Nightfall had come after an uneventful afternoon, making Mike wonder if his hunch had been correct after all, or if Cassidy had simply been trying to figure out just how much they truly knew about the current case.

Several weeks and months had passed between the previous abductions and it was safe to assume that under normal circumstances, a killer wouldn't change his MO much. That was, unless other outside factors would come into play and pressing the matter- in this case, their involvement.

Would Cassidy's gang be dumb enough to attempt another kidnapping knowing that both he and Steve were keeping a close eye on them, possibly even doing so in spite?

It was a haunting thought that had followed Mike throughout much of what was supposed to be a quiet evening, even distracting him during the nightly news and ensuing 49'ers game.

Midway through, he'd treated himself to some leftover beef stroganoff thanks to his wonderful daughter and the intense cooking marathon she'd put on during her last visit; ensuring that his freezer would be full of easy-to-make, hearty meals for those long nights spent in quiet solitude.

Sprawled out on his lime green couch, Mike reached for the small bowl of potato chips, regretting that he hadn't changed from his tight work clothes into something more comfortable yet.

Arguably though, the day had eaten away at his nerves; the fact that rogue cops were out there abusing their position without them being able to put a stop to it quite yet irritating him to the fullest.

As a result, Mike hadn't been able to finish his dinner, that nervous stomach reminding him that no matter how often he assured himself that justice would be served eventually, the situation was still bothering him more than he cared to admit.

With the folded-up San Francisco Telegraph lying on his dining room table, the crossword puzzle completed in record time, Mike let his eyes drift back to the TV, the volume turned down somewhat, as he tried to follow the game through the last few minutes of the third quarter futilely.

Just as his eyes followed the football fly past the thirty-yard line in preparation for a field goal, his ears picked up on a different noise altogether.

It was that of somebody tampering with his front door.