Trying to swallow a grin, Steve ducked quickly and almost threw himself onto the front passenger seat of the dark blue Ford, focusing as quickly as he could on the driver's face. The blue eyes that were taking him in were neither surprised nor angry. Sporting a three-day stubble under a black Giants cap, Mike was expressionless. Steve's smile wavered and disappeared.

"You might want to brush up on your stalking skills if you intend to sneak up on anybody else in the near future," the older man intoned dryly.

Steve's eyebrows shot up. "What, you saw me coming?"

"From the second you crossed the street. Even with your, ah, disguise…" Mike smiled slightly as he turned slowly to look through the windshield towards Hiraro's again.

The younger man watched him silently for a few seconds, frowning slightly. "You're not surprised to see me?"

"Should I be?" Mike asked almost casually without turning his head. "Actually, I think you did pretty good. I thought it was going to take a little longer."

Steve's frown deepened and he sunk a little lower in the seat. "Well, it's not like you left me a trail of bread crumbs, you know… I had to do a some digging." He could see Mike begin to smile.

"What did you do, pull my LUDs?" His eyes remained on the bar.

Steve, whose own eyes were now snapping back and forth between the back of his partner's head and the view through the windshield, nodded feebly. "Yeah…"

"And you went up to Santa Venetia to talk to Jerry?"

"Yeah…"

Mike chuckled but didn't turn.

"What, did he call you or something?"

The older man shook his head. "Nope, but I know you… I know how your mind works." He finally looked across the front seat, meeting Steve's furrowed brow with an affectionate warmth. "I'm glad you're here."

The wrinkled brow and mild irritation melting away, Steve smiled with a wry snort, leaning forward slightly to reach into his back pocket. He dropped Lonsdale's mugshot on the seat between them. "So, have you seen him yet?"

Mike's smile disappeared and he shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, I've staked out the place for the last two nights and I haven't seen anybody that looks even the remotest like him go in or out… but I haven't gone inside myself. Didn't want to tip my hand too early… and I've got some time to kill so..." He shrugged slightly, sounding discouraged.

Steve smiled encouragingly. "Well, we've got two sets of eyes on the place now so…"

After a brief pause, Mike grinned and nodded. "Yeah, we do. Thanks…"

"You're welcome," Steve replied with a chuckle as he turned his head to look through the windshield.

Mike watched him for a couple of seconds before, swallowing heavily, his eyes drifted back towards the bar. After another brief silence, he asked, "So where did you park your car?"

"Oh, ah, I didn't drive. I flew down this morning."

"You flew?" Mike's eyebrows had shot up but he didn't turn his head.

"Yep. I figured it would be a lot faster. I wanted to make sure I had more time to… you know, find you before…"

"Before I did something I might regret later?" Mike finished for him gently.

Steve, continuing to stare out the windshield, cleared his throat self-consciously.

The older man chuckled. "Don't worry, I've had enough time to cool down. I promise I'll be cool, calm and collected when I tear the little bastard limb from limb."

Steve's eyes snapped to his partner's face, and he could see that Mike was smiling.

He waited a couple of beats before asking, "So, do you really think Jerry saw him?"

His partner shook his head slowly with a mild shrug. "I don't know… but I think I have to give him the benefit of the doubt and check it out. I mean, you know, he can't… and this case has been so cold for so many years it would take too long for anybody new to get up to speed." He glanced down at the mugshot. "Did Jerry give you his file?"

"Yeah."

"So, ah, so you think you're up to speed?"

"I think so. I'm still vague on a couple of things. Like I know you and Jerry weren't really involved with the case, that you were both just patrol officers then, but did you ever have a one-on-one interaction with Lonsdale?"

Mike glanced over, impressed and pleased that his young partner had so obviously done his homework so quickly. "I never talked to him, if that's what you mean, but I was in the courtroom when he was arraigned. A lot of people were… there was a lot of anger in The City then. It was a pretty high profile case… until everything went belly up."

"So Lonsdale doesn't know who you are?"

Mike shrugged slightly, still looking towards the bar. "I wouldn't think so."

"So, ah, so why the stubble?" Steve asked lightly.

Almost automatically Mike's right hand came up and he stroked his chin, smiling. "Oh, ah, I figured I wanted to look a little more like a beach bum and a little less like a cop." He looked across the front seat. "What do you think?"

Grinning, Steve chuckled. "So long as you don't start looking like a vagrant. It's a fine line, you know…"

Mike joined in the laughter before looking back through the windshield.

"So, ah, have you decided what you want to do if, or when, you do spot him?"

The older man inhaled deeply, raising his shoulders. He exhaled quickly and let his shoulders drop then shook his head. "Yeah… yeah I have. I think the most important thing is that this gets done with a minimum of… fuss and bother, like my Mom used to say. I want to make sure that we dot every i and cross every t – 'cause I don't want that bastard to get away this time, for any reason."

"Sounds good."

