Steve sat on a bench in the locker room with his head leaning against the wall. Diane sat down next to him and handed him a couple of aspirin and a cup of water. "Here, you're gonna need these. What the hell were you thinking, standing in there like that?" she asked.
He was asking himself the very same question, knowing that he was going to have a few impressive bruises as companions to a very large headache. "I don't know, I guess I just got caught up in the game." Steve took the aspirin and downed the water.
"By the way, nice pass. I haven't done that in a long time." Diane stated matter-of-factly.
"Hey, about that, where did you learn to dunk like that? I didn't think that was legal in the women's game."
"Oh, it's not. I learned that on the playground. In high school, I was so much taller than all the girls, I used to work out with the guys team sometimes.
Mr. Pence entered the locker room to offer some encouraging words to his teacher team. The 15 minute intermission was nearly over and the staff, amid moans and groans, rose to return to the gym. Mr. Pence held Steve back. "Mike just arrived with two other officers, we are going up to the student lockers now. He wants to arrest Walen and Ballinger after the crowd clears out, when they come out of the locker room. He said to make sure you are over there right after the game. He doesn't want them slipping out. Looks like this will be your last day with us."
Steve was a little concerned that Mike had shared his plan with the Principal. Even though he was a longtime friend of Mike's, there was definitely an information leak with someone on the staff. He guessed he'd have to trust Mike's instinct about his friend. In retrospect, Steve had probably shared too much with Diane as well, but he guessed it was all water under the bridge at this point, since the case was pretty much a wrap.
He thanked Mr. Pence and opened the gym door. The clock was just counting down to zero as he arrived at the faculty bench. He trotted onto the court and stood next to Diane. She leaned over and warned him in a low voice, "Don't do anything stupid. I know you want to beat those two knuckleheads, but it is only a game. Really, it's not worth it."
He didn't need the warning. Not only was he tired and headachy, now he was thinking about the impending arrest and his real job. He'd have to take care not to get distracted. He caught site of Norm and Mike, and a third officer he did not recognize, meeting Mr. Pence at the door near the far end of the gym. Mike looked in briefly and gave Steve a subtle acknowledging glance and disappeared into the hall.
He heard his name being called and turned to find the half had already begun. Ballinger was bearing down on his position. Steve turned and broke to cover the oncoming student. Way to keep your head in the game, he thought.
ooooooo
Mr. Pence led the officers back to the office to retrieve the locker numbers and combinations. They followed him up the stairs to Walen's locker. Just as Steve had indicated, the drugs, packaged for resale, were in plain view once it was opened. The bag was carefully photographed and removed. Inspector Drew confiscated the evidence and slipped it into another bag, in the hopes that the lab could raise some fingerprints off the plastic and compare them with known dealers in the area. Mike thought it unusual that Mr. Pence did not seem at all surprised by the discovery, but said nothing. The locker clanged and echoed in the empty hall as they closed it and proceeded to Ballinger's Locker.
"I'm going to be sorry to see that young man of yours leave," Mr. Pence began as they made their way down the hall. "I peeked in on him today and caught part of the discussion the students were having. I think he could be a very fine teacher, if he ever wanted a change in career. He seems to really care."
"That's exactly what makes him a good cop, Kirby and there's not a chance I'd let you poach him after I've finally trained him up!" Mike said with a proud smile. He had half expected this, knowing that Steve was the kind of person that would succeed at anything he put his mind to.
As they passed classrooms, they noticed the doors were open and the lights were on, the night crew of custodians finishing their rounds for the evening. When they arrived at their destination, Mike opened the locker and once again, the drugs were in plain sight. "Not exactly criminal masterminds," Norm commented with a laugh. Mike was not laughing, he actually had a feeling that it was all a little too neat and easy. Steve might be right in thinking that these two were not murderers, but the finger prints and jacket were awfully compelling evidence. He hoped that, for once, when they had the students in custody the loose ends would tie up into a neat package.
"That does it for me, Mike." said Inspector Drew and he dropped the evidence in a bag. I want to get these to the lab, tonight. Also, if you're ok with it Mike, I want to sit in when you question them. Ring me when you're ready. I really hope we can get who they're working with."
"Will do, George, but remember the murder investigation is my first priority." Mike responded in a no nonsense tone.
"That's as it should be Mike, we just want them off the street and out of the school. If they can lead us to a bigger fish, all the better," said the Inspector as he made for the staircase and the exit.
