Moving On

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Two lieutenants are murdered and the chief asks Starsky and Hutch to take their places. Hutch wants off the streets but Starsky doesn’t. Starsky’s voice escalated so loud that everyone in the squad room could hear him, “Some pal you are, Hutch. If you don’t want to be partners anymore, I guess you don’t want me as a friend anymore either!”

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Moving On: Chapter 1

The mood in the squad room was very somber and gloomy. It was just yesterday everyone had attended the funerals of Lieutenants Dan Stratton and Joseph Martin. They had been murdered as they were on their way home from work on Monday.  Both men had been shot once in the head at close range. Every person in the squad room knew that it could have easily been them. It could have been their families saying their goodbyes.

Starsky and Hutch were sitting at their desks staring into their cups of coffee, not really interested in consuming it. They had worked with both lieutenants many times and were going to miss them. “Starsk?” Hutch asked finally taking a sip of the coffee.

Before Starsky had a chance to answer, Captain Dobey opened the door leading into the squad room and said, “Starsky, Hutch, step in my office please,” his voice sounded empty and hollow. He had known Stratton and Martin for a long time and they were good friends of Captain Dobey.

“Sure,” Starsky and Hutch said as they slid their chairs back and stood up. Starsky followed Hutch into the office.

Chief McDonald was standing in front of Dobey’s desk and shook their hands as they walked in. Starsky took a seat and Hutch sat on the arm of the same chair.

“Are you finally going to assign us to the murders, Captain?” Starsky asked, hopefully.

“No, gentlemen. That’s not why I had Captain Dobey call you in here.”

Captain Dobey lowered his head, Dobey looked at Starsky and then he looked at Hutch, “What we want is for the two of you to replace Stratton and Martin.”

“You mean you want to take us off the streets, Captain?” Starsky sounded hurt.

“Yes. That’s exactly what I want,” Chief McDonald said. “I want…no, I need the two of you to take their place. You have the most experience and are well qualified for the job.”

Hutch sat in silence as his partner jumped up and ranted on, “But me and Hutch well…were partners. I don’t want to be some paper pusher. I like things the way they are.” Starsky’s said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Hutch stood up and calmly put his hand on Starsky’s shoulder, “I don’t know, Starsk. Let’s think about it.”

“Think about it. What’s there to think about? Hutch, if we do this, we won’t be on the streets anymore. We won’t be partners. Do you really want that?” Starsky was beginning to become angry and his anger appeared to be directed at his partner.

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea, Starsk. I mean, after what we just went through with Simonetti and company, I’ve been thinking about slowing down a bit.”

Starsky’s face turned red with anger, he clenched his jaw, and his whole body tensed up. “Is this what you want, Buddy?”

“Starsky, cool it,” Captain Dobey barked at him. “It’s just a request.”

“It’s not an order, gentlemen. If you’re unwilling to take the promotion, I’ll find someone else,” the chief told them.

Hutch looked at Starsky, who looked away from Hutch and down at the floor.  Hutch turned his gaze to Chief McDonald, “We’ll do it.”

Starsky’s voice escalated so loud that everyone in the squad room could hear him, “Some pal you are, Hutch. If you don’t want to be partners anymore, I guess you don’t want me as a friend anymore either!” He looked at Chief McDonald, “when do you want me to start?”

“Monday morning will be fine. Take the weekend off,” the chief said.

“I’ll be here Monday morning, Sir, bright and early.” Starsky turned to Captain Dobey, “Give Hutch a ride home, will ya.” He slammed the door so hard as he left, Captain Dobey though it would break the glass.

“Starsky!” Dobey called after him.

Hutch put his hand on Dobey’s arm before he could open the door. “Let him go, Captain. He’ll cool down. I’ll call him tonight.”

“I had no idea this would be such a big deal. Usually the men want promotions, Harold,” the Chief said, somewhat stunned by the scene he just witnessed.

“Starsky and Hutch have been partners on the streets quite a while. I’m afraid it’s going to take some time for Starsky to get used to the change.”

“It’s going to take Hutch some time too.” Hutch said sadly looking at the door his partner just slammed shut.

“If it’s going to be that hard, Harold…”

“No. I want off the streets. Starsky won’t accept another partner now we’ve been together too long. He won’t work well with anyone else. He’ll take the promotion, Chief. He said he’d be here Monday and he will.”

“If you’re sure, Detective, I mean, Lieutenant Hutchinson, I need to get back to my office.”

Hutch and Dobey both nodded at the Chief and once the chief was gone, Hutch’s cheeks filled with air and he expelled it. “That went well.” Hutch said as he looked at his captain.

When Starsky left the captain’s office, everyone in the squad room was looking at him. He just bowed his head and pretended not to notice the stares as he slammed the door leading out to the hallway. He left the building and got into his Torino. He rubbed the steering wheel and said, “Let’s get away from here.” He put the car in drive and spun his wheels as he left the police parking garage, smoke filled air.  He slammed the car door shut when he arrived at his apartment. He got a can of beer out of the refrigerator, pulled the tab off throwing it in the trash, tossed his jacket over a kitchen chair and flopped on the couch. He stared at the TV and never turned it on. He drank his beer then stood up and put his jacket back on and headed out the door. His destination was The Pits.

Captain Dobey drove Hutch home. Like almost every day since they became partners, Starsky and Hutch drove into work together. Starsky picked Hutch up this morning and it looked like he wasn’t in the mood to take him home. Hutch stepped out of the captain’s car and thanked him for the ride home.

Hutch walked slowly up the stairs to his apartment. He reached above the doorframe for the key, unlocked the door and replaced the key. He stepped inside his apartment. He looked around and realized that Starsky would not be coming over for dinner, a beer or even just to watch TV. Hutch was alone. He turned the TV on, grabbed a cold bottle of Coors beer out of the refrigerator, and opened it with the bottle opener he retrieved from the table. He flopped on the couch and changed the channel to the news. He flipped through the channels and decided there wasn’t anything on he wanted to watch.

He drank the last of the beer and set the bottle on the coffee table then he stood up and took his gun holster off. He placed it over the bedroom door and took his shirt off. He went into the bathroom and turned the water on for his shower as he finished getting undressed. He emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist and was drying his hair with another one. He sat on his bed and looked at his favorite 8×10 picture that was sitting on the nightstand. He smiled as he picked it up and looked at it. The picture was taken by Marcie, a friend of Starsky’s and Hutch, who was a professional photographer. The picture was of the two of them standing next to each other, both wearing tuxedos and they had their hands on each other’s shoulders. Patting each other on the shoulder was an everyday occurrence for them. Always being there for each other no matter what they faced, they worked through it together. Hutch smiled as he put the picture back. They were uncomfortable in the tuxedos, but had to admit to each other they dressed up nice. He remembered Starsky’s tux had become so damaged the rental store wouldn’t take it back and Hutch never had the time to take his back so they both ended up keeping them. It was just one of several fond memories Hutch had of his years as Starsky’s partner. Hutch decided he’d like to go to have a chat with a bear. He put on a pair of tan pants and a dark blue t-shirt and then he put his gun holster back on, threw on a jacket and headed out the door.

Starsky was already at The Pits when Hutch came walking through the door. Hutch stood in the doorway a minute before going in.  Starsky was sitting at the bar instead of their usual booth. Hutch sighed at the sight and looked like he just lost his best friend. Hutch sat two stools down on Starsky’s left. Huggy shook his head and handed Hutch his usual beer without saying a word. Huggy stood behind the bar between his two friends. Starsky and Hutch never said a word to each other or Huggy.  Starsky finished his beer, paid Huggy and left. As Starsky walked out of the door, Huggy said, “Hutch, what’s with you two this time? If it’s another woman…”

“It’s not a woman, Hug. This time I don’t think we can fix it,” Hutch said sadly. Downing the last sip of his beer, he set the money for the beer on the counter, “Thanks, Hug,” and left before Huggy could ask him anymore questions. He didn’t want to answer any questions even from Huggy.

The weekend seemed to drag on forever for both Starsky and Hutch. Hutch knew that lieutenants were expected to be out on the streets some, but not nearly as much as the detectives were. Most of his duties would now include reading reports and assigning cases to his men. His men; Hutch thought that had a nice sound to it. He had seen the men around the station before, and now they were going to be under his command come Monday. He was a little nervous about his new position and he was even more nervous about not having Starsky there back him up.

Starsky told the chief that he would accept the promotion and he did.  On Monday, he would have twelve men under his command and he made up his mind to get to know each of them. He would never be as close to anyone as he was Hutch, but he could be their leader. He never thought much about moving up in the ranks, he was comfortable as a detective with Hutch as his partner.

Monday finally arrived and Starsky had a meeting with Chief McDonald and Captain Dobey before he was taken to his new office. Everyone that saw Starsky could tell by his demeanor, that his heart wasn’t really in it.

Starsky opened the door to his new office and just stood in the doorway a minute. He never wanted a desk job, but here he was and he was going to make the most of it. He huffed as he entered the room and closed the door behind him. He walked by the bookcase touched some books with his index finger as he silently read the titles. Most of them were law books. He looked at the two file cabinets with four drawers each.  Next, he saw his desk. It was a light-brown and just a little smaller than Captain Dobey’s. There was nothing on the top of the desk except for a small round container that had a couple of pens in it. Starsky hung his head down as he walked behind the desk and sat in the large black leather chair. He folded his arms behind his head and leaned back putting his feet on the right corner of his desk. “I might get used to this after all,” he said out loud. There were two chairs on the other side of the desk and he remembered how he and Hutch would share a chair. There was a knock on the door and Starsky quickly sat upright in the chair as he said, “come in.”

Captain Dobey came in with carrying a small plant in one hand and some folders in another. “Starsky, I just wanted to give you a little present,” he said as he put the plant on the corner of the desk.

“Are those my cases?”

“No. These are the files of the men under your command.” Captain Dobey took half of the files and laid them in front of Starsky.

“Are those his men?”

“Yes, these are the files of the men under Hutchinson’s command.”

Starsky looked unimpressed and opened the first file in his pile. There was a picture of a young-looking officer whose name was Conner Blanks. Starsky started reading about the young man when Dobey said, “Starsky, you’ll be just fine.”

Starsky stopped reading and looked at his captain by lifting just his eyes, “Don’t worry about me; I’ll make it work. You worry about him,” Starsky said as if he couldn’t bring himself to say Hutch’s name. Dobey reminded Starsky that he was still his captain, his office was just down the hall and he would continue to always be available to him for anything. Starsky only nodded.

Dobey shook his head and left Starsky alone to read the files on his men and the cases they were working on. Starsky continued going through the files of his men. He needed to know everything he could about the twelve men he was now responsible for.

Hutch had already met with Chief McDonald and Captain Dobey when he entered his office. He too, had a bookshelf full of law books and two file cabinets. In fact, his office was identical to the one that Starsky had. Captain Dobey paid Hutch a visit and handed him the files of the men under him. He also set a small potted plant on the edge of Hutch’s desk. Dobey wished him good luck before leaving his office. He reminded Hutch that his office was just down the hall and his door was always open and that he was still his captain, just as he told Starsky. Hutch didn’t say a word, but nodded. Hutch started looking at the files of the twelve men and women under his command.

Hutch had gone through the files and stood up and stretched. He opened his door and headed down the hall for a cup of coffee. He poured himself a cup and was headed back to his office when he almost bumped into Starsky. Their eyes met but only briefly. They shifted them toward the floor as if they couldn’t stand the sight of each other. Hutch stepped to the right allowing Starsky to pass. There were no words spoken between them and everyone noticed the difference between the two former partners and friends.

Chapter 2

Once he back in his office, Starsky sat back down and finished familiarizing himself with the cases his men were assigned to. He had six teams of two men each. He knew his men would have a hard time dealing with the loss of Lieutenant Stratton and it was up to him to make sure they continued doing their jobs and help them cope the best he could. Today, two teams were off duty but he asked the other eight to come into his office. He would have talked to them out in the squad room, but his men and Hutch’s men shared one larger room and he only wanted to meet with his men.

He looked at the men as they filed into his office. “I guess I’d better introduce myself to you first…”

“I know who you are, you’re Hutchinson,” Starsky heard one of them say. His men noticed Starsky cringe at the sound of his former partner’s name.

“Get this straight, I’m Starsky,” he wanted to follow up with his usual line of ‘he’s Hutch’ but he let it go. Instead he said, “Lieutenant Starsky.” He shook hands with each of his men and told them that over the next couple of days he would be calling them in to be briefed on the cases they were working on. He said that he was looking forward to working with each of them.

Hutch also had six teams of two each under his command. He had eleven men and one woman. Her name was Katrina and she was about 5 feet eight inches tall, had short black hair and dark brown eyes. She was also single and Hutch thought if he wasn’t her superior he would ask her out in a heartbeat. But, he was her superior and he had to push those thoughts out of his mind. Two of Hutch’s teams were in the office working on reports and he met with each team separately. He told each team what he expected from them. They briefed Hutch on the cases they were working on and chatted a while about their home life. Mitch Davis was married with a three-year-old little girl and another baby on the way. His partner Mike Anderson was just married last month. Davis and Anderson were working at the train station on a theft ring that was new in the area. They had been assigned to the case a couple of weeks before Lieutenant Martin was murdered.

The other team Hutch met was Katrina Gomez and Brandon Miller. Brandon’s wife had recently left him and moved back east. He did not have any children. They were working on a string of murders that were all within a three mile area downtown.

It wasn’t long before Starsky and Hutch’s teams left the station to hit the streets. Hutch picked up a report from Gomez that she had turned in. He read a few lines and dropped it on his desk. He picked up another report, this time it was one of Anderson’s report about a bust he made a week ago. Hutch shook his head and set it on top of Gomez’s report. By the time he finished reading all the reports his men had turned in he was disappointed and disgusted. He tossed the last report on top of the others and sighed. “Really, this is the best they can do. These reports are awful. They’re late, not filled out completely and just plain sloppy.” Hutch said out loud. He started rereading each report and made notes as to what was wrong with each of them.

Starsky had a stack of reports he was reading that had been submitted for his approval. He ran into the same mistakes and just plain bad reports that Hutch had. He grunted as he put the last one down. “Dobey would have had my hide if I ever turned in a report like this,” he said. Then he chuckled as he remembered that his reports were just like the ones he’d just read. He made a mental note to apologize to Captain Dobey for his reporting techniques.

Starsky’s phone rang and it was Captain Dobey asking him to come into his office. It was about a new case and he wanted Starsky to handle it. Starsky met with his captain and decided to assign Stan Mantle and Patrick O’Brien to the case. Both men were married. Mantle had one boy who was nine. Mantle had twin boys who were just turning thirteen. When he called them in the office to brief them on the details of the case, he said, “If my ex-partner wants us to be lieutenants, then I’d like to upstage him every chance I get. You see, he doesn’t think I’ll be as good a lieutenant as he will. I’d appreciate it if you’d help me out, guys. Whatdaya say?”

“I understand. I’d be mad if O’Brien decided to call it quits without talking to me about it first. We’ll do everything we can, Sir.”

“I’d never do anything like that to you. I’d talk to you about it first,” Mantle said as he nodded at O’Brien.

“It’s water under the bridge now. Just solve the case, will ya? I know it sounds a little childish, but I really want to beat him on this one.”

O’Brien and Mantle stated that they would get right on it. Before they left, Starsky told them to be careful.

Starsky wanted a cup of coffee and went into the squad room where he saw a couple of Hutch’s men working on reports. He started pouring a cup of coffee when Hutch walked up to him. Hutch reached out to put his hand on Starsky’s arm as a friendly gesture but Starsky pulled back and retreated into his office. Hutch noticed his men staring at him and told them to get back to work. He didn’t bother getting his coffee. He watched as Starsky closed the door to his office and he turned around and went back to his own office.

The rest of the week went the same way. No one saw Starsky and Hutch speak to each other all week or even share a glance. It was becoming quite apparent to others in the department that Starsky and Hutch’s friendship ended when the partnership did and that was something no one ever thought would happen. It was as if a wedge had been placed between them and this time, it wasn’t fixable. Everyone knew Starsky and Hutch were playing a game of one-upmanship and the men under their command were the pawns. Starsky’s team had made an arrest in the case Dobey gave him while Hutch’s men were still working on their case. It was a simple case, but Starsky thanked his men for winning round one.

After he left work on Friday, Hutch headed to The Pits. He had a rough week and wanted to see Huggy.  He was relieved to see that Starsky was not there. Hutch sat on the last stool at the bar. His favorite booth remained empty. He just couldn’t sit in it without Starsky.  Huggy noticed the sad, lost look on Hutch’s face and set a beer in front of him. “Here you go, Hutch. How long are you and Starsky going to play this game?”

“It’s not a game this time, Hug. It’s over. He can’t understand why I want off the streets and I can’t get him to talk to me. Has he been in here?”

Huggy quickly looked around his place to make sure his customers were happy. He leaned closer to Hutch, “He came in Wednesday night. He looked about as tore up as you do.”

“Did he say anything?”

“Just that he didn’t think you’d ever turn on him.”

