My apologies for being gone for so long. Between stupid long 80+ hour weeks and some health troubles, I'd been too busy to post more. Things should slow down in the next month so hopefully there will be more time soon. Take care y'all.
ACT IV
"This better be good. I'd just gone to bed when you called."
Even though he'd meant to sound stern, Mike's irritation diminished immediately when he sensed the energy radiating from his partner, moving back and forth in Joe Joplin's living room wearing grooves in the floor, that bright mind working overtime at the solid lead they'd finally been granted.
I witnessed the phone call, but it's not who we thought it was had been the cryptic message he'd received at 10pm, sending him straight across town to Joe Joplin's house.
No unis were waiting outside, keeping the incident comfortably under the radar for now. Until they could start digging into the matter further, he wanted to keep both Conden and Olsen off his back for as long as possible.
"And here I thought you'd drive over in your night gown.", Steve teased, the relief of finally having some tangible evidence making him giddy.
And this time, Mike couldn't fault the young man one bit.
"You sounded a little…vague…on the phone.", the lieutenant pried, just to feel his partner tug on his elbow, guiding him toward the other side of the room and away from Joe and his wife, whose nervous exchange of words kept them busy.
"There's a bit of a hiccup in this situation.", Steve began, then looked over as the cadence in the ongoing conversation rose, "The guy that called here…it wasn't Warren Thompson. At least not the Warren Thompson we spoke to. Sounded similar but no match."
"That could mean he had somebody else answer his phone so that he can travel up here…"
With his gaze drifting off to Joe and Corby as their conversation slowly turned into an anxiety-fueled argument, Mike pursed his lips, then turned around again to poke a finger at his partner's chest.
"Let's talk to local law enforcement first thing tomorrow, see if somebody can stop by the house and verify who is there and who isn't. If this…this man is up here hiding somewhere in the city causing all this trouble, you bet I want to get my hands on him."
"I think he might be a lot closer than you think."
The vague remark made Mike frown, before he scoffed in impatience.
"Buddy boy, it's going on 11pm, you're going to have to give it to me straight this time a night."
Smiling at the cantankerous outburst, Steve shook his head, swallowing a conceited remark that was on the tip of his tongue before speaking up again.
"He knew I was here, Michael. When the call came? He knew I was listening in. Which puts him right outside this house."
Feeling the tingling in his stomach grow worse, Mike spun around his own axis, taking in the windows, doors, any possible vantage points for somebody with questionable intentions. There were at least 7 houses in the direct vicinity of the Joplin residence, each one of them an attractive hideout, not to mention any alleyways in between.
"There are no phone booths in the area, so he had to have called from somewhere in the neighborhood. He could be in any of these houses."
Pointing at all the buildings across the street and next door, Steve nodded dejectedly.
"I actually just got back in from checking on a few of them. All I got was complaints about the late night disturbance and reminders of who pays my salary."
Chuckling at the downtrodden tone, Mike smiled faintly, then grasped his partner's shoulder tightly.
"You shouldn't be out on your own on that bum knee. The last thing we need is more injuries to add to this case. What if somebody jumps you in an alley?"
"Well, that's why I checked the houses first and left the alleys for you.", Steve countered with a wily grin, flinching when Mike slapped his cheek amicably.
"Get out of here…", the lieutenant sighed, then turned toward Joe and Corby, both still arguing over the best way to stay safe, "How about we pry these two apart and then let's figure out what we're going to do next."
