"Hey Froyd, what's new?" Alexander said, stepping into Deputy Froyd Delson's office.
Froyd gave him a very weary look in response.
"That good, huh? Word on the street is that Donald Fish randomly got shot in the calf." Alex said, thinking back to when he's followed Fish's example of heading over to package store after some stupid kid pulled the fire alarm.
"Yeah, that whole mess is really weird. We don't even know if Donald was the target. Anyways, the good news is that we finally got J Rizzle on a petty solicitation of prostitution charge, but we're gonna have to get more evidence of his drug dealings and his connection to some of the murders he's implicated in if we're gonna get to keep him."
"Good, good. Drug dealings, does that mean you need my help" Alex asked, hoping his good friend Jeremiah Taylor wasn't involved.
"Nah, not really, we dont really have the time to send someone in undercover."
"Any more good news?" Alex said, breaking the awkward silence.
"Yeah. That guy who kidnapped and killed that little girl last year is loose. Great news, right?"
"Damn. That's horrible. How'd he get out?"
"I don't even want to talk about it. These stupid, lazy prision guards are gonna be the death of me, ya know?"
"Mmmhm," Alex gruted his affirmation.
"And of course there's the usual mugging, but the one in the alleyway by the townhomes was particularly gruesome. We think there's something we don't know, something more to that whole ordeal, but I've got more important things to worry about right now. Like that fucker being on the loose again."
"Mmmhm," Alex grunted again.
"Well....uh...thanks for coming in today, but I don't think we need you."
"Oh, well, uh, I actually just came in to get my paycheck."
"Ah," Froyd said, a glimmer of disappointment in his eyes.
They stared awkardly at each other for a while, until, fortunately for both, Froyd was called away. Back outside in the crisp fall air, Alex was heading towards Jupiter Appartments. "God, I miss my home, " he thought bitterly, "not this godforsaken whole in the wall. I'm not even doing what I wanted to do here. I'm a fucking narc. Not ridding the world of bad guys with vicious plots, but selling out guys who are just trying to make a living. Maybe I should just go home...." His mind wandered back home, to what drove him away and what would be waiting for him when he got back, then he quickly dismissed the thought from his mind. He trudged as thoughtlessly as he could manage the rest of the way towards Jupiter Appartments.