It was an unseasonably cold and dreary day in Los Angeles. The fog had rolled in early in the morning and was still hovering low as Captain Sharon Raydor sat at her desk at 11:30 at night. She couldn't even see City Hall across the street. Her long woolen grey slacks kept her legs warm enough but the cranberry silk blouse was be a bit drafty. But neither the heat nor the cold registered with the Captain. She was too wrapped up in closing her case and the mystery going on in her head.
Even with Brenda gone more than 6 months now, the guys in Major Crimes were still giving her trouble. She knew it but she couldn't do much about it. She understood their pain and angst. Their leader had run out on them. Left them behind like they didn't matter. Part of her had to force herself to believe that because she knew, deep down, that Brenda wouldn't have done that…not to them. She loved those guys like her own family. And they were her family.
But after racking her brain for 6 months, Sharon still couldn't figure out why Brenda left the way she did. Chief Pope claimed he didn't know where she was and while at first she didn't believe him eventually she realized he didn't know.
Every day she reread the last message she received from Brenda Leigh.
I wish I had realized it before but…you were the best friend I ever had. I'll miss you.
Some days reading it made her angry. Most days reading it made her sad.
Missing Brenda Leigh was one thing but being worried about her was another. It wasn't like her to drop off the face of the earth.
Sharon Raydor sat back in her black leather chair contemplating her next move. Her last two options were ones she didn't want to have to go to but it looked like it was the only way if she wanted to finally put Brenda Leigh out of her mind. Closing her eyes, it decisively hit her that no one had ever been so engrained in her mind before.
Sighing, she decided to try one of her last two options. It took 10 seconds to log into the national database. Technically she wasn't breaking the law since she did have access but technically Brenda Leigh wasn't a suspect or involved in any open cases. A lump formed at the base of her throat as she typed BRENDA LEIGH JOHNSON into the search box. She paused just a moment before hitting Enter.
For ten minutes she watched the hourglass on her screen turn over and over and over again. Her normally strong, broad shoulders slumped upon seeing the last known contact of one Brenda Leigh Johnson was when she resigned from the Los Angeles Police Department. Frustrated, she signed out and shut her computer off. She wouldn't get any more constructive work done anyway.
Checking her cell phone again, there were no new messages. She didn't expect there would be any. But it had become a habit. And after all this time, it was beginning to piss her off that she allowed this to bother like it had.
Sharon Raydor wasn't one to let herself get thrown off kilter because of someone else. But Brenda Leigh Johnson wasn't just someone else. She'd twanged her little southern butt into everyone's lives…and most of their hearts.
She shook her head slightly embarrassed by the memory of herself sending countless texts and phone messages to Brenda Leigh's cell phone in the weeks after she disappeared. Had she fallen that deep? What was the hold Brenda Leigh Johnson had over her?
Picking up her cell phone she instinctively scrolled through her contacts and hit send when she found the one she was looking for. It rang 4 times before a groggy voice finally came on the line.
"This better be important, Captain." He said.
Her voice was caught in her throat.
"Captain?" He raised his voice slightly.
"Agent Howard, it is important but it's…it's rather of a personal nature." Sharon had never brought up the subject of Brenda with Fritz. But this was her last shot at finding out what happened to her or where she was. She just wanted to talk to her. To make sure she was alright.
She heard him clear his throat.
"Do you know where Brenda Leigh is?" She never was one to beat around the bush.
He cleared his throat again. She knew it was a sore subject with him.
"Captain, you call me at…12:45am and ask me about Brenda Leigh? And why, of all people, do you think I would know where she is?" Fritz had hardened during the years after he left Brenda. He was colder.
"It was my last option, Fritz." Defeated, she rested her head in the palm of her hand. "I'm sorry that I woke you. I didn't even look at the time. I've just been so…" She didn't finish. She didn't really know how to describe in words what she had been.
His sigh rung in her ear. "I'll find out what I can, Sharon. But I can't promise anything."
"Thank you," she whispered her appreciation but he had already disconnected the call.
It was only a few hours later as she was lying in bed did the buzzing of her cell phone startle her out of a deep sleep. The sun was just coming up over the mountains. She fumbled for her glasses beneath the pillow next to her.
I didn't come up with anything, but she's not dead.
Sharon read the last three words four times.
She pulled the other pillow against her chest and held it tight. Falling back asleep was easier now that she knew Brenda Leigh wasn't dead but now the mystery remains…where was she? And why didn't she return any messages?