Good Cops VS Bad Cops

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This is a story that take place a couple of years after the end of the series. Someone is trying to ruin Starsky and Hutch’s careers. Things escalate quickly and they don’t know who they can trust except for Me and Thee. I hope you enjoy this story.

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Chapter 1

Starsky and Hutch were sitting in the Tomato, as Hutch liked to call it. Of course he only called it that to irritate Starsky. It was a banter that had been going on for years. Hutch actually liked Starsky’s car, he just never wanted to admit it to his partner. They were at yet another stake-out. Yesterday, they had gotten an anonymous tip that Collins, a man wanted for fencing stolen goods, was in their area. The tipster stated that Collins was about to buy some diamonds and other jewels that were stolen from Isabella’s Jewelry store just last week. The diamonds alone were worth over twenty-five thousand dollars.

When they received the tip, they talked Captain Dobey into allowing them to organize this stake-out. He allowed them to have six other men to make sure every exit was covered.

“Collins was supposed to show up two hours ago, Hutch,” Starsky whined as he squirmed to get comfortable, yet again.

“Starsk, will you quit squirming and just relax. You know how these things go.”

“Yeah, I know. We get a tip from somebody and get Dobey to allow us to put a whole team together and then we wait, and wait, and wait. And then you know what?”

“We wait some more,” Hutch replied as he picked up the binoculars and looked around the area once more.

“Hutch, it’s dark out, do you really think you’re going to see anything with those?”

Hutch gave his partner a half grin and put them down, “Apparently not.”

“You know if he doesn’t show we’re gonna look like fools, Buddy.”

Hutch was silent as he surveyed the area again. They were in the warehouse district and this particular area had been vacated years ago. Usually, the only people that were here were a few winos looking for a place to get out of the rain or cold weather. A few drug deals had also gone down here. Hutch saw nothing.

“Zebra six to Zebra three,” their radio squawked.

Frustrated at the situation, Starsky rolled his eyes. He knew that Whitten and Gomez wanted to call it a night. Hutch glanced at Starsky and just shook his head, agreeing that this was a big waste of time. Starsky picked up the radio, “Zebra three go ahead Zebra six.”

“Hutch, what do you say we call it a night?”

“Wrong, Gomez. I’m Starsky but yeah it looks like it’s a no show. Sorry, fellas. Zebra four and Apple seven did you copy?”

“Zebra four we copied, thanks for the overtime.”

“Yeah,” Starsky said to Hutch.

“Apple seven we copied and are heading back to our beat.”

Starsky sat up straight in his seat and turned the key to start the Torino and started driving, “You wanna go to Huggy’s, I’ll buy ya a beer?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

When Starsky and Hutch walked into The Pits, Huggy noticed they did not look very happy. He knew they were looking forward to catching Collins. They had been looking for him for a long time and this time they were sure they had him. The two detectives sat in their usual booth in the back. Huggy brought them each a beer, “I take it you didn’t have a good day. This one’s on the house.”

“Thanks, Hug,” the pair said in unison.

“Would you like some food to help drown your sorrows or are you just going to drink them away tonight?”

“Did anyone ever tell you, you have a way with words, Hug?” Starsky asked as he chuckled slightly picking up his tall glass of beer.

“Mmm huh. You and Blondie here tell me that all the time. What will it be or do you want me to surprise you.”

“Surprise me,” Starsky said as he leaned against the wall and stretched his feet out.

“I’ve had enough surprises for one night, Hug. Just bring me a burger, no pickles.” Hutch stretched out too.

They talked about who might have given them the tip about Collins as they ate. The caller stated that he would only talk to Starsky or Hutch. It was Hutch that talked to him and the only thing the caller said was that he knew Collins would be there to purchase the stolen jewelry. Hutch tried to find out more but the caller hung up.

“I know things like this have happened in the past but to call out six extra men was…well, it’s just embarrassing, Hutch.”

“I know it is, but it’s not the end of the world either. They’ll forget it by next week.”

“Dobey won’t,” Starsky mumbled.

They finished their dinner and Starsky drove Hutch home. They were expected to be in Captain Dobey’s office by 0900 the next morning. Starsky told Hutch he would pick him up by 0830 and Hutch told Starsky not to be late again.

Dobey sat quietly as he read the reports given him by the other six members of the team. Hutch was tapping his pencil on the desk as Starsky was plucking away at the keys on the typewriter. “Will you hurry up, Starsk? Before Dobey finishes the other reports, and has to call us in there.”

“Captain Dobey has finished reading the other reports and is waiting on both of yours,” Captain Dobey said as he stood right behind Hutch.

“Mine’s done, Sir,” Hutch said, sounding like a school kid that just got someone else in trouble. He picked up his report, turned in his chair and handed it to his captain, who was not looking too impressed.

Starsky was frantically typing the last few words of his report. He had a pencil in his mouth and looked totally focused on finishing the report. When he was finished, he took the pencil out of his mouth, set it on the desk in front of him, took the paper out of the typewriter and handed it Captain Dobey. “All done. Sorry it took so long; my ribbon jammed.”

“Both of you, my office now,” Dobey said, not sounding too happy.

Starsky and Hutch walked past the captain into his office. Starsky sat in the brown leather chair and Hutch sat on the arm of the same chair.

“Captain, I know what you’re going to say,” Hutch said.

Before he could get the rest of the words out, Dobey said, in a loud and raspy voice, “How do you know what I’m going to say, Hutchinson? You don’t know what I’m going to say, so just sit there and listen up.” Captain Dobey noticed a smirk on Starsky’s face, “And that goes for you too,” he stated as he looked at Starsky.

“Yes, Sir,” the duo replied. They sat with their heads lowered, waiting to be chewed out for the botched operation from the previous night.

Dobey sighed. Then he picked up all the reports and dropped them back on his desk. “Starsky, Hutch, these kinds of things happen you both know that. I know you’re beating yourselves up over this, but don’t. I want you back on your own beat.” He noticed his two detectives were still looking upset about the whole ordeal, “I said forget it, so forget it. Now get back out on the streets.”

Hutch stood up first followed by Starsky, “Thank you, Captain,” they said simultaneously.

About two hours later, Starsky and Hutch received another anonymous tip telling the location of Doug Poindexter. He was at 548 Federal Street. According to the caller, they would find him in room 204.

“Poindexter, isn’t he that dealer that Narco’s been after?” Hutch asked as he put the tear drop red light on the roof of the car.

“Sure is,” Starsky replied as he hit the siren. “That’s kind of an upscale place for him to be hiding out in isn’t it?”

Starsky and Hutch ran up the stairs and drew their weapons as they reached the room. Starsky was on the right side of the door and Hutch was on the left. Hutch looked at Starsky and Starsky nodded, signaling they were both ready to bust in. Hutch tapped on the door with his gun. There was no answer so he tapped rather loudly then said, “Police open up.”

A woman who appeared to be in her late sixties slowly opened the door, leaving the chain in place, “What? Did you say you were the police? I didn’t call the police.”

Starsky rolled his eyes at Hutch and put his gun back in his holster. He showed the woman his badge as Hutch asked, “Ma’am is everything all right here?” Hutch put his gun back in its holster and sighed.

“Of course everything’s all right. Well, except that Mable burned the apple pie we were supposed to have, but other than that everything’s fine, why do you ask?”

Starsky flashed her one of his famous all teeth smiles and asked, “Ma’am who’s in there with you?”

“Oh, just the girls from the bridge club. We get together once a week. Do you want to come in and check it out for yourselves?”

“No Ma’am, that won’t be necessary. We’re sorry to have bothered you,” Hutch said.

The woman closed the door. Starsky shook his head, “You know, Hutch?”

“Yeah, I know. This isn’t funny. I mean last night was bad enough but this now. I tell ya, Buddy, I think someone’s trying to humiliate us.”

“I’m beginning to think you’re right, Partner.”

They went back to the station and filled Dobey in on what happened. Getting information like that and it turning out to be nothing once was par-for-the-course for them but two days in a row was not. Something was going on and it wasn’t funny. Dobey didn’t like his detectives getting the run-around like that either. It was a huge waste of their time and he wondered what else might happen. This could become a very dangerous situation. Dobey laid his elbows on his rather cluttered desk,  and said, “I want you two to be careful out there. Whoever is doing this obviously wants to disgrace you and they may not stop there.”

“We know that, Captain,” Hutch said as he started to pace the floor. “What we don’t know is who or why.”

“You’re detectives aren’t you?” His question was met with silence. “Well aren’t you?” Dobey repeated himself as the volume in his voice rose.

“Yes, Sir,” they answered.

“Well, detect then. And another thing, when I ask a question you don’t always have to answer at the same time.”

“Sorry, Captain,” they answered at the same time grinning at each other.

Dobey shook his head. He tried to hide his grin but Starsky and Hutch both saw it and grinned too.

Another two weeks went by and Starsky and Hutch received four more false tips. Huggy always had his ear out for information but he didn’t know who was behind trying to ruin their careers. It was getting old and Starsky was fed up with it, so was Hutch. They came to Captain Dobey with an idea. They decided it would be best if they came directly to his office for their assignments for a couple of weeks. They would not answer any radio calls or respond to any more ‘hot tips’ from anyone except Huggy. Dobey agreed to try it for a little while to see what happened.

It didn’t help. Every time Dobey gave them an assignment the suspect had already fled or they arrived to find other officers had been given the details of the assignment and the arrests had all ready been made by the time Starsky and Hutch arrived on scene.

Dobey’s friend from the Narco unit asked him if he could spare a couple of detectives. His men were tied up on other cases and he had received word that an eighteen-wheeler would be coming thru loaded with heroin. It was coming from Nevada and would be on the interstate about midnight. Dobey said he would put Starsky and Hutch on it.

Dobey briefed Starsky and Hutch and they agreed to take the assignment. Because the drugs were coming across state lines, the feds would be in on the bust along with the state police. Everyone that would be in on the bust was briefed in Captain Dobey’s office.

It was dark and raining as Starsky and Hutch were pulled over on the side of the road waiting for the big rig to roll on by them. They had been given a complete description of the truck they were to look for. Exactly at midnight, the light-blue cab big rig drove past them. Hutch confirmed the license tag with the one they were given and it was a match. Starsky turned on the car’s engine and his tires squealed as he sped toward the truck, “Finally, a decent bust.” Hutch put the tear drop red flashing light on the roof of the car and Starsky hit the siren. The federal agents and the state police were right behind them.

The truck came to a complete stop in less than a mile, which disappointed Starsky. He liked the thrill of a high-speed chase and wanted it to go on for at least five or ten miles. Starsky stopped the car and pulled his gun and badge out, as Hutch drew his weapon out and went to the passenger side. The driver got out, “Did I do something wrong, officer?”

“Just keep your hands where I can see them,” Starsky replied. The feds and state police officers were getting out of their cars and were slowly approaching the big rig.

“Sure, sure,” the driver said as he held his hands up. “What are you looking for? Do you want to see my license?”

“That would be good for starters. What’s in the back, huh whatcha hauling?” Starsky asked as the driver slowly pulled out his identification and handed it to Starsky.

Hutch went to the passenger side of the truck, opened the door, climbed into the passenger seat and looked in the sleeper compartment to make sure no one else was present. It was always dangerous to stop a big rig or a van. When he was confident that the driver was alone, Hutch walked back to Starsky near the back of the truck.

The driver handed Hutch the key to the back door saying, “I’m empty. I’m headed home.” He didn’t sound like he had anything to hide and freely told them that he had just hauled some paper products to a warehouse in Reno and was about ten miles from his house when they pulled him over. The federal agents ran a make on the man and it came back negative for any wants or warrants.  In fact, he was a family man who had a wife and three kids and he’d never been arrested. He’d been with the same company for ten years and had only gotten one speeding ticket. Starsky apologized to the man and let him go.

“I hope next time your department calls us out, it’s for real,” one of the state policemen said. He was joking of course, but Starsky and Hutch weren’t laughing.

Starsky hit the steering wheel with his hands so hard, Hutch thought his partner was going to break either the steering wheel or his hand.  Hutch was just as upset and slammed the door as he got in the car.

The next day, the two of them stormed into Captain Dobey’s office. Starsky put his hands on the desk and with an angry look on his face he leaned closer to his superior, “Captain.”

“Starsky, I know you’re upset. I’m just as furious as you two are. Don’t think you’re the only ones that are upset by all this,” Captain Dobey replied, his voice sounding as irritated as Starsky’s.

Hutch was standing next to his partner, “Captain, what are we gonna do. We can’t operate like this.” He turned around and sat in one of the chairs.

“I don’t know, Hutch. Let me think on it awhile.  Hey, you and Starsky need to get going if you’re going to make that meeting on the docks.”

“To be honest, Cap’n, I’m not we should be out on the streets doing anything,” Starsky grunted.

“Come on, Starsk, let’s go. We can’t keep Murray waiting, you know how he gets.”

Starsky turned around and the two frustrated detectives left Captain Dobey’s office.

Dobey leaned back in his chair, “I sure hope we can get to the bottom of this before one of them gets killed,” he said out loud. He leaned forward again and took a blue handkerchief out of the front pocket of his jacket and wiped his forehead.

Starsky and Hutch arrived an hour before the meeting was supposed to take place. With everything that had happened lately, they wanted to see Murray as he pulled up. Three days ago, Starsky and Hutch were in Captain Dobey’s office going over some reports when Starsky received a call from Murray, a snitch, who said he would be getting some information about a shipment of drugs that were coming in. Starsky had him up on a misdemeanor petty theft charge and Murray was hoping that Starsky would drop the charges if he gave him the information.

As soon as Starsky turned the Torino onto the what-was-supposed-to-be vacant lot, they were under fire.  Hutch ducked and drew his weapon, as the first shot hit the passenger window. “What the hell, Starsk. Where’s it coming from?”

Starsky ducked in his seat as far as he could while driving when the second bullet hit the windshield and a third hit the back driver’s-side door. “I don’t know. I’m getting’ us outta here before we get killed,” Starsky replied. His voice was full of anger and frustration but the look on his face was filled with determination and concentration. He glanced at Hutch making sure his buddy was all right.

“I’m fine, Starsk. Get us out of here.”

He was able to get away without either of them being shot but it was close-too close for comfort.

Hutch picked up the mic and called for backup. He knew help wouldn’t be far away with a call of ‘officers being shot at’ going out.

Starsky drove out of the immediate area, stopped the car. Hutch had his weapon ready and nodded at Starsky for him to go back to where they were moments ago. They would be ready this time. Hutch was crouched in his seat and looking everywhere to see where the shooters were. Starsky kept an eye out for them too while driving around. Other patrol cars came quickly. They searched the area for a couple of hours and found nothing.

