, her eyes softening. "We might have to make further adjustments. For your safety, primarily, but also to satisfy the concerns of any number of authorities who have a say in where you go."

"Okay, but… these 'adjustments'… do they involve me going to live somewhere else?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," she promised, and his shoulders sagged with a relieved breath.

"Okay! Okay, then… whatever! We can make adjustments!" He was in the middle of a frantic nod, when it occurred to him to ask: "What kind of adjustments?"

Her smile was a little wavery. "I'm not sure yet. Increased security, most likely. I'm sorry," she said at his instinctive grimace, "I know how you feel about all the measures already in place, but Rusty…"

"I know…" He scuffed the tip of his shoe against the rubber floor mat. "Okay, okay Sharon, that's fine." And it really was. At least he got to stay. "We'll do whatever they want us to do. I won't complain."

Hearing him use the word 'we' caused a small knot in her throat – he probably hadn't even realized he was doing it.

"Alright," she agreed quietly."Thank you."

"Is Emma going to keep coming after me? Or you...?"

Sharon bit her lips. "At some point in the future... it's possible. But I've told you this before, and I'll say it again," she continued seriously. "I want what's best for you, Rusty. Right now, I think that's staying with me, and not going to the Broods."(she smiled at his small grin) "If that changes… we'll have to deal with it. But please, please know that no matter what, you'll always have a place in my home and in my family."

There was a brief, solemn silence after her words. "Sharon…I…" Rusty fidgeted in his seat. "I…"

"You don't have to say anything," she said softly. "Just keep that in mind. Okay…?"

When he nodded silently, she squeezed his shoulder, then started the engine and reached for her seatbelt. "So, where should we go for –"

She was abruptly cut off when he reached over – a little hesitantly, a little awkwardly, but he did it nonetheless, one of his arms reaching around her left shoulder, while the other didn't quite fit properly around her right until she let go of the seatbelt and turned in her seat. He scooted toward her a few inches then, both arms around her body now, and she felt him tighten his grip as she shifted slightly to accommodate him. He only held on for another few seconds, but it was long enough for Sharon to return it, and she briefly rested her chin against his shoulder and closed her eyes and smiled.

I'm almost confident to say we only have one chapter left (gah!). This chapter was almost split in two, but then I decided to spare us all the cliffhanger and resolve the situation in one, longer shot.

Thank you all for reading – and to everyone who takes the time to send me their comments, I always love seeing your thoughts.