Mike sighed in relief when he noticed his partner reappear from the nearby office.
Flanked by a tall man dressed as a doctor, Steve slowly meandered across the floor, subtly checking out every booth and table along the way.
Taking a small sip of beer, Mike casually glanced up at the vodka selection, where the mirrored walls allowed him to follow his partner undetected.
They unlikely pair approached the nook of the bar, but couldn't he see who they were talking to over the assortment of patrons to either side of him. Nonchalantly leaning forward, Mike tried to get a better look, just in time to see drinks hitting the wall and another man in a khaki military outfit run out the door.
Suffice to assume they'd found Ludwig.
Mike jumped to his feet, almost toppling his own beer. When his and Steve's paths crossed, he quickly pointed at the parking lot.
"Stay on him, I'll grab the car."
Nodding as he ran by, Steve disappeared through the swinging doors and was halfway down the road before Mike even reached the Galaxy.
Hopping into the driver's seat, he quickly turned the large sedan around in the parking lot, jumping a tall curb, hoping the shortcut to the nearby road would work in their favor.
Despite his partner's best efforts to catch up; Ludwig was almost down at the next intersection, not showing any signs of slowing down.
Hitting the gas pedal, Mike sped past both men, grateful to see that there were no immediate alleys their suspect could disappear into. Just before the intersection, he hit the brakes and made a sharp right turn, positioning the Galaxy to block the sidewalk.
Jumping out of the unmarked police car, the Lieutenant drew his gun, pointing it at the approaching suspect, careful to keep Steve out of the line of fire.
"Hold it right there. That's enough exercise for one night, Ludwig.", he ordered and watched the man slow down, before carefully raising his hands.
"What do you guys want? I told the others I am clean.", he yelled in defense as Steve approached.
Mike waited for the young Inspector to slap on the handcuffs and shove Ludwig against the hood of the Galaxy, before putting his service revolver back into the holster.
"We aren't working for Narc, my friend." Mike explained and gestured for Steve to step aside, giving the young Inspector a chance to catch his breath, "We're homicide. And we have a couple questions for you."
Ludwig snorted ungratefully when Mike helped him to straighten back up and lean against the passenger side fender.
"I didn't kill anybody."
"Now, now…no one said that.", he replied with a feigned smile and symbolically straightened out the military costume where it had wrinkled from their handling.
"Then why did you cuff me?"
"Because you ran from my partner, young man.", keeping the cheerful cadence in his voice, Mike looked at Steve.
Bent over with his hands on his knees, he could see the young Inspector's back heaving as he recovered from the ¾ mile sprint.
"I can remove them, if you promise not to run."
The blonde man eyed him suspiciously,then nodded ever so slowly. With a slight cock of the head, Mike reached for his keys and unlocked the handcuffs, before tossing them back at his partner.
"So, what do you two want from me?"
Rubbing his wrists symbolically, Ludwig glanced back and forth between the two detectives.
"Do you know a Glenn Malcolm?" Mike asked casually, his blue eyes scanning their suspect for any hints of lying.
"You already know that I do, so why don't we skip this little game."
Straightening out his military jacket, Ludwig snorted in discontent, acting like he was late for an appointment.
"Very well.", crossing his arms in front of his chest, Mike pursed his lips, "When was the last time you saw Glenn?"
"If you guys are homicide, that means he's dead. That's really too bad, he was a good kid."
Rubbing his chin, Ludwig shrugged, not caring the least to hide his obvious disinterest.
"I last saw him a couple weeks ago. Went with him to meet that crazy broad of a mother."
"She said she saw you guys kiss. Are you his boyfriend?", Steve asked as he straightened back out and approached the pair.
"No, man. That's not true. It's a bit more…complicated than that."
"We'd be happy to discuss the matter with you at the precinct, if that is easier?" Mike suggested half-heartedly, not at all surprised to see their suspect shake his head fervently.
"Hell no. I won't set foot in there."
"Then how about you start talking?!", Steve demanded louder than he should have, just to receive a warning glance from his partner.
"Okay. Glenn and I were a couple- but only in his mind. I liked the kid and I was looking to make some new…contacts in the area. Well, I guess I had to adjust a bit."
"In other words, you pretended to be gay to use Glenn to expand your drug market.", Mike scolded, not bothering to hide his misgivings, before adding, "Don't worry. We're good friends with your buddies from Narc."