“Turn on him? I never…,” Hutch raised his voice.

“Hey, you and I know that, Blondie, but this is Starsky we’re talkin’ about. You know how he tends to act first and ask questions later. Maybe it’s better this way. A clean break, ya know.”

“No sappy goodbyes or see you around,” Hutch said as he took a gulp of his beer.

“Something like that. I hope you don’t mind if I stay his friend. You both need a friend and since you don’t have each other anymore…”

“I’d like it if you’d stay his friend. He needs one.” Huggy smiled. Hutch added, “I need one too.”

“You got it, Blondie. I can be totally neutral, that’s my game.”

“Did he say what his plans for the weekend were?”

“He said something about driving around checking out his new turf.”

“Thanks, Hug. If he comes back, tell him,” Hutch finished his beer, “never mind. I guess it doesn’t matter.” Hutch paid his tab, told Huggy he would be back in a couple of days and left.

The next two weeks were no better. Everyone that knew them before they had been promoted noticed a huge change in Starsky and Hutch’s behavior toward each other. They never spoke and would avoid each other if at all possible. Everyone thought it was sad to watch such a great friendship crumble before their very eyes.

Captain Dobey was still concentrating on the murders of Martin and Stratton. He assigned Simmons and Babcock to the case but it appeared they were not having any luck.

Starsky and Hutch got to know the men under their command and were getting much better reports from them. As their superiors, they couldn’t just ‘hang out’ with them on a regular basis.

Starsky and his men were assigned mostly to the docks and warehouse districts while Hutch and his men had the train and bus station areas. After they left the station at the end of the day, they would drive around to familiarize themselves with their new areas.

At the end of his fourth week in his new position, Starsky left the station and headed toward the docks. He thought he was being followed by a dark blue car but when he made a left turn, the car went straight. What he didn’t know was that he was being followed and it wasn’t by Hutch. Starsky turned onto Ocean Avenue and the man following him knew that would take Starsky to the pier. He turned on another street so Starsky wouldn’t know he was being followed.

 

Chapter 3

Starsky walked to the end of pier where, not long ago, he described the prettiest sunset he had ever seen to Hutch who had been temporarily blinded. He put his hands on the railing and crossed his legs as he looked out at the ocean. It is beautiful, Hutch, he thought. He closed his eyes and smelled the salt in the air. He heard a seagull flying overhead and he also heard a noise that sounded like someone coming up behind him. He reached for his gun as he turned around but the man already had a gun pointed at him. “Don’t be stupid. You’ll never make it, cop,” the man said as he reached inside Starsky’s jacket and took his gun and handcuffs.

Starsky slowly put his hands up. “Okay, what do you want?”

“To make a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” Starsky stared at the man so he could remember every detail of every feature and characteristic the man had. He also made a mental note that he was wearing blue jeans, a raggedy brown t-shirt, no socks, and torn brown tennis shoes.

“The deals not with me. I’m going to take you to someone else, Lieutenant Starsky.”

“Can I put my hands down now? They’re gettin’ kinda tired.”

“Yeah, sure,” the man said. He moved his gun indicating for Starsky to walk back down the pier, “just don’t try anything stupid.”

“No way. My rule is; the man with gun makes the rules. Right now that’s you, so lead on.” Starsky walked in front and the man remained a few feet behind him. Starsky didn’t have a choice but to do as he was told. “I like to know who’s kidnapping me, what’s your name?”

“You’re not being kidnapped. I told you; I’m taking you to meet someone. But if you must know, I’m Andy.”

“I usually shake hands with people when I first meet them, but in this case I think I’ll pass. I just hope you don’t have a light trigger finger, ‘cause I don’t plan on doing anythin’ to make you use it.”

“I’ve got my orders, and as long as you don’t try to make a run for it, I ain’t gonna shoot ya.”

“Well, that’s a small comfort.”

Andy handcuffed Starsky before making him get in the passenger seat. He drove about a mile when he pulled the car over and put a black hood over Starsky’s head so he couldn’t see where he was being taken. Starsky protested but Andy just laughed at him and told him to remember who had the gun.

Starsky thought he wouldn’t be able to tell where he was being taken until he remembered what he learned about using his other senses when Hutch was blind. He smelled the air and could still smell the salt from the ocean in it. He sat quietly so he could focus. He could smell the fish stand that he knew was at the corner of Ocean Avenue and Marina Drive. He remembered feeling the car make a right turn, then a left. He felt Andy make two more left turns and he could smell the fish stand again as well as the salt from the ocean in the air. He was driving around in circles to confuse Starsky. Starsky also heard the noise of people laughing. He knew he was still by the boardwalk near the pier. Andy took another right turn and stopped the car. Starsky knew exactly where he was without being able to see. He allowed himself a small grin under the hood. He was proud of his accomplishment. He was hoping he would live long enough to tell someone.

Andy got out and went around to the passenger side of the car and opened the door. “Come on, get out.”

Starsky stumbled out of the car. He didn’t like being blindfolded but he really didn’t like being handcuffed and blindfolded. “Just don’t run me into anything.”

Andy led Starsky inside and sat him in a hard wooden chair. Suddenly, Starsky could see a bright light, even through the hood over his eyes. Andy removed the hood and Starsky squinted and turned his head away from the light. He heard a voice, “Sorry about the bright lights, Lieutenant.”

“It’s okay. Whatdaya want?”

“I have a proposition for you.”

“What kind of proposition?”

“One I think you’ll like. How would like to show up your ex-partner?”

“Love too. You tell me how and we got a deal.”

“Let’s just say, I’ll give you some information from time to time on certain activities in exchange for a little…let’s say, breathing room.”

“So, if I understand you right, my men get to make more arrests than Hutch’s and you get to… let’s say, operate freely.”

“It gets even better than that. The arrests your men will make will be in his territory.”

Starsky’s voice perked up, “I do like the sound of that. I’ve been wanting to beat Hutch…I mean Hutchinson at his own game. He started this competition between us and I’m gonna win it. If that means letting you have a little, as you put it, ‘breathing room,’ I can deal with that.” He squirmed in his chair trying to get comfortable. “I guess I should ask first, what is it you do? I mean if it’s just a little dope being sold that’s okay but I’m into killing or anything heavy.”

“I’m glad we have an understanding. You should know that you and your ex-partner are in the middle of turf war. That’s why I want to give you information on what’s going down in his area.”

“I get it. You’re fighting over Big John’s area. I’m down for that. I won’t give you any trouble. It doesn’t matter to me who takes over. I take it you already have the dock and warehouse district and are trying to take over the bus and train stations, only someone’s in your way? And you wouldn’t mind if I found out just who that might be and get them out of your way, right?”

“I knew you would figure that out all by yourself.”

“Just so I don’t accidentally arrest the wrong person, what’s your name?”

“All in good time, Lieutenant, all in good time. I want to make sure I can trust you first.”

“Oh, you can trust me on this all right. Like I said, I want to make Hutchinson look bad.”

“Good, you’ll be receiving further instructions, for now keep Manning and Forrest away from the fish market.”

“The one on Ocean Avenue?”

“That’s the one.”

“Fish market off limits, got it. Now, Fellas, I can’t just ignore my area completely, you’ve got to help me out a little here.”

“We got that covered. Like I said, you’ll be receiving more instructions.”

“Just one more question. Just so I’m clear on what’s expected, what happens when I do get this someone out of your way? What will you expect from me?”

“Only that you let me operate and I will continue to share some valuable information with you. Is there anything else you need cleared up?”

“No, that about does it.”

“Andy.”

Starsky felt the sharp pain of a needle going in his left arm. “Hey, that wasn’t necessary. I…” He slumped over in his chair unconscious before he could say anything else.

“Do you think he’s on the level?” Andy asked his boss.

“The word on the streets is that Starsky here is so mad at his ex-partner he’ll do anything to make him look bad. Yeah, he’s on the level. That’s one pissed off cop we got in our pocket,” was the reply Andy received from his boss. “By the time I finally get the bus and train stations, he’ll be in so deep he won’t have a choice but to stay in our pocket.”

When Starsky woke up, he was in his own bed. He was beginning to think it was a bad dream until he saw a manila envelope on his night stand. It didn’t take long for him to realize his head was pounding and his vision was blurry. He rolled over and looked at the clock on his night stand. He could barely make out the red fuzzy numbers but he was able to finally focus enough to see it was 8:00. He looked at the window and saw the sun but didn’t know if the sun was setting or rising.  He sat on the edge of the bed until the room stopped spinning. He stumbled out of bed and turned the TV on. The show that was on was some evangelist. Starsky was surprised it was Sunday. He had slept all through Saturday. He heard his stomach growl he looked down at it and said, “Just hold on will, ya. I’ve got more important things to do first.” It growled again. “Yeah, okay.” He noticed that he was still fully dressed in the same pair of jeans and red long-sleeved shirt he had on when he left the station Friday night.  Starsky grabbed the envelope and headed toward the kitchen. He held the envelope in his mouth as he opened the refrigerator and took out a slice of three-day old pizza. He turned the oven on and tossed the pizza on the top rack. He looked down at his growling stomach, “It’s cookin’. Stop it.” He sat on the couch and opened the envelope. “What do we have here?” He said out loud as he opened the envelope and read the information on the neatly-typed single piece of paper. It stated that a shipment would be arriving on Wednesday at the old train station on Railroad Lane. It was Starsky’s job to make sure the police intercepted the shipment. The letter gave very detailed information about the shipment. There would be a delivery truck arriving at 0200 and the goods were to be loaded onto a pickup truck. If Starsky did as he was instructed, he would receive information on more shipments due to arrive in Hutch’s area. “Okay, I’ll have my men there. That ex-partner, ex-friend of mine will look like a fool. He’ll wish he had stayed on the streets with me,” Starsky said out loud. He went back into the kitchen and removed the pizza from the oven and turned the oven off. He sat down and ate the half cold pizza.

Starsky needed to work out the details of the arrests he was going to have his men make on Wednesday, and to do that, he needed to tweak their schedules. He would come up with some excuse as to why he was sending his men to the train station at 0200. He took a shower and went to the station.

He had worked a lot of weekends, so it wasn’t unusual for him to be at the station on a weekend. “Mornin’, Lieutenant.” Mantle said as Starsky walked past him on the way to his office.

Starsky mumbled a weak, “Mornin,'” back as he closed the door to his office.

 

Chapter 4

Hutch was getting out of his car Saturday night after visiting Huggy when he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head and he started falling to the ground. The big man that hit him caught him and put him in his four-door white Ford. When Hutch woke up he was handcuffed to a chair with his hands behind him. He had a black hood over his face. He moaned from the headache he had as he tried to sit up straight. “Good, I see you’re finally waking up, Lieutenant Hutchinson.”

“Huh? What happened? Where am I?”

“All your questions will be answered in good time. First I want to tell you that you cannot escape so don’t even try.”

Hutch tugged at the handcuffs that were binding him in place, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Good. Now that that’s settled, let’s get down to business. I brought you here hoping we can make an arrangement that will be mutually beneficial.”

“Mutually beneficial, huh. Okay, you have my undivided attention.” Hutch licked his dry lips. “But first, can I have a drink of water.”

“Of course, where are my manners? Please, forgive me, Ray, give the man some water.”

Ray lifted the bottom of the hood just enough to give Hutch some water. Hutch could feel a glass being held up to his lips and he quickly swallowed some of the water that he was given. “That’s better, thanks. You said something about a mutually beneficial arrangement?”

“I know that you and your ex-partner, a Lieutenant Dave Starsky, are having disagreements, am I correct,” the man speaking to Hutch said, in a somewhat cold calculating voice.

“You could say that.” Before the man could say anything Hutch asked, “How’d you know about that?”

“It’s all over the streets. Tell me, do you want to beat him at this little one-upmanship game you have going?  Do you want your men to make a lot of arrests and make yourself look good while your ex-partner falls apart?”

“I’m all for that. What do you have in mind?”

“You see, Lieutenant Hutchinson, you and Lieutenant Starsky are in the middle of a drug war.”

“Oh, I see. You’re fighting over Big John’s area now that he’s out of picture. Big John had the whole area didn’t he; the docks and warehouse district as well as the bus and train stations? I have an idea. Why not tell me who is trying to move in on your turf and I’ll bust them for ya?”

“That would be the easy way to go about it, Lieutenant, except, I don’t know who that someone is. Now, if you have any ideas, I’d like to know about them and then me and my boys would be more than happy to take care of him without the assistance of the police.”

“I see your problem. Am I correct in assuming that you already have control over the train and bus stations and are looking to expand your business to the docks and warehouse district?”

“Your assumptions are correct. Ray, remove the hood so that our guest can see.” Ray removed the black hood that was over Hutch’s head but it was so dark that Hutch couldn’t see anyone but Ray.

“So, if I let you continue to operate in my district, you’ll provide me with information on other activities that are getting in your way of expanding.  Is that about right?”

“I knew you were a smart man when I first saw you.”

“How long do I have to think about it?”

“About a minute.”

“It’s okay, I don’t need that long. That stupid ex-partner of mine won’t even talk to me. I don’t care about his career anymore. If he can’t keep up, I’m not going to cry over it. What do you want me to do?”

Hutch heard at least four people laughing. “A shipment will be arriving on Wednesday at the old abandoned tracks on Railroad Lane, do you know where that is?”

“Are you talking about the one by the small hill, that old place that has about ten empty boxcars?”

“That’s the one.”

“You want me to keep my people away from it Wednesday, you got it. What else?”

“That will do for starters. Now, you’re going back to sleep and when you wake up you’ll be in your own place.”

Hutch saw Ray pick up a needle from a nearby table. “That’s not necessary. I don’t care much for needles.” Hutch developed a fear of needles as a result of being kidnapped by Forrest and forced to become addicted to heroin a few years ago. Shots from medical personnel were one thing; but receiving a shot from some thug was another. He didn’t know what was in the one he was about to receive and he struggled as much as he could. It took three men to hold him down as Ray jabbed the needle into his arm.

Hutch woke up in his own apartment on Sunday morning just as the voice had said he would. His head was past throbbing and Hutch was sure it would make a huge mess when it finally exploded. He stayed in bed until he realized his head wasn’t going to explode after all. His memories were very vague. He remembered being blindfolded and handcuffed to a chair. There was something he was supposed to do…no it was someplace he was supposed to keep away from. He managed to stumble to the kitchen and get a glass of water. The memories of what happened came back to him slowly. He knew he needed sustenance to make his headache go away so he made his usual morning shake and sat down on the couch. By the time he finished his protein shake, his memory of last night’s events were back. He wasn’t given any instructions except to keep his men away from the train station on Wednesday and that should be easy enough. He went back to sleep for a couple of hours and his headache was gone by the time he woke back up. Feeling much better, he decided to see Huggy.

 

Wednesday came and Starsky had Manning, Forrest, Stevens and his partner Edwards along with some black and white units waiting to make the bust when the shipment came in. As it turns out, the information Starsky received was better than he thought. There was over a million dollars of heroin that came in.

Starsky was sitting on the back of his chair laughing as Forrest described the surprised look on the face of the man who delivered the good. “He honestly thought there would be no cops there, man was he surprised.” Everyone broke out into laughter.

Hutch slammed the door to the squad room as he entered it. Daggers shot from his eyes as they met Starsky’s. “Mad ‘cause we got the drop on your beat, huh,” Starsky taunted.

Hutch pointed that long index finger at him and yelled, “You stay out of my beat. Got it.” He looked at Starsky’s men and pointed at them saying, “that goes for all of you.” He turned and walked away, shutting the door to his office, rather loudly.

Starsky watched as Hutch went into his office, he turned back toward Forrest, “Don’t worry about him. He’ll be fine.”

“But it’s not right, Lieutenant,” Forrest said.

“It was his beat. He should have been on the bust,” Manning added.

“There wasn’t time.”

“Where did you get info from anyway,” Edwards asked.

“An anonymous tip came in just minutes before I called you guys.”

 

Two days later Hutch received a tip about a shipment coming in the fish market that was in Starsky’s area. His men made the arrests and it was Starsky’s turn to be mad. Hutch laughed at him, “One good turn deserves another one right, old buddy!” He yelled at Starsky before retreating into his office. Laughing as he shut the door.

Starsky told his men to get back on the streets and he went into his own office, slamming the door behind him.

The next few days seemed pretty tense at the station. Hutch’s men, Steve Reynolds and Bill Thomas, made the arrest on the car theft ring they were working on. It was a huge success for Hutch and he didn’t mind gloating about it in front of Starsky.

Starsky and his team made an even a bigger bust than the one at the train station. This time, it was almost two million dollars worth of heroin that came in on a bus. It seems a group of tourists were carrying much more than clothes in their luggage. Hutch didn’t say a word when he found out about it; instead he just lowered his head as he walked past Starsky and went into his office.

 

Chapter 5

Just before midnight two days later, Starsky got out of a cab and went to the back door as Huggy was locking up for the night. Huggy let him and said, “He’s upstairs.” Starsky took the stairs two at a time and opened the door to find Hutch already waiting for him. Hutch stood up and the two men laughed. “I think we really have everyone fooled, Hutch.” Starsky said.

