"Norm told me what you did to convince McAllister to drop the gun. With those acting skills, you ought to be on Broadway."
They'd been driving for a few minutes, navigating their way through noon traffic at a snail's pace, and for once, not caring too much about the slow progress. A week's worth of angst and stress had taken its toll on the two detectives in more ways than one.
Mike smiled faintly as he slowed the Galaxy down ahead of a red light, his mind drifting back to the haunting scene in the upstairs office. Clenching the steering wheel a bit tighter, he waited for the light to turn, before answering.
"I was in a bind. All I had to rely on was Lenny's profile and the information we had from R&I. I made a gamble and thankfully it worked out for the best. I'll tell you what though; it was a priceless moment, seeing Norm and Dan so perplexed. I don't think I will ever be able to shake that image out of my head."
They both laughed heartily for a few moments, Mike casually stealing a glance over at his partner, grateful to see him starting to relax a bit. Whether it was the undercover sting or what unfolded between him and Jordan Henderson, Mike couldn't shake the feeling that Steve had started to subtly build a defense wall around his emotions when it came to this case. A wall so thick and strong that he wasn't even comfortable letting his best friend in.
"So, what was it like to be in the world of cowboys and rodeos?", he tried, hoping to shake his partner out of his deep brooding.
Steve hesitated for a moment; once again being uncharacteristically uptight about a situation he normally would discuss at length, maybe even whine about to an extent. With his green eyes fixated at some imaginary object ahead, the young Inspector fell quiet for a while, before shrugging.
"Strangely different. I guess…I guess it taught me to look at things from a different perspective. Live for the day. Don't have any regrets. It was a liberating experience to say the least. Like…how often has somebody just invited you to go horseback riding? Just for fun. No strings attached. Our jobs, our lives are so full of purpose…everything we do serves a need, we are used to scheduling every aspect of our days to fulfill these needs, make deadlines, find evidence, fill any void we have left with something to do just for the sake of feeling accomplished…so much that maybe, we are forgetting what it means to really live."
"That's some mighty deep words for a few days of cleaning stalls and falling off horses, if you were to ask me.", Mike pried genially and nudged his partner's elbow, "You sure, you're alright, Smiley?"
The world-renowned Steve Keller grin returned for a brief second, when the young Inspector glanced over at his partner, covering the warm hand on his elbow with his own.
"Maybe it was hitting that arena dirt face-first that grounded my senses…", he chuckled and squeezed Mike's hand, before leaning back against the seat, stretching out his sore back and focusing at the traffic ahead again.
"You knew that Aldarez wasn't straight, didn't you?"
Steve's candid question surprised Mike, as he followed the clogged southbound lane down 3rd Street, his overactive mind imagining where his partner was going with it.
"I had a hunch. Rudy wasn't acting right, Aldarez was too pushy, and I didn't like you getting thrown out into the lion's den, so to speak. Why?"
Not answering right away, Steve fished for a piece of gum in his coat pocket, before offering one to his partner, using his teeth to unwrap a one for himself.
"There's a ton of interesting things that come to mind when you are on a bolting horse that's running for high ground.", he said cryptically between chews, "I just can't help but wonder what made somebody like him choose the wrong side. There had to have been other options."
"There always are other options.", Mike countered, lifting his index finger to annunciate the statement, "But life's about choices. Some people make the right ones, others don't."
After their engaged conversation, Mike had hoped that his partner would continue to shed some light into his thought pattern this afternoon, but instead, the young Inspector fell quiet again, sealing off whatever was bothering him from the outside world and the listening ears of those caring the most.
"Hm."
It would be the last word he heard come out of Steve's mouth for the remainder of their drive to the Cow Palace.
