"What was that all about?"
Mike's voice had taken on a worried tone when Steve got back in the car, swiftly running a hand through his wavy hair to brush most of the rainwater off before it could run down his face and soak his collar.
"Not sure yet.", the young Inspector replied and interwove his hands on the leather steering wheel, nervously playing with his fingers as he glanced straight ahead, "Joe's saying he got a call from a guy he crossed paths with; back in Mississippi. A…Warren Thompson. Said that Thompson called him up, threatening to repay an old debt, so Joe fears that his life is in danger- and Corby's."
"Mhm."
For the longest time, Mike didn't say anything else, his eyes tracing the deserted intersection ahead.
Undoubtedly, even his bright mind was beginning to slow down after a day that had promised to be slow and ended up being both, fruitless and excruciatingly slow.
"Well, what little I know about Joe Joplin, he's no scaredy cat…", the Lieutenant finally said and looked back over at his partner, "You tell him we'll send a unit over and check it out ourselves in the morning?"
Despite the dire circumstances, Steve couldn't hide a faint chuckle at the notion that Mike had read his mind like a book, their years together on the force having definitely rubbed off on their way of thinking.
"Yeah, I am about to call it in right now…"
"Good."
Mike waited until he was done talking to dispatch before clearing his throat again.
"Let's head home and get a few hours of shut-eye, buddy boy. Something tells me tomorrow is going to be an interesting day."
# # #
Walking back up the stairs to Joe's house brought up a strange sense of melancholy for Steve.
Not too long ago had he done the exact same thing under completely different circumstances, the outcome being a conviction for assault and destruction of private property for the rest of Joe's group of neighborhood vigilantes.
While his first visit had produced a strange, downright awkward mix of feelings ranging from joy to suspicion, this one brought only one; worry.
He hadn't told Mike, but upon returning home, Steve didn't sleep. Couldn't, even though he tried for a while.
Warren Thompson was a name that had been erased from his memory, a questionable character from a past that now seemed so foreign, so startlingly opposite of where he was today.
It bugged him tremendously that he couldn't remember the man, despite the fact that he had good reason to.
The again, curled up on the ground, hearing the blood from the gash on his temple drip heavily onto the brick pavers down below hadn't been an advantageous position to be in when it came to identifying their attackers.
Vague images of Joe getting dragged away appeared here and there, but no matter how hard he tried, Steve couldn't put a face to the man handcuffing his friend.
"Joe, we put in a request with R&I to dig up anything they can find on Warren Thompson.", he'd said, hoping to assuage the troubled man's worries.
A pale and frightened Corby stood by the couch, cradling their baby, whispering soothing words into his ear while they discussed the next steps.
"Well, what if it comes back that he's still down in Mississippi, working patrols? What if he looks innocent? Somebody like that won't easily show his cards. What you call research might bring us back to square one.", Joe groaned, receiving a slight headshake from Mike.
"No, it won't.", the seasoned Lieutenant countered confidently, "It will tell us where he is employed, that's all. It'll tell us if he has any family in the area, what kind of car he drives, what kind of weapons he might possess… we're just doing some legwork here to get an idea of the situation."
"Get an idea? Well, the idea is that this guy is after my family now. It's clear he's been holding that grudge for a long time."
"Why do you think he's after you, Joe? Why not after the rest of us?"
Steve's question, albeit innocent, sent the other man into another tangent of frustration.
"How am I supposed to know? Thompson is black, I am black. There were people from every culture and color at that protest. Maybe he didn't like what we had to say? Maybe he just plain didn't like me?"
"Disliking somebody and threatening to kill them and their family are two very different things, Mister Joplin.", Mike reminded him and pulled out the notepad from the breast pocket of his grey dress coat, "Now, it says right here that you told the officer this morning that you heard what might be cars in the background when Thompson called you. But you didn't tell Steve. Is there anything else that has come to mind in the meantime that you feel like sharing? Any detail about the voice, the way he spoke, the words he used, anything?"
Realizing that he was beginning to get ahead of himself, Joe nodded concededly and took a deep breath.
"The car noise didn't occur to me until after I hung up with Steve, I am sorry about that. I was just so…so scared. Other than that, he sounded just like he did when he shoved me in the back of the squad car. I remember it like it was yesterday."
Before Steve could say anything, Mike cleared his throat again and pointed at the phone.
"Alright Mister Joplin, we're going to see what we can dig up. In the meantime, I am going to have your phone tapped. Hopefully this…this Warren Thompson will call again and we can try to locate him. In the meantime, we are keeping a patrol unit stationed in the area. If you see anything suspicious, don't hesitate to call 911. Switchboards are open day and night."
Licking his lips, Joe glanced back and forth between both detectives, before shrugging.
"What about…what about if the tries to break in and kill us?"
"I would make sure all your doors and windows are locked at all times. And like the Lieutenant said, if you hear or see anything suspicious, call us right away."
Although he'd said it calmly, Steve's words seemed to raise Corby's ire when she stepped forward, one hand gently cradling the back of her baby's head.
"And how long will it take you to get here while we fight for our lives? Five minutes? Ten minutes? It doesn't take that long to shoot somebody."
Her chilling words caused a tense silence for several moments, until Mike reached over to rub the infant's back in a soothing gesture, buying himself a precious couple of seconds to formulate his answer.
"Mrs. Joplin, I can assure you that Steve and I would love nothing more than to have a unit stationed right by your house, day and night. Unfortunately, the San Francisco taxpayers are a lot more critical on how their monies are spent. Our budget hasn't exactly increased in recent years. Until we have more to go on, that's the best we can do."
Adding a warm smile to his words seemed to help take the edge off the situation and Corby nodded, then glanced over at her husband.
"Well, I guess, let's get settled in then, Joe. Hopefully by the time this is all set and done, our case won't waste the taxpayer's money."