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The shrill chimes of their alarm clock blared throughout the bedroom and Lucy groaned from her spot curled up against Tim’s bare chest. They had spent the morning tumbling around in their sheets, making up for the four weeks that had been lost while she was undercover.
“Ugh I don’t wanna get up,” she complained and Tim let out a low chuckle as her arms stretched along the length of his torso and chest before she burrowed into him again, showing no signs of rising.
“I guess you got too used to the beach bum life.” He said, tightening the arm that was around her waist, taking another moment to bask in the fact that Lucy was back home and in his arms again. If he was honest, he wasn’t really looking to get up either.
“Yeah,” she replied, running her fingers through the faint hairs on his chest. “I really am thinking about keeping up the Etsy shop. Or at least continuing the jewelry making as a hobby. It was relaxing.”
“I guess I can count on finding hundreds of beads in the couch from now on, along with the hair ties?” Tim asked teasingly and Lucy lifted her head and sucked her teeth in offense.
“Shut up.” She tweaked his nipple slightly, causing Tim to flinch and let out a bark of surprised laughter. “I’m not that bad.”
Tim raised an eyebrow. “You do realize that whenever we’re watching TV and you inevitably start looking for a hair tie, I always have one ready, right?”
“I—” Lucy frowned, planning on refuting him, but then she flashed back to the last time they were on the couch together before she left for the op. She had twisted her hair up to the top of her head and then realized too late that she didn’t have a hair tie on her wrist and immediately groaned, beginning the search on the coffee table to see if one was sitting there. Then as if out of thin air, one appeared in front of her face, held between Tim’s thumb and forefinger. And if she thought about it further, it was actually a common occurrence, even before they moved in together.
Tim smiled smugly, knowing he had her. He smacked a kiss against her lips, squeezing her hip before detaching himself and slipping out of bed. “It’s okay, babe. I’ll take the win. You don’t need to say anything.”
“You’re ridiculous,” she rolled her eyes affectionately, following him into their bathroom.
A half an hour later, Tim was just putting the finishing touches on their breakfast when Lucy walked in.
“Smells good in here,” she said with a sweet smile, sitting down at the counter as time set a plate in front of her.
“Eggs and facon for you,” he said wrinkling his nose, and then put a plate down on the other placemat with a satisfied sigh. “Eggs and real bacon for me.”
“Hey! It’s good!” she pouted. “It’s much better than the crap you’re putting in your body right now. If you just try it, you’ll see.”
Tim picked up his fork, wrinkling his nose as he wrapped his free hand around Lucy’s thigh. The great bacon, facon debate was just purely for fun at this point. They both knew he wasn’t trying it any time soon. “I’m sorry, the simple fact that you call it facon tells me it’s not any better. I’ll pass.” He speared his eggs, shoveling some into his mouth before picking up a strip of bacon and taking a bite, crunching pointedly.
Lucy, amused by Tim’s stubbornness dug into her own breakfast, washing her first bite down with a sip of grapefruit juice.
“So, we didn’t really get around to talking about much last night,” Lucy started, pressing suggestively into his side in a reminder of exactly what ended up taking precedence. Tim abandoned his breakfast, letting out a little noise of agreement as he slid an arm around her shoulders and ducked down to meet her for a brief kiss.
When they pulled back, Lucy squeezed his arm before returning to her breakfast. “Okay, catch me up. What did I miss?”
“Well, let’s see…” he said thoughtfully, his hand still on her thigh as he speared another forkful of eggs. “I caught Smitty trying to convince the construction guys that the plans they had were wrong and the breakroom was supposed to turn into a gourmet kitchen, and that there was supposed to be a sauna in the men’s locker room.”
Lucy barked out a laugh, sending him an incredulous look. “Are you serious?”
Tim gave her a look. “It’s Smitty,” he said pointedly, and took another bite.
“Of course,” she replied, still laughing, but Tim wasn’t done.
