DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters except Matthew and Moxie. The rest belongs to James Duff and the Major Crimes Franchise.

Chapter 12

By the time Sharon, Andy, and Provenza made it back to the office, Mike and Amy were in Interview Room 2 with Michelle Robbins. Buzz and Julio were in Electronics watching the interview from there when the three of them joined in. Julio stood up from the chair next to Buzz and offered it to Sharon. "Thank you" she quietly said to Julio as she sat down. "What have we missed?" Provenza asked as he stood next to the Commander while Andy stood behind her. "She said the gun they found doesn't belong to her" Julio informed them. "What a shock!" Provenza stated as Sharon was focused on watching the interview.

"So, Michelle, how did you meet Mark Wesley?" Amy asked the woman sitting across from them. "I met Mark at a fundraiser a few months ago" Michelle told them. "Did you ever meet his wife, Marla?" Mike asked. "Yes, needless to say, the two of us didn't get along" Michelle stated. "Oh, how so?" Amy asked her. "Well, she saw how Mark was attracted to me at the different galas and she got jealous when Mark finally filed for divorce" Michelle explained. "But I thought the two of them were separated?" Amy asked, wondering if Michelle would elaborate more. "They were" Michelle started to say as she shifted in her chair. "Look, Mark only stayed with Marla because it looked better on the outside if Mark was married, but they were separated for 6 years before I met him. He took a liking to me at one of the fundraisers and we hit it off" Michelle explained to them. "Did you know that Marla was embezzling money from Mark's church?" Mike asked her. "Mark found out that was happening and that's why he sent her divorce papers" Michelle answered and was playing with her hands.

"Mark said that she didn't want to sign them and that he was going to take her to court" Michelle added to her statement. "Hm, well that's interesting because Marla signed the divorce papers 2 weeks ago and then they were filed at the courthouse" Mike informed Michelle of what they had discovered. Michelle shook her head in the no direction. "Mark told me that she wouldn't sign them and that he was going to go to court" Michelle stated and then looked up at the two of them. "Why would he tell me that?" she asked. "Because maybe he was lying to you?" Amy told her. Michelle sat there looking at her hands. "Michelle where we you last night?" Amy asked and waited for her to answer. "I was in my apartment" Michelle answered them. "Was anyone with you?" Amy wanted her to elaborate more. "Not at first but then Mark came over around 2am" Michelle told them and took a deep breath before continuing.

"I think Commander, we are going to have a confession soon" Provenza stated as they continued to watch the interview. "I think you're right, Lieutenant, and I think we are going to need Mark Wesley back here as soon as possible" Sharon stated as she continued to look at the computer screen. The phone inside the Electronics room rang and Buzz answered it. "Thank you" Buzz stated and hung up the phone. "Ma'am, the warrant came through and now we are able to download the camera footage from the back of the Wesley house" Buzz informed Sharon.

"What did Mark want at 2am?" Mike asked her. "He said that us being together wasn't going to be a problem anymore. I asked him what he meant by that and he told me that the issue with Marla was taken care of. He kind of scared me with that and he must have left his gun at my apartment" Michelle told them. "What time did Mark leave?" Mike asked her. "Maybe 20 minutes after he showed up. He said he had to go home to take care of something, and then he left" Michelle explained some more. "Ok, thank you" Mike stated as he turned towards the camera. "As I said before, it's always the husband" Provenza stated. "Gentlemen, go over to Mark Wesley's house, download the camera footage from the backyard, if he gives you a problem show him the warrant, take some patrol officers with you, and then arrest him for murder" Sharon gave her orders as she walked out of Electronics. Everyone followed her back into the office area. "I'll secure your arrest warrant for him" she said as she entered her office and picked up the phone to call Andrea.

"Did you want Amy and Mike to go with us?" Andy asked Sharon as she was on hold with the DA's office. She glanced up at him and saw he had his vest on already. "Yes, and be careful" Sharon told him and he nodded, giving her a wink and a smile, and then left her to her phone call. "Andrea, yes, we are about ready to arrest someone in a murder and need a warrant" Sharon told her over the phone. When Andy came out of Sharon's office, the rest of the team was ready to go. "Mike, Amy, you're also coming with us" Andy told them as they vested up as well and everyone headed out towards the elevators. "OK, when we get to Mark Wesley's house, Mike, I want you and Buzz to handle the cameras in the backyard, and Julio and Amy, I want you two to around the back of the house, in case he runs. Andy and I will be at the front of his house with patrol" Provenza gave them orders as they headed towards the parking garage. "Oh, and we know he was armed with at least one weapon, which he left at Michelle's place, so be careful everyone!" Provenza added as they all got in their cars and headed in the direction of Mark Wesley's house.

