Brenda watched as Flynn pulled out her driveway. She wanted to run after him, tell him not to go, but she had to deal with the man inside her house. He shouldn't be here. Shouldn't have been sitting in her house when she walked in, shouldn't have thought he could just waltz right back in, saying he missed her and was wrong. She was more than a little angry. She examined her feelings, realizing she really didn't love Fritz anymore. The realization kind of shocked her. He'd been an important part of her life for so long, and now, she just felt nothing. Well, maybe anger, but certainly not love.
She turned to go back into the apartment, wondering how to get him out of her house. She'd recognized the hurt in Andy's eyes as he'd left. He hadn't wanted to, not at all. She wished he would have stayed. Perhaps they could have told Fritz they were together, and Fritz would have left. She shook her head, no, Fritz would have went ballistic. She opened the door, letting herself in. Fritz was sitting at the table, still eating some pizza. Brenda could only sigh, and she went and sat at the table across from him.
Fritz looked at Brenda, noticing a change in her. She wouldn't meet his eyes, and was extremely uncomfortable. He had thought she'd be happy, him admitting that he had been wrong in leaving her. Instead, she was trying to tell him to just go. He frowned. This wasn't how he'd thought this would go.
"Brenda, what's wrong? I thought you'd be happy that I'm admitting I was wrong. I thought you lived for me to admit being wrong." Fritz tried teasing her.
Brenda stared at him mutely. Was he really trying to joke his way out of their separation and divorce? It had hurt that he'd been angry at her for choosing the job over him and then he'd turned around, doing the same thing. Not to forget, he'd also picked himself up a girlfriend in D.C., long before she and Andy had started anything.
"Fritz, it's just like I told you. I've moved on. I'm with someone else. And the fact is, I love him. I don't want you back, I don't want you to come back. You have your new life in D.C. Go back to whatever her name is, make up with her. There's no chance we're getting back together." Brenda laid out the facts for him.
Fritz was shocked. Apparently Brenda hadn't been making up the fact that she was with someone else. He thought she'd lied, that she was using it as a tactic to get him where she wanted him. He got up from the table, coming around to where she sat. He bent down over her, placing his arms on either side of her. He was going to try and sweet talk her.
"Brenda.." he said in that slightly teasing tone, coming on to her.
"Fritz, I told you..." Brenda didn't like him so close to her. That was as far as she got as he reached forward, kissing her gently on the lips. He tried deepening the kiss, but Brenda pulled back from him and her hands shot out, pushing him away.
"Fritz, I told you, I'm in love with someone else. Don't do that again. That part of our lives is through. And I'm not going back!" Brenda stood up, needing to be away from him.
"How can you be in love with someone else? Honestly, Brenda, who would put up with you, like I did all these years? He'd have to be a goddamn saint to put up with your crap. Does he know that you're married to the job? That you'd do anything to close a case? Give up everything so you can get your answers? I highly doubt it." Fritz went off on her, angry that she wasn't willing to at least talk about getting together again.
"He knows everything about me! He understands how much all I want to do sometimes is do my job. He doesn't make me feel bad about loving my work, and he doesn't care that I sometimes get too involved in my work. He's never said one bad thing about me caring for what I do!" Brenda shouted back at him.
"Then he doesn't know anything about you. He doesn't know that you'll throw him under a bus one day if it means you get your case solved. That you'll backstab him to get the answers you want!" Fritz yelled.
"Fritz, get out. Get out now. I don't want you here. Just go." Brenda stopped arguing, just wanting him to be gone.
"Fine, I'll go, Brenda. I'll let you cool off a bit and I'll talk to you later. I think we can work this out, I really do." Fritz said, refusing to give up.
With that, he turned and grabbed his suitcase and prepared to leave.
"Fritz, I want the key back. Now. And don't ever come in here again. You don't live here anymore. This is my home." Brenda stood her ground.
Fritz looked at her, reached into his pocket and tossed the key onto the coffee table. "I'll talk to you later, when you're more rational."
