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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.”

“But—”

“I don’t want to hear it, Caster,” she said shortly. “Focus on what’s in front of you.”

Fuck that. I was already two years in. By now, my father had been a detective and had started receiving accolades. He was hailed as the best of the best, and I was left standing in his shadow, a fraction of the man that he was.

“Sargeant White? My office,” the chief called.

She sighed. “I’ll be back.” She scooped up the files and dropped them into her filing cabinet before shutting it.

I nodded and watched her go. The office door shut and my hands moved before my brain could keep up. I’d shoved my leg against the file cabinet just as it closed. Sure enough, it hadn’t locked the way she thought it did. I pulled it open and reached inside. Taking out one of the folders, I scanned the info and moved to the next one.

The Vitale family was like a ghost story to a bunch of camp kids when it came to cops. An old crime family, they ran New York and what they got into was nothing short of shocking. Guns, drugs, prostitution; you name it, they did it.

I flipped through and stopped. One of their known clubs wasn’t far from where I lived. I looked at the clock on the far wall, and a grin tugged at my lips. Okay, I probably wouldn’t find anything. But it was worth checking out, right?

Glancing around, I made sure no one was watching as I snapped a picture of the page and shoved my phone back into my pocket. I closed the drawer and went back to the desk.

Seems like I have plans after all.