“I overheard him saying something about needing a compliment to the bunker. Turns out, there’s an entire hidden storefront that he’s set up in the basement of the station. And you know how the vending machine snacks have always disappeared quickly?” Lucy nodded, “Well turns out he’d been stashing them down there and selling them for a profit. I’m almost positive he was planning on obtaining a key to that sauna and charging a usage fee.”
“Smitty has his place…in some weird way, but seriously how has he not been fired yet?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. But this time around, I couldn’t really do anything. He bought the products with his own money. I mean sure, it was on work premises, but the only reason it was working is because so many people don’t carry cash and he was accepting all forms of digital payment. So, I had new vending machines installed in the breakroom that take cards and Apple pay. And Smitty is out of business.”
“Bravo,” Lucy said amused and genuinely impressed with his ingenuity. “I can’t imagine Smitty was happy about that.”
“Oh he wasn’t, but I realized I have to fight Smitty with Smitty. It’s the only way to win.”
“Mmm…that makes sense,” she nodded, agreeing with the unfortunate observation that logic never won out with Smitty. “Okay what else?”
Tim hesitated, grimacing as he thought about the disaster that had occurred the night after he had seen Lucy during her op.
She frowned, eyeing his expression with curiosity. When it came to work-related things, Tim usually didn’t hesitate in sharing, unless he absolutely couldn’t. If she wasn’t mistaken, he actually looked troubled by whatever it was he had to tell her next.
“What is it?” she probed.
“I washed out Penn.”
Lucy reeled back, blinking in shock. “Seriously?”
Tim nodded, sighing heavily as he wiped his mouth on a napkin and dropped it to the counter. “Yeah.”
“What happened? He had been doing well hadn’t he? Before I left, Penn only had like 30 days to go.” Lucy frowned and shook her head, waving her hands in front of her as she tried to make sense of what she had just heard. No one knew better than her the way things could change at the drop of a hat on the job, but Penn seemed to have had turned a corner after his first few months of training.
“He did,” Tim confirmed, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms across his chest, preparing to bring her fully up to speed on the colossal fuck up from Miles. “But you know as well as I do, how many things can go wrong in the final 30 days.”
“How did he screw up so badly you washed him out?”
“I had assigned him and Nolan to surveillance of the girlfriend of a guy who assaulted two witnesses in a RICO case of Angela’s--”
“Oh no the case was Angela’s?” Lucy grimaced, pushing back out of her seat as Tim grabbed their dishes, emptying the last of their eggs into Kojo’s bowl, before placing their plates in the dishwasher.
“Yeah, but that’s beside the point,” Tim dismissed, heading towards the foyer to grab Kojo’s leash, not even needing to whistle for the dog who was already standing there waiting for Tim to clip him in. “First, he prematurely alerted the guy to the fact that he was being surveilled, which caused him to run. And then he lost him.”
Lucy sucked in a sharp breath, slinging her bag over her shoulder and grabbing their filled travel mugs. “Yikes,” she said, walking towards Tim who was waiting by the door.
They tabled the conversation to go through their routine of exiting and locking up the house, Lucy keeping an eye on Tim as they headed towards the car, taking a moment to really observe him in a way that she hadn’t in the excitement of her homecoming.
Whatever had happened with Penn, whatever caused Tim to wash him out had to have been bad. For as much of a hard ass as Tim was, especially as a training officer, he cared about the success of his rookies. And he and Penn began to build a genuine rapport with one another that could have transitioned beyond the station at some point. But with Tim assuming Watch Commander responsibilities he had to give up Penn’s training. And for a guy who always finishes what he starts—even when it’s washing a rookie out—not having direct responsibility over Penn’s training had to bother him.
Once Kojo was secured in the backseat and Tim was buckled into his, Lucy lowered the volume of the radio and turned to Tim, wanting to give this story her full attention before she did anything else.
“Okay, you said first…what happened second?” she asked as Tim pulled out of their driveway and began the route towards Kojo’s doggy daycare.
“Second?” he scoffed, flicking on the blinker at the light. “Second, I get a call in the middle of the night to discover that Penn had decided to conduct unauthorized surveillance on the guy not only on his own but with a civilian.”
