Sitting in his car, Steve stared up at the dark house, aware that in the next few minutes, he was going to turn Mike's world inside-out and upside-down. He took a deep breath before he reluctantly reached for the door handle and opened the door. Climbing out of the car, he walked across the sidewalk and slowly walked up the stairs. Reaching the front door, he hesitated a minute, as he forced himself to will up to courage to knock. Swallowing hard, knowing what he had to do, he raised his hand and knocked. He waited a minute, listening for any movement inside before he knocked again, harder.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Mike called, tightening the belt of his robe as he hurried down the stairs as the knocking at his front door grew louder, more impatient. Hitting the living room light switch as he walked past it, flooding the living room with light, he crossed to the door and opened it, staring in surprise at his partner standing there. "Steve!"

The younger man looked slightly uncomfortable, leaving Mike with the feeling that whatever the reason Steve had turned up on his doorstep at two o'clock in the morning, that his partner would rather be elsewhere than here as Steve said nervously, "Hi, Mike."

Eyeing his partner's slightly disheveled form suspiciously, Mike groaned, "Please don't tell me that you're here to pick me up because we have another case that just can't wait until we've caught up on some sleep, Buddy Boy."

"Ahh, no," Steve answered slowly, momentarily unable to look Mike in the face as he looked past Mike into the living room before forcing himself to look back at his friend as he asked, "Umm … can I come in?"

Mike smiled and nodded, stepping aside as Steve entered before closing the door behind him. Turning, he frowned as Steve stopped in the middle of the room and turned back towards him. There was an uneasiness, rarely seen in the younger man's face that instantly warned Mike that something had happened. "Steve?"

Steve swallowed hard, lifting his hand to run it nervously over his hair before he caught himself and dropped it back down to his side as he began, "Mike, Lee and Bill called me out to attend a murder scene they were investigating tonight. A man was stabbed to death in an alleyway near the corner of Market and Ninth. A witness saw the victim and a woman fighting over a knife minutes before she stabbed him with the knife-"

Mike's frown deepened in confusion, "I don't understand, why did-"

"Mike," Steve interrupted, the pain of having to break the news to his closest friend only too readable in his eyes as he rushed on, "The woman who the witness saw stab the victim was Jeannie."

"Jeannie?" Mike's face lost all its color as he stared at Steve in shock, shaking his head in confusion and denial at the accusation, "No, it couldn't be Jeannie, it has to be someone who just looks like her. The witness had to have made a mistake. Jeannie's in Arizona, she has her mid-terms coming up -"

Taking a quick step forward to grab his friend's arm to steady him, Steve's heart broke as he forced himself to go on, "There's no mistake, Mike. When the uniformed guys arrived at the scene, they found Jeannie standing over the victim with the knife still in her hand. I spoke to her at the scene, myself."

Mike could only shake his head in total disbelief and horror as he felt his knees suddenly go weak and began to tremble, threatening to collapse beneath his weight as Steve helped him walk across to the sofa and helped him sit down. He felt like he was caught in some sort of a nightmare, a nightmare that he was unable to wake up from. Looking up at Steve, he admitted quietly, "I…I didn't even know that Jeannie was in San Francisco. When she called on Sunday night, she told me she was in her dorm studying for her mid-terms."

Steve frowned, "You didn't know Jeannie was in town?"

Mike shook his head again, struggling to think past the surreality of what Steve had just told him. Rubbing his face with his hands, he took a deep shuddering breath as he looked back down at his lap and asked, "Did…did Jeannie tell you why she's come home or what happened tonight?"

"No, and I told her not to talk to anyone, not even me, until she has spoken to you and has her lawyer present when we question her."

Mike's head snapped up, "You arrested her?"

"We didn't have a choice, Mike, we both know for Jeannie's sake we have to do this one by the book and that meant arresting her at the scene." Steve answered honestly, "Especially when we have a witness who saw Jeannie and the victim struggling over the knife minutes before she saw Jeannie stab him, and the uniformed guys found her at the scene still holding the knife."

Mike nodded woodenly, aware that Jeannie's sake, Steve was following strict protocol procedure. "Where's Jeannie now?"

"I told Lee to take her to the hospital before taking her back to Bryant Street. She has cut her hand, probably during the struggle, so I wanted it checked out by a doctor." Steve told Mike before quietly admitting, "Also, getting her checked out at the hospital gave me enough time get over here and tell you what happened so you could contact a lawyer for Jeannie before she is processed through booking, and we have to question her."

"Thanks," Mike murmured as he rose to his feet and slowly made his way across to the phone, still unable to believe that this was really happening and not just some sort of a bad dream.

Xxxxxxx

Placing the mug of coffee on the table in front of Jeannie, Lee gave her an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry but I'm afraid that it's been stewing in the pot for the last six or seven hours but it's the best that we've got."

"Thanks," Jeannie murmured, ignoring the hot beverage, as she continued to look down at her bandaged hand that was resting in her lap. Nervously tugging at a loose thread, she asked softly, "Is he really dead?"

Frowning, Lee nodded, "Yes, he's really dead."

"Good, I'm glad that I killed him," Jeannie breathed as she continued to play with the piece of thread.

Lee stared down at her, shocked at her softly spoken admission before looking up and out of the interrogation room's glass window as the anteroom door opened, and Steve and Mike entered the bullpen. Looking back at Jeannie, he quietly announced, "Mike's here."

But if the young woman heard him, she never looked up, instead she pulled the thread free, dropping it onto her lap, before worrying another thread loose.