 

Starsky drove to Hutch’s so he could pick up his car. The Torino would be out of commission for a while. The boys from the lab would have their turn at her then Starsky would take it to Merle’s to get her fixed up.

The boys from the lab didn’t take long. They just needed the imbedded bullet from the back door and took a lot of pictures of the damage.

Starsky was able to drive the Torino to Merle’s within a couple of hours. Hutch followed him in his car. Starsky knew that Merle would fix her up good as new in just a couple of days. He also knew it would cost him an arm and a leg. When they pulled up, Merle looked at the shattered passenger window and then glanced at Hutch. He shook his head, “Starsky, Hutch, the two of you have more good luck than anyone I’ve ever seen. Anyone else riddin’ in that seat would have been dead by now. Ya’ll must be doin’ something right, cause the good Lord is watchin’ out for the two of you.”

Starsky glanced at Hutch and they raised their eyebrows at each other. Merle had a different perspective than they did. They didn’t think they were lucky at all; at least they didn’t think so until Merle put it that way. He was right; Hutch was less than two inches away from being killed.

They left Merle’s and went to Captain Dobey’s office. “Cap’n, making us look like fools and trying to ruin our careers is one thing, but trying to kill us is another,” Starsky yelled as he slammed his fist on the captain’s desk.

“How in the hell did anyone know about that meeting with Murray anyway?” Hutch asked as angry as Starsky was.

“I don’t know, but I’m pulling you two off everything else until we find out what’s going on and why.”

Starsky huffed and turned around to sit on the arm of the chair Hutch was in. When he did, he knocked over the small, silver container that had some pens and pencils in it. Starsky bent down to pick them up and happened to notice a small round microphone stuck to the bottom of the edge of the desk. He reached his hand out to remove it but decided to leave it in place. Whoever put it there didn’t know he knew it was there and they might be able to use that to their advantage.  He got up slowly and put his finger to his pursed lips. Starsky took a pen out of the container and wrote ‘bug’ as he said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Cap’n. But Hutch and I do need the rest of the day off.” He wrote ‘Huggy’s 1700′ on another piece of paper.

“Yeah, okay. Take the rest of the day off; you’ve earned it,” Dobey replied as he nodded indicating that he would meet them at Huggy’s.

Starsky wrote ‘leave bug’ on the next piece of paper and nodded at his captain. Dobey nodded signifying he understood. Starsky and Hutch walked down the hall and out of the building without saying another word.

Just before they got close to Hutch’s car, Starsky tugged at Hutch’s jacket for him to stop. Hutch stopped and faced Starsky, “You found a bug in his office?”

“It’s under the desk. I don’t know if our cars are bugged or not. We can’t take any chances. I think it’ll be safe to talk in Huggy’s upstairs room.”

“A bug, that would explain how they knew about the meeting with Murray,” Hutch said as he pointed his long index finger at Starsky.

“It would explain about how they knew what cases we worked on for the past month. You know what else it means?”

“Yep. It means it has to be someone in the department.”

“Fraid so, Partner. Looks like it’s we trust Me and Thee time, again.”

“Yeah,” Hutch replied as he opened his car door. The horn went off and Starsky cringed.

“You really need to get Merle to fix that, ya know.”

“But I like it,” Hutch said as he started the car.

“How can you like that noise? It’s impossible to like that; no one could possibly like that racket.”

Hutch grinned, put the car in drive, “I like it, because you don’t.”

Captain Dobey walked up the stairs to the private room above Huggy’s restaurant. Starsky and Hutch were already waiting for him. When their Captain entered the room Hutch slid a chair next to the small table to make room for him. Dobey sat down, “Starsky, Hutch, I don’t know what to say. I had no idea that my office had been bugged.”

“It’s okay, Cap’n. It’s not your fault,” Starsky said. He could tell the captain felt somewhat responsible for the situation they were in.

“It was in my office. My office, for crying out loud, of course it’s my fault,” Dobey yelled as he stood up.

“Now let’s not start playing the blaming game. Let’s figure out what we’re going to do about it,” Hutch said in a calm soothing voice.

“After that ambush, I think the two of you should lay low for a while.” Captain Dobey sat back down.

“Absolutely not,” Starsky and Hutch said concurrently.

Dobey raised his eyebrows at them. He really wanted them off the streets for a while. Starsky and Hutch both gave him a rather defiant stare. Dobey put his elbows on the table, folded his hands and rested his forehead on them, “What am I supposed to do with the two of you?”

“Captain, it won’t matter if we lay low or not,” Starsky said.

“Don’t you see, whoever is after us has gone to great lengths to ruin our careers and now to kill us. They won’t stop just because we’re off the streets. You have to allow us to do our job. You have to allow us to operate,” Hutch stated.

“Cap’n, please let us do what we do best. Our careers are on the line here,” Starsky pleaded.

“It’s not just your careers that are on the line, Starsky, it’s your lives I’m worried about.” He was met with silence by the two detectives who were relentless when they wanted something. “Ugg. You’re not going to make this easy are you?”

“Nothing about this is easy,” Hutch said.

Dobey sat a few minutes looking at his two detectives, “Okay. What do you want me to do?”

“Hutch and I have a plan.”

“I was afraid of something like that.”

“Ha, ha,” Hutch responded.

“Come on, hear us out.”

“Okay, lay it out.”

There was a knock on the door and Hutch let Huggy in. Huggy was carrying a tray with their dinners on it. The three of them thanked Huggy who said, “Anytime, my friends. Stay here as long as you like.”

The plan Starsky and Hutch had come up with was to go to Captain Dobey’s office and set up a time and place of where they were going to meet someone. They would arrive hours earlier and see who showed up. They knew they would be setting themselves up and taking a huge risk, but they didn’t see any other way of catching whoever it was that was trying to ruin their careers and kill them. Starsky pointed out that if a hit had been taken out on them, Huggy would have heard about it by now. Someone in the department went directly to the men who shot at them at the docks. After a few rounds of going back and forth with Dobey disagreeing on the plan, he finally gave in.  Hutch said that they would be in his office at 0800 and for Dobey to just go along with whatever they said. He reluctantly agreed and the meeting ended. They could meet at Huggy’s again when they needed too.

After Captain Dobey left, Hutch said he would drop Starsky off at his place. Merle said the Torino would be finished tomorrow and Starsky was looking forward to getting it back. He hated Hutch’s car. When Hutch pulled up to Starsky’s driveway, they noticed the Torino was sitting there. Starsky smiled, “Merle, you’re the man, all right.” He looked at Hutch and stated, “I’ll pick you up at 0730.”

Hutch was glad to see the Torino looking as pristine as ever. He was also happy for his partner that it was fixable. He knew how much Starsky loved that car. “I’ll be ready, don’t be late.” Starsky went into his apartment and Hutch drove away.

 

They never made it to the meeting in Dobey’s office the next morning. About 0100 that night, Hutch received a call saying Starsky had been hurt in some wreck. He didn’t know who called or why Starsky would have gone out but Hutch quickly threw on a pair of pants and a shirt. He grabbed his gun that was in its holster hanging on the door of his closet. He put his shoes on as he was headed out of the door. His mind was telling him that something wasn’t quite right with call but his heart told him Starsky was in trouble and needed him. His heart won the argument and Hutch ran down to his car and got inside. As soon as he got behind the wheel, Hutch heard it, tick, tick, tick. It was the sound of a timer. About ten seconds later the car exploded with such force that some of the windows in the apartments shattered.

Starsky was in a deep sleep when his phone rang. He noticed the time and groaned. Reaching for the phone he said, “Hutch this better be important.” He picked the phone up on the fourth ring, “Hutch, its late whatdaya want at this hour that couldn’t wait until morning?”

“Hutchinson’s dead,” the voice on the other end said and the phone went silent.

Starsky’s eyes were wide open and his heart started pounding. He hung up the phone, quickly got dressed and jumped into the Torino and drove to Hutch’s as fast as he could, making it in record time. He rounded the corner to find Hutch’s car totally engulfed in flames. The fire department was already on the scene trying to extinguish the blaze. It took four firemen to hold Starsky back as he kept yelling for Hutch. Starsky fought them with every bit of strength he had. He finally fell to his knees when all his strength, both physically and mentally was gone.  It wasn’t long before Captain Dobey showed up and walked Starsky to the Torino.

 

Chapter 2

The casket was a pale baby blue that matched the blue eyes of the body that was in it. The flag that was draped across it was in immaculate condition. Every detail had been carefully worked out. Every detail was a fitting goodbye to a detective that had been on the force as long as he had.

The music he loved so much was quietly playing in the background as the guest started to arrive. The church would be very crowded today. A lot of people were expected to attend this funeral to pay their respects.

Starsky was already sitting in the middle of the front row. He sat, staring at the closed casket. Everyone that could see him saw a deep sadness that seemed to run through to Starsky’s very soul.  Huggy Bear sat on one side of him and Captain Dobey sat on the other. Neither spoke a word. There were no words that could be said. They knew it was taking every bit of strength Starsky had left to get through today.

Starsky remembered seeing and hearing the minister but the words that were spoken were not heard, at least by Starsky. Starsky held Hutch’s badge in his hand. He looked at the number 12 and traced over it with his fingers. He took a deep breath and sighed. He had to get through today, he told himself, ‘just get through today. I’ll tackle tomorrow when it gets here.’

Starsky lightly patted the end of the casket as it was wheeled past him on the way outside to be loaded into the hearse, “Goodbye, Buddy,” was all he could manage to say. It was all too surreal.

After the funeral, everyone meet at Captain Dobey’s. Starsky just couldn’t handle having a bunch of people at his place and he wouldn’t allow anyone near Hutch’s.  Huggy stayed close to Starsky and wouldn’t let him out of his sight. He even watched the door when Starsky went into the bathroom. Unbeknownst to Starsky, Captain Dobey asked Huggy to keep an eye on his other detective. He just lost one detective and he wasn’t about to lose another one. He also knew that Huggy would be the best one to help Starsky get through today. He would worry about tomorrow and the days to follow when they came.

The funeral was yesterday and it seemed like a thousand years ago. Starsky walked–or rather stumbled–into Captain Dobey’s office looking broken, pale and very lost. He flopped in a chair.  “Starsky, I know you need some time off. Take as much time as you need, Son.”

“I’m getting out of town for a while, Cap’n. I don’t know where I’m going or what I’m going to do now that…” He didn’t finish his sentence he could barely force himself to think of it. Hutch had been so much more than just his partner at work. He had been his best friend, the one who kept Starsky sane working the streets and so much more.  He couldn’t bear to think of Hutch as being gone forever.

“I want you to be careful, Starsky. You know whoever killed Hutch is after you too,” Captain Dobey stated with a lump in his throat.

“At this point, Cap’n, I don’t care,” Starsky stated, as if he really didn’t care if he lived or not. He stood up and placed his badge on Captain Dobey’s desk. He took Hutch’s badge out of his pocket and started to lay it beside his own but put it back in his pocket, “I’m keeping his.”

Captain Dobey nodded. “It’s yours,” he said softly. Captain Dobey opened the desk drawer and put Starsky’s badge inside. Starsky didn’t hand his captain his gun and Captain Dobey didn’t ask for it. It was just a couple of years ago that Starsky and Hutch obtained concealed weapons permits and because Starsky still had his permit, he would be allowed to keep his weapon.

Nothing more was said as Starsky walked out of the office and headed out of the building. Instead of getting in his own Ford Torino, or ‘the tomato’ as Hutch used to call it, he had Huggy pick him up around the back of the building. He didn’t want to be seen. He didn’t want anyone asking him how he was or if he was going to quit the force or any one of a thousand questions he was expecting. He just wanted to leave, undetected.

Huggy met Starsky at the corner of the back of the police station in a battered, banged up, old light green Chevy. Starsky opened the door to the passenger side and got in. Neither of them said a word.

Huggy had driven about ten miles out of town when Starsky heard, “Miss me, Buddy?” come from the back seat.

“You’d better duck back down until we get where we’re going. Attending your fake funeral was bad enough; I don’t think I could live through the real thing.”

Hutch smiled and patted Starsky’s shoulder, “I know that must have been tough on you, Starsk,” Hutch sounded sympathetic. Hutch tried to imagine what his funeral was like. He couldn’t imagine attending Starsky’s, real or faked.

“Don’t forget it was almost real. You’ve got to stay out of sight until we can find out who’s behind it. You, me, Huggy and Captain Dobey are still the only ones who know you’re really alive.” Starsky turned down his visor and looked in the tiny mirror at Hutch. His eyes met Hutch’s, “God, it’s good to see ya, Buddy.”  Hutch winked at his partner and patted him on the shoulder.

“Do you still think his office is bugged?” Hutch asked, as he opened a cooler that was in the backseat and handed Starsky a beer, “Drink this, it will calm your nerves.”

“I don’t think there’s enough beer in the state to calm my nerves right now, Pal.”

“I hear ya, Buddy.”

“Where are we going anyway, Hutch?” Starsky asked, as he opened the beer.

“Hug, wouldn’t tell me.”

“That’s right. That way no one will know except me and the two of you when we get there.”

“I hope it’s something better than some two-bit dive,” Starsky said, as he settled back into his seat. The smile had returned to his face now that he’d finally seen Hutch.

“Hug, do you have any leads yet on just who tried to blow me up four days ago?”

“No, but have no fear, Huggy’s highway of information will turn up something.”

“I just hope it’s soon,” Starsky grumbled.

Huggy glanced at Starsky and noticed just how totally exhausted his friend was. He saw Hutch in the rearview mirror and he looked just as bad. “It’s gonna take at least three hours to get where we’re going, get some rest. You both look like…”

“Yeah, I know we look like hell. Well, we’ve been through it, Hug,” Hutch muttered from the back seat.

“My point exactly, Blondie. I’ll wake you if I need too. The next few days are going to be pretty rough.”

“You can say that again,” Starsky chimed in, “We got to find out who in the department wants us dead and why.”  Starsky squirmed around in his seat to find a comfortable position. Hutch saw a pillow lying on the seat next to him and handed it to Starsky, “Here ya go, Starsk,” he said in a soft, friendly voice.

Starsky took the pillow, “Thanks.” He placed the pillow against the window then placed his head on it. He was asleep almost instantly.

Hutch shook his head, “You know, Hug, I think he can sleep almost anywhere.”

“He hasn’t slept much the last couple of days, Hutch. The funeral may have been faked, but to him it seemed too real. It took a lot out of him. He’s been worried about you.”

“I’ve been worried about him too.” He studied his sleeping partner for a minute, “It could have been real, Hug. Either of could have been killed. We’ve got to find out who’s behind it all.”

Huggy looked in the mirror at Hutch again, “Get some rest, Hutch. I’ll wake you.”  Huggy raised his eyebrows and nodded.

