Sharon POV
"Don't worry. It's not that bad."
The words were spoken much too close to my ear for my liking, and I reflexively eased away, so that there was now nearly a foot of space between me and Captain Wright.
"I'm sure it isn't," I replied smoothly, doing my best to ignore Wright's gaze as he spent a few long seconds looking at my legs before slowly moving upwards, settling several inches south of my chin. It makes me want to pull my jacket more tightly around me, but I'm not going to give him the satisfaction, so instead I'm just reminding myself that my cream colored silk blouse isn't see-through, as his stare would suggest.
"In fact, I think I was pretty generous. I mean, you know your division has its flaws," he continued conspiratorially, only bringing his eyes up to mine as he finished the statement.
We're in the hall, outside of Chief Pope's office, waiting to be invited inside.
Wright thinks it's a meeting to go over his two-week report on Major Crimes, but in actuality, we're all here at my request.
Honestly, it's a miracle I made it to Friday without coming unglued.
Wednesday evening, when we got home from work and Andy told me what had happened in the break room, to say I was furious would be an understatement.
"Are you hurt?"
"From that guy? Are you kidding me?" he dismissed, taking my hand and kissing the palm, clearly trying to downplay that incident.
"I can't believe he put his hands on you. And he shoved you against the refrigerator?"
"He was trying to make a statement," he reasoned.
"What, that he's a complete asshole? Yeah, I got that statement, loud and clear."
He laughed and wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly as he said, "You've been spending way too much time with me, because that sounded exactly like something I would say."
"I can't believe you didn't say it," I said, finally relaxing in his embrace, and appreciating the humor he found in my remark. "How did you manage to stay so calm?"
"I thought about you," he whispered into my ear.
And see, I love it when he talks so close.
But Wright?
No.
"You know, I wouldn't have been mad at you if you'd fought back," I told him. "Finding trouble is one thing, but when it comes after you…"
"He was just beating his chest," he interrupted gently. "And he wasn't worth me having to spend any more time with Internal Affairs. Besides, he showed his hand. He was scared that we were looking at his life."
I could hear the excitement in his voice. He'd said that Mike had found something, but I didn't know details at that point, so he dropped a kiss on my head and then said, "Go get out of those boots and I'll meet you on the couch with a glass of wine."
I love how we've gotten into this habit, assuming we're home from work at a decent hour.
We sit together in the living room and talk about our day. Because even though we work together, there's still usually plenty to say, and I like that we make time to say it, and to listen to each other.
So I went into the other room, and sat down to unzip my boots, and before I could get the second one off, Andy had joined me, sitting on the coffee table and taking over the task after handing me a glass of red.
"Do these hurt your feet?" he asked, tossing the boot aside and then running his hands over my foot, kneading it soothingly.
"If I say no, does that mean you're going to stop doing that?" I asked playfully.
"No," he answered, shifting over to sit on the couch, taking my feet with him. I adjusted my skirt to a more respectable position, since Rusty's in his room doing homework, and then he said, "I just really like them, but I wasn't going to tell you that if they're torture to wear."
"Oh," I replied with a smile, appreciating the compliment. I love how he's so willing to share with me what he likes, in regards to what I wear. I like that he notices what I wear. "Thanks."
"You know, I can't really blame Wright for being infatuated with you."
"You're going to empathize with him?"
"I'm just saying I understand it," he responded, sliding one hand up the inside of my leg, well past the hem of my skirt, and his light touch was both arousing and relaxing at the same time, and it had me closing my eyes, waiting to learn what he was going to do next.
"I mean, look at you," he continued, and I could feel his breath on my skin, and then the press of his lips against my knee as he pushed my skirt up slightly, enough so that his next kiss was an inch or so higher, and I found myself breathing more quickly, more shallow, as he moved again, his fingers creeping further up as his mouth pressed lightly against my thigh.
"So, so beautiful," he whispered, and I can't believe how quickly he's gotten me worked up, or that I'm even letting him do this with Rusty in the other room, but oh my God, he knows how to make me feel so good. He shifted closer, his fingertips brushing against my underwear, causing me to draw in a shaky breath as a rush of heat rolled through me, and then suddenly he pulled away, tugging my skirt down with him as he retreated back to his end of the couch, and my eyes flew open, looking at him in question, but that's when Rusty came into the room.
I didn't even hear his door, I thought, feeling slightly panicked at the idea that we almost got caught.
