DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.
A/N: Thank you everyone for those great reviews! This chapter is going to be a long one. Enjoy!
Chapter 6
Andy's phone alerted him to a text message. He glanced over at the clock, trying not to disturb Sharon who was still sleeping in his arms. It was 1:15 and he wondered who would be texting him this early, or late for that matter. He slowly moved and reached for his phone to see. It was Provenza. The message said 'fingerprints are definitely Croelick's, patrol hasn't seen him'. He placed the phone down by his side and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. He then picked up the phone again and replied back to Provenza. 'thanks, get some sleep' he wrote back to him. 'You also' Provenza sent within a minute of his reply. Andy placed his phone back on the night stand. As he did this, Sharon moved a little bit but then settled down.
Andy knew that he needed to get some sleep soon in order to function in the morning. He had planned to bring some small items over to the new house so that the main move would only consist of the big items. They needed to call the moving company and set up a time and date for them. Perhaps they could do it before Thanksgiving, that way they could be in the new house for it. Although, it would be rushed but it would help bring out Sharon's sense of occasion if they hosted Thanksgiving this year. After all, they had a lot to be thankful for. Andy would have to run that by Sharon first to make sure that was alright with her. They could invite the whole team over he thought to himself.
Before Andy's mind could get carried away, Sharon stirred again and woke up this time. She glanced at the clock and in doing so, saw that Andy was wide awake. "Hey" she whispered to him. "Hi" Andy whispered back to her. She was now propped up by her elbows leaning close to Andy. "Have you slept at all?" Sharon asked him as she looked at him. "No. Provenza texted me, Croelick's fingerprints were on the note and it matches his handwriting" Andy said to her. She nodded and then scooted closer to him and placed her head back on his shoulder, her face into the crook of his neck. She started to draw lazy circles on his chest trying to get him to relax. He always enjoyed it when she did that to him. "You need to go to sleep" she said to him in her sleepy voice.
"What do you think about moving in before Thanksgiving and then having everyone over at the new house on Thanksgiving Day?" Andy said back to her. She stopped moving her hand on his chest and looked up at him with a quizzical look on her face. "Oh, you are serious about that?" she questioned him. He nodded. "Yes" he whispered to her. "We haven't even secured a moving company yet, Andy. How are we" she started to say as Andy placed a finger up to her mouth. "It will work, trust me" he said to her. She leaned down and kissed him. "This Monday you have your doctor's appointment for your month checkup" she reminded him. "I know" he said back to her, not forgetting that or their one month anniversary coming up. She laid her head back down on his shoulder and placed her right leg over his right leg. "Hmm, get some sleep" she said back to him as she pulled the covers over both of them. She brought her right hand underneath his t-shirt and placed it over his heart. She thought about all of the things she was thankful for in the past year. He closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. "I can hear you thinking" he whispered to her. She smiled. "You have given me a lot to think about" she whispered back to him.
The sun was starting to rise in the morning over Los Angeles and its rays started to creep into their bedroom through the shades. Both Sharon and Andy began to stir at the same time and woke up. Sharon glanced over at the clock on the night stand and saw that it was 6:45. Andy moved with her as she started to get up and gently brought her back down to him. "Hmm, I like you right here" he said to her as he started to kiss her neck slowly making his way up to her ear. Sharon laughed as she was ticklish there. Andy knew that drove her crazy when he did that. "Shh, do you hear that?" Andy asked her as he stopped doing what he was doing. "The TV is on" she said to him. She started to get up and this time, Andy allowed her as he followed her out of bed. She threw on her cardigan sweater and he put his robe on and they left their room and headed down the hallway.
They saw Matthew sitting on the couch watching a cartoon and Moxie was sitting next to him. Sharon walked over to where he was sitting and sat down. "Good Morning" she said to him in a sweet voice. Matthew looked over at Sharon. "Good Morning" he said back to her as he was petting Moxie. Andy made his way into the kitchen and started to make breakfast for everyone. "Did I wake you?" Matthew asked innocently. "No, honey, we were up" Sharon said as she scooted over next to him as Moxie jumped off the couch and ran in the kitchen to join Andy. Moxie sat down next to Andy and watched him cook something on the stove. "Hey buddy, are you hungry" Andy asked the dog. Moxie wagged his tail. Andy then took Moxie's bowl and filled it with his food and he ate it.