Lucy frowned. “A civilian?” she wracked her brain trying to think of who she’s seen and heard about Penn interacting with outside of work. “One of his football buddies?”
Tim’s jaw flexed as he remembered his shock and anger at seeing Ridley out with Penn. He was probably the worst person to have in Tim’s line of sight after Miles screwed up so badly. He glanced over at Lucy, seeing her waiting expectantly.
“It was Ridley,” he said plainly.
“Wha--Seth!?” Lucy’s eyes widened in shock. Of all names he could say, Seth Ridley was not one she would’ve anticipated. “What the hell were they doing together?”
“Honestly, at the time I was too pissed off to even try and figure that part out. You can chat about it more with Celina, but according to her Penn was helping him work through things somehow.” he replied with a shrug, “But it gets worse. Because the suspect got the drop on Penn and took his weapon. He nearly kills him and Ridley rescues him but almost got run over in the process.”
“Oh my god,” Lucy gasped. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack,” he nodded, “I almost couldn’t believe any of what I heard when I got the call. It’s like suddenly everything I ever taught him went out the window just because he fucked up the first time around. And I told him…I told him he was going to have extra eyes on him with this one and what does he do? Fucks it up even more. So, when I got to the scene, once I knew he wasn’t seriously hurt…I told him he was done.”
“Wow…” Lucy was still trying to wrap her head around the entire story. “Umm…that’s…a lot.”
Tim breathed out a laugh that was anything but amused. “Tell me about it. But…” he ran a hand over the back of his head and Lucy waited with bated breath for whatever it was he was going to say next. She couldn’t imagine there was more to the story.
“Nolan came to me yesterday morning…asked me to give Penn another chance,” Lucy nodded because of course Nolan came to Tim to plead Miles’ case. She would’ve expected nothing less of him.
“Yeah, shocker. He told me that I had been too harsh. Said it should have been his call whether Penn washed out,” he continued and she cringed because one thing he always did was push the boundaries of authority. “And that he, you and Jackson received second chances after a screw up during your rookie year.”
“That part is true,” Lucy pointed out.
“Sure, it was true for Nolan and Jackson. But aside from Plain Clothes Day—which ended with you catching a murderer—you didn’t do anything that could’ve ever come close to getting you washed out.”
Lucy’s mind quickly skimmed through her rookie year. The fear of being washed out had weighed on her daily, so much so that it probably seemed like she was always a step away from it. But it likely had more to do with the intensity of Tim than anything else.
“Yeah, I guess your right,” she agreed. “I was so used to you threatening a blue page or washing me out it felt like it was only a matter of time. Did you tell Nolan that though?”
Tim snorted, glancing over at her as he changed lanes. “Of course I did. I also told reminded him that for something like this when I’m called to a scene and a rookie endangers the life of a civilian that seriously—Ridley or not—I was well within my authority to wash Penn out. The first time he responded to my interjection was fair. This time? Not so much.”
Lucy got the sense that there was more that he wanted to say, so before she addressed anything that Tim had just unloaded, she probed for more. “But?”
“But…” Tim sighed, flexing his hands on the steering wheel and glancing over at Lucy before focusing back on the road. “Penn had potential. Has potential. He has the chops to become a good cop. But all that peacocking he did early on was only to mask the fact that he was incredibly insecure. And instead of focusing on what he’s good at, he keeps thinking that he needs to prove himself because deep down, he’s not good enough. It’s a confidence issue. And he’s never going to find his way if he doesn’t get a handle on it.”
Lucy frowned at his words, latching on to the present tense, but she didn’t get to respond because they had pulled up to the drop-off location. Kojo was already vibrating with excitement as he saw his usual handler at his door and the couple grinned as he began to whine, eager to leave. They greeted the handler once she opened Kojo’s door but barely had time to get in any other words because the dog was already shooting out the door and rushing inside.