"Is there any leftovers?" Rusty asked as he passed us, going into the kitchen.
"Um…" I began, but with his head already in the fridge, he said, "Oh, never mind. This'll work."
He pulled out something and threw it in the microwave, and while he was doing that, I looked at Andy, who was barely holding back a smile.
"You heard his door?" I asked.
"I was listening for it."
"Thank God," I said on a laugh. "Because I'm not sure I would've heard a fire alarm."
He laughed with me, going back to rubbing my feet, and then Rusty brought his food into the living room, plopping down into the chair and putting a bite in his mouth before saying, "Oh, hey, is this okay? Or am I interrupting?"
"It's fine. We're just talking about our day," I said, taking a sip of wine and doing my best to look innocent.
"I got some scoop on Wright," Andy told him. Rusty knows how much we don't like the guy, so he'll be interested in the latest, too.
"Really? Good stuff? Oh, shoot, hang on. I need to grab a water first. You need anything?"
We both shook our heads, so he trotted into the kitchen, and then Andy whispered, "We'll finish that later, don't worry," and just his words and the husky way he said them had me flushed again.
"Okay, so…Wright. Dirt. Go," Rusty said as he flopped back into the chair, reaching for his plate with one hand, and holding the bottle of water in the other.
We spent an hour or so talking about him, about what Mike discovered, and the next steps to take with that information, prior to letting anyone else know.
Which is why I waited until Friday for the meeting.
Because yesterday, the whole division worked at their desks, finding definitive proof for me to use today. Irrefutable facts.
At first, it wasn't easy to convince Wright that we were working on the previous case's paperwork for so long, but really, in the end all I had to do was smile at him and invite him into my office, and he was fine with it.
And my squad came through, in a big way. So today I'm armed and ready to go.
Yesterday evening, after Wright left for the day, I went to Taylor's office.
"Let's have a meeting," I told him, barely able to contain the smile of vindication.
"Okay," he said cautiously, waving a hand towards his chair. "I could ask about what, but I'm sure it's Captain Wright. And you know, tomorrow is your last day with him, so are you sure you need to…"
"It's not just a complaint," I said. "And I don't want the meeting now. I want it in the morning. With Chief Pope."
It took a moment for my words to register, and then apparently my overall demeanor finally sunk in, too, because then he smiled.
"Nothing I like better than a Friday morning session with the pope," he stated. "I'll make it happen."
And he didn't waste any time, either, because it was only a few minutes later, when I was getting into my car, that I got his text.
Tomorrow morning at 8:00.
Right now, it's 7:58.
Taylor and Pope are both in there, but apparently having a discussion first, so I'm stuck out here with Wright breathing down my neck - literally.
But I'm feeling pretty good about myself.
"Lieutenant Flynn really doesn't belong there," Wright stated, a continuation of his my squad has its flaws remark. "You have to know that. I think your objectivity is tainted."
"You didn't see him get Jones to confess the other day, against his lawyer's advice, simply because Andy had won him over?"
"Anybody could've gotten that confession. Jones was like a lapsed Catholic in a confessional. Once he started talking, all of his sins came rushing out."
"Hmm," I responded, not wanting to get into a debate with him.
"Fair warning, my report recommends his transfer."
I simply stared at him, still amazed by his audacity, even more so in light of what I know about him now.
I'm not usually a proponent of physical violence, but I want to slap him in the face. For his contempt of Andy as well as his condescending treatment of me.
Of course, I don't actually do it.
But as we stood there, and his gaze lowered again, I felt the urge build in me at an astonishing rate, until, fortunately for Wright, Taylor opened the door.
"Are we ready?" he asked, looking at me hopefully. I turned away from Wright and walked ahead of him into the room.
"Captain Raydor," Chief Pope said as he stood and extended his hand to me. "Always a pleasure. It's been too long."
See, here's another thing Wright doesn't know. Pope may have hired him as a favor to the mayor, but he actually likes me. And not in the smarmy way, either, but in the mutual respect kind of way. It was a hard-won veneration that came over the course of several years while I was still with FID, but it's most definitely there now.
"That means I must be doing my job," I replied with a smile as I shook his hand.
"No news is good news," he agreed with a smirk. "Brenda could've learned a thing or two from you."
"Chief Pope," Wright said, picking up on our good will towards each other, and making the effort to interrupt. "I haven't seen you since you hired me. Internal Affairs has been every bit as rewarding as you said."
