A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews and follows up until now! The story continues. Just a reminder: if anyone has any suggestions concerning plot points, etc., feel free to IM me! Enjoy and please R&R!

Disclaimer: I do not own or operate "Major Crimes."

Chapter 16: Break Point

Sharon was in the grocery store, clucking her tongue over the price of milk. Rusty was looking at magazines. As Sharon picked up a package of sliced turkey and rolled her eyes at how small it was, she thought she heard someone speak to her. "Yes?" she said, turning around. No one was there. That was odd. Maybe it was someone talking in the next aisle. She shrugged and went to get a large carton of eggs. With a teenager in the house, she bought two dozen at a time. She'd forgotten how much boys that age could eat.

"Help me!" came a voice – distinct this time. Sharon looked around once more. Between the grocery shelves was a set of double doors that led to the back. The light was dim behind the doors, but Sharon could just make out a figure. A face appeared in the crack of the doors. "For God's sake, please help me!" It was a woman. Sharon's eyes widened and she slipped through the doors.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Can you call the cops for me?" the woman said.

"I am a police officer," Sharon answered. "Tell me what's wrong."

"It's my boyfriend. I left him," the woman replied, and then sagged against the wall. Sharon caught her and helped her into a chair in the employee breakroom.

In the brighter light, Sharon could see the woman's face. Both eyes were black, her lip was cut and swollen; blood still oozed from it. And she was filthy. Sharon looked down. The woman's feet were bare, and cut from running across pavement, gravel, glass, who knows what.

"He hid my shoes," she said softly.

"My name is Sharon. What's your name?"

"Vickie."

"O.K. Vickie. I'm going to get you some help, all right?"

"Don't let him find me! He'll kill both of us!" Vickie exclaimed.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Sharon said grimly. She sent a rapid text to Rusty.

He looked at his phone and said, "She's nuts. Why the hell does she want me to come to the back of the store?" Still, Sharon rarely did anything without a good reason, so he trotted back to the doors. Sharon was waiting for him. She took him back to the breakroom.

"Rusty, this is Vickie. She needs help. I'm going to the car for my gun and badge. Stay with her, please."

"Sure, Sharon." Rusty looked her over. He was appalled, but not surprised. He'd seen his mom look nearly this bad, not to mention hookers of both sexes on the street. "I'm Rusty. I live with Sharon. She's like my foster mom. Can I get you some water? Or a soda?"

Vickie nodded. "A Coke, please? I don't remember the last time I had one."

"Yeah, sure." He went to the machine and got the drink for her. He handed it to her.

"Thank you. Gosh, the can is so cold. It feels good." She tried to open the can, but couldn't manage it. She was too weak. Rusty opened it for her. She nodded her thanks and sipped the cola. "I don't know what to do. Kurt has an awful lot of guns."

Rusty decided this was information Sharon needed, so he texted her. She was on her way back inside the store when she read it. "Damn," she muttered.

She got back to the back room and said, "Vickie, Rusty said your boyfriend has guns. What kind?"

"All kinds. One like that guy who shot all the kids. He's crazy. He was fine until he lost a bunch of weight and started going to the gym. He's on steroids. He took them for like, three months, and now, he's just psycho."

"I've got two units on the way. Have you ever called the police about him before?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Twice. Like an idiot, I went back to him. I paid for it, too. I'm surprised he didn't kill me then. But you don't want him looking for me here. He could hurt somebody."

"Did you talk to a detective?" Sharon asked.

"Yeah. A woman named Turner, I think."

"Thank you." Sharon called dispatch and asked for the detective. She got the officer's cell phone number. She went outside the room, called the detective and explained the situation.

"Oh, my God," Turner said. "I knew this was going to happen. One of those cases, you know? Vickie's right. Kurt Davis is nuts. Totally. She says it's roid rage, but he has a history of domestics. But, same old story: none of them wanted to prosecute."

