Chapter 8

A knock sounded at John's door, drawing him out of his sleep. Shaking the cobwebs from his head, he slowly got out of bed. Another knock, louder and faster than the first, reached his ears. John opened his bedroom door and walked down the hall into the front room. As he opened the door, it was pushed open and in walked Jenny, his neighbor from across the street.

"Jenny? What's wrong?" he asked.

"John, I didn't know where else to go. Marcus is out of town and I heard a noise from the backyard. I…I didn't…"

"Jenny, take a deep breath. Now, did you see anyone in the backyard?"

"I don't know."

"Do you have any security cameras out there?"

Jenny's eyes went wide and she reached for her phone. With a push of a few buttons, she had her camera application up and was looking out at her backyard. She handed her phone to John. He scrolled back a few minutes and saw a person wearing a purple jacket and jeans run across the screen. He quickly grabbed a screenshot and kept watching to see if there was anyone else. When it came back to being in live view, he handed Jenny her phone back.

"It looks like someone did enter your yard, but I don't think they're there anymore. Do you have a shed or anything in the yard they could hide in?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Then I think it's safe for you to go back home," he started.

The look on Jenny's face told him that she wasn't convinced.

"But I'll come with you just to make sure." he finished with a slight sigh.

They walked across the street and John entered through the side gate. A quick glance told him that there was nowhere for the suspect to hide. Most likely they had jumped the wall or the side gate. He walked the yard one more time, checking the door to the inside of the house to make sure it was secure. Then he went back out the side gate and over to the front door where Jenny was waiting for him.

"It looks safe to go in. I don't see any signs of forced entry and there's no one in the backyard. If you hear anything else, I would suggest calling 911 and we'll get an officer out here."

Jenny nodded and thanked John for checking before going inside. John walked back across the street to his house. Now that his adrenaline had slowed down, his head was starting to hurt a bit from being jerked awake so suddenly and not having had coffee. When he got into the kitchen, he started a pot of coffee and some scrambled eggs and bacon. The kitchen quickly filled with the aroma of the delicious breakfast. He grabbed two plates from the cabinet. One plate was for the bacon to cool off on and the other was for him to eat off of. Within minutes, his coffee was ready and John turned on the "keep warm" setting on the machine. A couple minutes later, his breakfast was ready. While he waited for the bacon to cool, he got a coffee mug from the cabinet and poured his coffee. One quick sip and he could feel himself getting better. He tested the bacon and put a few on his plate next to the eggs and picked up the plate. With his coffee mug in one hand and his plate in the other, he walked to the table and took a seat. As he sat down, he turned on the television for some background noise as he ate. In between bites of food, he took sips of coffee to wash it all down. When he was done, he turned off the television and sat down at the table to read another chapter of the book Tim had loaned him. Pages of notes and a pencil sat in front of him. Half an hour later, he finished the chapter and got ready for work. Taking a seat next to James, he felt excited for what the shift had for him. Sergeant Grey stepped up to the podium and cleared his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Today is a special day. Tim Bradford, come up here."

Tim did as told and stood next to the sergeant, who took something off the podium and stood at attention, hands behind his back.

"Officer Bradford took a test last week. The results have come in and…" he turned to face Tim, a smile on his face. "You passed. Congratulations, you are now Sergeant Bradford!"

Applause erupted through the room as Grey put the sergeant's stripes on Tim's uniform. Tim stood with pride on his face and shook Grey's hand. Next step for Tim was that he would ride with Grey for a while and then he would officially have his own shift. Grey handed Tim the briefing for the day and helped him get through his first briefing. The officers were dismissed and Tim followed Grey out to their shop. John and James went to their shop and began their patrol. They handled everything from traffic stops to a shots heard call, not surprising considering their shift was known for getting the most calls. They took a quick break for dinner and walked back to their car. As they were walking back, they heard Tim's voice come over the radio.

"7-Adam-100 shots fired, shots fired!"

John and James rushed to the car and John threw the car into drive, heading in the direction of Tim's location. The dispatcher quickly told the other officers where Tim was and what was going on, the radio silence tone sounding every ten seconds. Lights and sirens going full blast, John arrived at Tim's location within 30 seconds. Other officers had already begun to arrive as well.

"7-Adam-15 out with 7-Adam-100. Shots still being fired."

"7-Adam-19 with 7-Adam-100."

"7-Adam-21 with 7-Adam-100."

