"We better leave soon," Olsen said before taking a last sip of his coffee, glancing at the young man sitting across the table. "The traffic can get bad sometimes and we told Gerry we'd be there by 8, remember?"

Steve picked the napkin up from his lap, wiping his lips as he nodded. He looked to his right; Jeannie was staring at him worriedly. Her anxious blue eyes slid slowly towards the captain. "Uncle Rudy, do you really think there's a chance Gerry will charge Steve with murder and attempted murder?"

Olsen, who was getting to his feet, stopped halfway up, slightly startled by the bluntness of her question; the look he threw at his inspector was part puzzled, part surprised. He had no idea how much Steve had told her but it seemed he had left little, if nothing, out; he was impressed by the forthrightness that the young man was exhibiting, considering the seriousness of the situation and the close relationship he shared not only with his partner but with his partner's daughter.

The return stare from the seemingly calm green eyes told the captain all he needed to know. He smiled softly at Jeannie and nodded. "I'm afraid there is, honey. He may not have any choice. Right now things are pretty stacked up against Steve, but we're not going to just sit back and let that happen. There's a bunch of guys working day and night to find something that will prove that it wasn't Steve but this… this -"

"Nicole?" Jeannie filled in helpfully and Olsen's smile got a little wider. Steve had obviously left nothing out.

"That's right. I know for sure that Norm and Dan are not going to stop until they turn up something, you can bet on that." He looked at Steve and tilted his head towards the door.

Nodding, the young man glanced at Jeannie and smiled warmly then got to his feet. She reached out and grabbed his arm and he froze, still smiling. "Tell Mike I said hi, and I'll come see him as soon as I can."

Her eyes filled with tears but she managed to smile in return, squeezing his arm. She let him go and he took his jacket from off the back of the chair. Shrugging it on, he followed Olsen to the door. The older man was waiting there, with Steve's overcoat, and they disappeared out the front door without another word.

Marie Olsen came into the dining room from the kitchen, the coffee pot in her hand; Jeannie was staring at the front door. Marie circled the table to refresh Jeannie's cup. She smiled warmly as she poured. "Steve's going to be all right, don't you worry about that. Rudy won't let anything happen to him. Besides, once your father finds out, nobody'll be able to stop him from clearing Steve's name, right?"

Jeannie smiled sadly. "Steve made me promise not to tell him…" She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know how long I'll be able to keep him in the dark, especially after he gets out of the hospital, but I'm gonna try."

Marie's smiled turned warm but worried. "Well, good luck with that, my dear…"

# # # # #

The phone was ringing when Olsen opened his office door and he crossed to the desk quickly to pick it up. Steve closed the door behind himself, his eyes on the captain.

"Olsen…. Yes… Yes, I understand…. Okay, yes, we will. Thanks for calling." He looked at Steve as he hung up. "That was Gerry's secretary. He's going to be late. She didn't know how long but he told her to tell us not to go anywhere, that he'd be here as soon as he can."

Sighing, Steve shrugged out of his overcoat. The last thing he needed was a delay; he wanted to get this over with, one way or the other, as soon as possible. This hanging in limbo was killing him. "I guess it can't be helped," he mumbled softly.

Olsen growled as he shuffled off his overcoat and hung it on the nearby rack. He hated the uncertainty too. "Listen, ah, you wait here, I'll go down to the cafeteria and get us a couple of coffees, what do you say?"

Steve smiled perfunctorily as he sat in the guest chair. "No, ah, I'm okay, Rudy… thanks." He lowered his head, his hands clasped between his knees, and stared at the floor.

Olsen opened his mouth to say something encouraging then thought better of it. "I won't be long," he said quietly and left the office, softly closing the door behind him.

# # # # #

There was a single message on the answering machine when she got home: a polite request from Sergeant Dan Healey to give him a call at the office after 8 a.m. She glanced at her watch: 8:14. She needed to change and freshen up, and she wanted to be at the hospital when visiting hours started at 9, but she had time to make the call, she knew.

She only had her father's number memorized so she called that one. It rang five times before Bill Tanner picked it up and she asked to speak to the sergeant. Healey was on the line within seconds.

"Yeah, Jeannie, thanks for calling me so quickly."

"No problem, Dan, what can I do for you?"

"Well, Norm and I need to get something out of Mike's desk and he seems to have locked the top drawer. We think he probably has the key in his pants pocket and, well…"

"And his personal effects are at the hospital, right…" she finished the sentence for him when he paused. "Sure, I'll ask one of nurses if I can get his effects and I'll look for it."

"Thanks, Jeannie, that would be a big help. Ah, it would also be a big help if you didn't tell Mike about it just yet…"

After a silent beat, she asked, "Does this have anything to do with Steve?" Her tone, and the way she phrased the question, told him she knew what was going on.

