The Night Brooklyn's Finest Became Its Most Wanted
An excerpt from "Before The Night Falls" - The prequel to the Night Files series
Sometimes, the most dangerous moment in a cop's career isn't when someone points a gun at you. It's when you realize the people you trust most are the ones pulling the trigger.
Detective Marcus Vale learned this lesson on a frozen January night in Red Hook, watching his captain shake hands with the kind of men they'd spent years putting behind bars. In that moment, everything Vale thought he knew about justice, loyalty, and the badge he wore crumbled like ice under Brooklyn streetlights.
Before The Night Falls is the origin story that launched the Night Files short fiction series. It follows Vale through two weeks that destroyed his career and redefined his understanding of what it means to serve and protect. This isn't a story about good cops versus bad guys—it's about the gray spaces where desperation meets compromise, where good people face impossible choices, and where asking the right questions can get you killed.
The briefing room felt smaller with every detective in the division crammed inside. Vale counted twenty-three cops, including Ray who sat three rows ahead, carefully avoiding eye contact. Ray had warned him this was coming, but sitting here waiting for his public execution still felt surreal.
Captain Morrison entered with the confident stride of a man about to deliver important news. He positioned himself at the podium, surveying the room with practiced authority.
"Thank you all for being here," Morrison began. "I want to address serious concerns that have come to my attention regarding the integrity of our operations."
Vale felt his pulse quicken. Here it comes.
What fascinates me about writing crime fiction is how quickly the foundation of trust can collapse. Vale spent ten years believing in the system, trusting his captain, following the rules. In forty-eight hours, everything he built his identity around became a weapon pointed at his own chest.
The real inspiration for this story came from watching how corruption works—not through dramatic betrayals, but through small compromises that accumulate like interest. People don't wake up one morning deciding to cross lines. They make desperate choices to protect what they love, then find themselves trapped in systems designed to exploit that desperation.
Brooklyn South isn't just a precinct in this story—it's a character. The warehouses of Red Hook, the narrow streets of Brooklyn Heights, the industrial maze where honest cops go to die. Every location carries the weight of the choices made there.
Vale's journey from detective to private investigator sets up everything that follows in the Night Files series. It's about learning that sometimes justice exists outside the system that's supposed to protect it. Sometimes the badge becomes the obstacle, and real police work happens in the shadows.
Before The Night Falls asks a simple question: When the system fails, how far will you go to make things right? Vale's answer cost him everything he thought he wanted and gave him everything he actually needed.
The night falls on every cop's career eventually. The question is whether you'll still be standing when the sun comes up.
Get Before The Night Falls as a free download when you subscribe to Mystery Bytes. This complete prequel novella sets up the entire Night Files series and introduces you to Marcus Vale's world of digital investigation and street-level justice.
What drew you to crime fiction? Share your thoughts in the comments.