Anti-Hero | Tim Bradford

Chapter Twenty Nine - Planning

Morgan looked around the room, taking in the worried faces of her colleagues turned friends who had come at Tim's request. Angela sat talking next to John, talking to both him and Nyla who stood next to the sofa. Lucy was sitting on the armchair with West leaning against the arm. Grey wasn't there, Morgan knew that he couldn't be, but it hurt slightly to exclude the man, especially after all he had done for her.

She could feel her heart tug slightly at the sentiment that they had all agreed to come to help, even though it was a war Roaslind Dyer had decided to wage against the entire LAPD, he focus was on the officer in the Mid-Wilshire department, or at least they would be the start.

None of them knew what Tim had figured, but at his request, they had all decided to come of their own volition, to help both of the Bradford's. People she had thought would brush her off and not accept her had all come with the intention to aid her the best she could.

Leaning against the doorway, Morgan watched as each and every one of her friends cast their eyes on Tim as he cleared his throat to bring their attention to him. "You all know why I asked you to come, mostly anyways..."

"What do you mean, 'mostly'?" Nyla said, leaning forward in an almost defensive stance.

"What he means is that we have a development in the Dyer case." Morgan stepped forward nudging Kujo away from her feet as she moved. She took a moment, as his hand wrapped around her own before she continued speaking. "We can't operate at the station anymore."

"Why not?" John asked gently, prompting either one of the Bradfords to continue.

Tim spoke up again. "Before you say that, we need to know if you're in or out. Because once we tell you, there is no going back, you will be liable for any and all actions. The LAPD won't cover you."

"The Hell you got into Bradford?" Nyla asked before taking a breath to stop a chain of expletives from falling from her tongue. "I mean I'm in but what the Hell is going on?"

Tim just nodded for a moment at Nyla's words as the other cops in the room began to nod and verbalise their agreement. Angela stood as she agreed, wrapping Morgan in a hug as she whispered, "I'd follow you to the end of the earth. That's what best friends are for."

As Angela pulled away, she took Morgan's hand from Tim, ignoring his small sound of offensive he let out as she dragged her back to the sofa. Morgan scoffed in amusement as Angela wedged her between her and John.

"So you're all okay with this?" Tim clarified.

"Yes," Nyla huffed, "Now get on with it. We don't have all day, you know?"

Tim nodded as he put his hands in his hoodie's pockets. "Morgan and I came to a realisation earlier today after she got back from the prison. It never made sense why Morgan was targeted by her, it wasn't as if Dyer had a specific M.O which she fit, and it's not like it was with Lucy..." He let his words trail off as he watched Chen's reaction before continuing. "She had no reason except that she seemed like an easy target."

"Target for what?" West asked.

"To get into the LAPD hivemind." Morgan said, taking over from her husband. "She already had informants but they were all reluctant or vulnerable in some way. Sullivan was near retirement age, Armstrong had been made. Our guess is that she wanted to turn me into her newest pawn."

Nyla spoke up again, moving closer to where the others were sitting. "Right, but that still doesn't tell us what she intends to do."

"The LAPD humiliated her, all of us in this room humiliated her. Someone like Rosalind Dyer isn't the type just to stand back and take something like that. She needs to prove herself time and time again. She doesn't like to lose, so she changed the game. She isn't going after individuals anymore, she's coming after all of us, the entire LAPD. And we're just the warm-up round."

—-----

It was near three am by the time Nyla, Angela and the others finally left. Morgan closed the door behind them, making sure to both lock and deadbolt the door shut. She rested her weight against the door, trying to push down the wave of emotion crashing into her. She closed her eyes, choosing to listen to the clinking of empty beer bottles as Tim tidied away the mess left over.

Taking a deep breath, Morgan pushed herself off the door and moved towards the bedroom with Kujo trailing sleepily behind her. It didn't take long before she heard Tim shut off the lights to the rest of the room and shuffle towards the bedroom himself.

Neither of them spoke for a while, both enjoying the comfortable silence as they prepared for bed. They moved in sync, Tim tossing Morgan one of his tees and a pair of joggers to sleep in whilst she placed their phones on charge and set their alarms for the morning.

It was only when they had made their way into bed, Morgan leaning on Tim's  chest with Kujo snoring happily at their feet, did Tim finally break the silence.

"Thank you." he murmured, barely above a whisper

Morgan looked at him perplexed as she responded with a tone that was just as soft. "For what?"

"For trusting me, all of us. I know it must have been hard."

"Not as hard as it was to shut you out." Morgan shuffled down in the sheets as she gathered her thoughts. "Do you think that this will work? Our plan, I mean."

"I don't know." Tim kissed Morgan's head, "but if it doesn't, we will try something else. We won't let her win, I won't let her win, Mogs. I promise you that."

- END OF ACT TWO -