Hutch flashed Huggy a half grin and wiggled around until, he too, was comfortable enough to fall asleep.

Huggy gazed at his sleeping friend in the passenger seat. Starsky was sound asleep. His head was tilted at an awkward angle leaning to the right as his head rested on the pillow. Starsky’s legs looked tangled under the dash and his whole body seemed as twisted as his head and legs were. His breathing was slow and even. “Sleep, Brother, you’ve earned it,” Huggy whispered. He was glad that Starsky was finally able to rest. He knew Starsky was going to have a kink in his neck when we awoke, but he didn’t want to wake him.

When he adjusted the rearview mirror so that he could see Hutch, he noticed the tall blonde was as stretched out as much as his legs would allow. His feet were actually on the floor under Huggy’s seat.  Hutch had his head on a pillow leaning against the door. “You sleep too, Hutchie. Don’t worry, Huggy Bear’s gonna keep you both safe.”

Huggy drove on for what seemed like forever. When he was about ten minutes away from their destination he reached over and patted Starsky’s leg, “Hey, Starsky, wake up.”

“Huh? What?” Starsky said, as he started moving around. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head from side to side to loosen the tightened muscles in his neck. He frowned and smacked his lips, “Where are we, Hug?” He asked as he stretched and sat up straight.

“At your temporary pad, my friend. You want to wake up Blondie there?”

“I’m awake,” Hutch groaned from the backseat. He stretched his arms and yawned as he sat up. He lightly slapped Huggy on the shoulder, “Thanks, Hug. I needed that sleep.”

“I think we both did,” Starsky said, sounding as if he got his second wind and could tackle anything.

Hutch looked at the house as Huggy pulled the car into the driveway. It was a one story, large, brick house. He looked to his left then his right and all he could see were trees. Hutch liked the woods but knew that Starsky wouldn’t like it. The house looked a lot better than what he thought Huggy would have procured. “What is this place?”

“And where is this place?” Starsky asked, as he rubbed the kink in his neck noticing the trees.

“The what, is a house and the where is north of Bay City,” Huggy answered as he parked the car in the garage, put it in park and turned it off.

“I can see it’s a house. Whose house?”  Hutch matched Huggy’s playful sarcastic tone.

“It’s my cousin’s Jerome’s place. He’s, well, uh, let’s just say he’s not going to be using it a while.”

“How long a while?”  Starsky asked, and then added, “Is it something like three-to-five or more like ten-to-fifteen?”

“It’s more like he skipped so he wouldn’t be doing any-to-five,” Huggy answered, as he reached his long fingers into his pants pocket and dug out the front door key. Hutch looked at Starsky and they grinned and shook their heads. They didn’t even want to know how Huggy got possession of the keys.

 

“Don’t worry, Starsky, it’s not as desolate as it looks. There’s a row of trees between the houses. The neighbor’s house is right there.” Huggy pointed at a light that could be seen between the trees as he unlocked the door.  Starsky felt somewhat relieved to see they were not in some isolated mountain cabin. He didn’t care as much for the mountains, woods, and camping as Hutch did.

Once they were inside, Huggy pointed to the kitchen, “There’s the refrigerator and I took the liberty of stocking it for you.”

Starsky clapped his hands and rubbed them together, “Thanks a million, Hug,” he said as he walked toward it and just as his hand was on the handle, he heard Hutch.

“Hey, Starsk?”

Starsky did an about face, not looking happy about Hutch calling him. He knew what Hutch wanted. He wanted Starsky to help him unload the car first, “Yeah, I’m coming.” He walked past Hutch on the way to the car, “You’re a kill joy you know that?”

Hutch chuckled, “Yeah, I know that.” He followed Starsky to the car.

Huggy was already outside and had opened the trunk. “I thought you might want this stuff,” Huggy said, as he handed Starsky a suitcase.

“You went by my place?”

“I packed some things this morning while you were talking to Captain Dobey.”

“Thanks.”

“Anything for you, my friends,” Huggy replied as he reached into the trunk and took out another suitcase and handed it to Hutch. Hutch reached out his left arm and gently patted Huggy’s arm as he took the suitcase with his right arm. Hutch gave Huggy a grin. It always amazed Starsky and Hutch how Huggy always seemed to know just what they needed when they needed it the most. They took their suitcases and went into the house.

Huggy grabbed the cooler from the back seat, “Yeah, I don’t know where those two would be without me either,” he said to himself as he followed them inside.

 

The three of them sat at the kitchen table talking. “It could be anyone in the department, Hutch,” Starsky said angrily. He stood up, rubbed his hair and started pacing.

“I know it could be anyone,” Hutch replied, sounding as angry as Starsky.

“Who do we trust, huh? Who can we trust, Buddy?” Starsky leaned on the counter facing Hutch and Huggy with his hands resting on the counter behind him.

“The same people we always trust, Starsk; each other, Me and Thee,” Hutch turned from Starsky to Huggy, “Huggy and Dobey. We trust us; the four of us; no one else.”

Starsky nodded his head, “Yeah, the four of us.” He walked back to the table and sat back down. “Hutch, what are we missing? We’re missing something.”

“We’ve been at this for hours. Why don’t you take it from the beginning, guys? Tell me when it all started,” Huggy said.

Hutch leaned forward, “It started a couple of months ago,” he picked up his beer, drank the last swallow, tossed the empty can into the trash can and continued to tell Huggy about everything that had happened during the past couple of months. Starsky and Hutch rehashed every tip they had received, every bust they were supposed to have made that went sour. They went over everything.

“Do you think Gunther has anything to do with it? I mean you took out his whole organization,” Huggy asked, shifting in the hard wooden chair he’d been sitting in for hours now.

“It’s possible and we’ve thought of him, but I think it’s someone in the department,” Starsky answered.

“With the bug in Dobey’s office it has to be someone in the department,” Hutch said, agreeing with Starsky.

“Hutch, you two showed up with Dobey at my crib after your car exploded. Tell me again what happened just before that?”

“It was about one in the morning when I received a call saying Starsky had been hurt in some wreck. I got dressed and ran out of the house but something didn’t seem right. I couldn’t put my finger on it but something just wasn’t right with that call. I got into my car and heard a ticking sound as soon as I got behind the wheel. I knew it was a timer. I crawled out of the passenger’s side and ran to back of the apartment building. I hid behind another car.  It was about ten seconds later when my car exploded.”

“Someone called me and told me Hutch was dead and hung up. Their voice was muffled so I couldn’t tell who it was. By the time I got to Hutch’s, the car was totally engulfed. I thought he was in it until I heard him whistle.  He’d gone to my car and hid in the back seat. I knew immediately we had to let everyone think he’d died; everyone except Captain Dobey.”

“It was right after the explosion when we showed up at your place,” Hutch said slowly. He was playing that night’s events over in his mind. All three of them were. Hutch was recalling getting into the car and the terror he felt when he heard the ticking sound of the timer. He thought someone was watching him and if he could get out of the passenger side he might not be detected. He didn’t know how long he had before the bomb went off and he wasn’t sure he could make it. He remembered how his heart was racing and the look he saw on Starsky’s face when he thought Hutch had been in the car when it exploded.

Starsky remembered turning the corner onto Hutch’s street and seeing the bright orange blaze from the fire. He quickly exited his car and ran toward the burning car. Firefighters were already on scene and they held him back as he yelled for Hutch. He remembered how the smell of the burning metal and fabric along with the thought that Hutch was inside it made him sick. He was about to vomit from it all when he heard Hutch whistle. It was a short whistle but Starsky knew it came from Hutch.  He turned around and saw Hutch sneaking into the backseat of the Torino. He had to play the part of a grieving partner and he just fell to his knees and covered his face with his hands as he continued to yell for Hutch. It wasn’t long before Captain Dobey showed up and ran to Starsky. Starsky remembered the look on his captain’s face when he, too, thought Hutch was still inside the car. Starsky was able to whisper to Dobey that Hutch was safe in the Torino but to let everyone think Hutch had been killed. Dobey was friends with the fire chief and they faked removing a body from the wreckage in case the real killer was watching. The autopsy report had also been faked.

Huggy sat still as he was reflecting on the night Starsky, Hutch and Captain Dobey knocked on his door at 0300. He had just gotten home from closing The Pits and was about to take a shower. They showed up and Starsky told Huggy, “We have to let everyone think Hutch is dead.” They explained everything and Huggy arranged for a safe place for Hutch to hide out until after the funeral when he could bring them to his cousin’s house. It would be too obvious to hide Hutch at his place, so Huggy found an abandoned, one bedroom house. It was a lousy place but it was the best he could do to keep Hutch out of sight and safe for a couple of days.

It was getting late and they were all very tired. Now they were just talking in circles rehashing the same events that happened the past two months. Huggy stood up, stretched and said, “Guys, guys, let’s pick this up in the morning. You both have been through hell and we’re not getting anywhere now. You’ll feel better after a shower and some rest,” he pointed to the hallway where the bedrooms were, “I get the big room in the back.” Before Starsky could ask him why, he added, “Because it’s my cousin’s house, that’s why.”

 

Starsky took a shower first and when he got out he said, “Thanks, Hug. You were right; that felt good.”

Hutch took a shower next and agreed that it felt good. Taking a nice long hot shower always helped Hutch clear his head and think straight. He came into the living room and saw Huggy sitting on the couch, “Where’s Starsk?” He asked as he was towel drying his hair.

“I sent him to bed. And it’s your turn. Don’t worry, you’re safe here.” Hutch started to say something but Huggy said, “No more talk. Bed’s that way,” he pointed down the hall. “Starsky’s in the room on the right.” Hutch just smiled and walked down the hall. “Hutch?”

Hutch turned back around, the towel now resting on his left shoulder, “Yeah, Hug?”

“The funeral; yesterday, it was hard. I mean really hard.”

Hutch walked back into the living room and sat next to Huggy, “I know it was, Hug.”

“It was fake and I knew that, but I just got to thinking what if, ya know.”

“I know, Hug, and I’m sorry.”

“It was hard on Starsk too. It was too close for him this time. It seemed too real because it almost was. All I’m trying to say is be careful, my man. I don’t want to lose either of you, ya dig?”

Hutch nodded as he stood back up, “Yeah. I dig,” he said as he walked down the hall. Instead of going to the room he would be sleeping in he went to Starsky’s, knowing he would still be awake.  Starsky was sitting on the edge of the bed. Hutch quietly sat next to him and put his arm on Starsky’s shoulder, “It’s okay, Starsk.”

“It’s not okay, Hutch. I buried you. I touched your casket as it passed by me in the church. Oh God, Hutch, it could have been real.” Starsky placed his head in his hands.

Hutch put his other arm around Starsky and pulled him toward him. As Starsky cried on his shoulder Hutch said, “It wasn’t real, Starsk. I’m okay. I promise we’ll get whoever is behind all this. Huggy’s right, we need to get some sleep and go at it fresh in the morning.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Starsky said. As he pulled back the covers and got into the bed, Hutch went to his room.

Huggy didn’t bother getting off the couch and going to bed. He stayed awake on the couch all night. He wanted to keep watch over his friends. He almost lost them both and vowed that he would do whatever he could to keep that from happening.

Hutch woke about seven and saw Huggy on the couch, “Huggy, have you been awake all night?”

“You know me, Hutch. I’m a night owl, never sleep.”

“I appreciate it Huggy.” He knew Huggy had stayed up all night to keep an eye out on him and Starsky.

“Hug, why don’t you get some sleep now?”  Hutch asked as he went into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee.

“I guess a couple of hours wouldn’t hurt.” Huggy stretched as he stood up, “I made that last night, it might be a little strong.”

Huggy no sooner got the words out when Hutch took a sip of the coffee and spit it out in the sink, “Huggy, that’s awful.”

As Hutch was dumping the rest of it down the drain, Huggy said, “I told you I made it last night.” He laughed as he walked down the hall to his room.  “Good night, Hutch.”

“Good night, Hug.” Hutch looked around on the counters and didn’t see any coffee. He started opening the cabinets and found the coffee in the second one he opened. He put a new filter in and put three scoops of coffee in it. He put his hands on the edge of the sink with his arms stretched out and sighed. “Who and why?” He said out loud. “First we’re humiliated several times then shot at. It’s as if the who wants us.”

“Humiliated and dead,” came Starsky’s voice from the doorway leading into the kitchen.

 

The two stared at each other a couple of minutes. All of a sudden, at the same time they said, “Simonetti and Dryden!”

“No. It can’t be them, Starsk.”

“Why not? They’ve hated us since you were cleared of Vanessa’s murder. Wait a minute. Just hear me out,” Starsky said, waving his hands in the air. Hutch handed him a cup of coffee and they both sat at the table. “Think about it. They’ve been passed over for two promotions since then.” Starsky was talking so fast Hutch could barely keep up with his partner’s train of thought. Not that that was unusual. Starsky often talked quickly especially when he was excited. Starsky was sitting on the back of the chair. “Not only that, the last time they were passed up was…”

“A couple of months ago,” Hutch replied as he slowly put his cup on the table. “I think you’re on to something, Starsk.”

“I don’t think they were acting alone either. I think there’s a third person.”

“Because of the shots fired at the docks?”

“Yes. There’s no way there were just two shooters.”

“The shots came from three different areas. You’re right, Starsk,” Hutch said with a bit if enthusiasm in his voice. “How do we prove it?”

“And how do we get word to Dobey?”

“Me. I can get word to Dobey,” Huggy said as he walked into the kitchen.

Hutch poured him a cup of coffee, “I thought you were going to knock out for a couple of hours.”

“I was but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I thought of those two clowns.”

“What can I say, great minds think alike,” Starsky said as he leaned forward and drank more of his coffee. “I’m hungry. Let’s eat before we do anything else.”

“That’s my partner.”

“What? You know I think better on a full stomach.” Starsky walked over to the refrigerator and opened the door. He pulled out milk, bacon, and eggs. Hutch shook his head and grinned. Starsky had his priorities and food was at the top of the list.

After they finished breakfast, Huggy said, “I’ll go back to the city and call Dobey. I’ll get him to come to The Pits and tell him what we know so far.”

“Be careful, Hug. Simonetti and Dryden are no rookies. Don’t underestimate them,” Hutch warned.

“Right now they think Hutch is dead and we can use that to our advantage, but if they go looking for me and they think you know where I am…”

“I know, goodbye Huggy Bear,” Huggy said, pointing at himself.

“Hug, tell Dobey not to put a tail on Simonetti or Dryden. That will be the first thing he’s gonna want to do. And if he does and they find out we’re on to them, we’ll lose our advantage,” Hutch said.

“Plus that will mean more people will know Hutch is alive.” Huggy nodded that he understood the instructions he’d just been given.

