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

Chapter 18

Once Sharon and Andy arrived at the PAB, the team was called out on a possible missing person's report. Susan Delfano was the woman who was missing and the team was gathering information on where she lived, worked, and the last time someone had spoken to Susan. The team was going to split up and go to where she resided in the South Park neighborhood off of San Pedro Street and the other team would go to where she worked at the Northern Los Angeles Bank branch located on Wilshire. Andy, Sharon, Provenza, and Julio headed towards Susan's address while Mike and Amy went to her place of work. Buzz had gone along with Provenza and Julio so that if there was evidence at her house, they would be able to film it right away.

Once Andy and Sharon pulled up to Susan's house, they exited their car and walked behind towards Provenza, Julio, and Buzz who were all stepping out of Provenza's vehicle. Everyone had their vests on. "Lieutenants I think we should knock on the front door, see if we see anything out of the ordinary, remember we are doing a welfare check here" Sharon told Provenza and Andy as they walked up towards the house. "Detective Sanchez, I would like for you to stay here, keep your eye on the side of the houses" Sharon told Julio and he nodded. "Buzz, stay down here" she said to Buzz as she climbed the two stairs to join Andy and Provenza who were already by the front door. A patrol car pulled up and the two officers stayed down by the sidewalk in front of the house. "She lives alone so there shouldn't be anyone else here" Sharon reminded them before she nodded her head to Andy. Andy knocked on the door and also rang the doorbell. They waited for a response. "I hear shuffling" Andy muttered as he looked through the window to the left of the front door.

Just as Andy was about to knock on the door again, the door opened and they were standing face to face with a male subject, who looked like he was trying to exit the house in a hurry. "Hey, LAPD, do you live here?" Andy asked the man. "Oh, I'm just house sitting for my friend" the man told them. "Oh, ok, do you mind if we come in and have a look around?" Andy asked the man and the man looked around at Sharon and Provenza. "Why, why do you need to come inside?" the man stammered. "We're doing a welfare check; can you tell us what's the name of your friend that owns this house?" Provenza asked him as Sharon stepped to the side. "Susan, Susan Delfano" the man stated to them as he backed up a few steps into the house and Andy followed him inside. "When was the last time you spoke to Susan?" Andy asked him as he looked around, but kept an eye on the man. "A few days ago, she went on a work trip and asked me to stay here and keep an eye on things for her" the man answered as he watched Andy and Provenza walk around the front room.

"And, what's your name?" Provenza asked him. "Noel Ryder" the man answered him. "Have a seat Noel" Provenza pointed to the couch as Sharon, Julio, and Buzz stepped into the house. "Are you the only one in this house, Noel?" Andy asked him. "Yeh" Noel answered as he watched everyone enter the house. "Good morning Noel, I'm Commander Flynn with the LAPD, you said Susan is away on a business trip?" Sharon asked him, but he was more focused on what Provenza was looking at by the desk in the front room. "Um, yeh, she left a few days ago, for a week I think" Noel finally answered as Sharon was watching him. Noel stood up because he couldn't stand sitting on the couch so he stepped over to where the window was on the side wall. "Uh, how much longer do you think you'll be here cause I need to get to work?" Noel asked them. Andy was now watching Noel as he stepped closer to Sharon. Julio walked through the rest of the house but there was no sign of Susan there. He shook his head to Sharon and she nodded slightly before she stepped around the couch. Andy was now standing at the front door watching Noel. He didn't like how this guy was acting. "Where do you work, Noel?" Sharon asked him. Noel was now fidgeting as he stood there. Sharon waited for him to answer her question. "When was the last time you saw Susan?" she asked another question, not waiting for the first answer. Noel had enough and had to get out of there. He took a step towards her and swung his arm, but missed.

