He thought of when he’d first entered the force, and his grandiose ideas of becoming a champion of justice were dashed to the floor when he worked through his first stack of paperwork. He’d heard about other cops who loved to give tickets, but he wasn’t one of those guys. He didn’t want to think about all the paperwork involved. With the door to his office shut and the blinds closed, he finished the last sheet and then slumped forward, placing his forehead squarely on his ink blotter. “Thank God,” he mumbled. But he knew there would be more paperwork coming. There always was. He stood from his desk and pushed his chair in, deciding to begin his evening patrol. He and his deputy, Jordan Sheppard, often worked opposite shifts. Today, Ryan had taken the evening and night shift even though he disliked it. Jordan would relieve him sometime in the early morning. He pulled on his khaki-colored coat and zipped it over his button-up shirt, then slipped his new suede cowboy hat over his shortly cropped brown hair.
