A/N: I have not written for Shandy for sometime and wanted to update some of my unfinished stories. I noticed I have some unpublished ones on my laptop. This is not yet finish but thought I'd share the part I have finished. I have written snippets of how I envisioned people around them discovered by themselves that Capt. Raydor and Lt. Flynn are not just friends as they claim. I've always thought that they (Shandy) were too slow that by the time they have admitted it to everyone they are more than friends everyone had lost excitement for they have already known long before it had been declared.
I hope my Shandy readers are still active, and I hope you guys like this.
Rusty
I knew they were exclusively seeing each other long before anyone else in the Major Crimes Team or Sharon's kids found out. Not because they took me aside and told me, not because I knew them better than anyone, but because one day I changed my mind about attending a school activity and went straight home.
No, I didn't run into them in a compromising position. Well not to that extent.
I slowly opened the door to the condo with my own key and noiselessly stepped in, worried Sharon would see me and interrogate me why I was home and not at the school trip to Napa Valley. I do not want to lie but I did not want to tell her either that I had a fight with some friends in school and didn't want to join the trip. My plan was to quietly slip into my room and with luck on my side, she would leave for work the next day without knowing I was home.
But the minute I passed the foyer I heard the television on and an old movie with Cary Grant playing. At first, I thought I was busted, my mind was racing about what to tell Sharon as I got closer to the living room but to my surprise, the living room was empty. A half empty bottle of champagne, and two goblets, one empty and one half filled, were on the table in front of the television set. A tray of hors d' oeuvres lay beside the champagne.
For a minute I almost switched off the television and helped myself to some slices of cold cuts and cheese but as I popped a few cranberry raisins I realized there was light in Sharon's room, eyeing the two champagne glasses I realized she had company. My eyes fell on two shiny gold-plated badges that were glistening underneath the lamp on the small side table. I only know of one man coming up to see Sharon, and now I know they were not merely friends as they put it.
I decided against hiding in my room. Running into them early tomorrow will be embarrassing for both parties. As quietly as I came in, making sure I had not touched anything that would reveal my presence, I left the condo.
Amy Sykes
Pulling an All-Nighter was not something I particularly relish, but don't mind doing when duty calls for it either. Lt. Tao was on duty for the night shift but stepped out for dinner since I was staying late in the office anyhow to finish a few paperwork I needed to wrap up before my scheduled vacation in three days.
Stretching my aching body, I got up and decided to get a cup of coffee in the break room. Walking to the breakroom, I could hear a cellular phone ringing somewhere. It had been incessantly ringing while I was working and kept wondering where it was coming from.
As I reached the breakroom, a big smile had spread across my face when I noticed the new ice machine had now been installed right beside the vending machine. Instead of having my hot latte in a cup, I poured it into a tall glass and filled it with ice from the machine. Then I noticed an unfamiliar cellular phone on top of its nozzle. Someone must have helped himself with some ice and accidentally left his phone.
Its ringing tone suddenly pierced the quiet break room. I picked up the phone and saw the name Silver Fox calling. I debated whether to pick up and let Silver Fox know the cellphone has been left in the LAPD breakroom or let it ring till it die down again. While I was debating, the ringing stopped, and the screen saver appeared. I gasped. It was Captain Raydor with Rusty, Emily, and Ricky. The phone didn't look like the business phone issued by the department.
It began to ring once again, and the name Silver Fox appeared once again. I thought of picking it up but why would Captain Raydor have someone named Silver Fox calling her? Once again, it stopped ringing. I was about to carry it to Captain Raydor's office when I heard distant voices.
"You could have left it here." It was Lt. Flynn's voice.
"I've been calling it several times. We've checked the car, the restaurant, and we still couldn't find it. This is the only place we have not checked. Are you sure it is not on silent?" demanded his voice.
"I don't put my phone on silent. I'm afraid of missing important calls," said Captain Raydor.
