Steve stared silently at his partner, who was meeting his gaze without blinking. The inspector's brow began to furrow as his eyes narrowed and his breaths became deeper.

Mike wanted his young colleague to work it out on his own, and he would take all the time necessary for that to happen. If there was something people always underestimated about him, it was his patience.

Eventually the inspector looked away briefly. "So if they weren't being used as drug mules…?" He let the rest of the thought hang.

Mike waited and stared, but the intensity of his gaze softened.

Steve slowly closed his eyes. Inhaling deeply, his tongue darted out to lick his bottom lip, then he bit it. He opened his eyes; they were brighter than they'd been before. He swallowed. "They were payment, weren't they?" he asked softly.

Closing his own eyes, Mike nodded very slowly. "The Crockers gave the supplier money… and a young and healthy American man."

An uncomfortable silence settled over them. Steve took another deep breath and his head went back slightly. "So that's why they were being so careful with Craig… they didn't want to damage the merchandise…"

Mike nodded again. "Yeah," he whispered, still studying his young partner, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"God damn it," Steve breathed, his chest heaving. He brought his hands up to slide down his face, steepling them in front of his mouth as he ran the implications of this news through his mind. His gaze was faraway.

Suddenly his eyes snapped to Mike again. "Wait…" he said quickly, his stare unfocusing briefly as if he was trying to recall something, "this morning, when Norm and Dan were in here to see you. Norm said something about the Coast Guard and Dan shut him up. What -?"

"You heard that?" Mike interrupted him.

Steve nodded, a slight but mirthless smile curling his lips. "I wasn't paying much attention to what they were saying but I caught that. I knew it had to mean something but I just wasn't… I don't know, wasn't in the right head space to ask about it, I guess." He looked warmly at his partner and the smile got a little wider. "I guess I'm not much of a cop after all," he said with a self-deprecating snort.

Mike's eyes narrowed and his lips compressed. "You let me be the judge of that," he said almost fiercely, and Steve's smile disappeared.

Nodding an apology, the younger man dropped his gaze and tried to pick up the thread of the conversation. "So, what Norm said… did he mean that the Coast Guard intercepted the drug ship last night?"

His stern expression softening, Mike nodded.

"So… if the ship was intercepted last night…" Steve was piecing the jigsaw together out loud. Mike waited patiently. "So are you telling me that Craig would have been delivered to that ship sometime yesterday if you guys hadn't raided the ranch in the morning?"

Mike nodded once more, still waiting for the connection to be made. It was very important, he believed, that the young man figure it out on his own.

"Damn," Steve breathed quietly, almost in awe, "that was close…" He looked up at Mike, expecting a nod and a concurring smile. Instead he got a deeper frown.

"Almost too close…" the older man said simply, staring into the green eyes with a grave solemnity.

There was an uneasy pause; neither of them moved. Then Steve's head went back slightly and his lips twitched. He shook his head slightly and quickly, like a shudder. "No…" he whispered with an almost inaudible snort of derision. "No…" he repeated, a little louder, a little more forceful.

His expression unchanging, Mike nodded slowly.

With a sudden gasp, Steve got up from the stool, backed towards the door and turned away sharply, his hands on his hips. Shaking his head and mumbling "No", he paced in a tight circle.

Mike watched silently. He could feel the blood pounding in his ears, like a drumbeat of the frustration that was coursing through him. He knew that all he could do for the devastated young man in front of him was just to be there, just to respond in whatever way was needed.

Eventually the pacing slowed then stopped. Steve stood with his hands still on his hips, staring at the tile floor, trying to bring all his conflicting emotions under control. "That's why they didn't hit me in the face, isn't it?" he asked finally, his voice barely above a whisper.

Nodding, Mike answered gently, "Yeah…"

Steve raised a hand to his mouth, taking a deep breath before closing his eyes, standing perfectly still in the centre of the room. He wrapped the other arm around his chest.

After several long seconds, Mike softly cleared his throat. "Listen, ah, it's a lot to take in all at once… I know you need to process it..."

Steve didn't move but Mike knew he was listening.

"Why, ah… why don't you go take yourself for a walk…? You know I always do my best thinking when I walk…" He smiled slightly; he saw the younger man squeeze his eyes a bit tighter. "I'll be here when you get back…" he finished softly.

Eventually Steve began to nod. Very slowly he turned towards the door and grabbed the handle. He had pulled the door halfway open when he stopped and froze. But he didn't turn and, after a moment's hesitation, disappeared into the corridor.

As the door closed softly, Mike laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He closed his eyes, trying to slow his pounding, and breaking, heart.

# # # # #

The door opened quickly and Devitt strode into the room, looking very rattled. "What the hell happened?" he asked without preamble as he almost slid to a stop beside the bed. "Steve just came charging past us like he was on fire and disappeared down the stairwell."

