DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.
Chapter 7
Sharon and Andy arrived at Matthew's school and parked in the parking lot adjacent to the school's entrance. They both got out of their car and walked to the building's entrance, waving at the patrol car outside as they passed it. As Sharon and Andy walked inside the building, they were greeted by the principal. "Captain and Lieutenant Flynn" Mrs. Gottardo said as she greeted them. "Principal Gottardo" Sharon said back to her as she shook her hand. "Oh please, call me Rita" the principal said as they started walking towards her office. "Did you find Tommy Miller yet?" she asked them. "Yes, we did, he is back with his mother now" Sharon said to her. "Oh, good. That's wonderful news" Rita said back to Sharon. "Please have a seat in here and I will go get the teacher, Mrs. Ryan, for you" Rita said to them and Sharon and Andy stepped inside a mini conference room. The teacher, Mrs. Ryan, came in to the room and sat down with Sharon and Andy.
"Hello, we spoke over the phone earlier today, I'm Captain Sharon Flynn and this is my husband, Lieutenant Andy Flynn" Sharon said to her. "Hi, I'm Kathy Ryan, the eighth grade teacher" Kathy Ryan said. "We understand that you saw someone yesterday hanging outside the after school care program" Andy said to her. "Yes, that's right. The children were outside playing in the school yard playground when I noticed a man standing by the fence area. I had asked one of my students that stays after school to help with the program if they had recognized them and they told me no" Kathy Ryan said to them and then paused to take a deep breath. "Go on, it's okay" Sharon said to her. "I approached him from the other side of the fence and asked him what he was doing here. He didn't answer me so I moved closer and asked him for his name which he didn't give me and then he walked away back towards his car" Kathy Ryan said. "Did you see anyone else there yesterday with him?" Andy asked her. "No, it was just him" Kathy Ryan said. "Did you notify anyone about this encounter?" Andy asked her. "No, I didn't think anything of it at that time" Kathy Ryan said to them. "And this is the person you saw by the playground?" Sharon asked her as she showed her a picture of Jimmy Caputo. "Yes, that's him, just like I said in the fax earlier" Kathy Ryan answered. "Yes, thank you Mrs. Ryan" Sharon said to her and then they all stood up and Kathy Ryan left the room to return to the after school care program.
"So what do you think?" Andy asked Sharon as they walked out of the room. "I was hoping Jimmy was here with someone else yesterday, but she said he was alone. That doesn't bode well for our theory with D'Angelo" Sharon said to him quietly. Andy nodded as he looked back at Sharon. Just then, Mrs. Gottardo approached the two of them. "Was Mrs. Ryan able to provide any information to help you out?" she asked them. "Thank you, she was very helpful" Sharon said back to her. "Um, how long is the patrol car going to be outside our school?" she asked Sharon. "Well, just as a precaution we are going to keep it there at least another school day" Sharon answered her. "Oh, okay that's fine. Thank you both" she said to Sharon and then Andy and shook their hands. They then made their way over to the after school care program inside the building and showed their id's to the person at the front of the room. She told an older school kid to tell Matthew that his foster parents were here. Sharon and Andy moved to the side of the hallway and waited for Matthew to come out of the room. Andy looked at Sharon who looked very tired. "Come here" he said to her and then pulled her in for a brief hug. "Sharon, Andy!" Matthew said to them as he exited the room with his backpack. Sharon broke from Andy's hug and greeted Matthew. "Hi Matthew, how was school?" she asked him as he half hugged her. "Good, but my friend Tommy was not here today, the teacher said he was sick" Matthew said as they started to walk outside towards the car. Sharon looked back at Andy who was carrying Matthew's backpack now. Andy gave her a knowing look and knew they would eventually have to explain to Matthew what had happened. They got in the car and Sharon decided that now was a good time to explain everything as Andy started to drive away.
