Richard “Fuck!” I scream, as I burst out of the East Main building downtown, where the offices of Internal Affairs are located. My partner—or rather, former partner—Stan Carbee, is hot on my heels. “Hey, calm down, Dick,” he says, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I shake him off and loosen my tie before ripping it off completely. “Calm down?” I spit, “Like hell am I gonna calm down. What the fuck am I supposed to do now? Huh?” The bystanders milling around the building eye me and move away. Fuck ‘em. “You’ve got options, alright?” Stan goes on, “I told you, my cousin’s got some connections with a private security company—” “A security company?” I scoff, “What, I’m supposed to become some mall cop, walking around empty buildings at night with a goddamn can of pepper spray?! Fuck!” I sink down onto the first step of the building and bury my hands in my hair.
