OIS Investigation
Sharon's viewpoint
Monday morning and my day seemed to be going well. Following the wonderful but very draining dinner with Brenda, I'd headed home and crashed on my lounge, lying awake hoping to hear from her. Happily I'd received two texts and a call before I went to bed; her investigation was pretty simple, the boy had been to a dance party and got a really bad dose of ecstasy on top of way too much to drink. He'd collapsed and was pronounced when the EMTs got there.
Sad but normally not a Major Crimes case, however given whom the boy's father was, Pope wanted it handled quickly and well, which meant Major Crimes and Brenda. I was sorry our night had been cut short, it wasn't what either of us wanted but after our discussion; both of us understood that the job had to be done
As Brenda had said, if it had been an OIS I'd have had to go and I would have, with regrets but without an argument from her. I smiled at the thought of that. It felt so good to be involved, well kinda, with someone who completely understood what we were required to do and why.
We'd chatted again on the phone on Sunday afternoon, just catching up, she in her office going over the paperwork, me pottering around the house, making it presentable.
I'd invited Brenda around for dinner but she'd just teased me, laughing that I just wanted to make out again like we had on Friday night. I hadn't actually thought about it but once I had the thought of kissing her again was very, very tempting.
Brenda still had a few hours of paperwork, pointing out that given the pressure from above, this one had to be perfect, so we chatted about the case, it was pretty open and shut, they were chasing down the dealer, shaking down his haunts, rattling his friends and associates.
We agreed it was only a matter of time before someone gave him up just to get the heat to go away. Contrary to the saying, there was precious little honour amongst thieves. If it would make the cops go away someone would give him up, that is if he didn't turn up dead first, anything to get rid of the attention.
Finally I let her go though I really wanted to keep talking, just hearing her on the phone, learning more about her, ah well, we had our usual Monday night 'date'.
I was anticipating catching up with Brenda for coffee after work. I normally looked forward to it but after the weekend I was really looking forward to it. I'd rung this morning to confirm that she could make it and gathered from her reaction that she couldn't wait either.
Her investigation was winding down, as her squad and the uniforms chased down leads. Mind you, her other big investigation, the sniper case, was still ongoing, even though nothing had turned up about Charlotte Weaver yet. Brenda was of the opinion that she was going to try again tomorrow but they had moved everyone she had coached at the gym into hotels until she was caught.
As Brenda put it, waking up tomorrow to find that another pretty young woman hadn't died was going to be the best Tuesday morning she's had in ages.
I was sitting there going over paperwork and clock watching, though I still had almost three hours before we could meet up. I smiled to myself, I was behaving a little silly, we weren't even a couple, let alone anything more and in fact I wasn't sure what we were.
We were friends, even if it wasn't with benefits. We weren't lovers, not yet, though I was looking to change that. We weren't girlfriends, at least in the non-platonic sense, so what were we?
After chewing over it for a few minutes while I pretended to read the same paragraph several times, I decided to leave it at best friends for now. I hoped to change that status soon but for now that would do.
Sighing, I dropped the papers on my desk, lifted the glasses off my face and massaged my eyes for a moment, before picking up glasses and papers and starting again, resolutely putting thoughts of blonde hair and warm smiles firmly to one side, when the phone rang.
Thirty minutes later I was stepping out of the car at a seedy apartment building like so many others in LA, so many in fact I was sure they divided and multiplied like bacteria under cover of night. I'd been responding to crime scenes at buildings like this for what at times seemed like forever, they differed in a few minor details but under the external gloss they were all the same.
Flanked by Lieutenant's Elliot and Parker and trailed by Sergeant Kwang and Detective Rosenberg, I strode into the building, ignoring the hostile looks of Robbery Homicide's people. I'd been in the same situation only four months ago, another shooting involving Taylor's team, though that one had been straightforward. I hoped like hell this one would be as well.
Problem was that Taylor's people were getting trigger happy. Over the last year or so, I'd been called to more and more of their busts gone wrong. Everyone thought it was Major Crimes that caused me grief, but they had nothing like R/H's rate of Officer Involved Shootings.