"Hey! Listen you scumbag!" Andy gritted his teeth as he pushed Noel up against the wall of Susan's house. "You better think twice before hitting a police officer" he grumbled low into the guy's ear so only he could hear him. Andy placed his weight against him and held him there while Julio took his handcuffs out and placed them on the guy. Noel did not hit Sharon, but came close enough. Too close for Andy's liking as he pressed him into the wall again. "Look! I don't know where she is!" Noel shouted as he was searched after being handcuffed. Julio pulled out a set of car keys and some credit cards that were not in the subject's name. "Ma'am" Julio handed the credit cards to Sharon. She glanced at the cards and they belonged to Susan. She looked at Andy and nodded. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law" Andy started to tell Noel his rights as two patrol officers took custody of him. Julio followed behind them. Andy walked over to where Sharon was standing and placed his hand on her arm. "You ok?" he whispered. Sharon eyes followed Noel out the door before she answered Andy. "I'm fine" barely above a whisper. Somehow Andy didn't believe her at the moment but this wasn't the place to doubt her.

Sharon was quiet on the ride back to the PAB. Andy kept glancing at her every chance he got as he was driving. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as their car entered the parking garage. Andy pulled the car into his parking spot and shifted into park. He turned the car off and then looked at Sharon. He touched her left hand with his right hand. "Hey" he simply said and she turned to look at him. "Maybe this scumbag is lying and actually knows where Susan is" he figured he would skirt around the real question he wanted to ask her. "That's what I'm thinking" she looked into his eyes and saw the worry in them. "Why else would he have her credit cards on him?" she shook her head and wondered if they were going to find Susan alive. They stepped out of their vehicle and walked towards the elevators. They both were still wearing their vests as they stepped inside and went up to the ninth floor. The morning had gone quickly for them once they had arrived from dropping Matthew off at camp. They were only in the office for about 15 minutes before they got the notification of the missing girl, Susan. It turned out the she was the niece of a friend of the Mayor, which is why Major Crimes was called and not Missing Persons. She had been missing for less than 24 hours but the mayor's friend had panicked when they hadn't heard from Susan. Now, it was not even 10:30 in the morning and they already had a suspect in custody, Sharon thought as they stepped off the elevator and walked towards the Murder Room.

"Ma'am, Noel is in Interview Room 2, he waived his rights" Julio stated to her as they walked into the office. "Thank you" she replied as she stepped towards her office, taking her vest off and placing it back behind her desk. Andy stood there before he walked to his desk, removing his vest and waited there for her to be ready. He was leaning against his desk when Provenza walked in with Buzz and the two of them went to their desks. "We finished videotaping the house" Buzz stated as Andy watched them walk in. Provenza looked across the room at his friend. "Sykes and Tao are still at Susan's work but I notified them we brought a suspect of interest back with us, they are going to head over to Susan's house once they are done" Provenza spoke as he took his vest off and placed his suit jacket back on. Sharon had now stepped out of her office and joined them. "Julio, I need you to run those credit cards, and Susan's financials, see if anything pops up" she told the detective and he nodded, turning to his computer to get started. "Lieutenant Provenza, will you join me in Interview Room 2, please" Sharon asked her second in command as she walked towards the hallway. Provenza looked at Andy before following Sharon. Andy stood there watching them walk away before he joined Buzz in Electronics.

Provenza wanted to ask how she was doing but before he got the chance to, Sharon stopped right outside the door to the room. "I'm fine Lieutenant" she simply stated to him, her hand on the handle of the door. Provenza cleared his throat. "Ok" he gestured for her to open the door and the two of them stepped into the interview room where Noel was sitting in handcuffs. "Mister Ryder, I understand that you waived your rights" Provenza started to talk to the suspect as he closed the door behind him and Sharon took a seat across from Noel. "Yeah, that's right. I have nothing to hide" Noel gritted his teeth before continuing. "Like I told this bitch! I was just house sitting for Susan. I don't know where she is!" Noel spat his words back, not fazing Sharon at all as she sat there. Andy watched from Electronics and as Buzz glanced over at the Lieutenant next to him, he saw his face was turning red. "I should be in there with her" Andy muttered under his breath but Buzz still heard him. Before he could say anything else, Andy's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that Mike was calling him. "Yeh Tao, what's up?" Andy said as he watched Sharon on the screen.