"Matthew, we need to tell you something about your friend Tommy" Sharon said to Matthew as Andy drove through the streets of LA heading to pick Moxie up from doggie day care. "What about him?" Matthew said as he looked out the window. "Well, you see, a stranger this morning took Tommy away from his mother and she called the police" Sharon started to explain to him as she shifted sideways in the passenger seat. "Is Tommy lost?" Matthew asked. "No honey, we found him safe and sound and he is back with his family" Sharon said to him. "Did you bring him back to his family?" Matthew asked her. "Yes, we did" she said as she smiled and then thought of something else. "Matthew, Andy and I want to make sure you know the importance of stranger danger" Sharon said to Matthew as Andy pulled in to the parking lot of the doggie day care place. Andy parked the car and looked out the rear-view mirror. He then checked the side mirrors and saw the car he was looking for. As Sharon was telling Matthew about strangers, Andy interrupted her by grabbing her hand and squeezing it. Sharon looked at Andy. "What is it?" Sharon asked him. "Come on, we are all going in to get Moxie" Andy said to her and then Matthew. Sharon gave Andy a strange look but went along with him and got out of their car. Andy came around to her side of the car to meet her and Matthew. Andy leaned in and whispered something into Sharon's ear. "We have a tail. I noticed them as we left Matthew's school" Andy said as he wrapped his arm around Sharon and then held Matthew's hand. They walked inside the building and then five minutes later walked out with Moxie.
They made their way back to their car and got inside. Andy looked at their surroundings but couldn't see where that black sedan was at. He got in the car and after everyone was settled back in, drove them home. About halfway home, the black sedan picks them up and stays in traffic following them. "There they are again" Andy says quietly to Sharon as he glances at her. They don't want to alarm Matthew. Sharon tries looking out her side mirror. "Two cars back from us" Andy says as he continues to drive. Sharon pulls out her phone. "Who are you calling?" Andy asks her. "Your partner, keep driving" Sharon said to Andy. "Lieutenant, can you get everyone and meet us at our house? We have a possible tail" Sharon said in the phone. "Yes Captain, tell Flynn to keep driving around, we 'll be at your house in twenty" Provenza said on the phone and then hung up. Andy glanced at Sharon as they were stopped at a red light. He then looked at his mirrors and still saw the black sedan two cars behind them.
Meanwhile, in the black sedan, Mikey was inside sitting in the passenger seat while another person was driving the car. Mikey's phone rang and he answered it. "Yes Mr. D'Angelo?" Mikey said on the phone. "What's your status?" D'Angelo said to him. "We are currently following sir, just like you asked us. He's with a women, the captain that you met. They stopped at the same school Jimmy was at yesterday and picked up a kid, then they drove across town to pick up a dog, and now they seem to be driving around" Mikey said to D'Angelo. "Hmm, you said he is with the captain?" D'Angelo said back to Mikey. "Yes sir. Do you want us to keep following them?" Mikey asked him. "Yes" D'Angelo said and then hung up. Mikey looked back at the driver. "Keep following them" he said to him.
Andy drove them around the streets of LA, trying to lose the tail they acquired since leaving Matthew's school. "Who do you think it is?" Sharon asked Andy quietly. "My guess is D'Angelo" Andy said back to her as he made a sharp right turn off of Hollywood Boulevard down Hobart Boulevard into a residential neighborhood. The black sedan turned with them but still maintained a two car buffer. "Alright, I've had enough of this" Andy said as he pulled over to the side of the street and waited to see what the other car would do. "What are you doing?" Sharon asked Andy as he pulled the car over. "I don't want them to know where we live, Sharon" Andy said back to her. "So we're just going to wait here, out in the open, no backup, with Matthew in the back seat?" Sharon said to him as she looked him in his eyes. Andy knew Sharon was right, they couldn't stay in this area. Andy wanted the car to pass them up but the car hung back.
"What's he doing?" the driver asked Mikey as they saw Andy's car pull over to the side of the street. The car hung back but there was really nowhere for them to go. "What do you want me to do?" the driver asked as their car slowly approached. "Circle around the block" Mikey said to the driver and the black sedan drove past Andy and Sharon and turned right down another street. Andy had his hand on his weapon as the car drove past them. "Was that the car?" Sharon asked Andy as a black sedan past them up. "Yeah, but I didn't get a good look at the plate when it drove by" Andy said as he hit his hand against the steering wheel. Sharon placed her hand on his arm to calm him down. "They turned down the block, let's go before they come back" Sharon said to him and he nodded. They pulled out of the spot and continued driving home.