Andy made breakfast and Sharon and Matthew met him at the kitchen table and they all ate together. Afterwards Sharon cleaned up the kitchen and Andy went to his laptop and looked up some moving companies. He found three companies that had excellent reviews online. He called each of them up and wrote down some information they gave him. "Hey, Sharon?" Andy said as he walked back in the kitchen. Sharon was cleaning up the kitchen from the breakfast that Andy had made. "I can do that" he said to her. "No, you cooked breakfast this morning, and I appreciate that" Sharon said to him. "Ok, well, I contacted three moving companies and here is their information" he said to her handing her the piece of paper he wrote on. Sharon looked it over. "This one looks like a reasonable price, and they are willing to move us this Wednesday?" Sharon asked him. "Yes, that way we can be all settled in for Thanksgiving" Andy said back to her. "Ok, let's do it" she said excited that they were setting a date to move.
Andy called back the moving company and had everything set up for them to move on Wednesday. They had both taken that day off of work anyways and if the team does catch a case, one of them could easily go in to the office if needed. "Matthew, did you want to come with me to the new house while I bring some things over there?" Andy asked Matthew who was sitting on the couch reading the book of snakes again. Matthew looked up at Andy and nodded yes to him. Andy walked back over to where Sharon was at and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Did you want to come with too?" he asked her as he kissed her neck. "I do only because you need to be supervised. I don't want you injuring yourself because you lifted heavy boxes that you shouldn't have" Sharon said to him and then unwrapped herself from his arms and headed down the hallway. Andy just looked at her as she left. He didn't need to be supervised. Oh well, he thought as he shrugged his shoulders.
After everyone was dressed and Rusty came back home to the condo, they packed up Andy and Sharon's car each with boxes of items that they had slowly packed away. Moxie came out with Andy and Matthew and the three of them headed out in his car. Sharon and Rusty followed them in Sharon's car. This gave her some time alone with Rusty as she really hadn't had a chance to talk with him like she used to do. "So, is everything okay?" she asked Rusty as she drove over to the new house. "Everything is good" he said to her. "How are your new classes going?" she asked him. "They are somewhat hard but I am managing through them" Rusty said to her as he looked out the window. "Have you heard from your mother recently?" Sharon asked as they came to the stop light. "No" he answered her as the light turned green.
They arrived at the new house and pulled up in the driveway. Andy's car was parked in front of them. "So when are we officially moving in here?" Rusty asked them as he got out of the car. "Andy called a moving company and they are moving everything to here on Wednesday" Sharon said to him. Rusty was sorry to see the condo go as that was his home when he first came to live with Sharon all those years ago. But he was happy that he would be getting his own apartment, even if it was above the garage, it still meant privacy for him. Rusty grabbed some boxes and headed inside the house. Andy told Matthew that he and Moxie could go play outside in the backyard and they did. Andy started to bring a box into the house and placed it down in the den. With both of the boys outside, Sharon took this opportunity to corner Andy in the den and slowly kissed him. "What was that for?" Andy asked her as they broke apart to catch their breaths. "Just because I am totally in love with you Andrew Flynn" she said to him and smiled.
They moved the rest of the boxes in the house and tried sorting out the contents, although they really couldn't do much since none of the furniture was there yet. Sharon sorted out some of the linens that she had already packed for the new house and placed them in the correct rooms. Matthew and Moxie came in the house from being out in the yard and met Andy in the kitchen area. "Does Moxie have muddy paws?" Andy asked Matthew as they came in. Matthew stopped and looked at Moxie. "I can't tell" Matthew said back to Andy. Andy walked over to them and took a look himself. He then grabbed an old towel and wiped off each of Moxie's paws just to be sure before letting him on the carpet areas of the house. He was all clean and Andy let him and Matthew run around the house. There was no furniture to knock over so this was the perfect time for them to be rambunctious Andy thought. That was until Matthew and Moxie ran into Sharon literally upstairs as they chased each other. "I'm so sorry Sharon, we didn't mean to run into you like that" Matthew said apologizing to Sharon right away. "Just be careful okay? And don't run like crazy" she said back to them as she made her way to the other rooms upstairs.