"What are your thoughts on how to handle this situation, Detective Turner?"

"Well, Captain, like I said. Kurt is crazy. I'd honestly lock down the store and parking lot. I wouldn't put it past him to start shooting anyone he saw to get through. I've been to that house. I've seen his arsenal. Scary. I'll be there ASAP, but I'd really button that place up now."

"Good advice. Thank you, Detective," Sharon answered and hung up. She sighed and called Taylor. "Chief Taylor, we have a possible situation brewing at Coolidge's Supermarket on Sepulveda. A woman has escaped from her violent boyfriend. She's in very bad physical shape, but she also says the man has assault rifles, and this is where they routinely shop, so he may look for her here. I spoke with Detective Pam Turner, who has worked with our victim, and she says the boyfriend is dangerous, with several domestics to his name. She recommended we lock down the store and set up a perimeter in the parking lot."

"Understood Captain, but how in the world did you get involved in a domestic violence case?" Taylor asked.

"I was shopping and she called to me from the back. She asked me if I could call the police for her. Now this," Sharon answered.

"I see. Well, at the minimum, obviously get an ambulance for our victim and at least five black and whites. Two for the store and three for the parking lot. Roll out your squad too, since you're on the scene. I'll be there shortly."

"Thank you, Chief," she answered, and called Provenza. "Lieutenant, I know we've had a week, but something has come up. Please call the squad in to meet at Coolidge's Supermarket on Sepulveda. And Lieutenant, make sure you stress that everyone is to be there with their vests on. We may have a serious domestic violence case to contend with."

"Will do, Captain. I'm at Flynn's watching football, so I'll tell him now, and we'll call the others."

"Thank you Lieutenant. Time is of the essence. We don't know where the boyfriend is, right now, and I'm putting the store on lockdown."

"Understood, Captain," Provenza answered and clicked off the call. He turned to Andy. "C'mon. Some nut of a boyfriend after his woman."

"Great," was Andy's reply.

Sharon was speaking to a group of angry customers at the store. "Look, we have you here for your protection. If our assailant gets to this store, he could have an assault rifle with him, with lots of ammunition, and we all know what nuts with assault rifles can do. I hope we won't have to keep you here very long. As soon as our suspect is in custody, or we know where he is and have him contained, we will release the lockdown."

"Look lady!" one woman yelled. "My babysitter charges by the hour! Every hour she's there is costing me a lot of money!"

Sharon nodded. "I understand, but this is to make sure your children will have their mom come home in one piece. Please call anyone you need to call – except the media. And also do not put this on any social media. We really do not need to have this picked up by the media at this point. We don't need to tip this guy off any sooner than necessary." She heard sirens with a feeling of intense relief. Officers in full body armor got out of their cruisers and started sealing off the parking lot. The Major Crimes crew came into the store and, Sharon was glad to see, every one of them had their vests on. Normally, trying to get Andy and Provenza to wear the vests was like pulling teeth.

She pulled them aside. "All right. We haven't seen anything of him so far, but you all have the suspect's DMV photo Detective Turner texted you?" They all nodded. "Fine. Lieutenant Provenza and Lieutenant Flynn, please coordinate with the officers in establishing a perimeter. Detective Turner, who has worked this case with DV, will accompany our victim to the hospital. She's back in the break rooom with her, now. Lieutenant Tao, I'd like you to stay in here, to help me keep this crowd in check. They are not happy. Detective Sanchez, you and Detective Sykes roam the parking lot and report anything suspicious you see. Our victim is reasonably sure our suspect will come here to look for her. She's been here before to get away from him. So let's keep our eyes open."

A chorus of assent followed and as Andy and Provenza walked outside to talk to the officers on the perimeter, Andy said, "I never got so drunk that I ever touched either of my wives. This isn't roid rage. This is asshole rage."

"You got that right," his partner agreed.

