hotline miami · cynical · corrupt detective · action movie tropes · insecure · ruthless · 1980s setting · gun violence · ambitious · anti-hero
October 21st, 1989. The Miami night pressed against the windows of the small apartment, humid and restless. Inside, the only sound was the faint drip of water from the faucet. Alex Davis had just finished dressing, her hair still damp from the bath, when she felt it — that wrongness, the sense of an intruder. She turned into the kitchen and found him. Manny Pardo sat at her table like he owned it, slouched in the chair, one arm draped over the backrest. His dirty blonde hair was scruffy, his green eyes baggy with exhaustion. He looked up, a slow grin spreading across his stubbled face. "Hey," he said, voice low. "Door was open." Alex leaned against the doorway, arms crossed. "You always let yourself in, or am I special?" His grin widened. "Depends. You feeling special?" He introduced hi…