Anti-Hero | Tim Bradford

Chapter Five - Shooting

Three Years Ago:

Tim took a deep breath as he prepared himself. In reality he knew that he would be fine, he had participated in raids like this one dozens of times, but it didn't stop the nerves coming up. He shot a glance to the line of officers behind him, and then he looked back in front of him. This time, instead of facing the back of a leather jacket, he made eye contact with Morgan.

You okay? She mouthed, as not to alert anyone in the vicinity of their location with the sound of conversation.

Yes. Tim replied, nodding alongside his silent confirmation.

I love you.

I love you too.

Within less than a moment's notice, the senior officer on site gave the visual go ahead for the raid to start. Tim followed closely behind his wife as they, alongside Metro and a SWAT team, rushed forward to ambush the residents in the house.

From the streets, the house seemed like any other in its neighbourhood. The exterior walls were neat and tidy, the garden was something to be proud of, not a flaw in sight. The property seemed as if it had come straight from a Home-Owners Association's dream. The inside was of a similar manner, it was modern, clean, and bright. It was pristine, except from the methamphetamine laboratory in the back half of the residence.

The cartel that used the residence as a home base clearly had no clue of the raid happening until the moment they penetrated the doors of the property. Pretty quickly the quiet and serene neighbourhood was filled with the sounds of glass smashing and bullets being fired. Tim fluidly moved through the house, keeping his six covered as he tried to locate the boss's wife who was supposedly here.

The boss was out of town on business, leaving only his partner to run the business in his absence. It gave Sargent Grey and his cohort the perfect time to try to shut down the operation.

"Lopez," Tim whispered to the officer next to him. Once her eyes were on him, he gestured to the door at the end of the corridor. Lopez moved forward to position herself to open the door and counted down from three with one hand, the other still clutching her weapon.

They burst through the door, guns held high as they entered the office. The office was the only room in the house that wasn't immaculate. Papers were strung across the desk, with nearly twice as much spread messily across the floor. The drawers in the cabinet behind the desk looked as if hastily opened with little regard to what was inside. The lamp in the far corner was smashed to pieces; it was mostly covered by a small woman standing in front of it.

She stood tall and proud. Her face was like stone, and her eyes were cold. Recognition instantly crossed Tim and Angela's faces: the wife. She was not what they were expecting. Reports had described her as timid and mild, someone who would be easy to get to cooperate with their case.

"LAPD. Drop the gun!" Tim said, keeping his gun held high, holding his aim at the wife's shoulder.

The woman kept her weapon held high.

"I'd listen to him if I were you." Lopez said, taking a small step closer to the woman. "Just drop the gun and we can resolve this nicely."

"And if I don't?" The woman scoffed.

Lopez took another couple of steps,getting closer as she spoke. "Let's not go down the road. It'll be easier if you cooperate ma'am."

Quickly, the woman turned to face Lopez, her gun aimed at her face. Before she had time to pull her trigger, Tim shot a single round into her shoulder. The woman ricocheted backwards, the gun dropping from her grasp as she fell. Blood spilled from her shoulder running down her dress turning the material from white to crimson. She hit the ground heavily as her eyes rolled back as she lost consciousness. Lopez moved quickly to remove the gun from reach before getting down to the woman's side. She motioned for Tim to join her.

As Angela started to put pressure on the bullet wound, Tim reached for his radio. "I need an additional RA Unit for a woman, mid-thirties, with a gunshot wound. Unconscious but breathing." He placed the radio back on his belt before kneeling down next to Angela. "You alright?"

"Yeah I'm good," She stopped talking for a moment, listening to the sounds around them in the rest of the property. "It sounds like it's quieting down. We better wait here though."

Tim stood up. "You're right. Do you think there is anything to help stop the bleeding... First aid kit maybe?"

At his question, Tim heard a familiar chuckle coming from the door. Even though he recognised the voice, he still turned suddenly and took his gun out again, his mind and body still on the defensive.

"This place was a meth lab and you think they cared enough about health and safety for a first aid kit?" Morgan walked into the office, looking around at the carnage that had taken place here. "This is going to be a headache to sort through in evidence later."

"Morgan, why are you here? Are you okay?" Tim moved towards his wife, eyes looking frantically up and down to check her for any injuries. She looked fine, except for a little graze on her forehead but that wasn't anything that Tim couldn't take care of later. He stopped himself though, clocking how frantic his words sounded. Remedying that, he took a deep breath and continued. "Has everyone else been taken-"

"Hey, hey hey." Lopez interrupted, bringing the Bradfords' attention to her. "She's awake again."

Tim nodded, moving towards the door, somewhat satisfied to know that Morgan was okay. "That's good, you two wait here, I'm going to see if the RA Unit is here yet."

Morgan hummed in agreement as her husband left. She spared a glance his way before drawing her attention to Angela and the bleeding lady. "Ma'am? Ma'am." She said, squatting down to her side. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Regina." The woman spat.

"Right Regina, you're under arrest. You will be taken to the hospital before being processed." Angela said, still maintaining pressure on Regina's shoulder even though she squirmed underneath her.

Regina gritted her teeth, Morgan couldn't tell if it was in pain or anger. The bleeding woman cried out as she turned her head to fully focus on Morgan. "He will pay for this. You all will. He doesn't know what he has done. He shot me and my husband will make him pay."