Angela poured the tequila into the shot glasses. "Are you sure you want to do tequila shots the night before taking over the squad that probably hates you the most?"
"All the more reason to drink, my dear," Sharon smiled, "besides, you don't get nasty hangovers from good tequila. This is a $60 tequila."
"Okay." Angela grinned and pushed the shot glass toward her mouth. "Ready?"
"Ready."
"Go!" The Raydor women licked their hands, poured the salt, licked again, took their shots and the stuck the lime slices in their mouths.
"Whoo!" Sharon laughed, "that's good tequila."
Sharon took the bottle and poured them each another shot. "So, where's your brother this evening? I've never known him to turn down tequila."
Angela shrugged, "I don't know, I told him we were doing promotion shooters tonight."
"Maybe he has a date."
"He didn't indicate anything to me. Stranger things have happened, I guess." Angela shrugged again "Ready for the next shot?"
Sharon walked into the bullpen of Major Crimes, steaming mug of coffee in her hand. Most of the lights were off and all the chairs were empty. She glanced toward the break room and then to the conference room. If she didn't know any better, she'd say that none of the squad had been there yet that morning…
Sharon put her phone to her ear. "Comm – Chief Taylor, I seem to be minus a squad."
"Major Crimes is on scene, Captain, why don't you meet me there?"
"Do you think that the announcement should be made at a crime scene? Wouldn't we all be better served to wait until – "
Taylor cut her off. "We're going to do it like ripping off a band aid." He provided her the address and then hung up.
Sharon scowled all the way back down to the parking garage. She hated being late. She'd been born two weeks early and since then she'd never shown up late for anything. She also really didn't think it would be productive to tell the boys on location.
She sipped her coffee as she slid behind the wheel of her car. And just when had Taylor planned on telling her about the scene? She couldn't help the niggling little feeling that Taylor wanted her to fail.
She managed to mostly calm herself down by the time she arrived at the grocery store. She got out and looked around for Taylor and he pulled up next to her car a minute later. "Sorry. I hit traffic. Hope you weren't waiting long."
"No, I just got here." Sharon shoved her hands into her pockets.
Sharon and Taylor weaved through the crowded scene until they reached the white tent command post. Detective Miller was just walking away and Provenza turned to bark orders at Flynn before he saw Sharon. "Oh, Captain. Do you need anything?" He asked perfunctorily but with a scowl.
"Lieutenant, sorry to be running so behind. Could you bring me up to speed?"
Provenza barely concealed an eye roll. "Hold on." He turned to Flynn, giving him directions.
Sharon cast Taylor a pointed look which was summarily ignored.
Provenza returned his attention to Sharon, "I'm sorry, Captain, I don't owe you a briefing. Technically, the kid was in FID's custody, not ours, and as you can see, we're in a bit of a hurry here."
"Provenza," Taylor interjected forcefully. "Captain Raydor was transferred from Force Investigation Division to Major Crimes - making her your ranking officer – effective immediately."
Provenza stared at Taylor and then at Sharon, dumbfounded.
"And I need a briefing." Sharon repeated.
"Um. Okay." There was a beat before his usual gruff demeanor returned, full of scorn and contempt for Sharon. "Okay, I'll give you a briefing: you're late. And you may be the ranking officer but I am the incident commander and I am not halting a search for suspects with automatic weapons so you or anybody else can catch up."
"Lieutenant - "
Provenza turned on his heel, nostrils flaring angrily. "There's a couple things you don't seem to understand: one of that I am the incident commander and the other is English because I've said it twice. I will call you, Captain, after I've made my arrest."
The older man stalked off and got into a car with Flynn as he stared out the window at Sharon.
"I told you we should have waited." Sharon grumbled.
"No. This is the moment."
Sharon managed to contain her sigh at the last moment and bite back all the snide remarks on the tip of her tongue. Surely, if she could manage to put aside any ill feelings toward superior officers Provenza could do the same?
On her way back into the heart of Major Crimes – this time alive with activity – she was joined by Amy Sykes. She recounted her version of the morning's events, adding at the end, "it wasn't until we started clearing the store we even knew the other two suspects were there and by that time – "
"They were gone." Sharon nodded knowingly.
"Lieutenant Provenza was mad that we didn't chase after them but I felt it was more importat that we stick with procedure and remain at the scene of our action."
Ordinarily Sharon hated kiss asses but considering her chilly reception it was somewhat refreshing. "Which was the right thing to do, of course. Major Crimes has a history of ignoring LAPD policy and leaving others to deal with the consequences - "
It was then that she noticed Rusty at one of the desks. She walked up to the boy and the uniformed officer standing over him with trepidation. There was no way that they were the bearers of good news.