"Ah, that's a distinct possibility," Healey confirmed.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Mike. Not unless he figures it out himself… okay?"

"Sounds good to me."

"So, listen, if I find it, you want me to bring it by when I finish my visit?"

"Are you gonna be there long?"

"Probably."

"Then do me a favor, will ya? Give me a call and either Norm or me'll drop by and get it."

"It's that important, hunh?"

"It could be."

"Could it help?"

Healey sighed. "Well, we sure hope so."

There was a short silence over the line. "I'll ask for his effects as soon as I get there."

"Thanks, Jeannie. Say hi to Mike for us, will ya?"

"I will."

# # # # #

It was four minutes after nine when Jeannie, carrying a small white paper bag, pushed the hospital room door open. She had already stopped by the nurse's station to ask for Mike's personal effects, asking for them to be left at the station and she would check for them later.

The bed was raised a little higher than it had been the night before and Mike opened his eyes and looked towards the door as it opened. When his eyes lit up and he smiled, she hesitated for a split second, not expecting such an obvious improvement. "Wow," she breathed happily, grinning as she crossed to the side of the bed, "you're looking so much better. How are you feeling?"

"A lot better," he said with a soft, careful chuckle, reaching out to take her outstretched hand and squeezing as best he could. "Still hurts like hell when I take too deep a breath but I can handle it now." "That's great," she laughed as she leaned over the bed to give him a kiss.

"They even said something about maybe getting me out of this bed and into a wheelchair by the end of the day."

"That would be great," she agreed. "Then maybe I could wheel you down to the cafeteria and we could try to find something edible to eat," she giggled.

"I'd like that," he chuckled, squeezing her hand again.

"Me too."

He stared at her for a beat. "Did you get a good night's sleep?"

"Ah, yeah… yeah, I did." She smiled at him lovingly, hoping he didn't notice her brief reticence. "I, ah, I talked to Steve last night."

His eyes brightened. "You did? What did he say? Why hasn't he come in to see me?" he asked quickly, wincing slightly.

She squeezed his hand to slow him down. "What everybody's been telling you is right, he's very involved in the investigation into what happened to you and Linda and he just hasn't been able to get away," she lied smoothly, "but he's going to the second he can." She didn't allow him space to interrupt her. "But he wanted me to tell you that he said hi and that he's thinking about you all the time."

His smile wavered and tears beaded on his eyelashes, but he managed a soft, understanding nod. "Okay…" he whispered but she could hear the disappointment in his voice.

She raised the paper bag so he could see it. "I brought you a treat. An apple Danish, from Como's."

His eyebrows rose and his face it up again. "You stopped there?"

"On my way in," she chuckled. "I thought you might like to eat something with some taste, and the nurses said it was okay." She tilted her head and made a sad face. "No coffee though, sorry… it's not on your menu just yet…"

He shrugged slightly and carefully. "That's okay - I've had hospital coffee; I can wait…"

They both laughed.

# # # # #

There was a soft, polite knock on the door and Steve and Olsen looked at each other as the older man got to his feet and circled his desk. Steve looked at his watch: 9:53.

A sombre-looking Gerry O'Brien stepped through the open door, nodding at Olsen as he stepped closer to the desk to allow the captain to close the door. His eyes found Steve, who had remained seated, and he nodded briskly before, after waiting for Olsen to reseat himself behind the desk, he set his briefcase on the corner of the desk but continued to stand.

With two pairs of worried eyes staring at him, O'Brien took a deep breath. "Ah, sorry for being so late, but I was called into Gallagher's office this morning." Richard Gallagher was the District Attorney for San Francisco, and Gerry O'Brien's boss. "He'd heard about Leist's report, of course, and he wanted to know everything I knew." He glanced away briefly then looked at Olsen. "After I finished, he asked me what I thought… and I told him." He turned to Steve. "I told him that I've known you for years and I don't believe you could have done anything like what happened on the weekend." He shrugged. "I think he believed me."

He repositioned the second guest chair and sat, facing the young inspector. "Steve, I went to bat for you, I really did. But Gallagher is under tremendous pressure. He got a call from the Mayor and most of the city supervisors this morning about all this. The optics aren't great… for anyone. And it's an election year."

He glanced at Olsen then dropped his head and took a deep breath. "I don't want to do this but I don't have any choice, Steve. You're going to be charged with kidnapping, murder and attempted murder… and there will probably be other charges to follow."

Steve was staring at the Assistant District Attorney expressionlessly, as if he wasn't surprised. With a helpless glance in Olsen's direction, O'Brien stood up and moved to the door, opening it and taking a step back. Healey and Haseejian, their expressions grim, stepped into the room and faced Steve, who got slowly to his feet.

Healey slipped the handcuffs off his belt, dropping his head and sighing loudly. "Steven Keller, you are under arrest for the kidnapping and murder of Linda Zhao and the attempted murder of Michael Stone…"