Officer Evans drives his squad car up Sixth Street and takes a left turn on Adams.

His partner called in sick, so he’s out solo today. His patrol started at 5 a.m. The morning was quiet. He got an early lunch, stayed a bit longer than usual at the counter of Kelly’s Diner. A cheeseburger, medium well with the works, a side of fries, and a cup of black coffee. Same thing every time.

It was a ritual (one of the few) he was going to miss in retirement.

Six more months. Kelly jokes she might have to make his usual the Creature-of-Habit special and send it to him long distance. Because in six months and one day, he and Anne will head to a Florida fifty-five-plus retirement community for their “active adult years.” Their two-bedroom condo is all picked out, halfway between Orlando and Tampa, perfect for a visit from the grandkids. But the best part will be the end of Illinois winters.

When he was a younger man, the freezing temperatures and piles of snow hadn’t bothered him so much, but last winter was too brutal. He decided it was the last winter they would spend in Springfield. Cruising down Adams, he reminds himself to circle around the old state capitol.

He wants to check on a white truck that was parked at Fifth Street in a thirty-minute zone.