When she was done moving some things around upstairs she went past one of the rooms, and Matthew and Moxie were sitting down looking out the window. She stepped into the room that they were in. "Hi" she said to him as she got closer to them. "Hello" Matthew said as he looked out the window and he had his arm around Moxie. "Is this the room you were asking me about earlier?" Sharon asked him as she got down to his level. "Yes, I really like looking out these windows here" Matthew said as he pointed to the windows. "Oh I see, it is a nice view from here" Sharon said to Matthew. "We need to get you your own bed and some furniture to go with it" Sharon started to say. "Do I get to pick it out?" Matthew asked her. "You could if you wanted to" Sharon said. Matthew then had the biggest smile on his face. "Matthew, this afternoon we are going to go over to Andy's daughter's house for dinner and a visit. She has two boys that go to the same school as you, but they are in different grades there" Sharon said to Matthew. "Okay, can Moxie come with too?" Matthew asked her. She never really thought about that before. "Let me ask her if Moxie can come with first, okay?" Sharon said to him. He nodded and she pulled out her phone and texted Nicole.
There really wasn't anything else that they could do at the house that morning. Rusty had brought some of his boxes over to the apartment over the garage and that's where he was when Andy found him. "Hey Rusty, so do you like this set up here?" Andy asked him. "Yes, it's great and plus it gives me privacy. I think all of my belongings will fit here just perfectly" Rusty said to Andy as they both turned around to walk out the door and head back to the house.
Sharon heard back from Nicole a couple of minutes later. She was thankful that Nicole had said it was okay for them to bring Moxie with them when they came over later on today. They needed to buy some dog supplies for Moxie, like food, bedding, a crate, and some toys. Andy and Rusty walked back into the house. Sharon was making her way down the stairs and Matthew and Moxie were right behind her. "Are you guys ready to head back to the condo?" Sharon asked them. "Yes, there's really nothing else left to do here" Andy said to Sharon. "Well, we need to stop at a pet supplies store and pick up a few items for Moxie before we head back" Sharon said to Andy. "Sure" Andy said as he locked up the house and they all headed to the cars in the driveway. They drove separately to the closest pet supplies store and Andy held the leash of Moxie in the store while Sharon looked around at the different types of bedding and other essentials that they needed to get the dog. Matthew went looking with Sharon and Rusty. Almost a cart full later they were ready to check out. They had a dog crate, dog pillow, dog food and treats, and some dog toys.
"Do you think you have enough things there?" Andy laughed and asked Sharon as Rusty brought the cart out to the cars. "If I didn't know better, I think the dog has grown on to you" Andy whispered to her as they walked over to the car. Sharon smiled at him. "Perhaps" she said whispering back to him. Andy unlocked the car and Moxie jumped in the backseat. Rusty loaded the back with all of the dog items and Matthew helped with what he could. "Are you going to bring this back to the new house?" Sharon asked Andy. "I could if you want me to" Andy said back to her. "I was going to go to Target and buy some things for the new house, that way you can take the dog with you and I can take the boys shopping with me" Sharon said to him. Andy shrugged his shoulder. "That's fine. I'll see you back at the new house then" Andy said as he leaned in and gave her a kiss. Sharon, Rusty, and Matthew then all went in her car and they drove off. Andy looked at Moxie as he got in the car. "Well Moxie, it's just me and you for a while" Andy said to the dog as he drove back to the new house.
