A faint knock on the door disrupted their emotional conversation and Mike froze in his spot, taking a second to wipe the tears off his face before turning back around. Ignoring Lenny's worried eyes on him, he looked up only to see Sekulovich slowly open the door and stepping inside, a grim expression on his face.
"Mike, I am afraid we got trouble."
Feeling the knot in his stomach tighten, he clenched his jaws before clearing his throat again.
"What now?"
"I just got a call from dispatch and Sergeant Swanson. They lost communication with Steve the last time he 10-20'ed. They were in the middle of a transmission when the message was interrupted. They tried to radio him several times but he won't respond. Elliot went over there but can't find him. The Galaxy is missing too."
"Oh for heaven's sake, you gotta be kidding me?!"
Lenny's frustrated words rang true for his own emotions, as Mike drew in a deep breath, trying to remain calm in a situation that was beginning to test his sanity.
"He's not answering, you said?"
Art somberly shook his head and shrugged.
"Dispatch said they tried several times and he's not answering."
Turning around to face Lenny, Mike pursed his lips, unwilling to even vocalize the question his mind was burning to ask. As if to read his deepest and darkest thoughts, the Psychiatrist shook his head vehemently.
"No. He would never do that. Trust me."
Nodding in gratitude, he glanced out of the window once again, trying to disguise the terror that was quickly spreading through every sinew of his body.
"It sounds to me like he found Albert. Or Albert found him."
"And he fits the killer's preference to a tee, Mike. Young, male, attractive…"
Lenny's words struck a chord with him and he turned back around to face his audience.
"I am beginning to wonder if Albert being seen so close to his apartment earlier today wasn't a coincidence after all."
"It could have been that he was targeting Steve all along. But how could he have known where he lives? How did he find out about him?"
Grunting at the psychiatrist in annoyance, Mike pointed toward his office.
"A phone book, Lenny, a simple…goddamn phonebook. If Andre is the key, he could have told Albert about my partner and found out where he lived. Would explain why they were seen together before our units spotted him."
"Which brings me to the second problem, Mike…"
Sekulovich's pallor was matching the white walls as he nervously fidgeted with the button on his dark blue uniform.
"Tell me you didn't lose him?"
"He said he needed to go to the bathroom but he never came back. That was about fifteen minutes ago. I just called the guards downstairs to be on the lookout for him."
"Yeah but he probably went out through the parking garage, because that's the way we came in."
Trying to disguise his growing fury and fear, Mike ran a hand over his chin, before motioning toward the nearby phone.
"Art, put out an APB on Andre. And we need an APB on Steve and that car. I'll talk to Olsen real quick because I want Steve's picture all over the evening news. Lenny, you're coming with me down to Lombard. See if we can find any witnesses."
As if to understand that there was no room for debate, the Psychiatrist nodded and headed for the phone by Steve's desk.
"I'll call my secretary and clear my schedule for the rest of the day. Just give me a minute."
Waiting until Lenny was out of earshot, Mike grunted before meeting Art's deep brown eyes, the worry he saw in them mirroring his own.
"Time to bring out the big guns. We've played nice long enough. It's about time we hunt him down like the animal that he is."