A/N: Sorry for the delay in this chapter. I've been in the hospital for part of this week, and am exhausted. I fear it isn't quite up to what I'd like this chapter to be, and hope you'll still enjoy it. As always, thanks for reading, I appreciate each and every review and comment you all leave me. Makes my day!
Flynn came back to Brenda's place around seven, bringing Provenza with him. Luckily, Willie Rae had prepared a big meal, so there was plenty for everyone to eat. After the happy greetings between Willie Rae and Provenza, they all sat down to eat.
"So, Lt. Provenza, how come you came back with Flynn? Wanting to check up on our Brenda?" Clay asked.
"Well, we think highly of the Chief, Mr. Johnson, and I wanted to make sure she was getting along alright. She had quite a hit to the head the other day. We were all worried about her." Provenza answered.
"I'm fine, Lt. Still a little sore, but fine. Tired mostly. Did Flynn talk to you about bringing the casefile home? I want to do anything I can to help out on the case, seein' as you're short-handed. Anything I can do, seeing as I'm restricted to being here at home?" Brenda asked.
"Yes, Flynn mentioned something about you wanting to help out, I brought the casefile with us. It's in the car, I can get it after supper." Provenza smiled. There was no changing the Chief, not at all.
"Oh, I can go get it, Lt.!" Brenda started to get up, but when four pair of eyes stared at her, and Flynn put his hand on her arm, she slowly sat back down. "Well, I guess you can get it after supper then."
Flynn smiled. He knew how hard it was for Brenda to sit there and not run out the door to the car to grab the file. The evening passed quickly and pleasantly. With Provenza around, her parents spent more time talking and laughing with him then to questioning Brenda and Andy, who very much enjoyed the reprieve. Brenda was actually glad Provenza around, and as soon as dinner was over, she practically rushed him out the door to get the file. He returned to the house with it and she almost ripped it out of his hands.
Willie Rae just smiled and then calmly asked if everyone wanted some coffee, she'd make it and bring it to the living room. The others excused themselves to go sit, and Willie Rae began clearing the dinner dishes. Andy stayed to help her, not feeling right about leaving her to do it alone. Brenda was curled up on the couch already, reading over the file, leaving Clay and Provenza to talk amongst themselves.
"Dinner was terrific, Willie Rae." Andy said, pulling on gloves to wash the dishes.
"Why, thank you, Andy." She replied, picking up the first plate to dry.
An awkward silence came between them then, neither knowing what to say. Finally, Flynn broke it, commenting that it was nice to see Provenza getting on so well with everyone.
"How long has he known about you and my daughter, Andy? He didn't seem too surprised that you are looking after her, also."
"He's only known since Sunday, but he's suspected for a long time. Brenda is serious about keeping this quiet, and he's agreed. He was really worried about her the other day. He may have a tough exterior, but he's a big softie underneath." Andy replied.
"Oh, I know that, Lt." Willie Rae chuckled.
"Yeah, well, don't let him know that I caught on a long time ago. He might use it against me eventually." Andy laughed.
They quickly finished up, Willie Rae pouring the coffee and setting things on a tray to take to the living room. Bringing it in, they all enjoyed a cup before Provenza said he had to get going. As he said goodnight, Brenda thanked him for bringing the file, and surprisingly, Provenza turned and gave her a big hug.
"I'm really glad you're going to be okay, Chief. It wouldn't be the same without you around here." He hugged her tight, stressed from the last few days of having to run everything and worried about her well-being.
Brenda didn't object to the hug, taking it as a sign of affection from a friend, hoping that things would be normal between them now that he knew Flynn and hers secret. "Thank you, Lieutenant. If you need any help, just phone and I can help you from here. I'll give y'all any help you need. It will give me something to do while I "recover"."
"I'll probably take you up on that. This creep that attacked you still hasn't copped to the girl's murder on Sunday, but he's not going anywhere fast. He hasn't been able to make bail yet, so we've got him in custody still. Probably won't make bail, but you never know."
"Well, I'll keep up with the case, so when I come back, if he still hasn't admitted to anything, I'll be able to have a go at him. Now, you're not just focusing on him, right? You're looking into other leads?" Brenda quizzed him.
"Yes, Chief, we don't have blinders on. We're following up other leads, it's why we needed Flynn back. The girl had a lot of enemies for someone so young, not to mention her mother's enemies as well. We've got leads everywhere." Provenza looked frustrated.