“I can’t call Dobey if his office is bugged. How can I get Dobey to meet me at The Pits?”

Starsky said, “I know,” he grinned, “send him flowers with a note inside.”

“You serious, Starsky? You really want me to send flowers to Captain Dobey?”

Starsky and Hutch both laughed. Hutch said, “It’s actually a good idea, Hug, if you think about it.”

Huggy tilted his head and frowned as he watched Starsky and Hutch chuckling. “Okay, but you two will really owe me for this one.” “I’ll be back in a couple of days. If you need to get out you can drive my cousin’s car that’s parked in the garage.”

As Huggy was leaving, Starsky said, “Send him a dozen roses.”

“Yeah, Dobey likes roses from his admirers,” Hutch added and they both started laughing again.

“Go on, have your laugh. But just remember where you’d be without the Bear.”

“We love ya, Hug,” Starsky said.

“I’ll call you after I close shop tonight. I’ll let the phone ring twice then I’ll hang up and call back,” Huggy said.

“Sounds good, Hug,” Starsky said as Huggy opened the door and left.

Hutch was laughing when he said, “Can you imagine the look on poor Dobey’s face when he gets flowers from Huggy?”

“I wonder who he’ll think sent them before he reads the card,” Starsky was laughing too.

 

Chapter 3

It was about 1300 before Huggy could make it back to Bay City and have the flowers delivered to the good captain. Captain Dobey was sitting at his desk looking over some of the last cases Starsky and Hutch were on before all the trouble started. He knew someone in his own department was trying to kill his best detectives. Heck, Starsky and Hutch were more than a couple of detectives under his command; they were also his best friends. They drove him crazy most of the time but he had a soft spot for the two and knew he could always count on them when he needed to. He looked away from the files and picked up the phone when his secretary buzzed. He pushed the white button and said, “What is it?”

“Sir, someone is here to deliver flowers.”

“Deliver flowers,” the big man mumbled. ‘They’re probably for Hutchinson,’ he thought. He pushed the button again and said, “Send them in.”

A young woman handed the vase of three red roses to Captain Dobey, “I was told to hand them to you personally, Sir.”

“Thank you,” the captain said as he reached into his pocket and handed her a tip. He smiled as he realized the roses represented Starsky, Hutch and Huggy. He knew it was their way of telling him they had an idea. He opened the sealed card and it simply read, ‘Pits, 8 o’clock tonight.’ He folded the paper up and put it in his pocket. ‘They do have an idea. I knew they’d come up with something,‘ he thought.

Captain Dobey walked in The Pits at the designated time. He looked around and did not see Huggy. Anita, the waitress, walked over to him and whispered, “Huggy’s waiting for you up stairs.” Dobey nodded a thank you and climbed the stairs.

Huggy opened the door to the one room that was at the top of the stairs, “Captain, in here,” he called in a low voice.

Captain Dobey entered the room. “Are you sure you weren’t followed, Captain.”

“Who do you think you’re talking to, Huggy? I’m not some rookie you know,” Dobey belted out.

Huggy put his hands in front of him with his palms facing the captain, “Sorry, Captain, that was a stupid question. It’s just that I’m nervous.”

Dobey’s look changed from one of anger to one of understanding, compassion and gratefulness, “It’s okay, Huggy. I understand. How are Starsky and Hutch?” He said in a much lower tone.

“They’re fine now that they’re together again. They have an idea on who wants them dead.”

“Well, don’t keep it to yourself,” Dobey said in a gruff voice.

“Simonetti and Dryden.”

“Simonetti and Dryden! They’ve finally lost it. They’ve lost their ever-lovin’ minds,” he started yelling again.

Huggy put his index finger against his lips, “Shhhh, Captain. Just listen, will ya.”

Captain Dobey sat in one of the two chairs that were at a small table in the room, “Okay, I’m listening.”

Huggy sat in the other chair, “Okay, good.” He explained in detail the reasoning behind their accusations. He also let Dobey know that they were sure Simonetti and Dryden were working with someone else. They didn’t know who and were still working on that.

“They do have access to Starsky and Hutch’s files,” Dobey said as he took out a handkerchief and rubbed the sweat off his forehead, “and it’s possible they put out a hit on them.”

“Right and they could have fed them the false information to humiliate them.”

“That too. They could have done all that. Do they have a plan on catching them? We need proof. A lot more proof than we have now.”

“They’re working on that now. Does everyone still think Hutch is…was killed?” Huggy couldn’t bring himself to say the words ‘Hutch is dead’.

“Yeah, and that’s the hardest part. I know it’s necessary but lying to everyone else, it’s just not right, I don’t like it.”

“Captain, if this all works out maybe you won’t have to for long.”

“Are they safe, Huggy? Just promise me they’re safe.”

“They are for now, but you know those two. They’re not going to just sit around forever. They’ll have a plan by the time I get back and I’m betting it doesn’t involving playing it safe.”

“That worries me too. I know they won’t just sit idly by. They take too many chances; far too many. I wish I knew what they were planning. Whatever it is you tell them I’m going to put a tail on Simonetti and Dryden.”

“They said you’d want to do that. They also said to tell you not too. If you tail them they’ll know you’re onto them. Plus that would mean letting more people know Hutch’s is alive and they don’t know who their accomplice is.”

“When are you going to see them again?”

“I’m going to call them tonight from my pad after closing. Not sure when I’ll see them again but probably a couple of days.”

“I want you to call me at my place when they come up with a plan. I mean it, Huggy. I want to be kept informed. I want to know what they’re up too.”

Huggy’s voice changed to a high pitched one, “Sure, ole Capitaine. Trust the Bear.”

Dobey knew that voice and tone Huggy used. It was one he often used when he was lying. Huggy never really was a good liar, “I am trusting you. I’m trusting you with their lives, Huggy,” Dobey said. His voice had a serious tone to it mixed with a lot of concern.

Huggy’s tone changed. He matched Dobey’s concern, “Hey, I love ‘em too, Captain. I’m just as worried as you are. There’s one thing I’ve learned about Starsky and Hutch over the years. Starsky and Hutch are going to do exactly what Starsky and Hutch need to do to get to the bottom of this. You can take that to the bank. They’ll come up with a plan. Hey, as long as they’re together, they’ll be all right, right?” He asked, trying to convince himself as much as the captain sitting with him.

“I know you’re right. I just don’t like not knowing what they’re up to.”

“Maybe when they call tonight I’ll have some answers for you. You should go on home now.”

“You call me after you talk to them. I don’t care what time it is.”

Huggy agreed to call Captain Dobey as soon as he talked to Starsky and Hutch and inform him of their plan. Dobey and Huggy knew that Huggy’s loyalty was with Starsky and Hutch and he would do what they wanted him to and if that meant keeping certain things from their captain then Huggy would do just that.

 

As soon as Huggy left to go back to the city, Starsky and Hutch sat on the couch in the living room and started planning their next move. “No, Starsk. I don’t like it.”

“I know ya don’t, Hutch, but how else are we gonna catch ‘em. If we hide out here we’ll never get ‘em. They don’t know you’re alive, they won’t know you’ll be watching my every move.”

Hutch rubbed his forehead, “Starsk, they’ll kill you if they get the chance. You know that,” Hutch raised his voice.

“I know that, but so would a bunch of other guys.” Starsky’s voice was low and calm. “I know you’re worried and I don’t blame you, but we’ve got to do something.”

“I know we do. I know.” Hutch jumped up and started pacing.

“Hutch?”

“Shhh,” Hutch replied,” I’m thinking.”

“I thought I smelled something burning,” Starsky mumbled.

“What?”
“Nothin’.”

Hutch was still pacing and his back was turned toward Starsky. He stopped, stood still a moment then pivoted so he was again facing his partner. He balled his right hand into a fist and hit his left palm with it, “I got it!”

“Got what?”

Hutch sat back on the couch next to Starsky. Here’s what we’re gonna do. He told him all about his new plan.

 

At 0300, the phone rang twice and then it stopped. Hutch answered it when it rang again, “Huggy, is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me, Hutch.” Huggy told Hutch about his meeting with Dobey and that he wanted to be kept informed of their plans. He also told Hutch that Dobey agreed that Simonetti and Dryden were probably the ones behind Hutch’s attempted murder but didn’t know who could be helping them either.  Hutch told Huggy there were some things he’d like for him to bring to him as soon as he could. He told Huggy their plan and he could tell Dobey but to make sure Dobey understood that they were going to do it their way. Huggy said he would call Dobey, get some shut eye and be up as soon as could tomorrow. Hutch thanked Huggy for everything and hung up.

Starsky stood up and stretched, “I’m going to get some shut eye myself, Partner.”

“That sounds like an excellent idea, Ollie.” Hutch stood up and they both went to their rooms.

Huggy called Dobey back just as he promised he would. He didn’t have anything new to tell him. He didn’t know what cockamamie plan they had come up with. Huggy didn’t tell Captain Dobey about the supplies that Hutch had asked for either.  It was about 1600 before Huggy was able to procure the requested items for Hutch and make it to his cousin’s place. It would be too late tonight to put their plan into action so they would start first thing in the morning.

Huggy stayed at the house but Hutch insisted that he actually went to sleep this time. Starsky said that there was a movie on the late show he wanted to watch anyway and he would be awake for a while.

Hutch woke up about 0500 and went into the living room to find Starsky sprawled out on the couch. Starsky was lying on his back with his foot on the floor, his shoe partially off.  A blanket was only partially covering his lower half and the pillow he had been using was only halfway under his head.  It always amazed Hutch how his partner could sleep anyplace, anytime, in practically any position. “Come on, sleeping beauty, it’s time to wake up,” Hutch said as he tapped Starsky’s leg. Starsky moaned without moving a muscle.

Hutch tapped his leg again and went into the kitchen and started making the coffee. He thought the smell of a freshly brewed pot of coffee would arouse his partner. It didn’t. He could hear Starsky snoring louder from the couch.  “Starsky, we’ve got a lot to do and if you want to eat before we get going you’d better get up.” Starsky only snored more. Hutch laughed at the sight. He hated to wake Starsky up but they had to get going.

Hutch went back into the living room and was about to pull the rest of the blanket off Starsky when Starsky hit Hutch with the pillow knocking him on the floor, “You’re a kill joy, you know that?”

“Yeah, you keep telling me,” Hutch grinned and got off the floor. He picked the pillow up and hit Starsky with it. “I’ll make you breakfast.”

“Really?” Starsky sat up anticipating a good breakfast. Then he saw the playful look on Hutch’s face. “You’re not gonna make me drink one of those healthy, black strap molasses, wheat germ things you drink are ya?”

“Naw, not today, Buddy. I’ll make you a real breakfast. Do you want bacon and pancakes?” Hutch asked as he walked back into the kitchen.

“Hey, that’s sounds great.” He put his shoes on and followed Hutch into the kitchen. He sat at the table as he watched Hutch make the pancakes.

“Here ya go, Partner,” Hutch said as he handed Starsky the plate of bacon and pancakes.

“Thanks,” Starsky replied as he added butter and syrup to the pancakes.

When Huggy entered the kitchen, Hutch told him he put some pancakes and bacon on a plate in the oven for him. Huggy thanked him, retrieved his breakfast and sat down.

 

Chapter 4

After breakfast they went into the living room to get ready. “Starsk, will you sit still? I can’t do this with you squirming all over the place.”

“I can’t help it, Hutch. Why do I have to wear this? You said we were going to put on a disguise and follow Dryden and Simonetti to see if they lead us to whomever it is they’re working with.  You didn’t say I’d have to wear a dress.”

Huggy snickered, “I don’t know about this, Hutch, he makes an ugly woman.”

Starsky frowned and said, “See, Hutch.”

“Stop frowning so I can get this eye shadow on,” he looked at Huggy and frowned himself, “and you’re not helping, Hug.”

Huggy stood back and watched the scene as it was playing out. Hutch was attempting to put eye shadow on Starsky. He had already applied base makeup, blush and some kind of makeup to hide a couple of blemishes. After the eye shadow, Hutch would undoubtedly attempt to put mascara on Starsky, then the salt and pepper short hair wig.  Starsky was wearing a blue dress with white flowers on it that came just below his knees. Worst of all, it had white lace around the high neckline. He was also wearing a padded bra that, to use Starsky’s words, “Felt like he was being squeezed in half.”  Starsky would be wearing a pair of gold colored wire glasses too. All of this was Hutch’s idea and Starsky wasn’t happy about any of it. Huggy put his hand over his mouth and chuckled again.

“At least I’m not putting you in high-heeled shoes, I’m letting you wear those flat black shoes,” Hutch said as he started applying the mascara.

“I’d fall and bust my ass in those things. I swear, Hutch, being a woman is hard work. I don’t know how they do it.”

“I don’t either, Partner; now go put your nylons on.”

“Do I really have to wear those? Come on, Hutch, be a sport.”

“Be glad I’m not making you shave your legs too.”

Starsky reluctantly opened the package of nylons and turned his back toward Hutch and Huggy as he put them on. Hutch shared a chuckle with Huggy. “I can hear that,” Starsky said as he pulled the nylons up.

After Starsky was dressed, it was Hutch’s turn. His disguise was a lot simpler than Starsky’s.  He was dressed as an older man. He would walk with a cane and was wearing a wig that made him look bald to cover up his blonde hair. He was wearing a plain grey suite with black suspenders. His shoes were solid black as were his socks. He put a touch of base makeup on to change his skin color just a little. Hutch had a couple of moles on the left side of his neck and he covered those up too. He put on a pair of large black-framed glasses.

Hutch put his holster on just before the grey jacket that matched his suit. “I hate this thing,” Starsky said as he strapped his gun around his upper leg.

“Uh, Starsky, your strap is showing,” Huggy said trying not to laugh.

Starsky had a very frustrated look on his face as he readjusted the strap so it was no longer visible. “Are we ready, now?”

“Not quite,” Hutch said handing Starsky a small black clutch purse.

“A purse too, Huuuttch,” he whined.

“Perfect,” Hutch replied as he was trying not to laugh at the sight.

Huggy shook his head, “I think I’d reconsider my career choice if I were you, Starsk, if this any indication of what I’d have to do.”

Hutch grabbed Starsky by the shoulder’s and said, “Let’s get going.”

“We’ll see ya at The Pits later, Hug.”

“Starsky, you’d better add a couple of octaves to your voice,” Huggy said, smiling.

Starsky didn’t say anything as Hutch led him out to the garage. As Starsky started getting into the old light-green Chevy, he asked, “Hutch, how do you think I look?”

“You look beautiful. If I didn’t know any better, I’d ask you out myself.” Hutch tossed the makeup case in the backseat, knowing they may need to freshen-up a bit later. They didn’t know if they were going to stay at Huggy’s upstairs room at The Pits or his cousins so Huggy had packed their clothes and put the suitcases in the car for them.