Besides, every time there had been an OIS involving Major Crimes, they had cooperated, initially grudgingly, but Brenda had pushed them to be as open as they could be, speeding up the investigation and letting me get them back to work as quickly as I could.
Robbery Homicide however went out of their way to delay, stall and confuse the issue, covering for each other and making investigating them not only difficult, but a guaranteed migraine.
Apparently, while looking for a suspect in an armed robbery, one of the R/H detectives, Sergeant Kennedy, had shot and killed the suspect, Robert Dimery, allegedly Dimery had pulled a gun on Kennedy.
Taking over the scene, we shooed the Robbery / Homicide people out and started our investigation.
It looked straightforward enough, three shots, all to the torso, a .22 handgun lying nearby. Elliot looked at the pistol for a moment.
"Pretty wimpy pistol for a career criminal with a history of violent crimes who's supposed to be wanted for armed robbery" I nodded.
"Perhaps it was the only thing he had to hand"
We stood back as a tech started photographing everything, recording the scene. Once they'd finished we were about to head back in when Maura isles arrived, looking lovely in what looked like a Balenciaga dress, a scarf and a set of Jimmy Choo's that I was immediately envious of.
"Good afternoon Sharon, I'm sorry I was late, I was in a meeting"
"Afternoon Maura, I'm just happy to see you" As she walked over to the body I noticed the scarf wasn't exactly right for the dress, plus it was really too warm for one. My curiosity was piqued. I wondered what she was hiding though I could make a few guesses.
Brenda had mentioned that both couples had taken themselves off the callout roster for the weekend as they had a big night out planned. Perhaps a bit too much evidence was left to cover up with makeup. As Maura processed the body I watched my squad start to toss the apartment when I heard a set of heels approach up the hall, followed by a chirpy greeting.
Turning, I said hi to Natalie, who was standing in the doorway, pulling on shoe covers and gloves, before entering. My suspicions about what happened were confirmed when I saw she was wearing a turtleneck and slacks. Not her normal get up at all, even though she looked lovely as usual.
"How are our friends from the media?" She smiled.
"Only two film crews shooting for 24 hour news channels are here, unless something changes I expect it'll stay low key" I tilted my head.
"Then why do you roll out for these Natalie? Surely you have better things to do?" She smiled and shrugged.
"As God is my judge, the one that I don't will be the one that blows up in my face. Besides, it's my job" I could understand that. She looked round the room. "So what do we have?" I shrugged.
"A routine Robbery Homicide bust gone wrong it seems. The suspect was wanted for questioning about several armed robberies, apparently a source fingered him and Detective's Kennedy and Powell swung by to pick him up for questioning. They claim he refused to open up and when they kicked the door in ran back inside. They say he drew a gun and went to shoot Kennedy, who discharged his weapon, hitting the victim three times" I gestured to where Maura was looking over the victim while her team hovered nearby.
"Seems simple enough…" She held up her hand before I could say anything. "…but OIS are never ever that simple so I'll leave you to it. I'll be downstairs, keeping out of your way. If there's anything you need just call" I nodded. As she went to turn away she suddenly swung back.
"Oh Sharon" I turned back to her, looking the question.
"Yes?" She smiled as she stepped up to me and spoke softly.
"How was your Saturday night?" I looked around before stepping even closer and dropping my voice.
"Exceptionally pleasant thank you, we covered a lot of territory and we're much better friends than we were before" Natalie's smile widened happily, obviously pleased. For a moment I wondered what Brenda and I had done to deserve so many people going out of their way to try and make us happy.
While we had chatted Maura had stood up and let her team begin to prepare the victim for transport back to the morgue. Wandering over she smiled at us both.
"I've seen as much here as I can, we'll transport Mr Dimery back to the Morgue; however I won't get to the autopsy until first thing tomorrow I'm afraid Sharon"
"Oh?" That was a surprise; Maura had a deserved reputation for being both thorough and quick.
"I'm so very sorry Sharon, I really am, but I have to present a budget request for additional funding to Chief Pope in just on an hour, which I expect will run for several hours" I could tell Maura was actually quite ashamed that she couldn't do things any faster. She suddenly brightened. "If it helps, I could do it after the budget meeting; that would mean you'd have the results by say ten tonight?"