Mike and Norm followed Mr. Pence back to the gym and took seat in the bleachers as the third quarter ended tied at 44.
oooooooo
Steve was annoyed. He'd had just about enough of the dynamic duo. They'd taken every opportunity to bump, elbow and generally rough him up, whenever they were in his vicinity, whether it was related to the play or not. To his satisfaction, he had not been shy about giving back as good as he got. Consequently, both Walen and Ballinger were a little worse for wear. For him, the third quarter had been an elaborate game of cat and mouse, trying to play basketball while avoiding bodily harm. As the quarter ended, Steve spied Mike and Norm in the stands; act one of this evening's event apparently accomplished.
He dropped into a chair and grabbed a towel, happy to have a breather. Wiping the sweat from his face and neck, he looked down the row at the other teachers, most of whom looked either spent or were nursing assorted bumps and bruises. Much as he didn't want to go back in the game, there was no way he was going to let Walen and Ballinger win. He looked around the gym and caught sight of Jeannie and her friends. He chuckled thinking what she would say about his needing to win being such a guy thing. He tossed the towel on the chair and entered the court as the 4th quarter began.
Steve was happy to see the Ballinger was on the bench. That only left Walen to avoid. He inbounded the ball to Diane and trailed the play from midcourt. Even though he was tired, he felt pretty confident. No one would ever mistake him for a basketball player, but he hadn't embarrassed himself too badly at this point.
Steve managed to avoid Walen for the first few minutes of the fourth period. After the teachers went up by 6, Ballinger checked back in. With both students on the court, it became harder and harder for Steve to stay out of their way. More than once he found himself double teamed, sandwiched between the two, making it impossible to move, let alone play effectively. Fortunately, that freed Diane up to shoot at will and the teachers maintained their lead until the final two minutes.
As time was waning and with the game slipping away, the student became more aggressive in their attempts to foul the teacher team and get the ball back. Shoddy free throws by the faculty brought the score to within 2. Diane went to the line with 15 seconds left and missed the second of two free throws. Unfortunately for Steve, that put him under the basket, jumping for the rebound, flanked by Walen and Ballinger.
Mike and the rest of the crowd stood and watched as Steve and the two students went down in a tangle arms and legs. Steve landed badly on his ankle and came up hopping slightly when Diane pulled him up by the hand. While not terrible, it was just one more reason the game could not end soon enough for Steve. He hobbled over to the bench and watched as time expired giving the teachers a two point victory.
After the game, the raucous crowd streamed out of the bleachers and onto the court. The teams shook hands and retreated to the locker rooms. Once Walen and Ballinger left the gym, Steve limped over to where Mike and Norm were sitting with Mr. Pence. Jeannie rushed down the bleachers and met her father and Steve.
She hugged her father and looked at Steve with alarm. "Are you going to be alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine, nothing that a little ice and a hot shower won't cure," Steve responded in typical fashion. In reality, he was beat, as well as a little beat up from the rough game.
Jeannie's girlfriends made their way down the stands. "Nice game!" they chimed with huge smiles, as they came abreast of the group. "Hey, Jeannie, aren't you going to introduce us?"
Steve was a little more standoffish than normal with Jeannie and her friends. She looked at him sideways, wondering what was up. He really needed to talk to Mike, but Jeannie's friends didn't seem to take the hint. After introductions, Mike noticed that the gym had just about cleared and many of the student team members where exiting the locker room.
"Jeannie, weren't you girls going out after the game?" Mike asked with a pointed look.
Jeannie got the message, "Oh, right Mike," Jeannie said and made her goodbye, practically dragging the girls out with her. Mike and Steve could hear them giving Jeannie a hard time about leaving as they walked away.
"We're going to pay for that later, I suppose, aren't we, Mike?" Steve said grimacing.
"More than likely, you know Jeannie," Mike replied with a shake of the head.
Mike, Steve and Norm started to make their way over to the locker room door. Melony, Marc's girlfriend, was hanging around waiting for his arrival. The locker room door opened and Walen and Ballinger came out and stood face to face with Mike, Steve and Norm.
Mike pulled out his badge and began to speak as Norm and Steve made a move in to hem in the teens. The students glanced at each other, pushed Melony in Mike's direction and broke in opposite directions as she screamed. Walen barreled through Steve and Ballinger tried the same with Norm.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Steve shouted with exasperation as he pushed up from the floor, ignoring his throbbing ankle and pursued Walen out the door and up the hallway. Norm, who had quite a bit more bulk, sloughed off the attempted tackle, subdued and cuffed the struggling Ballinger and read him his rights. Mike ducked around the screaming girl and out the opposite gym door in the hopes of corralling the fleeing teen between him and Steve.