"Rusty… what are you doing here?"
The officer cleared his throat and announced, "his file says attention Major Crimes and this is the third time he's run away from home this week."
"It's not my home." Rusty snapped.
Oh no, Sharon thought to herself, there it is, that tone of voice that teenagers use to make everything sound so fucking dramatic…
The officer spoke again, "the foster parents DCFS put him with won't take him back."
"That is fine with me; they were terrible." Rusty sneered.
"What's the problem?" Sharon asked, hoping she sounded sympathetic and not as annoyed as she felt.
"Living with complete strangers - that is the problem - and they were, like, telling me what to do all day long, like, even what I could eat. And they would turn off the television at nine o'clock - every night."
"So, you were tortured." Sharon said sardonically.
Rusty scowled and leaned back.
Sharon smirked before turning to the officer. "I will take care of him. Thank you."
"Look, I know Brenda was fired or whatever but I need to speak with her right now." Rusty demanded.
"Detective Sykes, could you, uh," Sharon placed the file folder in Sykes hands, "could you pardon me for one moment?"
"Sure, and I should say congratulations, Captain, on taking over Major Crimes, well deserved." Amy smiled a smile that could rot teeth. Sharon gave her a quick smile before ushering Rusty into Brenda's – well, her office now.
"Look, uh, we had a deal. I helped you guys catch a serial killer so that you would find my mom not just dump me into the system. I mean, you want to know why people don't like the police? It's because you're all a bunch of liars. That's why."
"Okay, uh," Sharon sat down in the chair behind the desk. It was springier than she'd imagined and she bounced on the seat once and swiveled a couple times before turning to focus on the boy again. "Right. Rusty. We haven't been able to find your mom yet and you are too young to live unsupervised."
"I lived unsupervised for months and nobody cared. I can handle it."
Sharon fought the urge to roll her eyes, "Okay. You are a material witness in a murder trial - which means that you have to go to court when Phillip Stroh stands trial and you have to testify under oath about what happened."
"No, I don't have to do that!" Rusty protested, speaking over her words.
"Oh, yes, you do. And we have to protect you until then." Sharon narrowed her eyes a little.
"No, I'm not doing that and you can't make me." He shook his head stubbornly.
"Oh, yes we can make you and we will make you and until then we need to find a safe place for you to stay."
Rusty put his hand on the table, "Look, I don't know you really but I don't like you." He said, eliciting a small shrug from the captain. "So, I'd rather just deal with Brenda, please."
"Well, I'm afraid you're standing at the back of a very long line. Unfortunately, Chief Johnson has retired from the LAPD. She is out of town. So I am who you've got."
"What?" Rusty snapped as someone knocked on the door.
"Hold on."
"No, no, no, no, no! You hold on. I need to know who here is looking for my mother!" Rusty roared.
"I am. I am supervising the search for your mother and I will find her." She fixed Rusty with a smoldering look that shut him up for a moment.
The person on the other side of the door knocked again an she beckoned Buzz to enter.
"Sorry to interrupt but the lieutenants are back and Commander Tay - Assistant Chief Taylor is walking down from his office."
"Okay, um, Buzz, you remember Rusty." Sharon indicated her young ward, smiling encouragingly.
"Oh, uh, yes. Hi."
Rusty screwed his face up in a disgusted scowl. "I don't know him."
"He works here." Sharon said dismissively, "Um, Buzz, could you keep our guest with you in electronics until I get child services to appoint a more suitable guardian."
"No!" Rusty cried.
"I know how upsetting this is - " Sharon started.
"No, you put me somewhere – " Rusty raised his voice louder, talking over Sharon. "Listen to me. Listen to me! If you put me somewhere that is not with my mom then I am gone and that's too bad for your trial, huh?"
"Buzz. Electronics. Now." Sharon turned on her heel and exited through the other door.
"Hey! I want a lawyer! I have a right to a lawyer, don't I?"
Sharon picked up her phone and hovered over Brenda's speed dial button but hesitated. She wasn't going to let this day beat her. Sharon set the receiver back down and resolved to call Brenda this evening to tell her that – despite the many challenges – her first day had been nothing short of a success.
Failure was not an option.
Angela let herself into her apartment and stopped short seeing James with his suitcases next to him. "Hey Ange." He smiled.
"Hey… what's up?" She asked with concern.
"I'm moving out. It's time."
"What are you talking about? You make $12 an hour and you want to get your paralegal certificate… how do you plan on paying for an apartment?"
"It's not a full apartment, it's a room share."
