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His whole body hurt.
His mind was so foggy he barely remembered who he was for a few minutes. All he felt was the pain all over his body. His vision was blurry and he couldn’t focus. He had to remember how he ended up like this. Being heavily drugged didn’t help at all.
It took a few minutes but he finally gained all his senses back. His wrists were tied behind him and his ankles were tied together.
The air was so thick and damp and the room was dark. He tried to look around himself but he couldn’t turn his body around and his neck hurt when he tried to turn it. The room he was in was pretty dark but he could see outlines of a table and a chair. He tried to crawl to it but failed; there was something that hooked him to the ground. He couldn’t tell what.
Where was he? Why was he here?
Before he could even think of a way to figure out the answers, he fell asleep again.
The day before
“I want to be there with you.” Said Tim, standing at the door frame with his arms crossed.
“You don’t think I can pull it off?” Said Lucy, looking at her stuff.
“You’re the best they have for this job.”
“Then why are you so worried?”
“I’m not worried… it’s just…”
“It’s just what Tim?” Lucy put her sweater down and went to Tim, wrapping her arms around his neck. “It’ll only take a few hours, I’ll be done by night, tomorrow morning worst case scenario.”
Tim sighed. “Fine.”
“Hey, don’t pout.” She held his chin. “I’m gonna go in there, tell them I’m the chemist and I still have the drugs and once they take the money out, Lopez will arrest them. I might even get a confession.”
Tim nodded. Nyla was meant to go with Lucy but there was a change of plans at the very last minute and Lucy had to go alone. They needed a new chemist cause they killed the last one and Tim didn’t have a good feeling about this.
His metro team wasn’t on this case which made it harder for him. All he was going to do was to drop Lucy at a motel where she got wired up, switched cars and drove herself to the scheduled meeting.
He didn’t stay for the debriefing and waited in his truck until Lucy came, he wasn’t a part of this so what was the point? The only reason he drove her there was in case anyone was at the motel checking on Lucy, it was better someone that wasn’t part of the team drop her there to avoid suspicion.
All he knew of Lucy’s background was that her name was Rebecca and she studied chemistry at UC. The more he knew the more worried he was going to be. The less he knew the safer she’d be.
The ride to the motel was silent. Lucy knew Tim didn’t like what she was putting herself through but she couldn’t object. He had every right to be worried. These people shot their last chemist 7 times.
“Before I go, know that I expect a romantic surprise for tonight.” Lucy opened the car door and got out, winking at Tim. Tim smiled, he was going to give her a romantic surprise for sure. He drove away, his knuckles pale from how hard his grip was on the steering wheel. He didn’t really believe in gut feelings but this time, he had the worst feeling.
***
“Are you sure she is safe?” Asked Celina, looking at John.
“Yes. Why would you ask?” John replied.
“I just have this feeling that something is wrong.”
“Can you take a second to process your feelings and then elaborate them for me?” Even though John trusted Celina’s instincts at this point, he couldn’t do anything if there was no proof of them.
“Umm… if anyone has seen Sergeant Bradford…”
“He doesn’t know Rebecca, she asked him for a ride and he gave him one.”
“What if they don’t believe him?”
“We have a gps on his car and he’s armed.”
Celina took a few more minutes. “And about Officer Chen…”
“We’re all here if anything goes wrong.”
Celina nodded. She couldn’t put a finger on what was giving her this vibe. She went through the plan a hundred times but couldn’t find any holes in it. Something in her told her there was something they didn’t think about but couldn’t tell what.
Lucy went through everything in her head as she watched Tim leave. She was going to be alright.
Tim knew how to make sure he wasn’t being followed. He spent an hour turning around from street to street before he went to a building where he was meant to go on foot for a bit and switch cars. He was more than sure he wasn’t being followed after he got in the second car. He texted Angela to check in and go back to station so he could get his stuff done. Maybe the best way to keep himself from overthinking was drowning himself in work.