“Let’s just hope it stays that way until we find out who’s pulling Ray and Andy’s strings.”

Starsky let out a chuckle, “Yeah, if they find out we’ve been playing them instead of them playing us against each other, we’re gonna be in some serious trouble.”

Huggy poured two beers and followed Starsky upstairs. He knocked on the door. Hutch opened the door for him, “Thanks, Hug.”

“Anything for my favorite detectives. Man, I got to say the two of you are the talk of the town.”

“You hear that, Hutch? We’re the talk of the town.”

“What kind of talk, Huggy?”

“The word on the streets is that the two of you are so mad at each, other you’ll do anything to upstage the other one.  Everyone knows you can’t stand to even look at each other. And if I didn’t know this was all an act I would believe it.”

Starsky and Hutch looked at each other and grinned. “What else did you find out?”

“I’ve heard a couple of names you two might be interested in.” Huggy went on to give them the names of the two men that might be involved in the fight over Big John’s area. Starsky and Hutch shared information with each other on the latest shipments they had been told about by Ray and Andy. They drank a couple of beers and had a good time being their old selves. It had been over a week since they had the chance to get together. Besides Huggy and Captain Dobey, no one else knew everything they had done since becoming promoted was all carefully orchestrated. They knew each other’s every move all along. Even the promotions were their suggestion. Hutch laughed when he told Starsky that the Chief almost called it off when he saw how upset Starsky was. He told Starsky he should have seen the look on his face when Starsky stormed out and slammed the door. Just before Starsky’s cab arrived to take him home he looked at Hutch and said, “Yeah, you’re laughing with me now, but tomorrow you’ll walk by and frown without saying a word.”

Hutch laughed and said, “It won’t last much longer, Buddy. I’ll be in at 0800.”  Starsky’s cab came and Hutch drove home.

 

It was 0300 when Hutch was awakened by someone shaking him. Before opening his eyes, Hutch could tell there were at least three people in the room. He knew fighting was useless and he was probably just going to be taken to another little meeting. “Oh, goody, I was wondering when I would get to see you boys again.” He said as he opened his eyes and blinked.

“Get up. You’re coming with us.”

Hutch recognized that voice as Ray’s. “No, really. I sure didn’t think you were here for a cup of coffee.” Ray slapped Hutch which surprised him and he began to worry about what was really going on. “Now, Ray, that wasn’t necessary. I’m getting up.” Hutch started looking around for his pants. He found a pair on the floor and put the shirt on that was next to it.

“Hurry it up. The boss doesn’t have all night,” Ray said, rather impatiently.

“If I had known you boys were coming over I would have dressed for the occasion,” Hutch said sarcastically as he reached for the socks and shoes that were also piled up on the floor.

Hutch started to reach for his shoulder harness with his gun in it Ray put his hand on Hutch’s arm, “You won’t be needing that. Let’s go.” Hutch shrugged his shoulders and followed Ray outside. There were two men behind him which made him nervous. Hutch was blindfolded as soon as he was in the car. He was sitting in the middle of the back seat with a man on each side of him. He had no way out and no way of knowing what was about to happen.

Hutch was taken to an empty boxcar and handcuffed to a chair. His feet were tied to the legs of the chair. As soon as he was secured, Ray hit Hutch in the face so hard Hutch almost blacked out. As the blood dripped from his mouth to the floor, Hutch asked, “What’s this all about? I’ve done what you asked. I kept my men away from the bus and train station when you told me to. I can’t help it if someone’s feeding that low-life, ex-partner of mine information.”

Ray laughed as he slugged Hutch in the stomach so hard Hutch doubled over. “What more do you want from me?”

“I expect you not to let anymore of my merchandise fall into the hands of the police. I’m going to let Ray here teach you a lesson, and if you live, you’ll keep that ex-partner of yours away from my stuff.”

“You don’t have to this. I’ll keep him away. I’ve been trying to find out who’s feeding him the information. If you kill me, you won’t have anyone on the inside to help you.”

“I’ll take my chances. Right now, you’re not helping me either. Goodbye, Lieutenant.”

Hutch was beaten until he blacked out as Ray laughed as he delivered each blow. When he woke up, Hutch was still blindfolded. He wanted to make sure he was alone and remained very still and listened to every sound he could. He couldn’t hear Ray’s laughter anymore nor could he hear the sounds of anyone breathing or moving. He was sure he was alone. Alone in a hot boxcar and he hurt everywhere. Hutch was sure he had at least two broken ribs. He spit blood out of his mouth and a tooth fell on the floor with it. He struggled to get free, but was not successful. His only hope now was that his men would somehow find him.

 

Hutch was supposed to be at the station at 0800 and it was past 0900. Dobey knew it was unlike Hutch to be late. He stepped out of his office and looked around the squad room. He noticed that Conner Blanks, one of Starsky’s men and Brandon Miller, one of Hutch’s men, both looked like they had been in a fight. Blanks had a black eye and Miller had a bruise on the side of his face. The men put their heads down as they noticed Dobey had seen them. Captain Dobey also noticed the tension in the room. He knew it was time to put a stop to it. He was about to say something to the two men until he saw Starsky open the glass door to the squad room. He stopped Starsky before he could step inside. “Starsky, I need to see you a minute.”

“Sure, Cap’n,” Starsky said as he stepped back into the hallway.

“When was the last time you saw Hutch?”

Starsky looked around, “Last night we met upstairs at Huggy’s. He received some information about another shipment that’s due to arrive at the docks tomorrow. And Huggy finally got lead on who might be behind this whole thing. He gave us two names to run down. Hutch and I are going to look into it today.” Starsky noticed the worried look on Dobey’s face, “why? What’s wrong?”

“Hutch is late.”

“Late. But Hutch hates being late for work. Did you call his house?”

“Who do you think you’re talking too, some rookie? And no, he didn’t answer the radio either. I was just on my way to tell you.”

“Sorry, Cap’n.”

“There’s something else, Starsky.”

“What’s that?”

“Did you notice Blanks and Miller?”

“I noticed they’re here along with most of the guys.”

“Starsky, they’ve been fighting. It’s time.”

“It has gone on too long. Hutch and I know the janitor, Richard, bugged our offices and apartments. We’re betting he’s the one who bugged your office too. I’ll get the men to meet in the meeting room across from you office in say five minutes.”

“Okay, I’m going to get Simmons and Babcock to pick up Richard. Get all of them in the meeting room and try to get Hutch on the radio again.” Dobey nodded toward the men in the squad room. Starsky had six of his men in this morning and Hutch had four at their desks working on reports.

Starsky went back into the squad room as Captain Dobey headed down the hall. Both men were worried about Hutch. Starsky stood next to Blanks and said, “Okay, Captain Dobey wants everyone in the meeting room now.”

His request was met with grunts and groans from the men. “I mean it move it!” Starsky’s men started shuffling their chairs away from their desks and standing up. He looked at Hutch’s men, “I mean everyone. That goes for you guys too. It’s about Hutch.”

Starsky heard one of Hutch’s men, it sounded like Miller, say, “Like you care about Hutchinson.” Starsky ignored the remark.

The men filed in the meeting room and sat around the big rectangle table. Starsky stood at the head of the table. As he was waiting for Captain Dobey to return he said, “Look, guys, things are not what they’ve appeared to be. Hutch and I never had a falling out. We’ve been working together undercover to find out who killed Stratton and Martin. Our offices and apartments are bugged so is Captain Dobey’s office. We couldn’t risk telling anyone else because we didn’t want anyone else in danger.”

“So you’re still friends?” Blanks asked.

Starsky smiled, “Hutch and I will be friends until one of us is six feet under. We know now that it’s a war over Big Johns territory.”

Captain Dobey opened the door and all eyes turned toward him. “I’m sorry, Starsky. I still couldn’t get him on the radio.”

Starsky said, “I’ll go his house. Miller, do you think you and your guys can pick up Ray? Morris you and Freeman pick up Andy. Blanks where’s your partner?”

“He’s got the flu, Sir.”

“Okay. Blanks and the rest of you follow me to Hutch’s place.”

Miller had a surprised look on his face, “Who’s Ray?”

“I told you, Hutch and I have been working together on this since the beginning. Ray Jenkins has been giving Hutch information. Andy Vaughn has been giving me information. That’s how you guys have been able to make so many arrests. Hutch and I had to appear to be fighting so Andy and Ray would continue to feed us the information. We had to let them think they were playing us against each other.”

“You’ve been the ones playing both sides against each other this whole time,” a very surprised Blanks said.

“Now you’re catching on. I’m sorry we couldn’t let you all in on it.”

“Why did they kill Stratton and Martin?” Someone asked.

“They were killed because they refused to play the game. They were friends and wouldn’t go after each other. That’s why Hutch and I had to act like we were mad at each other. Hutch is closer to me than my own brother and always will be.”

Hutch’s men were looking at Starsky as if they were unsure if they believed him or not. They had seen a lot of scorn and discontentment between the two former partners for over a month now. Not once had any of them seen Starsky or Hutch so much as look friendly at each other.  They weren’t sure if they believed him or not. Dobey said, “Starsky’s right. Nothing will ever come between the two of them, now get going.”

Starsky screeched to a halt in front of Hutch’s apartment. He saw Hutch’s car in front and he ran up the stairs. Starsky told the men to stay put while he checked out Hutch’s place. Starsky ran up the stairs and banged on Hutch’s door. When there was no answer, he searched for the spare key above the door frame. He couldn’t find it so he took out the key he had to Hutch’s place and unlocked the door. He quickly searched every room and found no sign of Hutch. He did see Hutch’s gun on the back of the door where he usually hung it. He ran back downstairs and heard Captain Dobey calling for him on the radio. Captain Dobey said that Ray had been picked up and Miller was on the way to the station with him now. They were still looking for Andy.

Starsky and his men headed back to the station. Starsky asked Dobey to let him interrogate Ray alone. Captain Dobey was hesitant at first but finally agreed after Starsky stared him down. Dobey trusted Starsky not to cross the line and lean on a suspect too hard, but he also knew he didn’t have Hutch in there to pull him off Ray if things got out of hand. Still, Starsky made a promise and Dobey gave in.

 

Chapter 6

By 1100 it was already starting to get very hot inside the boxcar and the blood was now mixed with sweat pouring down Hutch’s face as he struggled to free himself from the handcuffs. His wrists were raw from the metal that dug into his skin. The more he fought; the more pain he was in. He pulled his feet away from the chair trying to loosen the ropes that held them in place. He wasn’t having any luck. He was bleeding from his mouth, nose and a cut over his eye from the beating he took from Ray. He was tired, angry and frustrated. He rubbed his head against his shoulder and finally managed to get the blindfold off. He looked at his surroundings and noticed that he was exactly where he thought he was; locked inside a boxcar and left there to die. Hutch was finally able to get his legs free from the ropes. His shins were bruised and bleeding from the ropes cutting into his flesh but his legs were at least free. Hutch was able to stand up and break the chair as he threw himself against the wall of the boxcar. He fell on the floor when the chair broke and was able to wiggle his feet and hands around so that, although he was still handcuffed, his hands were in front of him. That took just about all the strength Hutch had left. He managed to work the handcuff key out of his left front pocket of his jacket. As soon as the cuffs were off, he took the jacket off. Now all he had to do was find out how to get out of the boxcar and make it back to Starsky before anything happened to him. At least Huggy gave them some useful information. Useful, that is if he could find a way out.

The boxcar Hutch was is was completely empty except for the ropes, handcuffs and the broken chair. Hutch could see outside from a two-inch crack where the doors weren’t closed all the way. He tried to squeeze his hand in the crack to lift the bar that had been laid across the two doors. It was no use, his hands were too large. He saw the broken legs of the chair and tried to use one of them to move the bar. It took several tries but Hutch was finally able to move the bar and get the doors open. He was surprised to find out that he was not where he thought he was. He thought he had been taken to one of the boxcars on Railroad Lane, this was the complete opposite end of town. It was also a lot further from help. Hutch picked up his handcuffs, key and jacket and carefully stepped out of the boxcar and started walking. His chest was burning from the broken ribs and he hurt everywhere. He hoped he would find water soon.

Starsky slammed the door shut as he entered the interrogation room. “I’m only going to ask you this once, scum, and I expect an answer.”

Ray just looked at Starsky as if he didn’t care what he wanted to know. Ray knew Starsky was sent to ask where Hutch was, he also knew Starsky didn’t really care about his ex-partner anymore. “And what might that be, Lieutenant?”

Starsky slammed his fist on the table. Ray didn’t budge. “I want to know where my partner is.”

“Don’t you mean your ex-partner and really, just between us,” Ray whispered, “do you really even care what happens to Hutchinson?”

Starsky put both hands on the table in front of Ray and leaned in so close the hairs on the back of Ray’s hair stood up, “Get this straight, Ray, Hutch was, is and always will be my partner and best friend. Now tell me what you did with him.”

“Oh, I see,” Ray whispered, “Dopey is on the other side of the glass and you have to make this look good.”

“It’s Captain Dobey. Try, just try to think of what I’ll do to you if you don’t tell me what you did with him.”

“You ain’t gonna do nothin’ to me. I did you a favor by getting rid of that ex-partner of yours. You wanna know how I did it? I used him as a punching bag.”

Starsky grabbed Ray up by the shirt and slammed him against the wall. Dobey was watching along with a couple of Starsky’s men. Starsky gave Dobey a slight wink to let him know that he was still in control. “You tell me where he is or else so help me no one will recognize you when I’m done,” Starsky sounded as loud and as angry as he possibly could. He was really worried about Hutch and didn’t have time to play nice with this creep.

Ray finally got the message that Starsky wasn’t putting on an act. He really cared for Hutchinson after all. He wasn’t sure what Starsky would do if he didn’t tell him where he’d left his partner; he wasn’t sure what he would do once he found out what he did to him. Ray wasn’t sure if Hutch was even still alive. “Okay, okay. Let go of me.” Starsky jerked him away from the wall and slammed him back into the chair. “He’s at the train tracks on Railroad Lane. He’s in the third boxcar.

“One more thing, who’s your boss?”

“I can’t tell you that. He’ll kill me!” Ray was shaking as he stared at Starsky.

“What do you think I’ll do to you if Hutch doesn’t make it? Think about that. You got one minute to answer me.” Starsky gave Ray a cold hard stare. He remained quiet, a very eerie kind of quiet that made Ray just about jump out of his skin.

“I don’t know who the top man is, but Ricky Blinn is the one who gives me my orders.”

“What did he order you to do with Hutch?”

“He told me to make sure,” he hesitated.

“Make sure what?”

“He told me to make sure Hutchinson…” Ray mumbled, “He told me to take care of him.”

Starsky left the room slamming the door as he left. He ran down the hall so fast his men were having a hard time keeping up. Starsky jumped into the Torino and Blanks got in the passenger side. Starsky looked surprised at him.

“I thought you could some company, Sir.”

Starsky smiled at the young officer and said, “I sure could.” He put the car in drive and sped off.

What Ray didn’t know, was that late last night after he had left Hutch, his boss hooked the boxcar that Hutch was in and moved it across town. If Ray was picked up by the police, he wouldn’t know where Hutch was. Starsky managed to stir up a pile of dirt as he stopped the car at the tracks. He got out along with Blanks and ran for the third boxcar. It had a padlock on it. Starsky beat on the door, “Hutch! Hutch! Talk to me. I’m here, Buddy.” There was no answer.

Blanks ran back to the car and opened the trunk and started rummaging through it. As the other two cars pulled up, he yelled that they needed bolt cutters. One of the other officers grabbed the bolt cutters from his trunk and ran to where Starsky was desperately trying to get Hutch to answer him. He took the cutters that were handed him and cut the lock and quickly opened the doors. “Oh no,” he said sounding like he was about to lose what little self control he had left. The boxcar was empty. He quickly cut the locks on every boxcar there and found no sign of Hutch in any of them. He threw the bolt cutters on the ground and headed back to his car.

As Starsky headed back to the station to have another chat with Ray, Hutch continued walking, dragging his jacket on the ground. His face was dirty with a mixture of sweat, blood and dirt. He was more stumbling than walking. He was very weak and tired and didn’t have the energy to go on. He found an empty building and went inside. It was old and dusty but Hutch knew he needed to rest or he wouldn’t be able to go on. He found a dark corner and curled up in the fetal position and dozed off.

Starsky got nowhere with Ray. Ray swore he left Hutch in that boxcar. Starsky knew he had to leave the room or he would have lost his cool. He met Captain Dobey in the hallway. Dobey told him Andy Vaughn was still on the loose but Richard had been picked up. Starsky was in no mood to talk to Richard so Dobey had Simmons and Babcock interrogate him. He didn’t know anything except he was give a hundred dollars for each bug he planted.

Starsky thought about the trains and asked Blanks to get him some maps of the tracks in town. Miller was sitting as his desk and said, “I’d like to go with Blanks to get the maps, Sir.” Starsky nodded. He knew the two had a fight the night before and needed to work it out.