When Walen saw Mike at the end of the hall he knew he was trapped. He turned back and ran toward Steve, swinging wildly as the detective came within arm's reach. No longer hindered by his teacher identity or an on-looking crowd of students, Steve blocked the initial punch, grabbed Walen's arm and used his momentum to force the shocked teen to the ground. When Mike pulled even with him, he had Walen pinned to the floor with his knee on his back and was in the process of immobilizing his arm. Mike handed over his cuffs which Steve applied with relish and read him his rights. Walen glared at Mike and Steve as they walked him out toward the main entrance. "Just wait till my father hears about this," screamed the entitled teen, as Mike handed him off to waiting uniformed officers.
"I think you enjoyed that a little too much, hotshot." Mike chided Steve after Walen was out of earshot.
"Uh, yeah," Steve replied, slightly embarrassed at his exuberance in restraining Walen. "That kid's been a pain in the ass since I walked in the door here."
Mike chortled at his partner's response. He looked at Steve, disheveled and covered in sweat after the game. "Say, why don't you do us all a favor and shower and change before you come to the station. I assume you want me to wait for you before we question them."
"Damn straight. Give me 45 minutes."
"Make that 30, buddy boy, and by the way, very smooth on the basketball court, are you sure you're ok?"
"I'm fine. Come on Mike, give me break, I did ok out there. You only saw one quarter."
"Sure you did, buddy boy, sure you did." Mike intoned as touched Steve's shoulder affectionately, glad that Steve's school teaching days were officially over. Steve walked deliberately toward the locker room as Mike left the school. Just as he was entering the gym, Steve suddenly turned around, remembering he wanted to tell Mike about the photos, but the tan LTD was leaving the parking lot when Steve made it out to the main door.
When he reentered the gym, there were only a few people left milling around. Diane was just coming out of the locker room, her face still flushed from the game.
"Hey, Keller, a bunch of us are going out for a beer to celebrate. Join us?" she asked.
"Sorry, duty calls. We arrested Walen and Ballinger, tonight. They are on their way to the station right now. Looks like I'm done here."
"You really think is was them?" She knew the two were pampered jerks, but couldn't believe they were killers. "You think they killed Mona?" she inquired, suddenly serious, her joy in the victory over the students evaporating before his eyes.
"I don't know, Diane, but that's where the evidence pointed."
"Well, it's been real, Keller. Take care and thanks." She said quietly, "I guess I'll see you around." She didn't wait for a reply as she walked across the gym.
Steve was a little confused as he added, "I'll call, ok?" He shook his head, she really was the most exasperating women he had ever met.
Steve hit the locker room and quickly showered and changed. He stopped by A112, picked up his coat and tie and locked the classroom door. He checked his watch. It was now close to 9:30 and the building was deserted, with only the emergency lights on in the hall as he made his way to the main door. It locked with a resounding click as he exited. Walking through the parking lot, he once again got the strange feeling that he was being watched from above. He glanced back at the tower, concentrating hard in the darkness, but saw nothing.
"Oh, man," he said to no one in particular as he shut his eyes, inclined his head to the heavens and ran his hands through his still damp hair. With all that had happened in the last few hours, he'd totally forgot about the flat! He cursed Walen and Ballinger as he tried to decide what to do. He was tired, his ankle throbbed and his head ached. He had two choices, neither one of which was particularly appealing. Change the tire, in the dark, chilly lot, getting grimy and incurring Mike's wrath at his tardiness or call the station and get a lift, and endure the ribbing about his inability to change a simple flat. Wanting to be in on the interviews with the dynamic duo, he chose the latter.
He grabbed the flashlight from the trunk, knowing that the lobby area where the payphones were located was dark and walked slowly back to the school. He unlocked the door and checked the alarm, which to his bewilderment, had not been set. Walking down the hall, his faltering steps echoed in the darkened corridor. He turned on his flashlight.
As he reached the lobby, the hair on the back his neck stood up. He turned quickly as he heard a noise and swung the beam of his flashlight in an arc, searching through the darkness for the source. Seeing nothing, he stood the light on the floor next to the phone and dug in his pocket for a coin. He caught a whiff of Lysol as the world went dark.