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

Chapter 20

As Provenza drove the three of them home, Sharon was thinking about what had happened. Was it a coincidence or was it deliberate. Provenza had told them that he had sent Buzz to capture the video feed from the traffic camera at the intersection the shooting had occurred. Sharon needed to know exactly what had happened. "Lieutenant Provenza, please have the rest of the team meet us here when they are finished" Sharon said as she wrapped her left arm around Matthew. "Of course," Provenza simply stated as he glanced over at Andy in the passenger seat. Provenza pulled his car up their driveway and parked it to the side. Andy got out and opened Sharon's door. She stepped out and then Matthew followed her. "Why don't the two of you go inside. I'm going to call the motor pool and see if I can get a loaner" Andy told her. Provenza stepped out of the car and around it to join Andy. Meanwhile Buzz called Provenza and informed him that he had the video from the traffic camera and downloaded it to his laptop. "Good, uh, the Commander wants everyone over to their house, so make your way over here" Provenza informed Buzz and then hung up his phone. He texted Mike, Amy, and Julio the information and they all acknowledged that they would meet them there.

"What do you mean you don't have any vehicles to loan out?" Andy asked in the phone as he walked into the back yard, Provenza following him. "Yeh, it's being towed into the SID car shed as we speak" he added as he gave a face to Provenza. "I don't know, probably a week or two?" he continued over the phone. "Yes, I can pick it up tomorrow, if that works?" he stated and Provenza was just watching him. Meanwhile, Sharon and Matthew entered the house and Moxie was there to greet them. "Hi Moxie!" Matthew said as he went to pet the dog and gave him a big hug. "Sweetie, why don't you go upstairs and change your clothes, put your camp clothes in the hamper" Sharon asked him. "I don't want to leave you" Matthew told her as they stood in the kitchen. Sharon walked over to Matthew and gestured for him to follow her. She sat down at the kitchen table and Matthew walked over to her and she motioned for him to sit on her lap. "I know this afternoon was scary" she told him in a sweet voice. He nodded his head as he listened to his mom.

"Ok, I got a loaner vehicle, I just need to pick it up tomorrow" Andy told Provenza as they walked in the back door. Andy saw Sharon talking to Matthew as he stepped into the kitchen. Matthew was still sitting on her lap as he walked up to them. "Everything ok?" Andy muttered to Sharon. Sharon rubbed Matthew's back and sighed, shaking her head no, as she looked at Andy. He nodded and turned to Provenza. "Commander, everyone is on their way over here" Provenza informed Sharon as he stood by the island. "Thank you, Lieutenant" Sharon answered as she whispered something into Matthew's ear. Matthew then got up from Sharon's embrace and as he stood next to Sharon, he was holding her hand. Sharon then stood up and started walking with Matthew. "We are going to go upstairs for a few minutes" she said to Andy and Provenza. Andy nodded his head and watched them walk away before turning to Provenza. "Now, tell me exactly what happened out there" Provenza asked him. "Yeh, ok, well, after we picked up Matthew from his day camp at the park district, we drove towards home. We were at the stop light on Vermont and Sunset, heading north on Vermont and all of a sudden, I see a car pulled up behind us and then I see a male subject get out and start walking towards us. He pulls out a gun, I look left, and tell Sharon to stay down as I book it out of there and make a right hand turn down Sunset. The guy shot at the car and hit the back side window" Andy told Provenza what had happened.

"So, was this a carjacking or a hit from the activities today?" Provenza wondered as he spoke. "Yeh, well, she thinks she placed unwanted targets on our backs due to the events this afternoon" Andy said as he folded his arms across his chest as he kept standing in their kitchen. "Well, hopefully, we can get an ID on the guy who shot at you three and then we will know what exactly we're dealing with" Provenza leaned forward on the island and waited for the rest of the team to show up. Meanwhile, upstairs, Matthew was changing his clothes quickly as he didn't want to be away from Sharon. Sharon was in their room with the bathroom door closed when Matthew walked inside and knocked on the closed door. "Mom?" he called out. "I'll be right out sweetie, just wait there" she told him as she washed her hands. She looked at herself in the mirror as she wiped her face with the towel. She wondered how they were going to deal with Matthew's clinginess. Who could blame the kid, he's been through so much with them, she thought as she opened the bathroom door and stepped out to see Matthew sitting on their bed.

