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.

Chapter 5

"Remember how I told you I didn't want to mess up being a foster father when we first found Matthew?" Andy told Sharon as they still sat in the kitchen that night. "Yes," Sharon answered softly, glancing at the clock as she stood up from her chair and sat down on Andy's lap. Andy placed his arms around her, holding her close to his chest.

"And as I recall, I told you, you were not alone and that it would be the two of us taking care of Matthew together," she remembered the scene on her condo's balcony. "Yeah," he chuckled as he thought back to that memory. "I guess we're doing okay so far, right?" he asked her and she pulled back to look at him.

He shrugged his shoulders as she continued to look at him. "Emily told me before you came down that any kid would be grateful to have a dad like me," he told her in all seriousness. "She's right," Sharon whispered and kissed him.

"Am I totally messed up then?" he asked her. "No, you're not messed up, Andy," she tried to assure him. "Then why do I feel like this?" he stated. "Like what?" she asked him. "Like I'm drowning and every time I get to the top to breathe, I get sucked back underwater with something else that happens," he told her and for the first time in a while, she saw despair in his eyes.

"How can I help you?" she asked him as she continued to sit with him. "I don't know," he mumbled as he held her. "Do you want a drink?" she had to ask him. "No, I don't," he took a deep breath. "I've been thinking about talking with someone, a therapist," he looked down at her hands on his arm. "I can go with you if you want me to," she offered, hating to see him like this. He looked lost as she moved his face to look at her.

"Andy, I love you so much," she told him, her voice cracking a little. "And I want to help you in any way that I can," she continued. "And I'm sorry that I've pushed you into telling me about the case when I haven't been cleared yet," she added and he shook his head. "I get that part, I really do, Sharon. You weren't pushing me into telling you about the case," he caressed her face with his hand.

"You need a break," she whispered to him and he nodded his head. "But, I need you to get better," he said and kissed her on her lips. They rested their foreheads together as Andy closed his eyes. She kissed him again, this time with much fervor than before.

"Let's go upstairs," she said when they broke apart from their kiss. She stood up and held out her hand for him to take and he did. She turned off the main light in the kitchen as they walked towards the stairs. They made their way up stairs and back into their bedroom.

Sharon removed Andy's shirt and took off her robe. She held his hand and led him over to their bed. "Lie down," she told him and he did. She climbed in next to him, lying on her right side. He was on his back and she laid her head down on his shoulder. "Please, get some rest," she whispered to him as she drew circles on his chest. He instantly relaxed into her feels and let out a deep breath as he closed his eyes.

The next morning, Andy woke up and somehow, he had ended up in Sharon's arms as she laid on her back. As he lifted his head from her body, he saw that she was already awake. "Morning," she whispered to him. "Morning," he shifted off of her. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked as he ran his hand through his hair. "No," she said as she reached out to touch his face.

He looked over at the clock on her nightstand and the alarm went off. He reached over and turned it off. He sat up on the side of the bed and she shifted up on her right elbow. He closed his eyes as she ran her hand down his back. His body started reacting to her touch.

Andy tried to think of something else as she continued to run her hand up and down his back. He finally stood up and turned around to face her. Leaning down, he kissed her. "I'm going to take a shower," he told her as they broke apart and walked into the bathroom.

She laid there in bed, thinking about what he had told her last night. She heard him turn the shower on and heard the glass door shut. She got herself up and walked over to where her robe was, placing it around her body, she went across the hall and made sure Matthew was up. He was, and she watched him go into his bathroom to get ready for school before she went back to their room.

Andy stood under the cold shower spray, trying to calm his body down from Sharon. His eyes were closed as he stood there. He heard the door open and knew Sharon was going to join him so he quickly turned the water to warm, but moved the dial too far over and almost scalded himself with hot water. "Geesh!" he said as he fixed it quickly.

Sharon shook her head as she reached for the shower door. "Everything okay?" she asked as she stepped in and joined him. He took a deep breath as he watched her and held out his hand for her to take. She felt the coolness of his body underneath her hand and knew that he had taken a cold shower.

"You took a cold shower?" she whispered as he maneuvered her under the water spray which was at a warm temperature. She titled her head back as he watched her. "My body was on fire this morning, I needed to cool it off," he told her as he reached for her shampoo and started to rub it in her hair.

After their shower, Andy got dressed in his suit pants and t-shirt, while Sharon got herself dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a top. She then went into their closet and pulled out a dress shirt for Andy and handed it to him. "Mom! I'm going downstairs!" she heard Matthew call out as she wrapped a tie around Andy's neck.

"I got this if you want to go," he told her as he grabbed the tie from her. She smiled at him and then left their room to head downstairs with Matthew. She was concerned about Andy and what he had told her last night. She went downstairs and stepped into the kitchen to see Matthew leaning up on the counter to reach for a cereal bowl.

