"Okay, what do you want to do now?"
Steve tried to put some enthusiasm in his voice, but at close to 9PM at night, it was fading faster than the setting sun. Next to him, Mike leaned heavily against the bench of the Galaxy, eyes staring aimlessly ahead as his mind was rushing at the speed of light.
"Well we've covered every homeless shelter in the area. So we know he's not hiding there…which means that there's a good chance he's in one of the seventy-four abandoned or foreclosed homes between here and the Embarcadero…"
Running a hand over his two-day stubble after the tiring five-hour wild goose chase across town, Steve exhaled slowly, before tapping his hands against the steering wheel of the tan police car.
"Well, if we start now, we might get done by tomorrow around midnight…"
"Let's not.", Mike interrupted and put a hand on his forearm, as if to stop him from fidgeting, "I am not comfortable chasing after this guy in unfamiliar territory in the dark. Schizophrenic or not, he's good. And he's fast. I don't want to take any chances. Let's save that for tomorrow. You requested half the day off, if I remember right. So I can grab Lessing and get started at six, and then meet you back at headquarters around 1pm. Will that work?"
Biting his lip, Steve glanced down at the steering wheel, before swallowing hard.
"Should be. Yeah."
"What are you going to do anyways? You said it's a dentist appointment? What is wrong with your teeth that could possibly take so long to fix?"
Unable to hide a smile at Mike's usual bloodhound instincts, Steve shook his head and chuckled, almost choking when the emotions threatened to overtake him.
"Vanity. You know how it is.", he lied, trying to keep his voice steady, "You gotta suffer if you want to look good."
"I guess so. Don't let them make you look too handsome. We'll never get any work done around here…"
They shared a much overdue laugh, as Steve started the Galaxy back up and headed north toward Union Street. With light traffic this late at night, his apartment would only be a little over fifteen minutes out.
"How'd it go with your new…protégé?"
Mike seemed taken aback at the term and grunted faintly, before readjusting his fedora.
"Don't call him that. It's just a temporary thing. He's a smart young man and I guess some of the kids from this project even joined the police force afterward. It's a worthwhile cause at minimal effort from our side. I actually invited him back Friday. Between my meeting with Gerry in the morning and one later on with Olsen, I have a couple hours of downtime in the office and I can talk to him some more while I get caught up."
"You think it's wise to start all this in the middle of our investigation?"
"Well if it's not this murder case, it'll be the next one. Timing isn't the best, I agree, but at least while we're sitting there waiting on warrants or R&I requests, I can get something else accomplished. I won't lie, it felt good talking to him today. Kind of like a breath of fresh air. Opens your mind on how kids these days think. You should try talking to him."
Not wanting to give away the fact that the kid was rubbing him the wrong way on so many levels, Steve kept his eyes trained on the road ahead and slowly shook his head before turning onto VanNess.
"Nah, that's alright. You are much better at this sort of stuff than I am."
"Talking about things, you mean?"
Steve knew well enough why Mike had said that. Feeling the Lieutenant's worried blue eyes on him, he nodded before smiling sadly.
"Yeah. Talking about things…"