"Don't be silly Maura, doing it tomorrow morning is fine" She smiled in relief.
"Thank you Sharon, you're very kind"
"Not at all, in fact I really have to thank you both for your help" Both Maura and Natalie looked surprised. Natalie was quicker.
"Why, what'd we do?" I dropped my voice and leaned into both of them.
"I believe that you were collectively responsible for how Brenda was dressed on Saturday night" Natalie just smiled while Maura leaned in.
"We thought she would look lovely. I hope you approved" I smiled at both of them.
"She looked beautiful, thank you both so much" Natalie grinned.
"Well, an artist is only as good as her canvas, and Brenda's a pretty nice canvas…" I could tell they were both dying to ask, but trying to be nice about it. I decided to put them out of their misery, especially as they were both cheering us on.
"Brenda and I had a long talk and decided that we're both interested but we're also going to take it slow" The smiles on both their faces were a joy to behold.
Fortunately they had kept their voices down and played it cool; checking to be sure none of my squad was nearby.
"Jane and I are very happy for you both Sharon"
"Same goes for Ana and me too. You both deserve it" I smiled at how obviously happy they were for us.
"Thank you, its early days, but we'll get there" Natalie laughed gently.
"Of course you will, honestly I'm so happy for you" Maura nodded.
"If there's anything that any of us can do Sharon, just ask"
"Just be as supportive as you have been, honestly we couldn't ask for anything more" Natalie smiled.
"No problem Sharon. If you need anything, just ask us" Maura was also smiling.
"Anything you need" I smiled to myself.
"There is one thing…" Maura looked at me with a tilt to her head, while Natalie raised an eyebrow, a question evident on her face.
"Oh?"
"How did your Saturday night go, anything interesting happen?" I knew something had the moment their eyes both flew to one another and they both gently coloured.
Natalie snagged my wrist and they dragged me out of the room and into another which was empty, before they closed the door. Natalie swallowed and looked at Maura, who was smiling a little nervously.
"We had a wonderful night Sharon, I can recommend The Intersection. It's certainly an interesting venue" I decided, given their obvious embarrassment, to tease them a bit.
"How about you Natalie, did you have a good time?" She nodded.
"Oh we had a great time; it was a fun night, really fun"
"And did Anastasia treat you to a good night. I hope she took care of you properly" I wasn't wrong, her cheeks were burning.
"Um, yeah, she was good, great in fact, great" I looked over at Maura, who was blushing furiously. I smiled, no way was I letting her off the hook.
"Did Jane have a good time Maura?" She bit her lip.
"Oh she did, a very good time in fact" I raised one eyebrow.
"And did she look after you as well" Maura looked like she was going to die of shame. Natalie jumped in.
"You can be a right bitch, you know that Sharon?" The smile in her voice belied her words. "Do you really want all the prurient details?" I laughed, letting them know I wasn't serious.
"Just the highlights will be fine" Sighing Natalie reached up and dragged down the turtleneck, revealing a neck covered in hickeys and bite marks. I whistled softly, her neck was a mess. Looking at Maura she sighed as well, before undoing the scarf, the base of her neck was no better.
"I hope you two gave as good as you got?" They looked at each other and snickered as Maura rolled her eyes at me.
"Let's just say they didn't escape unscathed from the evening" Natalie laughed.
"You should have seen them the following morning, I don't think Ana or Jane could look us in the face for the first 30 minutes when we got up, every time they did they turned bright red and started stammering" I thought about that for a moment, wondering how far they'd gone.
"What exactly did you four do?" Both of them looked at each other as their faces turned crimson. Finally Maura spoke.
"We may have had a little too much to drink and been carried away by the emotion, I mean it was a very intense night and well we'd been dancing and partying for hours and…" I just looked at her over the tops of my glasses. Natalie cut in, her voice quite low.
"We had a dare, Maura and I, over which of us could make our partner scream louder. We were at it for most of the night"
"Really? You're kidding right?" They were very silent. "You're not? Ok, tell me, who won?"