Dispatch acknowledged and John drew his weapon as he opened the door, staying behind it and low until he could assess the situation. Tim and Grey were behind their car doors, facing north, weapons aimed high towards a building. John looked up and saw the shine of sunlight against metal coming from a window on the third floor.

"Anderson, third floor, middle window!" he called out.

"Eyes on target!" came James' response.

A minute later, the gunman fell backwards.

"Cease fire!" Tim yelled. "Control, 7-Adam-100, we're code 4. Suspect is down. Repeat suspect is down. Maintain radio silence while we check the perimeter."

Dispatch acknowledged them and they crossed the road to the abandoned building. With Tim leading the way, they made their way to the third floor and down the hall to the most central room.

"LAPD!" Tim called out.

When there was no response, he called out again. After a minute more of nothing, he kicked the door in. He and the officers quickly made their way up to the suspect where Grey checked for a pulse. A shake of his head confirmed what they already knew.

"Control, 7-Adam-100, we're still code 4. Clear the air and send an RA to our location. Third floor, central room on the east side." Grey said into the radio.

"7-Adam-100, 10-4."

John walked up to Tim and Sergeant Grey.

"You two ok?" he asked.

"Yeah. Thankfully. 7-Adam-25 and we had just arrived on scene because someone had called saying there was someone in an abandoned building. Next thing we knew, a shot rang out and well…you know the rest."

"Glad you're safe, sir. Both of you."

John went back to James as the sound of ambulance sirens filled the air. About two minutes later, the paramedics turned into the room, a gurney behind them. They officially pronounced the suspect deceased and put the body in a black bag.

"We're going to take the body to the Office of the Medical Examiner." the paramedic informed Grey.

Grey nodded and the paramedics took the body out. By this time, the scene had been marked and detectives had arrived. Everyone was questioned before detectives and forensics took over. Grey told everyone there to return to the office and that they would be on paid administrative leave for the next three days while an investigation took place. This was common after an officer-involved shooting, so no one was surprised. John and James drove back to headquarters and turned in their guns and badges before heading home. On his way home, John grabbed a bite to eat. Lucy and Jackson both called to check in. He convinced them and himself that, while it was a crazy turn of events in his day, he was ok. For now at least. After promising to call them if anything changed, he hung up the phone. Internal Affairs came over and took his statement a few hours later. Once they left, he made some dinner and unwound for the evening watching television.

A few days later, the investigation was complete and everyone had been cleared of any wrongdoing. John and James returned to the office with their fellow officers and had a pleasantly uneventful shift. Just your basic traffic stops and getting drunk drivers off the streets of LA.

"Couldn't ask for a better return to work." James said as they pulled in at the end of shift.

They cleared their things out of the car, completed the reports and other paperwork that needed to be done before leaving and headed home. John had finished reading the book Tim had loaned him and had given it back to him at the beginning of the shift. True to form, Tim had quizzed him on some of the content, but John was ready and answered every question correctly.

"You'll be a great TO one day, Nolan." he had said, patting him on the back as he headed to his office.

John often thought of what it would be like when he got his first trainee. At first he thought he would be like Harper and Bishop, tough on the outside, but once you got to know them, they opened up. Then he thought maybe he'd be like Tim and quiz his trainees constantly. Eventually, he decided he might change his style depending on the trainee. Like a teacher in school, he'd have to take each trainee as they came and do his best to keep them safe. He thought about Chris Rios, whom they'd lost almost two years ago, and how close they'd come to losing Jackson. Chris' last radio transmission filled his brain. With a shake of his head, he brought himself back to the present. He mentally promised himself that he would do whatever he could to keep his trainees safe and then entered the house. He cooked some dinner in the instant pot and decided to look over his notes from Tim's book. Even though he was at least a few months to a year away from being a TO, somehow just reviewing the notes helped him to calm down and feel better. When he heard the instant pot beep, he released the pressure on the pot and removed the lid. A pleasing aroma of mushroom risotto greeted his nose as he set the lid down and picked up a wooden spoon to stir everything. Once the sauce was thick enough, he got out a bowl and scooped himself a bowl full of the risotto and sat down at the table. Listening to a podcast he had recently begun listening to, he enjoyed every bite of his dinner. When he was done, had washed off the dishes, and started the dishwasher, he finished up the podcast and got ready for bed. As his head hit the pillow, he reflected on his day and reminded himself he needed to text Henry in the morning to check in. After about half an hour, his eyes finally drifted closed until the next morning.