"He's not an officer I know," John says instead of answering the question outright. There's more than one precinct in Darrow, so it's entirely possible this Hopper works elsewhere, but even if they were close friends at work, John wouldn't have asked him to do something like this.

This is the sort of thing he needs to do alone. He can't risk others.

"I should have called for backup, though," he agrees. "I was taken by surprise." That's not entirely a lie either. It's not quite the truth, but he wouldn't usually be caught unawares like he was tonight.