“Oh, fuck you!” I bellowed. “You… goddamn…”

“I know,” Rourke said. “Hurts like a bitch, doesn’t it?” He walked over to one of the windows and peeked inside. “Girlfriend’s still there. I’m going to go in and question her soon as they get here.”

The distant sound of sirens was fast approaching. I rolled my shoulder, pulling a face at the lingering throbbing that had been left behind. It felt a lot better, but it was definitely going to swell up and be a pain later on. That was a problem for future me.

“I’ll stay and—”

“You’re not doing shit,” Rourke interrupted. “Backup is on the way, and I can handle a little questioning. Go home. It’s not like you have plans tonight anyway.”

“I’m fine,” I argued.

“Go. Home. Don’t make me have to talk to the Sergeant.”

I glared at him. “You’re a little bitch.”

“Love you too,” he teased as he waved at the paramedics jogging down the alley. “Get out of here.”

Groaning, I gave in. As much as I wanted to stay, I had to admit that the fun part was over. Now came questions, paperwork, and bureaucratic bullshit. While I didn’t love it, sticking around and doing everything right was a great way to continue to get noticed. And I needed to be noticed if I wanted to make detective.

* * *

“Didn’t Rourke say you were going home?”

I glanced up from the computer and stared at my Sargeant. Rourke was still out, but I’d gone right back to the precinct. I’d been on my way home, but I got that urge in my belly to go back and see what else I could get into for the day. My shift wasn’t technically over, and my arm was fine. I wanted to work.

“I was going to, but I feel fine,” I said as I stood up and followed her to her desk. She dropped a stack of folders and sighed. “What’s all this for?”

“Huh?” She looked up at me like she was only seeing me for the first time and frowned. “Oh, something I’m working on for the chief. Did you put everything into your activity log?”

I nodded. “First thing I did when I came back.” I picked up a file. “These are so old. What are you looking into?”

“The Vitale family again. Chief wants a big bust. Taking down a crime family? It doesn’t get much bigger than that.”

I whistled. “Shit, no one’s been able to get anything major on them in like twenty years.”

“Yep, that’s the problem,” she muttered.

“I bet if someone did figure out what’s going on with them, he could probably make detective a hell of a lot sooner…” I trailed off.

Sergeant White stared at me before her eyes narrowed. “Not this shit again. You just became a cop two years ago. Why are you trying to move so fast?”

“We both know I want detective.”

“Yes, but you get there through busting your ass and doing the work,” she said as she plucked the file out of my hands. “Not by taking shortcuts. I don’t want to see you nosing around these. Go do some work.”