"Mike, I am just beside myself. I don't know what to say."
On the other end of the line, Doug Mansfield's voice was terror-stricken, his breaths coming in short gasps.
"Doug, rest assured, I don't think I have ever come across a situation quite like that one before either. But the most important thing right now is that we find Andre. And as soon as we do, we need to have social services ready to get us through the legal red-tapes. We need to find out what exactly Andre's connection is to our killer. I am also having Gerry prepare a warrant for his file from you guys. As soon as the judge gets in tomorrow morning, I will swing by to drop that off and grab the file."
Taking off his thick-framed black reading glasses, Mike rubbed his forehead with his thumb, trying to ease the ever-growing stress headache building from a day that turned from bad to worse.
"You got it. I will have everything prepared for you. A couple of the guys are still here, I will have them fan out across town and see if they can find him. There might be some usual hiding spots for our kids that your guys might not be aware of."
"Just be careful, Doug, we're still dealing with a killer here. Just because he's got Steve doesn't mean that he won't strike again and kidnap more people."
"I couldn't believe it when I heard that on the radio, I am so very sorry Mike. I hope you will find your partner again soon."
"Me too, Doug, me too.", taking another sip of cold coffee, he noticed Elliot Swanson enter the bullpen, his head hung low, "Listen, I've got some company coming in, so I gotta let you go. Call me if you find anything, ok?"
"You got it Mike. I will keep you and Steve in my prayers!"
By the time he hung up the phone, Elliot arrived at his office, his hands clenched in nervousness as he leaned against the doorframe in utter defeat.
"Come in, sit down my friend…", Mike offered genially and got up from behind his desk to usher the Patrol Sergeant inside.
He watched Elliot sit down in one of his guest chairs and take off his peaked cap, before releasing a deep shuddered breath.
"We looked everywhere, Mike, I swear to you. I can't find any sign of Steve. Nobody has seen the car. Barring us getting warrants for every security camera in the area, I don't know what else to do to find your partner. I am so very sorry. I feel terrible about this."
Running a hand through the disheveled silver hair that had been hidden beneath the hat, Elliot leaned back in his chair, awaiting an onslaught of reprimands that never came.
Instead, Mike sat down on the corner of his desk, balancing the cold cup of coffee on his thigh and smiling faintly.
"We're already working on those warrants, my friend. First thing tomorrow morning, my teams are going to divide up the entire search area to see if they can track down the route of the Galaxy to wherever our suspect is hiding. You have to remember, mentally ill or not, we are dealing with a very sophisticated man here, Elliot. And the more we dig into the matter, the more it becomes obvious that he was targeting Steve for a while. Lenny might be right that he is doing this because our actual killer is enabling him, giving him a false sense of security, even power. Whatever the reason may be, I don't think we ever stood a chance to avoid an outcome to a situation we never dreamed would happen."
They fell quiet for a long few moments, each man dealing with the new, and stressful situation in their own unique way. In the end, it was the Patrol Sergeant who spoke up again.
"You're a hell of a guy, you know that, Mike?", Elliot whispered, his eyes filled with tears when he looked back up, "Here you are in this horrible situation, and you still have the class to convince a guy that he isn't a complete and utter failure."
Taking another bitter sip of coffee, the Lieutenant shook his head before placing a calming hand on the Patrol Sergeant's shoulder.
"You know, for the past couple of months, I noticed a lot of the guys here in my department take my partner under their wing. Grab him lunch, go out for a couple of beers, spend the afternoon watching a baseball game. And at first I thought they were doting on Steve unnecessarily, as a matter of fact it was beginning to annoy me. He'd come in in the mornings and there'd be a bag of cookies waiting, or a fresh cup of coffee from the diner down the road. I was afraid he was getting spoiled by all the attention and lose his level-headedness. But what I didn't realize was that they were doing it to keep him going, to perk him up enough to come back to this job day after day. Here I was, my desk straight across from his, and I didn't see it. I work side by side with Steve every single day and I didn't see it. He even told me and some of the other guys about the stress this was putting him under and yet, I still didn't see it. And you know why? Because I didn't want to see it.", Mike hesitated when his voice broke. Clenching his jaws, he held the coffee cup a bit tighter, glancing straight ahead and blinking away the tears, before continuing, "I failed to listen to my best friend when he needed me the most. And now this may have cost me the best partner I ever had. So, believe me when I say that I know exactly what it feels like to be a failure, Elliot."