She decided to sit down next to him on the bed. "You ok sweetie?" she asked him as she wrapped her right arm around his shoulders. "Yeh, I'm just" Matthew sighed and was silent for a few seconds before Sharon spoke. "You know it's ok to be scared" she told him. Matthew nodded his head and looked up at her. "How do you and daddy do it every day?" he asked her. "Oh, well, daddy and I don't get shot at every day, Matthew" she started to tell him and then wrapped her left arm around the front of him and pulled him in to her side. "But we are always careful while we are at work and we always look out for each other" she continued to hold him. "Like daddy did for us this afternoon?" he muttered as he was being held. "Yes sweetie" she said as she kissed the top of his head. She cleared her throat and then started to move her arms. "Why don't we go back downstairs and see what everyone is doing, ok?" she asked him as he was looking at her. Matthew nodded his head and they both stood up and headed downstairs.

The rest of the team arrived at their house and by the time Sharon and Matthew came downstairs, everyone was in their dining room, with Buzz setting up two laptops. Sharon met Andy in the kitchen as he was making the team coffee. Matthew followed her to the room. "Is everyone here?" she asked Andy as she stepped over to where he was standing and grabbed his right hand, gently squeezing it. "Yeh, they're in the dining room setting up" Andy looked at her and then glanced down at Matthew. "How's he" he whispered to her and she shrugged his shoulders. "Hard to tell right now" she whispered back to him. Sharon let go of his hand and grabbed the empty mugs. Andy grabbed the coffee pot and they walked towards the dining room, with Matthew following them.

"Here's some coffee for everyone" Sharon told her team as she placed the mugs down at one end of the table. The milk and sugar were already out. Andy placed the coffee pot on a warming pad that was on top of the table. "I have the footage from the intersection ma'am" Buzz informed Sharon and she nodded her head. Matthew was still standing by her side and she didn't want him watching the footage. She turned to him and bent down. "Do you think you could go in the family room and watch tv while we are in here?" she asked him. Matthew had some panic in his eyes. "But I want to stay here with you and daddy" he told her in a quieter voice. "I know sweetie, but I don't want you to watch what we are going to watch here on the computers" she explained to him as he turned his body where he was standing. "You can take Moxie with you, he will protect you while we are here, and I promise we are not going to leave you alone, ok?" she tried compromising with their son and it worked. Matthew nodded his head and gestured for Moxie to follow him into the family room. "I'll check on you in a few minutes" Andy called out as Matthew walked away from them with Moxie following him.

Sharon took a deep breath before she focused on what Buzz had told her. Everyone gathered around the two laptops and Buzz hit the play button. "Here's your car pulling up to the stop light, and then 5 seconds later, this car pulls up behind you. The suspect gets out of the car and walks up, you start driving away making a right-hand turn and he starts to open fire" Mike stated as they all watched the video. Sharon shook her head as she watched it unfold from the outside. "If this was truly a carjacking, why would the suspect open fire?" Provenza asked. "Maybe he thought that he could get the car to stop?" Buzz asked. "By shooting at it?" Julio countered his question. "No, this was either a hit or someone who was really stupid" he added as he looked at the screen. "Buzz, do you have another angle that shows the suspect's face?" Sharon asked. "Yes, the camera on the opposite street gets a good picture of them" Buzz moved videos over and found the one he was talking about and played it. Buzz stopped it when the shooter comes into view and zoomed into the photo. "Can you clean it up Buzz, cause that picture is a little fuzzy" Andy said as he looked at the screen.