“I keep waiting for the day when he just calmly walks in, but I don’t think it will happen,” Tim chuckled as he pulled out of the car line and back onto the road. Lucy wasn’t even paying attention, her mind was still back on their conversation.
“Wait. So…Penn’s still in the FTO program?” she shook her head, trying to read between the lines of what Tim hadn’t said.
“Yeah,” he confirmed without looking at her as he checked for oncoming traffic before merging onto the freeway. When they were settled into a lane he continued. “In the light of day and given the fact that Ridley also washed out, I recognized that washing Penn out would likely bring more scrutiny than not. And besides, we caught the guy in the end. Which was really the only reason I could save him.”
Also, Nolan had made a few valid points in his overstepping monologue, but he wasn’t going to tell Lucy that. It would inevitably make its way back to Nolan and then the man would become insufferable.
“Penn’s got two weeks of admin leave, and then when he comes back, he’ll be in long sleeves with six more months tacked on to his training.”
“You and you’re pesky long sleeves,” Lucy chuckled, “It’s like you’re favorite punishment. You have a fixation with them you know that right?”
“It’s not a fixation, Luce,” he shot back, rolling his eyes. “Like, sure, administrative leave sucks. But you’re away for two weeks and then you are back in it, business as usual. But when you know that you used to being in short sleeves and now suddenly you're back in long sleeves, it’s a reminder that you fucked up and you've gotta earn it back.”
“But if you say he’s got a confidence issue, isn’t that doing the opposite of helping his confidence?” she asked, genuinely interested in the logic here, because on the surface it didn’t make sense to give the guy a reminder of his mistake.
Tim shook his head. “If being in long sleeves still screws with his confidence then he has no business being a cop. He can’t let that shake him. Penn showing that he can do the job, that he can be the cop I know is in there regardless of what his rank is, or what he’s wearing, that’s when I’ll know he’s ready.”
“That’s…wow,” Lucy blinked in surprise, but then her expression slowly softened to a warm smile. That explanation was exactly why Tim was such a good leader. “You know you still somehow manage to surprise me with your insightfulness.”
“I don’t know why you keep forgetting that I’m not just a handsome face.”
“But what a face it is,” she grinned, patting his cheek, causing Tim to laugh. “How did Miles take it?”
“No idea. I’m assuming well since he was no longer out of the program,” Tim replied, “But as his training officer, I let Nolan break the news to him. Besides, if I saw him, I’d have probably yelled at him all over again.”
Lucy took a second to survey Tim. She knew that he took training rookies seriously, and each success and failure weighed on him in their own way. But for some reason it seemed like Miles had gotten under his skin. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint why either because, if she was honest with herself, she couldn’t figure out exactly why Miles wanted to be a cop.
“This one is really bothering you, huh?” she asked curiously.
Tim took a moment to respond. He’d gotten better at communicating with her. He was light years from where he used to be, but his first instinct wasn’t to share. So, she always gave him the grace to gather his thoughts. “Penn is…I don’t know his full story. But there was something about him that made me invested in his success. More than I had been with other rookies—besides you of course.”
Lucy beamed at his words, knowing that no rookie would ever hold a candle to her.
“You two were starting to have that big bro, little bro vibe,” she observed with a small smile because it was true. It was kind of sweet that he had begun to form a connection with Miles.
Tim rolled his eyes. “Well besides the fact that I hadn’t seen you in weeks, part of the reason I reacted so viscerally is because I feel a level of responsibility towards him even though I’m not going to be the one to finish his training.”
“Yeah, he certainly didn’t pick a good time to play cowboy, cause we all know what happens when you haven’t been laid even in just a few days,” Lucy told him with a raised eyebrow and glint in her eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
“Tim,” she deadpanned.
“What?” He exclaimed in confusion as they pulled into the station parking lot.
“Seriously?”
He looked around as they pulled into his parking spot. “What are you talking about?”
“You have to know that you’re significantly nicer when you’ve been getting some.”
“What?” he scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. “No, I’m not.”