The ambulance arrived and the EMTs got Vickie on a stretcher. They were putting her into the ambulance when a man appeared from an alley between two buildings. "I knew this is where you'd be, bitch!" he yelled. "Get over here or I'm shooting this place up!" Kurt Davis screamed. He stepped out of the shadows. He was armed to the teeth.

"Let me go. He's not kidding," Vickie pled with the EMTs. But they had her stretcher in the ambulance, so they pushed it inside, along with Detective Turner, and shut the doors before Davis could fire a round.

Sanchez was close enough to see what was going on, and radioed the team. "Davis must have sneaked in through the vacant lot in the back," he said. "He's heavily armed. I count two assault rifles, possibly TEK-nines, at least two large handguns and a crapload of ammo. Body armor. Only available kill shot is to the head."

Sharon grimaced at that news. "I'd prefer to bring him in alive, if possible, but you have authorization to take him out if he presents an imminent threat."

The sound of gunfire startled Sharon and she screamed into the radio. "Julio! Come in! Are you all right? What happened?"

"I'm fine, Captain. He sprayed the ambulance with a bunch of rounds, but EMS sent the one they use for gang shootings. It's armor plated and has bulletproof glass. They're fine. Oh man! The driver must have crawled through to the front seat. He's haulin' outta here."

Sharon looked through the front window to see the ambulance screaming toward the parking lot exit. The driver had every siren and light on, and must have had the accelerator flat to the floor. He was also weaving, in order to make it more difficult for Davis to hit the vehicle. Officers scrambled to stop traffic to give the ambulance clear passage, and Sharon could have sworn they took the right turn out of the lot on two wheels.

"Are you in postition to take a shot?" she asked Sanchez.

"Not yet, Ma'am. Close, though. I think I can tackle him from behind."

"Only if you're safe doing it, Julio. Otherwise, see if you can disable him in some way."

"Yes ma'am, but I'm going to have to do something. Now the ambulance is gone, he's swinging his weapons around, looking for a target."

"Don't you be that target, do you hear me?"

"I'll do my best, Ma'am."

Sykes radioed Sanchez, "Julio. I'm over here about three rows over, behind the red Dodge truck. I may have a clear head shot."

"I'm behind him, and I don't think he knows I'm back here. Captain wants him alive."

"Got you covered," Sykes replied.

Sanchez ducked into a narrow doorway as the gunman turned. Seeing no one, he started shooting the windows out of other stores in the complex, setting off their burglar alarms. Sanchez avoided the flying glass and while Davis stood, looking around for someone to shoot, Julio ran into him from behind at full tilt, sending both men sprawling. Sanchez quickly disarmed Davis, one knee at the base of his neck which, on top of all his body armor, caused the gunman to gasp for air.

"Stop resisting!" Sanchez yelled. "I said, stop resisting, you piece of garbage!"

Sykes and Flynn came running to the scene, Provenza at a half-jog well behind them. Sykes kicked the assault weapon out of the way and Flynn helped Sanchez cuff Davis and they hauled him to his feet. "Suspect in custody, scene secured," Sykes radioed to Raydor.

"Thank you Detective. Let's get him to the station," she replied.

A steady stream of obscenities filled the air as Davis cursed his girlfriend, law enforcement and life in general. As they dragged him to a police car, Flynn, weary of the diatribe, smacked the back of the suspect's head. "You have the right to remain silent. Use it, why don't you?"

"If I didn't have these cuffs on me, you wouldn't do that, asshole! I'd show you what I could do!"

"Yeah, yeah. You weren't cuffed and you were armed with an assault rifle and handguns, and Detective Sanchez still field tackled you like you were a high school rookie. You're nothin' but a pumped up little shithead. So shut up, all right?"

Sykes had to smile, in spite of herself. One of the things she liked about Andy was his acid tongue. He loved it when a suspect came in all full of himself. He enjoyed taking them down a notch or two.

