Mike felt a chill running through him despite the heat turned to high in the mint green LTD.
A change of clothes, paired with several hot cups of coffee back at headquarters could only do so much to his cold core. And now, with an ice pack on his right knee and a steaming hot pepperoni pizza with an order of anchovies on the side to his left, he looked forward to coming home- except for the various sets of stairs leading up to the DeHaro house.
An undeniable sense of frustration hung in the air between both detectives.
Mike knew that Steve blamed himself for losing their suspect. As if laying into him earlier by the stairwell hadn't been enough, Rudy continued the onslaught when the question about the Galaxy's four blown tires came up.
By the time the Captain was done berating, Steve had reduced his communication to nods and quiet Yes Sir's. About the only bright side had been that they'd reached Rudy before he could prepare for the next press conference.
Mike's plan was to put out a false message that Chantal had been found and that the solution of their case was imminent. It was risky, but hopefully it would cause their suspect to back off his search, if not downright abandon it.
Or better yet, turn up at headquarters trying to get to her.
Mike could sense a direct connection between their fleeing suspect and those two girls. The question was, what tied these people together. An unborn baby? The murder itself? Had he been lurking in the shadows until the body was discovered, giving a new urgency to his search for Chantal? If so, why?
Mike surrendered to the fact that it might be a while yet before all of his questions would get answered.
Hopefully the press conference would shift luck a little bit more into their corner. Regardless of how fruitless their efforts had seemed so far, Mike was convinced that every single detail they'd uncovered to date was bringing them closer to the truth and if nothing else, hopefully a few more good leads.
They had comprised a detailed description of their suspect and Tanner was currently going through criminal records looking for a match. In the meantime, the sketch drawing of their Jane Doe had been circulated beyond county lines, which could with any luck help ID her.
A case break was imminent.
He felt it in every cold and sore bone of his body.
"Do you want to hang around after dinner? I have cold beer in the fridge.", Mike offered and looked over at his oppressed partner.
Deep in thought, Steve's green eyes were fixed onto the sign for DeHaro Street ahead, as he turned the large sedan south.
"Nah, I think I will head straight home after you get settled. I am beat. I'll pick you up at 7 tomorrow."
His partner's disheartened voice made Mike's soul ache. He knew it had been a rough day on the young Inspector and judging by the way their latest case was unfolding, many more were yet to come.
He was about to take another stab at keeping him around, if nothing else to see if he could improve his sour mood a little bit, when suddenly, the LTD came to a screeching halt. Unable to prepare, Mike held onto the dashboard for support and watched helplessly as both, his ice pack and the pizza went flying towards the floor.
Temporarily startled, Mike looked over at his partner, who blinked a few times, before glancing over at him apologetically. Saying a quiet thank you for the pizza carton remaining closed on its descend to rearrange all toppings, he recovered the prized dinner, deciding to leave the ice pack where it was for the time being.
"What was that all about?", Mike asked confused, unable the hide the slight irritation in his voice, when Steve slowly accelerated again and navigated the sedan past the parked cars along DeHaro.
"Didn't you see the squirrel? It ran right in front of the car. I almost hit it."
Startled by the unexpected answer, Mike leaned back, wondering for a second if his partner was teasing him.
When Steve's features remained serious, the Lieutenant frowned.
"You just turned our dinner pizza into a cardboard taco for a squirrel? That was an interesting decision."
Shrugging, Steve pulled into an open parking spot in front of the house, before facing his partner with a faint smile.
"It mattered to the squirrel, didn't it?"
Unable to stay mad, Mike's warm eyes scanned his partner, before gently patting his thigh. Grabbing the crushed pizza box that suddenly didn't seem like such a big issue, the Lieutenant beamed in proud satisfaction.