Starsky cleared off one of the tables in the meeting room to make space for the map when Blanks and Miller came back. He carefully unfolded the maps and found the track where Ray said Hutch was left. That track was over fifty miles long and it broke off in several places. Starsky knew Hutch could be anywhere. Starsky rubbed his head with his hands.

“That’s a lot of track, Lieutenant. We can start here,” Miller pointed to a spot thirty miles away, “and work back toward the city you can start at the beginning and we’ll search every train we see. We’ll find, Hutchinson.”

All of Starsky and Hutch’s men had gathered in the meeting room. Blanks and Anderson had called the men that were off duty. They immediately volunteered to join the search for Hutch. Dobey said he could put an additional twenty men on the search, including Simmons and Babcock. He also had the helicopter in the air looking for any signs of Hutch. There were a total of almost fifty officers available to join the search. “Take enough men to search every spot that track branches off. Blanks you’re with me. We’ll start here.” Starsky pointed to the spot where Ray said he left Hutch. They laid out plans for the men to break up into teams so every place the track broke off would be searched.

Starsky and the others searched for hours. It was 0200 when Starsky found the boxcar with the broken chair and ropes in it but here was no sign of Hutch. Starsky had the men concentrate the search in that area.

 

Hutch was surprised to find it was dark when he woke up. He had no idea he had slept as long as he did. He looked at his watch and it was 0500. He had slept a lot longer than he had intended.  He had now gone over twenty-four hours without water or food. Going without food was nothing new for him, but he was dehydrated and needed water soon. He stumbled out of the building. He had been walking about an hour when he saw a car’s headlights. He hid behind a building afraid it was Ray coming back for him. As the car past he recognized the back end of Starsky’s Torino. He raised his hands and started waving them, “Starsky, don’t leave me.” He tried to run after it but fell in the middle of the street.

Blanks looked in his side-view mirror and saw someone fall on the ground. “Lieutenant, I thought I saw someone back there.”

Starsky didn’t waste any time slamming on the breaks so hard smoke filled the air from the rubber burning. There was a loud screeching sound as the car spun around.  Starsky stopped just as he saw Hutch lying in the road. “Call for an ambulance,” he said to Blanks as he jumped out of the car and ran to Hutch.

Starsky picked Hutch up in his arms, “I got you, Buddy. It’s okay, I got ya. You’re going to be just fine.”

Hutch reached his arms up, “Is that you, Starsk?”

“Yeah, it’s me, Hutch.”

Blanks knelt down and handed Starsky a bottle of water he had in the car, “I called an ambulance and everyone else knows we found him. How is he?”

“Thanks,” Starsky said as he took the water from Blanks and gave some to Hutch. “Not too fast, Hutch, it’ll make you sick.” Hutch nodded as he drank some of the water.

Starsky looked at Hutch from head-to-toe while they waited for the ambulance. None of his wounds appeared to be life-threatening but he was hurting a lot from the beating and was dehydrated. Starsky expected that Hutch had a couple of broken ribs. Starsky held Hutch tight until the ambulance came. He asked Blanks to bring the Torino to the hospital so he could ride in with Hutch. Blanks felt honored that Starsky asked him. He knew how much Starsky loved that car.

Captain Dobey, Huggy, Simmons, Babcock and several of the officers that were involved in the search were sitting waiting for word on Hutch. Starsky paced until the doctor told him that Hutch was very dehydrated and did have two broken ribs and some other minor cuts and abrasions. He said that Hutch would need to stay at least until tomorrow but he would fully recover.  He told Starsky that he could see him in about an hour. Starsky thanked everyone for their help and told them to all go home. “You too, Hug. Go on home I’ll call you a little later.” Huggy nodded and Starsky patted his arm as he walked by.

“What about you, Starsky? You need to get some rest yourself,” Captain Dobey said.

“I’m not going anywhere until I see him, you know that. And I want…”

“I already have a couple of uniforms on the way. Don’t worry, he’ll be protected.”

“I’ll go home for a little while after I see Hutch.”

The nurse showed Starsky where Hutch’s room was and told him he could stay a few minutes. Starsky thanked her and opened the door. He slowly walked over to the bed. “How ya felling, Buddy?”

“I hope I don’t look as bad as I feel.”

“I hope you don’t feel as bad as you look, ‘cause you look like hell.”

“That’s about how I feel. Did you get Ray?”

“We got Ray and Andy was picked up too along with Richard, the janitor. Ray told me it was Ricky Blinn pulling his strings but he doesn’t know who’s pulling Blinn’s.”

“Huggy told us Spitzer and Monroe are the two after Big John’s area,” Hutch said.

“Dobey put an APB out on all of them. Simmons and Babcock are on it,” Starsky said.

“Hey, Starsk?”

“Yeah?”

“You be careful. They’ll come after you too, especially now that they know we’ve been making them look like fools. Don’t take any chances.”

“You know me, Hutch.”

“That’s exactly what I’m worried about.”

Hutch was losing what little energy he had and Starsky knew it. He patted Hutch’s shoulder, “Hey, get some rest and I’ll check in on you later. You have two uniforms outside your door.”

“Dobey’s idea?”

“Nope, mine.”

Hutch smiled as he drifted off to sleep. Starsky patted his hand, “Sleep, Buddy, sleep.” Starsky said softly. He quietly closed the door as he left.

 

Chapter 7

It was about 0900 by the time Starsky climbed the steps leading into his apartment. He had been up all night searching for Hutch and he was exhausted. He took a quick shower and flopped on his bed hoping to get a couple hours of shut eye before going to the station. He was sound asleep when he heard some kind of movement in his bedroom. He rolled over and reached for the gun that he kept in the drawer of his nightstand. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Lieutenant.”

Starsky was hit in the face hard enough that his lip was bleeding. He drew back his fist to fight back but he heard the clicking sound of a gun’s hammer being pulled back. He wiped the blood from his lip and noticed that there were three men standing in his room. “Who are you and what do you want?” He asked through clenched teeth with anger showing on his face. He sat up in his bed leaning against the headboard.

“I’m hurt you don’t already know.” The older, well-dressed man said.

“I take it you’re either Monroe or Spitzer and these clowns are your goons.”

“Let me first introduce myself and my staff. I am Thomas Monroe and this,” he pointed to the man who hit Starsky, “is my associate Pete Parks.”

Starsky took his eyes off of Monroe and looked at Parks and said, “I’ll get even with you for this,” as he wiped more blood from his lip. Parks laughed.

“This gentleman,” Monroe pointed to the man holding the gun, “Is Joe Malone.”

“Well, let me introduce myself,” Starsky said as he pointed his index finger at each of them in one sweeping movement. “I’m your worst nightmare.”

His remark was met with laughter. “Now, Officer, there’s no need for this kind of tension between us. We all know why we’re here,” Monroe said. He spoke in a voice of authority and his mannerisms told Starsky that he was in control. And being outnumbered three-to-one, Monroe was calling all the shots, for now at least.

“No, we all don’t know why you busted into my place. But I’m all ears, if you want to explain it.”

“Ah, now we get down to the nitty-gritty,” Monroe continued. “Spitzer will be out of my way by the end of today. Now that I know you and Hutchinson are working together again, you will both allow me to continue to sell my merchandise.”

“Not a chance. You know Hutch and I will bust you as soon as we get enough evidence on you. Who knows, you just might find yourself behind bars by the end of the day. You just confessed to a murder.”

Monroe looked at his two men then back at Starsky, “I said nothing about a murder, Officer. I merely stated that Spitzer will be out of my way. I didn’t expect you to just sit back and let me operate without some incentive. And I know that you and Hutchinson probably can’t be bought with any amount of money, correct?”

“That’s right. Hutch and I aren’t for sale at any price.”

“Everyone has their price, Lieutenant. Name yours.”

“I told you, Hutch and I aren’t for sale.”

“Let’s change tactics for a minute then, shall we? Money may not be your price, but I know what is.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.” Monroe looked very assure of himself.

Starsky didn’t know what Monroe had in mind but he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to like it. “What’s that?”

“Your friends. Hutchinson’s in the hospital right now being guarded. But he’s just one person you care about it, isn’t he?”

Starsky didn’t say a word, he just looked at Monroe. The phone rang and Starsky looked at it. “Go on, pick it up. It’s your Captain. I wouldn’t advise you tell him you have company.”

Starsky picked up the phone, “Starsky here.”

“Starsky, I just wanted you to know Rosie was hit riding her bike. It was a hit-and-run. I’m at the hospital now.” Starsky could tell his captain had tears in his eyes.

“Is she okay?” Starsky asked quickly as the anger inside him was building. He knew it was one of Monroe’s men that had run the little girl down.

“I don’t know, Dave. It looks like just a broken arm, but they’ve taken her to x-ray.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can, Cap’n.” Starsky hung up the phone. “I see where you’re coming from now. You’re not man enough to play with the big boys; you have to go after little girls.”

“I have every intention of moving my merchandise. I know threatening you and your partner will get me nowhere.”

“You got that right,” Starsky said with a matter-of-fact tone.

“We both also know that if I get rid of you and Hutchinson, the department will just put someone in your place like they did when the last two lieutenants had their unfortunate accidents. Here’s the way things are going to work.  You and Hutchinson will keep your present positions in the department. I think we can work a way to keep my operation intact without jeopardizing your careers. Do I make myself clear?” He received only a cold hard stare from Starsky.  “If we have to take it further, Huggy might be next or the good captain’s lovely wife. And I promise you next time, it’ll be more than just a fall from a bike.”

Starsky weighed his options and at the moment, he didn’t have a choice but to agree to Monroe’s demands. He bowed his head in defeat, “Hutch and I will stay out of your way,” he pointed his finger at Monroe again, “But, you’d better not hurt anyone else, or make no mistake, we’ll come after you and there won’t be enough of you left for your own mother to recognize. Now, get out of my place.” He got up and bent down to pick up his jeans that were on the floor. When he stood up, he slugged Parks, “Now we’re even.”

Before he left, Monroe said, “Remember, no one’s to know about our little arrangement. I have eyes and ears everywhere, remember that, Officer.” Monroe and his men left.

Starsky hurried and finished getting dressed. He checked his gun to make sure it was fully loaded and put it back in its holster. After grabbing a jacket, he ran out the door. Starsky ran into the waiting room to find Captain Dobey sitting next to Edith trying to console her. Starsky squatted in front of Edith and put his hands on her shoulders, “She’ll be fine,” he said in a soft, soothing voice. “Where’s Cal?” He asked Captain Dobey.

“He’s with some friends at the movies. I sent Baker to pick him up.” Starsky nodded.

The doors opened and Cal, the Dobey’s son, entered the room followed by Baker. “Dad, is she okay? What happened?” He sounded very concerned for his little sister.

Captain Dobey explained how Rosie was in front of their house riding her bike and a car came up on the sidewalk and hit her just hard enough to knock her down. He said that Rosie had a broken arm but they wanted to take her to x-ray to make sure everything was okay. Cal sat next to his mother.

The doctor came in and said that Rosie had a broken right arm and would be in a cast for about six weeks but she would be just fine. He said he was just about to put a cast on her and would allow her parents and Cal to be with her. Starsky said, “Go ahead, Cap’n. I’ll check on Hutch.”

Edith wiped away her tears before she entered her daughter’s room. Rosie was lying in the bed with her head elevated a little. “They gave me medicine so it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“That’s good, Honey,” Edith said. She pulled up a chair and sat beside her youngest child.

Rosie looked at Captain Dobey with big, sad eyes, “Daddy, why would someone knock me off my bike?”

“I don’t know, Sweetheart, but I’m going to find out.”

A tear rolled down the little girl’s face. Cal walked up beside her and wiped it away, “Rosie, don’t be scared. It’ll be okay. I broke my arm too, remember?”

“I’m not scared. That’s not why I’m crying.”

“Then why are you crying?” Cal asked.

“I just got that bike for my birthday and it’s broken.”

“I promise I’ll get you a new one, okay?” Captain Dobey said.

“Really?”

“I promise. This wasn’t your fault.” Captain Dobey hugged his daughter so hard she said he was hurting her arm. He broke the embrace and stood next to Edith. After the cast was put on Rosie, Captain Dobey asked Edith to take the kids home saying he had some things he needed to look into. He asked Baker to follow his family home and to keep a watch on them. Captain Dobey said goodbye to his family, and got in the elevator and pushed the button to the third floor.

Starsky walked into Hutch’s room to find Hutch lying down but wide awake. “I thought you were going home to get some sleep, you look like hell there, partner.” Hutch said. Starsky looked around the room. He even opened the closet. “We’re alone. Starsk, what’s wrong?” Hutch just noticed that his partner looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“I can’t say a whole lot, not here, but we’ve got more problems, Hutch.” Starsky was pacing like a caged animal.

Hutch studied the look on his partner’s face a minute and knew whatever it was had Starsky shook up. “Just relax and tell me about it.”

“I had a visitor.”

“Spitzer or Monroe?”

“Monroe. Hutch, we’re in it now and I don’t know what to do.”

Captain Dobey opened the door and said, “You don’t know what to do about what, Starsky?”

Not wanting to reveal Monroe’s threat just yet, Starsky said, “What to do about dinner. See, I can’t decide if I want to go to Huggy’s or that new Mexican restaurant Kiko’s mother opened.”

“Don’t play that game with me. What are you hiding, Starsky, and if it has anything to with Rosie being hit…”

“Rosie was hit? What?” Hutch interrupted.

“Rosie was hit by a hit-and-run driver. She has a broken arm,” Starsky said. He turned his back to Dobey so only Hutch could see the look in his eyes. Hutch knew that whatever happened had everything to do with what happened to Rosie.

“Starsky! I want it and I want it now!” Dobey sounded like a very angry father.

Starsky put his finger to his pursed lips, “Shhhh,” he whispered, “Captain, I can’t tell you much but Hutch and I have to work this out ourselves. I promise I’ll explain everything but not here, not now.”

Captain Dobey lowered his voice to match Starsky’s, “Are you telling me you have something to do with what happened with Rosie?” Starsky had a very hurt look on his face, his mouth was wide open and he looked stunned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I know you’d never hurt her. Just tell me, what the hell is going on.”

Starsky shook his head no and said, “I can’t, Cap’n. I just can’t. Please, just give me and Hutch a little time.”

“Time! Hutch’s is already in the hospital. What am I supposed to do, let you go off on some wild private party on your own? You know how I feel about private parties.”

“I know, Cap’n. Trust me, please.” He looked at Captain Dobey with those pleading dark blue eyes.

Captain Dobey looked at Hutch who just shrugged his shoulders. It was obvious that Starsky hadn’t told Hutch what was going on either. He huffed, “All right. Just tell me how worried I should be.”

Starsky made a motion with his hand like he was up to his eyes in trouble. Dobey closed his eyes and quietly walked out of the room. He knew Starsky needed to fill Hutch in on whatever it was they had gotten themselves into this time.

As soon as Dobey left the room, Hutch sat up, “What’s going on?”

Starsky sat in the chair next to Hutch, “Monroe paid me a visit. Rosie getting hit by a car was just a warning.”

“A warning?”

“Yep. Seems he likes us in our current positions and wants us to stay there. He also expects us to let him operate or more accidents will happen. He knows he can’t buy us or make threats against each other to make us do what he wants, so…” Starsky stood up and started pacing.

“He had someone hit Rosie to keep us in line.”

“You got it.” Starsky sat back down. “God, Hutch, what are we supposed to do? He said he has eyes and ears everywhere. Who do we trust?”

“We trust Me and Thee, partner, like always. We can’t tell anyone else or they’ll be in danger too.”

“Dobey already knows something. What do we tell him, Hutch?”

“Nothing. We tell him nothing until we can figure out how we’re gonna get Monroe.” Hutch watched as Starsky started pacing the floor again. “Starsk, you need some rest and so do I before we both pass out from exhaustion.  Monroe isn’t going to do anything else right now. He thinks he has us. Sleep a couple of hours in the recliner and we’ll come up with a plan later.”

Starsky knew Hutch was right. Neither of them was in any shape to think straight right now, let alone come up with a workable plan to catch Monroe at his own game. Starsky looked at the recliner and agreed. He eased the recliner into a comfortable position and he fell asleep quickly.

 

Chapter 8

Starsky and Hutch were only able to sleep a couple of hours, but they were use to functioning on little or sometimes no sleep. “Maybe Ray will roll over on Monroe or what about one of his other goons?”

“Maybe, but we can’t do anything until I’m outta here.” Hutch tried to sit on the edge of the bed but he was just too weak and the pain in his ribs stopped him from moving. He cringed and grabbed his chest with both arms.

“Hutch, come on now, don’t hurt yourself worse,” Starsky’s voice was very calm and reassuring as he helped Hutch back into the bed. He covered Hutch back up. “Don’t worry, we’ll get him. You’ll feel better tomorrow.” Starsky poured Hutch some water and handed it to him.

“Thanks.” Hutch sounded defeated.

“When you get out of here tomorrow we’ll go to the station and start on Ray.”