Provenza strolled into the supermarket and found Raydor at the service desk, speaking with the manager. "Captain, I think we can tell all these nice people they can go home now. Our little lunatic is safely in a patrol car."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." She turned to the manager. "I'm releasing the scene. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I hope you understand why we did it this way."

The manager shuddered. "I sure can. Thanks, Captain. I'm glad the LAPD was on top of it. What if that nut had gotten in this store?"

"I don't want to think about it," Raydor answered. "But he didn't, so your customers can check out or whatever. We'll have tape around the areas of broken glass on the sidewalk."

Chief Taylor chose that moment to make his appearance. "Captain, can you give me a status report?"

"Certainly. The gunman is in custody. No injuries. He just shot out some windows. The store owners will need to be notified. That's in your purview, I believe," she answered.

"I suppose it is," he said, looking irritated. "Good job on getting the scene secured so quickly."

"Thank you. Detective Sykes tells me our suspect has invoked his right to counsel, so I think I'll just allow him to stew the rest of the weekend. We've got enough now to hold him. I need to get to the hospital to check on our victim. Have a pleasant day, Chief Taylor," she replied. "Come on, Rusty. Let's get these groceries home and then I need to go to the ER."

"O.K., Sharon. Catch you later, Chief," he said, waving to Taylor, and pushing the cart of groceries in Sharon's wake.

Taylor couldn't quite figure out how, but he knew that he had been dismissed as unnecessary. It annoyed him.

As they put groceries away, Rusty said, "Hey Sharon, Derek and I are still working out those opening chess gambits. Can he come over for dinner and maybe spend the night?"

Sharon paused. "Of course. Dinner might be a little late, though. All depends on how long I'm at the hospital. I can just give you cash for a pizza."

He grinned. "Remember? Derek's dad manages a pizza place. He said he'd bring dinner. Even a veggie pizza if Andy wants to eat with us."

Sharon turned to face Rusty and smiled. "That's very considerate of you to think of Andy, in case he wanted to be here. I really appreciate it and I know he will too."

"You're welcome. Really, you know, Andy's always been cool to me. Even when he was yelling at me, he was never mean to me."

"I wouldn't allow him through the front door if he had been," she replied.

Rusty leaned with his elbows on the kitchen counter. "So, are you two gonna make this like, permanent?"

Sharon rolled her eyes. "My goodness, Rusty! We've only been dating a few weeks! We haven't made any decisions. If we do, I promise that you will be the first to know."

"O.K.." he answered, his eyes twinkling with mischief. Sharon chose to ignore it.

Sharon waited with Detective Pam Turner as the doctor finished his assessment of Vickie Miller. He stepped outside her room and shook his head. "As long as I've been in practice, I've never understood what drives someone to torture another human being. So here's the rundown. She has four previously fractured ribs – probably from being kicked. She also has old fractures in her wrists and elbows, and her jaw has been broken at least once on each side, plus two old skull fractures. She's damn lucky to be here. Currently, she has numerous contusions and lacerations, which you saw, her feet are cut to ribbons, so we gave her a tetanus shot and a shot of antibiotics. Plus, she has a severe bladder infection. She said he wouldn't allow her to urinate regularly. She's also dehydrated and probably hasn't had a real meal in a week or more. She said the only thing he allowed her to eat was plain oatmeal and bologna. Said he needed all the good food in order to build up more at the gym. The English language simply doesn't have an epithet foul enough for creatures like that." His face was twisted in disgust.

"No it doesn't, doctor," Sharon agreed. "Detective Turner, since you two have an established relationship, I think you should do the interview. I'd like to observe, if you don't mind, but if you'd rather I didn't, I can go on."

"You're welcome to observe, Captain. Please do," Turner answered.

"Thank you." Sharon followed Turner into the room.

"Hey, Vickie. How are you?" Turner asked.

"O.K., I guess. How long before Kurt is released, do you think?"

