Act of Remembrance
Chapter 12
Steve came back into the office and sat back down looking pleased with himself.
"Now don't get too sure of yourself yet buddy boy! Besides you still have that sandwich to eat remember?"
The mere mention of the sandwich itself was enough to wipe the smile off Steve's face and picking it up again he glanced out to his phone hoping that for a second time he would be saved by the bell but this time his luck had run out. Guessing by his glance what Steve had been thinking Mike quickly dispelled any hope he had of rescue.
"And if that phone rings again before you eat that I'M answering it! OK?"
Realizing that he had no choice this time Steve took a bite from the sandwich and chewed it for longer than necessary. Mike was right. It did taste better than it looked but his appetite seemed to have deserted him of late and try as he did, he could not swallow what was in his mouth. Mike staring at him while he ate was NOT helping either so he decided on a different tactic and took a mouthful of coffee to wash it down. After several more tortuous bites later and an entire cup of coffee Steve put down the remnants of the sandwich that were left absolutely certain that he could not stomach one more bite. His stomach was somersaulting again and he felt slightly green around the gills. He only hoped he had managed to eat enough to keep Mike happy and off his back even temporarily.
Trying to hide from Mike his stomach's current battle to dispel what Steve had forced into it, Steve picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth. A furtive sideways glance at Mike revealed a concerned looking glare trained in his direction. Damn it! Steve thought to himself. Mike never misses a thing so Steve would have to redirect his attention. Deciding what to say next Steve put down the napkin and broke the silence.
"There! You happy now? I've eaten!"
Mike never batted an eyelid but continued to study Steve uncomfortably. Glancing at Steve's sandwich which was only about two-thirds gone and having seen the discomfort with which Steve had dispatched it, Mike felt slightly guilty as he realized that Steve had forced himself to eat it for his sake only. The kid looked like hell and despite the fact that he was trying his best to disguise his discomfort it didn't take a trained eye to see that he was struggling to keep down what he had eaten. Mike's worry returned and for the third time in as many days he again wondered what had caused Steve's lack of appetite. Steve was normally always hungry and while he always admired the healthy food choices Steve made he very rarely had to worry about him not eating at all. He could see that Steve was getting uncomfortable with his staring so he finished the last bite of his own sandwich and then spoke.
"You still queasy from earlier?"
"NO!" Steve said a little too forcefully so lowering his tone he continued. "No. The migraine just upsets my stomach a little that's all. It'll settle down soon."
Steve rubbed his midsection and hoped that Mike would change the subject. Mike wasn't fully convinced by Steve's reasons but decided to let it drop for now. Leaning back in his chair he turned the conversation back to the case much to Steve's relief.
"Well it looks like we had better find this Javier Fernandez of yours and have a little word with him? Seeing as you seemed to have been so thorough in your research this afternoon I guess I can presume that you have an idea where he could be?"
Smiling broadly again at the fact that Mike knew him so well and the fact that the attention had been taken away from his upset stomach Steve answered confidently.
"Yeah, I have one or two ideas!"
Mike smiled at Steve and then decided to use his current good mood to probe a little further into the cause of Steve's recent mood swings.
"You know I met Lenny coming back from the meeting a while ago. He said you two had some sort of collision earlier. "
Again Steve's smile faded momentarily only to return again quickly as Steve masked his discomfort at the turn of conversation.
"Yeah, I was in a hurry! I guess I wasn't watching where I was going." Steve explained more nervously than he would have liked. "Did you two talk about anything else?"
Mike knew that Steve was using the same probe tactics that he was and smiled. The boy sure cottoned on fast.
"Well, he said you looked very tired and stressed. He was a little concerned about you." Mike said studying Steve's reaction intently with his piercing blue eyes.
Again painfully aware of Mike's intense scrutiny Steve shrugged his shoulders and dismissed Lenny's concern casually.
"Hey, you know Lenny. He's always concerned about everyone. It's his job! Hell, he wouldn't be happy unless he was fussing over someone or other."
Then sensing that Mike definitely wasn't buying his cover story he decided a change of subject was in order.
"Say Mike, tomorrow's Saturday and seeing that we both have the afternoon off, do you have any plans made for the weekend?"