In the 20 minutes it took the team to get to Mark's house, Sharon had secured the arrest warrant and had sent it to Andy's phone. As Andy's phone alerted him to a message, he read it out loud. "Sharon got the arrest warrant" he told Provenza. "Good" Provenza muttered as he drove through the city and pulled up in front of the house. "Hey, promise me you won't do anything stupid" Provenza turned to his friend and Andy gave him a weird look but knew why he had told him that. Andy nodded his head and then they both stepped out of the car. They met with the 4 patrol officers outside the property. Provenza gave the officers their orders and they acknowledged. The team went to their places and Provenza nodded to Andy who then knocked on the front door. "Mark Wesley, LAPD, we have some questions for you!" Andy shouted through the door. Mark was in the bedroom when he heard the noise at the front door. "Shit!" Mark said as he was in the middle of packing a bag. He heard knocking on the door again. "Mark! Come to the door!" Andy shouted again. Mark took a deep breath as he made his way to the front. He peaked out the window and saw the officers and the two Lieutenants that interviewed him early. He looked down at the table by the door and saw his P32 pistol. He picked it up and placed it in his pants pocket.

"Well?" Andy said to Provenza as they waited for Mark to open the door. "Knock again, if he doesn't answer then we break the door" Provenza told him but before Andy could knock on the door, it opened revealing Mark on the other side. "Lieutenants, sorry, I was in the other room when I heard you knocking" Mark said as he smiled at them. Andy stared at him before Provenza started talking. "Mark Wesley, can you step outside please?" Provenza asked and Andy gestured for the man to step out of the house. "Uh, if you have any questions, you more than welcome to come inside and we can talk in here" Mark told them as one of his hands was on his hip while the other hovered over his pants pocket. "I think it's better if you step outside, Mark" Andy stated to him and gave him a once over. He looked at Mark's hands because as they say, hands can kill you. Mark placed his one hand in his pocket and as Andy saw that, he drew his gun from his holster. "Let me see your hands!" Andy shouted to Mark and then everyone else drew their weapons.

Mark took his hand out of his pocket and Andy grabbed his shoulders and pulled him outside the front door. He placed him against the wall and spread his feet. With everyone else pointing their weapons at Mark, Andy placed his gun in his holster and patted him down, finding the small P32 pistol in his front pocket. "I got a gun" Andy informed everyone else as he pulled it out of Mark's front pocket. Andy then handed the gun to Provenza who cleared it and made it safe. "Mark Wesley, you are under arrest for the murder of Marla Wesley" Andy told Mark as he handcuffed him behind his back and handed him off to the patrol officers. They walked him to one of the cars and placed him in the back seat of a squad car. Andy took a deep breath as he looked over at Provenza. In an instant that could have ended differently and they both knew it. "Julio, Amy, you can enter through the back, Mark Wesley is in custody" Provenza informed the rest of the team over the radio.

The team came back to the office with Mark Wesley in their custody. Buzz and Mike were able to download all video feeds from the backyard of Wesley's house. Sharon met the team as they were walking Mark into the Murder Room. "Take him back to Interview Room 1" she told Julio as he was escorting Mark with Amy. Andy and Provenza followed them. Provenza held up the gun that they had found on Mark. The gun was in an evidence bag. As Sharon saw this, she took a deep breath. "I trust everyone was safe?" she questioned her Lieutenants as they walked towards her. "Yes, Commander" Provenza stated. "Andy pulled this off of him, it was in his front pocket" he continued to inform her as they walked towards the Interview Room. Sharon glanced at Andy and ran her hand along his arm, squeezing his hand once her hand reached his. They all stopped once they were standing in front of Electronics. "He's been read his rights, Sharon" Andy told her as he gave her a soft smile. She nodded her head. "Did we look at any of the video footage yet?" Sharon asked. "Ah, Mike and Buzz are looking at that as we speak" Andy informed her. "Did he ask for an attorney?" she asked. Provenza shook his head. "No" he spoke.