Starsky tilted his head and frowned, “You’re too old for me,” he answered matching Hutch’s playful sarcasm.

Huggy followed behind him in his cousin’s car which was a light-blue Ford. He headed toward his restaurant to wait for Starsky and Hutch there. He was worried about his two friends and was hoping someone would give him some information about who Simonetti and Dryden were working with.

Starsky and Hutch were waiting outside the station for Simonetti and Dryden. The best plan they could come up with was to follow them and see where that led them. They were hoping to find out who their accomplice was.  If this didn’t work, then they would have to go back to Starsky’s original plan which Hutch didn’t like at all. Starsky wanted to go back to the station and presumably resume work, knowing Simonetti and Dryden would be waiting for him. Hutch was safe right now, they thought he was dead but they were also after Starsky. Hutch was sure they would try to kill Starsky as soon as they saw him. He didn’t want to take that chance. Going after other cops was bad enough, but these two were in Internal Affairs and going after them would be twice as hard. They would have to make sure they had enough convincing evidence before they made a move.

Starsky and Hutch got nowhere. They waited outside the station all day and never saw either of the IA officers. At 1700, the two emerged from the building, each headed toward their car. “Starsk, which one should we follow?”

“Follow Simonetti,” Starsky replied as he yanked at his nylons.

After they followed Simonetti to his house, they drove by Dryden’s house and saw his car was there.

Later that evening, Simonetti showed up at Dryden’s house; and he wasn’t alone. The three men we sitting at the kitchen table and Simonetti said, “You know the first place he’ll go to when comes back is that dump of a restaurant his friend owns.”

“The Pits, I know it. The owner Huggy Bear is a good friend of Starsky’s. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s staying there.” Dryden said.

“But I thought he left town,” the other man in the room said.

“Starsky’s not going anyplace. Not until he finds out who killed his low-life partner, Hutchinson,” Simonetti said adding, “He’s around. He knows someone in the department is responsible because he’s not dumb. What we have to do is to flush him out before he finds out it’s us.”

“I bet he already knows. Let’s pay The Pits a little visit, ya know see if he shows up,” Dryden suggested.

“Okay, but you wait outside,” Simonetti pointed at the other man, “If Starsky is there and he spots us, we may need you to grab him.” The three men left Dryden’s and went to The Pits.

Tired and disgusted, Starsky and Hutch decided to go to The Pits to see Huggy. They didn’t sit at their usual booth in the back. This time they sat at a table toward the front of the restaurant. Huggy made his way to their table as soon as he saw them come in.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such a lovely couple in my fine establishment before. To what do I owe this honor,” Huggy said with a bit of a laugh behind the words.

“Can it, Hug,” Starsky pouted.

“You’ll have to excuse Starsk here, Hug,” Hutch started laughing, “he’s had his panties in a bunch all day.”

“That’s a good one, Hutch,” Huggy responded laughing himself.

“Very funny. Some pal you are,” Starsky mumbled.

“Aw, come on, Starsk. When this is all over, I’ll make it up to you.” Hutch patted Starsky’s arm.

“It’s gonna take a lot of makeup to make up for this.”

“I’ll bring you a beer. That’ll cheer you up.”

“No beers, Hug. Not dressed like this. Do I look like someone who’d drink a beer? Food, just bring me somethin’ to eat and a glass of sweet tea.”

“Would you like one of those sandwiches cut into fourths with the crust cut off? Cause, if you do, I’m here to serve,” Huggy asked as Hutch cringed knowing Starsky was not going to take that joke very well.

Starsky tilted his head down so that he was now looking at Huggy and his partner from the top of his glasses. He didn’t need to say a thing, his look of being unimpressed with the old lady jokes said it all. “Huggy, just bring us a couple of burgers, will ya,” Hutch asked.

Starsky leaned toward Hutch and whispered, “I’ve got another problem now.”

“Oh, Starsk, not now.”

“Which one do I go in?” Starsky whispered.

“You can’t go in the men’s bathroom dressed like that.”

“Well, I don’t want to go in the women’s.”

“You’ll have to. Look, they all sit down anyway so you won’t see anything you shouldn’t.”

“Maybe no one will be in there,” Starsky said as he stood up.

“Starsk?”

“What?”

“Make sure you sit down.”

“I’m not gonna sit to…”

Hutch cut him off, “You have to or your feet will face the wrong way in the stall.”

Starsky huffed as he walked off. Huggy returned with the burgers, “What’s he upset about now?”

“I told him he had to use the woman’s bathroom and he has to sit down to pee,” Hutch said laughing.

“He has to sit down…oh the feet will face the wrong way. Hutch you’ve got an evil streak, ya know?”

“So I’ve been told,” Hutch said as he took a bite of his burger.

Starsky entered the bathroom and was delighted to see it was empty. He opened the door to the second stall and stepped inside. He heard the bathroom door open again. Now I have to sit, he thought. He scowled as he sat down. It was degrading enough to have to dress as a women, but to use the women’s bathroom and have to sit down to pee was almost more than he could stand. The worst part was that he knew his partner was enjoying every minute of his torment.

As Starsky came out of the bathroom, he saw Simonetti and Dryden walking in. Starsky ducked behind the wall separating the restrooms from the dining room. He peeked around the wall to make sure Hutch wasn’t recognized. Hutch had spotted them too and just took a sip of his tea. He tried to keep an eye on them without being too obvious.

Simonetti and Dryden were also spotted by Huggy who acted as he always did when a customer came in. Huggy caught the look Starsky gave him and knew he wanted the two IA officers to be seated close to them. “Good evening, Gents,” Huggy guided them toward the booth that was next to Starsky and Hutch. “What is your pleasure this evening?”

“I’ll start with a beer and a menu,” Dryden said.

“Me too,” Simonetti said as he looked around the restaurant while sliding into the booth.

Huggy turned his back to them and raised his eyebrows at Starsky and Hutch. Starsky and Hutch knew why Simonetti and Dryden came to The Pits. They were hoping to find Starsky. They knew without a doubt that they were still looking for him.

When Huggy handed Simonetti his beer and a menu, Captain Dobey came in. “Good grief, Hutch,” Starsky whispered.

Hutch was able to make eye contact with Huggy. As Simonetti and Dryden were busy looking over their menus, Huggy nodded at the captain and motioned for him to go outside to the back of the restaurant. They were lucky and Captain Dobey was not seen by Simonetti or Dryden. If he had been spotted by either of them, they would suspect that Starsky, at least, was there.

Huggy met Captain Dobey at the back door, “What the hell was all that about, Huggy?” Demanded the Captain rather boisterously.

“Shhh. Simonetti and Dryden just came in. They’re sitting next to Starsky and Hutch.”

“Oh. Do Starsky and Hutch know I’m here?”

“Yeah, Hutch wanted me to bring you back here.” Huggy had a small table and a chair in the kitchen for the staff to eat at when they were on their breaks and he let Dobey sit there. Huggy brought Captain Dobey his dinner and said he was sorry he couldn’t eat in the dining room. Dobey said he understood and was just happy he was getting a good dinner. Huggy said he would take him upstairs as soon as it was safe.

Starsky and Hutch sat as quietly as possible as they finished their dinner. They couldn’t hear anything the two IA officers were saying and they stopped talking altogether when Huggy went near their booth. It was a very tense half hour for all of them. Finally, Simonetti and Dryden paid their bill and left and Huggy was able to get Dobey, Starsky and Hutch upstairs.

After a few remarks about Starsky’s dress, Captain Dobey said he was glad to see them. Starsky and Hutch told Captain Dobey they fully intended to follow Simonetti and Dryden for a few more days. If they didn’t come up with anything then, Starsky would make a brief appearance at the station. Hutch wasn’t in favor of Starsky being seen but he knew Starsky was right. It was one way to catch them. They were hoping to find out who the third person was before they made their move against Simonetti or Dryden. Huggy’s cousin’s place was too far away to be of any real use.  Although they did appreciate it the last two days, they would need closer accommodations.

Huggy knocked before entering the room. He learned years ago that it was not a good idea to startle a room full of cops. He had made arrangements for Starsky and Hutch to stay at a nearby hotel not far from The Pits.  “You’re registered as Gertrude and Eugene Pitts,” Huggy said as he handed them their hotel room key.

“This just keeps getting worse,” Starsky muttered as he took the key.

“Relax, Starsk, you’re getting a queen sized bed.”

“Oh, wonderful. Now I have to sleep with him,” Starsky said.

“You’ve done worse,” Hutch replied.

Starsky gave him one of his I’m fed-up-with-this-whole-routine looks and Hutch backed off. Captain Dobey and Huggy had the good sense to let it go and not make any remarks.

Captain Dobey left with strict instructions to keep him informed of their plans and whereabouts. He had been worried about them in the past but this was different. This time, it was other cops that were after them and he didn’t like the uneasy feeling he had.  He knew this was far from over.

Starsky and Hutch settled in for the night. Neither of them was worried about having to share the bed. They have shared the same bed plenty of times in the past on different assignments. Hutch even fell asleep in Starsky’s bed when he was in the hospital after being shot by Gunther.

 

Chapter 5

“If Captain Dobey was there you can bet Starsky was too,” Dryden said sounding annoyed, “if he’s not, you can bet that weasel Huggy knows where he is.”

“Starsky’s pretty sharp. I think he’s hiding out until he can find enough evidence to use against us. We need to grab him before he does, and see to it that he joins Hutchinson.”

“Let’s see what that rat, Huggy, knows. He closes at 0200, we can pay him a little visit then,” Dryden said.

Huggy closed his restaurant at 0200, as he always did. It took him about another half hour to count the money and put it in the safe. He opened the door to leave when two men grabbed him and pushed him back inside. He recognized them as soon as the light hit their faces. It was Simonetti and Dryden. “And what can I do for you fine, Gents? Did you leave something when you were here earlier this evening?”

“Can the act Huggy Bear,” Simonetti said, tightening the grip he had on Huggy’s arm until the man winced from the pain.

“Yeah, we left something here,” Dryden added, “we left Starsky.”

“Who?” Huggy asked as he tried to wiggle free.

“Don’t play dumb with us. Don’t think we didn’t see Captain Dobey come in,” Simonetti let go of Huggy as pulled out his handcuffs and put them on Huggy,” and we know if he came here, then Starsky’s here someplace.”

“So where is he?” Dryden asked in a spine-chilling sounding voice as he leaned close to Huggy and stared at him.

Huggy knew he was in trouble but he would never give up the location of his friends. Nor would he let on that Hutch was still alive. “I don’t know where he is. Dobey’s been coming in here looking for him since Hutch’s funeral. He’s worried about him.”

“Aw, ain’t that touching, Dryden? The Captain’s worried about poor Starsky being all alone without his sidekick.” If Huggy ever heard sarcasm, it was in Simonetti’s voice right now.

“Nobody’s seen or heard from Starsky since the funeral. He just walked away.”

“We know better than that. We’re not that stupid. We know Starsky’s never gonna rest until he finds out who killed that low-life partner of his,” Dryden said.

“What do you want me to do? I can put the word out that you’re looking for him.”

“Like I said before, we’re not that stupid. We know you know where Starsky is. Maybe you’re even helping him find Hutchinson’s killers. You can end that search ‘cause we’re the ones who did it and now we want Starsky,” Dryden said.

Huggy looked at Dryden then at Simonetti, he tried to make a mad dash for the door but Simonetti pulled his gun out and fired once in the air, “Hold it right there or I will shoot.”

Huggy stopped then turned back around, “What do you want me to do?” He sounded as if he was surrendering to them.

“Now, that’s much better. When we get rid of Starsky, you can start working for us,” Simonetti said as he put his hand on Huggy’s shoulder.

Out of self-preservation, Huggy said, “Yeah, sure. I’m always getting information the police could use. I may as well give it to you two as anyone else.”

Simonetti put his gun back in its holster, “For now what we want you to do is contact Starsky. Call him and say you have some information for him.”

“I really don’t know where he is.” Huggy stood firm. He was not going to help these two kill his friends. He was not about to cooperate with them in the least little bit.

“In that case, bring him with us. Starsky will come looking for him,” Dryden said with a smile. He grabbed Huggy and just as he was putting Huggy in the car he hit him on the back of the head with his gun knocking Huggy out. Simonetti caught Huggy and helped Dryden stuff him in the backseat.

It was several hours later before Huggy woke up. He started moaning and turning his head from side-to-side. He slowly opened his eyes, but couldn’t see anything. At first he thought he was in a dark room then he felt something tight around his head and knew he was blindfolded. His head was pounding and he had a hard time remembering what had happened. He could feel that he was lying on something soft. He knew he was probably lying on a bed. He tried to move his arms but couldn’t. He tried to move his legs next and couldn’t move them either. Okay, I’m lying on a bed, blindfolded, and both arms and legs are handcuffed or tied to it, Huggy thought.

Huggy heard a voice he didn’t recognize, “I see you’re awake now. Good. It won’t be long now before we have that scum Starsky.”

“Who are you?” Huggy knew this had to be the man that was working with Simonetti and Dryden. He couldn’t place that voice though.

“Andr…” he stopped before saying it, “None of your business.”

“It’s just that I like to know who to thank for these lovely accommodations,” Huggy said.

“Just never you mind,” replied the voice.

Huggy heard the door open then shut. He knew Simonetti’s voice when he said, “We’re going to make a little trade, Huggy.” Huggy just stayed quiet. He wasn’t sure what to do. He knew they wanted to trade him for Starsky. He also knew they would never just let him go. He was a dead man anyway and if they found Starsky they would kill him too.

“I told you, I don’t know where Starsky is.”

“It’s okay. See we don’t need you to tell us where he is. We’re going to send word to that raggedy old dump of a restaurant of yours that we have you and that we want Starsky. And if he doesn’t come alone, you’re a dead man, Huggy Bear.”

“He won’t come. You may as well kill me now. We’re not that close.”

It was Dryden who came in and said, “Don’t sell yourself short. We know better. Starsky just lost his best friend and partner. I don’t think he’s ready to give up another friend so soon. He’ll trade. At least for your sake, I hope so.”

“It’s ten, go to The Pits and let them know we’ll be waiting for a call from Starsky,” Huggy heard Simonetti tell Dryden.

Huggy struggled to get free. The whole bed shook. “Now, relax, Huggy. We’ll let you see your old friend before we kill him.” Huggy heard the third man say.

“Does a condemned man get a last meal? I’m hungry.” Huggy was really trying to get them to take the blindfold off so he could see this third man.

“No,” was the reply he received from Simonetti.