"Let me try Buzz" Mike said as he started to punch some keys on the keyboard and the picture of their subject became clearer. "And with the facial recognition program on this computer" Mike said as he tapped on some more keys and then hit enter and the team watched the photo go through the facial recognition program. "This could take a while" Mike added. Sharon looked at the clock and noticed it was now almost 6pm, Emily would be stopping by soon and Rusty would also be home in a little bit. "Andy, maybe we should order dinner" Sharon suggested. "Yeh, that's a good idea" Andy agreed as he made his way to check in on Matthew while the computer was still running the program. "Lieutenant, is pizza ok for everyone here?" Sharon asked Provenza, he turned to look at her and acknowledged. "I think that's fine, Commander" he said to her and she stepped away towards the kitchen to order them. Andy stepped into the family room and saw Matthew on the couch with Moxie laying down by his side. He walked over to the couch and had a seat next to him. "How are you doing?" he asked and Matthew shrugged his shoulders. Andy sighed before he continued. "You know, it's ok to be scared, I mean it was a scary situation earlier" he spoke to him and Matthew nodded his head as he looked at his dad.

Meanwhile, Emily started to pull her car into the driveway and saw 4 unfamiliar cars also in the driveway. She couldn't pull up all the way so she parked behind the blue car and stepped out. She grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and closed her door, heading up the driveway to the back of the house. As Emily entered the back door she saw her mom in the kitchen, with Lieutenant Provenza, Julio, and Amy. They were talking but as soon as her mom turned around to greet her, they stopped talking. "Don't stop on my account, Lieutenant" Emily said as she smiled at her mom and stepped over to hug her. "Emily, how was your day?" Sharon asked her daughter. "Uh, it was fine mom, but maybe I should ask you how was your day?" Emily asked as she placed her duffle bag by the kitchen table and looked at her mom. "Oh, uh, well" Sharon started to say but was then interrupted by Buzz stepping into the kitchen. "Sorry to interrupt, but Commander, we id'd the guy that shot at you and the Lieutenant" Buzz stated. "What?!" Emily exclaimed as she thought she heard correctly but continued to look at her mother, who seemed unfazed by what Buzz had said. "Thank you Buzz, I'll be right there" Sharon said and then turned to her daughter.

"What does he mean the guy who shot at you? Are you ok? Is Andy, ok?" Emily had questions and Sharon stepped with her towards the kitchen table. "Everyone is ok, we are just trying to id the person right now, and I order some pizzas for the team, if you want some too, you're more than welcome to have some" Sharon told her but Emily shook her head. "No, I have that party tonight with the cast and crew, I just came home to change my clothes and stuff, but" she started to ramble but her mom pulled her in for another hug. "Please don't make a big deal out of this issue. Everyone is safe." Sharon told her as she moved from the embrace to look at her. "Where's Andy's car?" Emily asked. "Oh, it's in the shop now because the back window was shot out" Sharon said and pointed to the family room. "Matthew's in the family room watching tv if you want to join him or you can just sit there" Sharon said as Emily decided to sit at the kitchen table. "You're talking like this isn't a big deal, mom" Emily called out to her as she watched her mother walk into the dining room.

Sharon joined the rest of her team, and Andy stepped back inside the dining room to see what the name was of their suspect. "Emily's home" Sharon said to Andy and he nodded his head. "Ok, so this is the suspect, Raphel Rodriguez, also known as Kill Dog" Mike informed all of them. "Kill Dog?" Andy said in disbelief. "I don't even want to know how he got that nickname" Provenza chimed in. "What gang is he associated with, Mike?" Sharon asked as she folded her arms across her chest. Mike looked over at Julio who was looking up the info on the second laptop. "Echo Park Locos, ma'am" Julio stated and Sharon glanced over at Andy. "It's been a while since we had a run-in with them" Provenza stated as he glanced at both Sharon and Andy. "But, there's no cooperation between the Locos and the Santa Monica 13, ma'am" Julio informed Sharon and she nodded her head, she still didn't like the fact that they were shot at this afternoon, in broad daylight on the streets. "We need to bring him in for questioning" Sharon stated to her team.