"Did I say rewarding?" he asked, looking at him quizzically. "Ah, well, whatever. Okay, so, let's get this going, shall we?"
"Absolutely," Wright said as he pulled out his notebook. "For the past two weeks…"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Pope interrupted, looking anything but sorry. "Did you think this was to discuss your little audit of Major Crimes?"
"Um…yes, I did."
"That comes in the form of a report," Pope said dismissively. "Submitted to Taylor. And if there's anything in it I need to know about, he'll tell me."
"Oh, then why…"
"Captain Raydor, I believe you wanted to bring something to my attention? And I have to say, you've got my curiosity up because it's not often you put in such a request."
"Yes, Chief, thank you. I hate to be the one to tell you this, because I know the mayor is your friend, but it was recently discovered that Captain Wright never went to the police academy. Anywhere. In fact, he isn't actually a police officer of any kind."
I dropped my bombshell and then waited as the room erupted around me.
"How are you going to say it?" Andy asked me this morning, as we got ready to leave for work.
"Sometimes it's best to just get it all out there and let the chips fall where they may."
"Like…you coming to my house, and saying you love me?" he asked, his hand settling on my waist, tugging me towards him.
"Like that," I agreed with a smile.
I still have a hard time believing I actually did that because I was scared to death the whole time, but I think I was more afraid of losing him than I was of admitting my true feelings. And it's certainly worked out better than I ever could have hoped.
"Good theory. I wish I could be there with you. Seeing Wright's face when you expose him for the fraud he is…"
He trailed off, deciding to kiss me instead of talk about Wright, and I couldn't agree more with his choice. We let it go on for a couple of minutes, and then it was time for me to go, so I stepped back and ran a hand over my hair, checking myself once more in the mirror as I grabbed my keys.
"Dinner tonight?" he asked, causing me to turn back and smile at him.
"You don't still have to ask. I always plan to have dinner with you."
"I like the sound of that," he said, sneaking another quick kiss. "But I meant, I want to take you out. To celebrate."
"What are we celebrating? The downfall of Captain Wright?" I asked on a laugh.
"One month together. It was Wednesday, and I missed it, so I want to make up for it tonight."
"You don't have anything to make up," I said, loving that he cares enough to want to, and that he even has a date in his head. "But yes, dinner out sounds really nice."
"Good."
"So wait, are we celebrating the date we first started making love?" I questioned, chuckling more as I realized that's what happened a month ago Wednesday.
"Well, we don't really have a first date date," he reasoned, then he added playfully, "We went out dozens of times before you ever allowed me to call them dates."
"True," I mused, letting him pull me back into his arms, even though I needed to leave.
"And if we want to say the date I first realized I was in love with you…God, it's been so long, I'm not sure exactly when it happened. A year ago, at least."
"A year?"
"At least," he reiterated, and then he kissed me again, a sweet, emotional exploration that made me temporarily forget all about my impending meeting.
"You need to go," he said softly after reluctantly pulling back.
"Mmhmm," I agreed. "Okay, so dinner tonight. We'll celebrate our one-month anniversary."
I don't have a problem with it being the date we first made love. That day is what put us on the path to where we are now, and I absolutely love where we are now.
I'm even loving where I am right this very minute, in Pope's office with everyone talking at once.
I just listened for a moment, but when Wright turned his attack on me, I jumped into the fray.
"Sharon, have you completely lost your mind?" he yelled. "Just because I don't like your boyfriend, you're going to make wild accusations like this?"
"Boyfriend?" Pope asked in confusion as I said in a raised voice, "This has nothing to do with your unprofessional treatment of Lieutenant Flynn. This is about the facts!"
"Flynn?" Pope said, looking back and forth between me and Taylor.
"Facts? You want the facts?" Wright shouted. "I'm a captain with the LAPD, just like you, and that's a fact!"
"You're nothing like me," I argued. "I went to the academy. I earned every rank."
By this point, we were in each other's faces while Pope and Taylor stood off to the side, Taylor with a half-smile on his face and Pope with a completely befuddled expression, and I know I'm letting my temper have control for the moment, but Wright deserves it, and I don't feel bad for letting him have it.
"So did I!"
"When? Where?" I pressed.
"Just because I haven't been with the LAPD my entire career doesn't mean I'm any less qualified."
"You've been walking around this place like you're too good for the position you're in and the truth is that you don't even belong here at all," I stated.
"I don't owe you any kind of explanation," he scoffed.
