A Cops Dream
Chapter 1
Angela: Hey Bradford, your fiancé is here to see you.
Tim: Who?
Angela: Isabel, your bride to be.
Tim: Oh, her.
Angela: Who else would I be talking about?
Tim: Never mind.
Tim turns around and is face to face with Isabel. Isabel is tall, skinny, blonde and beautiful and Tim really is happy but nothing he can ever do will get rid of the pit that has been sitting in stomach for the last 12 years. She clearly moved on and it was time for him to do the same. And that is what he was trying to do when he proposed to Isabel, the woman he had met while working a case together. Isabel was nice and Tim often said they were magic together but Tim knew it just wasn't the same as when he was with Lucy. Lucy, the love of his life, his soulmate, his first wife, the woman he dreamed of every morning when he woke up and every night before going to sleep. Lucy the girl who hadn't spoken to him in over 12, his Lucy was nowhere to be found and so Tim spent the days with Isabel, the woman who was right here next to him every day.
Isabel had done her time on patrol and then quickly moved on to detective. Tim though stayed in patrol for all these years and Isabel often asked him why he was still on patrol and Tim really didn't have a good answer other than he loved it. Deep down though Tim was afraid to move up. He was afraid of making the wrong choice again. Not that Isabel was the wrong choice. He loved her, he really did, but it did not compare to the love he once had for Lucy Chen. Oh Lucy, the love of his life was somewhere in this world and he missed her so deeply but he made his choice that day, the wrong choice and there was nothing he could do to change that. He never imagined that 12 years would pass without talking to or hearing from Lucy once.
He had believed that sending her back with her father was only going to be temporary until he came back from overseas, but when his first tour was over and he came back home to her she was gone. Tim had tried everything he could think of to contact her but Lucy Chen had disappeared and so he went back for a second tour, this time feeling like he had nothing and no one to come home for. When he decided, he was going to stay here for good he rejoined the LAPD and loved every minute as a police officer. The only thing that made it hard was that his dream of becoming a police officer included doing it with Lucy by his side. But he didn't know where she was or what she was doing with her life.
Her parents had since moved, she was gone. Her phone number was changed, even Genny who was her best friend back in high school, hadn't heard from Lucy in years. And so, when he met Isabel and she asked him out on a date, Tim figured he had nothing to lose. As they worked out of different stations there was no conflict of interest or rule against them dating and so Tim said yes. Now almost 2 years after their first date they were scheduled to get married in 2 weeks. Tim did not know why Isabel was here at Mid-Wilshire but her coming to see him at work was always a nice surprise.
Tim: Hi Isabel, everything okay?
Isabel: Everything is fine. I was in the neighborhood and figured I'd stop by and see if you would be free to join me for lunch.
Tim: I need 10 more minutes to finish up here and then I'm free to join you.
Isabel: Amazing.
Tim quickly finished up his paperwork, closed his computer, got his stuff and walked out of the station with Isabel. They walked over to the food trucks, ordered and sat down.
Isabel: How is Rookie Day going so far?
Tim: Actually, I didn't get a Rookie today.
Isabel: What? Why not?
Tim: Some sort of personnel mix up. My Rookie is not a rookie officer but rather a Rookie Detective and is therefore being assigned somewhere else as they have already been on patrol for several years.
Isabel: That's actually really funny babe.
Tim: Why do you say that?
Isabel: We were supposed to get a new UC today but turns out they were assigned the wrong position so will only be starting tomorrow.
Tim: So, your saying
Isabel: That instead of assigning this cop to Isabel Bradford, they assigned them to
Tim: Tim Bradford.
Tim: I told you that you should wait until after we got married to legally change your name
Isabel: I know but like I already told you, it just made more sense to do it like this. I guess I didn't realize what it would mean for the department now that they have to Bradford's working for them.
Tim: Do you know yet who this cop is?
Isabel: I do not yet have a name; I know she is female and a transfer from Victorville PD. I don't know much but I was told that she is the best UC they had in their department and we are really lucky to have her.
Tim looks at his watch and notices the time.
Tim: Babe, this was really nice, but I do have to get back to work.
Isabel: Of course. Thanks for joining me.
Tim: Anytime.
Isabel: Did you have a chance yet to talk to Wesley regarding the marriage license?
Tim: Yeah, he said that he will be going down to the courthouse sometime this week to finalize the paperwork and he should have it ready for us to sign before the actual ceremony.
Isabel: Okay, perfect. I just really don't want anything to get in the way of us actually getting married.
