Sunday morning of the trip dawned bright and clear. They'd had excellent weather, and loved walking on the beach together, just holding hands. Brenda thought it was so like every other couple out there, as to be unoriginal, but she didn't care. Everybody else wasn't getting to hold hands with Flynn. Andy kept stealing glances at her, a questioning look in his eyes, but she didn't know what about. All she knew was that when she woke up this morning, he had been propped up on one elbow staring at her then. She'd smiled at him, happy he was there beside her. He kept looking at her though, as if he expected her to say something, but she didn't know what. This had followed through breakfast and when they decided to walk down the beach for awhile before reality would set in and they'd have to head home.
"Do you ever regret having taken our relationship further than friendship?" Andy asked her out of the blue.
Brenda looked at him, wondering why he would even think that. Did he regret that their relationship had changed?
"No, I don't regret it. I thought I've made that clear on several occasions." Brenda said.
"Do you ever want us to be anything more? I mean, where do you see us going with this?" Flynn asked her.
"I haven't thought that far ahead, honestly. I see you being in my future for a very long time though. A very long time." Brenda wasn't comfortable with this discussion. She just wanted to be happy right now, not discuss the future.
Andy stopped to face her, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "I see myself being with you a very long time too, Brenda."
Andy dropped the discussion then, satisfied for now. He had seen how uncomfortable she looked, like she was being pinned down to talk about it, and recognized the look from several times when her ex had been around. So, he changed tactics, grabbed her hand and walked down the beach with her again. She may not be sure of her feelings right now, but it didn't change the fact that he'd fallen in love with her. Whispering it to her in the night had given him a sense of peace for some reason, as if admitting it to himself was freeing. He wondered how long it would take her to realize the same. He'd looked at the pictures he'd taken of her walking along the beach yesterday, and was certain of one thing from looking at them. The look she'd given him in several of the shots showed that she loved him. Getting her to admit it, someday, that was the problem.
"You know, we don't have to check out for a few hours yet. What do you say we go make use of the room some more?" Brenda asked, changing the subject.
"That sounds like a very good idea." This time he kissed her on the lips, as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.
Brenda thought that his kisses literally took her breath away. She loved the way he kissed, she'd found. He could go from being so gentle and easy to fiery and passionate within seconds. She liked it. They headed for the hotel, intending to make good use of what was left of their time at the hotel. They walked quickly through the lobby, reaching the elevator, wishing it would hurry to their floor. They exited out on their floor, walking to their room. Unlocking the door, they entered the room where he whirled her around, kissing her, pushing her up against the wall.
The need between them was urgent, and they made their way to the bedroom. However, that was as far as they got. Brenda's phone started ringing.. They stopped kissing long enough to give each other a look of regret. They had no idea how they'd ever made it this far in a weekend together without getting a call from Major Crimes. Brenda grabbed her phone, answering it, while Andy wrapped his arms around her from behind, gently kissing her neck. Although welcomed, it was distracting to Brenda. Sighing, she heard Gabriel's voice and regretted his sense of timing.
"Hey, Chief, we've got a case. Do you want me to come pick you up?" Gabriel asked.
"What's the case, Sgt.?" Brenda asked, exasperated.
"University student, daughter of Councilwoman Vincent, has turned up dead. Chief Delk wants us on the case, this is a priority. We're on campus right now. I can pick you up in twenty minutes, if you want."
"Sgt., I'm not at home. I can't get there for at least an hour and a half, at least. I will be there as soon as I can. What's the address?" Brenda said.
Gabriel gave her the address, and Brenda jotted it down on the hotel stationary. She promised she'd be there as soon as she could, which wasn't saying much. She told him to put Provenza in charge for now, they could catch her up when she arrived. Hanging up, she sighed. Andy and hers' first weekend was officially over. He'd listened to the conversation, feeling let down, but understanding about where her priorities now lay. She was needed on the job, and would have to get there as soon as possible. The problem he foresaw was explaining why he was the one bringing her to the crime scene and avoiding a possible interrogation from Provenza about their dual arrival.
He continued holding her for a couple of minutes, just savouring touching her. She finally, reluctantly pulled away from him, grabbing her suitcase and started throwing things into it. This wonderful getaway was over for them, abruptly shortened by duty calling her. He grabbed his suitcase and was soon packed as well. Not exactly the way he'd intended the vacation to end, but it had ended nonetheless.
After a final, lingering kiss, they left the hotel room. The quickly checked out and were heading back to Los Angeles and reality.
"Listen, Andy, drop me at home, I'll take my car to the crime scene. I'm going to tell them that I gave you the weekend off, that you weren't on call. Then they can't get on your case for not being there. They are going to call you eventually, I want you to ignore the call, let it go to voicemail. That way, later, I can give you a plausible excuse." Brenda rationalized.
"Now, wait a minute. I have no problem walking into that crime scene with you. I can certainly act like I haven't seen you since Friday!" Andy argued.
