Anti-Hero | Tim Bradford

Chapter Three - Preparing

If Chen's intel was correct, Morgan was still out there. Tim and Lucy had done some more digging into her former partner, Detective Williamson. Apparently he had abandoned the assignment when things had gone south, he fled from the scene, leaving Morgan without backup. He had left Morgan to fend for herself.

According to his confession, he had kept an eye out on her, but never intervened. He chose to spend the rest of his life in solitude rather than return home a coward. Tim clenched his jaw, listening to the cowardice spew from the man's lips.

"I should've gone back, but they could've killed me!" He pleaded, as if it justified his actions.

Despite the self control Tim prided himself on, he couldn't help but lunge at the man. "Why about her, huh?" He roared. "What about her life! You could've gotten her killed!"

Grey grabbed Bradford as soon as he saw him move. Tim didn't have the time to reach the man before he was handled out of the room.

"Hey! Watch it." Grey let go of his grip once the door shut behind them. "You attack him and he can walk free. You know this."

"He's the reason she's not here. He took her from me!"

"And he's the only chance we have at getting her back. Like it or not, we need him."

Tim huffed. "I know."

"Now go calm down before I have you removed from this assignment." The Sargent turned to walk back into the interrogation room. "Have everyone meet in the conference room in fifteen minutes. We need a plan."

————

Tim could feel every pair of eyes in the room zero in on him as he entered.

It was to be expected. The case of Detective Morgan Bradford was one thought to be a lost cause. Cases like hers rarely, if ever, tend to get leads so late in the game. The fact that there was a new lead this late in the game was rare, it was rarer that the spouse was directly involved. Most of the cops who had been involved with the initial stages of her case were there, including the original detectives. Tim hated them, these detectives were Morgan's coworker and they had failed her, everyone in this room had failed her; Tim had failed her.  And he hated everyone, including himself, for it.

The newer faces in the room, people who had transferred to the station, people who hated being assigned to the original search, and of course the new rookies, did not know the significance of this lead, this was just like every other day for them, Tim envied that.

Tim took his seat near the back of the room, it had been left empty for him. Despite their gawking at his arrival to the conference room, they knew he was coming. It wasn't a surprise, mostly everyone at Mid-Wilshire knew how devoted Bradford was to his wife, not many men would have held out for their wives this long.

"Right," Grey said, bringing the attention from Tim to himself. Tim let out a small sigh of relief from the diversion but quickly straightened his posture as not to show any emotion. Even though his mind was swirling with thoughts and bubbling emotions, he would not let it show, not now, not here. He raised his head, straightened his shoulders, and looked towards Sargent Grey as the Watch Commander continued talking. "Most of you know why we are here, and for those who don't, or just need a refresher, pay close attention."

Papers shuffled as most in the room took out pens to take notes.

Grey quickly shot a look of reassurance towards Tim. "In the files before you, you will see the case of Detective Morgan Bradford. She disappeared on the job nearly two years ago, it started as a missed check-in with the lead detective on her undercover operation but neither her, nor her partner was heard from again. Or so we thought until Officer Chen discovered that the partner wasn't missing but was in fact hiding from us."

Grey gestured to Lucy who stood up next to him. She looked at him expectantly, moving to the podium when he stood back for her to take over. "That's right. Detective Williamson is currently in an interrogation room. He confessed to endangering Detective Bradford's life by trading her's for his own. He allowed the cartel they were hunting to let him go in trade for information on her. Everything from her address to her favourite soda. They knew everything they could ever want to, and then some. Which explains why she has not been seen, she most likely went into hiding herself."

Chen stood back once again, allowing Sargent Grey to take over, but Tim couldn't hear what he said. All he could think about was that his wife had been in danger for so long. If this cartel knew everything about her, then they knew about him too. Morgan was smart, she would have realised that almost immediately. Tim couldn't help the thought that he was the reason she had stayed away all this time. He was meant to protect her and he could have been part of the reason she was in danger all this time.

The grinding of chairs against the linoleum floors brought his attention back, yet he stayed seated, watching his colleagues shuffle out of the room towards their new assignments. Lucy stayed where she stood as Grey made his way to sit next to Tim.

"Nobody will blame you if you take a step back now, if this is too much..."

"If you were me, would you step back?"

Grey looked down, pretending to consider what he would do, but he needn't as there wouldn't be a question as to what he would do.

"Exactly, so please, tell me what I can do."

The watch commander nodded, placing a case file onto the table.