"He won't be, Vickie. We've got him on a dozen charges that have nothing to do with the domestic violence. Assault on police officers, shooting into occupied buildings – you name it, we've got him on it. Believe me – he's not not going anywhere." Turner tried to reassure her victim.

"That's good. Because he'd kill me, Pam. This time, he'd kill me for real. I'm telling you. He would. He already told me that if I called the cops again, or tried to get away, he would kill me this time. He wanted me dead. I think it was some kind of power trip he was on. But he wanted an excuse to kill me."

Sharon chewed on her lower lip. This man was a complete lunatic. She was reasonably certain he was competent to stand trial, but he had no business seeing the outside world again.

"Look, Vickie," Pam said. "We want Kurt off the streets for good. And to make that happen, you've got to give me a full statement. We know what he did. The doctor told us about your old injuries. There's no reason not to just tell me everything. And your statement will keep him in jail for a long, long time."

Vickie raised a fragile, bruised hand to her swollen lip. She looked over at the IV drip, pumping fluids, antibiotics and nutrition into her veins. She sighed. "Yeah. O.K. If only to keep him from doing this to another woman." She started talking and Pam turned on her mini recorder and started writing on a legal pad. An hour later, she was finished. Sharon had hardly said a word, but Vickie's recitation of Kurt Davis' horrific physical, verbal and emotional abuse had her shaking with rage. She wanted to go to the jail, drag him out of his cell and work him over with a baseball bat. Andy would probably help her, she thought ruefully. Suddenly, she understood a little more of what drove her lieutenant to do some of the things he did. If she, with her famously cool head and steady temperament, could want to actively brutalize Kurt Davis, how much more would Andy feel it, with his strong sense of justice and retribution, to say nothing of his fiery, chancy temper? And he'd been dealing with this kind of thing for over 20 years. It was a wonder his personnel file didn't have more charges in it than it did.

"Vickie, thank you so much for being willing to talk with us today. Get some rest and your mother will be here shortly. I know Detective Turner called her. She said she would be glad to take you home with her when you've recovered."

"Thank you for calling my mom. I've been so tired for so long..." her voice trailed off and her eyes closed.

Sharon nodded at Pam and they left the room. "If I could get my hands on him for one minute," Pam said.

"I was thinking the same thing. Only I was envisioning doing it with a baseball bat," Sharon answered.

Pam chuckled. "I like the way you think, Captain. But this is a victory. Vickie's alive and she will recover. We got her abuser and enough charges on him to put him under the jail. And he didn't hurt anyone else in the process. We got a huge win today. I have to thank your squad. They're rock stars. Is that Detective Sanchez afraid of anything?"

Sharon grinned. "Not that I've seen yet. He's completely fearless. Sweetest man in the world, until something like this happens. Then he's a machine. If it means we get the bad guy, he'll go through hell itself to make it happen."

"Every squad needs one of those. I mean, you know, everybody talks about the Major Crimes crew, but this is the first time I've seen them in action. Wow. They do great work. Everybody just got on with the job."

"Well, they've been working with essentially the same people since about 2005. Couple of changes, but not many. They're very close-knit."

Pam smiled at her. "I know it wasn't easy coming in after Chief Johnson. She really had their loyalty."

Sharon nodded. "She did. And no, it wasn't always easy, but now that I understand them and their perspectives more, and I understand why they've done some of the things they did, it's helped. And I think they understand me more, so we're working it out."

"That's great. So tell me: how do you keep your hands off Andy Flynn? Every woman of a certain age, and some not of that age, have been after him for years. He's winked at me a couple of times, and jeez! Made me melt! I don't know if I could stand having him in the squad room every day. Such a sharp dresser, too. He always looks great."

"Well, you just have to keep it professional," Sharon answered, but she couldn't keep the twinkle out of her eyes.

Pam saw it, but figured it wasn't any of her business if Raydor and her hot lieutenant were keeping company on the side. Everybody needed a little companionship, and God knew it was hard enough to find someone who understood the life of a cop. "No doubt," she answered.

