It was a classic fall Monday in Los Angeles. The mild temperature and the clear sky. People went on with their lives as usual. We were in a sensitive area of the city where drugs, alcohol, crime, and prostitution were commonplace.
A blond woman and a child of about 4 years old were starting their day in a very shabby apartment. There was little furniture, everything was in bad condition, and the housekeeping left something to be desired. To make it worse, drugs were lying around everywhere.
Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door.
"Izzie, open the door for me. We need to talk," an annoyed male voice said. The woman suddenly panicked. She grabbed the girl, her stuffed animal, and a coloring book and stuffed them into a cupboard before motioning for her not to move.
"What? What do you want?" She grumbled as she opened the door to a white, dark-haired, middle-aged, tall, extremely burly man.
"What I want is my money, poor bitch. You owe me nearly $5,000."
"I don't have your money," she stammered, knowing full well how dangerous her interlocutor was.
"I see... You need motivation. Fine, I'll go get your daughter and take her with me. It may encourage you to find what you owe me. If you still can't do it, I can always make it up to her. I know several guys who like blondes like her."
"No, please… I'll get you your money. I promise you but leave her alone. She's not even here anyway," she begged, wishing to protect her daughter. When she saw him going to check, she threw herself on him.
For several minutes, they fought violently, and despite her fragile appearance, the blonde remained tough. However, after she managed to get out of the way, she didn't see him draw his gun. Before she had time to react, she took two bullets to her chest. She immediately collapsed, her lifeless body lying on the ground
After taking a quick look around the apartment, the man checked that his victim was dead and fled without looking back. Meanwhile, the little girl remained in the closet, completely catatonic after witnessing this tragic scene.
For several hours, nothing happened. The child did not move. Then, at the end of the day, the police arrived, alerted by an anonymous call. They entered the apartment without any harm because the door had not even been closed.
The team included two patrol officers from Mid Wilshire station and Sergeant Mark Murray, who had heard the radio call. As he entered the apartment, he was shocked and unprepared to see a former colleague and friend lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
"Sergeant, is everything okay?" the young policeman asked, seeing that something was troubling him.
"No, it is not OK. The woman lying there is Isabel Bradford."
"Sergeant Bradford's ex-wife? What do you want us to do?" the second officer asked.
"Call sergeants Grey and Caradine privately and bring in the scientist. We have to be discreet so that it doesn't leak out anyhow," he announced, looking around the apartment. Approaching the closet, he heard a noise. Very cautiously, he opened the door, ready to face anything.
Only, he was surprised to see a child there resembling Isabel. Given her apparent shock, he understood that the little one had witnessed the whole scene and that she must have been hiding for hours.
"Hey, hello kiddo. My name is Mark, and I am with the police. You are safe now. What's your name?" He asked without getting an answer. After a few minutes and understanding that he would get nothing from the child, he took her in his arms to take her outside. This scene pained him enormously. This little girl was too young to be so traumatized.
After a while, he was joined by one of the officers.
"I took a tour of the apartment. There are a lot of drugs and almost nothing for the girl. It shouldn't be fun for her. Did you manage to talk to her?"
"No, she didn't say a word or move."
"Not surprisingly. Between the environment and the scene she has just witnessed, the poor child must be shocked. Do you think she has a family?"
"I don't know officer. Isabel wasn't one to settle for just one partner when she wasn't clean."
"I could be wrong but… Don't you think she looks like the sergeant? I mean... I don't know him very well, and he would never give up on his child. Only, the physical resemblance is really disturbing. He might not be aware of her existence," the policeman stated. It was Officer Webb, who had worked with Tim and knew him a little.
"I do not know. It is an option. Honestly, I hope you're right because even though it might come as a shock, this little one is gonna need someone like Tim to get over this."
Mark motioned for the officer to get back to work, and he watched the others, staying close to the girl. His colleague was right about her resemblance to his former friend. Only, he couldn't believe that Isabel could have hidden such a thing from her ex-husband, especially knowing how much he had always wanted to have children.
He couldn't help but tell himself that if he hadn't pushed Isabel to work undercover, none of this would have happened.