When Andy arrived at the new house, he had Moxie stay in the car as he unloaded everything. The crate wasn't as heavy as he thought it would be and when he unlocked the front door, he placed the crate in the hallway and then brought everything else in. He let Moxie out of the car and they both walked back into the house. He let Moxie off the leash and then decided where to put the dog's things. He brought the crate in to the kitchen and set it up there. Moxie just watched as Andy had put it together. "That's your safe place, Moxie" he said to the dog as he patted him on the head. Andy then went about putting the dog's bed in the den and opened some of the toys to let Moxie play with them in the house.
Sharon and the boys arrived at Target. She wanted to get new bathroom accessories because now their new home has four bathrooms. She went down that aisle and chose some items that she thought would fit nicely with the rooms. Matthew picked out a kid's motif and Sharon approved. Rusty picked one out that he thought would go nicely with the bathroom that would be his. They continued to shop around the store looking at other items for the new home. Sharon was in the home décor section of the store and saw a sign that said 'Home is wherever I'm with you'. She thought it was perfect for them and placed it in the cart. There were some other items that she liked and she took a picture of them and sent them to Andy to see what he thought.
Andy was outside with Moxie playing with a ball when his phone alerted to a text message from Sharon. He looked at the pictures that she had sent of the items. He knew Sharon was going to have a fun time shopping for new items to decorate the house with. He sent a text back to her. 'That looks fine. Perfect for the den' the message said. He looked at his watch, it was already passed noon. It was turning out to be a nice sunny day in LA and Andy walked over to where the pool was located in the yard. Moxie wanted to come with him but he told the dog to stay on the other side. Moxie waited for Andy on the other side of the fence. Andy looked at the pool and they needed to maintain it so he texted Sharon back and asked her if Target had any pool supplies.
"Rusty, can you go see if there are any pool supplies here, like chlorine and other items to maintain a pool" Sharon said to Rusty as they were walking around the store. "Sure" Rusty said as he went off in the direction of the sporting items. Sharon and Matthew were looking at new clothes and bed linens for him. A couple of minutes later, Rusty came back with the items Andy needed. Sharon then texted Andy back saying that they got the items and they would be checking out soon. 'Okay, want to have lunch here?' Andy texted her. 'Yes, we could pick it up on way home' Sharon texted to him. 'No, I'll get it' Andy said back. There was a little deli right down the street from their new house so Andy was going to go there to get some lunch.
20 minutes later, Sharon, Andy, and the boys were eating lunch at the island in the kitchen and Matthew was telling Andy about the new items for his room. He was really excited about it. Andy looked over at Sharon and smiled. He just hoped that Cynthia wasn't going to break them up with some news of a relative coming into the picture. Matthew seemed to be really fitting in with no problem now and he was also opening up to them. There was no going back for both Sharon and Andy as their hearts were fully open to this child. After lunch, Andy took the pool supplies out to the pool area and began to tinker with maintaining what needed to be done. After the pool was all set, he went back inside the house to find Sharon. Sharon had placed all of the new bathroom items in the appropriate rooms and Rusty took his to his apartment over the garage.
Matthew took Moxie up to his room and Andy had followed Sharon into the Master Bathroom. He came up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "We could sneak off into the closet for some privacy, the boys won't mind" Andy said to her as he began kissing her neck. "As much as I would like to do that, we need to get going if we are going to make it on time to Nicole's" Sharon said back to Andy as she smiled. Andy stopped kissing her neck and unwrapped himself from her. "I guess christening this room will just have to wait" Andy said back to her as they both walked out to the hallway. "Matthew, come on we need to get going now" Sharon said to Matthew as they walked passed his room. Matthew and Moxie came out of the room and followed them downstairs.
Rusty was still up at his place and got a text message from Andy. 'Meet us outside, ready to go' it said. Rusty replied back with an okay and headed out, locking the door behind him. With everything locked and everyone in the cars, they headed back over to the condo to get ready to go to Nicole's house.
When they arrived back at the condo, Sharon told Matthew that he needed to take a bath before they went out later on. Matthew had insisted that Moxie also needed to take a bath with him. As Sharon had gotten the bath ready for him, Matthew called Moxie and Moxie came barreling into the bathroom and jumped in the tub, splashing water all over the place. Sharon was not too happy about that. "Andy!" she called his name.
