Here's the last part. No smut on this one hehe . I forgot previously to thank my friend and beta TheShadowsEdge who helps me tremendously with my English and with ideas. Thank you all for your comments, warms my heart
Part 3
Mason jumped a bit. He had forgotten he had called them nearly an hour ago. He was so… so caught up in what happened on the screen, on the screams… "We.." He cleared his throat before continuing. "We need your help. You know that porn case, the one where people are filmed despite knowing it themselves?" He started, not able to express his ideas clearly. He was feeling both incredibly aroused and furiously guilty to feel so.
"Oh yeah, the one that jack the prices before diffusing people's faces?!" Amy's voice was full of disdain.
"That one." He confirmed.
"So what can we do for your service, Commander?" Demanded Provenza.
"What you have to understand is that it's not a normal porn case, like we're used to." started the man in charge before the old man interrupted him.
"Sure does sound like one. God, the woman was screaming so loud we heard it from the elevators." He joked.
"Yeah, it was intense…" Muttered Spencer, still having not fully recovered..
"Intense you say?! I've never heard anyone yell like that, not even bad actresses." The old man aughed some more. "What were they doing that warranted such an intense reaction?" He asked, punctuating the word intense while looking at Spencer in amusement.
"Anal." Responded the detective, not meeting anyone's eyes.
"You're sure she's not an actress?" Asked Sykes, a frown on her face.
"Some women like that." Said Sanchez, putting his two cents, the shadow of a smile on his lips.
"No, not like that. Women only do that to please men…" Responded Sykes, challenging the men to tell her otherwise.
"Well, this one did. She's not an actress. It's a couple, a real couple. I can assure you they didn't know they were filmed." Said the commander in a no-nonsense voice. He really sympathized with this couple and in a way, he wished to never find them because he certainly didn't feel like telling them about any of it.
"Ok." Responded Provenza, all business. "What do you have for us?"
« We took some screenshots we hope will us identify either the couple or the location. We're hoping you'd be able to help us with that." Said Mason, glad to have to focus on work.
"Go ahead, show us what you got. Can you send everything to Buzz and Tao?" Asked the Lieutenant.
"Who's Buzz?" Asked both men at the same time.
"He's our civilian tech guy. Just send it to Tao, if you don't have his email." He demanded as he put his glasses on and moved closer to the screen. He started asking questions related to the timeline and distribution of the videos, taking notes at the same time. Sanchez and Sykes helped him complete his questionnaire for the more technical part. Suddenly something caught his eyes on the screen. "What's that?" He asked, pointing to one of the pictures.
"It's one of the screenshots." Answered Spencer while clicking on it. It was the shot of the woman's arm. When they took it, they didn't really question what they were doing but now, her head thrown back, her breasts taking the largest part of the screen… It seemed a bit intense.
"I've seen that watch before." Provenza said, rubbing his chin, trying to find where he recognized it from. Behind him, Amy gasped, gaining everyone's attention. "What is it?" Her boss asked. He turned his head on the side, studying her. He'd never seen so shocked, even blushing. He looked again at the photo and had a bad feeling about it.
"I.. I think I know them." She said, her voice heavy with emotions. "Do you have a shot of the man's hand?" She asked. She needed to be sure before voicing her incertinity.
"What did you see?" Asked once more Provenza, looking more closely at the picture.
"The woman's earrings.." Said Julio, shaking his head, tears making their way in his eyes. He prayed to be wrong. It couldn't be…
"What about those ear… Ohh…" Said the older man, deflating when he understood what his coworkers saw. "Show us his hands now!" He said, getting angry. Spencer clicked on the computer and the image appeared. "Yeh Gods!" He sighed, closing his eyes. He rubbed his temples a few times before opening back his eyes and his mouths. "Now, I'll have to both clean my ears and my eyes with Javel!"
"That… that can't be possible…" Amy mumbled, her eyes fixed on the part of the hand exposed, showcasing a very familiar bracelet and pinkie ring. She couldn't believe the only decent picture of it was with two digits buried in the woman's body.
"I think it's time I retire. I can't face them. I can't face them after seeing that, hearing her like that…" Provenza said, pacing around the room.
Mason looked at them with a mixture of intrigue and worry. Suddenly, it clicked. "You have to be fucking kidding me." He turned back to the screen, rewinded 2 minutes on the video and hit play.