“Uh yeah, you are,” she corrected him. “Even thought you still made my life hell during my rookie year, you were practically a care bear once you started dating Rachel, compared to how you were before. And now…well…it’s like you’re making fields of cotton candy. Everyone knows you’re a softie now.”
“I am not a softie,” he argued grumpily and Lucy just smirked.
“If you say so.”
“Lucy.”
“I need to do my makeup before I head in.” She leaned over, smacking a kiss against his lips, that he barely had time to respond to before she turned back to flip down the visor and pull out her makeup bag. “Just go ask Angela. She’ll confirm it.”
“I am not asking Angela if sex makes me a softie,” he grumbled unbuckling his seatbelt.
“Because you know she’ll agree with me,” she replied matter of factly, swiping on some eyeliner.
Tim rolled his eyes, opening his door and getting out. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I love you!” she waved cheerfully.
“Yeah, yeah,” he replied dismissively, slinging his bag over his shoulder, but the boyish grin on his face said otherwise. “I love you too.”
One week later…
Lucy watched from the patio as Tim and his nephew’s played basketball in their pool. It had been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks, suddenly being thrust into an entirely new dynamic when Tim’s mother, Joy, showed up, only to find out that she never had any clue that Lucy existed.
They had been entangled together for the better part of three years and there were numerous times when she witnessed him on the phone with his mother and not once did Lucy come up.
At first, it hurt. It felt like she didn’t matter enough to him, which confused her because she knew how Tim felt about her. He didn’t just open his life—himself --up to someone if he wasn’t committed. But then he told her that he and his mother didn’t talk about personal things, and that she barely knew anything about Isabel and why they got divorced. It all started to become clearer that it was about something more, but she just couldn’t figure out what.
Then she came home to Joy in the kitchen, and the conversation they had shed so much light on just how much trauma Tim had kept buried. How much everything he had gone through had shaped his actions to this day, especially when it came to the women in his life. She was reminded that things didn’t resolve overnight and suddenly became so much clearer about who Tim was. And maybe it wasn’t just about Tim’s communication, but about his mom’s too.
So, she’d given the two a moment to talk, heading into their bedroom to change for dinner. Tim didn’t share everything that they talked about, but he did tell her—after a lengthy discussion about his own actions, along with some serious apologizing—that the two agreed to be much more open with each other going forward, which was a step in the right direction.
His mother stayed with them for a couple more days, but their schedules became even more hectic and after two late nights, Joy realized it made more sense for her to stay with Genny so she could help out with the boys. Tim and Lucy promised to be over for dinner whenever they were able to get out reasonably early.
Lucy ended up spending a lot more time with Joy--without Tim--than she’d anticipated, since her other half’s Watch Commander duties seemed to pick up exponentially. If she hadn’t seen it firsthand, she would have thought he was trying to avoid them, but Tim actually seemed genuinely upset about having to miss family time, especially since their little breakthrough.
Lucy and Genny were already as thick as thieves and Joy seemed to truly want to get to know Lucy, which made for a warm and comfortable atmosphere when the three women were together.
It was for that reason that Lucy had suggested they host dinner for the final weekend before Joy returned home, since both she and Tim were off and it was supposed to be warm. Tim and Lucy had the pool, so they decided to make an afternoon of it, which meant a swim before dinner.
“Okay boys!” she called from their outdoor kitchen. “Time to get cleaned up. Uncle Tim has to start dinner.”
Tim moved into action, but she heard Austin and Tyler start to complain and before either she or Tim could say anything, Genny’s voice sounded from next to her. “Ah, ah! You heard Aunt Lucy, go change!”
That moved them into gear and the boys quickly pushed themselves out of the pool, grabbing the towels that Tim was holding out for them and drying off. Lucy watched as they followed Tim in through the sliding door that led to their hallway before turning to Genny.
“So I’m Aunt Lucy now?” She asked with a raised brow.
Genny waved a hand. “Please, you’ve been Aunt Lucy for a long time. And it’s not like you two aren’t headed in that direction.”