Sharon opened the door to Electronics and stepped inside as Provenza and Andy followed her. "Anything yet with the video footage?" Sharon asked the two. "It looks like we may have Mark pointing a weapon at Marla as they are standing outside by the pool area" Mike looked up from the video screen as Sharon stepped around the chairs and looked for herself. "Well, I say that's more than enough" Sharon stated as she straightened her back out and looked towards Andy. Just then, DDA Hobbs walked in to the room. "Ah, you're just in time, DDA Hobbs" Provenza stated as he pointed his hand towards Buzz and Mike. "Andrea, we have him on his video feed from the cameras in his backyard showing him murdering his wife, Marla" Sharon informed her, sounding disgusted from watching what she just saw. Andrea nodded her head as she looked for herself. "Ok, that looks like murder in the first degree to me" Andrea told the team in the room. "Lieutenant Provenza, could you go with DDA Hobbs to Interview Room 1 and see if Mark is willing to confess once he hears all the evidence against him" Sharon informed him. "See if he has changed his mind about a lawyer first" she added and Provenza nodded his head. "Of course," he said as he and Andrea walked out of Electronics.

Andrea sat back in her seat and listened to what Mark was saying. He had finally confessed to the murder of his ex-wife. He had found out about the embezzlement that she was involved in and when he had confronted her the first time, he said she had denied it, but then when he showed her the evidence, she admitted it and that's when he had filed for a divorce. According to Mark, Marla had signed the divorce papers in exchange for Mark not pressing charges for the embezzlement. Mark had agreed to that but then he changed his mind and confronted her last night when she was over at his house. They had gotten into an argument, Mark stated, and the next thing he knew, he had shot Marla in the back of the shoulder area. Marla had turned around and before he knew what he was doing, Mark stated that he had pushed Marla into the pool, knowing that she couldn't swim. He jumped in after her and held her down, but when she was putting up a fight, he had bashed her head against the side of the pool, "and then she stopped fighting and I got out of the pool, went inside my house, changed my clothes, and drove over to Michelle's apartment" Mark confessed. Provenza looked over the table at him, handing him a notepad. "Write it all down Mark" he told the man as he stood up from his chair.

As Sharon and Andy watched the confession, Sharon's cell phone was ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket, glancing at the name on her phone and as she did, her heart skipped a beat. "It's Matthew" she whispered to Andy and gave him a look of panic. He was still at the day camp as it was 1:30 in the afternoon. "Matthew, sweetie is everything ok?" she asked the boy as she answered her phone. "Um, Hi Mom, I got into a little accident" Matthew's voice was a little muffled as Sharon strained to hear what he was saying. Andy was now concerned as well as he watched Sharon on the phone. "What? Sweetie, put an adult on the phone" Sharon told him and she waited. "Hello, Matthew's mom? This is Greg, one of the camp counselors here at the day camp" Sharon heard an older boy's voice as she took a deep breath. "Yes, what happened with him?" she asked the counselor. "The kids were playing kick ball and Matthew got knocked in the face with the ball, um, his nose started bleeding and he has an ice pack on it, but as a precaution we called the paramedics and they're here now, and they want to take him to the hospital for x-rays" the counselor told Sharon as she placed her hand on Andy's arm to steady herself.

"Um, ok, which hospital are they taking him to?" Sharon calmly asked as she started to walk out of Electronics and towards her office. Andy followed her there after he glanced at Mike and he nodded. As Andy approached her office, Sharon was stepping out with her purse and work bag. "What's happening with Matthew?" he asked her as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "He got hit in the face with a ball, and his nose is bleeding, they, um, called the paramedics and they want to take him to get an x-ray but needed parental permission to do so" Sharon's voice was shaky. "Ok, I think the rest of the team can handle this" Andy looked at her and pulled her in for an embrace. Just then, Provenza and Andrea walked out of the Interview Room and Provenza noticed Sharon and Andy hugging outside her office. Andrea turned to Provenza and pulled out her phone. Provenza walked over to the two and asked what was going on. "Matthew's been injured, they are taking him to the hospital as a precaution, I'm going with Sharon there to meet them" Andy told his friend. "Commander, I think we can handle the paperwork from here, go, be with Matthew, I hope he is ok" Provenza said in his concerned voice and she nodded her head. "Go, get out of here" he told Andy and patted him on his shoulder to move them along. He watched as the two of them left the office and then turned towards Electronics to meet with the rest of the team.