Mike again smiled at Steve's obvious change of subject but he allowed him to change it all the same as his curiosity was awakened by Steve's question.
"No nothing much really. I thought I'd come in here in the morning and clear this desk of mine. Then tomorrow afternoon I thought I might do a spot of gardening. Those rose bushes of mine need pruning and the back needs a bit of tidying up too. I never seem to get around to it anymore."
Mike was sure that he saw a fleeting look of disappointment cross Steve's face but as was usual with Steve his smile quickly returned to mask his true feelings. Wondering if perhaps he had wanted Mike's help with something tomorrow afternoon Mike inquired further.
"What about you. Have you got plans?"
Steve's smile faded slightly as he remembered his plans for the following afternoon. But not wanting to draw too much unwanted attention to himself and seeing as Mike obviously had no intention of going Steve again answered casually.
"Yeah, I have plans for tomorrow afternoon but they shouldn't go on too long so if you want I could swing by your place afterwards and give you a hand. Maybe we could get a pizza or something then for dinner. What do you say? "
"Sure! That would be great! But if you have a date tomorrow afternoon I wouldn't want you cutting it short on my account."
"No. No, it's not a date. Just something I have to do for an old friend."
Steve finished his sentence with a far away look in his eye and Mike again was at a loss as to what was going on in his young partner's head.
"Steve! I know you said that Lenny is always concerned but ... Should I be concerned?"
Looking up at Mike's unexpected question and knowing that Mike was genuinely worried about whatever was bothering him, Steve wondered if perhaps he should use this opportunity to explain his upset and get it out in the open. Looking around at the empty office Steve spoke softly.
"No. There's nothing to be concerned about. It's just that ... Well, you see tomorrow ..."
Just then the phone rang again on Steve's desk and drew Steve's attention from what he was trying to say. Steve looked at Mike and they exchanged a look of exasperation at the constant ill timing of that phone. Steve stood up to go and answer it. Mike felt that Steve was finally opening up to him and was annoyed by whoever the caller was. Not wanting to stop the conversation for fear that Steve would clam up again Mike called him back before he made it to the door.
"Steve! Let it ring! They'll ring back or leave a message if it's important. You were saying about tomorrow?"
Sure enough the ringing stopped and Steve stood where he was and looked back around at Mike.
"Yeah, I was just saying ... that tomorrow is ..."
Again the ringing started again more persistently. Steve gave up.
"It's no big deal Mike. I better answer it. It must be important!"
Steve left to answer the phone and Mike fumed at another lost opportunity. He had been so close to getting to the bottom of Steve's upset and with the small phone message notelet just beside his left elbow he was actually closer than he realized.
He heard Steve talking excitedly into the phone and stood up and crossed his office to see what the fuss was about. Mike didn't realize that as he stood up the phone message notelet had fallen from the pile beside him and flittered down beneath his chair. As he came into earshot he heard Steve's side of the conversation.
"Oh man! That's music to my ears! Thanks Larry. I appreciate it! I owe you a cold one! Ok. You'll send me up the report? Cheers pal. Bye"
Steve hung up and turned to Mike grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Well you look like the cat that got the cream! Good news?"
"Oh yeah! That was Nelson from Forensics. They could only manage to get a partial print off the gun because of the amount of rain that fell last night but we caught a break! There was one bullet left in the gun and they got a full print off the casing! It belongs to one Javier Fernandez and the slug they took out of Antonio was fired from that gun. They confirmed it as the murder weapon and they're checking as we speak to see if it is the same gun used on Gonzalez. I knew it was him Mike!"
Mike grinned as he saw the pride on Steve's face.
"You love it when you're right! Don't you?" Mike said wagging a finger at Steve.
"Absolutely!" Steve said still smiling and then he swung into action.
"Well what are you waiting for? Get onto that Judge friend of yours and get us a warrant. I just need to make one more phone call to check the address I have and we'll go try to find him and pick him up."
Steve was all fired up and ready to go as he picked up the phone and started to dial but Mike cut the phone off and spoke officiously.
"Wait a minute now! Hold your horses will you! It's seven twenty in the evening! I'll have a hard time trying to get a hold of Judge Rowland at this time and you're in no fit state to go and pick up anyone especially a possible double murderer! Now let's just set things in motion and we'll go find him first thing tomorrow morning! Ok?"