Just then, the back door opened and closed and Rusty made his way into the kitchen. "Oh, hey Emily!" he said as he stopped by the island to look around. "What's with all the cars in the driveway?" he asked her. "Oh, it's not a big deal, according to mom, they were just shot at as they were driving home this afternoon" Emily told him. "What!?" Rusty exclaimed and Sharon and the rest of the team heard him from the dining room. "Let me go see what's going on in the kitchen with my children, excuse me" Sharon excused herself and stepped into the kitchen. "Mom, you were shot at this afternoon?" Rusty asked her as she walked over to the two of them. "Yes, we were, but everyone is ok" Sharon said. "Now, before you ask the team is here and we were trying to id the suspect, which we did, and I ordered some pizzas which should be here any minute" she told him as she looked at her watch. "Is Matthew, ok?" Rusty asked. "Oh my God, Matthew was in the car with you guys?" Emily questioned. "Yes, he is ok, we had just picked him up from his day camp, and that's why I don't want you two making this a big deal, we are handling it, please let us, and Andy and I are trying to help your little brother, ok?" Sharon informed the two and they both nodded their heads. "Do you need us to do anything?" Emily asked her. "I don't want you to miss your party sweetheart" Sharon said to her and then Rusty chimed in. "I can stay with him if you guys need to go out tonight and talk to the suspect or whatever it is you'd need to do" Rusty offered and Sharon smiled. "Thank you, we'll let you know, meanwhile Matthew is still in the family room watching tv" Sharon added and then stepped back into the dining room.

Emily and Rusty both looked at each other and Emily shook her head. "Why is she just being non-shalant about this?" Emily asked him. "Because even though this whole shooting thing is new to us, it's an everyday occurrence for them" Rusty told her and Emily gave him a look of disbelief. The doorbell rang, startling Emily and Rusty started laughing at her. "Geeze could you jump any higher?" he said as he laughed. "Ha ha you're so funny" she punched him in the shoulder. "Ow!" he exclaimed as he rubbed his arm. "Hey" Andy stepped out from the dining room and looked at his step children, not wanting to know what happened. He pulled out his wallet and grabbed some cash as he made his way to the front door. Peeking out the side window, he saw it was the pizza delivery guy. Andy opened the door. "Hey Mister Flynn" the pizza delivery guy said as Andy grabbed the pizzas from him. "Hey David, here you go" he handed the money to David, he was in college and his parents owned the pizza place. "Thanks!" David called out as he made his way back to his car. They had ordered from the same pizza place for a while now and David always came to their house with their order. Andy closed the door and brought the pizzas into the dining room.

"Do we have an address for this Raphel?" Provenza asked as Sharon brought paper plates from the kitchen into the dining room. "617 Quintero Street" Mike stated as he stood up and looked at the different pizzas. Sharon looked at the screen as she stood in the room. Julio stood up and grabbed his jacket. "Detective Sanchez, we need to figure out how we want to approach this first, before we go out and bring Raphel in for questioning" Sharon told him and he nodded, placing his jacket back on the chair. Andy brought Matthew in to grab some pizza and Sharon turned her attention to him. She handed the kid a paper plate. "Help yourself to some pizza sweetie" she told him and he nodded looking at the pizzas. Matthew's eyes went wide looking at all the pizza boxes. He grabbed a few cheese pieces and placed them on his plate. He then grabbed a seat at the dining table and sat down to eat. Andy watched him and then looked at Sharon. Rusty and Emily then stepped inside the room. Emily walked over to her mom. "I'm going to go upstairs and change my clothes for tonight, can I talk to you for a second?" Emily asked her and Sharon touched her arm as she walked with her out to the hallway. "What's up?" she asked her daughter. "I just want you and Andy to be safe and I guess when you told me about the shooting, you just seemed not fazed by it, why?" Emily wondered as her and her mom walked towards the stairs at the front hallway.

"Emily, there are things that you're not going to understand and that's for reason" she started to explain to her. Emily sighed as she listened to her mom. "I am telling you that it's not a big deal because I don't want you worried. You have a lot of things going on with the new show and the fire at your condo, ok? Trust me" Sharon looked at Emily and she ran her hand along her face. "Ok Mom" Emily sighed and hugged her. After breaking the embrace, Emily went upstairs to change her clothes. "Everything ok?" Andy walked up to Sharon and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Yes" she answered him and they walked back to the dining room.

TBC