Chapter 8

The same evening the dearly departed, but very much alive Steve Keller paced the family room of his partner's house, where he was recuperating while playing dead.

Mike looked up from the newspaper he was trying to read and took off his black rimmed reading glasses. He watched the young man with a mixture of exasperation and concern. "Steve, what's wrong with you?" he asked eventually.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm fine." The young man started pacing the room again.

"Come on, something is eating at you." Mike's voice was kind.

Steve stopped in his tracks. "It's just that-" he paused.

"What?" Mike probed.

"Oh, I can't stop thinking about Ed and Eve. It's not right…" his voice trailed off again.

The older man sighed. "I know what you mean. It's awful when you can't do anything yourself and feel that other people may be in danger because of you."

"That's exactly what I mean." The young man felt an immense feeling of relief washing over him, there was someone who understood perfectly what was on his mind, and maybe he would understand the other thing that was bothering him, too.

"There is something else, as well." Steve sat down next to Mike who was looking at him expectantly. "You know, the whole thing with Pete is bothering me beyond belief. Is there really no doubt that he tried to kill me and probably killed all the other people?"

Mike felt terribly sorry for the young man who had just survived a brush with death and had to get his head around the idea that someone he used to trust had tried to kill him.

"Buddy boy, I gave you all the material to read, would you come to a different conclusion?"

"No, I guess not." He remained silent for a while. "Mike, what if he was like that when we were at school? You know, I was only a kid and maybe I was a poor judge of character. Things happened during our last year at school."

"Like what?" Mike's professional instinct was going on overdrive.

"Oh, funny accidents, you know, pranks really but some of them could have caused some damage. " Steve paused again, concentrating on reliving some memories.

"Could you give me an example, maybe?" Mike asked after a while.

"Someone cut the brake lines of the car I was driving." Steve looked up, a pained expression on his face. "That's actually why I took Pete's side when everybody else blamed him for what was going on. I said he wouldn't harm me, I was his friend!"

"Come on, you were a kid- and most of all a good kid who tried to help the underdog. So don't beat yourself up now. "

Steve was far from convinced. "But maybe all the killings could have been prevented. One of the boys who gave him a hard time at school died of an overdose. Do you think…" he didn't finish the sentence.

Mike sighed. "It is too much of a coincidence really, isn't it? Wells must be a deeply disturbed person. Disturbed and dangerous."

Both men remained silent for a few minutes.

"I have an awfully bad feeling about Eve and Ed out there with him. If you look at the gaps between the killings", he picked up a file and handed it to Mike, "from what we know there were years between them in the beginning and but they are much closer together now."

"You think he is decompensating? You could be right. Tell you what- why don't you get dressed properly and I give Old Grouch a ring and then we'll put a tail on them. What do you think?"

Steve didn't answer but went straight to the guest room he was occupying, determined not to waste any more time.

The phone only rang twice at the Chief's quarters, he must have been sitting right beside the phone, waiting for a call from Eve and Ed. Mike filled him in quickly and asked. "Any idea where they are right now?"

"Eve and Pete were supposed to go out for dinner at an Italian restaurant in the area, Alfredo's- I think Eve suggested it, and Ed had planned on tagging along…"

"Okay, Bob, I know the place. I'll be heading over there with Steve and we'll follow them."

"Mark and I will be there too. By the way, is your young friend always so slow in the uptake?"

The lieutenant decided that the last remark was meant to be a joke and didn't bother to reply.

Mike insisted that Steve half hid his face under a hoodie and a baseball cap, so that Pete wouldn't recognise him immediately.

Mark and Ironside were already at the restaurant by the time Mike and Steve arrived there. Mike went over to the van.

"Maybe Mark and I can go in for some takeout pizza and check if they are still there," he suggested.

"Pepperoni for me with extra chili peppers!" the Chief agreed.

Yes, the three were still at a table in a corner, a very animated conversation going on between Ed and Eve, while Pete sat there with a face like thunder.

Mike paid for the pizza and went back out, he was sure that Ed and Eve must have noticed him and Mark and must have realised that they were trying to warn them. The older detective brought the box of pizza over to Ironside's van and beckoned Steve to come and join them. The four sat in the back of the vehicle, eating pizza slices that nobody really wanted. Only Mark, with the appetite of the young, dug in wholeheartedly. Steve was too preoccupied to consider eating.

"Why didn't I draw the conclusion earlier?" he kept accusing himself.

Ironside shot him a sharp look. "And what difference would that have made, young man?"

Steve hesitated and Ironside began to elaborate. "We would have used exactly the same setup. I suspect when he was at high school there was no evidence to link him to the dangerous pranks or the alleged overdose either?"

"No, I guess not. The local sheriff looked into it. But nobody ever suspected foul play when it came to Ralph's death through an overdose." The young man looked at Mike with a troubled expression on his face.

"Don't worry about it now. All that matters at the moment is to keep Ed and Eve safe." Mike nudged the Chief to draw his attention to a group of three exiting the restaurant. Mark carefully lowered the window, so that they could hear at least part of the conversation.

"Hey, Eve, fancy a stroll? I'll walk you home!" Ed suggested.

Mike sighed with relief. Reliable Ed had picked up their warning sign and was going to avoid a ride in Pete's car. He whispered into Mark's ear. "We'll let them go out of Wells' view and then we'll pick them up!"

Mark slid back into the driver's seat and started the engine to be prepared. But another car engine roared into life first, headlights on full beam the car headed straight for the young couple…