Happy New Year! This story took a break as we did some seasonal writing for the SOSF fandom.

It was procedure for area homicide information to be compiled and released to the appropriate authorities at each of the local municipalities. For San Francisco proper, that authority was Mike Stone. The morning after Steve's and Mark's shooting, the report of a Berkeley professor's killing crossed Mike's desk. He reviewed the file carefully.

Anytime anything had to do with the University of California at Berkeley, his first thought was Steve. As a student and then alumni, Steve embodied the persona of the college since the mid-sixties. He was pro-civil rights, anti-war and very liberal, as was the school. Steve was still very connected to the school, having both students and professors as friends. Students, like Joe Joplin, Mike thought. He wondered if Steve knew Professor Goldman.

Mike called the Berkeley detective working on the Goldman case and shared that Joplin, a former Berkeley student, had recently been killed. He also informed his colleague about his partner and Ironside's former aide both being shot and wondered aloud if there was a connection.

Detective Hartman responded, "Professor Goldman was a law instructor. According to her record, she'd been tenured and had taught there for fifteen years. She was very popular on campus."

"Do you know if she was active in the Freedom Rides or the Freedom Summer?" Mike asked.

"Both. According to the other professors I interviewed, she was a strong advocate for civil rights. She'd made several trips down south for that very reason. She went year after year. Why? Do you think there's a connection?"

"Well, in the words of Chief Ironside, "I don't believe in coincidences." Joplin had gone to Mississippi in 1964 along with one of the men, Steve Keller, who had been shot yesterday. Joplin was arrested for assaulting Keller, but it was a set-up to see the corruption of the local police first hand. Now, we need to know if Professor Goldman's killing is linked."

"Ballistics. You said the one was killed point blank by a handgun. Let's see if there's a match there. In the meantime, let me check out the others who were shot and see if there's a link to Professor Goldman. Perhaps they were in one of her classes."

"Good thinking," Mike concluded as he gave the detail information to Detective Hartman.

Mike knew the next stop for him would be back at the hospital. If Steve knew who Goldman was, that would be a hard, but necessary, conversation."

SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF SOSF

Steve watched the noontime news from the bed in the hospital room he shared with Mark Sanger. Both men were lucky as their injuries were not as serious as they could have been. Steve could be released at anytime. Mark, they knew, would be in the hospital a couple more days with his leg injury.

"And from overnight in Berkeley, reports of the murder of popular law professor Ruth Goldman at her home. The fifty eight year old was apparently the victim of a burglary gone wrong."

Steve was numb to the news. First, Joe and now Ruth Goldman. He knew Ruth very well. She was a kind woman who encouraged him to stand up for his beliefs and his own career goals. She had been a mentor to him during his time at Berkeley.

The numbness and shock gave way to profound sadness. He thought back through the years, especially his college time, when he was practically a member of the Goldman family. Rattled, he reasoned he was doing no one any good while in the hospital. His injuries were minimal. It was then when Steve realized he had no IV or catheter to keep him tethered to the bed. As a result, he simply got up and headed to the closet in search for his street clothes.

"What are you doing?" Mark asked suspiciously.

"Time for me to go," Steve said simply as he quickly slid into his slacks. The gown had allowed for some modesty as he made the change. Now he whipped off the gown and looked at the tattered and bloodstained shirt hanging in the closet.

"You need to be formally discharged, man. You can't just put your clothes on and leave."

"You're right. Actually, I'm going to put on your clothes - at least the shirt. That way, I won't draw any attention."

"The nurses will catch you and they'll raise holy hell. Where are you going to go anyway?"

"Look, that Professor they were talking about on the news. Man, I don't have time to explain. Just trust me on this." Steve finished buttoning his purloined shirt and found his wallet and badge in the top drawer on the small bedside dresser. "I gotta go."

"Where are you going, Keller?" Mark asked more forcefully.

"Ruth's daughter, Sarah," Steve appeared distracted at her name. "Joe and the Professor - the link is the trip to Mississippi in '64."

"So you were the target yesterday?"

"Probably so."

Mark figured the best thing to do was to keep Steve talking. Surely a nurse or doctor would come through and convince him to stay. "Steve, what happened down there? Joe never talked about it."

"Well, you know that some of the cops were corrupt. Some were hired hands of politicians and businessmen who thought it was in their best interest to stop the voter registration rallies. People went missing; some turned up dead. Joe wanted to see what was going on first hand. He set up this scheme with Ruth Goldman that involved him attacking me. Once he was arrested, Ruth was able to track Joe and find out what was going on."

"How?"

"She had sewed a wire in his undershirt and got his first few hours on tape."

"What did that prove?"

"One of the cops assaulted Joe while we were down there. It was bad, real bad. He was beating him into confessing not only assaulting me, but others. And it was just the tip of the iceberg. The guy was a hired hand to one of the politicians down there. He was being paid to intimidate and terrorize."

"Man, I don't know whether to be proud of Joe or to be mad that he took such risks."

"Be proud of him. He was brave. You know that even after Ruth found someone safe to talk to, the justice system in that town, such that it was, sentenced him for beating me. Ruth had to pull strings to get Joe released."

"And now you think that someone went after Joe? And you and this professor?"

"I'd be interested to find out if the cop who beat Joe has been released lately. Look, man, I have to go. I want to make sure that Ruth's daughter is okay."

"Steve, wait!" Mark called out as he watched the young man exit the room. "Man, I don't want to be you when Stone finds out you are gone."