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

Chapter 6

Andy was in their closet getting dressed but he couldn't shake that dream out of his head. He was staring at his ties and didn't hear Sharon calling his name. She touched his shoulder and he jumped. "Sorry, I just wanted to know if you're ready to go" she told him. He looked at her and nodded. "Yeh, I'm ready" he told her, grabbing his blue tie to match her blue shirt she was wearing. "I called Nicole, she'll be waiting for us to drop Matthew off at their house on the way over" Sharon was telling him as they walked down the stairs.

Matthew was waiting for them in the kitchen, sitting on one of the chairs, half asleep with his duffle bag on his shoulder, hugging his pillow from his room. Moxie was watching them while Sharon gathered her purse and Andy grabbed the keys. "What about Moxie?" Matthew sleepily asked. "He'll be fine, I'll tell Rusty to let him out and feed him before he goes into work" Sharon told him as she opened the back door and Matthew stepped out into the yard. They walked to the garage and once inside, Matthew got in the back and closed his door. Sharon glanced at Matthew and then over at Andy. Both of their eyes met and knew what was ahead of them.

Andy started the car and then drove them over to Nicole and Dean's house. Matthew's summer camp was with their grandkids, so when Sharon had called Nicole, after Andy hung up from Oderno, she told her it wouldn't be a problem to take all the boys together. After dropping Matthew off, kissing his head as he walked into the house with Dean, Sharon turned and headed for the car, wondering what was going to happen, where was Ralph, where did he run off to, what made him run away, if that was the case. Sharon slipped back into the car and looked out the window. Andy grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it as he knew she was now running things through her head.

Andy pulled up to the house that Oderno told him belonged to the Plummer's. He saw all of the usual cars already there, Provenza's, Mike's, Amy's, and Julio's. He stepped out of the car and Sharon did the same. They both walked over to the front of the house where Provenza was speaking to Amy. "Lieutenant" Sharon stated as they joined them. "Ah, Commander, Flynn care to tell me why Oderno would call you about a missing child?" Provenza turned towards Andy. "He's on Matthew's baseball team" Andy stated. Provenza nodded and then turned his attention to Sharon.

"Commander, the parents are inside still with Oderno. I told Amy to go door to door with the neighbors to see if they saw or heard anything. Mike is with Julio, canvassing their backyard. Buzz is with them as well" Provenza informed her as they walked towards the front door of the house, with Andy right behind them. "Ok, Lieutenant, does this sound like a kidnapping, runaway?" she asked as they made their way up the front stairs of the house. "I don't think Oderno has gotten that far with the parents yet" Provenza responded as he led Sharon into the house.

When Sharon stepped inside, she saw both Katie and Charlie sitting on the couch together in their living room area. Oderno was sitting on a chair next to the couch. He looked up and saw everyone stepping inside the room. He straightened his posture and stood up to meet the Commander. "Commander, Lieutenants," he greeted them. "Robby, what do we know so far?" Sharon asked him, stepping back into the hallway while Provenza and Andy stood by the living room entrance. Charlie looked over at them and stood up.

"Andy" Charlie started to talk and Andy stepped towards him. "Charlie" he said as he tried to look over everything that was in front of him. Andy glanced at the side table next to the couch and saw a shot glass with some liquid in it still. He sighed as he looked back at Charlie. He then focused on what Katie was doing while she was sitting on the couch. She was fidgeting with the clothes that she was wearing. "Andy, do you think your team will find our boy?" Katie spoke up and got the attention of Andy. Provenza glanced at his friend and then spoke, "we are going to do everything we can in order to find him, ma'am".

Meanwhile, Oderno was briefing Sharon with what he had so far. "The husband, Charlie, stated that they think Ralph was missing since Saturday night, as he left around 3pm" he told her. Sharon listened to him. "They think he went missing at that time?" she questioned. "Yes, because according to the father, he and his wife were having an argument at that time and they didn't notice Ralph leaving" he continued. "Any signs of foul play here?" she asked him. "No, the kid's room looks clean, no looks of any kind of struggle or anything of that nature" he answered. "Oh, and the kid's bike is missing" he added and Sharon nodded, and then walked over to join Andy and Provenza with the parents.

"Katie, how are you holding up?" Sharon asked her as she sat down on the chair that Oderno was once sitting on. "Oh, Sharon, I don't know what to do? Where could Ralph have gone to?" Katie said in a shaky voice. "We will try to find that out, but in the meantime, could you tell me what exactly went on Saturday?" Sharon asked her and Katie nodded her head.

"When we got home from the ballgame, I had fixed lunch for Ralph, and Charlie went into the garage. I don't know what he was doing at the time," Katie started out as Sharon watched her. Andy was standing across from Sharon watching both Charlie and Katie. Charlie was now sitting next to her and had finished the shot glass that was now on the coffee table in front of them. Andy shook his head. "Charlie was out in the garage getting drunk" Katie continued. "Yep, that's right, I was getting drunk because you were driving me crazy with blaming me, as we drove home, about how Ralphie didn't get a hit during the game" Charlie interrupted her.

