Thank you all for your kindness and understanding. I will continue to post chapters on a regular basis, but there might be a couple days in between. I am not going anywhere, promise.
Mike had to pull the Galaxy into a parking spot several buildings up from Steve's apartment.
At least the sun was rising, giving them a fresh new day to work on their murder case. Strolling down the sidewalk, he noticed his partner's Porsche parked askew. As he went past it, Mike carefully laid a hand on the hood, surprised to find it still warm.
Obviously, he hadn't been the only one deprived of much-needed sleep last night.
The Lieutenant worked his way up the assortment of stairs to find the entrance door partially ajar.
Steve was clearly expecting his company. Shrugging off the unease of what might happen if unexpected company ever arrived; he slowly entered the bachelor pad, making a mental note to remind the young Inspector that carelessness could sometimes be the conduit for unnecessary trouble.
Walking into the apartment, he found Steve fully dressed and immersed into several maps laid out on the carpeted floor ahead. Not wanting to startle him, Mike slowly approached the short hallway and crouched down.
"They don't pay you enough to buy a table?", he asked softly, causing Steve to look up and smile, before moving his attention back to the maps.
"Table is full."
A brief glance revealed that the living room table was covered in books, manila file folders and roadmaps.
"Have you slept at all?", Mike pried and stood back up when his knees started to cramp.
"That depends on how you define sleeping.", Steve countered cryptically and followed suit, before leaning against the nearby wall in undisguised exhaustion.
In the shaded area of his hallway, Mike noticed a faint bruise on his partner's cheek. Certain that it couldn't have happened during the altercation with Ludwig, he wondered if there'd been a bar brawl someplace where people drowned their sorrows.
"What happened to your face?"
Steve seemed confused at first, but then ran a hand over the bruise and smirked.
"I was working hard. I told you."
"No, I believe you said you were sleeping."
When he sensed the urgency in Mike's words, Steve swallowed the smile and pointed at the maps on the floor.
"Well, when I couldn't sleep, I remembered a friend of mine who works for the Ag Department Extension. She likes to stay up late just like I do, so I gave her a call and see if she could help."
"She, eh?"
A smile was beginning to form on Mike's lips. Now it all was beginning to make sense.
"Yeah well, you got your resources, I've got mine.", Steve defended and grinned mischievously, before bending back down over the maps on the floor, "At any rate, I gave her what little we have and she pulled out some work data she had at her house, something she'd been sitting on for a while, hoping to catalogue farms in the area. It's not the most accurate, but it's a start…Now, mind you, we combed a huge area up north to see if we can find a farm or ranch or livestock place that would match our description."
"That must have been a very long night, Inspector.", Mike teased and followed his partner's hand across the maps of northern California.
"Yeah, well, as a matter of fact it was. I just got back.", Steve muttered and used his right hand to form a circle just north of Jenner, "Some of our findings will have to wait until I can make a few phone calls at the office, but we found eleven places that might be set up as sort of…recovery-peace-friendship-happiness camp type of thing. Our parameters were additional housing for guests, highway access, proximity to recreational areas and large livestock."
"Very nice work.", Mike praised genuinely as he watched his partner straighten back out, "And here I thought I was smelling sweat and shame for a second."
Steve chuckled playfully and reached for a Styrofoam cup of coffee, one finger pointing at his wrist watch, "Like I said, it was a very long night, Lieutenant. Downright exhausting. She got a little…physical when I told her I had to leave soon."
"Well, don't forget to have me include that in a commendation letter for you going above and beyond the line of duty to solve a murder case."
They both laughed for a long time, releasing pent up stress and tension, when Mike finally cleared his throat again.
"Her name is Sandy, isn't it? You sure you don't want to call her Southpaw Sandy?"
Judging by the speed with which his partner began to blush, Mike knew he was on the right track.
"Give me ten minutes, I need a shower…bad.", the young Inspector deflected skillfully before disappearing around a corner, not saying another word.
"I bet you do...I bet you do.", Mike chuckled and looked back at the map, "Tell you what, I'll take you out for breakfast, buddy boy. You must be starving after all that hard work."