The black sedan came around again. "Where did they go?" the driver said to Mikey. Mikey looked around but did not see their car. "Mr. D'Angelo is not going to be happy about this" Mikey said as they continued to drive down the street. They met up with Andy and Sharon's car on Sunset Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. "There they are" Mikey said to the driver as he pointed to the car. Andy continued driving towards their house and as they pulled up their driveway, they saw their team get out of their cars to join them. Andy pulled the car into the garage and then everyone got out. "Matthew, please take Moxie inside the house with you and stay only in the kitchen" Sharon said to Matthew and he did as he was told. Julio walked up the driveway, passing Andy and went towards where Sharon was standing. "Ma'am, I can go in the house with him" Julio said to Sharon and she nodded as she walked towards the end of the driveway where Provenza and Andy were standing. Andy was looking down the street and he saw the black sedan that was following them earlier. "Son of a" Andy said as he started to run towards the car. "Flynn! Hey Flynn!" Provenza yelled out to him. Mike and Amy went after Andy. Sharon came up to Provenza as she saw Andy take off down the street. The black sedan was parked further down the street from their house. "Where is he going?" Sharon asked Provenza as she started to follow Andy. Provenza placed his hand on her arm to stop her. "Captain, please stay here" he said to her as they both watched what was happening.
"Mikey, that Lieutenant is coming towards us" the driver said to Mikey. "It's fine, let him come over here" Mikey said back to him. Andy approached the vehicle and held his gun out. He motioned for the driver to roll down the window. Mike and Amy approached the car from the other side. "Who are you and why are you following us?" Andy yelled out to the car. The driver rolled down the window and Andy peeked inside the car. He recognized Mikey from earlier today. "I'm sorry officers, we must be lost in the neighborhood. We are trying to find Silver Lake and we got turned around somehow" the driver said to Andy. Andy turned his head to see Sharon and Provenza still at the end of their driveway and then glanced at Mike and Amy who were covering him. Andy didn't believe that story. Mike heard what the driver said to Andy and before Andy could make it into a bigger incident, Mike stepped over to Andy and pulled him away from the car. "Come on Andy" Mike said to him as he motioned for them to leave. "Keep heading down this street and then make a right at the stop sign, then follow that to Griffith Park Boulevard, that will get you to Silver Lake" Mike told the driver as he was trying to get Andy back to the sidewalk. Amy followed the two of them as she watched the car pull out and continue driving.
The car drove down the street and Mikey saw where Sharon and Provenza were standing. "That must be where they live. Make sure we remember that for D'Angelo" Mikey said to the driver as the driver looked to his left. "Yes sir" the driver said as he continued down the street. "We can't let them go, Mike" Andy said to him as he moved him back towards the sidewalk. "We got nothing on them, Andy" Mike said to him. Andy made his way back to Sharon and Provenza.
As he approached Sharon, he was going to tell her who was in the vehicle but before he could do so, Sharon started yelling at him. "Lieutenant, what were you thinking?" Sharon said. Andy took a step back and looked at Sharon. He then looked at Provenza who just shook his head. "Excuse me?" Andy said back to Sharon. Sharon looked back at him. Her arms were folded across her chest. "I don't know if you remember, Captain, but that car was following us ever since we picked up Matthew from school" Andy said back in a spiteful tone. "Next time, Lieutenant, don't run off towards something that could be dangerous without discussing it first" Sharon said to him and then she turned around and walked towards the front door of the house. Andy just stood there and couldn't believe what just happened. Why was Sharon mad at him?, he thought. "She's mad at you, you idiot, because she doesn't want you to get hurt again" Provenza said to Andy. Andy just looked at him and followed Sharon inside the house. The rest of the team followed him as well.
TBC