"Hey, I could get that for you," she told him as she came right up to help. "Thanks," he mumbled as he took the bowl to the table. He then went to choose a box of cereal from the pantry and brought out the Cinnamon Toast Crunch box and poured it into his bowl. Sharon handed him the milk and he poured it, spilling a little as he placed the top back on the milk carton.

"Sorry," he muttered as he handed the milk back to Sharon. "It's okay sweetie," she assured him as she placed the milk carton on the counter. "So, Emily and I will pick you up from school today at 2:30 and we'll take you over to see Doctor Joe," Sharon told him as she sat down at the table. "Okay," he said as he ate his cereal.

Andy came downstairs and stopped in the den to pick up his notebook before joining Sharon and Matthew in the kitchen. "So, what are we having for breakfast today?" Andy asked as he made his way to the cabinet to get a cereal bowl out for himself. He turned around and saw the Cinnamon Toast Crunch box out on the table.

"Ah, one of my favorites," he smiled as he sat down at the table. Before he could reach for the box of cereal, Sharon stopped him. "Uh no, you are not having this cereal," she shook her head and grabbed the box, getting up from the table and exchanging it for another box of cereal. She handed him the new box. "Raisin Bran?" he questioned her. "Yep, part of your heart healthy diet, remember?" she smiled at him and he sighed. She handed him the milk and he ate his cereal.

After they were done eating breakfast, Matthew went to grab his backpack and Sharon handed him his lunch for school. Andy was moving around the kitchen, putting things away before he left to take Matthew to school. Matthew was playing with Moxie when Sharon walked up to Andy and smoothed his tie down his shirt.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, making sure he was alright. "Yeah," he assured her and she leaned up and kissed him. "Let me know if you call to make an appointment," she told him and he nodded. "We'll be at Doctor Joe's office this afternoon," she told him. "Right," he said, not forgetting that. "Ready kiddo?" he asked Matthew and he stood up from the floor and Sharon followed them to the back door.

"Be good at school," she told him and kissed his cheek. "I will," Matthew replied as he walked out the door with his backpack. "Bye, I love you," Sharon told Andy and kissed him. "I love you too," Andy replied and then joined Matthew.

"Dad?" Matthew said as they both got in the car. "Yeah," Andy looked at him in the rear-view mirror as he started the car. "What is Doctor Joe going to talk about with me?" he asked as he placed his seat belt on. "Oh, well, he's going to want to get to know you, maybe ask you what you like and don't like," Andy said as he pulled out of the garage and headed towards Matthew's school.

"What if we don't talk about anything?" Matthew asked as he looked out the window. "What do you mean by that?" Andy asked him. "You know, if it's silence in the room because there's nothing to talk about," Matthew shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, I don't think that would happen. If that did, Doctor Joe would talk. You see, Matthew, he wants to help you. Just like your mother and me," Andy told him.

"I know," Matthew mumbled as he continued to look out the window until they got to his school. "Hey, before you get out, I just want you to know that I love you Matthew," Andy turned around to look at Matthew after he parked the car.

Matthew looked at him strangely. "Are you okay, Dad?" he asked. Andy saw the look on his face. "Yeah, I'm okay," he told him. "Have a good day at school and good luck this afternoon," Andy told him and then he got out of the car. "Bye Dad!" Matthew told him and then walked into school. Andy watched him until he disappeared inside before he drove to work.

When Andy got to work that morning, he turned the car off and pulled out his phone. He dialed a number he hadn't dialed in a really long time. "Doctor Peters, it's Lieutenant Andy Flynn," he said into the phone. "Yeah, it's been a while," he answered the doctor. "Oh, uh Nicole is fine," he sat there listening to the doctor talk to him. "Um, well, I was wondering if you had any openings that I could come in and talk to you about, well about what's been going on lately," he said, nervously.

"Tomorrow night at 7? Um, that should work. We're in the middle of a case right now, but I think that would be fine. Thanks Doctor," Andy said and then hung up his phone. The last time he saw Doctor Peters was when he was going to family counseling with Nicole, Sandra, and Charlie, which was a couple of years ago. He liked him because he already knew what he did for a living and didn't have to go through the whole background again.

He texted Sharon about the appointment he made. 'I can go with you, if you want me to,' she responded to his text message right away. He thought about his response for a moment and then typed it out to her. 'Okay', he sent and then stepped out of the car and headed to the elevators.

When Andy stepped off the elevator onto the ninth floor, Assistant Chief Mason was walking down the hallway. "Ah, Lieutenant Flynn, how are things going?" he asked him as they passed in the hallway. "Uh, fine Sir," he answered him. "And the Commander, how is she recovering?" he wondered. "Um, she's doing okay, thanks for asking," Andy said and then headed towards the office door.