Mike, who hadn't moved and was still lying against the pillows with his eyes closed, waited until his colleague had finished before turning his head slowly and opening one eye. A smile curled his lips as he stared at Devitt's worried visage with gentle bemusement. "Hello, Roy," he said calmly.

"Don't 'Hello, Roy' me. What the hell happened? You obviously told him."

Nodding slowly, Mike allowed his smile to linger. "Yes, I told him…" The smile began to disappear. "Not directly, to be honest, but I said enough for him to figure it out on his own. It took him a while, because… well, honestly… none of us have ever come across something like this before… at least I haven't…" His voice faded away and his stare returned to the ceiling.

Devitt put a hand on his friend's arm and squeezed; he started to relax. "So… what did you say to him?" he asked gently.

Still looking up, Mike snorted dryly. "Not much. I mean, what can you say, right? He knows what it all means. So I told him to take himself for a walk."

Devitt smiled to himself; he was well aware of Mike Stone's belief that a lot of problems could be worked out when you took yourself for a walk and allowed the physicality of the exercise and the solitude to clear your mind and marshal your thoughts. He patted Mike's arm. "One of your Stone's Axioms, right?"

Mike chuckled slightly. "Right."

Devitt sat on the stool that was still beside the bed. He sighed heavily. "So, what do you think he's gonna do?"

"Gonna do? Nothing," Mike replied with a facial shrug. "It's what's going on internally that I'm worried about." He opened his eyes and started to push himself up into a sitting position. Like Steve had done before, Devitt got to his feet to help rearrange the pillows. "Thanks," Mike smiled as he settled back and Devitt sat again.

"So, ah, what has you worried?"

Mike stared at his friend for several seconds before he began. "I know this is going to be disturbing for him, realizing how close he came to disappearing just like those other boys did, and what would have happened to him overseas, but I don't want him to dwell on it. I don't want it to overwhelm him and I don't want him to wallow." His blue eyes suddenly bore into his colleague. "I know he's going to react to what almost happened, and I understand that, but the operative word there is almost… almost happened. I don't want him coming back here second-guessing his choice of career or blubbering about how close he came to a fate worse than death."

Devitt slowly raised his eyebrows and exhaled loudly. "Wow, that's, ah, that's hard."

Mike nodded once. "I know. But it's what he needs, if he wants to do this job, and it's what I need from him. You know as well as I do how tough this job can be, the things we've seen over the years, the things we've lived through… the things he'll be seeing and living through if he decides that this is what he wants to do for the rest of his life.

"I need a dedicated police officer at my side, a partner that I know I can trust in every possible way. I know he's the one, Roy, I really do. There's something very special about that boy that I've never felt before, and if I'm lucky he will be the last partner I have. But I have to make sure that he knows himself well enough to realize that what just happened, as horrible as it is, is just another piece of the puzzle that will ultimately shape who he is as a detective and as a man."

Devitt stared at his friend for a long beat. "You know, you're putting a lot of pressure on him; I hope you realize that?"

Mike smiled mirthlessly. "I know. And that's why I hope he comes back a better man than the one who left."

# # # # #

It had turned into a chilly late afternoon and the sun was starting to go down. His sports coat was buttoned and his hands were deep in his pants pockets. He had been walking aimlessly for over two hours. He had no idea where he was, and he didn't care. It was a small city, he knew, and, if need be, he could catch a cab.

He was still having a hard time wrapping his head around it, around how close he had actually come from disappearing… from his job, his friends, his world, his life… his partner… He inhaled sharply. He couldn't stop thinking about Danny Cutler and Stuart Sullivan, about what had happened to them; the horror that had awaited them after they had been delivered to their 'buyer'.

He shuddered, not just from the cold. He lowered his head and kept walking.

Snippets of memory kept flashing through his mind; Mike, his shirt red with blood, collapsing to the floor of the poolroom; the heart-stopping moment he'd heard his partner's voice calling Craig's name; lying in Mike's arms as the rope was gently removed from his wrists.

He felt the warm tears coursing down his cheeks before he even realized he was crying. He let them fall, not caring if anyone noticed.

# # # # #

Trying not to wince, Mike rolled onto his side and reached for his watch on the bed table, holding it far enough away so he could see the hands. 6:18. He put it down and laid back again, staring at the ceiling. He sighed loudly. It had been over three hours since Steve had left and, if truth be told, he was beginning to wonder if he had done the right thing in ordering the young man to take himself for a walk.

What he had said to Devitt kept floating through his mind. Until that moment, he'd never admitted to anyone the depth of his feelings towards the young man who had so quickly become such an important part of his life. And, if push came to shove, he wasn't going to let him leave it without one hell of a fight.

He let his head sink deeper into the pillows and he closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind. It was a task that was proving to be impossible, he thought, as he sighed again.

He didn't hear the soft swish of the door opening, but he suddenly sensed a presence in the room. He turned his head and opened his eyes.

Steve Keller was standing in the open doorway.