He went back to the station after a little bit of driving as he couldn’t risk anyone following him to the station. It was going well. Angela texted him that Lucy was alright. It was comforting but not as much as he expected it to be.
Even though he tried to stay focused on work, he was a mess. He hated that he had to sit out of this. Both Angela and John kept giving him updates but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to be there and make sure Lucy was okay. Each time his phone buzzed he was worried he’d hear they shot her too.
When did he become like this?
According to John and Angela, they had Lucy test her product and didn’t get too strict on her as they were in dire need of some drugs and a cook to make the rest so they had the amount they had promised to distribute. It all was going so smoothly, so smooth Tim was worried.
They were done by the evening as expected. Everyone was arrested and the gun the deceased chemist was killed with was found. Tim was so relieved when he got on the phone with Lucy and heard her say she was fine. He was on his way home to prepare Lucy’s little surprise.
Perhaps there was nothing to worry about after all. He was two intersections away from home when another truck t-boned his. Tim didn’t remember much after that.
******
Lucy was at the station, she was going to stay in a cell for a few minutes before they ‘transferred’ her to avoid any suspicion. She was so relieved it was over.
She was counting the seconds to see Tim. She called him after their successful arrest to give him the good news. The only problem was that one gang member ran away and she couldn’t risk it before he was arrested. That didn’t mean she wasn’t going home as he hadn’t seen her but there was going to be a few officers around her place just to be sure.
According to the ones they caught, Abe Harrison was meant to have an eye on the premises. Everyone seemed to want him dead as he had escaped without warning the others. He did his time and got out a couple weeks ago to find out his old gang outcasted him. The team didn’t know he had joined the rival gang.
After Lucy was ready to leave he called Tim to let him know she was coming home but she was sent to voicemail. He tried reaching him on her way to the parking lot but it was voicemail again. She was confused.
“Chen. We need to talk.” Said Angela. “There is a problem.”
Everyone was in the roll call room. From the looks on their face Lucy could tell something was so wrong. “I can’t find Tim.” She said.
“Abe Harrison, the guy who escaped…” said Nyla. “He was arrested 5 years ago.” She looked at John.
“I know all this.” Said Lucy.
“There is something you don’t.” Said John. “The officer that made that arrest was Tim Bradford. If he didn’t see Tim’s face during the arrest he had definitely seen him in the court.”
“Have you told Tim? He could be in danger.” Lucy picked her phone. “Is he here yet?”
“Lucy…” John went closer to her. “We found Tim’s car two intersections away from his house and he wasn’t in the car. According to the street cameras someone t-boned him and then took him.”
Lucy froze. It wasn’t right.
John helped Lucy sit on a chair.
“Have you tracked his phone? His watch, it’s… I got it for him… it has gps tracking…”
“His phone last pinged a mile away from the crash. We found it alongside Tim’s badge and watch in a trash can.” John sighed. “There is a good chance he didn’t go through Tim’s phone and just dumped it.”
“Can I see the videos? Of when it happened…”
“Lucy you don’t-“
“Please. I have to.”
John looked at Aaron and nodded. When the video was played, everyone stole their eyes from Lucy, biting on their lips.
It wasn’t the crash that took Tim out. As soon as Abe got out of the car, he sprayed something into Tim’s face and stuck a syringe in his neck and took him out of the car, telling the drivers who stopped to check he’ll take Tim to the hospital.
And as simple as that, he took Tim.
She saw Tim trying to squirm out of his grasp. Tim was awake when his was being put in the backseat, kicking his feet and trying to fight.
Abe’s truck was found five miles away. They found the clothes Tim was wearing when he left the station and the clothes Abe had on in the video from the crash.
Lucy felt her world fall apart. Abe had every reason to kill Tim. Tim put him behind bars which led to Abe losing his family, and then his gang.
She tried to calm herself so she could focus. If he wanted to kill Tim, he wouldn’t go through all this. Maybe Tim was still alive. She hoped Tim was alive.