"We didn't find anything at her work. No one has heard from Susan in a few days. She is not on a business trip, we confirmed that with her supervisor" Mike informed Andy over the phone. "Ok, we're interviewing the dirtbag we found in Susan's house now, we'll let you know if he says anything" Andy told Mike as he watched the screen. "Amy and I are heading to Susan's house to conduct a search due to the circumstances" Mike suggested and Andy agreed. "Yes Mike, sounds good, let me know what you find there" Andy said. "I'll notify SID to see if they can come and meet us there" Mike stated and then hung up his phone. "Buzz, tell the Commander that Mike and Amy are headed over to Susan's house to search it with SID" Andy told him and he got on the microphone and relayed the message to Sharon. "So, can you tell us when Susan asked you to house sit for her?" Provenza asked Noel the question as they sat in front of him. Noel was handcuffed to the chair he was currently sitting in. "She asked me last week?" Noel shrugged his shoulders as he sat there. "How do you know Susan?" Sharon asked him. Noel smiled before he answered her question. "We dated for a while but then we broke up" Noel said, and then gave a slight smirk on his face.

"I really don't like this guy" Andy mumbled under his breath as he watched the interview. "Why did the two of you break up?" Provenza asked the follow up question. "Why does anyone break up?" Noel shrugged his shoulders again. Provenza glanced over at Sharon and he rolled his eyes at Noel's answer. "When did you break up with Susan?" Sharon asked him as she leaned her arms on the table. Noel looked at her. "Three weeks ago," Noel stated as he placed his left arm on the table, almost mimicking Sharon's posture. "Was it a mutual break up?" she asked as she looked at him. Noel looked down but then back up to Sharon. "She didn't like the friends I was hanging with" Noel laughed as he said that. "And who are your friends that you "hang" with?" Provenza asked him. "Some guys" Noel said as he looked up to the ceiling in the room. They were getting nowhere with Noel.

Mike and Amy arrived at Susan's house and met one of the patrol officers that was waiting at the house. SID officers also pulled up in front of the house. They walked up the steps and stepped inside the house. "I don't know what exactly we are looking for but, anything out of the ordinary?" Mike informed the officers. One of the SID officers brought a piece of paper to Mike and he looked it over. He pulled out his phone and called Andy. Andy picked up his phone and answered, listening to Mike on the other end. "LAX? What kind of warehouse?" Andy asked as the interview continued. "Could be a storage facility?" Mike answered. "Are you guys finished at the house?" he asked as Buzz started talking to Sharon informing her of what was being discussed between the two lieutenants. "No, we just got here a few minutes ago" Mike told him.

"So, Noel, what do you know about a warehouse near the Los Angeles airport?" Sharon asked their suspect. He shifted in his seat when she mentioned that. "I don't know what you're talking about" he shifted his gaze to look at anything else in the room. "Oh no, you see, we think you do know something, Noel" Provenza chimed in. Noel stared at the Lieutenant. "Look, I was only told to bring her there, I had nothing to do with anything else!" Noel pointed his finger on the table when he couldn't move his hand further due to being handcuffed. "Who did you bring there?" Sharon asked, in a louder voice. "Susan" Noel muttered. "Who told you to bring her there?" Sharon was getting impatient with Noel now and both Andy and Provenza knew it. Noel shrugged his shoulders. "Ok, Lieutenant, take him down to holding and let him sit there for a while, maybe that will jog his memory" Sharon told Provenza as she stood up from the table. "Wait, wait!" Noel called out as Provenza also stood up. "I'll give you the name, just don't send me down there" Noel stated and Sharon stepped back to the table, she was now standing on the side of it. She folded her arms across her chest as she waited for his answer.

"He seems to be scared of whoever told him, sir" Buzz said to Andy as they continued to watch from Electronics. "Yeh, but who?" Andy stated as he sat there. "I'll tell you what you want to know but then I want a deal, you don't know how these people are, if they knew I was talking to you" Noel started to say and shook his head. Andy leaned back in his chair in Electronics. "Jesus Christ, who the hell are we dealing with here?" he muttered under his breath as he listened to the interview continue. "Luis Henriquez" was the name that Noel gave them. Andy glanced at Buzz as he was typing the name into the computer. "Luis Henriquez, spent 2 years in jail for robbery, homicide, narcotics, got out in 2015. According to this he is the leader of the Santa Monica 13" Buzz read out loud. "Great" Andy muttered as he shook his head. Buzz had relayed all that info over to the Commander and Lieutenant Provenza as Andy was calling Mike on his phone. "Hey, there may be gang involvement in this so watch your backs" Andy informed him. "Right, SID is still at the house. We are just pulling up to the address now" Mike called out over the phone as an airplane just flew over them.

