Thank you all for the kind words and feedback. The New Year stared out the same way the old one ended as I had to put my old kitty down. 17 years is old age for a kitty but you always wish you'd get more. At least she's not suffering anymore. We are going to get pummeled in snow over the next 24hrs so if I don't post, we're busy digging ourselves out of this mess. Be safe everyone.
Steve could smell Mears's sweat as they got back into the LTD, Mike taking up the backseat spot next to their murder suspect while he reached for the radio.
"Headquarters, this is Inspectors 8-1. 10-20 at 1400 Block of Rollins Road. Picking up Trousdale to head back over to the park."
"10-4, Inspectors 8-1. Keep us posted."
Putting the radio receiver back into the cradle, Steve reached for the ignition and turned on the car, before making a large u-turn to head south.
"You guys don't ehm…you don't mess around, do you? Keeping everybody abreast of where you are. I don't think Ethan does that."
The nervous comment from the back bench piqued Steve's interest and he looked up into the rearview mirror, finding Mike's eyes staring back at him in confirmation.
"We work homicide, Mister Mears.", Mike countered, his fake smile slowly but surely drooping into a worried frown, "Our clientele likes to kill. We have to make sure we're safe...it's what keeps us alive after all."
"Oh sure, sure…", the other man mumbled and nervously shifted around in the bench seat, "It's an interesting job, I guess."
They both let the comment sit out there without a reply, instead, focusing on their travel across town, as they approached the I-280 corridor.
Another body near the same spot where they found little Kevin would mean another run for the San Francisco lab crews, this time their work being made significantly harder due to the age of the remains.
More than two years since the murder meant nothing but scattered bones, and only the tiniest of an iota of a chance to find some sort of physical evidence to tie Morris to the scene. But they had to try.
For the girl, and for the sake of justice.
After a few minutes, they crossed the highway and slipped the LTD into a parking spot by the sidewalk, like they had done the previous days.
Gravel crunched below the tires as the sedan came to a rolling stop, before Steve put the gear shaft in park and reached for the radio once more.
"This is Inspectors 8-1, headquarters, do you read?"
"Loud and clear, Inspectors 8-1, go ahead."
"This is our 10-20 at the park. Requesting a full lab crew on stand-by, we might have another body buried out here. We'll provide more details as soon as possible."
"10-4, Inspectors 8-1."
It took somebody familiar with the workforce at dispatch to notice just the slightest of worries in the voice answering his call.
It was evident that Mike's meeting with them and the explanation for their plan had done the job, keeping them both under the radar as far as Burlingame was concerned, and dispatch leaving their messages vague enough to disguise the safety-backup the Lieutenant had so cleverly created.
And Steve would actually feel better about the whole thing if it hadn't been for Mears's weird affinity for his gun earlier at the apartment, staring at it as though he was lusting for the revolver.
Absent-mindedly running a hand over the grip that was concealed below his beige overcoat, Steve said a silent prayer for the gun to stay right where it belonged over the course of the next few hours.