 

Starsky and Hutch were already at The Pits when Dryden came in. They were still dressed as Gertrude and Eugene Pitts sitting in a booth near the front. Starsky overheard Dryden ask the waitress, Anita, if she knew where he was.  She told him she hadn’t seen Starsky since the funeral. Then Starsky heard him tell her that Starsky better show up for Huggy’s sake. Dryden handed her a piece of paper with a phone number on it. Anita put the paper in her pants pocket. As soon as Dryden left, Starsky and Hutch knew it was time to let her know everything. They felt bad about letting her believe Starsky had been shot in front of her a few years ago when Starsky was looking for Hutch. Starsky approached her and whispered, “Don’t say a thing just follow me upstairs, Anita.” She did as requested and followed him up the steps and into the room. Starsky had just told her that Hutch was, in fact, still alive when he came through the door.  She would have fallen to the floor if she wasn’t already sitting down. After the initial shock wore off, she hugged Hutch so tight he couldn’t breathe and then came the anger. Starsky and Hutch explained that it was safer for everyone if they believed Hutch was dead. At the time they didn’t know who was behind it and they couldn’t take any chances.

“Anita, let me have the number,” Starsky said.

She hesitated, “But he wants to kill you Starsky.”

“And if I don’t call him, Huggy’s a dead man. Hand it over.”

She turned her gaze to Hutch who closed his eyes and nodded. Anita reached into her pocket and handed Starsky the wadded up piece of paper. Starsky reached his hand out and patted her gently on the shoulder. “Thank you.”

“You won’t be thanking me if he kills you.”

“Hutch, do you think we have enough to put an APB out on them now?”

“We can’t do that until we get Huggy back and we find out who is working with them.”

Starsky grabbed both of Anita’s shoulders, “Anita, think. Have you ever seen that man here with anyone else?”

“Last night he was with a shorter man with curly hair.”

“We know about last night. That was Simonetti. Have you seen him anyone else?”

“No. Until last night I’ve never seen either of them before. Say, why are they after you anyway?”

“That’s a long story, love. I’ll fill you in if Hutch and I live long enough. Right now we’ve got to find out where Huggy is.”

Starsky picked up the phone and dialed the number that had been given to Anita. He held the phone so Hutch could everything that was being said. They recognized Simonetti’s voice on the other end, “Starsky, I see it didn’t take you long to get our message.”

“I just called in to check on Huggy. What do you want Simonetti?”

“Dryden, Andrews and I know you’re on to us by now. All we want is to make a little trade then we will disappear. We’ll let your friend go.”

When Simonetti said Andrews Hutch bit his lip trying to think of who Andrews was and why he had a grudge against them.

“It didn’t take me long to figure out it was you. You never should have been given a badge none of you. You always were a disgrace to the department.” Starsky said. He couldn’t remember any Andrews but was betting he was or had been a cop at one time. Hutch snapped his fingers and pointed his finger at Starsky.

“You’ll let Huggy go?”

“We’ll let him go. If you come alone.”

“You killed Hutch. I have no one else. I’ll be alone. Tell me when and where,” Starsky tried to sound like he’d just lost his best friend.

Starsky told Simonetti that it would take him four hours to make it back to Bay City for any meeting. Simonetti agreed to give him the time. The meeting was to take place in four hours at the same docks Starsky and Hutch had been shot at. Starsky promised he’d come alone and warned Simonetti that Huggy better be in one piece when he got there.

When Starsky hung up the phone, Hutch said, “Starsky, Andrews was the name of that rookie that killed Jackson, remember?”

“How could I forget, Raymond T. Andrews. That  bigot. Do you think it’s the same Andrews, I mean I can’t see him working with Dryden.”

“He didn’t last six months after was reinstated and last I heard he was thrown out of the next two departments he joined. That could make him mad enough to work with Dryden.”

“What do we do, Hutch?”

“Same thing we always do, Partner, count on each other.”

“Let’s go.”

“What do you want me to do?” Anita asked, “I could contact Captain Dobey.”

Starsky and Hutch almost forgot Anita was in the room. “No. Leave him out of this for now. If Simonetti or Dryden so much as smell another cop in the area, Huggy’s a dead man. We can’t risk it. Hutch and I will handle this.”

“Just stay here and take care of Huggy’s place. I promise we’ll get him back,” Hutch said as he gently kissed her on the cheek.

“If you two weren’t so cute I’d…”

“You’d what?” Hutch asked grinning.

“Never you mind. Just come back please. I couldn’t stand to lose you a second time. That goes for both of you.” Starsky and Hutch headed back downstairs followed by Anita.

 

Chapter 6

When Simonetti got off the phone with Starsky, he told Andrews, “Get to The Pits and see if Starsky’s there. He called back too quick.”

“What do you want me to do if he’s there?”

“Bring him here. That’ll save a lot of time.”

 

Starsky and Hutch went to the hotel to change and gather their belongings. If Starsky was going to meet Simonetti and company, he certainly would not be wearing any dress. They were glad Huggy packed their clothes for them. Hutch decided that if he was going to go with Starsky, he may as well get rid of his disguise too. Simonetti and the others would be finding out soon enough he was still alive. As they were about to leave the hotel room, Hutch chuckled and said, “Starsk, I think you’re forgetting something.”

Starsky looked at his red collared shirt, then his blue jeans and blue shoes with the white stripes. He couldn’t figure out what Hutch was talking about, “What?”

“Well, if you’re going out, you may want to take off your eye shadow,” Hutch started laughing harder now, “and your mascara.”

Starsky huffed as he tilted his head to one side and frowned at his laughing partner. He went into the bathroom and started to wash off the eye shadow. He heard Hutch tell him, “Don’t forget to use that cream I gave you. It will remove the blush and base makeup too.”

“It will remove the blush and base too,” Starsky mimicked Hutch as he picked up the small jar of cream. “I’ll get even with you for this someday, Buddy.” He was successful in removing all traces of the makeup Hutch made him put on and walked out of the bathroom.

“How do I look now?”

“I liked you better as a woman,” Hutch replied, grinning.

“You’re really enjoying this aren’t you?”

“Sure am,” Hutch replied as he opened the door and they left the room. Starsky scowled at his partner.

They still had three hours before they were supposed to meet with Simonetti and hopefully save Huggy. They wanted to get there early and were confident they would be able to save Huggy and arrest the three men that had been making their lives a living hell the past couple of months. They couldn’t pick up the Torino because Dobey had it taken back to Starsky’s and they didn’t want to take the time to go there.

“You want me to drop you off a block away, right?”

“That’s the plan, Starsk. That way when you pull up they’ll only see you. I’ll make my way around the back. I figure between the two of us we can take them and get Huggy back.” Hutch pulled his gun out of its holster and checked to make sure it was loaded and ready to go. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an extra clip for Starsky’s gun and put it in his coat pocket. He also took the walkie-talkies out of the glove box and set one on the seat within Starsky’s reach.

“Thanks,” Starsky replied as he drove to the rendezvous point.

Andrews was driving to The Pits when he spotted Starsky driving the opposite direction. He also saw Hutch sitting in the front seat. “Hutch is alive!” He said out loud as he lowered his head so Starsky and Hutch wouldn’t see him.

“I’m telling you, I saw Hutchinson sitting next to Starsky in that car.”

“Are you sure it was Hutchinson?” Simonetti asked.

“Yes. It was him. I’m telling you, he’s alive.”

“Starsky was driving a green car, not the Torino?” Dryden asked.

“I’m sure of it. It was Starsky all right. I’d know him anywhere.”

Huggy could hear the loud voices as he was lying in the bed still unable to move. He knew that they knew Hutch was alive. His heart sank. Starsky and Hutch just lost their edge. He knew these men would stop at nothing to kill them both and they would use him to get them. Huggy heard the door open, “I ought to kill you right here, right now,” Dryden said.

Huggy played dumb; he was good at that, “For what?”

“You know. You know Hutchinson is alive,” Andrews said.

Huggy sounded ecstatic, “Hutch is alive?!”

“Can the act. You’ve known all along and I’m betting you’re the one who helped them with their little charade,” Simonetti said.

“Problem is what are we going to do now, Simonetti?” Andrews asked.

“I’ve got an idea,” was Simonetti’s sly reply.

 

Starsky keyed the mic on his walkie talkie, “Something’s wrong, Hutch. They were supposed to be here two hours ago.”

“I know. I think it’s time we leave here and contact Dobey. Let’s get back to The Pits.”

“Not there. If they’re on to us that will be the first place they’ll look. Think of someplace else.”

“Good point. We can’t go to either of our apartments, Dobey’s or Huggy’s. Pick me up, will ya? I’m in the back.” Starsky turned the car round and picked Hutch up.

When Hutch opened the door and slid into the passenger’s side, Starsky said, “I have an idea but you’re not going to like it.”
“If you already know I’m not going to like it then why tell me about it, Starsk?”

“Because, I can.” Starsky was talking in that fast excited voice of his, “Listen, let me walk into the station and get Dobey.”

“You’re right. I don’t like it.”

“I’ll be okay, Hutch. I don’t think they’re at the station and they wouldn’t dare try anything there now that we’re onto them.”

“I guess it’s not a bad idea. It’s not a great one, but it’s not bad.”

“You’ll have to stay out of sight, ya know?”

“Gee, you figured that one out all by yourself, did ya?” Hutch grinned, “I’ll stay out of sight don’t worry.”

“I wish you would have kept your disguise on. I don’t like you out in the open like this.”

“Now who’s being the mother hen? It’ll be all right, Starsk. They’re going to find out I’m alive soon enough. Being dead isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.”

“I know, but geez, Hutch.”

“I know, Starsk. I’ll be okay. Like you said, they’re probably not at the station anyway.”

Starsky didn’t waste any time going straight to Captain Dobey’s office when he arrived at the station. He had to admit it felt good to walk through the familiar building. It hadn’t been that long ago he left, but he missed it more than he thought he would. He ignored all the, “Welcome back, and we missed you Starsky’s,” he heard. He didn’t have time to stop and talk to anyone or explain everything that was going on. He didn’t even knock on the Captain’s door, he just barged on it.

Captain Dobey was sitting as his desk reading a report from one of his junior detectives when the door suddenly opened. He looked up and saw Starsky. Everyone in the building had seen Starsky come in so there was no use trying to hide that fact. He was pretty sure that the office was still bugged so he said, “Captain, can you come with me outside? I’d like to talk to you about my reinstatement.”

Captain Dobey could sense the urgency in his detective’s voice and knew that something was wrong. He surmised that Starsky and Hutch did something without informing him and now they were in trouble. He stood up, “Sure, Starsky. I’m glad you’re coming back.”

They quickly exited the building. Dobey got in the front seat of the car and saw Hutch lying on the seat in the back. “Hutch, it’s good to see you.” Starsky started the engine and drove away from the station.

“You too, Captain,” Hutch replied as he sat up when Starsky was a couple of blocks away.

“What’s all this about, guys?”

“We’re in trouble, Cap’n,” Starsky said as he pulled into a parking lot of a big grocery store.

“No kidding. I figured that out when you showed up and stormed into my office, Starsky. Do you have anything on Simonetti or Dryden yet?”

“Yeah, we got plenty on them and Raymond Andrews too,” Hutch said, leaning forward resting his hands on the back of the front seat.

“Enough to pick,” Dobey stopped in mid-sentence then asked, “Andrews? Who the hell is Andrews and what does he have to do with Simonetti and Dryden?”

Starsky took a deep breath. “Raymond Andrews, Cap’n, is that bigot that killed our friend Jackson years ago. You remember, he claimed it was self-defense but Jackson wasn’t carrying a gun.”

“Oh, him. I remember him. Come to think of it, Simonetti and Dryden were the two IA officers that led the investigation in that shooting.”

“That’s him. But that’s not the problem we have now. See, they grabbed Huggy. Starsky was supposed to meet with them and make a trade.”

Dobey sounded angry now, “What the…and why wasn’t I notified?”

“Captain, we didn’t have time. They got Huggy this morning. We couldn’t risk calling you. The exchange was supposed to take place at the docks only they didn’t show up,” Hutch said.

“We figure maybe they saw Hutch or something.”

“I think they’ll try to make the trade again but we don’t know when or where,” Hutch said. “We can’t meet at Huggy’s anymore and we can’t stay at that hotel Huggy set us up in either. We’ll find someplace else.”

“You can’t go back to your places either.”

“Right,” Starsky and Hutch said at the same time.

“What do you want two want to do now?”

“For starters, we think they’ll try to contact us through The Pits. So Starsky needs to get back there. We can’t be sure if they know I’m alive or not so I still need to be dead a little while longer.”

“And just what do you have in mind when they do contact you?”

Starsky and Hutch shared a glance. They both knew they would allow themselves to be used as bait to get Huggy back. “We go fishin’, Cap’n,” Starsky said.

“That’s what I’m afraid of. No. I won’t let you do it,” Dobey’s voice was strong and firm.

“Look, Captain, we can’t let them kill Huggy and you know they will. We have to do this our way,” Hutch said.

“That’s the trouble with you two–everything has to be your way.”

“Do you have any other ideas, ‘cause we’re all ears if you do,” Starsky asked. He was hoping the captain would have some grand plan that would save them all, but he didn’t.

“Tell you what I’m going to do. First, I’m going to remove that bug from my office. Then I’m going to have the two of you meet with Simmons and Babcock and I want…No, I expect the two of you to fill them in on everything. If you do meet with Simonetti, Dryden or Andrews again you’re to let them know. Understand?”

Starsky and Hutch looked at each other without saying a word.  “This isn’t open for debate so you can quit that silent conversation right now.”

Starsky and Hutch shrugged at each other agreeing that maybe it was best if they had help from the other two detectives. They have known Simmons and Babcock for a while and trusted them, as much as they could trust anyone at this point. “Okay, Cap’n. We’ll fill them in and let them assist us. As long as they know this one’s ours,” Starsky said, with Hutch nodding in agreement with his partner.

“No one else needs to know I’m alive yet. Not until we know if Simonetti does.”

“Agreed. Now, take me back to the station. Simmons and Babcock will be there in about ten minutes.”

“Okay,” Starsky said. He started the car and took Captain Dobey back to the station then went back to the parking lot and waited for Simmons and Babcock.

When Captain Dobey returned to his office he looked under his desk and removed the small listening device that Starsky had found. He put it in a glass of water. He was glad that thing was gone. He had already searched the rest of his office and was confident that that was the only one. The next thing he did was to call Simmons and Babcock into his office. When the two detectives entered his office they sat down. Not in the same chair like Starsky and Hutch did. Simmons sat in the chair on the left and Babcock sat in the chair on the right. Only Starsky and Hutch sat in or on the same chair. Captain Dobey missed his two favorite detectives being there working together and would be glad to have them back. “What I’m going to say has to stay between the three of us, understood?”

“Yes, Sir,” Babcock said. He could tell something was troubling his captain.