Andy pressed the button for the elevator and Sharon was close to his side. He could feel her shaking a little bit. "He's gonna be ok" he whispered to her, kissing the top of her head as they stepped in the elevator. She nodded as they turned around and faced the doors, Andy pressing the button for the parking garage. "Which hospital are they taking him to?" he asked as the elevator doors opened up at the garage level. "Children's Hospital LA on Sunset" Sharon spoke, barely above a whisper as they hurried towards their car. Andy was thinking over in his head that if the injury was serious enough, they would rush Matthew to the closest hospital to the day camp. He opened the door for Sharon and held her hand as she sat down on the passenger side. He waited until she was in before closing her door. Then he hurried over to the driver's side, getting in, and starting the car. As he backed the car out of the spot, he turned the emergency lights on and drove out of the garage.

He drove them down the streets from the office towards the 101 highway. Sharon hadn't noticed that Andy had turned the siren on as well as he maneuvered their car through the traffic on the streets. As he drove them on the 101, Andy honked their horn at a car that wasn't yielding to an emergency vehicle. "Andy, please drive carefully" Sharon huffed as she gripped the handle on the passenger side. Andy weaved in and out of the traffic, finally exiting on Vermont Avenue and headed north on that street. He took Vermont Avenue to De Longpre Avenue to cut over to where the Emergency Department entrance was to the hospital off of Lyman Place. He parked their car off to the side by the door to enter and both him and Sharon stepped out of the car. Andy waited for Sharon at the front of the car, grabbing her hand and then walking into the Emergency Department.

A nursing assistant greeted them as they walked inside and up to the desk. "Yes, can I help you?" she asked as she stood up from her desk. "Yes, our son was brought in maybe a few minutes ago by ambulance, his name is Matthew Flynn" Sharon informed her as she showed the woman her driver's license. She nodded as she looked up Matthew's name. "Ah, yes, he is in Exam Room 3" the woman stated and then pointed in the direction of where they should go. "I do have some forms you need to fill out" she informed both of them. Andy took the forms from her. "I'll fill these out, Sharon. Why don't you go back and sit with Matthew" he placed his hand on her shoulder and she barely acknowledged what he said as she followed the directions of how to get to where the exam rooms were located. Andy stood at the desk and filled out the forms for them.

Meanwhile, Sharon found Exam Room 3 and knocked on the sliding glass door before walking inside. She gasped when she saw Matthew laying on the hospital bed with an ice pack on his face. "Oh sweetie" she whispered as she stepped towards him. "Hi Mom!" Matthew nasally stated. She glanced over at the teenager who was sitting next to him. "Hi I'm Sharon, Matthew's mom" she greeted whom she assumed was the camp counselor that she spoke to over the phone. "Hi, I'm Greg, sorry about calling you under these circumstances but the park just wanted to make sure he was going to be ok" Greg informed Sharon. "I'll get out of here, Matthew, hope you feel better" Greg waved to him as he walked out of the room. Sharon sat down next to Matthew. "Oh sweetheart, what happened?" Sharon asked him as she moved his hair out of his face. "We were playing kickball and I got whacked by the ball" Matthew giggled as he explained. Sharon shook her head and sighed.

Andy had finished the forms and handed them back to the nurse assistant at the front and then found Matthew's room a few minutes later. He saw Sharon fingering Matthew's hair and Matthew laying on a hospital bed. "Hey kiddo" Andy said as he stepped inside the room. "Dad!" Matthew responded all mumbled from the ice pack and waved at him. Andy then moved a chair to the same side that Sharon was currently sitting on and sat down next to her. He slipped his right hand around her left and held it. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes briefly as they waited for the doctor. A few minutes later, the doctor knocked on the glass door and stepped inside. "Hi Matthew, I see your parents are here. Hi, I'm Doctor Christine" she greeted them as she walked over to the small sink in the room and washed her hands. "Sharon and Andy Flynn" Sharon introduced them both to the doctor. "Nice to meet you both" the doctor wiped her hands with a paper towel and stepped closer to Matthew as she put some exam gloves on her hands.

"Ok, let's take that ice pack off and see how your face is doing now" Doctor Christine told Matthew as she took the ice pack from him. "Well, the swelling has gone down so that's good" she gave him a look over as she threw the ice pack into a red plastic bag. "And looks like your nose has stopped bleeding for now" she mentioned to them. "So, Matthew I'm going to touch your face and you tell me if there's any pain, ok?" the doctor told him. The doctor gently touched Matthew's cheeks and nose but Matthew didn't feel any pain. Sharon held her breath as the doctor continued to examine him. The doctor then moved to touch his forehead and he winced a little bit. "Does that hurt?" she asked him. "A little bit, more like pounding" Matthew told the doctor. "Hmm, ok" the doctor said and then grabbed a small flashlight from her pocket. Sharon squeezed Andy's hand as they watched.