Andy had enough of Charlie at this moment and before Sharon could say anything, he started to speak. "All right Charlie, let's go into the kitchen, leave them to talk" Andy said and forced Charlie to stand up. Charlie then moved his arm away from Andy and started walking towards the kitchen area. Provenza followed them, leaving Sharon and Oderno with Katie. "Is that true, Katie? Are you blaming him for things that's happening to Ralph?" Sharon asked her drawing Katie to now focus back on her.

"Ralph doesn't like when we fight and lately, he has been locking himself in his room and not coming out" Katie continued. "He used to take his bike and ride over to his grandma's house, my mother's, but he never went to her house on Saturday, oh god, what if someone took him?" Katie said and then started crying. "Katie, it's ok, we will do everything we can to find him" Sharon tried reassuring her. "Has Charlie ever attended AA meetings?" Sharon asked her. "Sometimes he'll go there, that's how he met Andy" Katie answered. "But his sobriety doesn't last long, and he blames me for that" Katie continued.

Sharon knew that all too well back when she was dealing with Jack and his lack of sobriety. "Is he ever violent towards you or Ralph?" Sharon had to ask. "No, he never hits or is violent towards us" Katie told her and Sharon was satisfied with her answer for now. "Is there anywhere else in the city that Ralph likes to go visit? Maybe a favorite park or place?" Oderno asked Katie, hoping to get a few ideas of where they could also look. Katie thought about it for a minute before she spoke again. "Silver Lake reservoir" she had told them.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Andy was trying to have a conversation with Charlie but it wasn't working out so well. "Look, Charlie, you need to stop drinking" Andy told him as Charlie was now downing a can of beer. "I don't think so" Charlie spat back as he continued to drink. "You of all people should know Andy, you're in AA, and know what it's like when the taste of alcohol is just too much to let go" he added. Andy sighed and then rubbed the back of his neck. Yes, he did know and that's why he did what he did next. He tried grabbing the beer can from the kitchen counter where Charlie had placed it, and when he did, Charlie turned around and took a swing at Andy. Andy caught his arm and spun him around, face first into the sink, placing his arm behind his back.

"I think you're going to come with us Downtown now and you're going to sit in a holding cell until you've sobered up" Andy gritted in his ear and glanced at Provenza who just nodded his head in agreement. Sharon had walked into the kitchen and saw that Charlie was now in handcuffs. She looked at Andy and then at Provenza. "What occurred here?" she questioned both of them. "He took a swing at Andy and Andy placed him in handcuffs, Commander" Provenza informed her. "He's going to sleep it off Downtown" he added and then he motioned Andy to start walking with Charlie.

Katie looked up from where she was sitting and saw her husband being led outside in handcuffs. "Oh my god, Charlie! Where are you taking him?" she questioned as she stood up from the couch. "He's going Downtown to just sleep it off" Andy informed her as he maneuvered him through to the front door before two patrol officers took him and placed him in a patrol car. "What am I going to do now?" Katie asked Sharon as she joined her lieutenants. "Does Ralph have a cell phone or anything like that?" Sharon asked. "Um, no, we didn't get him a cell phone" Katie answered.

"Let him sleep it off in a safe place, Katie. Meanwhile, did you call your mother to let her know Ralph is missing?" Sharon asked her. "I called her but I didn't tell her he was missing. She told me he wasn't over there" Katie answered. "Ok Katie, I need you to stay here at home in case Ralph comes back, and I'll have some patrol officers stay here with you" Sharon told her. "Please, if Matthew was missing, I'm sure you wouldn't stop until you found him" Katie pleaded with Sharon as she grabbed her hand. "Let us do our job" Sharon reassured her and then joined her lieutenants as they all walked out of the house.

Sharon sighed and took a deep breath as she walked out of the house and onto the sidewalk, joining Andy as she saw Provenza was walking over to where Amy was. "We need to contact Katie's mom just to make sure Ralph is not over there" Sharon walked with Andy towards the rest of the team. "Lieutenant, I want you and Amy to go over to Katie's mother's house to make sure Ralph is not there" Sharon told Provenza and they both nodded in agreement as Sharon sent everyone a photo of the kid to their phones. "Buzz, I need you to go to the office and start pulling video feed from whatever cameras you can find in the area to see if we can see Ralph leaving this house or somewhere in the direction of his grandmother's house or Silver Lake" Sharon informed Buzz and he nodded.

"Mike, I need you and Julio to head over to the Silver Lake reservoir, take some patrol officers with you and canvas that area" Sharon stated. "What do you want to do?" Andy asked Sharon as everyone else walked away to their assignments. "Matthew was missing and we looked everywhere for him" she muttered as Andy watched her. "Let's head to Ralph's school and see if he might be there" Sharon told him. "Charlie told me he attends Gardner school" Andy said as they got back inside their car. "He said that tonight?" Sharon asked as Andy started the car. "No, he told me that on Saturday" Andy answered her as he drove down the street.