The phone began ringing again. I didn't know why but instinctively; I hid behind a blind corner on the far side of the room. I didn't want Captain Raydor finding me in the same room as her cellular phone while Silver Fox was calling her.
No more than a few minutes that I had hidden when Captain Raydor rushed inside the breakroom with Lt. Flynn close behind her, his phone in his ear.
"Found it. Thank heavens," said Captain Raydor, heaving a sigh of relief as Lt. Flynn slipped his phone back in his pocket.
"I'm sorry we missed the movie," said Captain Raydor, running her fingers on Lt. Flynn's cheek in affection.
To intensify my immense surprise, Lt. Flynn entwined his fingers with hers and gave the back of her hand a kiss.
"That's alright. We can take a walk by Venice Beach," he smiled.
"That sounds nice," she smiled back.
"How in the world did it end up here? You never take it out of your purse except when you're not at work or when you are calling your children."
To my horror and discomfort, they took a seat and helped themselves with two cans of Coca-Cola from the vending machine.
"I was in the middle of texting you about this weekend as I was having my coffee break when I was called by someone from the Chief's office, and I inadvertently left the phone on top of the machine. I didn't want to text you using my service phone. The LAPD will have every right to access it if they want to and I don't want anyone reading my personal messages…. Don't look at me like that, it's not paranoia. It's a fact."
Lt. Flynn laughed. "Yeah, I know. You told me to get myself a personal phone or you'll never send me anything but a murder investigation assignment."
"Did you remember to put a pin on your new phone?" asked Captain Raydor.
Lt. Flynn smiled sheepishly. "I haven't gotten around to it."
"What! Andy!" scolded Captain Raydor.
"I will not forgive you if anyone saw those pictures on your phone. And I have sent you messages that are strictly for your eyes alone," cried Captain Raydor in horror.
"Alright. Alright. It's not like there's something wrong with our photos in Cabo," reasoned Lt. Flynn.
He gave her a teasing smile. "I changed your name so no one would have any idea who set those flirtatious messages."
"You have not deleted them?" cried Captain Raydor.
"Why would I want to delete them. They're very sweet," he winked at her.
She gave him a little playful punch and laughed. It's something they never do when there is someone watching.
To my great relief they soon finished their soda and started out the break room.
"Hand me your phone and I'm going to put a pin," said Captain Rydor.
"Alright. You do it while I drive. Let's go," said Lt. Flynn.
They were on their way out when Capt. Raydor stopped dead on her tracks, holding Lt. Flynn's cellphone.
"Andy! Why is my picture here? Take out that wallpaper!" she demanded.
"What good is that personal phone for if I cannot put everything, I want on it…"
"Give that back to me. Leave that photo alone!"
He started taking the phone back while she was hiding away from him as they both giggled like a couple of teen-agers walking out of the PAB.
Since that night I have not looked at them the same way. Every little gesture, every little word they say to each … they all seemed different now after I have found out they were not merely colleagues. Not once have I caught them in any public display of affection. In fact, they still act so formally around each other but as I have said things look different now where they are concerned…. Good thing I'm not one to start any rumor mongering.
Lt. Michael Tao
I caught them a couple of nights ago going out of the PAB just as I was returning from my dinner to resume my night shift duty. I wondered why they were still in the office so late. As far as I know, they left the premises this afternoon in their separate cars but now, they went back together in Lt. Flynn's car. I didn't think much about it then.
Finding Amy on her desk just as she was when I left for dinner, I asked, "Were Captain Raydor and Lt. Flynn here a few moments ago?"
"I don't know. I have no idea," replied Amy.
But her body language says differently. The big question was, why would she lie?
Everything seemed normal even after that night that I even completely forgot about the incident. There was nothing different or unusual at work, and everyone behaved like their normal selves.
Until that fretful day when the LAPD was updating their main server and computer system that led everyone's computers to crash and lose a couple of saved files on people's hard drive.