Andy heard Sharon call for him as he was in the closet looking for something. He came rushing out to see what Sharon needed. "Yes?" The sight before his eyes made him laugh. Sharon was all wet from the water being splashed at her when Moxie jumped in the tub. Moxie and Matthew were now sitting in the tub together looking back at Andy when he came in the room. "This is not funny" Sharon said to Andy when he showed up there. "I'll watch them honey, you go change your clothes" Andy said as she stood there, getting angry. She then retreated back to their bedroom to change her now wet clothes into some dry ones. Andy looked back at Matthew and at Moxie. "Not a good move boys" he said to them as he started to wipe up the excess water that was on the floor. Matthew looked back at Andy and lowered his head. "Sorry" he said to Andy.
Matthew dried himself off with a towel that Andy had given him while Andy dried off Moxie. Matthew put on his new clothes that they had bought him and ran into the other bedroom with Moxie following him. Andy walked back into their bedroom to see where Sharon was at. She was standing in the closet with the door half closed as she was changing her clothes. Andy walked up to the closet door and knocked on it, peaking his head in. She was wearing a blue bra and matching panties as she was trying to get dressed. Those colors drove him crazy. She threw a shirt over her bra and a sweater cardigan over that. Andy made his way into the closet with her and gave her a kiss. "The boys apologize for getting you wet earlier" he said to her. She smiled back at him and kissed him again. "It was a little funny" Sharon admitted to him and then pulled some jeans on. Andy began running his hands over her clothes and then slipped one hand underneath her shirt and began caressing her side. He pulled her in for another kiss. He couldn't help it, she drove him crazy.
Sharon made her way out of their bedroom and into the living room area a few minutes later. She saw Rusty and Matthew on the couch. Matthew was coloring in one of his coloring books while Rusty was reading a magazine. She made her way towards the kitchen and saw Moxie laying down on the floor. Andy got himself dressed after practically making out with Sharon inside their closet. He wore a nice pair of jeans, button down shirt, and a leather jacket. He made his way out to the living room. "Are you ready to go?" he asked. Rusty and Matthew both got up from the couch and Matthew placed Moxie's leash on the dog. Rusty stood by the door and waited for the rest of the group. Sharon grabbed her leather jacket and was ready to go. Andy grabbed the leash from Matthew and they all headed out down to the car.
They arrived at Nicole and Dean's house and as they pulled up, the boys were playing out in front of the house. They were excited to see everyone. Matthew was a little shy getting out of the vehicle and stayed by Sharon's side as they walked up to the house. Nicole was outside with her boys and greeted everybody. She kissed her dad on the cheek and gave Sharon a hug. "I'm so glad you guys were able to make it" Nicole said to her as she turned towards Matthew. Nicole then knelt down. "Hi Matthew, I'm Nicole" she said to Matthew. "Hi" Matthew said in a quiet voice. "I understand that you go to the same school as my boys do" Nicole said to him. Matthew nodded back at her. The boys were now petting Moxie and Moxie was wagging his tail. "Hi Rusty!" the boys said to Rusty as he came up the sidewalk towards the house. "Hi guys" Rusty said back to them as they rushed at him. "Dean is in the backyard getting the grill ready" Nicole said to her dad as they all went inside the house.
Matthew was still close to Sharon's side as they made their way through the house and into the backyard. The yard was fenced in so Andy let Moxie off the leash and Moxie ran around with the boys who were chasing him. Sharon, Nicole, and Matthew then joined them outside. Sharon turned to Matthew. "Why don't you go run with them, it's okay Matthew" Sharon said encouraging Matthew to go play with them. Matthew hesitated for a second and then ran off to join in the chase. "How are you guys doing?" Nicole asked Sharon as the two of them sat down on the chairs outside. "Things have been okay with Matthew. He's really enjoying school and talks about all of the things that he has learned so far. I think he is going to be okay" Sharon said to Nicole. "That's good to hear" Nicole said back to her.