"Andy, it's just how can we both justify being so late to the crime scene? I tell you what, if you want to come to the crime scene, give it a couple of hours. Come later, it will seem like you were further away and it took time to get back. Please?" Brenda pleaded.
Andy looked at her, seeing how desperate she was to keep things between them still hidden. It saddened him, but at the same time, it was the deal he'd struck in order to be with her. He caved. He always seemed to when it came to her.
"Fine, fine, I'll come to the scene in a couple of hours."
"Thank you, Andy. It means a lot to me. And if you're very good, I'll make it up to you later on, when we're alone with each other again."
"To make up for our interrupted morning? Deal." Andy smiled then.
Grabbing her hand, he played with her palm, tracing a finger up and down it, making her smile. Things were good between them. She watched him drive, loving his profile and the occasional smile that he threw her way, along with a questioning look in his eyes as to why she kept smiling at him. It wasn't long before they pulled into her driveway and they got out of the car. He went to the trunk and got her bag out, carrying it to the door for her. She opened up and he brought the bag inside and set it down. He pulled her into one last kiss for the weekend and told her he'd see her at the scene, as soon as she deemed it safe for him to arrive. She locked the door after he left and changed into some clothes she deemed more appropriate to work in, and left the house. She fed Gabriel's address that he'd given her into her GPS and set off for the scene.
Pulling up, she seen police cars, got out and walked up to one of the officers standing at the crime scene tape. She showed her badge and he held up the crime scene tape, letting her through. She wandered down a hill towards where she could see her team. Gabriel seen her coming, waved to her and then headed over to give details of the crime so far as they knew.
"Hey, Chief. Vic is 21 year old Hayley Vincent. She's the daughter of Councilwoman Vincent, she's making a run for Lieutenant Governor. She was a favourite for it, too. Anyway, apparently the family has been the target of threats the last few weeks, and the thinking is someone made sure to carry out those threats. Provenza and Tao went and informed the family. They didn't take it well, they want answers and want them now. Delk's been hanging around the scene, this is going to be a high profile case." Gabriel explained.
"How long has she been deceased?" Brenda asked.
" Coroner's been here and estimates time of death between midnight and 2:00 a.m. Death appears to have been caused by being strangled, but autopsy will let us know for sure. Body was found at 8 this morning, by the groundskeeper here at the park. He was getting started on cleaning up around here when he came over the hill and there she was. He phoned the police and as soon as she was i.d'd, Delk came on scene. And he's not in a good mood. He's been waiting for you."
"I told you, I was away from here. I got here as soon as I could. I do have a life outside of Major Crimes, although sometimes it doesn't feel like it." Brenda muttered.
Screwing up her nerve, she went towards a disproving looking Delk. For the most part, their working relationship was fine, but as Chief of Police, he was always aware of things that would affect their department. And the fact that the councilwoman's family had been threatened and now, her daughter was dead, was not going to reflect well on the police department.
"Ah, Chief Johnson. So glad you could finally make it." Delk said to her.
"Sir, I explained to Sgt. Gabriel on the phone, I was away for the weekend. I got back as soon as I could. In less time than I told him, actually. I'm here, I'm ready to do my job. Now, what have we got so far?" Brenda stood there, not taking anything from him.
They got talking about the case, Brenda absorbing all the information she was being told. She reviewed the crime scene, looking around, taking it all in like she usually did. Finally, they packed up and went back to Major Crimes, Delk having authorized the overtime that was going to be needed to be put into this case. There, she set up the murder board, before going to where the autopsy had taken place to talk to the coroner.
He'd found out that while yes, she'd been strangled, she'd also been slipped a drug that had made her unconscious. She'd been knocked out and easy to strangle. Brenda sighed, this was bad. Obviously the drug hadn't been administered at crime scene, the place the body had been found was a dump site. So, now they needed to visit the home of the victim, find out where and what she'd been up to last night.
When she came back from autopsy, Flynn was sitting at his desk, Provenza had assigned him to find out where the vic had been last night. Tao was working on a phone dump, hoping to find a clue somewhere in there, to find out who she may have been in contact with, see if she got any threatening phonecalls. Brenda called for Gabriel and Sanchez to come to the victim's place with her, leaving the other three working in the murder room. They needed to get the place checked out, it could have been the scene of the crime for all they knew.
Brenda jimmied the lock and let themselves into the apartment. Splitting up, they checked out different rooms. Brenda looked around the place, it was huge. The girl was 21 years old and lived in a bigger place than Brenda did. She shook her head, continuing down the hallway towards what she could see was a bedroom. Letting herself in, she could see it was a mess. It had been torn apart, someone had been searching for something in there. What, they might never know, but Brenda proceeded with caution. She felt like she was on red alert. The place hadn't been cleared, it wasn't a crime scene, but something about the room made Brenda's arm hairs stand on end. She noticed a crumpled paper on the floor, and bent to pick it up. As she did so, the closet door opened in front of her, she fell backwards, startled. As the bat hit her, she cried out, and that was the last she remembered.