It was now getting closer to 5 am as Andy maneuvered their car down Hollywood Boulevard towards the school. "I still think you should go to your doctor's appointment this morning" Sharon said as she was looking out her window. Andy sighed as he turned the car down Vista Street and then ended up on Hawthorn Avenue, turning into the parking lot. "I don't think the building is open during the weekends, but does this school have a summer school session?" Andy turned in his seat to look at Sharon. He turned the spotlight on from the car and it was facing the building. "Summer session doesn't start for 2 more weeks" Sharon told him as she opened her door.

Andy followed her out of the car and walked with her towards the entrance to the front of the school. They walked around the building, shining their flashlights into areas around the building but there was no sign of Ralph. They were now in the back of the building where there were some trees and an open space. Andy shined his flashlight up into the trees to search if maybe the kid had climbed them, but he didn't find anything. Sharon walked over to the open space, it wasn't a playground like at Matthew's school, but she imagined it was where the kids who attended this school would play. She looked around the space as Andy made his way to another smaller building on the premise. She turned towards him and he just shook his head.

She joined him by the smaller building. "The kid's not here" Andy looked at her. "Hopefully Buzz can get some sort of videos off the cameras around the area of their house" he continued. Sharon had a look on her face he knew all too well. "Do you think Katie and Charlie are lying about something?" he asked her as they walked back towards their car. "I hope not" Sharon answered. "But" Andy said as he got in the car and Sharon followed. "But, who do we always suspect first when a child goes missing?" Sharon said and Andy started the car. "What do you want to do?" he asked her. "Let's go back to the office, see if Buzz has found anything yet, hopefully by the time we get back, Charlie will be sober enough as I would like to talk to him" she told him and he started driving the car back to the PAB.

"You think that's a good idea to talk to him without Katie present?" Andy asked as they made their way back to Hollywood Boulevard. Sharon leaned her head back against the headrest. "You separated the two this morning so I could talk to Katie alone" she stated. Andy nodded his head. "Yeah" he sighed as traffic started building up as he pulled the car onto the 101 and headed downtown. By the time they pulled into the parking lot, it was already 6:45 in the morning. Andy's doctor's appointment was at 8am at his doctor's office located about 9 minutes away from the PAB.

Andy walked with Sharon to the elevators and waited. "I know we don't have much time before your doctor's appointment, I just want to see what Buzz has and then touch base with Provenza before we leave" Sharon reached out and held his hand as they both stepped into the elevator. "I could just postpone this checkup" Andy started but before he could continue, Sharon interrupted him. "No, you are not postponing this, Andy" she sweetly spoke to him and then the elevator dinged alerted them to their floor. "We got a missing kid, Sharon, I'm sure my doc would understand" Andy continued the conversation as they walked in the door to the Murder Room.

Sharon looked around the room and saw they were the only two there right now. She continued towards her office, opening the door and turning on the lights. Andy followed her inside. "And would I understand if you collapsed on the office floor again? Or what if you're chasing a suspect and you collapse then?" Sharon looked at him and he avoided her eyes, looking at the floor. "Fine" he whispered as he walked out to his desk, leaving her inside standing at her desk. She placed her purse on her desk and then walked out towards Andy. "Come with me to check on Buzz" she told him as she walked away.

Buzz was sitting in the RACR room looking through a lot of videos from Saturday afternoon, trying to narrow them down when Sharon, followed by Andy, walked inside the room. "Commander" Buzz looked up from one of many screens he was looking at. "Anything yet?" Sharon asked. "No, Commander" Buzz shook his head. "Okay, keep looking" Sharon turned around and left the room. Buzz looked over at Andy who then followed Sharon out. They both ran into Provenza and Amy coming back to the office. "Ah, Commander, the grandmother didn't have much to say with regards to her knowing where Ralph was" Provenza stated as they all walked into the Murder Room together.

"We did go over another place that she mentioned Ralph liked visiting" Provenza added. "Oh?" Sharon turned around. "The field where he plays baseball" Provenza continued. Sharon glanced at Andy and then focused on Provenza. "But he wasn't there" he added. "We checked the school he attends but nothing as well" Andy chimed in. "I want to talk to Charlie, once he sobers up" Sharon informed Provenza. "Meanwhile, I am going with Andy to his doctor's checkup in a half hour, keep me updated on the progress" Sharon told him and he nodded. Once she retreated back to her office, Provenza looked over at Andy who was now by his desk.

He walked over to his friend and gave him a look. "Everything ok?" he asked him. "Look, it's just a routine checkup and I told Sharon I could postpone it but she won't let me" Andy explained. "Why didn't you mention it yesterday when we were at the game?" Provenza asked. "Because it's a routine checkup, nothing special, ok?" Andy said and then glanced over Provenza's shoulder to see Sharon gathering her things together.

"Maybe the doctor can help you with your crankiness" Provenza quipped back at him as he returned to his desk. Andy heard him but decided it wasn't worth a remark. He looked up as Sharon stepped out of her office. "Ready?" she asked him. "Yeah" he gruffed and they walked towards the door. "Lieutenant, please keep me informed" she told Provenza before stepping out of the office with Andy. "Are you nervous about this checkup?" she asked him as they waited for the elevator. "No, I feel fine" he told her as they both stepped inside the empty elevator and heading to the parking garage.

TBC