Lucy blushed as Joy walked out to the patio holding a tray of kebabs that she had prepped for the grill. “Genny,” she hissed. “You mom is coming outside.”
Genny rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding? It’s not like she doesn’t see it too. I saw it back when I first met you and you to were ‘just friends.’” She ended with air quotes and Lucy swatted her arm lightly, causing her to laugh.
“Lucy, if you heat up the grill, I can get started on dinner?” Joy offered, completely missing the conversation that went on as she placed the platter on the counter.
Lucy shook her head, “Nuhuh, Tim said he’d grill, so we’re gonna let him. Besides, you prepared everything else for dinner. I’ve already poured you a glass of wine. You relax and he’ll be out in a minute.”
With that, Lucy handed her the glass that was filled with red wine and the trio sat down at their outdoor dining table, waiting for Tim to return to cook the rest of the food.
An hour and a half later, dinner had been consumed and the boys were back inside playing video games leaving the adults conversing over the remnants of the peach cobbler dessert that Joy had prepared.
Laughter rang throughout the yard as Joy regaled them with stories from her walking group.
“It’s like corralling toddlers, I’m telling you!” she told them, “Sasha and I had to physically hold the other two back from each other. At ten o’clock in the morning!”
“All because she thought she was cheating at cards?” Genny asked over Tim and Lucy’s laughter.
“Genny, you work with kids and they work with criminals,” Joy pointed out. “If you tell me you haven’t seen people get into a fight over less then I’d wonder what you do all day.”
“Yeah, Gen. Especially with that time you thought you could do my job better than me,” Tim shot back.
“I talked the perp down, didn’t I?” she said snottily and Lucy had a flash of them as teenagers in a similar argument. “I didn’t see you doing anything. She called you an overgrown Ken doll. Maybe I should do another ride along with Lucy since we’re clearly lacking a Bradford on the streets.”
Tim rolled his eyes as Lucy sent him an affectionate smile. Watching the two siblings banter was always so entertaining because she caught a glimpse of the carefree Tim that was so rarely seen with anyone except her.
“For now,” Joy added with a knowing grin, causing Lucy and Tim to fall silent and stare at her.
“Uhh…”
“Umm…”
They stuttered to find a response, both knowing her statement was true, but it was a way off. Interestingly enough, the couple hadn’t had to navigate those conversations with anyone yet.
It was Tim who sobered first. “We’re not quite there yet,” he said simply, looking over at Lucy with a slight glint in his eye that made her beam. He laid his palm out open on the table and she took it immediately, lacing their fingers together.
“But eventually,” she confirmed warmly, squeezing his hand.
The two women watched as the couple got lost in each other for a moment, stuck in the daydream of the future that the conversation had kicked off. They exchanged an amused glance. Genny, already used to it, didn’t move, simply content to wait for the two to snap back to reality, while Joy decided to give them a moment. Rising quietly, she began clearing the table quietly, grabbing Tim and Lucy’s attention.
“Oh, Mom, you don’t need to do that,” Tim said, moving to intercept her clean up, but his mother pulled the dishes out of his reach and shook her head, waving him off.
“Don’t be silly, the least we can do is clean up. We’ve got this, and Genny will bring out another bottle of wine,” Joy replied, her voice trailing behind her as she walked back towards the house, expecting Genny to follow.
“I guess I’ll go check on the boys too. Be right back,” Genny said sarcastically, picking up the empty platter and following Joy into the house.
Lucy chuckled as she watched her walk away before turning back to Tim, their hands still entwined, fingers unconsciously dancing together. The music that had been playing softly in the background, drowned out by their laughter, was audible once again and blanketing the yard in a calm, soothing atmosphere.
“You ready for Penn to come back tomorrow?” Lucy asked him quietly, leaning back in her chair. She pulled her feet out of her slides and lifted them to settle in Tim’s lap. He immediately took the cue and began his usual ministrations, massaging her soles and running his hands along the smooth skin of the top.
“I don’t know,” he sighed. “I did check in with Celina to see how he’s been, made her swear to keep it to herself.”