"Well, I'm sure Lieutenant Flynn will keep me abreast of the situation. I'll help in any way I can."
"Thanks, Chief. Goodbye, everyone, it was great seeing you Willie Rae and Clay. Too bad something like this had to occur to get you into town again." Provenza shook their hands.
"Well, we would have come sooner, but Brenda has been so busy the last few months, it was no use coming. At least this way, she has to be in the same house as us." Clay laughed.
"Daddy! You know that's not true!" Brenda protested.
"Honey, don't fool yourself. If you were at one hundred percent, we'd never see you at all. We know how busy you are." Clay told his daughter.
Brenda didn't like to hear it, but she knew he was right. All these years, her daddy could still make her feel guilty.
Provenza took his leave and Brenda locked up after him. They all puttered around, finally heading to get ready for bed. Flynn had taken her parents bags to the spare room earlier, so they went there, while Brenda headed for her room. Andy followed her, picking up the bag of chocolate that he'd bought for her earlier.
Closing the room door, they finally had a moment to themselves. He came up behind her, pulling her to him. He kissed her neck before presenting her with her chocolate.
"Oh, thank you, Andy! You don't know how much I've needed this!" Brenda was happy to see the chocolate. It made dealing with her parents much easier.
"You don't know how much I've needed to do this." Andy replied, continuing to kiss her neck. A shiver ran through Brenda's body. She didn't know how he could always do this to her. It felt like it had been so long since they'd been this close, in reality it hadn't, but it still felt like forever. She turned to face him, her lips meeting his.
After several minutes of passionate kissing, Andy felt himself beginning to lose control. Emotions filled him, he wanted Brenda badly. However, with her head injury and her parents in the next room, he didn't think that anything was going to happen, so he reluctantly pulled away from her and went to sit on the bed.
"Why'd you stop?" Brenda asked him, not wanting the contact to end. She turned to him with a quizzical look, seeing the concern on his face.
"Hon, I can't do this. I'm wanting things that I have no right asking you to do tonight, considering the circumstances." Andy admitted.
"You really are the sweetest thing, do you know that, Andy Flynn?" She reached up and kissed him again. Everything with him just felt so right. Their kiss was interrupted by a knock on the bedroom door.
"Brenda Leigh? Where are your extra blankets? Your father is claimin' it's too cold in our room." Willie Rae called out.
Brenda jumped back a little from Andy, nervous suddenly. She was an old enough woman not to worry about what her parents thought, but she still acted like a teenager at times with them. Flynn just smiled at her, the woman was a contradiction. So tough on the job, so weak when it came to her parents. He just continued on to the washroom, leaving her to find some blankets for her parents. He readied for bed, and when he returned to the room, she was sitting on the bed, reading the casefile that Provenza had brought with him, snacking on one of the chocolate bars he'd brought for her.
"After 3 days, this is all we have on the suspect? He was the victim's on/off boyfriend. Apparently they were on an off period. Nothing to tie him to the murder, but he's now up on attempted murder charges on me." Brenda wasn't happy. She needed more to work with.
"He's got an alibi to cover the apparent time of the murder, but not for the time the body was dumped in the park." Flynn told her.
Brenda looked through the file again, trying to find anything to help her team. Something finally clicked. "Did y'all notice that the address of the alibi witness is the same as the person who discovered the body? I think that's more than a little coincidental. Maybe they helped him dump the body there. You should check that out."
Flynn looked at her, unbelieving that the five of them working the case had missed that. He felt incredibly stupid. "I don't know how we missed that. That's an easy connection. Damn it." He was more than a little upset.
"To be fair, I think you've been worried about a few things." Brenda kissed his forehead.
"Yes, I have. But it shouldn't affect how I do my job." Andy was put out.
Brenda looked at him, seeing the commitment to work in his eyes. He'd always been good at his job, no matter that some people thought he sometimes looked for the easier way out of doing things. Even herself at times had thought he didn't always put the biggest effort in to things. She smiled, and broke her candy bar in half, handing it to him.
"Here, chocolate always makes me feel better. This will help." Brenda kissed his cheek.
Andy looked at the proffered chocolate, surprised. Brenda didn't share her chocolate very often, but here she was, offering it to him. As tough as she was, this gesture touched him. She really wasn't as hard as she liked to appear, but he knew that. So, he took the chocolate offered to him, and acted like he was clinking it together with hers, before eating it. He calmed down, and then pulled her to him, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Life wasn't perfect, far from it, but being with her, it sure felt damn close.