Angela scoffed, "little bro, be reasonable." She put her hands on her hips and fixed him with a patented Sharon Raydor smirk. "Why on earth would you pay to share a room with strangers when you have your own bedroom here? We're close to work here and we can commute together."
"I'm not a freeloader." James snapped.
"Then pay me rent. I don't even give a shit about that."
James shook his head. "I've made up my mind."
Angela sighed, "give me a minute to change and I'll help you move." She held up her hand as he was about to protest, "not up for negotiation."
Sharon threw open the door to find Rusty and Buzz fighting over one of Rusty's crutches and yelling at each other. "I am getting a lawyer and I am suing you for holding me against my will!" Rusty screeched.
"You knock it off." Sharon snarled through gritted teeth. "And I mean right now or the next place you go is going to have bars on the windows and locks on the doors. Do you want to spend the next two years in a juvenile detention center? Keep talking and see what happens!"
Rusty swallowed involuntarily, blinking at Sharon with a suitable amount of fear. Sharon held his gaze, narrowing her eyes.
Buzz watched her posture with apprehension, glad not to be the recipient of the dreaded glare. She looked like a leopard about to pounce on and devour an antelope.
Rusty bit the inside of his cheek and glanced away, breaking the intense eye contact.
Sharon turned, her facial expression softening but still obviously incensed and took Buzz by the arm, "officially, Rusty is in an emergency care situation which means he needs 24-7 adult supervision."
"Okay… but by whom?"
Wow, men are babies… Sharon thought to herself but said aloud, "Well, I am working that out but in the meantime have him walked across the street to the doctor. Have his personal things sent to my office and he'll be out of your hair for the rest of the day."
As she turned she muttered to herself, "because heaven forbid you do something that requires a little bit of patience." She fixed her gaze on the boy again, "before we can deal with any of your concerns we need to comply fully with the law and we will."
She gave him a last pointed look before turning away. She didn't have the time to deal with this right now and, as far as she was concerned, that conversation was over.
Buzz handed Rusty back the crutch. "God, does she love the rules." Rusty shook his head.
"You have no idea." Buzz agreed.
Angela and James rolled up in front of the house and Angela stared at it through the window. She shook her head slowly, "mom is going to murder you… provided one of your neighbors doesn't save her the trouble."
"It's a little rough, I know." James said, grabbing his duffel bag from the back seat, "but they seem like a good group of guys and it's right next to a bus stop."
Angela looked over at the weatherworn and splintering bus bench with a grimace. "And you consider that to be a plus?"
"Pop the trunk, would ya?"
Angela popped the trunk despite her obvious apprehension. James grabbed his two suitcases and closed the trunk. Angela locked the car and grabbed the handle of one of the suitcases.
The front door opened and a tall, thin 20-something guy in a tight striped tank top with an anchor on the left breast smiled. "Hey man." They grasped hands and half-hugged before separating.
"Max, this is my sister, Angela."
"Enchanté, Angela," he shook her hand, "come in, I'll introduce you to the rest of the guys."
Sharon was just getting off the phone with Detective Miller. While she had no sympathy at all for Greg Miller she really did feel for his father. She couldn't even imagine if one of her children had done what Greg did but she knew she would be heartbroken.
Provenza burst through her door, "he didn't deserve that deal!" He yelled.
Sharon turned away from the belligerent old fart, covering the receiver, "yes, thank you. Goodbye."
Before she had a chance to greet the man sarcastically, he launched into his rant. "Greg Miller is going to jail for the people we killed and getting off scott free for the murders he committed himself." He laughed sardonically, "but I guess that's alright because you saved the city a lot of money. Bet you're really happy about that, huh?"
Sharon smiled sickeningly sweetly. "I put a murderer away for life in less than 48 hours which is not the usual routine around here... so, yes, I feel excellent. Thank you for asking."
Provenza huffed angrily. "So, we've been doing it all wrong, is that it?"
"Hey, you said it." Sharon smirked before adding, "when suspects agree to a deal, like Greg Miller just did, they surrender all rights to appeal, we've locked them up, we've thrown away the key, we move on."
"With people like Amy Sykes?" Provenza demanded. Raydor's arrival as the senior officer had been a slap in the face but Sykes being transferred in was the absolute last straw. And he planned to give Sharon a piece of his mind, high blood pressure be damned. "Ye gods!"
"As difficult as this may be for you to understand, I need at least one person here who actually likes me."
"Sykes doesn't like you!" Provenza laughed, feeling increasingly spiteful the longer he stood in the brunette's presence. "She's just pretending to like you to get the job."
Sharon chuckled a little. "Still."
Fritz knocked on the door. "Am I interrupting something?"
