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A routine mission. That’s what Lucy told herself.
A routine undercover mission. It might be undercover. But it’s routine. Regular. The usual. Nothing out of the ordinary-
“I can hear you over thinking this Boot,” her T.O snarked over the communication device in her ear, his voice clear with instruction. Stop doubting yourself. Taking a deep breath, she steadied her nerves, reminding herself of the methods her mother had taught her to avoid falling in an endless spin in her mind.
You’re so optimistic Luce, and yet you’re so negative about yourself, her mother once told her. She meant it as a passing comment, but somehow; it stuck with her for years to come.
Straightening her back, Lucy told herself she was an officer of the law. Undercover Officer Chen, would be able to stand in a bank and pretend she wasn’t an officer at all.
“Chen, stop giving yourself a pep talk and concentrate,” Bradford droll voice murmured in her ear, causing her to huff in frustration and feel a childish urge to stomp her foot. With every new working shift, her training officer was beginning to get scarily good at reading her.
Over the past few weeks, almost every bank in the city had been robbed by the same group of masked men. They were efficient, quick and got away every time. Every event had been resulted in no casualties apart from the last one; three of the managers were shot.
Lucy had watched the video footage.
Maria Smith pressed the panic button, and one of the robbers saw her do it. Similar to a horror movie, the masked man casually pointed the gun at Maria and pulled the trigger. He moved towards another woman, his mouth close to her ear. Sickeningly graceful, he took a step back and pulled the trigger again. He did the same to another woman.
One of the masked men faltered in his steps as he returned with the duffle bag of cash. Another masked man gripped the shooters shoulder until the shooter relaxed his arm from the outstretched position. Then all three fled the scene without a trace.
With that level of violence and a tip from a source on the street, an undercover operation was put in place. Today; another bank would be robbed, and it was anyone’s guess which one it would be.
With the remaining six banks that hadn’t been hit, more experienced cops were placed undercover; ready to call for help when necessary. Sargent Grey thought it would be a great opportunity for the rookies to be placed undercover in the banks that were previously targeted. It was extremely unlikely the robbers were to return but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Nolan was tasked to the same bank, resulting in them both strolling around the lobby of the large bank, waiting for something to happen.
Hoping nothing would happen.
Bradford and Bishop were waiting in one of the manager’s office in the back, a room that wasn’t on the blue prints of the building allowing it to be the perfect spot to monitor their rookies.
“I can’t decide if I should ask about investments or interest next,” Nolan whispered to her, making her mouth tick up in a smile.
“No contact,” Bradford barked, followed by a familiar Bishop sigh.
“It’s been ninety minutes Tim, let the rookies have a chat,”
“I don’t care if it’s been five hours. Boot; stay in character,”
Lucy tried not to roll her eyes, but couldn’t help but mutter, “didn’t realize my character was mute.”
Hearing Bishops cackle and Nolan’s huff of laughter made whatever snide comment Bradford would inevitably write on her daily reports; worth it.
Staring down at the sixth leaflet that she had read, Lucy was beginning to find it hard to fill her time without looking suspicious. Joining the longest line possible, she prepared a variety of questions about loans in her mind when something caught her eye.
The shiny surface of the till allowed Lucy to see out the window behind her. The view was slightly distorted, but it was enough to raise her pulse point. Outside, a blue van with a distinguishable red logo on the side, was parked along the street. Underneath the car, Lucy was just about able to see a man hole cover being lifted up and slid to the side.
Her voice was trapped for a moment, she spun on the spot and blatantly stared out the window, completely forgetting she had to be subtle.
“Lucy?” Nolan asked quietly, looking at her out of the corner of his eye and waited for a response, pausing from filling in yet another form he had no intention of handing in.
But Lucy didn’t answer, she dropped her head down to feign reading the leaflet about loans in her hands, but her eyes were focused on the street in front of her.
“Chen?” Bradford demanded through the coms, just as she watched a shadow of a person pass from the bottom of the van and drop through the man hole.
“Run the plate of the van outside Mama’s Bakery, east side across the street,” Chen whispered, turning the leaflet over as if she was suddenly engrossed in whatever she was reading. Taking careful steps towards the huge widow.
It took an agonizing number of seconds before Tim finally replied, “plate’s not in the system. Either it’s been modified, or the van isn’t registered.”