Andy stepped inside and saw that everyone was there, except for Julio. "Julio's running late, something to do with Mark, but we are going to hold a brief in a couple of minutes, Flynn so gather up your information on the financials," Provenza told him. "And a good morning to you too!" Andy shook his head as he went towards his desk and settled in.

Back at the house, Sharon had made herself breakfast and was eating at the kitchen table when Emily came downstairs. "Morning Mom," she greeted her as she joined her at the table. "Good morning sweetheart," Sharon replied as she ate the fruit in the bowl. "How was your evening out with your friends?" she asked as she stood up from the table and walked to the kitchen sink. "Oh, it was good catching up with them," Emily stated as she watched her mother move about the kitchen.

"Is everything okay with Andy?" she asked her when she returned to the table. "I appreciate your concern Emily, but yes he's okay," her worriedness showed through and wasn't fooling Emily at all. "I told him that anyone would be grateful to have him as a father," she mentioned to her. "Yes, he told me that last night," she smiled at her daughter.

"I'm just worried that your falling into a pattern here, Mom," Emily looked at her mom with concern again. "First of all, it's really none of your business what happens between Andy and me. Second of all, please know that I know what's in my best interests when it comes to Andy. It is totally different than what your father and I had long ago," Sharon sternly said to her.

"Okay Mom," Emily backed off from the topic and went about fixing herself some breakfast. Sharon then went to the den to try to busy herself with the notes that Andy had left her regarding their case. As she sat down, she couldn't help but think of how she could help Andy. He told her that he needed her to get better, and she could control that to an extent. She sighed as she turned on the computer on the desk and waited for it to come up.

"Alright everyone, I want to know what we have so far in this case!" Provenza said as he took a seat in the RACR room. The whole team was there now, waiting on him to join them. "Well sir, here is the footage that I took when we arrived at the crime scene," Buzz stated as he played the video. The team watched the video and the different areas of the scene that Buzz had filmed.

"Wait! Pause it for a minute, Buzz," Andy stated and Buzz paused the video. Andy got up from his chair and walked over to the video screen. "Okay, rewind it like a few seconds," he told Buzz and Buzz did. "What are we looking for, Flynn?" Provenza muttered as the rest of the team looked at the screen. "That!" Andy pointed at the screen that now was showing an outdoor clock that was located by the pool.

"A clock?" Provenza wondered what his friend was doing. "Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but that clock has the same time on it every time Buzz pans the camera around," Andy stated and Buzz played the video again. "He's right Lieutenant," Julio stated. "So, we now know what time the body was dumped there," Mike stated.

"Yes, or that clock didn't work before the body was dumped," Provenza interjected. "We can interview the owners again sir, ask them about the clock if you want," Julio stated. Provenza thought about it for a moment. "What else do we know about the owners of that house?" Provenza asked. "Um, well, he's a board member of a start-up company, works from home, and she's a housewife. They have two kids but they're in college. One's at Oregon State and the other attends Fresno State," Julio told him as he read from the report he worked on yesterday.

"No prior arrests, upstanding citizens' sir," Julio concluded as he looked in the direction of Provenza. "Fine, you and Amy go back to the house and ask them about the clock by the pool and anything else that comes up in conversation," he told Julio and Amy. They both stood up and followed each other out of the office.

"What do we know on our victim?" Provenza then asked Mike and Andy. "Well, he started playing hockey when he was 9 years old. He played for a junior team in California and then he went to North Dakota State on a scholarship to play hockey there. He was drafted by the LA Kings in 2016 and had been assigned to the Ontario Reign ever since. He played left wing on their top line," Mike stated.

"So, was he their star player?" Provenza asked. "According to some local newspapers, he was a star, just not their top star player," Mike added. "How much was his contract for?" Provenza asked and Andy looked through his papers on the guy's financials. "65 thousand dollars," Andy answered him. "Is that a lot for a hockey player?" Provenza wondered. "Well, their salary cap is 70 thousand per season, of course NHL players make more," Andy stated.

"Also, there were some deposits made into his bank account, maybe three different times over the last year. All for the same amount of 100 thousand dollars," Andy added. "So this average hockey player had over 300 thousand dollars in his account? Where did he get this money from?" Provenza questioned. "It looks like the same account number each time," Andy said and handed the paper over to Mike for him to look as well.

"Could it be some sort of trust fund or payment like that?" Provenza asked as Buzz placed the report up on the video screen. "Those transactions are not from a trust fund," Mike pointed out. "They look more like a pay-off," Andy stated. "So who was paying off our hockey player?" Provenza looked at the screen and wondered where this was going to lead them.

TBC