"Hell, my pending work is piling up. Where the heck is that guy from computer systems department?" yelled Provenza.
"Still fixing Taylor's computer," said Julio.
"And they only sent one personnel?" said Provenza irritably.
"We're not the only department in LAPD you know," explained Julio.
"Is the internet working yet?" asked Captain Raydor, peering from her office.
"Still no internet access, but the computer engineer said they can have the internet up and running in 20 minutes," I reassured Captain Raydor.
"Oh yeah, that's what they said hours ago," complained Lt. Provenza.
Everyone was hot tempered and grouchy. We couldn't have any work done until the internet and the LAPD system were up and running.
"Hey, Tao. You're good with computers. Can you help me a bit? I wanted to transfer some of my pictures from my computer to my cellphone, but I don't have the cord. Is that possible? asked Lt. Flynn.
"A couple of weeks back, I was looking at some photos in my email when they got downloaded on my desktop. I want to move them to my phone before I delete them. I don't want the computer tech snooping on my photos."
"It's easier if you've got a flash drive," I said.
He made a face. "This is all so sudden I didn't have time to prepare like bringing in a flash drive to take my photos."
I looked at him and he sure looked like he was in a serious dilemma just for some photos on his computer. Looking like he didn't have any other choice, he called Captain Raydor.
"Captain, have you got a flash drive," he called out.
"Just a minute I'm still using it. Give me two minutes," she called back, before coming out of her office ad giving it to Flynn.
Andy settled back to his desk, fully focused on transferring those pictures out of his computer.
"I browse for the flash drive and drag every photo, right?" said Flynn, talking to me without taking his eyes off the computer screen.
"If all the photos are in a folder, you can drag the whole folder. It's just a click," I said.
I saw the look of triumph in Lt. Flynn's face as he hit the delete button on what must have been the last photo before pushing his chair back with his foot and standing up to stretch.
In a few minutes after he was done transferring his photos, Capt. Raydor asked for her flash drive back. I saw his hesitation in returning the flash drive.
"I thought you were done, Captain."
"I forgot to save something," she said walking over to Flynn's desk and taking the flash drive.
Flynn and I watched as Captain Raydor slipped the flashdrive on her CPU port.
Lt. Flynn started fidgeting and cracking his knuckles like he was worried about something.
What were those photos that were causing him great discomfort if Capt. Raydor saw them?
Captain Raydor's expression changed. Flynn and I immediately knew she saw something that caused her trepidation.
Purposefully walking to her office doorway, she yelled for Lt. Flynn.
He rolled his eyes and started toward her office. The minute he stepped in, everything between them seemed to have shifted. I could not hear their conversation amidst the closed office door, but their body language was different as Captain Raydor seemed upset with Lt. Flynn but not as a boss… looked more personal and Lt. Flynn seemed to reason out… not to his boss. As he listened to Captain Raydor talk incessantly, with his sour face like a man caught in something inappropriate, he closed the blinds of the Captain's office.
"Hey, who owns this computer? I'll start reformatting now," said the IT tech.
"He's just in our captain's office," I said.
The tech started fixing his computer but half-way through, Julio called him and asked about a file he couldn't locate. He went over to Julio, leaving Lt. Flynn's computer.
I made my way to his computer to ensure he had completely deleted all the photos in his hard drive, and just as I thought, he had not deleted them from the trash bin.
I could not believe my eyes at the photos on the trash bin. They were not illegal, but they were incriminating to two people claiming their relationship was strictly professional.
They were lovely photos from their trip to New York City. Happy, smiling faces of Captain Raydor and Lt. Flynn at the Empire State, Statue of Liberty and outside a theater in Broadway where they watched Phantom of the Opera. Maybe if they hadn't had their arms around each other in their photos, they could have passed off as friends.
I emptied the trash bin. Their secret is safe for now. Unless someone goes out of their way to dig up deleted files.