Steve had pulled the Galaxy in park at the corner of Judah and LaPlaya.
It gave them a clear view of the intersection at 48th all the while keeping the unmarked police car and its two occupants hidden behind the busy railcar traffic.
The roads were packed with cars and the crowded sidewalks looked like moving caterpillars. Steve strained his eyes to look for a bright red coat amongst the countless workers and commuters wanting to spend their lunch hour near the beach on one of the few sunny days.
So far nobody matched the description of their person of interest.
"This might be a lucrative place for panhandling if the weather cooperates.", Mike presumed, as he let his eyes drift over the crowd of people entering a railcar, "I bet some of these guys make more money in one day than we do all month."
"Isn't it nice to know we have something to fall back on if the whole Homicide career doesn't work out?", Steve chuckled and reached for a sunflower seed in his pocket.
Glancing at his partner sideways, Mike laughed.
"For me maybe, but you better learn to dress down a little, Buddy Boy. I doubt you'll get much sympathy in those tailored suits."
"Hey, who says I would just sit there and beg for money? I could do tricks. I mean…I have many talents.", Steve argued, more or less to cheer up his partner and keep their focus going.
An hour into watching people walk past them, he could feel his eyes starting to burn and his concentration fading quickly.
"I bet you do, I bet you do.", Mike answered amused before leaning back to look over at his partner for a brief moment, "For now let's stick with Homicide. This city needs all the help it can get."
Steve nodded in agreement, before running a hand over his growling stomach.
"Speaking of which…if this doesn't work out, do you want to grab some lunch? I haven't eaten all day and these people are starting to look like French fries walking towards me."
"I told you that diet wasn't going to work out.", Mike chuckled and patted his arm, "You get any skinnier and I would lose you in a crowd like that."
Steve joined in on the much-needed belly-laugh, when suddenly, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. In between two rows of people making their way west on Judah was a bright red coat.
He fell silent and watched it disappear, just to show up again a few feet farther down the sidewalk. He only had a fraction of a second to see her face, but it was enough.
"Mike, there she is.", Steve breathed, as if he'd just found an ancient treasure.
"Here, scoot over, you apprehend on foot, I'll call in the cavalry."
Nodding swiftly, Steve checked the traffic before exiting the Galaxy, while Mike shifted over into the driver's seat.
Jogging across two lanes of traffic, he glanced at the dozens of people shuffling down the sidewalk. And then he finally saw her again.
Except this time, Chantal was moving in the opposite direction at a fast run. Knowing that the Galaxy was following closely behind, Steve gave chase.