“What are you going to do today?” Hutch asked as he finished the water.

“I’m going to the station in a little while and see what I can dig up on Monroe and the rest of his creeps. I want us to interrogate Ray together tomorrow. I’ll be back in a few hours and let you know what I find out. I just hope I don’t run into Dobey.”

“Too late for that. Dobey’s here and he thinks it’s time for some answers.” Starsky turned around and saw Captain Dobey standing in the doorway.

Hutch sank into his bed and turned his head away. Starsky said, “Come in, Cap’n. Hutch and I were just discussing what we’re going to do.”

“Hutch and you are going to start by telling me what the hell is going on here and now.” Dobey’s voice was low but had a very angry tone to it.

Hutch didn’t want to tell Captain Dobey anything. But the captain was suspicious already and he knew he may as well let him in on what they did know. He nodded at Starsky for him to go ahead and tell him.  Starsky pulled another chair beside Hutch’s bed. “Captain, I had some visitors at my apartment this morning. A Thomas Monroe informed me that he wants me and Hutch to continue in our current positions. He let me know, in no uncertain terms, that we are to let him take over Big John’s area. He knows he can’t buy us with money so…”

“He’s threatening you by going after your friends,” Captain Dobey said as he stared at both of his detectives.

“Rosie was just the first, Cap’n. He said he’d go after Huggy, Edith and everyone else Hutch and I care about if we don’t cooperate. He also said he has eyes and ears everywhere,” Starsky said as he patted his captain’s shoulder.

“We thought we’d start by having a little chat with Ray as soon as I can get out of here tomorrow. Maybe the two of us together can persuade him to give us enough on Monroe to have him put away,” Hutch said as he sat up a little.

“Oh, Captain, Monroe also said that Spitzer would be out of his way by the end of the day.”

“Monroe didn’t go to your place alone. Who was with him?”

“A Pete Parks and Joe Malone,” Starsky said as he rubbed his lip that still hurt from the blow Parks gave him.

“All right, I’ll have someone look…”

“No!” Starsky and Hutch said simultaneously.

“You can’t say anythin’ to anyone, Cap’n,” Starsky said.

“He’s right, Captain. If anyone else goes digging around, Monroe will go after someone else. We can’t risk it,” Hutch said. He held up an empty Styrofoam cup.

“We won’t risk it. There’s too much at stake. We have to do this on our own.” Starsky took the cup from Hutch and filled it with some ice water from the pitcher on the table and handed it to Hutch.

“How’s Rosie, Captain?” Hutch asked. He looked at Starsky and raised his eyebrows thanking him for the water.

“She has a broken right arm but she’s okay. She asked me why someone knocked her off her bike.” He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I want the two of you to be extra careful this time. If this Monroe’s willing to do this to Rosie there’s no telling what he’s willing to do with the two of you.”

“We thought about that too, Captain,” Hutch said struggling to keep his eyes open.

“Okay, that’s it. Hutch, you need some sleep. I’ll be back before I go home,” Starsky said as he stood up and straightened Hutch’s pillow and covered him up.

“Is it safe for you to go home tonight?” Hutch asked.

“I refuse to be scared in my own place. I’ll be fine. Monroe thinks I’m giving into his demands and right now I’m going to let him think just that.”

Captain Dobey stood up and stretched his arms out in front of him. “You say I can’t dig into Monroe’s record, what do I do about Rosie? How do I find out who hit her? I can’t just let that go, I won’t.”

“I know, Cap’n. Maybe you can find out who Monroe hired without actually looking to catch Monroe,” Starsky said.

“Starsky, do even hear yourself. That makes absolutely no sense.”

“I understood what he meant.”

“You would,” Dobey mumbled.

“No, think about it a minute. If you don’t do anything, it will be obvious that we told you about Monroe. You can look for who hit Rosie without linking the two events.”

“Exactly. You find out who hit Rosie and make it look like it had nothing to do with Monroe and his little operation.”

“Everyone thinks Simmons and Babcock have run out of clues in the Stratton and Martin case.” Captain Dobey sighed, “I guess I can assign them to this. I hate not telling them everything.”

“You know the more people that know about Monroe…”

Starsky started to say but Hutch cut him off. “Let them in on it, Starsk. That way they’ll know to stay away from Monroe. I know it’s dangerous but there in danger anyway. At least if they know, they can be careful.”

“Yeah, but I thought we decided not to tell anyone,” Starsky said, sounding confused that Hutch had changed his mind.

Dobey sat back down as he watched his favorite team think things out. He loved how they could bounce ideas off each other.

“I know. But think about it, Starsk. Monroe wants us to feel alone and separated from the rest of the department.”

“He’s setting us up to take one hell of a fall if he is caught. He’ll have a lot of proof that we’re on the take.”

“Do you buy it?”

“I buy it. So who do we tell then? He said he has eyes everywhere.”

“I don’t think he does. He doesn’t know that we know about the bugs he had planted.”

“He probably does by now, Richard was arrested. And we removed the ones out of our apartments.”

“I forgot about Richard. I don’t think any of Stratton’s or Martin’s men are involved.”

“Okay, so we tell them. All of them.”

“Yes.”

“Starsky, who exactly did Monroe threaten?” Captain Dobey asked.

“Everyone Hutch and I care about including Edith and Huggy. We can’t protect them all if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Hutch, let’s wait until after we talk to Ray before we decide to tell anyone anything, except Huggy. Go on and let him know everything. Maybe he can come up with something we can use against Monroe. Captain, continue looking into who hit Rosie but let’s keep the rest of it under wraps until we talk to Ray, okay?” Captain Dobey nodded in agreement.

“Okay. Be here first thing in the morning and spring me outta here, then we’ll talk to Ray, Starsk.” Hutch yawned and laid his head on the pillow.

“That’s enough for now. Hutch, you’ve got to get some rest.”

“See you tomorrow, Hutchinson,” Captain Dobey said as he left the room.

Starsky moved to the door to leave.

“Hey, Buddy?” Hutch said. Starsky just nodded. He knew Hutch was worried about him, no words were needed. Starsky opened the door and left.

 

Starsky went back to the station and was looking through the file on Monroe when Captain Dobey knocked on the door. “Come in.” Captain Dobey opened the door and Starsky pointed to where the small listening device had been planted. He wanted the captain to know he had not removed it. Dobey nodded, acknowledging that he understood. Dobey had left the one in his office too.

“Starsky, you look beat. Take the rest of the day off. I mean it, go on home and get some rest. Hutch is going to need you tomorrow.”

Starsky nodded and wrote Huggy’s 2000 on a piece of paper. Captain Dobey stuck the paper in his pocket and nodded.

 

Chapter 9

Captain Dobey met Starsky at The Pits at 2000 in the upstairs room. Huggy was in the room too. “Boy, the two of you sure know how to dig yourselves into the biggest messes, Starsk,” Huggy said. Starsky had just filled Huggy in on what was going on with Monroe.

“Huggy, if Hutch and I didn’t get into so much trouble we wouldn’t need you now, would we?”

“You two wouldn’t know what to do without the Bear.”

“You’re right about that.”

“Starsky,” Captain Dobey said sounding annoyed.

“I want Huggy to tell you what he found out.”

“I received a call about an hour ago. Guess who just washed up at the docks,” Captain Dobey said as he sat in one of the chairs at the table.

“Don’t tell me, Spitzer,” Starsky said.

“Seems he fell in the water while he was wearing a ten-pound weight tied to his feet.”

“Monroe did say Spitzer would be out of his way by the end of the day. Guess he meant it.”

“What did you find out, Huggy?” Dobey asked.

“Okay. I did some digging and found out Monroe got his start in Orlando. He moved here a little over a month ago, and he worked for Big John. And he’s one, crazy, dangerous dude. Word is he did Big John’s dirty work and probably killed Big John himself.”

“Starsky, you and Hutch better be careful if you’re going to take him on.” Captain Dobey said, looking uneasy.

“We know that, Cap’n. I think we’re going to have to play his little game for a while. Let him operate until we gather real solid evidence against him. We’ll still talk to Ray in the morning, but if Monroe’s that heavy…”

“Ray won’t talk to you two cats,” Huggy interrupted.

“I don’t think so either but we have to at least go through the motions. I’ll talk to Hutch in the morning.”

“I think the four of us need to keep this under wraps for now too,” Captain Dobey stated.

“I do too, now that we know a little more. He’s dangerous, Cap’n.

Captain Dobey looked at Huggy, “You got any beer?”

Huggy gave the captain a sarcastic look, “Do I have beer. You’re in a bar aren’t you? I’ll get you a beer.” Huggy stood up and just before he put his hand on the door knob he turned back around and said, “And I’ll bring back a couple of burgers and fries too.”

“I love ya, Hug,” Starsky said through a smile.

Huggy returned in a few minutes with the burgers, fries and beer for all of them. Dobey voiced concerns about the case and Starsky said that at this point they didn’t really have a choice. Monroe already hurt Rosie and if they didn’t play his game, there’s no telling who he would go after next. Dobey suggested that they find someplace else to meet to keep Monroe from suspecting Dobey was in on their little secret.

Starsky didn’t sleep very well that night. He knew there were guards outside Hutch’s room, but still he couldn’t help but worry about him. He also thought about Rosie and how she had been hurt because of Monroe. He tossed and turned all night and called to check on Hutch at least three times.  He was glad when the sun came up and he could go to the hospital.

Starsky walked into Hutch’s room to find he was already up and trying to get dressed. Hutch was struggling to put his shirt on because of the pain in his ribs. Starsky went quickly to his partner’s aid. “Let me help you with that. Why didn’t you wait for me?”

“I want to get out of here,” Hutch said as Starsky helped him put the shirt on. That was when Hutch noticed the worried look on his partner’s face. “What is it?” Hutch buttoned up his shirt from the bottom up.

“What’s what?”

“Come on, Starsk, we’ve been partners for too long for you to try to hide anything from me.”

“I was gonna tell ya. I met with Dobey and Huggy last night.” Hutch sat on the bed and Starsky pulled up a chair. The pain in his ribs wouldn’t allow him to even put his own shoes on. As he tied Hutch’s shoes, Starsky continued, “Huggy found out Monroe is from Orlando and he worked for Big John until he was killed.”

Hutch shook his head, “That means he’s more dangerous than we thought, isn’t he?”

“Fraid so, Partner.” Starsky finished tying Hutch’s shoes.

“I guess we’re back to plan A and not telling anyone what we’re up to except for Dobey and Huggy.”

“Yep,” Starsky said as he helped Hutch put his jacket on. “Hey, has the doctor been in and released you?”

“Sure he has,” Hutch said with a tone in his voice that let Starsky know he was lying.

“Hutch, you can’t leave until he says you can.”

“Watch me.” Hutch zipped up his black jacket.

He was met at the door by his doctor. “Leaving so soon, Mr. Hutchinson?”

“Sure am. I feel fine.”

“I was going to release you anyway. Could you at least do me courtesy of signing a couple of release papers?”

“Sure.” Hutch took the clipboard the doctor handed him and signed the papers.

The doctor gave Hutch a couple of prescriptions. “One is for possible infection and the other for pain.” The doctor looked at Starsky, “I presume you’ll make sure these get filled.”

“Yes, Sir,” Starsky said as he took the prescriptions out of Hutch’s hands. “They sure will.”

“I want you to come back in a couple of weeks so I can check on those ribs.”

“Yeah, yeah, can I please go now?”

“He needs rest and lots of it. I know you’re officers and you undoubtedly are after whoever did this to your partner, but he really needs a couple days of rest,” the doctor said to Starsky without looking at Hutch.

“I know. I’ll make sure he gets plenty of rest.”

“Trust me, he will.” Hutch pulled Starsky’s arm and started walking away before the doctor had Starsky convinced to take him straight home and tuck him into bed.

As Hutch had his hand on the door of the Torino he squinted from the sunlight as he looked at Starsky, “What’s our first move?”

“I still think we need to talk to Ray and then than slime ball Blinn.”

“Sounds as good a place to start as any,” Hutch said as he got in the passenger side. He briefly closed his eyes as he felt a sharp burning pain from his ribs.

“You sure you’re okay, Hutch?”

“I have to be.” He took a minute to catch his breath putting both hands on the dash. He gently leaned back into the seat. “You can’t go it alone, Buddy. Not this time. I’ll be okay.” Hutch gave Starsky a look and a half grin that let Starsky know Hutch was hurting but he was determined to go through with their plan. Starsky smiled back, nodded and started the car.

 

Chapter 10

They had decided to interview Ray first and see what they could learn about Blinn and Monroe from him. “Hutch, how you wanna do this?”

“You said he’s nervous, right?”

“Nervous as a rookie being yelled at by Captain Dobey.” They both laughed.

“You want to play a game of ping-pong then?” Hutch asked.

“Yeah, that’ll work on him. If not, we’ll switch to good cop/pissed off ‘cause-he-beat-you cop.”

Hutch opened the door and they entered interrogation room four. Ray was sitting in a wooden chair at a small white table. He jumped when he saw Hutch walk in behind Starsky. Hutch positioned a chair on the right of Ray while Starsky moved another chair to Ray’s left. They sat as close as they could to Ray, who was now squirming in his seat.

“I want my lawyer.”

“Ray, we just want to ask you a couple of questions. You don’t really need your lawyer here for that,” Hutch said as Ray turned his head toward Hutch.

“We just want to know what you know about, Blinn,” Starsky said.

“Where does he hang out?” Hutch asked.

“How long has he been working for Monroe?”

“When did you see him last?”

“Did he work for Big john too?”

Starsky and Hutch volleyed questions so fast that Ray didn’t have time to think before he could answer. He was turning his head from Starsky to Hutch with each question they fired at him. He forgot all about asking for his lawyer and was trying to answer their questions. He finally put his hands up in the air, “I give up.” He put his hand in front of him on the table and took a deep breath. “What do you two really want to know? Who are you after?”

“You tell us?” Hutch asked. He wanted to know if Ray knew who was really in charge.

“You’re after Monroe, aren’t you? Well I’m not giving him to you. I value my life. That’s one mean dude.”

“We know. That’s why we want him,” Starsky said slowly as he moved in so close to Ray that he could feel Starsky’s breath as he spoke.

Ray shuddered. “He’ll kill me.”

“I guess then we’ll just turn you loose, then,” Starsky whispered in an eerie voice.

“Good idea, Starsk. Then we can let it slip that our good buddy, Ray here, told us everything we need to go after Monroe.”

“You can’t do that. You wouldn’t.” Ray squirmed in his chair.

Hutch stood up and leaned over Ray. “You beat me while I was tied up and you left me to die. Now, tell us what we want to know or else…” He was looking at Ray with a spine-chilling stare with his baby blue eyes.

Ray swallowed the lump that was in his throat. “Okay, okay. I really don’t know much, ‘cept that Monroe not only wants to take over Big John’s turf. He’s going after Marso-somebody’s area next.”

“You mean he’s going after Marsolenni?” Starsky asked as he sat back in his chair.

“Yeah, him. But he wants to use you to help him. He’ll do it too. He’s that mean.”

“What about Stratton and Martin? Did you kill them?” Starsky asked.

“No. No, I swear it. Blinn killed them both on Monroe’s orders because they wouldn’t let things go. They just kept digging deeper into Big John’s murder and they were getting close. Stratton already figured out that Monroe and Spitzer were fighting over John’s turf. Spitzer never had a chance. Monroe’s too powerful. He’s the kinda of guy who gets what he wants, ya know?”

“So are we,” Starsky said, never taking his eyes off Hutch.

Hutch gritted his teeth from the pain he was in, faced Ray and said, “Either you tell us something we can use or so help me…” Hutch grabbed the table just before he started falling. Starsky jumped up and caught him just in time to ease him onto the floor. Hutch was out cold. If looks could kill, Ray would have dropped dead on the spot from the one Starsky just gave him. Starsky slightly shook his head, no. He knew Dobey was on the other side of the two-way mirror and he didn’t want anyone coming in just yet.

Starsky bent down next to Hutch, “Come on, Buddy, wake up.”

“Aw, ain’t that cute,” Ray said sarcastically.

Starsky wanted to jump up and put Ray out on the floor but he stayed beside Hutch instead. Hutch blinked his eyes and looked at Starsky, “What just happened?”

“I think you wanted to take a nap.”

Hutch was embarrassed about passing out like that while interrogating a suspect. “Help me up, will ya?”

“Sure. Take your time,” Starsky said as he helped Hutch up and into a chair.

“Yeah, take your time, Hutch. I got all day,” Ray said.

“Shut up,” was the simultaneous response he received.

Hutch nodded at Starsky letting him know he was okay, at least for the moment. Then he looked at Ray.

“You can throw away the key. I ain’t saying anything else. I’ve said too much already.”

“Good idea. Put him away, Starsk. We’ll get Blinn to turn on Ray here and pin the murders of two detectives on him.”

“No. I told you, I didn’t kill them.”

“I’m sure that Blinn will tell us differently,” Hutch said. He was barely able to sit up.

“Okay, okay. What if I told you Marso what’s his name, is after Monroe He knows Monroe’s trying to move in on his turf.