“Okay, along with the movement beneath the van and into the sewage pipes below ground…” Lucy surmised quickly, catching Nolen’s eyes; they shared a worried look. Something was happening.
“Nolan, Chen; check everyone else in the room. Note weird behaviors or anything along those lines,” Bishop instructed. Lucy began to scan the room, her eyes trailing along each person as she watched for anything out of the ordinary.
Nolan piped up, “Man, blue jacket, hand tapping leg and eyes fixed on security camera,”
“Running his face now,” Bishop informed them, hearing her clicks of the key board.
“Woman; brown hair, doesn’t seem to work here, just strolled past the counters, no one noticed and now she’s out of view,” Lucy began, as she watched the woman in sweat pants walk straight past the bank manager without anyone noticing and slipped into a room out of view.
“A worker on her day off?” Bradford replied, “I couldn’t catch her face on the security cameras; she avoided every angle,” That’s when Lucy heard the tone of suspicion in his voice.
Preparing to follow her, Lucy began to move when suddenly the room irrupted into chaos. Lucy ducked to the ground instantly, her eyes scanning the room until she found Nolan. She couldn’t help but feel the twinge of worry work its way into her mind as she watched him. This was like a bad memory coming to life. He had previously told her about the robbery that caused life changing career and hoped it wouldn’t change his life again.
Three masked men had entered the room, all of which had guns and two with duffle bags.
“Everyone stay low, and quiet, and no one will be hurt,” the tallest of the masked men called out. He strode in the center of the room, his gun held high in the air.
Nolan was out of their line of sight, crouched behind a large plant and close to the corridor the odd woman had previously gone down.
“Nolan; follow that woman,” Bishop instructed, her voice low and calm, it almost reminded Lucy to relax. Nolan caught Lucy’s eyes and she sent him the tiniest nods, as if to encourage him, Go.
One of the men, smaller and slightly stockier than the ring leader pointed his gun towards the crowd as if couldn’t decide who he would scare. He found his victim quickly. Lucy’s stomach turned as he grabbed the blonde woman by the hair and dragged her into the center of the room. “Anyone touches that pretty little panic button; and I’ll give this girl a quick bullet to the brain.”
The room shook with worry and pleas of freedom.
“Delta,” the tallest man said, almost as a warning to the crazed man who still had the woman gripped by her hair.
He let go reluctantly but his gun remained on the woman. The third man pressed his gun to the back of an old man’s head. Not good, Chen’s mind screamed.
“We wait for backup,” Lucy heard Bishop say over the coms, and she could almost see the conversation in her mind. Bradford was clearly ready to storm in, all guns blazing, eventually he would know Bishop was right. They had to wait, there was too many people at stake.
“Keep your head down Boot,” he told her sternly, Lucy could hear the annoyance in his voice. Lucy’s pulse steadied as she narrowed her focus on Training Officer’s instructions.
Observing the scene, she dropped her head and let her eyes track the entire room. The tall masked man had grabbed one of the managers and instructed her to bring him to the vaults where there would be cash, and valuable items they could loot and sell on.
Twelve people, one manager and two bankers on the floor. The third man stood stiffy, her eyes flicking from his hostage to where ‘Delta’ was standing.
“Nolan, update,” Bishop called.
“I see her, she’s in one of the manager’s office using their computer. I think she’s in on it,” Nolan informed them. And suddenly it felt as if the room was too loud. Bishop and Nolan continued to talk in her ear, and the sounds of people’s whimpering fear was beginning to make her nauseous.
It seemed one of the robber was having similar feelings.
“God… stop with all the crying,” Delta yelled to the woman on the ground. Lucy knew a man on the verge of madness, and this guy was ready to jump at any moment. “Do all women cry?” He asked the room, his hands flung outstretched. His gun remained steady in his hand, as if it was extension of his arm.
Lucy could hear the small click of her coms in her ear, signaling a change of frequencies. “Nolan’s hogging all the air time,” Bradford said casually, and Lucy suddenly wished she could see the small spark of amusement in his eyes.
But no movement of his mouth. God forbid his muscles transform into a smile.
“Alright Chen, backup is three minutes out,” Bradford’s gravelling voice somehow calmed her down. Lucy never thought that would happen, it wasn’t that long ago, his voice would cause her eyes to roll, her lungs to tighten and her blood begin to boil.
“Delta,” the other man called softly, as if drawing the man back in from spinning out of control.
