Steve woke up with a start when the phone rang. Blinking his weary eyes open, it took his mind a second to register that the plastered ceiling above belonged to Mike's living room.
"Mike Stone?"
The ringing stopped and Steve reached up to rub his eyes, when he noticed the thick wool blanket draped over him. Cursing himself for falling asleep while Mike took a shower and called Jeannie, he tried to read the nearby wall clock but couldn't.
It was still dark outside and no lights were turned on in the houses across the street. Suffice to say it was quite early in the morning.
"Thanks a lot Bernie. That's a great start. I will see you later."
Next to him, Mike was back in the recliner, a thin sheet covering his upper body and the ice pack on his knee. When he noticed that Steve was awake, the Lieutenant smiled warmly.
"Bernie said they found the bullet hole in the pipe. It was some ten feet farther back and partially hidden underneath the metal weaving. Definitely .22 cal. He said one of his assistants was supposed to call us earlier but failed to do so. Better late than never I guess. At least now we know she was killed in that pipe."
Trying to get his groggy mind up to speed, Steve slowly sat up and ran a hand through his disheveled hair.
"You know, that still doesn't make the least bit of sense."
"And here I was hoping your mind would work a little better after a good night's rest."
Confused, Steve looked up at his grinning partner.
"What do you mean good night's rest? Mike, what time is it?"
"It's just after five in the morning."
"Five in the morning?", suddenly coming around completely, Steve threw the Lieutenant a frantic glance, "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"And miss watching that peaceful expression on your face while you sleep? No way.", Mike answered jovially and took a sip of water, "It always brings me back to the early days of raising Jeannie. Sometimes she could be such a little devil that seeing her asleep was like a divine moment."
"That's a nice analogy, Mike, real nice.", Steve teased and shook his head, "Speaking of which, how is she?"
Even from a few feet away, Steve could see his partner's mannerism change, as the pride only a father could feel filled his senses.
"She's good.", he said beamingly, "Just worried about me. And you. For some reason she has that bug up her brain that we're stressed out. I told her to go back to studying for that test."
"Well Mike, she's her father's daughter. What can I say?"
The Lieutenant seemed deep in thought for a second, only to snap out of it and point upstairs.
"Yeah, she is that. Listen…eh, why don't you freshen up and we'll grab some breakfast on our way into the office?"
Sighing at the dawn of another long day, Steve stood up and folded the thick blanket back up, before leaving it by the couch. Turning back around, he put his hands on his sides and eyed his partner suspiciously.
"You still haven't told me why you were so sure she was killed in that pipe right from the beginning?"
Smiling, Mike used his hands to form the shape of a crystal ball.
"I had this vision…"
"Aw, come on now. You are horrible this morning, you know that?...So what was it really?"
"Call it a gut feeling. I agree with our psych reader on that one. I think she knew her killer. Trusted him to protect her. So she hid inside the pipe with her killer, he finished her off and crawled back out."
"Yeah but who besides Chantal would be small enough to fit in there? Certainly not the six foot guy you met at the park."
"Well, let's see if we can figure out that piece of the puzzle this morning."
Steve was already turning towards the stairwell when he froze in his spot, and then slowly looked back at Mike.
"You slept in that chair all night, didn't you?"
Mike smiled at him warmly, but didn't say anything. He didn't have to. Having his partner trade his bed for the uncomfortable sleeping position in the recliner to stay close to him was enough of an answer.
One that made Steve feel a warmth inside he hadn't felt in weeks.
Returning the smile, he swallowed against the moisture building in his eyes.
"Thanks Mike."