Chief of Police Bret Skoal is being blackmailed. A videotape showing his excessive use of force on a group of unarmed teenagers has been shipped overnight to the department, just in time to complicate an ongoing homicide investigation. Officer Robbie Brooks is five years sober, and barely hanging on to his job thanks to Chief Skoal. He's desk bound and bored, but at least he's still alive, so long as his old partner doesn't come back to finish him. Rookie Lou Culpepper frequently blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, because reality is often so damn unsatisfying. That's all about to change.