Streets of San Francisco
When Mike came back down with the cat, he deposited the purring feline on Steve's desk. He felt that Steve could probably do with the presence of the cat for comfort.
"We'll leave you to your work and collect you later when we're done with our shopping." Mike winked at Steve and guided Aunt Mathilde out of the office, where she had been busy showing baby photos of Steve to his amused colleagues.
Mike and Matilda Keller had a great time exploring the big supermarkets and the smaller ethnic shops to round up all the necessary groceries Matilda needed for cooking her grandnephew's favourite childhood dishes.
By the time they returned to the Hall of Justice they called each other Mike and Mattie and had swapped lots of stories, as Mike told Steve with a wicked grin.
Things didn't look up for Steve. During dinner in his favourite Chinese restaurant Mike and Aunt Matilda seemed to get on like a house on fire, while a mixture of loving yet disparaging remarks were addressed at Steve regarding the choice of restaurant, the prices, the quality of the fare and his less than enthusiastic way of ingesting the food. The constant stream of conversation had killed what little appetite he had had to begin with. His aunt patted his hand lovingly and looked at him with barely disguised adoration. "No more restaurant food for mein Stiefelchen as long as I am around! Dear Mike here helped me with the shopping and we have everything I need for some proper home cooking!"
Steve swallowed back a reply and a piece of sweet and sour chicken and mumbled a weak "Thank you!"
"He was always a bad eater, even as a child…" she prattled on and Steve winced. It didn't bear thinking what she had told Mike while they were out shopping!
"Now, child, your nice boss is giving you the weekend off so that we can go to Modesto and visit poor Ruth in hospital and check on your Uncle John." She informed him next.
Steve looked at Mike reproachfully, who shrugged his shoulders. "You know, Mattie explained that her nephew in Munich never seems to be working on a Sunday. He seems to solve all his cases during the week, preferably on a Friday night. Maybe we should give this a try while your aunt is here. "
Steve sighed and resigned himself to his fate. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure we couldn't deprive Aunt Ruth and Uncle John the pleasure of meeting you this weekend. But mind you, I have to report back for duty early on Monday morning, so we'll only stay over for one night!" he warned his aged relative and fixed Mike with a threatening glare.
"That suits me well; it will give me a bit more time to prepare a nice dinner on Monday. You're coming, Mike, aren't you?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Mike assured her.
"Why don't you bring your girlfriend, Stevie? I'm sure a fine young man like you has a special little lady in his life…"
Mike saw the horror in Steve's eyes and decided to intervene. "Oh, Mattie, it is a sad story, our boy here is uncommonly shy around girls and never really is lucky in love." At least the second part is not an outright lie, Mike comforted himself, and besides, it's only a white lie really…
Steve nodded his head in agreement and was rewarded by another loving pat of his cheek. "My poor darling, leave it to Auntie, I'm sure I'll find you a nice and decent girl!"
Ironside's office
It was about 11 pm when Ironside heard a strange sound in the hall, like somebody lurking there. The Chief wasn't a fearful man, quite on the contrary. But he still didn't like it: For once he was already in bed and therefore really restricted by his handicap. Mark wasn't back from evening school and Ed and Eve had left. Quickly he switched on the light on the nightstand. Suspiciously he glanced at the hamster in its cage. The small animal was indeed running around, but that wasn't the cause of the noise he had heard.
Only a short time ago he'd had to defend himself all alone against an intruder who had intended to kill him*. He knew that he wasn't very popular in the underworld. Too many criminals were blaming him for booking them or their pals, and they were perfectly right. Therefore he had to be careful.
He picked up the revolver which was stored in the drawer of the nightstand. Then he heard that sound again, but this time behind the wall, hidden from his view.
Remembering the close call he'd had not only then but also two years ago when he and Eve had been taken hostage** he had to think of Mark. If he came in without being warned Ironside would not be able to protect him. It was too risky. He would overcome his pride and call for help.
He picked up the phone... but it was dead.
* See Ironside S3 "One Hour to Kill"
** See Ironside S1 "An Inside Job"