He left, leaving Brenda alone in the quiet of her living room. Her mind swirled. She couldn't believe Fritz. He never listened to her, just kept going on, thinking he could change her mind, bully her into doing what he wanted. It had always been a bone of contention with her, and most times, she'd folded to keep the peace. Not anymore though. She thought about the kiss he'd just given her and realized she had felt absolutely nothing but anger at it. Where she'd once loved to kiss him, now it made her feel like she'd done something wrong, like she'd betrayed Andy in some way, even though she hadn't been the one to kiss Fritz. At least Fritz had left, thank god he'd listened to her on that.
Brenda sat down on her couch, wondering what to do. Apparently he was going to talk to her sometime, she couldn't seem to get rid of him, no matter that she'd told him she wasn't interested. He seemed to be having trouble getting that through his head. She then thought of Andy, driving away, upset. She wondered if he was home yet, that maybe she could go over there. She felt out of place, invaded, now that Fritz had been here. It was as if he'd taken her cozy home and made it an alien landscape, unsafe and dangerous. She had no idea whether he had another key or not and could just come and go as he pleased. A chill went through her.
Then she wondered if she should tell Andy about the kissing attempt. She had a feeling he'd be angry about it, maybe want to hurt Fritz, and Brenda didn't want that. Not that she wanted to protect Fritz, but wanted to protect Andy. She was unsettled, not knowing what to do. She didn't like to feel this way, with no control. Finally, she'd had enough. She picked up her phone to call Andy, find out where he was.
The call went to voicemail. She left a message, telling him that Fritz had left and wondering if she could come over there. She didn't add anything as to why she wanted to come over, just left it at that. Her head was starting to ache, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep. Clutching a pillow, she did just that on the couch, after making sure the door was locked so there were no more surprise intrusions.
Brenda had no idea how long she'd slept, only that it was very dark when she awoke. She hadn't heard the phone ring, and began worrying about Andy. She checked it, there was no calls from him. She was surprised. She tried his cell number and still didn't get an answer. Deciding enough was enough, Brenda grabbed her coat and car keys. She was going to check out his house, see if he was there, sleeping. Worry had set in, and she needed to see Andy and make sure he was okay.
Driving there, she was plagued by the thought she shouldn't have let him drive off. He was giving her the space she needed to deal with her ex, and she'd given him no reassurance. It wasn't long til she got to his place and his car was not in his driveway. Worry really set in, and she parked, grabbed her phone and rang his cell. He still didn't answer. She angrily hit the disconnect button and immediately called up Lt. Tao's home number.
"Lt.? It's Chief Johnson. I need...yes, I know it's late, Lt., but I wouldn't phone if this wasn't an emergency! Now, like I said, I need you to locate a gps signal for me."
"What for? Anything to do with a case?" Tao questioned her.
"No, I'm worried about Lt. Flynn. Something happened and he's disappeared. I need you to see if you can track him for me." Brenda really didn't want to say why she was looking for Flynn. But Tao was good with computers, she thought he could do that. "Please, if you help me, I'll get you anything you want. You tell me, it will be on your desk the next time I'm at work."
Tao didn't know what to think, why was it so important for the Chief to find Flynn? But, by the sound of her voice, she was desperate to know where he was. Finally Tao relented and promised to phone her back as soon as he could. Brenda thanked him profusely for doing this for her and realized it was time to come clean with the team at least about her and Flynn. She let herself into Flynn's house and wondered if he'd even come home. She turned on the lights to have a look around, and headed for his bedroom. Getting there, she seen the suit he'd been wearing that day on a chair, so she knew he'd been here and had changed. Frustration now set in. Where was he? Why wouldn't he answer his phone?
She almost jumped out of her skin when her phone rang. Calming herself, she answered, seeing that it was Tao on the line.
"Chief, gps says he's about an hour away from here, up the coast. A resort of some type." He proceeded to give her the address and Brenda realized exactly where Flynn had gone to. The place where he'd said he'd loved her for the first time. Brenda thanked Tao, hung up the phone and set a course for the hotel.