They looked at each other for a moment, while Natalie's hand made a fluttering motion near her neck.
"We both did" Maura looked at Natalie and shyly nodded in agreement. I nodded slowly; it sounded like they had a hell of a night. Something I hoped Brenda and I would be able to do soon.
"I might get you to take Brenda and I there one night, it sounded like a good night was had by all" Natalie had regained some of her normal sass.
"Why Sharon Raydor, I had no idea you were like that"
"Oh Natalie, trust me, how I act at work is nothing like how I act with friends" Maura smiled as Natalie nodded.
"I'm starting to see that. So you think you're up for the same dare?" I smiled lazily.
"Not right away, but possibly yes, eventually" Maura and Natalie shared a look, before Maura surprised the hell out of me by grinning wickedly.
"You're on" Natalie couldn't let it be either.
"Let us know when you're up for it and we'll set it up" I chuckled.
"All in due course, I'll remind you its early days yet. in the meantime, I might suggest you lot restrain yourself for the rest of the week, remember it's the Ball next Saturday night and bite marks are a no no with evening gowns" Both looked stricken.
"Oh god, I forgot" Maura was no better.
"That would be so gauche" I couldn't help it, I let out an evil laugh.
"So reign in Ana and Jane, at least till next Saturday evening OK?" Maura nodded.
"That might be a wise idea Sharon, thank you"
"Exactly, so behave yourselves" We smiled at each other for a second, before we went our separate ways, Maura to see Pope, Natalie to chat to the media and I wandered back in to check on the team.
A couple of the team eyed me a little strangely as I reappeared, but they'd never say anything, too polite to hassle me, at least not over something so trivial.
They continued tossing the place, looking for anything out of place, as Elliot and I walked out to interview Kennedy and Powell.
Before I started, I rang Brenda and gave her the bad news; no catch up tonight, this one was going to take hours. She sounded sad but told me we had plenty of other nights to catch up this week and that if I needed anything to just text or call. In fact, she wanted me to text or call anyway, whenever I wanted. As I finally finished the call I couldn't help smiling. I may not have a title for what we were right now, but I was so happy we were…whatever.
My good mood lasted just long enough to start talking to Kennedy; he was evasive, unhelpful and managed to quite successfully piss me off, something that wasn't hard given I was unhappy at not spending my evening with Brenda over dinner.
20 minutes later Elliot and I compared statements and it was obvious that our suspects had collaborated on their statements; they were too similar, too pat. We were going to have to drag them into an interrogation room and try and dig down, which probably would mean they would lawyer up.
I could feel that migraine starting to flare behind my eyes, but before it could take hold my phone rang, the caller ID said Sergeant Kwang.
"Commander, you got a moment? I've got something I need you to see back in the apartment" Lucy sounded intrigued, which wasn't her at all; she was usually the calm, unruffled one.
I made my way back inside, to find her standing by the sofa. It was pulled out from the wall and she was standing looking at the back of it. When I joined her I looked down to see the sofa had three drawers set in it, not visible unless you pulled it out away from the wall. There was a small arsenal in there, a sawn-off shotgun, at least three automatic pistols, two 45s and a 9mm, plus a mini-Uzi. One draw was full of boxes of ammunition while another held a flak vest.
Kwang and I shared a look before I knelt down, running my fingers over the boxes on display. There was ammunition for all of the weapons in the drawers, but no .22 shells. As I stood up Lucy nodded.
"Little strange don't you think Boss? All this ammo and nothing for a 22"
"Indeed. It's also interesting that he had a 22 at hand, when everything else was hidden" Parker had wandered over as well.
"If he was going to shoot, why not use something useful instead of a purse pistol? I mean he was going to get charged no matter what he was carrying" I nodded. Something felt off about this case. I looked up at Elliot.
"Please inform Commander Taylor I'll be interviewing his team this evening and I would like to see the files from the case that they were investigating that led Kennedy and Powell here, when we get back to Headquarters"
I sighed. Taylor. Ugh.
It was a going to be a long night and my headache was about to get worse. I looked around.
"I don't suppose anyone has any Tylenol?"