"Maybe not," Pope said, thankfully finally able to move past the whole boyfriend remark to get back to the topic at hand. "But you do have to explain yourself to me. Right now. Where did you get your academy training?"
"Dallas," Wright finally answered, his gaze still on me, and his answer gave me a sense of relief. I hadn't realized I was nervous about this whole confrontation, but I guess somewhere in the back of my mind, I was afraid he might have an answer that I wasn't expecting, a ready excuse for what my division uncovered.
But he doesn't.
"That's what's in his file with the San Francisco PD, "I confirmed.
"You pulled my file?" he asked, raising his voice again and taking a step closer to me.
I stood up a little taller, not backing away from him at all as I answered, "Yes. Because your methods, both of investigating and of dealing with personnel, have been suspect from the beginning."
"So if the file says Dallas, and he says Dallas," Pope pointed out leadingly, once again looking confused.
"He's not the John Wright who went through the Dallas academy in 1972. He doctored the credentials in order to get the job with the SFPD, using both the academy information, and the on-the-job experience of an officer with the same name."
"That's not true," Wright argued, but his face paled and I can tell he's losing his bluster. "I can show you…"
"Anything you show us has been manipulated," I interrupted, and then I reached in my bag to pull out the documentation that Mike printed out for me. "Here's a photo of the real John Wright, the officer in Dallas, who coincidentally was killed on the job, three months prior to this Wright's application at SFPD."
"You…you faked your work history?" Pope asked in disbelief.
"Hey, I'm good at this job, just as good as every other captain here. I spent seventeen years with San Francisco and no one knew. Doesn't that count for something? And this report…"
He trailed off as he held out his report on Major Crimes, but Pope just stared at him, shaking his head in disgust.
"I can't believe I brought you in without a more thorough background check. Your uncle…wait, does he know? No, there's no way he'd ask me to perpetuate a lie."
"Sir, we checked into that, too," I offered. "Discreetly, of course. Wright is actually the nephew of the mayor's wife, the one he just married eight years ago, so there's no reason to think he would've known. And he was in Dallas during the right time span, so it's likely he fooled his aunt as well."
"Excellent work, Captain," Taylor said, not even trying to hide his smile anymore.
"Yes, Captain," Pope agreed, still sounding shaken. "I apologize for…well, for forcing you to deal with a complete fraud. And as for you, Mr. Wright…"
Pope grabbed his phone, buzzing his secretary, and when she came on the line, he said, "Yes, can you send in a couple of officers? I want John Wright placed under arrest."
"Arrest? Are you kidding me? I have recommendations in here that'll increase the efficacy of your so-called elite Major Crimes! I'm helping you making this department better!"
Pope finally jerked the report from his hands and flipped through it, but I'm pretty sure it's only to placate him while we're waiting for the officers.
"Captain Raydor is too close to her team to be an effective leader," he read aloud, first looking incredulous, and then almost amused as he continued, "She lacks the ability to give direct orders, letting her detectives make their own decisions. It is my opinion that while she might thrive in a different department, Major Crimes is suffering under her leadership, largely due to her flagrant disregard for department policy, as seen by her involvement with a subordinate."
He laughed through most of it, although at the end, he looked at me with curiosity, but Taylor spoke up and said, "We'll get into that later, Chief."
"Indeed," he agreed, and then he turned back to Wright. "This is the most absurd report I've ever read, and that includes a paper written by my youngest when she was in the fifth grade."
As he spoke, the officers entered the room, and Pope directed them to take Wright into custody.
"Start with impersonating a police officer," he instructed. "More will be added, pending a full investigation by both the LAPD and then SFPD."
Wright began a steady stream of outrage, struggling with the officers and cursing all of us, but they finally got him under control and took him out of the room.
"Wow, that was not what I expected when you called this meeting," Pope said to Taylor.
"Me, either, Chief. I mean, I knew the captain had something on him, but I had no idea it was this."
"I only found out about it Wednesday evening," I explained. "Yesterday, I had my squad do some more digging, to find the proof needed to countermine his seventeen years of working as an officer."
"Unbelievable," Pope said, shaking his head again. "I'm just…wow. I guess I need to get busy and find a new captain for Internal Affairs. And what's this business about you and Flynn?"
"She followed proper procedure to the letter," Taylor spoke up. "I've been in charge of Lieutenant Flynn for a little more than six months now, and despite what's written in Wright's little report, Major Crimes has never been more efficient."
"Yeah, yeah," Pope said, waving him off as he looked at me. "But Flynn? For six months?"