Julio stepped into Electronics with the report for Susan's financials. "Anything good?" the detective asked as he handed Andy the report. "He's somehow involved with Luis Henriquez, the" Buzz informed him but before he could finish, Julio finished for him. "The Leader of the Santa Monica 13, this isn't good" Julio told them. "I'd pull them out now!" Julio stated to the both of them. "Why?" Andy asked. "Just do it sir, I'll explain later" Julio looked at Andy. "Buzz" Andy said his name and Buzz was already on the earpiece pulling the Commander and Lieutenant Provenza out of the room. Andy then left Electronics and headed for the interview room where they were located.

"And what's your involvement with" Sharon started to ask Noel but instead heard Buzz in her ear telling them that they need to step out for an urgent matter. "Ah, Lieutenant we are needed outside for a minute" Sharon calmly spoke to him and he nodded. "Hey! Where are you going?!" Noel called out as the two were leaving. "Just sit tight" Provenza told him and nodded to the two officers outside the room to watch him. Andy met them outside the door. "Andy what's going on?" she looked at him. "Julio told us to pull you out, come on" Andy told them and then walked back towards the Murder Room. Sharon huffed with concern as she followed her lieutenants back inside. "Detective, what exactly is going on?" Sharon asked Julio as they walked over to his desk. "The Santa Monica 13, or SMG, is not a gang you want to mess with ma'am. They are ruthless, involved in everything from narcotics to murders to whatever, you name it. Luis took over after he got out of jail because he had the former leader of the gang killed, murdered on his own turf" Julio informed them as he was going through pictures and showing them on his computer screen. "I asked Lieutenant Flynn to pull both of you out of the interview room because as soon as I heard this guy was involved, it's just bad all around, and if word gets out that Noel is talking to us, no matter what police department it is, Luis doesn't care, he will come after you" Julio finished as he looked at everyone.

Meanwhile, at the warehouse, Mike and Amy, along with several patrol officers walked into the main area of the warehouse. Mike was speaking to the owner and he informed him that this warehouse is more of a storage facility. "We're looking for a missing girl, have you seen her?" Mike asked as he showed the owner a picture of Susan. "She was here 2 days ago with some other guy" the owner told them. "This guy?" Amy showed a picture of Noel. "Yeh that's him" the owner confirmed. "I'll call Andy, you get patrol and follow the owner to the location" Mike told Amy and she moved with the owner. Mike called Andy as he waited inside the main office. "Yeh Mike?" Andy answered and placed him on speaker. "The owner of the warehouse recognized Susan's photo along with Noel, said they were here together 2 days ago" Mike informed them. "Lieutenant Tao, she may still be alive, we will have EMS sent there to your location" Sharon called out as she looked over at Buzz who was now on his desk phone calling for EMS. "Copy that Commander, let's hope she still is" Mike called out as he ran out of the office to join the rest of the search party. Sharon looked at Julio. "I want you to notify your contact in the Gang Intelligence Unit, Julio. I want them to give us everything they know about Luis Henriquez" she said and then turned her attention to both Andy and Provenza who were now looking at her, both with worriedness on their faces.

"I want to go back into the interview with Noel" Sharon told her lieutenants. Andy slowly shook his head in disagreement. "Uh, Commander" Julio called out to her as he held his hand up in the air to stop her. "Thanks Tommy" Julio hung up his phone. "Ma'am that was my contact in Gang Intelligence. They've had Luis Henriquez under surveillance for a couple of days now, they were actually getting ready to move in on him soon" Julio informed her as Provenza and Andy listened as well. "How soon, Detective?" Sharon asked. "They have an operation overnight, when the gang least expects anything to happen" Julio explained. "And they currently have eyes on Luis?" Provenza asked him. "Yes sir" Julio nodded. "Well, there you go, Commander. Now all we need to do is find this Susan alive" Provenza added.

