Chapter 9
Norm knew he had to put in some face time back at the station and returned begrudgingly, thinking that an appearance in front of his leadership for an hour or two would suffice. As he walked through the door, he stole a quick glance at Steve's desk and frowned, an action not lot on Mike.
"Norm!" Mike bellowed from his office. The detective jolted in surprise as he hung his coat on the rack.
"Sorry to have surprised you. Just wondered how you were doing. I haven't seen you since this morning!" Mike commented kindly as he came out of the office to a very quiet bullpen.
"Uh, hey, Mike. Yeah, all is well. I was just out on the streets working my normal contacts. I decided to come back and wrap up a couple files," Norm said with a bit of a forced smile.
"Good, that's good, Norm," Mike responded. "I know we're not busy, but we are a bit shorthanded what with Steve being sick and Bill on vacation, so I appreciate you being around."
"Sure, Mike. Is there anything you need?" Norm asked.
"Oh, no. I'm going to wrap up and maybe get out of here before too long. Jeannie's picking up a gift for me for Irene. It's our 6 month anniversary," Mike said with only a slight gush.
Norm grinned broadly. "Ah, congratulations, Mike. Taking her out for dinner?"
"Sure - she's picked the restaurant, so we'll have a nice meal and some wine. I'm also going to present her with a nice little trinket."
"A wedding ring?" Norm asked incredulously.
"Nah, not yet," Mike hedged. "But you should see the bracelet I bought her."
"Do you have reservations?" Norm asked.
"About Irene? Well, no..." Mike responded, surprised that Norm would be so personal.
"Not about Irene, but at a restaurant," Norm said as he rolled his eyes.
Mike chuckled. "Sure, I'm going meet her around six o'clock at this little place in the Petrero," he answered with a wink. "But before I do that, I'll swing by and check on Steve. He didn't sound too well this morning," Mike added.
Norm nodded and wondered if Steve was even at home. "Why don't I call him and see how he's doing? Might save you a trip!"
Candlestick Park was crowded with businessmen, tourists and absentee cops. The tickets the trio had were third base side and only about ten rows back. They were the best seats Dan had ever had.
"Where'd you get these tickets?" Dan asked. Steve and Irene were quite happy to see Dan show excitement at the prospect of seeing the game. "These seats are excellent."
"I called in a favor," Steve explained quickly and mysteriously. Irene rolled her eyes. "How about a beer?" he asked. Before Dan and Irene could answer, Steve waved the Budman over and ordered three bottles. "Two bucks a beer?" he commented as he opened his wallet. "How do they get away with that?"
Dan took his bottle and smiled at his colleague, "Thanks, man."
The innings sped by as the Giants made quick work of the Cubs offense. While the home team was up, Steve was excited to see Willie McCovey come to bat. "He's one of Mike's favorites," he commented.
"Mike loves Willie. Too bad we aren't seeing the Cardinals. Mike's a big fan of theirs as well. Why is that, do you suppose?" Irene asked. "Was Helen from St. Louis?"
Steve shrugged. "I don't think so. I think she was from Chicago, but spent most of her life here. To answer your question, I don't know why he likes the Cards so much - tradition perhaps. All those World Series for such a relatively small town. I mean, they've had so many greats and even now, while they aren't where they were a few years ago, they've got Brock, McBride, Hrabosky, Reggie Smith..."
Just then McCovey popped up a foul. "I got it!" Steve shouted as he caught the ball barehanded. The crowd around him cheered. He grinned as he tried to shake the sting away.
After checking to see that no child whose life dream it was to retrieve a foul ball was around and staring at him with big eyes, he decided to keep the ball. It was a weekday afternoon game after all and most of the kids were in school. With that, Steve began to think. "Hey, maybe Willie will sign it for me. It'd be a nice Christmas present for Mike, wouldn't it? I'll be right back."
Steve was gone so quickly that Dan and Irene barely knew he'd left.
Jeannie thought it best to swing by Candlestick before the game was over. She drove past the stadium entrance and hoped to get a spot along the white zone, which she knew was for loading and unloading only. She figured it would take her only a few minutes to hop into the Will Call line, pick up the tickets Mike had purchased and be out of there quickly.
It only figured, given the day she was having, that as she got in line, the crowd roared and the game was over.
I'll never get out of here now! she said to herself. Looking up the block to where her car was illegally parked, she debated running back to move it, but as she found herself moving up the short line, she decided to take her chances.
Irene and Dan waited for Steve after the game ended. It didn't take long for him to return, proudly showing the autograph.
"How did you..." Dan began to ask.
Steve simply smiled and didn't answer. "Think he'll like it?"
Irene nodded.
Jeannie finally got to the front of the line and picked up the tickets at Will Call after providing Mike's information. She was nervous that there were crowds around her now and also knew that she had been away from her unattended car too long. Grabbing the envelope with the tickets an stuffing it in her purse, she darted back across the street and located her car.
A motorcycle patrolman was pulled behind the vehicle, with lights flashing. The officer was on the radio calling in the car's information.
Jeannie gulped as she saw the situation and raced over before it got any worse.
