Scrolling tiredly through the many domestic disturbance reports filed for the James household, Sharon feels her eyes beginning to sting from reading off of the computer screen for such an extended period of time. Noting the names of the responding officers, she scribbles them down on the list that she's been compiling. So far, four names have recurred: Officers Tierney and DeLuca, and Officers Brandt and Singer. Sharon suspects that the recurrence of the names has more to do with duty rosters than their affinity for the James' family, but it's worth checking out whether or not any of the officers had personal ties to the victim.
A few hours later, Sharon has narrowed down the list of possibilities to Tierney and DeLuca, and her eyes and head are pounding from staring for too long at the damned computer screen. The smell of coffee rouses Sharon from her lethargic state, and she notices a fresh cup of brew sitting on her desk, still steaming. Following the arm of the person who placed it there, she finds her partner glancing at her worriedly.
"How long have you been in that position, Raydor?"
"A couple of hours, not long. Thanks for the coffee, I have your names, as promised," she smiles, rolling her head back slightly and feeling the satisfying clicks of her joints stretching in place.
"Yeah? Anyone we know?"
"Unless you've met Officers Tierney and DeLuca, then no." She sips the coffee, revelling in the rich flavour and humming gratefully.
"Tierney I've heard of," replies Andy, his eyes widening with interest as he takes his seat opposite Sharon's desk.
"Have you met him?" asks Sharon curiously.
"No, but the previous lead detective on the case mentioned him – told me to watch out because he's a 'mean sonofabitch'."
"Charming. I guess you'll have the pleasure of meeting the now-retired Officer Tierney on your own, then."
"What about the other guy?"
"DeLuca's off the radar – I'm still looking for him, but it's probably going to take some time. I mean, the guy was a cop, so he'd know how to avoid being found."
"Alright, where's Tierney now?"
"It looks like he's got a bar down town; he's owned it since his retirement."
"In that case, I'll pay a visit to Tierney and see what I can find out. In the meantime, do we have any idea who the lover in the CCTV footage is?"
"Not yet, but I've been wondering whether the good officers were just doing their jobs during their unscheduled house visits," replies Sharon coldly.
"You think that DeLuca or Tierney was sleeping with Anna and murdered her?" inquires Andy incredulously.
"It's certainly worth looking into – I mean, the man in the CCTV footage clearly knows how to avoid the cameras at the ATM; we don't have a single clear shot of his face! To me, that says that he's either law enforcement, or has been arrested before and learned from his mistake," replies Sharon resolutely.
"I don't know, Sharon. Even if one of the officers were sleeping with Anna, why would a cop kill his lover?"
"Just because we're cops, it doesn't mean that we don't have the same impulses as everyone else, Andy. I'd look into Tierney as a suspect when you question him," advises Sharon, indifferent to Andy's unease at potentially accusing an ex-cop of homicide.
"Alright, I'll question him tomorrow, then. For now, grab some shuteye, Sharon. You're growing a person inside of you – that's got to take a lot of energy," he grins, masking his concern for his partner's unhealthy lack of sleep with banter.
"I might go home, soon. It's past Emily's bed time, but I might still be able to say goodnight to her and grab a nap," replies Sharon wearily.
"Go home now, Raydor. It's a cold case – it'll still be here tomorrow morning," murmurs Andy, "and say hi to the little lady for me." He smiles softly in return as his partner chuckles at the fondness he seems to have for her son.
"Fine, I'm going. Good night, Andy; I'll see you tomorrow morning," she smiles, tiredly standing from behind her desk and stretching her legs as she does.
"Afternoon," he corrects quietly, "I'll be interviewing Tierney bright and early tomorrow morning."
"Afternoon, then," she agrees, pulling her jacket from the back of her chair. Finishing off the coffee her partner brought her, she chucks the empty cup in the bin on her way out.
"Good night, Sharon," he smiles, waving her off as though shooing her from the office before returning to his own stack of paperwork. He still has to finish formalising the notes he'd taken during the interviews and that'll take at least another hour.
The next morning, Andy is woken by a gentle hand nudging his shoulder and the smell of freshly brewed coffee.
"Rise and shine, Flynn. You don't get paid to sleep on the job." He hears the humour in her voice before he opens his eyes to see the smirk stretched across her lips.
"Morning, Rulebook. What are you doing here?" asks Andy, disoriented.
"I think I should be asking you that, Andy," laughs Sharon quietly, "it looks like you've drooled on your case file."