"No! Not ok Mike! Aren't you the one who always taught me to "strike while the irons hot" to quote your exact words. He could be halfway across the States by tomorrow morning. Come on Mike! Didn't you tell me once that Judge Rowland plays bridge on a Friday night. Just tell him it's an emergency! I have a strong hunch as to where Fernandez will be Mike and so far today my hunches haven't failed me. Mike? MIKE? Please Mike. I'm ok for this! Let's wrap this up and get this creep behind bars before we call it a night. What do you say partner?"
Mike stood and studied his partner. The forty winks, the mostly eaten sandwich, the coffee and the confirmation that his hunch had been right seemed to have given him a new lease of life! Mike wasn't sure though how long his new-found energy would last and still worried that he wasn't up to the task at hand. Nevertheless it was good to see Steve all fired up and full of his normal youthful enthusiasm so going against his gut instinct and always unable to resist Steve's puppy dog eyes, he reluctantly went along with Steve's plan. Steve had stood waiting earnestly for Mike's answer with the best pleading face he could muster.
"Ok ok hotshot! You win! I'll try to get the warrant but Judge Rowland is NOT going to be pleased with me disturbing him on his bridge night!"
"Come on Mike. Just use that Stone charm of yours and you'll have him eating out of the palm of your hand." Steve said beaming from ear to ear as he again returned to his task of dialling his phone.
Ten minutes later, Mike emerged from his office and saw that Steve was just finished his call and was busy writing something in his notebook. At Mike's return he looked up questioningly.
"Well, did we get the warrant?"
"Has the Stone charm ever failed us?"
" I never doubted you Mike."Steve said still buzzing from pure caffeine and adrenaline.
"Ok. Your turn. Did you get us an address for this hunch of yours?"
"Sure did. Now I have his home address but I think that's the last place he's gonna show but just in case I sent Harris and Lochner over there to check it out and stake it out. Now apparently he has a girlfriend in the Mission District. Her name is Consuela Ortega. She lives in apartment 1092 in a building on 16th and Valencia. She works as a waitress in a diner and her boss said she never turned up for work today! I think that's where he's at and if he's not I think it's safe to assume that she'll know where he is."
Mike stood in admiration of the younger detective.
"How did you find out all that so quickly?"
"I have my sources and you're not the only one who can use charm to get what he wants you know? " Steve said laughing as he stood up and proceeded to put on his jacket. "Now come on! Let's go! We have an empty cell downstairs with Javier Fernandez' name on it!"
The one thing that never failed to amaze Mike was how infectious Steve's enthusiasm was. Grabbing his trench coat and fedora he followed Steve out of the bullpen and down to the car. As Steve got in the driver's side and placed the key in the ignition, Mike had barely sat into the passenger side and shut the door when Steve was already in motion.
"Take it easy now Steve! You don't want that new-found energy of yours to peter out too soon now do you? We'll get him. Don't worry!"
" Sorry! You're right! How do you wanna play it Mike?"
"No sirens! We don't want to draw attention to ourselves if he is hiding out there. And let's not underestimate this guy. If he's killed two people in cold blood he could be capable of anything! Ok?"
Steve glanced over at Mike while driving and nodded his understanding. With Steve's excellent driving and his good knowledge of shortcuts it wasn't long before they pulled up across the street from the building in question. Looking at the rundown apartment building Steve gestured to Mike that was indeed the place.
"You know most of the occupants in that building aren't too friendly around cops Mike. Fernandez mightn't be the only murder suspect hiding out there for all we know." Steve said cursing himself slightly for allowing a hint of nervousness to creep into his voice.
Mike picked up on his change of tone and those piercing blue eyes again turned to look straight at Steve causing him to squirm uncomfortably in his seat.
"Yes! You're right. So stay alert in there and watch your back. As a matter of fact we'll watch each other's backs. Ok? Are you sure you're up to this?"
"Yeah, yeah. Course I am. Let's go!" and without further discussion Steve exited the car and started to cross the road with Mike right behind him not fully convinced by Steve's answer and with a sinking uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.