"Matthew, I'm going to check your eyes, so what I want you to do is not move your head but follow this tiny light with your eyes only, ok?" Doctor Christine spoke sweetly to him. As she shined the light on his eyes, she noticed that his pupils were not dilating with the change. Matthew followed the light with his eyes but still there was no change with his pupils. "Ok, well, I'd like to run some further tests" Doctor Christine moved away from Matthew and was now leaning up against one of the counters in the room. Both Sharon and Andy listened to what the doctor was saying while Matthew continued to lay on the hospital bed. "What kind of tests?" Sharon asked and then looked at Matthew. "I'd like to take an x-ray to make sure nothing is broken, but I would also like Matthew to have an MRI done of his head" Doctor Christine explained and Sharon shifted in her seat, leaning closer to Matthew's bed. "He definitely has a concussion, and our protocol, especially with kids and playing sports is an MRI, just to make sure and rule out any swelling in the brain" Doctor Christine explained to them. Andy glanced at Sharon as he still held her hand.

Sharon nodded her head. "Ok" Sharon smiled over at Matthew. "Alright Matthew, in a little bit you are going to come with one of my assistants and we are going to take an x-ray of your head, to see if you broke anything when your face got smashed by that kickball" Doctor Christine walked over to his bed. "Have you ever had an x-ray before?" she asked. "Yes, I had one of my thumb last year" Matthew told her as he held up his thumb. "Oh, why did you get an x-ray of your thumb?" the doctor asked and wondered. "I was bowling with my dad and my uncle Louie and my fingers got stuck in the bowling ball" he told the doctor as she placed her stethoscope in her ears. Andy groaned and looked at Matthew as Sharon gave a gentle squeeze with her hand. "Wow, did that hurt?" the doctor asked him as she listened to his chest and heart. "No, not really" Matthew said.

"Ok, then after you get an x-ray, you are going to go into a different room where there is a machine that's going to take pictures of the inside of your head so that I can see if you have any swelling" Doctor Christine explained to Matthew as she removed the stethoscope from her ears. "What kind of machine?" Matthew asked her. "Well, it's like a tube and both sides are going to be open, you'll lay on a table that will move you inside and you'll have to lay really still, then the machine will take the pictures" she explained as she folded her arms across her chest. "The machine makes a loud noise so we can play some music for you while you are in there" she added. Matthew nodded his head. "Alright, so since you have some pain right now, we are going to give you some Children's Motrin and that should help" Doctor Christine said and then a nurse walked into the room with the medicine in a tiny cup. "It's grape flavored" Doctor Christine said as she handed it to Matthew. He took the cup and drank the liquid, then took a cup of water and drank that, handing it back to the nurse.

"Give me about 10-15 minutes and they will come to get you for your x-ray" Doctor Christine said and then stepped out of the room. "Mom?" Matthew quietly said and Sharon leaned closer to his bed. "Yes sweetie?" she placed her right hand on his left arm. "Have you ever had this type of test before?" he asked her as he shifted on the bed. "I have sweetie, and so has your dad" she said as she quickly glanced over at Andy, who was watching them both. Andy smiled at Matthew. "You'll be fine, champ" he told their son. He glanced at his watch and then pulled out his phone. "I'm going to text Nicole and tell her that we have Matthew so she doesn't worry when she picks the kids up from camp" Andy told Sharon and she nodded in agreement. "And I'm also going to cancel the reservation at the restaurant tonight" he quietly informed her. She turned and looked at him, giving him a sad smile.

There was a knock on the door and it slid open, revealing the x-ray technician and Doctor Christine. "Ok Matthew, are you ready to take a ride?" Doctor Christine asked as she stepped back inside the exam room. Matthew nodded his head and started to get up from the bed. "Easy Matthew" Sharon helped as he eased off the bed and sat down on the wheelchair that they brought. "Alright, uh, one of you can come with him, if you'd like" Doctor Christine told both Andy and Sharon. Sharon turned to look at Andy. He nudged her. "Go with him Sharon" he whispered to her. "We will be bringing him back here" Doctor Christine stated and Andy nodded as Sharon stood up and left the room with them. Andy released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding as he watched them leave. He sat forward in the chair and placed his elbows on his knees, bowing his head and began waiting.

TBC