"Please don't watch that…" Julio asked before leaving the room, not before slamming the door on his way out.
The room filled with the last of the woman's cries of ecstasy. The commander had turned the volume down a notch and it appeared less… bad. A few seconds later, he had his answer when the woman said "Stop, stop, Andy, Stop." followed by saying his name another time when she asked him for cuddles. The Commander closed his eyes, breathing in and out, trying to put down the nausea. He already felt bad for violating that couple's very private moment but now… Now he just felt horrible. First he had witnessed his coworker make love, he had seen them naked, he'll never forget her orgasms, her total abandon in her lover's arms but, the cherry on top of that shit: he'll have to look them in the eyes and tell them what happened, what he saw… How would he face them again? "Where are Flynn and Raydor? Are they in the murder room?" he asked, somehow hopeful.
"Off." Just answered Amy, looking outside the room for Julio. He came back, looking greenish and mad.
"I assume you know where they are." Said Mason while looking at the lieutenant.
"Romantic weekend in a chalet, near Sequoia Park." He gave his phone to the commander. "He sent me an email with all the info, I guess you know how to read one of those things…"
—-
Nearly five hours later, they were all in front of the chalet. The whole Major Crimes division and a big part of Mason's one, all fighting to know who'll get to knock on the door and have the conversation they all dreaded with the couple, especially with Sharon. Fed up with all of that and wanting to catch the SOB who did that to his friends, Provenza regrouped his courage and walked to the wooden door. The place was beautiful, lots of trees, a bit of snow just like he knew the couple loved and a wonderful sunshine making the white powder and sun rays shine between the branches. Oh it was romantic alright. He wondered if Flynn finally got the courage to pop the big question. For once, he counted on his best friend's cowardice. He knocked at the door, once, twice…
"Lieutenant?" She was so… so not like he was used to seeing her. Her long majestic hair was pulled up in a ponytail, she was wearing one of Flynn's shirts, mercifully completely closed, with a thick woolen jacket and black leggings. She was barefoot and seemed suddenly very much less powerful and tinier. "Is Rusty alright?" She immediately fretted and the old man blamed himself for causing her so much distress.
"He is. We need to talk about something else. Get Andy, tell him you need to show him a squirrel or whatever outside. Don't raise suspicion." He said in a low voice. His friend appeared in the doorway just at that moment, wearing a pair of navy boxers and his old Pink Floyd shirt. Despite the cold weather, they both followed him outside until the van, walking barefoot in the snow but knowing the moment was too serious to complain about something so trivial. Once inside the van, both Provenza and Mason said at the same time "Everyone, out."
The commander looked at the couple with a lot of apprehension. He caught Spencer's eyes : "Go see if you can do something with the WIFI." He said before turning toward the couple."Do you know the password?"
Sharon shook herself out, still incredibly anxious at what was going on. She needed to know, and yesterday. Preferably before Andy blew a fuse too, she could see he was about to lose his calm. "I think it's seQuoia1." She started.
"Yeah with a big Q." Chuckled the lieutenant, trying to alleviate the tension. He put his hand on his girlfriend's back, wanting to reassure her, needing to convey that he would control himself for her sake.
"Ok, thanks. Spencer, you take Jason and Ropart with you. Go." Commanded the senior officer.
"Tao and Buzz, you go with them. Sykes, Sanchez go see if it's still snowing." The captain was about to protest, hating how her lieutenant was talking to her team but swallowed it because everyone said "Yes sir" and flew out the door. It was only her, Andy, Provenza and Mason. Oh, she had a bad feeling.
"Captain, we're sorry to barge in on your weekend like that…" Started the commander.
"Here, sit." Said Provenza, approaching two chairs for the couple. He looked at Mason to gather his courage. "Ok, so we have bad news and good news." He started, trying to make a joke. "Good news is : all of your kids are just fine. It's only about you too." He nodded when he saw the Captain exhale, folding herself in two in some kind of prayer for a second. Flynn rubbed her back, recomforting and grounding. "The bad news is: we've seen you naked, so have about 2,8 millions of people."
"What?!" Yelled the younger lieutenant, getting up suddenly to pace.
"What do you mean.. How can people have seen us naked? And that many.." muttured Sharon, shocked but calm.