Glancing down at his desk, he sees that the ink in his files is smudged in places, most likely around where his face had been resting. Scrubbing his eyes tiredly, he blinks rapidly to dispel the lingering fatigue.
"Perfect," he grumbles, accepting a cup of steaming coffee from his partner. Regarding her quietly, Flynn remarks, "at least one of us is fresh-faced this morning."
"Thanks to you, yeah. Emily was asleep when I got in, so I managed to get a good night in," Sharon responds gratefully.
"Yeah? That's good," he replies, sipping at his coffee.
"I got to thinking last night about DeLuca, and I might be able to track him if he is the one who tipped off James' lawyer," she mentions pensively.
"How?"
"I'm going to track the number the call made to the lawyer came from. I'll need to put in a subpoena for the lawyer's phone records, but once that clears I might be able to find out who the tipster is without having to deal with the lawyer himself."
"Hey, the fewer lawyers I have to deal with, the better," chuckles Andy, his coffee now finished. "I'm going to head out to talk to Tierney – call me if you get any leads on DeLuca."
"Will do. Oh, and Andy? You might want to wash your face first," she smirks, "you've got some ink on your cheek."
Andy struts into the bar with an air of authority – he wants to present himself as the type of cop he thinks that Tierney will respect, to encourage rapport. Glancing around casually, he makes his way over to Tierney, who is wiping down the bar with a sodden flannel cloth.
"Jimmy Tierney?" inquires Andy authoritatively.
"Yeah, who wants to know?" replies Tierney gruffly.
"Detective Flynn, LAPD," he replies, flashing his badge.
"Ah, one of LA's finest, then. What can I do you for?" asks Tierney, motioning for Andy to take a seat at the bar.
Complying with his invitation, Andy sits opposite Tierney, making a show of rifling through his pockets for Anna's photo for Tierney's benefit.
"I've been handed this cold case and I was told that you'd dealt with the victim a couple of times before she died," remarks Andy casually, as though the case isn't really all that important to him.
"Which case?" asks Tierney cautiously.
Sliding Anna's photo to Tierney across the bar, Andy replies, "Case from '76 – victim's name was Anna James?" Again, he makes a show of attempting to recollect Anna's name, despite knowing it and her life better than he knows his ex-wife.
"Oh, yeah, Anna," grunts Tierney casually, "that was a long time ago," he remarks, scratching his head. "What do you want to know about her?"
"How'd you end up dealing with her so often?"
"Her house was in the area my partner and I were assigned back when I was a patrol officer. Seemed like there was a domestic disturbance there every other day, but I can't say that it surprised me, given that her husband was a no-good drunk with a nasty temper."
"How'd you know he was a drunk?"
"We'd roll up to the house and find him reeking of booze, sometimes he'd be threatening that pretty wife of his with a broken bottle, just 'cos he could."
"Sounds like a real piece of work," remarks Andy, attempting to gauge Tierney's reaction to his agreement.
"And then some. I felt bad for his woman." Tierney seems to be comfortable enough now that Andy decides to push his questions a little bit further.
"Is that why you'd check up on her with your partner sometimes?" he asks, carefully masking the interrogative question as one of understanding.
"Yeah, I guess. She needed looking out for, and her husband didn't let her leave the house all that often."
"I'm sure she appreciated it," replies Andy. He then cautiously mentions Tierney's partner, "I've been looking for your partner –Frank DeLuca? I haven't been able to locate him, though. Any idea where I might find him?"
"Not sure. Frank went his own way the minute he left the force, and I haven't seen him since."
Standing in preparation to leave the bar, Andy is stopped by Tierney's questioning expression.
"They send you detectives out without partners, these days?" asks Tierney.
"Not usually, but my partner's on desk duty until further notice, so I'm doing the leg work for the both of us," grins Andy.
"Yeah? He hit in the line of duty or something?"
"She, and no. My partner's currently pregnant."
"A female detective? And you're the poor sap who got saddled with her?"
"I say the same thing myself sometimes," replies Andy pacifyingly.
He refrains from mentioning that the female Sergeant Tierney has shown such disdain for could probably floor him several times over, and is certainly more intellectually capable than the two of them put together. He'd like to, 'cos God knows the retired cop needs a bracing reality check, but he doesn't in order to maintain rapport on the off chance that he'll need Tierney's co-operation again in future.
That still doesn't stop him from wanting to pummel the man, though.
Hey guys! Thanks for reading this chapter :) If you enjoyed it, please leave a review and let me know what you think! I'd also like to thank Guest Reviewer for commenting on the last chapter, as I am unable to via PM.