. The bullpen was alive with chatter, computer keys clacking, and steaming coffee cups

sk, eyes flicking betwee

uttered. "Told you. The sp

rk. "Ferraris don't run on discipline. You expected him t

monitor. "I bet ten bucks he gho

ere. This is a department that's stretched thin alre

disbelief, a low, throaty engi

out. A sleek black Bugatti Chiron rolled to a

tood and pressed a

ent was

s. Officers lined both sides, and beyond them stood C

custom-cut navy suit and dark aviators. The camera

ed. "You've got t

t's his first day... and they

ward, arms outstretched,

firm, his smile wide for the press, at least. "Th

. "Anything to serve justice," he said dryl

ng dignitary. Cameras trailed him, and every few feet an officer gave him a

e final part

unced, raising his voice for the press. "He'll be embedded for t

es widene

for the briefest moment, the

e contac

respect, my team is in the middle of a serious operat

a brow. "Rea

one. "This comes directly from the Mayor

melted steel. Jason, meanwhile, looked

o bond," he s

t hallway, escaping the noise. For a moment, the arrogance drop

A 13-year-old Jason sat beside his mother, Anna, on

she said gently. "They'll label you before you ev

if I mess up? What i

kind of man he wishes he hadn't lost. The best

mise me. Be someone you'd adm

stood straighter, checked his reflection in the glas

his for Andrew. N

he woman who raised him when t

for their first joint assignment surveyi

t for issuing cold, clipped instructi

rd the vehicle bay, Leah read something o

rms folded, amused. "You always th

idn't

r didn't see the cra

oot t

ped, st

forward wit

just in time to stop the fall. He

her face inc

steady, stron

m his eyes. What remained was something els

eyes l

the world arou

ts. No viral sca

ht in a flicker of u

uiet and conflicted.

d... then gent

aring her throat, rea

to his pockets, a small s

ntirely useless

ys glare but it didn't

at, the air betw

d just enough for someth