“You know she didn’t,” Lucy smirked. “You don’t scare her anymore.”
“Of course,” he rolled his eyes. “I have you to thank for that.”
“I told you…softie,” she grinned, wiggling her toes in his lap and squealing when he tickled her sole. “Anyway, what did Celina say?”
“She said he was understandably down, but taking his consequences in stride.”
“Well, that’s reasonable,” Lucy replied but Tim looked lost in thought. “Do you have plans for him tomorrow?”
Before Tim could respond, there was a rush of activity and a heavy thud as Genny and Joy came back to the table with more wine.
“What are we talking about?” Joy asked hopefully, taking her seat once again and running her fingers through her hair to push it out of her face. She was clearly hoping her little hint about marriage, sparked additional conversation and Tim resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Fortunately, Lucy saved him as usual.
“A rookie at our station was nearly fired a couple of weeks ago, but instead Tim put him on leave for two weeks and tacked on six more months of training as punishment. Tomorrow is his first day back and I was just wondering if he had any special plans.”
“Is this the guy John is training?” Genny asked.
“You know about that?” Tim looked at her in surprise, then narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “How often are you talking to Nolan?”
“We’re friends Tim,” Genny sucked her teeth at him. “Besides, you were the one who introduced me to him.”
“Is there a new potential man in your life, Genny?” Joy asked eagerly, making Genny glare at Tim. Joy had a vested interest in Genny’s love life after her divorce, not wanting her to end up lonely.
“No Mom,” she replied, still glaring at Tim. “John is just a friend. And he’s married.”
“To a woman who left him to go do god knows what on the other side of the countr—ow!” Tim was cut off when Lucy dug her big toe into his sternum and glared at him. “What? She did!”
“Not the point, Tim!” Lucy scolded, through gritted teeth. “Anyway, you were about to tell us your plans for Penn tomorrow.”
“I don’t know…”
“You wish you could just take over his training again, don’t you?”
“I really do,” he sighed.
“Why can’t you?” Joy asked. And it was clear to Lucy that although Tim and his mother had talked a bit, there was still a journey to go until she understood more about the complexities of Tim’s job. It was likely that as far as she was concerned, he was still a patrol Sergeant.
“In my role as Watch Commander, I’m not on the streets like I used to be, so I can’t take on a rookie. So Penn’s been with the only other available training officer on dayshift, and I’m just not sure he’s the right fit.”
“Why do you say that? Nolan seems like a great teacher,” Genny cut in. “He’s great with the boys.”
Tim shot her another look and Lucy dug her toe into his chest again as a warning.
“Nolan is a good teacher because he has years of life experience. But he doesn’t have years on the job,” Tim replied instead of addressing Nolan’s place in his sisters life. “I’ve had my fair share of rookies wash out, but I guarantee you that this wouldn't have happened on my watch.”
“You’re a great training officer, but there’s no way you can be sure of that, Tim,” Lucy said gently. “From what you told me Miles went against orders, knowing that he was being scrutinized.”
“He did. But for some reason, ever since Nolan took him under his wing, Penn’s been making mistakes that Nolan should have caught before they blew up. He made mistakes when I got him, sure, it was to be expected early on in his training. But…”
Tim sighed, squeezing Lucy’s right foot and switching to the other, the motions somehow helping him get his thoughts out. “I know Juarez successfully completed her rookie year, but Juarez was good because of Juarez. Not because of Nolan. Nolan doesn’t pay attention to what a rookie needs until they’ve made a grave mistake. He hasn't learned to observe and try to correct behavior before it happens. He's developed a style with complete disregard for the person who's on the receiving end of it. I was extra hard on you because you needed it. I wasn't as hard on Katie Barnes because she didn’t need that version of me. I’m tough on Penn because he needs it. Bottom line is being tough, or a hard ass, is my style, but I have to be able to adjust and flex to what the person requires. And I'm uncertain at this stage of the game, whether Nolan can truly do that.”
“So, what are you going to do about it?” Lucy probed, knowing there was more going on in his head. “I know you have something in mind.”