Dobey bit his bottom lip with his top teeth and paused before saying anything. “I’m sending the two of you to meet Starsky and Hutch.”

“Hutch, but, Captain…” Simmons started to say something but Dobey cut him off.

“I don’t have a lot of time here and I don’t think they do either. Hutch’s death was faked. We’ll have time to explain all that later, for now I want you to go the corner of Maple and Federal. They’ll be waiting for you in that parking lot. All I can say is that someone in the department is trying to kill them. They’ll explain everything. Now get going and not a word to anyone.”

“Understood, Captain,” Simmons said as they both stood up to leave.

Babcock smiled, “Hutch is alive. God, I’m so glad.” Dobey just smiled back and nodded his head. He hated to lie to everyone about Hutch’s death in the first place. He understood the reason for it, but he was glad at least Simmons and Babcock knew now.

 

Chapter 7

Simmons pulled into the parking lot and spotted the car Dobey said Starsky would be driving. Starsky was pretending to read the newspaper and Hutch was crouched down in the passenger seat looking like he was asleep.

“Hey, Hutch?” Starsky tapped Hutch with the paper.

“Yeah?”

“They’re here.”

Hutch sat up and smiled as Simmons and Babcock got out of the car and approached them.

“Hutch, it’s so good to see you. I can’t believe it, man it’s great,” Babcock said as he shook Hutch’s hand through the open window.

“Are you two okay?” Simmons asked, as he leaned in the car on Starsky’s side, “Dobey said someone in the department tried to kill you.”

“Almost succeeded, too. Look, guys, I’m sorry I couldn’t let you in on it. We never suspected either of you,” Hutch said, sympathetically.

“It’s okay, Hutch. I’m just glad you’re alive. What do you want us to do? What’s going on?” Simmons asked.

“Get in. Let’s drive around,” Starsky said.

Simmons and Babcock got in the backseat and Starsky started the car. They drove around for a little while Starsky and Hutch filled them in on everything that happened, including Huggy’s kidnapping. Simmons and Babcock both said they never liked or trusted Simonetti or Dryden. They never cared too much for Andrews either, although he wasn’t in the department very long.

“What can we do to help?” Simmons asked.

“They’ll be looking for me, so we’re going fishing and I’m the bait. We don’t know if they know Hutch is alive or not; they only asked about me at The Pits. I figure we’ll go back there.”

“We’ll take it from there. They will probably want to arrange for another trade and when they do, we want to be ready for them. I think it’s just the three of them, but they have Huggy. Starsky and I aren’t about to let anything happen to him.”

“Okay. We’ll do whatever you need. I’ve met Huggy, I like him. Don’t worry, guys, we won’t let anything happen to him,” Babcock said.

Starsky dropped Simmons and Babcock off at their car with the plan for them to go to The Pits.

“How do you want to do this, Hutch?” Starsky asked as he pulled into the back alley of The Pits with Simmons in his car right behind them.

“I don’t know whether I should stay dead or come back to life, Starsk.”

“I like you better alive. I’m thinking they didn’t make the swap because one of the three of them saw you. Maybe it was something else. We know for sure who it is that’s after us, and they know that we know. I think it’s time you came back to life.”

Again, Starsky was talking so fast it made Hutch’s head hurt but he understood what Starsky was saying. “Good, I didn’t like being dead.”

“I didn’t like you dead either, Pal.”

Starsky and Hutch got out of their car and walked to Simmons’ car. Hutch leaned in on the driver’s side when Simmons rolled the window down. “Starsk, and I are going inside and see if we’ve had any phone calls. Just wait here a minute, will ya?”

“Sure, take all the time you need, Hutch,” Simmons said.

Starsky asked Anita if there had been any phone calls for him and she said, “Yes,” as she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. She hesitated before handing it to Starsky.

Starsky unfolded the paper and Anita said, “He said his name was Dryden and he knows Hutch is alive.”

Hutch threw his hands in the air then put them back down at his side, “We figured that. That’s probably why they didn’t make the trade. They found out.”

“And they didn’t know what to do,” Starsky said, agreeing with Hutch. “I guess they think they have the upper hand.”

“He said if the two of you want to see Huggy again, you’ll follow these directions.” Anita pointed to the piece of paper she handed him. There were tears forming in her eyes.

Starsky kissed her gently on the cheek and wiped away her tears, “Now don’t worry about Huggy. Hutch and I will get him back.”

Anita half smiled, “Yeah, well, make sure the two of you come back too.”

Hutch gently brushed her hair off of her face, “We will, love.”

As they walked out of the back of the restaurant Hutch said, “You know, Starsk.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s a set up,” Starsky said as he looked at the instructions he had been handed.

“What’s it say? What do they want now?” Hutch asked looking over Starsky’s shoulder unable to make out what was written.

“They want us to meet them at the old zoo at 1700,” Starsky wrinkled the paper and stuffed it in his shirt. “God, Hutch, you know why they chose that place!”

“Yeah, I know, Buddy. Not one of your favorite places,” Hutch answered sympathetically.  He knew Starsky hated the old zoo ever since Simon Marcus and his band of lunatics kidnapped and almost killed him. Hell, Hutch wasn’t too fond of it either. Simon’s followers were just moments away from stabbing Starsky in some sick satanic ritual. Hutch arrived just in time. Starsky had nightmares for weeks after that. “At least they don’t know we’re working with Simmons and Babcock,” Hutch remarked as he patted Starsky’s shoulder.

Starsky and Hutch filled Simmons and Babcock in on the call Anita received. They didn’t have time to work out a very detailed plan, but they were all very dedicated professionals and often worked best under pressure.

Starsky drove about a block away from the zoo and stopped to let Hutch out, “Hey,” he said, giving Hutch a please be careful wink as Hutch opened the passenger door.

“Yep,” Hutch said as he looked at Starsky with a look that said, ‘you be careful too, Buddy.’ He shut the door quietly and went up the grassy hill that led to the back part of the zoo.

Simmons and Babcock had split up too. Simmons drove his car to the east-side of the zoo and stopped just outside the entrance. Babcock went just a little to Hutch’s right.

“There’s Starsky and Hutch now,” Andrews said excitedly in his walkie-talkie, pointing at the green car he had seen Starsky driving earlier. Andrews had taken a position at the top of the opening of the old bear cave where he had a clear view of the main entrance of the zoo.

Dryden picked up his binoculars and peered through them. He shook his head, “It’s only, Starsky,” he used his walkie-talkie to tell Simonetti. Dryden was sitting in the bushes at the top of a small hill. From his view, Dryden could see more of the zoo. He could see the monkey cages and the paths visitors used to walk on to get to the exhibits.

“You can bet Hutchinson won’t be far away.” Simonetti said back on the walkie-talkie. “Andrews, go around the other side and see if you can spot Hutchinson.”

“What do you want me to do if I see him?”

“Bring him to me. I told you, Hutchinson’s mine,” Simonetti said. Huggy was sitting on the floor of the cave with his hands chained to the wall about shoulder height. The cave was dark except for a lantern that was glowing next to where Simonetti had been sitting in a chair. Simonetti kicked Huggy, who was sleeping, “Wake up, the shows about to start. I told you Starsky and Hutch would come after you.”

Huggy moaned as he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes adjusted to the dim light. It didn’t take him long to know where he was or why Simonetti had chosen this place. “You’re a sick man, you know that?”

“Good idea. Maybe I’ll use that as my defense.”

“If you live through this,” Huggy mumbled, barely audible as he tugged at the chains binding him to the wall.

“Relax, Huggy, you can’t get out of those.”

Huggy settled down and started looking around at his surroundings. He knew he was in the old zoo where Marcus had taken Starsky because Starsky had described it so well. He also knew that Simonetti and Dryden were sick enough to bring him to a place that held such bad memories for Starsky and Hutch both. Starsky was right; this place is creepy, Huggy thought as he noticed the dark tunnels of the cave. He saw what appeared to be the keys to the chains hanging on the wall by Simonetti.

Huggy could see an opening but it was pretty high up and because he was chained to the wall, he had no chance of getting out that way. He also knew that’s where Andrews was. There was another tunnel in the cave. Huggy watched as Simonetti pulled his gun out of its holster. The thought of Simonetti and Dryden along with Andrews using him to get to Starsky and Hutch made him angry. He gritted his teeth, tugged at the chains again and thrashed about. He was hoping to distract Simonetti as long as he could to give Starsky and Hutch more time. Simonetti ignored Huggy as he checked his weapon then picked up the lantern and walked slowly further into the darkness of the cave. Gradually the light from the lantern disappeared and the only thing Huggy could see was the light from the opening above him. Huggy knew that Starsky and Hutch would probably try to get to him using the other tunnel. “Starsky, Hutch, don’t try it. It’s a trap, Simonetti’s down here,” Huggy hollered as loud as he could. His voice was echoing throughout the tunnels of the dark cave.

Simonetti ran back to Huggy, pulling out a bandana he had brought to use a gag. “I almost forget this. Thanks for reminding me,” he said as he tightly tied the gag in place. He went back into the darkness of the tunnel.

 

Simmons had made it to the entrance of the cave and spotted Andrews easily but he didn’t know where Dryden or Simonetti were so he took a position out of sight in the trees and kept an eye on Andrews. Simmons knew Babcock was nearby and would be coming around the other side. Babcock had his gun drawn and was able to sneak up to Dryden and grab the walkie-talkie right out of his hand before the man even knew he was there. Babcock chuckled at the surprise look on Dryden’s face. Still pointing his gun at Dryden, Babcock searched Dryden for weapons. He found one gun in a shoulder holster he wore and another gun strapped to Dryden’s lower leg. After securing the weapons by tucking them into his own belt, he took out his handcuffs and made Dryden put his arms around the tree he was standing next to. Dryden was now standing up, facing the big tree handcuffed to it. He removed Dryden’s handcuffs and key too. Babcock took Dryden’s shoes and socks off and stuffed one of the socks in Dryden’s mouth, “Now, I don’t need you yelling for help. You just stay put and I’ll be back. If I don’t forget where I left you,” Babcock said. As he started toward Simmons, he turned back around and added, “Messing with Starsky and Hutch was not a good idea. You should have known that. They have more friends on the department than you ever will. You know why? Well I’ll tell you; it’s because they’re more than just good cops. They’re good people. You, Simonetti and Andrews.” Dryden’s eyes got big at the mention of Andrews’ name. “Oh yeah, we know Andrews is on this with you. See, my partner is watching him now. I’m afraid this isn’t going to end the way any of you expected. And for your sake, I hope Huggy is all right. Enough of this chit-chat now, I have a bear to save.”

Babcock made his way to Simmons, “I found Dryden,” he whispered.

“Where is he?”

“Communing with nature. But don’t worry; he won’t make a sound.”

“You didn’t kill him did you?”

“Course not. Not that it didn’t cross my mind.” Simmons looked at him with a ‘well-what-did-you-do-to-him’ look. “He’s enjoying the taste of his sock.” They both laughed.

“There’s Andrews,” Simmons said, pointing at Andrews who was still guarding the top opening.

“Where’s Starsky now?”

He pointed to his left seeing the green car drive past the front of the bear exhibit. “There he is. Hutch was going to find the zoo keepers entrance to the cave.”

“Let’s get this clown and find Simonetti,” Babcock said handing one of Dryden’s guns to Simmons.

Simmons placed the gun in the space between the small of his back and his pants. Babcock moved quietly to the right as Simmons made his way around to the left of Andrews. They were easily able to creep up on Andrews and after they disarmed him, they handcuffed him to a tree. Simmons used Babcock’s idea and put one of Andrew’s socks in his mouth to keep him quiet. They promised him they would be back after laughing at the sight of him tied to a tree with his own sock in his mouth.

 

Huggy was sitting on the floor with his long legs stretched out in front of him and his hands chained to the wall when he thought he heard a faint noise coming from the tunnel that Simonetti did not take. He knew it must be Starsky or Hutch. He started kicking his feet and shaking his head no, hoping they would see him and know it was a trap. He also knew that Starsky and Hutch would know it was trap. They were good at what they did and were willing to put their lives on the line everyday for people they didn’t know. Huggy knew his friends would stop at nothing to save him.

Hutch had been able to make his way past Dryden and Andrews before Simmons and Babcock had captured them. He found the back entrance into the old bear cave and felt his way along the cave walls. He finally saw a little light and followed it. He was standing in the shadows when Simonetti had left with the lantern and disappeared into the other tunnel. He heard Huggy’s warning that it was a trap. Starsky and Hutch knew that all along. Hutch waited in the shadows until Simonetti went back into the darkness. Hutch could no longer see the glow from the  Simonetti’s lantern. He kicked a small rock just hard enough for Huggy to hear it. He wanted Huggy to know that he was not alone and that help was here. With the light from the top of the cave, Hutch saw the chains that were effectively holding Huggy to the wall. He looked around and saw the key hanging on the wall. Hutch knew Simonetti was waiting in the darkness for him to make a move to save Huggy.

“Give it up, Simonetti. We’ve got Dryden and Andrews under arrest,” Hutch really had no idea what had taken place outside.

“You make one move toward Huggy there and I’ll put a hole in him Hutch,” Simonetti yelled from the darkness.

Starsky had found his way through the tunnel and was behind Hutch, “Pssst.” Hutch turned around. He had felt Starsky’s presence moving up behind him. Starsky looked annoyed.

“What’s wrong with you,” Hutch whispered.

“I thought I’d at least startle you.”

“I heard you a mile away.”

“You did not.”

“Starsk, let’s argue about this later, after we get Huggy.”

“Simonetti, you know this isn’t going to end well for you,” Hutch yelled.

“It’s not going to end well for you either, Hutchinson.”

Starsky saw two flashes of light and heard two shots ring out from the dark cave Simonetti was in. Hutch fell to the ground instantly, bleeding from his right temple. Starsky drew his gun and fired two shots in Simonetti’s direction. He saw Huggy’s limp body still chained to the wall.

“No, Hutch!” Starsky yelled as he took off his shirt and put it under Hutch’s head. Hutch was still breathing but he was unconscious. Starsky heard voices and footsteps coming from behind him. He turned around and saw Simmons and Babcock running toward him. “Simmons, get Huggy. Babcock will you see if I got Simonetti?”

Simmons ran to Huggy and removed his gag. Huggy had been shot in the chest just below his right shoulder and was barely conscious. Huggy was able to tell Simmons where the key to the chains were. Simmons looked at Starsky who was holding Hutch’s head in his lap, “Huggy took one just below his shoulder.” Starsky just nodded, never taking his eyes off Hutch. Simmons used the bandana that had been Huggy’s gag to control the bleeding. He lightly slapped Huggy a couple of times, “Huggy, come on wake up.” Huggy moved a little and opened his eyes. “That’s it, come one, wake up.”

