"Within reason," he says with a grin he tries to hide. "We can't go blaring it the whole way there, but maybe it'll get us through an intersection or two."

Now that they've given him a squad car, it's probably not the best idea to abuse it, but what the hell. It's not the end of the world if he uses it once or twice to make Beverly happy. A lot of other cops have used it for reasons a hell of a lot less honourable than that and Hopper knows he's not one of them.

"They gave me a car," he says. "When I started back up at work again. I guess my years of experience get me somethin'."

At least he's not walking a damn beat. It wouldn't have been the end of the world, but having the car is a big step up, and he hadn't really wanted to start at the bottom of the food chain all over again. He's done that once in New York and that was more than enough.