"Dean" "Andy" the men said to each other as they shook their hands. "Glad you guys were able to come over. Nicole was talking about how she wanted to meet Matthew and the boys were excited too" Dean said to Andy as he began grilling. "How has it been with an eight year old?" Dean asked Andy. Andy looked at him and then looked at the boys playing. "It's been an adjustment, but the kid needed someone and I'm just glad we are able to help him" Andy said to Dean. "My only concern is that the social worker is going to find a relative that wants him. If that happens I know Sharon will be heartbroken. She's grown attached to him" Andy said as Dean was cooking. "I know what you mean" he said back to Andy.
"Dad said you guys had just solved an arson/murder case yesterday" Nicole said to Sharon as she offered her step-mom a drink. "Yes, we did" she said to Nicole as she looked back to where Andy was standing with Dean. "Bad case?" Nicole asked her as she sat back down. "An old person from your father's past came back into the picture, which brought up all kinds of things. But we are all good, solved the case and now have the weekend off" Sharon said to Nicole as she sipped her water. The boys enjoyed playing with the dog and Matthew was having a good time.
When Dean was done grilling, they all sat around the dining room table and ate dinner. After dinner, the adults sat around and talked while the kids ran off into their room, Moxie following them, and played with their toys. Sharon was happy to see how well Matthew was getting along with Dean and Nicole's boys. Nicole asked Rusty about his classes that he was taking at college.
"Sharon, Dad, if you guys ever need a babysitter or someone to pick up Matthew from school, we would be happy to do so" Nicole said to both Sharon and Andy. "Oh, thank you guys" Andy said. "We will certainly keep that in mind" Sharon said back to Nicole. It was getting late and the boys were still playing. Sharon turned to Andy who had stood up from where he was sitting. "Could you go get Matthew and tell him we are getting ready to go" Sharon asked Andy. "Sure honey" Andy said back to her and made his way to the room that had the boys in it.
"When are you moving to the new house?" Nicole asked Sharon. As Sharon got up she answered Nicole. "Your father was able to book movers this Wednesday so we should be all settled in by Thanksgiving" Sharon said to her. "Where are you guys going for Thanksgiving this year?" Sharon asked her as she put on her leather jacket. "Oh, we were just going to stay local this year, my mother is having Charlie and his new girlfriend over for dinner. She invited us too but I didn't know what plans we had" Nicole said to Sharon as they waited for Andy to get Matthew and Moxie.
Andy opened the door to the room and saw the three boys playing with their Star Wars figures and having battles with them. Moxie was laying down watching them as well. "Ok boys, Matthew needs to go home now" Andy said to them. "Awh, so soon Grandpa?" they said. "Maybe we could set up another play date and either Matthew could come over again, or you guys could come over to the new house" Andy suggested to them as Matthew got up and walked over to Andy. Moxie got up and followed them out of the room and back to where everyone was gathered. "Mom, can we set up a playdate with Matthew again?" the boys asked Nicole. "Sure, we could do that" Nicole said to them and then walked to the front door. Sharon, Rusty, Matthew, Andy and Moxie all went to the front door. Andy had stopped and gave Nicole a kiss on her cheek. "Good night sweetheart, thank you for dinner" Andy said to her. He then shook Dean's hand and turned around and waited for Sharon. Sharon gave Nicole a hug. "Thanks again Nicole, Dean" Sharon said to them as she walked towards Andy and Moxie. Matthew ran ahead to the car and Rusty was following him.
They got in the car and headed to the condo. Matthew was talking about all the toys he had played with over there. Sharon was glad that he had such a good time tonight. She was a little worried because this was the first time that Matthew was meeting people he didn't know. They arrived at the condo after a short drive and Andy pulled into the parking spot. They got out of the car and headed towards the elevator. "When we get upstairs, you are going straight to bed" Sharon said to Matthew as he yawned. "Okay" he said as he tried to keep his eyes open. The doors opened to their floor and Andy walked ahead with Moxie and opened the door to the condo.