“Marsolenni. The name’s Marsolenni,” Starsky said sounding irritated. “And we don’t care if he’s after Monroe.”

“We’d be more surprised if he wasn’t. But your boss has a job ahead of him if he’s trying to take Marsolenni on,” Hutch said.

“He’ll do it. Like I said before, he gets what he wants.”

“Starsk?”

“Yeah?”

“Get him outta my sight.”

“You got it.” Starsky tugged at Ray’s shirt and stood him up. He opened the door and handed Ray to a uniformed officer who was waiting outside.

As soon as Ray was out of the room, Hutch put his head on the table and started sweating. “Hey, you okay, Hutch?”

Hutch shook his head no. Starsky leaned Hutch back in the chair and took Hutch’s jacket off him. He wanted to take Hutch back to the hospital but Hutch refused saying he’d be fine in a little while. Dobey came in and ordered them both to go home and get some rest. He knew if he took Starsky off the streets Hutch wouldn’t put up such a big fight.

Starsky wasn’t about to leave Hutch alone anyway and Captain Dobey knew that. Starsky drove to Hutch’s place after having the prescriptions filled. He helped Hutch up the stairs. Starsky opened the door to find Monroe sitting on Hutch’s couch. He couldn’t draw his gun because he was holding onto Hutch.

“Come on in. We’ve been waiting for you.” Starsky saw three men with Monroe.

“Friends of yours, Starsk?” Hutch asked.

“Not hardly.”

Hutch pushed Starsky just enough to let him know he wanted to walk in on his own. Starsky slowly let go of Hutch, ready to grab him if he fell again. The two walked in and took a seat on Hutch’s couch. “Hutch, this is Monroe and his goonies.”

“So you’re the one who gets off on hurting little girls. Nice of you gentlemen to drop by my place. Next time, let me know you’re coming and I’ll arrange not to be here.”

“Now, Hutchinson that’s no way to talk to a friend.”

“The day I call you a friend is the day I put a bullet in my own head.”

Monroe laughed. Starsky wasn’t laughing. He could feel Hutch tensing up. Starsky knew it was only a matter of time before Hutch passed out again and he didn’t want it to be in front of Monroe and his clowns.

“What do ya want this time?”

“I just wanted to welcome Lieutenant Hutchinson home,” Monroe said. A sarcastic smile came across his face.

“Thank you, now go away,” Hutch said, trying not to sound like he was going to pass out any minute and leave Starsky alone to fight these goons if it came down to it.

“I’ll be leaving all in good time, gentlemen. Hutch, I take it Starsky has already told you what I want and what he has agreed to.”

Hutch glanced at Starsky and nodded. “He told me you want to make us a deal. We leave you alone and you let our friends live, right?”

“You don’t waste any time getting to the point do you?”

“No.”

“Then yes, that about sums it up. And the other part is that no one can know of our little deal. Not even your precious Captain Dobey.”

“He told me that too,” Hutch said weakly.

“I want to make sure for myself that you are in agreement with your partner about our little arrangement.”

Hutch nodded, “I usually agree with him.”

“Usually?”

“Let me make myself very clear. Starsky and I will do whatever it takes to keep our friends safe. Is that plain enough for you?”

“Just as long as we’re on the same page.”

“We’re on the same page, all right. We just play by a separate set of rules. Make no mistake, our deal ends at letting you operate. We will not do any of your dirty work, understand?”

“There’s no need for that. I have enough staff to handle the internal operations of my business.”

Starsky had enough of this chit-chat and stood up. He pointed his finger at Monroe, “Look, you can see he’s not doing well right now. Now I’m going to ask you to leave us alone a couple of days. Dobey put us both on leave for three days and we can’t even show our faces at the station so if you got anything big planned you’d better cancel it or our men might just intercede.”

Hutch remained seated and added, “You want us to stay away from your territory–fine. We got the message; we’ll keep our men away too. Just don’t go hurting any more little girls.”

“Like I said before, if you do as I ask no one else needs to get hurt.”

“I’d let you out myself, but I think you can find your own way out,” Hutch said. He started leaning toward his right but stopped himself.

“Good day, gentlemen. As a goodwill gesture of our agreement, you won’t hear from me until the three days are up.”

“As a goodwill gesture on our part, you should know that we plan on removing the bugs you’ve planted in our offices and apartments,” Starsky said as he sat on the arm of the couch next to Hutch.

“And that goes for the one in Captain Dobey’s office,” Hutch added.

“Since you know about them, they won’t serve their purpose now will they?”

“Nope, and we’ll continue to look for them,” Starsky said.

“You have my word; there will be no more recording devices.” Monroe promised.

“Good,” Hutch said.

“Make no mistake, you will hear from me again.”

“Do me a favor will you, please?” Hutch asked.

“If I can, Lieutenant.”

“Trip when you go down the stairs.”

Monroe didn’t say anything else as he followed the three men that were with him out of the apartment.

 

Chapter 11

Starsky sat next to Hutch on the couch and put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“How do I look?”

“You look like hell.”

“That’s about how I feel. Help me get into bed, will ya?”

“Sure. Let’s go, Partner.” Starsky helped Hutch out of his clothes and into the bed. As he covered Hutch up, Hutch started to say something but Starsky cut him off. “No more shop talk. Get some rest.” Starsky made sure Hutch was covered and then went back into the living room. Starsky and Hutch had removed the microphone that had been in the lamp shade in Hutch’s living room for over a month now. Starsky searched the rest of Hutch’s place in case Monroe had placed another one. Not finding any in the other rooms, he wanted to search Hutch’s bedroom. He decided to wait until Hutch woke up to search his room. Starsky was still tired so he pulled a pillow and light blanket out of the closet in the hall and got comfortable on the couch and dozed off.

Hutch slept a couple of hours and saw Starsky sleeping on the couch. The blanket had been tossed on the floor along with the pillow and Starsky was lying face down with his feet over the arm rest. Hutch shook his head and whispered, “You sleep in the damnedest positions, Buddy.”

Starsky moaned, blinked his eyes and lifted his head up, “Whatdaya say?”

“I said…oh, never mind.”

Starsky sat up, rubbed his face and squinted at Hutch with one eye open, “How you feelin?”

“Better, much better.”

“Good.” Starsky wrote ‘no bugs in here but we need to check your room’ on a piece of paper and handed it Hutch. Hutch took the note and nodded. They searched Hutch’s room and did not find any listening devices. It was safe for them to talk, at least at Hutch’s apartment.

They went into the kitchen and Starsky fixed himself a pastrami sandwich and Hutch a turkey sandwich. They sat at the kitchen table working on a plan to catch Monroe without getting any of their friends killed. It was not going to be an easy task, nor was it going to be a quick one. The rest of the day was spent planning and taking it easy. Hutch was in no shape to do much of anything else. Starsky made sure Hutch took his pain pills and antibiotics.

The next morning, Hutch woke up to the smell of pancakes and scrambled eggs. He put on his dark-red robe, and slippers and walked into the kitchen. He leaned over Starsky’s shoulder and sniffed the pancakes that were in the skillet. “That smells good, Starsk. You’re going to make a nice wife someday.” Hutch grinned and sat at the table when Starsky frowned.

“How ya feeling?”

“Pretty good. I think I just needed another day of rest. I’m ready to go with you today.”

Starsky looked serious, “Are you sure. It might be dangerous.”

“All the more reason I need to go. You don’t think I’d let you go alone do you? Come on, Starsk, you know me better than that.”

“Yeah, okay. If you’re sure,” Starsky said as he put the plate of pancakes and eggs in front of Hutch.

“Thanks, Buddy.”

Starsky plated his breakfast and sat at the table. They finished breakfast then Starsky helped Hutch get dressed. He was still having problems putting his shirt on because of his ribs. They got into the Torino and Starsky drove up to a driveway that had a pair of big iron gates. On the other side of the gate was a man dressed in a dark blue suit sitting in a chair next to a phone box. The man stood up when Starsky pulled up and walked to the gate. Starsky held out his badge and said, “Hutchinson and Starsky. We’re here to see Marsolenni.”

“Is he expecting you?”

“Tell him we’re here. He’ll want to talk to us.”

“Just a minute.” The guard picked up the phone and mumbled something Starsky and Hutch couldn’t make out. He opened the gate and Starsky drove up the long driveway to a big brick mansion.

“Look at this house, Hutch.”

“It’s big, that’s for sure.”

“Maybe we are in the wrong line of work.”

Starsky and Hutch were met at the door by another man wearing all white. He led Starsky and Hutch to a room that looked like a library. As soon as they entered the room, Starsky and Hutch carefully took their guns out of their holsters and set them on a table. “We just want to talk, Mr. Marsolenni,” Starsky said, looking at the men in the room who looked like they were going to pounce on the detectives if they so much as breathed wrong.

A man, appearing to be in his early sixties, sat on a red leather couch smoking a cigar. One glance from him told the other men to back off. “Can I assume this is an unofficial visit, gentlemen?”

“Yes, Sir. Like my partner said, we just want to talk,” Hutch said.

Marsolenni motioned for them to have a seat in the red leather chairs that matched the couch. Starsky sat in the chair on the left and Hutch sat in the one on the right. “Forgive me, where are my manners? Would you gentlemen like something to drink?” Starsky and Hutch both waved their hands saying ‘no thank you’. “What can I do for the police, Detective Hutchinson,” he asked, looking at Starsky.

“I’m Starsky,” Starsky pointed at himself, “he’s Hutch,” Starsky said as he pointed at Hutch. “And we’d like to talk to you about Monroe.”

“Never heard of him.”

Starsky and Hutch gave each other a glance and raised their eyebrows. They knew Marsolenni was lying. “Well now, that surprises us because we hear he’s going to take over your little,” Hutch looked like he was at a loss for words.

“Enterprise, Hutch. He’s going to take over Mr. Marsolenni’s enterprise.”

“Enterprise, that’s one way of putting it,” Hutch said.

“I assure you, I don’t know what you are referring to, Detectives. But rest assured that no one is taking over anything of mine.”

“That’s a shame because as much as we like you, we’d hate to see you go out of business,” Starsky said with just a little sarcasm in his tone.

“We know he took out Big John and Spitzer and he’s after you next. If there’s anything you can do to help the police lock Monroe up for you, be sure to let us know,” Hutch added.

“As I said before, I have no knowledge of a Mr. Monroe. If I have problems within my enterprise, as you put it, I will deal with them without bothering the police.”

“Oh, it’s no bother. No bother at all,” Hutch replied as he flashed a fake smile.

“Is that all you came to see me about?”

“Is that it, Starsk?”

“Yep. That about covers it, Hutch,” Starsky said as they both stood up.

“I thank you for your concern about my business, gentlemen. Please, come back anytime.”

“Oh, we’ll be back,” Starsky pointed his finger at Marsolenni and added, “we’ll be back to put you out of business permanently one day.” Starsky and Hutch picked up their guns and placed them in their holsters.

“We’ll see about that, Hutchinson,” was Marsolenni’s reply.

Hutch turned around, “I’m Hutch, he’s Starsky.” And they walked out.

Once they were off Marsolenni’s property, Starsky said, “That went about as well as we expected.”

Hutch grinned, “Yeah, but now Marsolenni knows that we know about Monroe.”

“I’m still confused. How is that going to help us get Monroe?”

“I don’t know that it will.”

“What? Then why did we come here and tell him?”

“I wanted to see his reaction.”

“You wanted to see his reaction!? Hutch, I thought we had a plan here,” Starsky said quickly and in a high-pitched voice.

“Who knows, maybe he will give us something on Monroe.”

“Or maybe he’ll just take Monroe out altogether and we’ll just have to worry about Marsolenni.” Starsky shook his head. “We’re playing with fire, you know that?”

“Let’s just hope we’re not the fuel.”

“Where to now? We can’t go to the station. Dobey meant what he said about taking time off.”

“What about checking in with Huggy?”

“Yeah, maybe he’s come up with something we can actually use.” Starsky turned the car around and parked in the alley behind Huggy’s restaurant.

 

Chapter 12

Starsky and Hutch walked in through the back door and saw one of Monroe’s men sitting at the end of the bar. Huggy walked up behind them and they both jumped. “Don’t do that,” Starsky said as he turned around.

“You lookin’ at the patron at the end of the bar?”

“You know him?” Hutch asked.

“I know him alright. I know he’s one of Monroe’s muscle men. He told me if I saw either of you to tell you he’d like a chat.”

“What else do you know about him, Hug?” Hutch asked.

“I know he moved heer with Monroe from Orlando. His name is Jason Dalton.”

“I’ll go see what he wants,” Starsky said.

“Why you?”

“Because you’re in no shape to fight, if it comes down to it.”

“So, you’ll back me up.”  Hutch took a quarter out of his pocket.

“Not this time, Pal.” Starsky said as he gently placed his hand on Hutch’s. He wasn’t about to let Hutch talk to this Dalton guy. Not in the shape he was in. Starsky knew Hutch was trying to hide just how much he was hurting. He walked to the bar and sat down next to Dalton.

Dalton appeared to be in his early thirties, wearing blue jeans and a solid light blue t-shirt. He looked around the bar as if he was nervous about seeing someone. He had shoulder-length, light-brown hair, and a moustache. Starsky noticed he was wearing white tennis shoes. Hutch watched carefully from the small window that was on the swinging doors separating the kitchen from the dining room.

“You, Hutchinson?” Dalton asked.

Huggy set a glass of beer in front of Starsky, who took a sip and said, “Nope. I’m the other one.”

“You must be Starsky then.”

“The one and only. I heard you wanna chat.”

Dalton looked nervously around the place again. “I heard you and your partner can be trusted and right now I don’t know who else to turn to.”

“It all depends on what you want.”

“I don’t have a lot of time, so I’m going to jump out on a ledge here. I’m not really Jason Dalton. I’m working undercover to catch Monroe and I know he’s got you and your partner in a bad spot.”

Starsky quietly took another sip of his beer. “You work for Monroe, how do I know what you’re saying is the truth?”

“I don’t have a lot of time. My name is Michael Farmer. I joined Monroe in Orlando you can check me out. Monroe moved here so fast, I didn’t have time to check in with my department.”

“He’s been here over a month and you’re telling me you haven’t had a chance to contact anyone from your department?”

“He keeps a close eye on everyone. We work in pairs all the time.”

“How’d you get away today?”

“I drugged, Gary, the guy that’s with me. Monroe sent us here to see if either of you came in. He’s asleep in the car out front.”

Starsky wasn’t sure if he should believe this Farmer or not. Something about the look in the man’s eyes told Starsky that he was desperate for help. “Let’s say I believe you, what do want me to do?”

“Let my Chief know I’m okay. Please, tell him where I am and get word to my partner that I’m okay. I’ve got enough on Monroe to put him away for murdering Big John and dealing, but we’ve got to move carefully or your friends will get hurt.”

“You know about that?”

“I know. Can I trust you?”

Starsky nodded his head. “You know I have to check your story first.”

Farmer closed his eyes and nodded, “I know you do. Use the word peanut butter. It’s a code word; he’ll know what it means.” He reached in his pocket and took out a small cassette tape and covertly handed it to Starsky.

“When can you come back here?”

“Tonight. I’ll tell Monroe that Huggy said you’d be here tonight.”

“What time?”

“How does seven sound?”

“Perfect.” Starsky finished his beer and walked back into the kitchen.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Come on, Starsk, what did he say?”

“He said we need to come back at seven. I’ll explain later.”

Huggy came into the kitchen and Starsky said, “Huggy, that man is coming back at seven and it may be to set us up. I want you to call us at ten minutes till and let us know if he comes in with anyone else or if you see any of Monroe’s men come in.”

“You can count on me. If you don’t hear from me, then you’ll know not to show up.”
“Thanks, Hug.” Starsky patted Huggy on the back. “Come on, Hutch. We’ve got work to do.” He picked up the pay phone and called Captain Dobey at home.

Starsky and Hutch met Captain Dobey in a small restaurant about twenty miles out of town. They had to go so far to make sure neither of them was being followed. Starsky had filled Hutch in on what Farmer had told him on the way there. Dobey started to fuss at Starsky and Hutch for working when he thought they were taking some time off so Hutch could get some much needed rest. Hutch said he was well enough for what they were doing today and said he wanted to interrogate Blinn tomorrow. Starsky asked how Rosie was and Dobey told them that Rosie had a nightmare about the man who hit her, knocking her off her bike. They sympathized and apologized for it. Dobey told them it wasn’t their fault, but they felt like it was and promised Dobey they would get Monroe and the man who hit Rosie.

They filled Dobey in on Farmer and what he told Starsky including the code word Farmer told him to tell his chief. “It sounds like it could be a set up to me, Starsky. If you go through with it, be careful.”

“We have to go through with it Cap’n. Hutch and I want you to check out Farmer’s story. If he’s on the up-and-up, this is the break Hutch and I have been looking for. And he needs our help to get out.”

“How sure are you he’s telling the truth?”

“You didn’t see the look in his eyes. He’s scared, Cap’n. I have a feeling he’s on the level.” He handed Dobey the cassette tape that Farmer gave him.

