Good cop Alston (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.) has to make a deal that sacrifices all of his hard work trying to impress reporter Sandra (Natalie Paul). While initially agreeing to talk on the record to Sandra to expose corruption with the police department, he has to back down when the new police captain promises to clean up the precinct. In exchange for keeping quiet, Alston will be made detective. His decision to not speak on the record means that Sandra's article gets pushed to a human interest story about the lives of sex workers, rather than being a huge exposé. Sandra does not take this news well, thus terminating their relationship.