"I'm sorry, Captain, Lieutenant." Said Mason, swallowing hard. "Someone hid cameras in that cottage. They… they recorded some of your most intimate moments." He closed his eyes an instant, gathering all his courage. "And diffused them on a pornographic platform." He let it sink in a second and seeing they were neither moving nor talking, he continued. "We've been investigating them for about a year and that's the first we're so close to finding them."
"What do you mean by intimate moments?" Asked Andy, angriness in his voice. "They filmed Sharon under the shower?"
Oh how he wished it was "only" that. "No. They've filmed you having..making love. On two separate occasions." He steeled himself for his next question, needing to see if they needed to fear for more. "Did you… Do you guys have sex today? Late last night?" asked the Commander.
"What kind of questions is that?!" Demanded a very agitated Flynn.
The Captain was impressively unflinching. "We.. We were intimate this morning, around 10am." She said, her voice devoid of emotions, her eyes not meeting anyone's.
The lieutenant stopped moving and came near his girlfriend, he started touching her shoulder but she flinched a fraction, he removed it. "I think we were under the covers the whole time, if that's any help." He said, calmer, watching the woman who was sharing his life with concern.
"Did you…did my team see those videos?" The Captain asked, her voice quieter than before, a tremor to it.
"Only Spencer and me." Reassured the commander.
"Sykes, Sanchez and I saw some screenshots and we.. we heard the final moments of the last videos." Said Provenza, not wanting to add to her turmoil but needing to be honest. It was already a delicate situation, he didn't want to backfire later.
"What was that video?" She demanded again, her voice breathy. She was taking long slow inhales and exhales, trying to keep the panic attack at bay. She knew Andy could tell she was close to her breaking point but it was inconceivable for her to let her feelings be witnessed. Not now.
"The .. The…"Mason started stuttering, not able to meet anyone's eyes anymore.
"The one in front of the fireplace." The older lieutenant knew he needed to rip off the bandaid. He looked at the couple and saw how devastated his partner was. He knew he didn't worry for himself but only for the woman. She only whimpered at his words, a small wounded noise. She was white as a sheet, her hands shaking. She managed to get herself up using the back of her chair.
"If you can excuse us, gentlemen, I need a moment." She said coolly before leaving in a haste. Andy followed her immediately.
Mason marveled an instant at her strength. He knew she was broken but was immensely relieved she did not lose her composure in front of them. She had been robbed enough. He was reassured they did not take her dignity too. As for her boyfriend, he was more than surprised, given all the things he heard about the man, that he did not have a more violent reaction. Somehow, he knew the captain was a calm enough person not to allow anyone like that in her private life.
"Let's see where the team is, before checking up on them. She'll be alright in two minutes." Said Provenza sadly, knowing she'll only allow herself to let out the boiling part of her emotions out for now. If he knew anything about her, it was that she would bottle everything up until she was in her home, safe and without anyone to witness.
In less than 10 minutes, both teams had come to an important breakthrough. They had found two partial fingerprints and a full one in the tech equipment. They found the ip address to where the data were sent. They were also able to mimic a power shortage not to raise suspicion but effectively stopping the cameras from working.
Mason and the lieutenant knocked on the wooden door. They heard a muffled "Yes" coming from inside, surely from Flynn. The cottage was beautiful. Even with the power off, it was clear and alight thanks to the big windows. On the right was the kitchen and it smelled heavenly. It reminds Leo a bit of his grandmother's house. On the left is the living room. He spotted two mugs, two upturned books probably to keep the place, and a plate of cookies. Oh yeah, it really smelled like his grandma's! A blanket was thrown askew on the sofa, a testament of what they interrupted. He looked around and saw the couple. The captain had her back to him and he could tell she's wiping her tears before turning to face them. He knew they were hugging a second ago, from how they face each other, from the closeness they maintain even now.
Then he spotted the chimney, the carpet on the floor. An image invaded his mind, her in his arms, him repeating over and over that she was safe. He wanted to cry but he only blushed and swallowed the big lump that had formed in his throat. He catched Flynn's eyes who was also blushing and looking rather mad at him. He could understand the sentiment. If the situation was reversed, if the lieutenant had seen him in that situation and was now staring at the very place it happened.. Yeah, no, he would lose it. So he talked, fast. He just wanted to appease them, to give them some kind of closure. She turned around at that moment and he couldn't help but blush even more. That close, he could see how incredibly beautiful she was but more than anything, how strong she was. He's impressed like he's rarely been in his life.
« We have them! » he says, smiling sadly.