This gritty standalone crime novel is by the author of two ongoing, critically acclaimed noir series set in the same territory--the streets of Washington, D. C. Lorenzo Brown spent eight years in jail for dealing drugs. Now he`s attempting to walk the straight and narrow as an employee of the Humane Society, investigating claims of animal abuse. Meanwhile, his long-suffering parole officer, Rachel Lopez, drowns her sorrows nightly with alcohol and dangerous sex. When one of Lorenzo`s former associates, drug kingpin Nigel, gets involved in a turf war, both Lorenzo and Rachel are dragged into it.