One month is more like it, but I'm not going to correct either of them. As I said before, just because I didn't admit to it sooner, doesn't mean it wasn't there.
And I know it's hard for Pope to fathom, me being with Andy, so I don't fault him the question. He doesn't really know Andy anymore, and what he knew from before was just his temper, at work. That alone has gotten so much better in recent years, and not only that, but most people around here don't get to see the other side of him, the sweet and gentle side.
"Do I look happy to you, Chief?" I asked, and I waited as he looked me over, and then he chuckled, shaking his head as he said, "Honestly? Yeah, you do."
"Exactly."
An hour later, I was heading back to the murder room, feeling extremely pleased with myself.
I managed to convince Pope to promote Sgt. Elliott to the rank of lieutenant. He has the time in grade, and he passed the exam a while back, and with one less captain's pay on the books, it wouldn't hurt to give him the bump. And the rank of lieutenant means he can take over Internal Affairs, and his first order of business is going to involve the investigation into any case handled by Wright while he was here.
I'm also really loving the fact that Wright's behind bars. I'm sure he'll get a lawyer, and he'll be out on bail before the end of the day, but it still has to be degrading for him, having his secret uncovered, and if anyone deserves that kind of humiliation, it's him.
"So how'd it go, Captain?" Amy spoke up as I entered the room.
"Please say it went better than the last time," Lieutenant Provenza remarked, swiveling around in his chair so that he was facing me.
"Last time?" I asked.
"If you recall, the last time we had an issue with the captain of Internal Affairs, she ended up transferring and becoming our boss," he deadpanned, although at the last second, he finally cracked a smile.
"Hmm, well, then yes, it went much better. This time, the captain ended up under arrest," I announced, and as they started clapping, I added, "Nice work, everyone."
"I wish I could've seen it, ma'am," Julio spoke up. "Did he go down swinging?"
"Let's just say his report on this division might have caused us some difficulty. He apparently found that I'm an ineffectual leader, due to my relationship with Andy."
I decided it was long past time to just say it, rather than have it be the elephant in the room, when I'm around. I know they tease Andy, but no one's said a word to me, which is actually quite remarkable considering it's been two weeks.
"Ah…what relationship?" Mike asked cautiously.
"Wait, you're in a relationship? With Flynn?" Provenza asked with heavy sarcasm, and everyone started chuckling.
"Funny," I mused, rolling my eyes at him. "Yes, I know you all know, thanks to Wright's little remark last week. But it's not a secret, and I've filed the paperwork with Taylor, so…well, that's it."
It wasn't nearly as awkward as I thought it might be, talking about it in front of everyone. Maybe because I'm so comfortable with Andy now, with our relationship. And sure, there were a couple of comments, and some grumbling from Provenza but it was all in good fun, and our squad feels like a family again, with Wright finally gone.
With no case on the board at the moment, I went into my office, and sat down, letting out a long sigh, and then replaying the morning in my mind.
"Coffee?" Andy asked, suddenly appearing in my doorway.
"That would be nice," I answered. He was back a minute later, setting a steaming mug in front of me.
"So it really went okay?"
"Wright tried to tell Pope that I was coming after him as retaliation because he doesn't like you, my boyfriend. And Taylor hadn't told Pope about us, so that tripped him up for a bit."
"I can imagine," he chuckled. "But it's all okay?"
I leaned back in my chair, studying him as he stands in front of my desk. His dark gray suit that fits him perfectly, and the coordinating pinks of his shirt and tie, and he just looks so handsome. And to have him watching me attentively, with care and concern and love…it fills me with such a sense of contentment. It makes me want to look at him every day for the rest of my life.
"I'd say it's a whole lot better than okay."
He smiled broadly, leaning over my desk, his palms flat on the surface, and then he said, "So now that they know, and we know they know, and they know we know they know…does that mean I get to kiss you in the office?"
His whole demeanor is just so cute, it makes me want to say yes, but of course, I can't.
"No, Lieutenant," I replied primly. "You most definitely cannot."
He lowered his voice so that it was a soft growl when he said, "But you want me to."
"Well, yes," I admitted, while still trying to pretend like he has no effect on me whatsoever.
Of course, we both know better.
"I'll take it," he conceded, flashing me another smile and then standing up straight and winking at me as he turned to leave, then he looked back over his shoulder and added, "So, dinner tonight, right?"
"Absolutely. We have some celebrating to do."
The End