“What’s this?”

“Farmer gave it to me.”

“What’s on it?”

“It’s a tape of Monroe ordering the hit on Big John and Spitzer. If this is the real thing, we have enough with Farmer’s testimony to arrest Monroe on two counts of murder one. Farmer says he’s got more evidence on drug charges too and we get some of his boys too.”

“Okay, I’ll look into it and leave word with Huggy on what I find out.”

“One more thing. Get rid of that bug in your office,” Hutch said.

“Are you sure that’s wise?”

“Sure, I’m sure. We told Monroe we were going to remove them when he met us at my apartment yesterday.”

“He did what?!” Dobey’s volume rose.

“Didn’t we mention that?” Starsky asked.

“No. No you didn’t mention that. When did…”

“Yesterday when Starsky brought me home from the hospital, Monroe was sitting in my living room. Don’t worry he just wanted to say hi.”

“I’ll bet he did.” He stared at them looking for them to fill him in on the rest of the conversation they had with Monroe.

“He wants more, Hutch.”

“Yes, he wants more. I want to know what you two are up to.”

“Captain, we’re doing the best we can to get Monroe before anyone else gets hurt,” Hutch said.

“Marsolenni was no help,” Starsky added.

“What the hell. You mean to tell me you two saw Marsolenni too?”

“Now, that was all Hutch’s idea. And I didn’t mean to tell you, it just sort of slipped out.” Starsky looked at Hutch and shrugged his shoulders.

Dobey tilted his head to one side and frowned. “What else don’t you want to tell me?”

“There’s nothing else, Captain. Call us at Hutch’s instead of Huggy’s as soon as you can with the information on Farmer. We’ll be there resting up. You can get rid of the bug under your desk.”

“Okay, okay. I hope the two of you know what you’re doing.”

“Us, too,” they said in unison.

“What do mean resting up? I’m fine.”

“Sure, ya are. Look we can’t be running around town all day. We told Monroe Dobey took us off duty so you could rest. There’s nothing else we can do anyway. Not until we check out Farmer’s story.”

“You two argue all you want. I’m getting back to check out Farmer’s story. The Chief in Orlando is an old friend of mine.”

“You have friends?” Starsky asked jokingly.

Dobey shot him a dirty look. “He means outside of us of course, Captain.” Hutch chuckled.

“And I’m beginning to wonder about the two of you. As much grief as you give me.” Dobey stood up to leave then softly said, “You two be careful.”  Starsky and Hutch nodded. They knew Captain Dobey was worried about them. Heck, they were worried about themselves too.

When Captain Dobey returned to his office, he pulled the bug out from under his desk and dropped it on the floor. He stepped on it, twisting his foot on it to make sure it was broken for good. He picked up the pieces and put them in the trash can. Then he looked around to make sure they were all gone. When he was sure it was safe, he called his old friend in Orlando, Chief Brian Thaxton. “Brian, this is Harold Dobey from Bay City.”

“It’s been a long time, Harold.”

“Brian, we can chit-chat later. I need to know if you have a detective named Michael Farmer.”

“What do you know about Farmer?”

Captain Dobey explained that two of his detectives ran into him on a case and it appeared that Farmer might be in trouble. “Oh, he told my detective to tell you peanut butter.”

“He’s in big trouble then, Harold. Your men can trust him, he’s my best man. I’m sending his partner, Dave Singleton, out there as soon as I can arrange it. He’s been pretty upset since Farmer disappeared. He’ll be glad to know Farmer’s been located.”

“I’ll send Starsky and Hutchinson to pick him up. Call me back when you’ve made the arrangements.”

“Will do and uh, thanks, Harold.”

“If this works out the way I hope, our men will be able to save each other.” Captain Dobey hung up the phone. He paced nervously in his office until Chief Thaxton called back ten minutes later. The arrangements had been made and Captain Dobey got a description of what Dave Singleton looked like and what he would be wearing. Chief Thaxton contacted the local FBI and was able to arrange for their jet to bring Singleton to Bay City. The jet would be leaving within the hour and would arrive in Bay City at five.

“Thanks, Captain. That’s great news.” Hutch was nodding and smiling as he was talking to his captain.  Starsky was listening to the conversation. “Yeah, we can do that. Sure.” Hutch finally hung up the phone.

“What’d he say?”

“He said the FBI is bringing Farmer’s partner here and they’ll be here about five. We’re picking him up at the airport. His name is Dave Singleton and he’s been worried about Farmer. Seems Farmer disappeared a little over a month ago. He wants me to wear my sports jacket, so they’ll recognize us. Singleton will be wearing a dark blue windbreaker.”

“That is great news. Now maybe we can catch this slime and put him away for good.”

“I’ll bet Singleton’s glad to hear Farmer’s all right,” Starsky said.

“I’ll bet he is. Farmer’s been gone over a month. Can you imagine how either of us would feel?”

“I don’t even want to think about it. You were missing a day and I went crazy.”

“And when Marcus had you that time I drove myself crazy with worry. A whole month, I think I’d be a basket case.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I have an idea.”

“I don’t know, Hutch. The last time I agreed to one of your ideas I ended up in a dress.”

Hutch chuckled as he remembered seeing Starsky dressed as woman. That was just a few months ago when they were trying to get some evidence against Simonetti and Dryden. “No. It’s nothing like that, Starsk.”

Starsky and Hutch were at the airport a few minutes early. They saw a tall, thin, worried-looking man pacing in the terminal. He was wearing a dark blue windbreaker and had light brown hair just as Captain Dobey said Singleton had. There were two men sitting in the chairs nearby who looked like they could be FBI agents.

Hutch leaned again a wall as he watched Starsky approach the man. “Singleton?”

“Hutchinson?”

Starsky shook his head no and said, “I’m the other one, Starsky.”

The two men that had been sitting in the chairs stood up and walked toward Starsky and Singleton. That made Hutch nervous but he wanted to hang back just in case there was trouble. “These are the FBI agents who brought me here. Tell me, is Farmer actually okay? I’ve been really worried about him.”

Starsky nodded, acknowledging the two agents. “I saw him this afternoon and he’s fine. I think he’s scared and we need to pull him out, but he looked good.” Starsky motioned for Hutch to join them.  After the introductions were made, the FBI agents asked if they could help in any way. Starsky and Hutch excused themselves so they could talk alone a minute. “Whatdaya think, Hutch?”

“Yeah, let’s have them hang around a couple of days. They may come in handy.”

“Your plan was to have Singleton at Huggy’s tonight. Let Holmes and Watson keep him company.”

“That’s just what I was thinking.”

They rejoined Singleton and the men from the FBI. The men introduced themselves as Wesley Fairbanks and Ray Tillman. They said they would rent a car and follow Starsky to Hutch’s.

Starsky took the long way to Hutch’s so he could make sure he wasn’t being followed. As they got out, Tillman chuckled, “Hey, Starsky is that a car or a tomato?”

Hutch laughed, “I’ve been telling him that for years.”

“That’s not funny.” He turned to Hutch, “Did you tell him to say that?”

Hutch pointed at himself, “Who, me? Would I do that?” He asked as they walked up the stairs.

 

Chapter 13

Hutch was looking a little pale and Starsky could tell he was hurting again. He took the bottle of pain pills off the counter in the kitchen, “Hutch,” he said as he tossed the bottle at him.

Hutch caught the bottle and said, “No. Not now. I need to be fully awake tonight. These make me sleepy.”

“What are those?” Singleton asked.

“Nothing,” Hutch said as he put the bottle in his pocket. He couldn’t help but let out a little moan as he sat down on the couch.

“Hutchinson, are you hurt?” Singleton asked.

“Please, just call me Hutch and yes, I’m hurt a little.” He glanced at Starsky as if to ask him if they should let Singleton and the FBI know just how bad Hutch was. Starsky nodded. Hutch lifted up his shirt revealing his badly bruised chest from the broken ribs and the beating he received from Ray.

“Did Monroe do that?” Singleton asked.

“Not directly but he’s responsible for it.” Hutch said.

“Forgive me for asking this, but are you…” Tillman started to ask but Starsky cut him off.

“He’ll be okay.”

“I’m just a little sore.”

They had about an hour before Starsky and Hutch wanted to take Singleton and the FBI to The Pits. They had all packed a bag and changed into street clothes. Hutch called Huggy and told him there was a change in the plans.

When Farmer and Gary walked into The Pits, Farmer noticed Singleton sitting at the far end of the bar. He suppressed a smile. It felt good to see his partner again and to know that Starsky and Hutch could be trusted. He also felt a little relieved. “Let’s sit here and wait for them,” Farmer said to Gary taking a seat at a nearby table. They sat so that Farmer was near his partner. In fact, the bar stool Singleton was sitting on was only five feet away from him. Farmer was facing the doorway and Gary’s back was toward the door.

“Thanks for not telling Monroe that I fell asleep in the car this afternoon,” Gary said as he sat in the chair.

“No problem. We all need to look out for each other in this line of work. Besides, there was no harm done. I was able to get the message to their friend that owns this place that we needed to talk to them tonight. Monroe doesn’t have to know everything.”

 

When Singleton saw his partner walk through the door he wanted to jump for joy. He couldn’t because Gary was with him, but he managed to give his partner a quick nod and smile. It went unnoticed by Gary. Tillman and Fairbanks were seated at a table near the front door.

It wasn’t long before Starsky and Hutch came in. They sat down in the two empty chairs at the same table as Farmer and Gary. “Glad to see you could make it,” Farmer said sarcastically. Singleton stood up and went to the restroom. Starsky nodded just slightly.

“Monroe said he’d give us three days, this better be important.”

“It is, it is,” Gary said.

“Listen to me,” Hutch said angrily, as Farmer got up and left the table. He followed Singleton into the bathroom. “We told your boss that we would let him operate. We are not going to be at his beckon and call.”

Starsky picked up how nervous Gary was getting now that he was alone at the table and decided to take advantage of it by moving to the vacant seat next to him. Hutch knew what his partner was up to and he scooted his own chair next to Gary’s. Now they could play ping-pong. “Hutch’s right. We’re not going to come running every time Monroe says to.”

“You called us here, what does he want?”

“It better be good, ‘cause we ain’t happy about having to come down here on our day off.”

They kept talking and wouldn’t give Gary a chance to say a thing. They wanted to give Farmer time to talk to Singleton alone, too. Huggy walked up to the table, “And what will you fine gents be having tonight?”

“I’ll take a burger and a beer,” Starsky said.

“Me, too,” Hutch said.

“And what about you? What is your pleasure this evening?” Huggy asked Gary.

“I don’t know. Whatdaya have?”

“Give the man a menu, Huggy,” Starsky said.

Gary started to look around. Starsky knew he was probably looking for Farmer. “He’s in there,” he said as he pointed to the bathroom.

“Your buddy left you all alone with us,” Hutch added, leaning in just a little closer to Gary.

“What’s the matter? You’re not scared of me and Hutch are ya?” Starsky whispered. “Maybe you should be.”

“Is that a threat? You can’t threaten me! You know what Monroe will do to you if he finds out?”

“You know what Monroe will do to you if he finds out?” Starsky mocked Gary. “What are you going to tell him? The two big bad policemen were mean to you?” Hutch let out a laugh. His partner could be pretty intimidating at times, and he loved it. “Oh, and while we’re at it, you can tell him that Ray will be arrested for what he did to Hutch. We can’t cover that up without drawing our captain’s suspicion. He’s going to be out of commission for a while.”

“I’ll tell him,” Gary said, still sounding nervous.

Farmer, now using the name Dalton, came out of the bathroom and Starsky and Hutch went back to their seats allowing Farmer to sit next to Gary. “Okay, so what do you want, Dalton?” Starsky asked.

Huggy came back with two menus and handed one to Gary and one to Farmer. “Just let me look at the menu and place my order then we’ll get down to business.”

“Oh, sure take your sweet time,” Hutch said, sounding impatient. He knew the longer they stayed with Farmer the better. But they couldn’t let Gary know anything. Starsky and Hutch knew full well how it felt to be undercover and cut off from the department. And poor Farmer was way out of his area. They also knew they had to stay in character, including calling Farmer by the name Dalton. Singleton came out of the bathroom and sat back down at the bar.

Gary and Farmer placed their dinner order with Huggy. “Monroe has a shipment of goods coming in at the docks in two days. He’s expecting the two of you to keep away.”

“You didn’t need to call us down here for that, Dalton. You could have waited to tell us that,” Starsky said.

“I didn’t feel like waiting. I’ve got better things to do than delivering messages when it’s convenient for you, Starsky,”  Farmer said in a threatening manner.

“We got the message. Tell Monroe we’ll stay away,” Starsky said.

Huggy came back with their dinners and Starsky and Hutch took their plates. Starsky said, “If I sit here with these two, I’ll lose my appetite.”

“You lose your appetite? I doubt it,” Hutch grinned as they moved to another table.

Starsky and Hutch met Singleton and the FBI agents at Hutch’s after they left The Pits. Singleton told them that when they were in the bathroom, Farmer said that Monroe was going to be with the shipment coming into the docks because it was so big. He also said that another shipment would be arriving at the train station in a week and that would be an even bigger shipment. A decision had to be made whether or not to make the arrests and pull Farmer out in two days or wait another week.

“We’ve got enough to arrest Monroe now for murder but if we bust him in two days we can keep some junk off the streets,” Hutch said.

“He said he’s okay and can wait, but I don’t like it. I don’t like him staying in any longer. It’s too dangerous. I think he’s more worried than he wants me to know. I’d like to pull him out,” Singleton said.

Starsky and Hutch shared a look. They understood how Singleton felt. His partner was in a bad position and he wanted him out. He’d been under long enough and it was getting more dangerous every day that went by. “Okay, let’s make the bust in two days,” Starsky said.

“We’d like to stick around a couple of days and help out,” Fairbanks said.

“Since Monroe started off in Orlando, we could easily talk our supervisor into it,” Tillman added.

Starsky and Hutch shrugged at each other. They usually didn’t like involving the Feds, but they liked these two and they trusted them.

“Yeah sure, we sure could use all the help we can get,” Hutch replied.

“Is there anything we can do until then? I’m worried about my partner.”

“I would be too,” Starsky replied.

“We need to wait the two days. If we wait until the shipment comes in, we can get a lot of junk off the streets and bust whoever is bringing it in,” Hutch added.

“I know. I’m just sounding off, guys.”

“It’s okay. Believe me, we understand,” Starsky said sympathetically.

The FBI agents made arrangements to stay at a hotel with Singleton. Starsky stayed at Hutch’s but went home to check on things and remove the bug in his apartment that Monroe had placed.

 

Chapter 14

The following couple of days were pretty tense. The FBI agents and Singleton spent most of the time with Starsky and Hutch at Hutch’s. None of them wanted to just sit around and wait, but they didn’t have much of a choice. Starsky was glad Hutch had the time to rest and heal a little before the big bust. He was able to get him to take his pain pills and was feeling a little better. Starsky and Hutch decided not to go to the station and interrogate Blinn.  They were worried it would draw Monroe’s suspicion. By the time they made the arrests at the docks, they would have enough to put Monroe away for a long time without letting Blinn make any kind of deal.

Captain Dobey was kept apprised of everything that they were doing and Huggy had his ears open as always. It was decided that Starsky and Hutch’s teams would be in on the arrests. They would need a lot of fire power at the docks. To keep everyone safe, Dobey waited until an hour before they were to move into position to tell them anything.

Starsky and Hutch positioned their teams in place well ahead of the time the shipment was expected. They didn’t want to risk any of Monroe’s men seeing them. The men had been placed around the docks in various disguises. Some were dressed like bums looking for glass bottles to turn in for money and were going through trash cans, others were just walking around appearing as if they were enjoying the scenery, still others were well hidden out of site in abandoned warehouses.

Farmer told Singleton, when they were at The Pits, the heroin was going to arrive at 2100 on a medium-sized boat. It was then going to be loaded onto a tractor trailer and taken just outside the city limits to be cut and then redistributed to his dealers on the streets. It was a dark night. The sky was overcast and the moon was barely visible, making it perfect for a drug run. Precisely at 2100, a boat pulled up to the dock and a tractor trailer drove up. Starsky and Hutch checked on their men and made sure they were all in position. Everyone was ready for the raid as soon as the goods were being transferred from the ship to the truck. Singleton was standing next to Hutch and a few of his men in the back of one of the buildings out of sight.  Starsky was on the side of the building on Hutch’s right. He couldn’t see Hutch but he could see the boat. The two FBI agents, Tillman and Fairbanks, were on the backside of the building on Hutch’s left. They couldn’t see Starsky or his men but they could see Hutch and his men.

Farmer was driving the truck and Monroe was in the passenger seat. When Farmer got out, Singleton sensed something just wasn’t right. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something in the way Farmer was moving that told him something was terribly wrong. “Hutch, tell everyone to stand down,” Singleton whispered.

Hutch didn’t hesitate. He picked up his walkie talkie and quickly said, “All units stand down.  Don’t move.”