"No, we're finished." Sharon smiled triumphantly. Not even Provenza's bad attitude was going to quash her good mood. She had, after all, closed her case. "Aren't we finished, Lieutenant?"
"I guess we'll see." He snorted, turning on his heel and storming out.
Fritz laughed a little. "He certainly is full of hot air, isn't he?"
"Unfortunately for me." She nodded.
Fritz walked further into the office. "Good job today."
"You too."
"I brought your wedding present," he held up an elaborately designed gift bag.
"Oh, you really didn't have to do that."
"I wanted to."
"Brenda's going to be back next week." Sharon said, meaning, but not saying, why are you bringing this to me? All things considered, the most stressful part of her day should have been navigating around the man from whom she'd stolen the love of both their lives. It should not have been the orphan, it should not have been the officers who've operated within the ranking system for long enough that they should just suck it up. It probably should have been Fritz.
Had their previous interactions been any indication, things should have been forced and awkward between them. Yet, today, things between them were pleasant and cordial. It was a surprising change.
"I wanted to bring it to you." He said simply.
Sharon smiled, understanding that it was a peace offering more than anything. She'd actually married Brenda and Fritz was not enough of a masochist to keep holding the torch for the southern spitfire.
He set it down on the desk in front of her.
She pulled out the silvery tissue paper and took out the vase. He'd gotten one of their wedding photos printed on a vase and inscribed with their names and the date of their wedding.
It was, quite possibly, the tackiest thing she'd ever seen but at the same time she was overcome by the gesture. "Thank you. I love it."
"Alright, well," he proclaimed, "I'm sure you're ready to get home."
Sharon turned on the blinker and pulled into the driveway.
"This is Brenda's house." Rusty furrowed his brow.
"Actually, it's mine." She put the car in park and cut the engine. "And I have the deed to prove it."
Rusty either accepted what she'd just said or didn't care enough to ask any follow up questions. He gathered his backpack and opened the door. Sharon grabbed his crutches and brought them around to him. He took the crutches without bothering to say thank you and Sharon let them into the house.
Rusty dropped down onto the couch in typical aloof teenager style and Sharon grabbed a bottle of Riesling from the counter. When Brenda was around she mostly only drank reds but it was nice to enjoy a white here and there.
"Don't think I'm going to be all thankful for you taking me in." Rusty called.
"Oh, trust me, you're not the first adolescent to grace my home with your presence. Having raised two teenagers of my own, I have tremendous capacity for ingratitude." She smirked as she poured herself a tall glass.
"So, what are we supposed to call each other anyway?" Rusty asked, softening a little – which encouraged Sharon to be friendlier
"There are not a lot of people around here who call me by my first name but you may call me Sharon. How's that?" Sharon smiled.
"Sharon?" He repeated, starting to scowl.
"Mhm!" She chirped.
"What is that? Like your bad idea of a joke or something?"
"Sharon? No. My middle name is Mildred… that seems like a joke." She shrugged playfully, "why do you ask?"
"Sharon is my mother's name." He snarled.
Sharon's face fell and she realized what a monumentally bad thing had just transpired. "Oh." She wanted to kick herself for not coming up with something better to say.
Rusty frowned, looking like he was trying to keep himself from crying. "God, you haven't been looking for her at all, have you?"
Sharon knew the feeling, she was so frustrated and just when things had looked up, this had to happen. "Rusty, I just got this job yesterday. Give me a chance to catch up. I am making a good faith effort, I am."
"Where's your bathroom?"
"First door on the left down the hall." She said softly. "Rusty, if it is possible to find your mother, I will do it. I promise you."
"Sure you will, Captain. Sure you will..."
The look on Rusty's face as he turned away from her was enough to break her heart. She clutched one of the throw pillows against her chest. She was roused from her melancholic haze by her phone vibrating in her blazer pocket.
She put the phone to her ear tiredly. "Captain Raydor."
"Well, that's a fine how do you do."
"Oh Brenda," she sat up, looking at the clock. "What are you still doing up?"
"Daddy and I fell asleep watching old movies. I just got up and was headin' to bed."
"I'm really glad you called." Sharon admitted, curling up in a little ball on the couch.
"Bad day?"
"Very mixed…" Sharon sighed, "it was a roller coaster kind of day. Provenza's going to be a royal pain in the ass for the foreseeable future."
"Been there." Brenda smiled.
"Flynn threw me a bone a couple of times… Taylor is as big an asshole as ever… Anyway, I don't want to dwell on the day too much; it's over and done. I really wish you were here though."
"I'll be home before you know it."
Sharon yawned, "yeah, yeah, yeah."
"Go to bed, beautiful, you earned it."
"Hopefully it'll just get easier from here on out."
"It will. I know from experience."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."