Mike had been lying in bed for quite a while, wide awake, as his busy mind continued to sort the puzzle pieces of their latest case, when suddenly the phone rang. Raising his head to reach for the lamp switch and check the clock, he wasn't the least bit surprised that it was close to midnight.

Picking up the phone on the second ring, he cleared his throat before answering wearily.

"Mike Stone?"

"Mike, it's me."

Feeling his heart leap with joy at the voice belonging to his daughter, and not a police officer informing him of another body found in his city, Mike smiled broadly.

"How are you, sweetheart?"

"I'm fine. I was worried about you. How are you holding up?"

"Pretty well.", he lied and laid back down in his bed, "Keeping busy as usual."

"I was telling Eric's parents about the work you and Steve do on a daily basis. They were astounded. And grateful. They think the world of you even though they haven't even met you yet. I told them you are a hero in many people's eyes."

Mike grunted; the thought of being called a hero so uncomfortable to him.

"You're not supposed to say things like that. We solve crimes. Heroes…it takes a lot more than that to be a hero."

"Like what, Mike? Throwing yourself in the line of fire? Stopping killers? Saving lives? Any of the above things that you do on a daily basis?"

"Alright, alright.", he said soothingly and pulled the covers tighter over his chest, "Let's not argue tonight, ok? It's been a rough day and I gotta get up early. Steve and I are headed up north. I need to check on something weird that's going on there."

"What do you mean weird?"

"We're not quite sure yet. Somebody out there is killing people and removing their organs for profit. It's not pretty."

"Oh my God, that's horrible.", he could hear Jeanie gasp on the other end, then pause for a few moments before calming down again, "And you and Steve are going to check this out? Is that safe, just the two of you?"

"We've been down this road a few times, Sweetheart, we know how to take care of one another. In fact, we're just going up there for the day. I should be home again late tomorrow evening."

"I don't know if that eases my worries at all, Mike. A lot can happen in that timeframe."

"Don't worry, everything is going to be alright. We'll be following proper procedure and call in as needed. Hopefully we'll know a lot more by tomorrow night."

"I hope so too. This just sounds horrible. Please be careful."

"We always are, Sweetheart, we always are. How about you stop the worrying now and get some rest. It's getting to be pretty late for Arizona, isn't it?"

"It is, but I wanted to wait until you were home. I tried to call earlier but nobody answered."

The night had turned late after they went through Lewis's apartment top to bottom, then afterwards out to dinner to clear their minds for a little while. Steve had fallen strangely quiet over their meal, his attempts of making lighthearted conversation growing less and less frequent. In the end, he mindlessly stared at his uneaten French fries as if he hoped they'd give him the answers to all the world's questions.

Mike figured the young Inspector was looking forward to a few days off the following weekend, if nothing else, to escape the death and destruction following them around in their chosen line of work every single day.

And lately, more so than ever before.

"We had to check out a lead and that made for a long night.", Mike explained and yawned, "Very…very long night."

"Alright, I will let you go so you can get some sleep. I'll be taking the bus from Tuscan Saturday morning; I should see you a couple days afterward. Be safe, Mike, I mean it. I love you."

"I love you too, Sweetheart."

As he hung up, a welcoming warmth filled his heart when Mike realized just how lucky he was to still have a loving daughter in his life, and on top of it a partner who meant the world to him.

It was a lot more than Elvis Lindstrom could say for himself.