Buried With You

Chapter Sixteen

Tim
Tim's blood was boiling. Lucy's voice rang throughout his head. "Chris is the killer, he's the one that shot me."

Ever since those words came out of her mouth last night Tim had been thinking of ways to destroy Sanford. He had wanted to go hunt the bastard down then and there. He had been so full of rage that there was no telling how far he would have gone.

Tim gently clenched his hand, the feel of Lucy holding it flooding his mind. Her touch had been the only thing keeping him grounded in that moment. Lucy herself had been the only thing keeping him grounded for a while now. He knew that Lucy made him a better person, she had broken down his walls and opened his heart. Something he thought he'd never experience again. He had realized all of this the first time she had been taken, and now that it's happened again though he felt desperate to protect her at all costs. Leaving her in the hospital had been almost impossible this morning, even though she had armed officers guarding her.

Tim was so far in his head, thinking of all the recent events and how he felt for Lucy that he hadn't even noticed Lopez come up to him.

"Bradford!" He focused his eyes on his friend. She looked both concerned and frustrated. How long had she been trying to get his attention? "Look, I know this is hard for you, everyone does. I also understand that Chris being the suspect is a lot to take in, but we need you focused if we're going to find him. We're still waiting to see if a DNA match comes back from Darla or the barrel linking Chris to her murder. Right now all we can do is put him away for the attempted murder of Lucy based off of her body cam footage." Lopez trailed off, Tim's body tensed, no one had let him see the footage. "Like I said, we need you focused, I need you focused."

"I am focused." Tim's voice was harsh. He knew it was a lie, especially when his thoughts constantly drifted to Lucy at the guilt he felt.

"No. You're not." Angela's tone matched his. "Tim-"

"Damnit Angela!" Tim slammed his fist down on the desk in front of him. "Don't you get it? I've done this to her twice! First with Caleb and now Chris." Tim was yelling, he felt multiple eyes on him, watching the scene he was making. "I pushed her to go out with Caleb and I all but forced her on that date with Chris." Tim could feel his eyes fill with tears. "Now she's in the hospital with a bullet hole in her stomach." He was no longer yelling, he heard the crack in his voice when he mentioned Lucy's injury.

"Tim," Angela grabbed his shoulders. "None of this is your fault. Okay? You're not the reason Chris and Caleb are monsters."

Tim broke eye contact and tried shifting away from her. No matter what anyone told him, he couldn't release the guilt of putting the person he cared about most in this type of danger. Twice. "Angela, I can't-"

"You and I both know Lucy doesn't blame you for any of this. Look, Timothy, I love you a hell of a lot but it doesn't even compare to how much Lucy loves you." Angela cocked her head, her knowing eyes watching him.

Tim looked down at the floor, he couldn't help but smile a little to himself at the thought of Lucy loving him. "Thanks."

"Anytime." Angela smiled softly and squeezed his shoulder. "Now, we have work to do. I have a case." Tim looked up hopefully.

"It doesn't have to do with Chris but it's still important."

Tim sighed, all he wanted to focus on was finding Chris and making sure he never hurt anyone else. Unfortunately, he couldn't just ignore other crimes to focus on the one that affects him.

"We had an... interesting car come into a seized car auction this morning."

Tim gave Angela a questioning look. "Interesting how?"

Angela's face lit up like a little kid receiving the biggest present. "So this tiny blue mini copper comes in, the auction house checks it out and finds about four kilos of black tar heroin in the trunk. The owner was clearly not the brightest because he parked in front of a hydrant. Now, come with me so I can show you the best part."

Tim followed Angela over to a computer opened to some DMV records. "When we ran the plates we found that the car belonged to a Jake Butler." Angela smiled devilishly. "Here's the mug shot." She turned the computer towards him. There on the screen in front of Tim was a greasy, tatted, slightly older image of himself.

"What the-" Tim was shocked staring at the screen.

"It's uncanny." Lopez looked up at him, a look of pure enjoyment and entertainment on her face. "You could be twins."

The idea of Tim looking like a criminal pissed him off. Even if they did look similar there was no way in hell he'd admit it. Especially to Lopez. "We do not look that much alike."

"Mmhmm." The devilish smile had returned to her face. "Anyway, we brought him in. Turns out he was hired to drive the drugs across the Mexican border."

"Okay... so this dumbass makes it across the border just to lose his car holding half a million dollars in heroin?" The disbelief was evident in Tim's voice.

Lopez pulled out a legal pad with interrogation notes. "Apparently, he hit up his girl's place when he got back in town. When he went back out, the car wasn't there." Lopez sighed. "He also said that he's been freaking out ever since."

Tim shook his head in disbelief. "All right. Who was he supposed to deliver the drugs to?"

"Roy Hajek. He's a cartel leader known for selling heroin to the upper class." Angela's tone turned more serious. "Look, I talked to Lucy about UC ops. We think you should go under as Jake."

"Hold on," Tim held out his hand to pause Angela. "No. No, way. I don't do UC ops, you know this."

"I know, and I respect why. But we're not going to have another opportunity like this. Taking down Hajek would get another major dealer off the streets."

Tim threw his hands up and looked away. He took a deep breath. "Lucy thinks I should do this?"

Angela smirked. "Yes, she does. She even came up with a nickname for Jake."

"Of course she did."