But it was very clear… there was no reigning this man back in.
Lucy dropped her eyes to the ground, taking a deep breath; because she knew what was about to happen. She could feel the vibration of his gaze hit her bones.
Taking two large strides and suddenly he was in front of her. He bent down until she could smell the lingering scent of cigarettes on his breath.
“I asked you a question… do all you women cry?” His voice was mockingly slow, as if Lucy was slow.
“Ignore him, Chen.”
She followed the instructions.
“No English?” the man asked, and although she couldn’t see his face, she could hear the smug smile lace its way into his voice.
“Delta there’s something wrong,” the other man said, a nervous energy surrounding him.
“Shut up,” he whispered to him, although his entire attention remained on Lucy. “No tears for me?” he antagonized her, his voice quiet but stern. “How about a single tear when a blow your brains out, huh?”
Lucy held her breathe and waited, counting back the time in her mind. She could wait two minutes and twenty six seconds.
“There’s something wrong. He should be back by now,” the worried one murmured as his eyes flickered from his watch to Delta. Delta turned to face him, giving Lucy a minute to breathe.
“Bishop’s gone to help Nolan take down the leader and the woman working with them; apparently, she can throw quite the punch,” Bradford told her, but Lucy was only half listening. She felt completely frozen; numb to everything around her, as if she was wearing a suit of stone.
“It’s nearly over,” Tim said over the coms, it sounded almost comforting.
Staring down at her hands, she continued to count down the seconds in her mind.
“We need to leave,” the worried robber said, his words rushed as he hiked the empty duffle bag high on his arm, “it’s been too long.”
With a sigh, Delta looked at him and said, “fine,” and raised his hand holding the gun and pointed it at the blonde woman on the ground.
Lucy moved before her brain processed what she was doing.
“Wait, I know what it feels like,” Lucy yelled, standing up to face the masked man. He turned calmly, but didn’t drop his hand, allowing the pointed gun to be aimed at her.
Empathize; her training told her.
The man didn’t say anything, he just took a step forward and waited.
“Control. It’s a funny emotion. Because that’s what it is. An emotion. You might think, you’re in control, out of control. But control is really about making other people feel emotion, right?” Lucy’s voice didn’t shake, as she read out her father’s psychology textbook in her mind.
The man took another step forward, his gun, a foot away from Lucy’s heart.
“Thirty seconds,” Bradford whispered.
“You can lie, cheat and steal… but there’s nothing more powerful than control over someone’s emotions,” she whispered, luring him in.
Suddenly he was snapped out of the bubble Lucy had created when the worried guy yelled, “let’s go man,” and edged towards the exit, his gun remaining pointed towards the elderly man on his knees.
She wasn’t sure if she should’ve seen the butt of the gun slamming into the side of the head coming or not. But the brute force knocked her to the ground instantly.
“I hope you don’t cry my smart girl,” Delta whispered before raising his gun once more. Lucy’s vision was blurry, the entire world was on a tilted axis as she stared up at the gun facing her. Her coms had been knocked out of her ear, she was sure she would’ve heard Tim’s grumpy voice informing her of all the petty mistakes, or maybe he would’ve sent her that look of approval she was receiving more often during shifts.
As she looked at the barrel of the gun, she realized she lost count in her mind.
She wasn’t sure if it was the concussion or the shock that caused everything to feel disjointed. Numbness wrapped itself around her body as she simply stared at the events that unfolded in front of her.
The man they called Delta, flicked the safety off his gun. His finger twitched along the trigger.
Suddenly, she was blinded, a wetness covering her entire face. A piercing ringing had entered her ears and she felt her legs give way beneath them. Blinking through her blurry vision, she felt the scene around her come to life around her.
Delta lay face down, close but not touching her. The area around him was a mass of chunky red, and Lucy felt her stomach flip at the sight. An awareness of reality was dawning slowly. Was that her name she heard in the background?
“Chen,” Bradford barked from across the room. Her training officer had successfully pinned the other man to the ground and was cuffing his hands behind his back. Lucy’s eyes locked onto the trail of blood along Tim’s arm, feeling her heart’s speed spike at the sight.
She could barely move from her position on the ground, her legs numb beneath her. Watching as Bradford cuffed the man’s arm to the radiator by the window, while calling out, “okay, I need everyone to remain calm. The people about to enter this room are officers and paramedics, please call out if you’ve been hurt and someone will be over to assist you.” Chen hadn’t even noticed the cops who arrived outside.