"Would you like to question Davis?" Sharon asked Pam.

"Love to, but I won't get the chance. Every time he's been arrested, he's lawyered up before he gets to the station. I'm not expecting him to be any different this time. Only this time, he's not getting out in 12 hours. Thank God."

"Indeed. Well, I'll be going then. I think I've done all I can here."

"Hey, listen Captain. Thanks so much for your help and thank your squad, too. They really kept it under control this afternoon."

Sharon smiled at the detective. "You're very welcome. I'm just glad I was there. If you need me, by all means call."

"Will do. Thanks again."

Sharon took her cell out and sent Andy a text. "Dinner? Seven? My place?"

A pause, then, "Thought you'd never ask. I'll be there."

Sharon sighed happily. She just needed to be around Andy tonight.

When Andy arrived at Sharon's, he could hear an animated conversation through the door. Sounded like Rusty was home. No big deal. Sharon answered his knock. "Hi. Come on in."

"Sounds like you've got a young war going on in there," he said with a grin.

"It's just Rusty and Derek debating some chess move." She rolled her eyes.

Andy chuckled. "Hey. Whatever works. Something smells good."

"It's pizza. Derek's dad manages a pizza place and he brought dinner."

"That was nice."

"It was. Rusty even made sure we got a vegetarian pizza in case you came over."

Andy's smile was pleased. "That was really nice of him. I'll remember to tell him how much I appreciate it."

They went into the living room and collapsed on the sofa. "Some afternoon, huh, babe?" Andy said.

"Tell me about it. I could do without these kinds of afternoons," Sharon answered tiredly.

"So how's the vic?"

She shrugged. "So-so. The doctor said she'd be there for several days. She has some fairly severe issues. They had her on IV fluids, antibiotics and nutrition. She said the only thing that jerk allowed her to eat was plain oatmeal and bolonga sandwiches. Sometimes. The doctor said she was malnourished. Her feet were a mess. Can you believe he hid her shoes to keep her from running away?" She was getting angry all over again.

Andy put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Shhh. It's all right now. She's safe, and we got the creep. He won't be going anywhere."

"I know. I just..." her voice trailed off.

He put his cheek against her hair. "Been there."

Rusty and Derek chose that moment to come into the room. "Ooops. Sorry, Sharon," Rusty said.

She looked up. "It's fine. Rough afternoon. Derek, this is Andy Flynn. Andy, Derek Porter."

"Nice to meet you Derek," Andy said.

"You too, um, Mr. Flynn."

"Call me Flynn. Everybody does. Well, everybody but Sharon." He smiled. "I hear you brought pizza for dinner. Sounds great. Thanks for having my back on that veggie pizza, Rusty. I appreciate it."

"Sure. You're welcome," Rusty answered.

"I think I'm ready to eat. How about you, Andy?"

"Yeah. Very ready."

Rusty set the table and as they served themselves, Derek observed the two adults. "So, um, Flynn. You and the Captain work together?"

He nodded. "Yeah. We caught a bad case this afternoon. Did Rusty tell you?"

"Yes sir. That's whack. I mean, that crazy dude was gonna shoot up the place because his girlfriend ran off after he beat the crap out of her? That's unreal."

"Happens a lot more often than you realize, unfortunately," Andy answered.

"But it's cool being a cop. You get to put the bad guys in jail," Derek said.

"That's always our goal," Sharon replied. "Sometimes we get lucky. Today we did."

After dinner, Andy turned to Sharon. "You want to go for a short drive? Out to Malibu and back, maybe? Nothing too far out of the way."

"That sounds wonderful. Rusty, we won't be too late."

He and Derek were already once again absorbed in chess strategies and he answered, "Take your time. We'll be here."

In the car, Sharon leaned her head back. "I'm glad you thought of this. I needed to get away."

"Me too. You know, Rusty would gripe about it, but he could stay with Provenza for a weekend and we could get away. Just overnight. Maybe to San Diego or north to San Luis Obispo. I think we both need it."

