That Dreaded Phone Call

by Farmer847

He's the man everybody looks up to for answers and guidance. He's the first one to charge at the trouble ahead, and the last one to give up the fight. But what happens when our favorite Lieutenant suffers a crisis of faith? Faith in humanity. Faith in Police work. Even faith in his role of keeping the Streets of San Francisco safe.

33. Chapter 33

Good news…at least in regards to the stories disappearing. I noticed that when I go from the landing page to say page 2 or 3, the story tally goes back up from 292 to 298. So, then I filtered on category K+, and they popped right in. So if you have trouble finding them, this seems to work.

The next morning came mercilessly fast and Mike found himself struggling to get going. He'd hoped for an early start, and yet, his body, still recovering from the unjustified beating, had other ideas.

As he finally entered the bullpen shortly before 8am, he felt a sting in his heart at the sight of his partner's unoccupied desk. Looking around, nobody else seemed perturbed by the young Inspector's absence and he slowly walked into his office, shed out of his overcoat and fedora, and helped himself to some coffee.

If nothing else, he hoped it might help settled his frayed nerves.

As if the candid conversation with Jeanie hadn't been bad enough, he received a phone call from Pam Hendricks shortly before midnight; going through another round of open ended questions he had no answers for, pleas for justice and anger about a senseless murder. It was enough to turn Mike's mood decidedly sourer.

After a few passionate sips of coffee, he headed over to Steve's desk, checking for any signs that the young Inspector had been in and gone already. Even though his work area looked largely untouched, Mike was grateful to find the keys to his apartment and the Porsche in the right hand drawer, along with a fresh bag of cookies.

"He said he'll be back around noon, Lieutenant. Had some errand to run and talk to somebody."

Art appeared by his side, presumably on his way to the nearby file cabinet judging by the mountain of paperwork in his arms.

"Did he say where he was headed and who he was going to talk to, Sekulovich?"

With a quiet headshake, and a distinct knowledge of the Lieutenant's impending reaction, the Sergeant scurried over to the cabinets, leaving him to steam about the careless decision he'd have to discuss with the young Inspector upon his return.

And it certainly did nothing to brighten Mike's cantankerous disposition.