Bradford held a hand up to the paramedic who approached Lucy, and marched straight over and knelt in front of her.
“Injuries?” Tim inquired, his eyes like steel as he scanned her entire body.
“Great bedside manner,” she sarcastically said, surprising herself and her T.O. The paramedic Bradford turned away snorted with laughter but was quickly silenced by the death glare that was sent his way. Her brain was beginning to feel normal; he calmed her. The familiarity of his presence - he was her routine.
Taking out a tissue, he handed to her; the instruction clear. Lucy began to drag the tissue roughly across her skin, feeling her face tingle with a slight edge of pain. But she didn’t mind. She didn’t want to be numb anymore.
Bradford suddenly stood up, his hands on his hips, a furrow in his brow and his mouth drawn in a straight line. It was his usual stature; but something was off. The familiar stony eyes that were always stern and providing you with full attention, hopped all over the place. His shoulders were tense, it appeared to Lucy there were about to snap under the tension.
Following his lead, Lucy stood up, straightened her back and tilted her head slightly upwards; in a defiant sense of stubbornness. She would not let that criminal affect her.
Tim’s shoulders dropped on their own accord, as he watched Lucy march ahead of him like a force to be reckoned with.
“Why the hell does my Rook still have blood on her face,” Bradford yelled out as he stomped towards Chen who was sitting in back of an open ambulance. He had been previously taking witness statements with Bishop, until he noticed the lack of help Lucy was receiving. Talia simply rolled her eyes at his behavior and continued to note the useless information a shopkeeper was giving her.
Lucy could help the exasperated sigh that left her lips as she watched Bradford march towards her like a bull let loose, there was no stopping him. “I sent them away, I’m fine,” she protested until he was standing in front of her. Carefully he grasped her chin with such a gentle hand, Lucy suddenly lost her voice.
Turning her head to the side, he examined her face with his usual grumpy expression. Lucy wasn’t sure why she was holding her breathe.
She let out an involuntary shiver and of course Bradford noticed, “you’re in shock,” he stated simply.
From the shock, her brain assured her, but her racing heart said something else. Lucy stared down at her hands which were splattered with blood and shaking like a leaf.
Okay so she might still actually be in shock.
Like a magic trick, Bradford reached behind her and a retrieved a blanket to wrap around her shoulders. “Why haven’t you been treated?” he demanded, but there was a softness to his voice that she had never heard before.
In response, she pointed to the bandage a paramedic pointed to her temple. But from the expression on Tim’s face, that clearly wasn’t enough.
“You’ll need a head scan, blood work and assessment from a neurologist,” he concluded, ripping open a packet of wipes, he began to carefully wipe the remaining blood from her face. Lucy instantly felt stupid for the pocket of nerves that suddenly developed in her stomach at Bradford’s proximity.
“Should I be calling you Dr Bradford?”
“You should be heading to the hospital,”
“I don’t need-”
“-You don’t know what you need,”
“Neither do you,” she shot back, watching his grey eyes snap back to hers. “You’re injured,” she continued, her voice stern but inside she felt like jelly. They both stared at the dried blood on the arm of his uniform. It didn’t look as bad close up, but it was still caused by a bullet.
“I’m healed,” he argued, a childish tilt to his voice which made Lucy smile.
“Must be a miracle,” she mumbled, earning a crack in his stern demeanour and a quick upturn of his lips. It shouldn’t have given Lucy so much satisfaction; but it did.
There was a beat of silence before a terrible image entered Lucy’s mind.
Tim Bradford with another bullet it his body.
“Should’ve waited for back up,” she whispered. Bradford’s hand stalled for a moment, before continuing to brush the wipe along Lucy’s cheekbone. He let his hand drop, allowing her to catch a glance at the stark red color on the tissue.
Lucy watched the struggle Tim was having in his own mind. With eyes glued to the bandage on her head, he exhaled softly before eventually allowing his eyes to travel back to meet her awaiting gaze.
“I’m not waiting if you’re in trouble Boot.”
Lucy was pretty sure her mouth was slightly agape as Tim Bradford took a step back.
“One of you keep an eye on your fellow Rookie,” he yelled towards Nolan direction, and marched back into the crowds of people.
Lucy’s heart only returned to it’s routine pace when she was lying beneath the CT scan Tim ordered.