Tim: don't worry. Nothing will. I love you.
Isabel: I know you do. And I love you too. But I still want to make sure that every detail is just perfect.
Tim: As long as it is you and I standing there saying "I do" it will be completely perfect for me.
Tim leans in and kisses Isabel before he gently rubs her shoulder and walks away. He knew that her desire to make it perfect was coming from her insecurities in their relationship. He didn't blame her but he didn't know how to make it better. He so badly wished that it was Lucy he was marrying and that really wasn't fair to Isabel. He hated himself for still being in love with Lucy when she wanted nothing to do with him. Tim walked back to the station and continued to work alone, waiting for the following week when he would be assigned his new Rookie.
Lucy took a deep breath as she looked around the small apartment. It was a 2-bedroom apartment that she had fallen in love with as soon as she saw it, and when she showed it to Chris, he felt that this would be perfect for them. A year ago, when Chris had told her that he had gotten his dream job working for DA's office in LA, Lucy felt like she was going to faint. LA, not LA. How could it be that out of all the places Chris applied to he got the offer to work in the one city she never wanted to go back to. True, she still had some of her best memories from her time in LA but it also held some of her worst memories.
Lucy was also nervous about potentially bumping into Tim again. Tim, her Tim, the guy she fell in love with the moment she saw him. Tim, the guy who told her that their marriage should be annulled, the guy who sent her back to her father after putting a ring on her finger and saying "I do." Lucy had worn that ring for 10 years; it meant something to her even if Tim didn't want to be married to her. Everyone kept telling her to take it off, to move on but something was stopping her. She hoped that when she did see Tim again and he would see the ring on her finger, his ring that he placed there the night they got married that somehow, he would tell her that letting her go was a mistake. But he never came home and never showed her just how much he loved her.
So, 2 years ago when she met Chris and he asked her out, Lucy decided for the first time since Tim that she was going to say yes. So, she quickly hid her ring finger and agreed to go on the date with him. She took off her ring while they were out at Pinks and when Lucy was going to put it back on, she felt that she didn't need to, that she would be okay without her daily reminder of Tim and their promise to one another.
So, for the first year that Chris worked at the DA's office they had done the long-distance thing but when the offer came to Lucy to work as an undercover narcotics officer in the LAPD, she felt that this was her sign to move on from Tim and move in with Chris. So, she packed up her life in Victorville and made the move back home to LA. Lucy didn't know exactly what had happened but somehow, she was told there was some sort of mix up with her placement and she now had one extra day before heading into work.
Isabel walked into work the next morning and saw this beautiful woman walking towards her.
Isabel: Hi, I'm Isabel and you must be detective Chen.
Lucy: Yes, I'm Lucy Chen. Nice to meet you.
Lucy was surprised at how easily she fit in with the LAPD and Isabel seemed really nice as well. Her first couple of days were amazing and by the end of the week they had sent her in on a quick undercover job with Frank Tesca.
Isabel was amazed by Lucy's performance on the job. Everything she had heard about her had been true. Lucy really was the most amazing UC cop that Isabel had ever worked with and she was glad that they had been partnered together.
Tim was sitting with Isabel helping her with surveillance for this Frank Tesca op when Wesley called him.
Wesley: Hey Tim, you've got a minute?
Tim: Just watching a restaurant with a UC inside, why what's up?
Wesley: It's about your first marriage.
Tim: Okay, what about it?
Wesley: The court is asking for proof of divorce as their records show that you are still married.
Tim: What? That makes no sense. This can't be true.
Wesley: Tim, I have no idea what happened. But according to the law you are still married.
Tim: This is insane. There was supposed to be no record of that happening. And now you're telling me that we are still.
Wesley: Yes Tim. You are still married to some other woman.
Tim: Um, look I cannot exactly discuss this right now. I am sitting next to Isabel. Can we talk more about this later?
Wesley: Okay, but Angela is with me and she is demanding and explanation to why she never knew you were married.
Tim: No one did, look it's complicated.
Just then Tim saw a car drive by and the next thing he knows there are guns being fired directly inside the restaurant.
Tim: I have to run. Tell Angela to call it in. Shots fired at my location. And send back up quick!.
Tim stood staring directly into the window of the restaurant waiting for a sign of life from inside, after 2 minutes he saw it, a head come up over the table, she was alive and breathing. Tim took a deep breath and started walking closer towards the restaurant when he noticed that the woman he was looking at, the UC working with Isabel, the woman he was there to protect was none other than his wife, Lucy Chen.