Picking up the Pieces Chapter 8
Pulling his hand from Lucy's, Tim cautiously peers out from beneath the sheltering vehicle. "It's over, Chen. Hajek, his people, they're all down."
"You two all right?" Tactical Squad Captain Hillman inquires.
"Fine," Tim and Lucy answer simultaneously.
"What about Hajek and Wisco?" Tim asks.
"The medics will have to declare Wisco dead, but he's got at least ten bullets in him. Hajek ducked back into the elevator, but we stopped it and got him. He's asking for a lawyer," Hillman adds. "If you're OK, I need to coordinate shutting down this operation."
Tim shakes his head in disgust as Hillman strides away. "Of course, Hajek's asking for a lawyer."
"Chris Sanford told me that if a major drug dealer tries to make a deal, he'll have to flip on someone high up in the cartel," Lucy puts in. "Someone was making sure our motel room in Sonora was bugged and that the drugs' packaging would shield them from the dogs. If Hajek flips on whoever that is, it should make a deep cut into the drug flow. The DEA will want to go after the motel too."
"That clerk knew something," Tim asserts. "he put us in a bugged room and told us there was nowhere to go to eat. He kept us in where they could keep an ear on us."
"He's probably working for the cartel," Lucy agrees. "But that whole route is blown now."
"We're blown too. I mean Dim and Juicy are," Tim corrects. "Thank God we won't have to play them again."
Lucy's eyes blaze. "Was it that bad spending that much time with me, Bradford?"
"I think it was tough on both of us, Lucy. And we're going to have to talk about what happens when we're back at the division."
"So you won't have me as your aide anymore, Sergeant Bradford?"
"I think we should take a break, Officer Chen. We need more shops on the street right now anyway. We can both be out there solo for a while."
"For how long?" Lucy demands.
"Maybe until you let Chris take you home to meet his parents. We're both with other people, Lucy. We should try to make that work. It will be better that way, for both of us. You know that."
Lucy turns away. "I know the floor of this garage was filthy and I want to go home and get a shower."
Tim pokes his boot at the floor. "I'll get a unit to give you a ride."
Grey takes the podium at the front of the roll call room. "First, congratulations to Bradford and Chen on a successful operation. Also kudos to Officer Nolan for averting what could have been a major tragedy. That's the good news. Unfortunately, we've had too many suspects escaping in this division before an officer can arrive on the scene. We'll be trying to expand our forces. But until that takes place, with the exception of training, we'll have one cop per shop. If you encounter something too complicated or dangerous to handle, don't hesitate to call for backup. But let's try to be as efficient as we can. Sergeant Bradford will be your field supervisor. I'll be coordinating operations from here unless I'm needed on the outside."
"Bradford!" Lucy calls on her way to her shop. "Were you responsible for the one cop to a shop decision because of us?"
"Don't flatter yourself, Chen," Tim retorts. "Grey and I discussed it before you and I went undercover. And the captain signed off on it. Yesterday, I didn't know Grey was putting it into effect today. But I'd think you'd be relieved that you won't have to explain why you aren't my aide for now. And it will look better on your record this way. So get your ass in your shop and go out there and do your job. I'll do mine."
"Yes, Sir, Sergeant Bradford."
As John sits for a moment before starting his vehicle, his mind flashes back to the night before. He might have imagined it, but he thought Maria looked a little wistful. "I'd invite you in for coffee, John but…."
"But we just had coffee, and we're both getting up early tomorrow," John filled in. "See you next week?"
"Actually tomorrow night, if you'll be supervising. Marco has a movie night with the youth group. While he's there, I can put in a couple of hours as a volunteer."
A grin threatened to break out on John's face. "Great I'll see you then."
Lucy knocks on the shop window. "Hey, John, you OK?"
He rolls the window down. "Yeah, thanks, Lucy. I'm fine. Just gathering my thoughts. How about you? I heard you and Bradford had quite the operation."
"Well, it's over now. Everything's over."
"We're not talking about your UC sting, are we?" John asks.
"It doesn't matter John. The way Grey's set things up, I can't be Tim's aide anymore anyway."
"You scored a lot of points with your UC success, Lucy. And you've got Harper behind you. Your career's in good shape without Bradford. That's what you care about, isn't it? That's why we broke up, wasn't it?"
"You know it was, John."
"Then Lucy, you've got to break up with Bradford."
"I'm not with Bradford. He was just my boss."
"Lucy, you don't have to convince me. You have to convince yourself. And while you're at it, you might think about what you're doing with Chris Sanford. If you're not interested, you should give the guy a break. Life is short. You never know when it's going to be gone, for him or for you."
Lucy blows out a breath. "We have to get on the street."
"I know. Be safe out there."
"You too, John."
When John arrives at the church, he finds the parking lot almost full and watches kids bounding toward the chapel. As a boy runs ahead of her, Maria waves. John waves back before heading toward the sanctuary. Maria shows up to join the volunteers a few minutes later. For anyone new, John points to the plans taped to the wall and explains where the work left off. "Do you want to work with me until you get the feel of things?" he offers Maria.
"That would be nice, John."
"You may not feel that way after a couple of hours of this," John warns.
"I'll be fine," Maria assures him. "My poppy worked on construction jobs. He didn't have a company. He just showed up in the Home Depot parking lot every morning and waited for someone to offer him a job. But the builders knew him, and he managed to make ends meet. He also built things and fixed stuff at home. He taught me a few things, and I liked helping him."
"When my son Henry was young, he used to like to help me build things too. I built the house our family lived in. Henry worked on quite a few things. I didn't even have to fix most of them."
"I don't know if my poppy had to fix anything I did," Maria confesses. "I'm hoping you won't have to."
John chuckles. "I doubt I will. But I'll get you started, and we'll see what happens. How long is the youth movie night supposed to go?"
"They're watching the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It's over 2 hours."
John nods. "That should be fun."