Ludwig swallowed nervously and cleared his throat.
"Something like that. Like I said though, I liked the kid. He didn't deserve to die. Now that crazy mother of his…"
"Let me ask again, when was the last time you saw him?", Mike interrupted brusquely, trying to get back to the topic, "What did you guys do after that fateful afternoon?"
"Oh, well, we went to JC's for a bit. He cried his eyes out, I sat there and listened. But you know, I mean, I have stuff to do. Certain things don't sell themselves, you know.", at the sheer carelessness of Ludwig's words, Mike clenched his jaws and noticed his partner looking away in disgust, "So I ehm…I told him, I'd see him the next day and he said that he was heading up north. Clearing his mind, he said. Never saw him again after that."
Without a warning, Steve shot past Mike and toward their suspect. Grabbing the man by the lapel of his uniform, he pushed Ludwig off balance onto the hood of the waiting police car.
"Will you quit lying, man?! You sent him up north to get you some more sugar!"
"Back off, Inspector.", Mike warned and reached for his partner's arm, sending him a scolding glance as Steve's emotions began to get the better of him.
"I did no such thing, punk cop.", Ludwig spat as the young Inspector leaned in closer, both of their faces only a few inches apart.
Mike's heart skipped a beat when he saw their suspect pull a knife from his pant pocket, moving it up beneath Steve's sports coat before stopping halfway up his chest, catching the young Inspector completely unaware.
"Now I could lay you wide open and make you bleed out like a stuck pig if I really wanted to, punk…but I don't. Believe me, you guys aren't worth getting into trouble over. So, get the hell off me. And for the last damn time, I have no connections up north."
Sliding his hand over the service revolver by his hip and keeping his finger next to the trigger, Mike watched his partner freeze, before slowly moving back and releasing his grasp.
Taking a few deep breaths as he gauged the unexpected situation, the Lieutenant looked over to ensure that Steve was unhurt, then turned his attention back to Ludwig.
With his revolver still at the ready, he waited until the man slid the pocketknife back into his pocket, unable to hide a grunt when their suspect smiled at him gleefully.
"Do you have any idea where up north Glenn may have gone?", Mike asked, trying to keep his voice from trembling.
Several feet away, he watched Steve pace off the shock and rub the back of his neck with his left hand, his cheeks flushed in agitation.
"He said something about a camp. Like rainbow camp or something? Sounded fluffy. You know how these guys are."
Nodding, Mike was inclined to believe him at last.
"Why are they calling you Larry back at JC's?", Steve asked from the safety of the Galaxie's trunk, his tone of voice having returned to neutral professionalism.
"Because that's my alter ago. I told Glenn that Larry is my dark side. Ludwig is the nice guy. Besides, it messes with you punk cops."
Mike grew nauseous when he blew them a kiss, and decided to wave the unpleasant man off.
"Alright, that's enough.", he barked and pointed back to the bar, "You are free to go. Get the hell out of here."
Grinning smugly, Ludwig pointed at Steve.
"What if I want to press charges against your guard dog? Looks like he needs a muzzle."
Smiling back insincerely, Mike pointed at the man's shirt.
"I am sure if I can forget to check your breast pocket for any party powder, you can do the same about this little exchange."
Huffing angrily but being smart enough to remain quiet, Ludwig spun around on his heels and marched back up the street.
Mike intentionally let several seconds pass and took a deep breath to settle his frayed nerves.
Finally, when he watched Ludwig disappear behind a nearby warehouse, he turned around to face his shaken partner. Poking an angry finger at Steve's chest, he used every single grain of self-control left before clearing his throat.
"Have we learned anything tonight, Inspector?", with his green eyes wide open and too embarrassed to say anything, Steve reminded him of a student caught cheating on a test, "That was beyond…foolish. You could have gotten yourself killed."
Waiting a few more seconds for his anger to dissipate, Mike exhaled audibly, before heading back to the Galaxy's passenger side.
Leaning over the roof as Steve started to follow, he tossed the ignition keys toward the young Inspector, the surprising move enough to pull that sorrowful expression off his face.
"See to it that something like this…never happens again. And tomorrow morning, you tell your buddies in Vice to reconsider their definition of a happy go lucky kinda of guy."