Matthew got ready for bed and Moxie followed him into the room. Rusty went out to the balcony to go talk to Gus on his phone. Sharon followed Matthew down the hall to make sure he was getting ready for bed. Andy went in to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. Sharon tucked Matthew in bed and closed the door behind her. She then made her way to where Andy was in the kitchen. "You know, Nicole was telling me that they really don't have any plans for Thanksgiving" Sharon said to him as she walked up to him and laid her head on his shoulder. They just stood there, Andy holding her in his arms. "We could have something small at the new house" Andy said to her. Sharon smiled into his shoulder and then lifted her head to look at him. She was tired and she could tell that Andy was also tired. "Let's go to bed" Sharon said to him. Andy let go of her and she walked over to the balcony where Rusty was at. She opened the sliding glass door and peeked her head out. "We are heading to bed, Rusty" she said to him. "Okay" Rusty said back to her and continued to talk on the phone with Gus. Sharon walked back to Andy and they both headed down the hallway into their bedroom.
Andy got in bed and waited for Sharon to come out of the bathroom. Sharon climbed in bed and Andy scooted behind her and pulled her in, close to his body. Her back was against his chest. "Good night Andy" she whispered to him. "Good night, my love" Andy whispered to Sharon and they drifted off to sleep.
A couple of hours later, Sharon woke up to a noise she couldn't quite pinpoint. She turned over to Andy and gently woke him up. "Do you hear that noise?" she asked him. Andy listened for a minute. "Yes" he said to her as he got up and out of bed. She did the same thing. Andy got dressed and threw some shoes on. Sharon got dressed as well. They both grabbed their guns. "What is it and where is it coming from?" Sharon asked him. He opened the door and entered the hallway. The noise was getting louder as he made his way to the front door. "It's the smoke alarm in the building" Andy said as he walked over to wake up Rusty, who was sleeping on the couch. "Hey, Rusty, we got to get out, now" Andy said as he woke Rusty up. Sharon went to get Matthew out of bed. Andy grabbed the dog's leash and got Moxie out with the rest of them. Sharon made sure she had her purse and Andy made sure he had his wallet and keys. All five of them headed out into the hallway. Andy locked the door and they made their way to the staircase. A lot of other people were in the hallway doing the same thing. Andy made sure that Sharon, Matthew, and Rusty were in front of him going down the flights of stairs. He was behind them with the dog. They made their way to the ground floor and stepped outside.
They could see smoke coming from the first floor area and also from the parking garage. The fire department was arriving on the scene and they made their way to a safe distance and stood together. Sharon looked at Andy and he looked back at her. Funny how they had just closed the arson case and now there was smoke in the condo building. All of the other residents were filing out onto the sidewalk. The fire was put out easily by the fire department and Sharon had stopped the incident commander and flashed her badge to him. "Where was the fire located at?" Sharon asked him. He looked at her badge and gave her the courtesy. "Fire was located in the dumpster in the parking garage. Looks like it was accidental right now, Captain" he said to her and then walked away to the fire trucks.
Sharon walked back to Andy and the boys and told Andy what the commander had told her. "Could it be a coincidence?" Andy asked Sharon. She knew what he was getting at. Did Croelick have anything to do with this? She didn't want to think about Croelick again. They waited for the all clear to return back in to the condo building, which took about twenty more minutes. They headed back upstairs with the rest of the residents. Andy unlocked the front door and Matthew and Rusty slowly walked inside with Sharon coming in behind them. It was well after 2 o'clock in the morning now. Rusty flopped back down on the couch and went to sleep. Matthew went to Rusty's room and climbed back into bed. Moxie followed him and jumped on the bed. Sharon closed the door and followed Andy into their bedroom. They placed their guns in the lockbox in their closet and took off their clothes and put their pajamas back on. They both then climbed back into bed and Andy held Sharon close to him. "He would be stupid if he did that" Sharon said to Andy as she settled in his arms. "I wouldn't put it past him, but who knows, right?" Andy said to Sharon. "Hmm" Sharon said to him. "Let's try to get some sleep" Andy said to her and she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep but both of them couldn't.
TBC