He glanced up at her, then over to Genny and his mother who were watching with interest but remained silent. Neither of them had ever heard Tim talk in that much depth about his job and he most certainly never really gave them insight into the inner workings of his mind. Neither dared interrupt him for fear of him closing up again.
“I’m going to have Nyla train him.”
The Next Day …
“Bradford!” Tim cringed from his seat behind his desk where he’d been reviewing his notes ahead of roll call. The booming voice of Detective Nyla Harper reverberated off the glass walls so loudly that he was surprised they didn’t crack. A moment later she appeared in front of his door and if looks could kill, he’d be dust on the floor.
“You’re giving me Penn? Are you serious?” she scoffed loudly.
“I take it Lucy told you,” he said, looking back down at his notes completely unfazed and she glared at him.
“As if being back in this god-awful uniform wasn’t punishment enough,” she reeled back, throwing a hand up with complete disgust. “You’re giving me an overgrown toddler who should have been fired?”
“Yes,” he said simply, which only seemed to enrage her more.
“For god’s sake, why? Because you couldn’t get him to shape up?” she shot back hotly.
Tim let out a rumbling breath, having had about enough of her griping. “Shut the door,” he said firmly, crossing his arms and waiting for her to comply. It looked like she was preparing to challenge him, but after a moment Nyla pulled the door shut and turned back to face Tim, mirroring his body language.
She raised an eyebrow waiting for him to continue.
“First of all…you know as well as I do that Nolan had more than his fair share of hiccups during his rookie year, so don’t stand there and tell me about any rookie that should have been fired. Because from where I’m standing Nolan should’ve been washed out a few times. Not to mention the fact that you’re in this position because of a choice you made that could have gotten you fired.”
He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in, because the last thing he wanted to hear was a lecture from Nyla about someone who should be fired, when the number of infractions between her and Nolan had racked up.
“Listen,” he said gently, “I’ve been where you are, remember? Granted I don’t have the same disdain for the uniform you do, but I do miss the ease and comfort of the Metro gear.”
Nyla let out a commiserating huff, but didn’t respond, letting Tim continue. “The point is being responsible for someone else’s success gave me a purpose again that I hadn’t realized I needed after being knocked back. Gave me confidence that I didn’t realize had been shaken.”
He held up a hand when she went to speak. “I’m not saying that you aren’t confident. You might be the only one who outshines me in that regard, but I know this one rattled you. I can see it.”
“It’s…been….harder than I anticipated,” she ground out and Tim refrained from smiling because he knew how much it took for her to admit it to him of all people.
“I get it, trust me,” he told her. “But besides everything that you’re going through. You’re quite honestly the only person I trust to finish training Penn since I can’t.”
Nyla’s brow creased in confusion as she finally took a seat. “What do you mean?”
“You’re a great training officer. You worked wonders training Nolan. But Nolan as a T.O. is…” he searched for the right words. “I need someone who is going to recognize what Penn needs before he needs it. And tailor their training to his needs. Nolan isn’t able to get ahead of anything. He’s only able to step in at the resolution.”
“In other words, he creates the mess and then cleans it up to teach instead of teaching to avoid the mess?”
Tim nodded, “Exactly. There’s an art to the teachable moment, but he hasn’t mastered when lean on them. And it’s only served to exacerbate Penn’s confidence issue. So…I need your help to get him there.”
Nyla narrowed her eyes at him, the earnest and honest expression on his face was more open than he had been with her in a long time.
“Fine,” she grunted. “Fine. I’ll train him.”
Tim smiled and stood from his seat gathering his portfolio. “Thank you.”
“I’m not going to like it though,” she replied grumpily, also standing.
“I wouldn’t expect you to,” he smirked and rounded his desk. He opened the door holding it for her to walk through first. “Just so you know though, it’s not like you had a choice. I was just being nice.”
Nyla rolled her eyes, but bit back a smirk. “You know…you’re no Grey, but you aren’t so bad at this Watch Commander gig.”
FIN