"So we do this by the book. This is not our jurisdiction, and we have absolutely no authority here. So if we spot him, and we're a hundred percent sure it's him, then we go to the LAPD – I have a couple of contacts here – and we bring them in on it. We let them make the arrest, and then we bring the little bastard back to San Francisco." Mike finally turned to look at his partner. "Agreed?"

Steve met his eyes evenly. "Agreed," he confirmed, nodding once.

"Good." Mike glanced at his watch then looked back at the bar. "So where are you staying?"

"What?"

"Well, you aren't carrying a suitcase, so where are you staying?"

"Oh, ah, I haven't got a room yet; I put my bag in a locker at the bus station." He paused expectantly, and Mike eventually turned to look at him. He smiled with as much charm as he could muster at the moment. "I was kind of hoping I could… you know…" He bobbled his eyebrows.

Mike cocked his head. "Sleep in the other bed in my room?"

Steve nodded enthusiastically.

"How do you know my room has two beds?"

"Well, most motels have twin beds. And, well… you are staying in a motel, right?"

Mike stared at him unblinking. "You mean because it's cheaper than a hotel?"

"Well…" Steve's head wobbled back and forth slightly with a shrug.

"I am."

Steve waited while a bemused silence stretched out between them. "So…?" he ventured finally.

With a snort, Mike turned back to his vigil. "It's a good thing I like you," he muttered under his breath.

With a chuckle, Steve leaned back in the seat again, grinning. "Listen, ah, I should go get my bag. I won't be long. Want me to pick you up a coffee on the way back?"

Mike glanced over. "Sure." As the younger man began to get out, he reached over and grabbed his sleeve. Steve stopped and looked back. "Thanks."

Steve smiled, knowing exactly what his partner meant. "You're welcome. I'll be back as soon as I can." He got out of the blue sedan and slammed the door. And he couldn't contain a relieved and happy smile as he strode quickly back up the street.

# # # # #

Even for an early Wednesday evening, the Washington Boulevard area was hopping. It was getting harder and harder to keep track of everybody going in and out of Hiraro's.

They were sitting in the car quietly, the coffees finished long ago. Mike reached across the front seat and opened the glove box. He fished around for a moment then pulled out a small pair of binoculars.

Steve chuckled. "You always carry binoculars in your car?"

Mike threw him a peeved glance as he pulled them wider and brought them to his eyes. "No, smarty, I threw them in before I left."

"Must've been all that Boy Scout training, right?" Steve bit both lips to keep from laughing.

"Yeah… right…" Mike growled, staring at the mass of bodies milling around in front of the bar. "Christ, there's a lot more people here tonight than there was last night."

"Maybe they have a Wednesday night special to attract a bigger crowd. Whatever it is, it's working."

"Yeah…" Mike lowered the binoculars and looked across the front seat. "Do you think you could recognize him?"

Frowning, Steve nodded.

"Okay. So, ah, why don't you take the shift tonight… head in there and have a burger or something and a couple a beers and, ah, have a look around. What do you think?"

With a facial shrug, Steve nodded. "Sure. I am getting kinda hungry. What are you gonna do for dinner?"

"Well," Mike answered slowly, "with you in there I can stand down out here for awhile. I'll go get something and bring it back to the car." He smiled almost self-consciously. "I kinda need to get out and go for a walk anyway… I feel like I'm petrifying sitting here for so long."

Steve chuckled. "I hear ya. Sure, sounds good to me." He opened the door and started to get out, then looked back across the front seat. "You sure you're gonna be okay here all by yourself, Lieutenant?" he asked with feigned solemnity, not quite able to hide the smirk.

"Get outa here," Mike growled, raising his right hand as if to reach across the seat to swat at the younger man. Laughing, Steve took a step back and slammed the door. Mike watched with an affectionate smile as his partner headed down the block, across the street and entered the obviously very popular local bar.

# # # # #

It was well past 10 when the passenger side door opened and Steve climbed wearily into the front seat, leaning back with a groan.

Mike looked over with an amused smile. "Just how many beers did you have?"

Chuckling, Steve shook his head. "I'm not sure. There were a couple of lovely young ladies in there who just kept plying me… I was helpless…" he shrugged.

"Unh-hunh. You did remember you were in there for a purpose, right?"

With a lop-sided grin, Steve turned his head against the seat and nodded. "Unh-hunh. Don't worry, I paid attention to everyone that came in all evening."

"And no Lonsdale?" Mike sounded a little disappointed.

The younger man shook his head almost sadly. "Not even someone who looked even vaguely like him. Sorry…"

"You have nothing to be sorry for, bud-" Mike stopped himself with a laughing snort, raising both hands slightly in mock surrender. "Sorry, a promise is a promise."

"Yes, it is," Steve intoned with a smile. He took a deep sobering breath. "Listen, ah, you said it, right? We've got time. Maybe we'll be luckier tomorrow night."

Mike stared at him, appreciating the confidence. Then he turned the key and started the engine. "You're right. Let's call it a day. Besides, you need to see our, ah, our accommodations for the night."

They were both still chuckling when the blue sedan pulled away from the curb.