Steve sighed in defeat when he saw the camera crews of both, KBEX Radio and Station Twelve waiting impatiently at the foyer of the Police Headquarters just before 1pm. Running late due to a scheduled court appearance on a previous murder case and Mike's direct order to "sleep in" until eight that had left no room for arguments; he was beginning to feel painfully behind the times.
Resting assured that his partner would have called had there been any developments in their case overnight; Steve couldn't wait to get his hands on Albert's file. Far for him to question Lenny's experience in psychology and profiling, but he knew in his gut that somewhere in between those seemingly insignificant lines of conversation…somewhere in there would lie the answer to where this man was hiding. If their predictions were correct, he had less than three days to catch him before the next victim would be kidnapped- and the previous one murdered.
Cursing inwardly when Roger Williamson from KBEX recognized him walking down the large hallway, Steve put on his most neutral expression, as the press descended relentlessly upon him.
"Inspector Keller, where does Homicide stand on the Bay City Strangler case? Have you made any headway in identifying the killer yet?"
Raising a hand defensively, when the bright light from the camera threatened to blind him, Steve shook his head, as he continued on toward the elevators.
"No comment, Roger."
"Come on, Steve…", the well-known and liked reporter begged, "There has got to be something you and Mike discovered since you've taken over the investigation. This isn't like you guys to be so uptight about a case this…this significant."
"Not yet Roger, you're going to have to wait until the press conference tomorrow.", he replied genially, almost regretting to do so when Salvador Tidari from Channel Twelve came into view.
"Inspector Keller, Homicide has been investigating this case for more than five weeks and we have four dead bodies and one missing person to show for. That's not a whole lot, don't you agree? I understand you were involved in a foot chase yesterday, going after the suspect but lost him. Would you care to elaborate on this situation and what led to the chase and why he wasn't caught?"
"No comment, Mister Tidari.", Steve said firmly, changing his tone of voice significantly when challenged with the police-hating activist of a reporter.
Sighing in relief when the elevators came into view, Steve pushed past the last of the camera men, trying hard to ignore Tidari's remark about the chase being used as another example of police brutality causing increasing public mistrust in law enforcement.
For the duration of the travel up to the fourth floor, he kept his eyes shut, desperately wanting to drown out the doubt in his own abilities that the media only fueled this afternoon.
Running a hand over his dark blue three-piece suit he'd settled on for today's court appearance; Steve slowly exited the elevator, reminding himself that today was another day, and another opportunity to solve a case, that was quickly costing him his sanity.
Entering the busy bullpen, he was surprised to find Mike's door closed, seeing the Lieutenant taking to somebody inside, but not being able to recognize the person. Strolling past several desks and nodding cordially at the other Inspectors, Steve stripped out of his thick dress coat and loosened his red and black checkered tie, symbolically trying to get some air after a morning that made him feel like he was choking.
He'd barely considered pouring himself a cup of coffee, when Mike's tall frame appeared by his side, leaning deeply into his space, a genial smile on his features.
"Did you get a good night's rest?"
The unusual question threw him for a loop, as did the strange level of privacy Mike seemed to want to bestow upon them.
"Sure.", he lied, being effectively unable to recall the last time he'd slept for more than a handful of hours at any given time, much less dream of something that didn't give him an anxiety attack.
Noting the lie but ignoring it, Mike nodded, before pointing at the court notice on his desk.
"How did it go? Did Johnson try to drop the Aggravated Assault charge?"
"He did, but Gerry had enough evidence to prove intent, and my witness statement served as the proverbial nail in his coffin. The charges stand and he was found guilty of AA, Accessory to Murder and Attempted Murder. Sentencing is later next week."
Nodding in satisfaction at a case that had left a local politician dead, a patrolman severely injured and another one on crutches for the next few months, Mike let out a sigh of relief, before pointing his chin at his office.
"I've got Andre with me now and I am meeting with Olsen at 2. Let's sit together afterward and see what you dug up on Lenny's file. I haven't heard back from R&I yet, they said the list of halfway houses and abandoned property is getting to be pretty big. Charley is trying to weed through it but it's not taking much off the bottom end."
"Andre?", Steve asked in confusion, trying to look around his partner to see who was sitting in the guest chair.
"The ehm…remember those teenagers and that mentoring challenge? Apparently, he really liked me and Doug sweet talked me into spending an hour a week with this kid to see if we can keep him on the straight and narrow."
Frowning, Steve reached for a piece of gum in his vest pocket.
"How is…how is this going to work? We're in the middle of an intense case here. You've got time to talk to this kid in between R&I runs, press appointments and murder scenes?"
"I will make the time, yes.", Mike answered sternly, before grasping his arm, attempting some sort of emotional connection that wasn't reaching Steve that afternoon.
Glaring at the office ahead and the young kid who'd turned around and stared at him nervously, he grunted in frustration, but opted to chew gum rather than argue with his partner.
"See that you go through Lenny's file. If you get done before I do, help Charley out downstairs. We need to hit up the streets as soon as possible and see if any of the local shelters have seen Albert."
The hand on his arm tightened, forcing him to look up and make eye contact. Nodding obediently, albeit with grinding teeth, he watched his partner turn around and walk back into his office, where his expression changed back to the friendly and happy disposition Steve was accustomed to.
And maybe Mike was on the right track when it came to mentoring some troubled teenager.
In the end, it might be the Lieutenant's way of cutting the ties he couldn't.