Close to the Victim

Chapter Two: Welcome Home Bash

Sebastian Scott

Bash held in the curse words he had for Hale. When he'd been kicked out of his own interrogation and warned he'd be reprimanded if he didn't let go, Bash was banished to his desk like a toddler. So it made sense he was writing obscenities to call Hale in his spiral notebook.

He hated Gordon and all her attempts to undermine his leadership.

She was a junior detective for goodness sake. Bash was a couple years older than her but he had never been able to command the uniforms like she could. Even Sully bowed at her feet like she was the goddess of the department. But Captain Hale's actions were utterly despicable.

Hale likely thought that if he kept Gordon in the department any longer it would reflect badly  on him. He would never defend the alleged. His number one priority was solving the most cases. He didn't care if the wrong people went to prison. That all fell to Bash, he served them all justice.

But even though Gordon was a pain in the ass, she wasn't guilty.

Anyone could see that. But Bash doubted Sully would defend her anymore, and the uniforms were the ones who saw the insurance card in her locker. So nobody would believe her. Only Bash. God, why would Gordon have only one person in the city that completely trusted her?

It was just so predictable of Gordon to put him in this position over and over again.

She got abducted from the Russian Cartel because she couldn't figure out how to turn off her  ringtone. She had a hunch the killer was going to sell his drugs at his next meeting and it was just a guy trying to buy a bagel shop. But hey, maybe there are some murderous bagels out there.

Still Bash couldn't handle the overwhelming feeling that he was powerless to stop what was  coming. That was the whole reason he became a detective. He wanted the power to deliver justice and stop feeling guilty about what happened to his father.

Fed up with all this, Bash marched to Hale's desk where he was eating a powdered raspberry donut while reading through the news. But as if he sensed Bash was there behind the newspaper, he bolstered out, "No you can't interrogate Gordon."

"I didn't ask sir, but respectfully, I would have to disagree with you. Gordon is no killer."

Hale patronizingly nodded his head knowing his answer full-well as he proceeded to pretend he was listening to Bash's justifications. Crossing his arms, Hale became the vision of a roadblock as a person, minus the orange traffic-cone-like exterior of course.

"I hear you, Scott," he waved off his importance with a steely gaze. "It's hard to hear one of our  own would be dealing in the dirt we deal with everyday, but I've seen it a thousand times over. What you think you can get away with, you do because you can." He shook his head.

Bash clenched his fists and snorted a loud exhale through his nose. Through a quiet mumble Bash scurried away. "Hale couldn't even command an apple to sit up."

But it was his job on the line. If he went against the Captain, this had real repercussions and could really bite him in the ass in the future. Bash's pace hastened as he met the edge of the elevator. It beckoned him, but he still couldn't do it. He made a sharp turn towards the stairs and he escaped.

The taxi ride down to his apartment was too quiet and he could still hear the sound of the handcuffs snapping onto Gordon.

Bash knew he was tangled up in his own way too often, but he kept catching himself wishing he was better when he talked to Gordon. Yet, he didn't care about her like that. So many people have seen his inability to communicate in niceties as a turn-off, but Gordon did not.