The men did as they were ordered. Conner was digging through a trash can, picked up an empty Coke bottle and put it in his big over-sized coat pocket. The other men that were in the area continued walking around like they had been.

Starsky pushed the talk button on his walkie talkie, “What’s wrong?”

Singleton reached for the walkie talkie and Hutch handed it to him, “I’m not sure, but I know my partner well enough to know we need to back off.” There was a sense of urgency in Singleton’s voice.

Everyone watched as Farmer went to the back of the truck and looked like he was going to open the back but stopped. Singleton moved a little closer to Farmer and saw the worried look on his face. Farmer saw the men from the boat getting closer. Monroe hit Farmer on the back of the head with the end of his gun. Farmer fell on the ground. Monroe unlocked the doors to the back of the truck and swung them open. Then Monroe ducked under the truck.

Singleton saw Tillman raise his gun and instead of pointing it at the truck, he was aiming at Hutch. He quickly pushed Hutch down yelling, “get down!” A shot was heard and Singleton fell on the ground covered in blood. Hutch looked around and noticed the shot didn’t come from the truck. A second shot was fired and missed Hutch but a piece of the cinder block building flew into several pieces. Hutch realized the shots were coming from Tillman and Fairbanks’ direction. He saw Tillman and Fairbanks aiming at him and his men. Hutch yelled, “Get back!” to his men. Fairbanks aimed and hit Hutch as he bent down to move Singleton out of the line of fire and was hit in the leg. He dropped the walkie talkie.

Katrina Gomez was nearest Hutch and she pulled him out of the line of fire. Her partner, Brandon Miller, grabbed Singleton and moved him. Hutch’s other men started returning fire. Gomez picked up the walkie talkie and said, “It’s a set-up. Hutch and Singleton are down!”

Starsky and his men had heard the shots and ran around to where Hutch and his men were. Starsky heard Gomez’ voice on the walkie talkie again, “Tillman and Fairbanks are shooting at us!”

Starsky yelled into the walkie talkie, “Everyone move in, move in.” Starsky saw Tillman and Fairbanks running toward the truck and taking careful aim, he shot Tillman then he shot Fairbanks. Both men hit the ground. Everyone was shooting and bullets were flying everywhere. The air was filling with the smell of gunpowder.

Gomez and Miller found an open door and moved Hutch and Singleton to safety. Hutch said he was all right and would take care of Singleton. Gomez handed Hutch back his walkie talkie and left to join the others in the battle. Hutch looked at Singleton and saw he was bleeding from the right flank area, was unconscious and but still breathing. Hutch removed his jacket and put it under Singleton’s head. Then he took off Singleton’s shirt so he could see the extent of the damage. Singleton was bleeding pretty badly so Hutch used the shirt and applied pressure to Singleton’s wound. The bleeding slowed down. “You saved my life. Hang in there,” Hutch said as he was working on Singleton, disregarding his own leg wound.

Farmer was starting to come around. His head hurt and his vision was blurry but he was alert and oriented enough to know what was going on. He opened his eyes slowly one at a time. Starsky saw Monroe about five feet away from Farmer hiding under the truck aiming at Farmer. Starsky slowly squeezed the trigger after taking careful aim, killing Monroe instantly. Farmer gave Starsky a thumbs-up sign to let him know that he was unharmed and quickly scooted under the truck hoping the rest of Monroe’s men wouldn’t see him. He was able to take a couple of them out before a bullet grazed him on the side of the head and he passed out.

Starsky saw Manning and Forrest get shot and he moved them out of the danger zone with the help of Conner and his partner. Manning had been shot in the back and Forrest was hit in the arm. He knew Hutch had been shot, but his first duty was to stop the threat or more men would be injured.

One of Hutch’s men made it to one of the cars and radioed for ambulances and backup. Dobey sent every available squad car to the docks. He also notified the fire department and had several ambulances on the way within a minute of the call.

The shooting seemed to last forever. In actuality, it lasted less than ten minutes. The clouds started slowly moving away and the glow of the full moon was now providing enough light that Starsky could see a lot of Monroe’s men dropping their guns and putting their hands in the air. He let the men make the arrest and started searching for Hutch. He ran into Gomez and she told him where Hutch was.

Starsky went through the small door and although the room was dark, he saw Hutch passed out leaning against the wall with Singleton lying next to him with his head in Hutch’s lap. Both were covered in blood. Starsky ran to Hutch and gently tapped the side of his face, “Hutch, come on, Hutch wake up for me.”

“Starsk,” was Hutch’s weak reply.

“Come on, Buddy, wake up.”

Hutch nodded his head and opened his eyes, “I’m okay, Starsk. Singleton saved my life. He jumped in front of me when he saw Tillman shooting at us.”

“Gomez said you were hit.”

“I was? Where?”

Starsky noticed Hutch was looking very pale and he started looking at him from head-to-toe. He carefully moved Singleton’s head onto Hutch’s wadded up jacket. He took off his own jacket and covered Singleton up with it.  Starsky saw blood pooling under Hutch’s right leg. “I think I found it. Hutch, can you move your right leg?”

Hutch’s grimaced from the pain when he moved. “Yep, that’s it.” He started leaning to his right. Starsky thought he was going to pass out.

Starsky steadied him, “You’ll be okay, Buddy. Help’s on the way.” Starsky took a knife out of his pocket and proceeded to cut Hutch’s pants so he could get a better look at the wound. Hutch had been shot in the lower leg and was still bleeding. Starsky cut the pants from the knee down into strips and used them as bandages. He managed to stop the bleeding.

Farmer came in the room and Starsky pointed his gun at him out of reflex. He saw who it was, “Sorry. Just jumpy I guess.”

Farmer sat next to Singleton, “Is he…” He couldn’t bear to ask if his partner was dead.

“No. He’s alive,” Starsky said.

“What about Hutch?”

“I’m alive too, thanks to him. Your partner saved my life.”

“That makes us about even then, yours saved mine,” Farmer said he looked at Singleton’s wound. “Come on Singleton wake up. I didn’t come all this way to watch you sleep.”

Hutch saw blood streaming down the side of Farmer’s face. “Hey, you okay?”

Farmer reached his hand up and wiped the blood off his face and looked at it in his hand. He rubbed the blood off his hands onto his jeans, “I’m fine.” He put Singleton’s head on his lap. “He’s the only partner I’ve ever had. We’ve been partners for five years now. Come on Singleton, wake up. I can’t lose you now.”

“He’ll be okay,” Starsky said softly, looking at Hutch’s wound again. “Hutch, I’ve gotta go a minute. I’ll be right back.”

“Just don’t go far, Partner,” he answered weakly.

Starsky patted Hutch on the shoulder and stood up. He exited the room. He wanted to check on the rest of the men. As their lieutenant, he was in charge of the scene until help arrived. He didn’t have to tell Hutch where he was going, Hutch already knew.

Starsky saw Mitch Davis working with Stan Mantle to help Davis’ partner, Mike Anderson, who was limping. Starsky ran over to them, “What happened?”

“I’m okay, Lieutenant. I twisted my ankle.”

“I think he broke it, Sir. Can you make him go to the hospital?” Davis asked. Starsky could tell he was worried about his partner.

“Yes, I can,” Starsky looked at Anderson, “That’s an order. Davis, you make sure he follows it.”

“I will, Sir.”

“Is anyone else hurt? I know about Manning and Forrest.”

“O’Brien is over there,” Mantle pointed toward the truck, “with Blanks, Lieutenant. He was shot in the arm but it doesn’t look too bad.”

“Thanks,” Starsky patted Mantle on the arm as he headed toward Blanks. He took a minute to survey the whole scene. Several of the officers had Monroe’s men in custody. They were seated against the wall of one of the buildings. He saw Pete Parks and Malone among them. Other officers were helping the wounded assailants. He was proud of how they were all working as one team, doing everything that needed to be done. This is how it’s supposed to be. Great job, guys, he thought to himself. He watched Gomez put a jacket over the face of Tillman and move to assist Fairbanks. He walked to her location and squatted next to Fairbanks. “Why? Just tell me why.”

Fairbanks was bleeding badly from a chest wound and was very short of breath as he spoke, “Monroe. He ordered us to take out you and Hutchinson.”

“You worked for Monroe, why?” Starsky tried not to sound angry. He wanted to understand what possessed two FBI agents to work for someone like Monroe.

“I guess it doesn’t matter now. Tillman’s dead and I know I’m not going to make it. It was all about money. He promised us money and a position in his organization when he took over Big John’s turf. He was going after Marsolenni next. We were going to be big in the organization.”

“Were’ is right,” Starsky said as he watched Fairbanks take his last breath. Starsky placed his hand on Fairbank’s face, closing the dead man’s eyes. He glanced up at Gomez, “You okay?”

“Yes, Sir. I’m fine.”

Starsky and Gomez heard the approaching sirens and from the sound of it, Starsky knew Dobey sent everyone he could. It didn’t take long for the paramedics to triage the wounded and get them on the way to the area hospitals. Starsky saw Hutch just before he was loaded into the ambulance and was told he would be going to Bay City General along with Singleton. Farmer needed to be checked out too and he rode in the same ambulance as Anderson. Conner was going to be taken to Community Hospital along with Steve Reynolds who had been shot in the leg. Manning and Forrest were also going to Community Hospital.

Dobey stepped out of the car and surveyed the situation. He saw Starsky in full command mode, checking on everyone, giving orders and making sure the injured were taken care of. He was proud of him and allowed a brief look of that pride to show on his face. He walked over to Starsky and put his hand on the man’s shoulder, “Starsky, I heard Hutch was hit.”

“Yes, Cap’n he was. He’s going to be fine, took one in the leg. Singleton’s pretty bad though. Blanks was hit in the shoulder, Reynolds was shot in the leg and Anderson may have a broken ankle. Farmer’s probably going to need stitches. Manning was shot in the back and Forrest took one in the arm.” He stopped to take in a breath and wipe the sweat off his forehead.

“You did a good job tonight, Starsky. I’m proud of you.”

“It wasn’t me, Cap’n. It was them.” He pointed at the men and woman under his and Hutch’s command.

Captain Dobey nodded and said, “I’ll take over now. Go. Go check on your partner.”

“One more thing, Captain.” Starsky pointed to the bodies of the FBI agents, “Tillman and Fairbanks were working for Monroe all along. They shot Hutch and Singleton.” Dobey nodded as Starsky walked away.

 

Chapter 15

When Captain Dobey walked through the emergency room doors, he saw Starsky sitting next to Farmer who had his head wrapped up and resting it in his hands. He was obviously very upset. “He’s going to be alright, Farmer.” Dobey heard Starsky say as he got closer.

“How is everyone, Starsky?”

“Hutch is still in surgery, but the doctor said he’ll be out by tomorrow or the next day. Singleton is still in surgery.” He stood up and guided Dobey by the arm away from Farmer.  “Right now it’s touch and go, Cap’n. They just don’t know. Anderson has a broken right ankle. I heard from the other hospital that Blanks is still in surgery but doing okay and Reynolds is out of surgery doing well. I don’t know about the others yet. I know some of Monroe’s men were killed and some were injured.”

 

The doctor came out and told Farmer that Singleton made it through surgery and was expected to make a full recovery. He would have to stay in the hospital about a week. Farmer was so happy he hugged Starsky who just laughed. Starsky let Farmer stay with him while he waited to be allowed to take Singleton home.

 

A couple of days later, Starsky showed up in Hutch’s room with a wheelchair. “Your chariot awaits.” He had a big grin on his face.

“And none too soon.”

“We have one stop to make before I take you home, Blondie.”

Hutch sat in the chair and Starsky wheeled him to Singleton’s room. Starsky and Hutch both had smiles on their faces as they saw Singleton sitting up in the bed. The IV had been removed and he was looking much better. Starsky wheeled Hutch close to the bed because Hutch was not supposed to walk on his leg for another three days.

“It’s good to see you awake,” Hutch said as he reached through the bedrail and shook Singleton’s hand. “You saved my life. I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Hutch. You and Starsky saved me. And besides, Starsky saved Farmer from being shot by that maniac, Monroe. So I think we’re about even.”

“I have a question,” Hutch said as he looked at Singleton.

“You want to know how I knew something was up at the docks. Why I said to stand down, is that it?” Hutch nodded. “I didn’t know what it was at first. I just knew something wasn’t right. Later I realized when Farmer stepped down out of the truck, he saw me and closed the door with his left hand.”

“Yeah, so?” Hutch asked.

“He’s right handed, Hutch. He wouldn’t have closed the door with his left hand.”

“Right. I’m left handed and only a left-handed person would have picked up on something like that.”

“You’re a lefty,” Hutch said, not sounding happy.

“What’s wrong with lefties?” Farmer asked.

“Well, you see, Hutch has been giving me a hard time for years about being left handed. Now, he has to live with the fact that a ‘lefty'”, Starsky made air quotes, “saved his life.” Starsky chuckled along with Singleton and Farmer.

“You two work pretty well together, don’t you?” Hutch asked.

“We get by,” they said at the same time.

“How’s everyone who was hurt, Starsky?” Singleton asked.

“You’re the last to leave the hospital. Most of them are back at work. Turned out to be mostly minor injuries. Anderson will be out about eight weeks with that broken ankle.”

There was a knock on the door and Huggy came bounding in carrying something in paper bags that Starsky thought smelled awfully good. “Come on in, Hug.”

“I was told you’d be in here.” Starsky helped Huggy put the bags on the counter by the sink.

Farmer said, “Huggy Bear, I’d like to introduce you to my best friend in the whole world and partner, Dave Singleton.”

Huggy held out his hand and shook hands with Singleton, “The pleasure is all mine. I hear you saved Blondie here and anyone who saves a friend of mine is in my debt.” He said smiling.

Starsky and Huggy started dishing up the food Huggy brought. After they had all eaten, Farmer and Singleton said that was some of the best food they had ever had.

 

It was a week later before Singleton was allowed to fly back to Orlando. Starsky and Hutch saw them off at the airport and told them if they ever needed anything to give them a call. Farmer and Singleton said the same thing. The four men had become good friends in a very short period of time. Farmer and Singleton said they would be back for Ray and Blinn’s trial along with the rest of Monore’s men who had been arrested. All of them were looking at spending a long-long time behind bars.

Hutch was released to go back to full duty the day after Farmer and Singleton left. They were sitting in Captain Dobey’s office and as usual, Hutch was sitting on the arm of the chair Starsky was sitting in drinking Starsky’s coffee. “You called us, Captain?” Hutch asked as he handed Starsky back his cup.

The door opened and Chief McDonald entered the office. “Boys, you two did a great job on the Monroe case,” Captain Dobey said.

“Yes, you did and the department would like it if you stayed in your current positions,” the chief said.

“No way. Ain’t gonna happen,” Starsky and Hutch said in unison.

“I told you they’d never go for it, Chief.”

“Well, I was just hoping. I guess we’ll find someone to fill the lieutenant positions. Harold, let me know when you find someone.”

“Sure thing, Chief,” Dobey said as Chief McDonald left.

“Are you two…”

“We’re positive. Look, Captain, Hutch and I are happy the way things are.”

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Hutch said. He stood up and asked, “What time are we supposed to meet Marsolenni?”

“Oh yeah, we need to go,” Starsky said looking at his watch. “Bye, Captain.

“It’s good to have you back, boys,” Dobey muttered to himself as they closed the door behind them.

 

Starsky drove the Torino up to the iron gate and was let in by the guard on duty.  They set their weapons down on the small table in the library just as they had done the last time they made a visit.

“You asked us to come by, we’re here,” Hutch said.

“I like you Starsky, you always…”

Hutch shook his head, “I’m Hutch.”

“I’m Starsky.”

“Okay. I like you Hutchinson, you always get straight to the point. No wasting time with the pleasantries.”

Starsky and Hutch looked impatient. They didn’t like being in Marsolenni’s house; especially unarmed.

“Come on, Marsolenni. What do want?”

“I just want to extend my thanks.”

“Thanks, for what?” Hutch asked.

“For taking care of my problem.”

“If you’re referring to Monroe, I assure you we didn’t do that for you. We did that for all those little kids out there he and creeps like you pray on,” Starsky said, pointing his finger and allowing his anger to show.

“Watch it, Starsky, that sounds like an accusation. And I don’t like accusations.”

“I don’t care what it sounds like. Take it however you want. One day, Starsky and I are going to come back here and it will be with a warrant.”

“If that’s all you want, we’ve got work to do,” Starsky said, picking up his gun and putting it back in its holster. Hutch put his back too.

“There is one more thing, Gentlemen.”

“What’s that?” Hutch asked.

“At least you know, I won’t be going after any little girls.”

“Yeah, you have morals,” Starsky said, sarcastically.

They didn’t say anything else but left. In the car, Starsky said, “One day, Hutch.”

“One day, we’ll get him, Starsk.”

Starsky drove in silence for a couple of miles, then he smiled and turned to face his partner. “Hutch?”

“Yeah, Buddy?”

“It’s good to have you back. I mean it’s good to be us again.”

“That it is, Starsk. Me and Thee.”