Getting back on the same page

Mike sat in his office still thinking about, yesterdays conversation, just as he'd done that morning, it really didn't sit well with him, could jealousy really be what drove him to say what he did, 'you know it was, it was jealousy be honest, it couldn't be, could it?' Hmm, he'd never felt that before, maybe because he'd never felt as intensely about anyone as he did for Connie? And what did he do, try to sabotage his relationship. He needed to put things right. But how?

xxxxxxx

Later that afternoon after they'd worked through a number of other cases, including paperwork to put the DiNapoli trial to bed, Mike looked at Connie and said "Ok, lets step through the whole Heath/Lira case, the timeline, everything from the beginning,"

Connie knew this was Mike's olive branch, he didn't have to do this, he had a more than viable case, but because he trusted her instincts, the fact that she was uneasy with this case, they'd look at everything again. She wasn't so full of herself that she thought it was only because she had issues with the case; Mike must as well for him take another look at it now.

Mike "The Heath's were killed at 3 am in their brownstone, no forced entry, but they were known to leave it unlocked. Mr. Heath hears a noise, goes down to the living room is shot first, then Mrs. Heath is shot in bed, killer ransacks their room"

Connie "Half –heartedly, there are several expensive pieces of jewelry that they missed"

Mike "No DNA, no hair, but one bloody handprint, no other blood spread anywhere else"

Connie "#1 fact out of the ordinary for me is that there is just one print, the Heath's were killed fairly meticulously, what did the killer have to do to get blood on his hands,"

Connie "and #2 say he manages to get blood on his hands, how did he manage to only leave one really clear print" continues "No known enemies, a pillar of the community, loving father, owner of Heath & Son's Electronics"

Mike "Which leads us to our accused, Roberto Lira, son of a violent felon, raised into a life of crime, arrested at fourteen during a home invasion robbery, where his father killed the home owner. Spent several years in juvenile detention, but nothing after being released from juvenile detention and having no contact with his father. Hired by Sam Heath shortly after leaving juvvie, worked his way up from stock boy to the assistant store manager for their electronics store, by all accounts is nothing like his father, virtually the adopted son of the Heath's. Hard working, seems to be loved by all employees, revitalized the store by changing its focus to mobile phones and electronics, turning it into a highly profitable business." "Heard arguing with the victim by the victim's son"

Connie interjected "no corroboration of the argument"

Mike, winced a little "True" "As to motive, he was recently made a beneficiary in Sam Heath's will, giving him 20% of the shares of Heath Electronics"

Their floor had been empty, but they heard the ping of the elevator, they looked at each other, even though they weren't doing anything inappropriate. Soon Jack walked through, "Good to see my prosecutors working hard" looking at the board "why are you going over the Heath case, shouldn't that be an open and shut case? You have motive and a bloody handprint, what more do you need, this case could be handled by a junior prosecutor, hell it should have been pleaded out. Now we have the defense crying OJ about cops planting evidence, the DA's office and 1PP don't need this kind of headache Mike"

Mike "Well Mr. Lira won't allocute to the murders, so we can't take a plea and Connie has some questions about our evidence and for that matter so do I and as far as a junior prosecutor, well you've got us"

Jack "Close this case Mike" as he stormed out and closed the door behind him.

Connie "Regarding that motive, other than Sam Jr. saying so, no corroboration of Lira knowing that the will had been changed and Lira being made a beneficiary" "We have the company's CFO saying he actively turned down raises and bonuses, including virtually tearing up checks made to himself and insisting they be distributed to other lower level employees."

Mike "Lira has no alibi for the time of the murder, as he was in his apartment alone at the time, people can change their mind about money"

Connie "We also don't have him at the scene of the crime, no use of his metro card, no video footage of him at the station, no cab rides away from the Heath's. We don't have the murder weapon and we also can't tie him to any gun. He would have the history with unsavory types from his father, but no apparent contact with them in the last 10 years"

Mike turning back to Connie "It all rests on that bloody handprint"

Jack popped back in "Good night, close the case" and walked out. They heard his foot steps, the ping of the elevators and they were alone again.

Mike, "They scored some pretty good points on the bloody handprint and CSU on Friday" "Not that I think this, but we checked and there's no connection between anyone on our case and Lira's father?"

"None, that I've seen" Connie, shifted through her files and pulled out a copy of the report. "hmm let's look at that handprint. I mean, we know Lupo or Bernard or really anyone on scene wouldn't have planted that handprint, but there was something odd about it, it wasn't matched using the standard department software, it had to be sent out to the Fed's for further analysis and was matched to Roberto Lira's."

Mike walked around and looked over her shoulder "Prints had non-standard smudges, inconsistent ridge lines, non-conclusive" Feeling how close he was, Connie looked up over her shoulder at him, he grinned down at her. They made a practice of not being inappropriate in the office, even if they were the only ones in the office, and they where pretty good at adhering to that rule. He gave her a quick kiss on the nose and stood up. "Talk to the labs and find out why this was so different." Connie ignored his little indiscretion, merely raising an eyebrow at him.

Connie, excited now that they were on the same page, she was sure they'd find out one way or another the truth on this case, "Ok"

Suddenly Mike looked very serious "Connie, I have to apologize for what I said to you yesterday, I was out of line calling into question your reason for doubting this case, truth be told, one of the reasons I couldn't sleep this morning I was going over it in my head, " he paused and looked down "and I came to the conclusion that I was a little jealous of you and Lira, that you had made some kind of connection with Lira." Connie opened her mouth to speak, but he held up a hand signaling to let him finish. "It was irrational, and not based on anything at all, just the fact that you spoke Spanish to him and you were questioning this case, my case" "It was stupid, unprofessional and I apologize"

Connie's mouth had stayed open the whole time he spoke. When she could finally produce words, the first thing out of her mouth was "Maybe I should have been mad at Mike my date not just Mike my boss yesterday" She was dumbfounded and annoyed but oddly touched that he admitted to jealousy.

"Maybe you should have" sighed Mike quietly

"This isn't going to be a habit if I disagree with you on a case that you think I have romantic feelings for the defendant is it?"

Mike "I didn't say romantic feelings, just a connection against my case, against me. I promise it won't happen again, I don't know what got into me, I'm sorry. "

Connie, looking at how miserable he looked, took pity on him "Ok, no real harm done, but lets not make that a habit. Apology accepted" someday they'd have to discuss this in depth, but she felt today was not the time to do that.

Mike "Dinner at Pinnacle? It's on me"

Connie "Sure" for some reason, she felt they were going into unchartered territory.