ACT III
The promise of calling it a night after a long and emotionally draining day was short-lived, when the two weary San Francisco homicide detectives returned to the bullpen for a quick debriefing, but found a lone figure sitting in Mike's office, eagerly awaiting their arrival.
Unlike his partner, Steve sighed dreadfully when he recognized the pink cowboy hat, and the broad smile thrown their way the moment Riley noticed them.
"My favorite Lieutenant and his wonderful Inspector!"
Clapping his hands in delight, Riley walked out of the office, wearing a decidedly more tasteful outfit for his travel across town that featured blue jeans and a red and white checkered dress shirt.
But that…that cowboy hat.
Steve bit the inside of his lip, trying to disguise the annoyance of dealing with the overbearing man when all he wanted to do was to go home and curl up in bed.
"Good to see you up here, Riley.", Mike said genially and met the bar owner halfway toward his office, with Steve staying a few feet behind, "What can we help you with tonight?"
"Well…I was just checking in. See, a few of my patrons have been asking me questions about the investigation. And I totally understand that you can't give away details but…well…I guess my patrons are worried that what happened at Hank's place might happen at mine too. As I am sure you can understand, we also feel the hate. We also received threatening letters in the past. Are you any closer to finding your killer?"
Wrapping his strong arm across the other man's shoulders, Mike nodded understandingly and chaperoned him back toward his office, giving Steve the opportunity to handle the out-of-office calls and notices stacked up on his desk.
"We're working on several leads as we speak, Riley. This is a very difficult case and I want to make sure that we do everything by the book to guarantee an airtight arrest when the time comes. Unfortunately, that also means we're still doing some groundwork on investigating who could commit such a crime and what his motives are."
"Well, isn't that obvious?", Riley spouted and sat down in one of the guest chairs in Mike's office, one hand nervously playing with the rainbow colored wristbands on the other, "It's some gun-toting overly-conservative bigot who wants to set an example in this city by killing all the gays he comes across."
"We don't know that yet.", Mike argued, and raised a warning finger when he saw the other man roll his eyes, "History teaches us to be careful when assuming, and I am not going to make that mistake in this case. There are countless motives that could fit when it comes to that shooting, and not all of them have something to do with bigotry. Turning this city into a warzone between those who are accepting of homosexuality, and those who aren't won't solve anything and will only make our work that much more difficult. You of all people should know that, considering your heavy presence during the protest marches."
Much to his surprise, Mike saw tears welling up in Riley's eyes that he quickly wiped away with his thumb, before allowing a quiet sob to escape.
"I am just scared, you know? Every hour, every minute I am at work I worry that the same thing will happen to my place. I stare at the people who come in to eat, wondering if they might be hiding a gun under their coats or inside a piece of luggage. This fear is…crippling. And I know you take pride in your job and that you are very dedicated to this city. I just…I just hope that you will catch this guy soon and bring back some of the peace and carelessness that we were so brutally robbed off."