"That sounds like a plan. I'll think about it," she answered.

Andy smiled as he started an Eagles CD on the player and they drove in silence for a long while. He found the turnoff he was looking for and pulled into a quiet parking space. This late, the partiers had gone home and the place was deserted. They got out and Andy looked in the trunk and got out a blanket. He and Sharon walked hand in hand down to the sand, where they spread the blanket out and sat down. For a time, they listened to the breakers and the surf crashing.

"Days like today are starting to get to me, Andy," Sharon said. "All that time in IA, and I didn't have to deal with the day-to-day reality of what police officers do. I was insulated from it. I just dealt with the officers themselves, not with the victims, or the suspects – or not often, anyway."

Andy put his arms around Sharon and pulled her close to him. "These kinds of days get to all of us, babe," he answered. "When they don't, it's time to retire."

"How do you deal with it?"

"Not by getting drunk, that's for sure," he answered, but there was a smile in his voice. "You talk about it. You don't keep it inside. That's one way. You admit that it bothers you. But you also have to let it go. That's what I didn't do. I couldn't let Gracie Ann go. I wanted that woman to suffer like Gracie's parents suffered. But that's not my call to make. You have to let it go. God knows it isn't easy, but that's what you have to do."

"You always seem to know what I need to hear," Sharon replied softly.

He chuckled, low. "All these years in AA? Not much I haven't heard, so I've probably been there, myself."

"Undoubtedly," she answered. "Rusty dropped another of his bombshell questions on me this afternoon."

"What now?" Andy said, amused.

"He asked if we – that is, you and me – were going to make this permanent."

"Hmm. That is kind of a bombshell, isn't it? What did you tell him?"

"That if we made any decisions along those lines, he would be the first to know."

"Good answer."

"I thought so," she said.

"But we definitely need to spend more time together to see what we've got here," Andy replied.

"I agree. Never thought I'd say that, but I do," she said with a soft laugh.

"Yeah, I do sort of tend to rub people the wrong way. Especially females."

"I'd say you need to work on that, but I don't want any more women after you. I'm a little jealous."

Andy nuzzled in her hair. "Until me and ex number two separated, one thing no one could ever accuse me of was being unfaithful. I'm definitely a one-woman man. You're enough woman for me, Sharon. Maybe too much, sometimes." His voice was teasing.

"Is that so?"

"Mmm-hmm," he replied, bringing her chin around so he could kiss her. She leaned into his kiss and returned it with obvious pleasure.

"Andy, your mouth is sinful," she murmured against his lips.

"I'll remember that," he replied, not stopping. Finally, they were lying down on the blanket, entwined in each other's arms, when Andy said, "We've got to get out of here. It's getting late and the last thing we need is for the Malibu P.D. to bust us for making out on the beach like a couple of horny teenagers."

Sharon sighed deeply and kissed Andy under his chin. "You're right." She reluctantly released him and sat up, smoothing her hair.

Andy gave her a hand up, and then folded the blanket and they walked back to the car. When they got back to Sharon's place, she said, "You're welcome to stay."

"I would, if it was just Rusty, but with his buddy here, I'd better not."

Sharon smiled. "I didn't even think about that. Just goes to show you what happens to my sense of propriety when you're around."

Andy gave her a wicked grin. "I'd love to talk more about that when we've got the opportunity and lots of uninterrupted – face time."

Andy Flynn had to be the only man on earth who could make Sharon Raydor blush. She did – right to her hairline. "Have I said you're impossible?"

"Not today. I must be doing pretty well."

"Well, for the record, you are. Impossible, I mean." She leaned over to kiss him again. "Good night, Andy."

"'Night, babe. Sweet dreams," he replied, sliding his hand up her thigh.

"Evil man. But they will be," she answered as she got out of the car.

As Andy drove home, he thought his life might finally be looking up.