Back at the warehouse, the owner unlocked the door to the storage area that Noel was spotted 2 days ago. "Ok, thank you, now please step aside" Mike informed the owner and he complied, stepping out of their way. Mike looked at Amy and nodded. They both lifted the door and inside the area they found Susan, alive. She was sitting upright on a chair, and her wrists were duck taped to the armrests. There was a rag around her mouth and but her eyes were open and she flinched when the door opened. "Hang on, hang on, we got you, you're ok" Amy reassured Susan as they helped her get free. "Chloroform" Mike stated as he removed the rag from Susan's mouth. "Please, you have to get me out of here before they come back" Susan pleaded as Amy helped her stand up. "Before who comes back?" Mike asked her. "Noel and his friends" Susan told them as they walked with her outside where the ambulance was waiting for them. "I'm going to go with you to the hospital, ok?" Amy told Susan as she climbed in behind her.

"Ah, Commander, we found Susan alive, she is on the way to the hospital with Amy" Mike informed Sharon. Sharon breathed a sigh of relief as she listened to her lieutenant over the phone. "That's good news Mike" Sharon told him and nodded to everyone else in the Murder Room. "Also, Susan told us that Noel and his friends were supposed to come back and do something to her" Mike added. "What do you want to do, Commander?" he asked as he walked over to his car. "What else was in that storage facility?" she asked him. "Nothing but a chair that Susan was sitting on" Mike waited for another question. "Ok, let's keep some patrol officers there, follow Amy to the hospital and get Susan's statement once she is treated" Sharon told him and Mike acknowledged. Sharon hung up her phone and watched Julio place new photos up on the Murder Board.

Just then, Chief Mason walked into the Murder Room. "Commander, do we have any updates on the missing girl?" Mason stepped around the desks and was now facing the Murder Board. "Yes Chief, if you would step into my office, Lieutenant's Provenza and Flynn, please join us" Sharon looked at them and then stepped towards her office. "First of all, we have found Susan Delfano alive, she was transported to a local hospital and both Amy and Mike are with her" Sharon started as Andy closed the door to her office. "Well, that's good news to hear" Chief Mason stated as he waited for Sharon to continue. "This morning, we went to Susan's home and found Noel Ryder inside, and subsequently arrested him and brought him in for questioning" she continued. "So where is he now?" Mason asked the three of them. "He's in Interview Room 2 right now" Provenza chimed in. Mason looked at them wondering why no one was with this person. "And who is Noel?" he asked as he crossed his arms in front of him. "The scumbag that took Susan and left her tied up in a storage facility" Andy bluntly stated, dismissing the current look Sharon was giving him.

"Chief, our interview with Mister Ryder, was interrupted due to the name Noel gave us" Provenza added to the conversation. "What name did he give you?" Mason asked. "Luis Henriquez, he's the leader of the Santa Monica 13 gang" Sharon stated. "Detective Sanchez was informed by Gang Intelligence Unit that they have this Luis Henriquez under surveillance and will be striking soon to arrest him, we didn't want to step on their toes" Andy added. "How soon?" Mason wanted to know. At this point Andy was getting frustrated. This is why he hated the top brass because they always questioned everything, forgetting sometimes where they started from before they got their promotion. "Tonight, Chief" Sharon answered. "Since gang intel are all set up for this, we were not going to step on their toes" she reiterated what Andy had told him and Mason nodded his head in agreement. "Ok, so are we charging this Noel guy with anything?" he enjoyed the banter back and forth with his favorite division. "We were thinking kidnapping charges, trespassing to name a few" it was Provenza's turn to speak.

"Ok, well Commander, I'll leave you and your team to this, thank you for the briefing, always a pleasure, oh and good work" Mason left her office and closed the door behind him. "God, does he not remember how an investigation works, I mean come on, does he really think we were going to step on another division's work?" Andy ranted after Mason left. "Andy" Sharon called his name and he looked over at where she was standing. Provenza saw the subtle exchange between the two of them and decided to make his exit from Sharon's office. "Ok, Commander, I'm going to charge Noel with those charges, and book him tonight, but he will be held in isolation until we know the operation from our gang intel friends has been successful" Provenza told her and then left her office. Andy watched Sharon retreat behind her desk and sit down. He decided to stand in front of her and lean on one of the chairs. "I'm sorry, I made that comment after Mason left" he muttered to her as he looked down at his hands on the chair. "Andy, I'm not worried about your comment" she took a deep breath before continuing. "Did we just put unnecessary targets on our backs?" she wondered as she looked at Andy.

TBC