Huggy started coming around and used his left hand to apply pressure to the wound on his right shoulder, “I’m okay. Help Hutch.”

Simmons ran into the same tunnel following his partner, “Babcock, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I found Simonetti. He’s going to need a doctor.”

Simmons saw the light from Simonetti’s lantern and followed it. He was about twenty feet into the tunnel when he found Simonetti lying in a pool of his own blood and Babcock standing over him. Simonetti was unconscious. “Starsky shot him in the stomach. He’s still alive, but not by much,” Babcock said.

“You stay with him, I’ll call for some ambulances and backup.”

Simmons walked back to Starsky who was holding an unconscious Hutch in his arms now. Huggy had moved so that he was now sitting next to Starsky leaning against the wall. Starsky was using his shirt to apply pressure to Hutch’s head wound. “Come on, Buddy, you got to make it.” Simmons heard Starsky say over and over to Hutch. Huggy just looked at Hutch forgetting about his own pain.

Simmons bent down and softly said, “Starsky, you got Simonetti. He’s still alive but just barely. I’m going to my car and call for the ambulances and some backup now, okay?”

“Is Babcock all right?”

“He’s with Simonetti; he’s fine.” Simmons said and Starsky nodded.

 

Chapter 8

It didn’t take long for the ambulances to show up along with half the department. Dobey entered the cave before the paramedics did and saw Starsky holding Hutch with Huggy sitting next to him. Hutch looked so still and motionless his big heart sank. It looked like Hutch had lost so much blood. The paramedics came in and Dobey had to make Starsky let go of Hutch. Starsky knew Hutch needed to go to the hospital. He knew the paramedics could help Hutch in ways he couldn’t but part of him felt that if he let go of him now he may never get him back.

Dobey saw Simmons leaning against the wall watching as the paramedics loaded Hutch onto their stretcher. “Simmons, I want you to get Starsky out of here before he sees Simonetti,” he whispered so that Starsky couldn’t hear him. Simmons nodded.

Simmons walked over to Starsky and put his hand on his shoulder, “Hey, let me take you to the hospital. Babcock can drive your car. You need to be with Hutch and Huggy now.”

Starsky hadn’t noticed that Huggy had already been taken away. “Yeah, sure, thanks,” he said in a shaky voice.

As Simmons was leading Starsky out of the cave, Dobey reached out his arm and put his hand on Starsky’s shoulder, “He’ll be okay, Starsky.” Starsky didn’t say a word; he bowed his head and followed Simmons to his car.

 

Starsky was pacing back and forth in the hospital waiting room. Dobey, Simmons and Babcock were sitting in the hard plastic chairs watching him.

Simmons leaned toward Captain Dobey and asked, “Captain, I may have…or that is we, my partner and I may have neglected to tell you…”

Captain Dobey cut him off, “Don’t worry, we found Andrews and Dryden handcuffed to the trees. They’re both in custody now.”

A doctor entered the waiting room and Starsky stopped dead in his tracks. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to hear whatever news he had to say. “Are you the friends of a Mr. Huggy Bear?” The doctor asked looking down at his clipboard.

“Yes,” Starsky answered without hesitating.

“Your friend is going to be just fine. We need to keep him here a couple of days but we removed the bullet and no vital organs were hit. He was very lucky, the bullet came close to his right lung but he’s going to be fine.”

“When can we see him?” Starsky asked.

“Not until tomorrow I’m afraid. He’s in recovery right now and it will be several hours before he can see anyone. But I will tell him you are here.”

“Thanks,” Starsky replied.

“I know you’re worried about Mr. Hutchinson and Mr. Simonetti.”

“Don’t care about Simonetti, how’s Hutch?”

The doctor looked confused about the lack of concern for a fellow officer but he was not privy to everything that had happened. “I only know that Mr. Hutchinson is still in surgery. I’m sorry, I really don’t know any more than that.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Captain Dobey said.

Simonetti came out of surgery before Hutch and was wheeled to intensive care. Captain Dobey ordered guards outside his door because he was under arrest, or at least that’s what Dobey told Starsky. The real reason for the guards was to keep Starsky away from Simonetti. Dobey had hoped that Simonetti and Hutch would be taken to separate hospitals but they both needed the specialized care that Memorial had.

Starsky didn’t seem interested the least little bit about what room Simonetti had been taken to as long as he was not near Hutch.

Hutch was in surgery for six hours before his doctor finally came into the waiting room, “Family of Mr. Hutchinson?”

Starsky, who had been sitting downing his fourth cup of coffee, stood up, “How is he?” Dobey, Simmons and Babcock were standing next to Starsky.

“Not good, I’m afraid. You’re Starsky aren’t you? I thought I recognized Hutchinson. I have had both of you as patients before, haven’t I?”

Starsky nodded, “Last year when I was shot in the shoulder and a few months ago when Hutch was shot in the chest.”

“I remember you both were pretty adamant about the level of care we provided. You both insisted on staying the night in each other’s rooms until the crisis was over, as I recall.”

“Nothing’s changed there,” Starsky sounded pretty inflexible about it.

“I can’t authorize you to stay with him tonight, he’ll be in recovery. Tomorrow, I’ll see what I can do.”

“How’s Hutch?”

“We removed the bullet but we’re worried about the damage his brain suffered.” The doctor started to go into some pretty lengthy medical terms.

“Just tell me, Doc, what are his chances?” Starsky asked, not wanting to hear a bunch of medical jargon.

“The next couple of days are going to be very critical for him. I can’t give you exact odds, but it doesn’t look good. If he does survive, you need to prepare yourself for the possibility that your partner could be blind.”

“Blind? Permanently?” Starsky asked slowly giving himself time to let the words sink in.

“His optic nerve is swollen and there’s no way to know if that has affected his eyesight until he wakes up. It’s too soon to know if he will regain any sight that he might have lost. That’s if he survives the next couple of days. I’m very sorry.”

Starsky looked as if all the color drained from his face and his legs were about to give out. Simmons grabbed him on one side and Babcock held him from the other and they guided Starsky to a chair. “No. Hutch isn’t going to die, not now.” He shook his head then put his head in his hands.

Dobey tried to get Starsky to go home to get some rest. Hutch would not be allowed any visitors while he was in recovery and the nurse told Dobey that would be several more hours. Debbie, the nurse, had seen the partners before and knew how close they were. She promised Starsky that she would call him if anything changed. Starsky refused to leave. Debbie said he should at least lie down and get some rest. She told Captain Dobey that she would allow Starsky to sleep in the residents’ room. It was a nice quiet place with only one bed so he would be alone. Starsky agreed but only if Debbie promised to wake him if Hutch so much as twitched. She made the promise and said that she would be taking care of Hutch and would come get him.

 

Starsky laid his head on the soft pillow and closed his eyes. He couldn’t help but think about Emily Harrison. He had shot her a few years ago and she was temporarily blind. He kept hearing her words, “being blind stinks,” as he thought about how he would help Hutch deal with his own blindness. He would rather think about Hutch being blind for the rest of his life, than think of what his life would be like without Hutch at all. His physical and emotional exhaustion finally won out and he went to sleep.  It was about 0500, when Starsky heard someone tapping on the door. He shot up instantly and opened the door, “What’s wrong? Is Hutch okay?” His voice was frantic as he grabbed the young nurse by both shoulders. Starsky saw the startled look on Debbie’s face and fear in her eyes, “I’m sorry,” he said as he removed his hands from her shoulders. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay, Starsky. I just came to tell you that your partner is being moved from recovery to neurological intensive care. If you want to see him a minute when they bring him by you can. But only for a minute.”

“I’d like that very much, thanks.” Starsky stepped out into the brightly lit hall and had to let his eyes adjust to the light. The brightness of the lights annoyed him at first and then he remembered the doctor telling him that Hutch might be blind. The lights didn’t seem so bad after all.

Starsky heard the double doors open that led to the recovery unit and saw an orderly pushing Hutch’s bed. He stopped in front of Starsky. Hutch was still sedated and had a bandage around his whole head. Starsky didn’t see any trace of the blond hair Hutch loved so much under the bandages. He knew they had to shave him bald for the surgery. Hutch also had patches over both eyes and an IV in his left arm. Starsky held his hand giving it a little squeeze, “I’m right here, Buddy. I’ll be here when you wake up,” he whispered in Hutch’s ear. He looked up at the orderly and thanked him for letting him see his friend. Debbie let Starsky know that it would be a couple of more hours before he would be allowed to go into Hutch’s room. The doctor came through the doors and told Starsky that nothing had changed from what he said earlier. Hutch was still very critical and until he woke up, there was no way of knowing if he would be able to see.

Starsky felt lost and alone. He remembered sitting at the funeral staring at the baby blue casket thinking how lucky he was that it was all fake. Now, he may face losing Hutch for real; forever. He couldn’t think of it, his mind pushed the thoughts out of his head. “No. He’s going to live. If he’s blind, we’ll deal with it like we’ve dealt with everything else,” he said out loud. He took a deep breath and headed for Huggy’s room.

Starsky had to sneak past the nurse’s desk to see Huggy. He was told earlier that it would be a few more hours before he could see him and Starsky didn’t wish to wait. He couldn’t see Hutch and Huggy was the next best thing. He was very quiet as he opened the door and closed it just as quietly. He walked over to Huggy’s bed. “Starsk, how’s Hutchie?” Huggy asked as he opened his eyes and looked at Starsky.

“He’s huh, well…,” Starsky pulled a chair close to the side of Huggy’s bed and folded his hands on the side rail and rested his head on them, “not good, Hug.” He closed his eyes a minute then added, “He’s in critical condition.”

“He’ll pull through, Starsk. He’s been through worse,” Huggy said trying to sound upbeat. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince Starsky or himself that Hutch really would pull through.

“That’s not all.”

Huggy stared at Starsky for a minute but when Starsky didn’t say anything else he asked, “What else, Starsky? Talk to me, man.”

“The doctor also said there’s a good chance that Hutch might be…,” Starsky stood up and turned his back toward Huggy.

“Might be what?” Huggy asked slowly, almost afraid of the answer.

“Blind, Huggy. There’s a good chance that Hutch will be blind and they don’t know if it’s going to be permanent or not,” Starsky huffed. It was hard for him think about Hutch being blind and it was even harder for him to say it.

“No,” Huggy replied as if he didn’t believe the words Starsky spoke.

Starsky turned around and sat back down, “It’s true. The doctor said that the next couple of days are going to be touch-and-go and if he survives he will probably be blind. Now, they don’t know if that will be temporary or not. There’s some swelling around some nerve and when it goes down he might-might, mind you–see again.”

Starsky stayed talking to Huggy for a long time until Huggy’s nurse came in and ran him out. She didn’t know Starsky had snuck in and was more than surprised to see him. She said that if he left now, she wouldn’t have him thrown out of the hospital. Starsky said his goodbyes to Huggy with a promise that he would come back as soon as he could and let him know about Hutch.

After he left Huggy’s room, Starsky went to Hutch’s room. The nurse said he could see him but only for a little while. Starsky sat in silence in a chair next to Hutch’s bed. At first he just sat there staring at Hutch, and then he reached out and touched his hand. “You just keep breathing, Buddy. In and out, just keep breathing. You’ve to get through this. I need you, you know that. Me and Thee is no good without the Thee; or are you the Me?” Starsky closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again, “We’ll endure whatever happens together, okay? I don’t care if you’re blind or you hair never grows back as long you stay alive. Stay alive, Hutch, you’ve got to stay alive.”  Starsky stayed by Hutch’s bedside until the nurse said the doctor wanted Hutch to have another CT-Scan done.

When he left Hutch’s room and went into the waiting room, Starsky saw Captain Dobey sitting down so he sat next to him. “They’re taking him down for more tests,” Starsky said softly.

“The nurse told me. How’s he doing, Starsky?”

“Well, they shaved all his hair; he’s not going to like that. He might be blind and that’s if he even lives,” Starsky said with a mixture of sadness, anger, and fear in his voice.

“What about Huggy, how’s he?”

“I saw him a little while ago. He’s hurting but he’ll be fine.”

“Well, that’s something good anyway.”

“I suppose Simonetti is going to be just fine,” Starsky said sarcastically. He really could not care less if Simonetti lived at this point.

“He’s still in critical condition.” Captain Dobey added, “And I don’t want you anywhere near him.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Cap’n.”

Captain Dobey told Starsky that everyone knew that Hutch was alive and what had happened. Everyone seemed to understand why they had to fake Hutch’s funeral. They were all very relieved that he was alive. Starsky made some remark about him staying that way, but Dobey ignored it. Captain Dobey stayed with Starsky until Hutch came back from his latest tests and then he went back to the station. Before he left, he reminded Starsky that he would have to fill out his report before too much longer. Starsky nodded that he understood.

Starsky was allowed to sit with Hutch for a long time. Debbie came in to change Hutch’s IV and told Starsky that she would get a roll-away bed set up for him if he wanted to stay in the room. It was highly irregular, but these were no regular partners. Hutch’s doctor knew that his patient had a better chance of surviving his injury if his partner was allowed to stay with him. Debbie told Starsky that he would have to leave for about an hour so she could check Hutch’s vitals, give him a bed bath and change his bandages. Starsky thanked her and said that he would definitely be staying with him and he would be back.

Starsky looked back at Hutch lying in the bed and thought about how much he was going to hate losing all his hair. Sure, it was just hair and it would grow back but it would upset Hutch. Starsky also thought about what his life would be like without Hutch if he didn’t make it. He remembered how cold and calculating Simonetti had been putting the bomb in Hutch’s car. He knew that was Simonetti’s idea and not Dryden’s or Andrew’s because he had worked on the bomb squad for a short time before transferring to IA.  He walked out of the room thinking about how Simonetti had talked Dryden into going after Hutch full-force for Vanessa’s murder. His mind was playing the shooting over and over in his head and he kept seeing Hutch and Huggy getting shot. The more Starsky thought about how Simonetti tried to make him and Hutch look like fools, the more he could feel his anger burning inside him. He felt like his blood was boiling and nothing would relieve the pain from it until he knew Simonetti couldn’t hurt Hutch, Huggy or anyone else again. Dryden and Andrews were locked up in jail where they belonged and Starsky couldn’t get to them, but Simonetti; he could get to. He could make him pay for what he did to Huggy, to Hutch, and to him.

Starsky knew that Simonetti was in the medical intensive care unit and that was on the third floor. He also knew he was being guarded. Starsky stepped into the elevator and pushed the button to the third floor. He wasn’t sure just how he was going to distract the guard, but he would find a way once he was there. The elevator was located in the middle of the hallway separating the medical intensive care unit from the cardiac intensive care unit. Starsky could see the nurse’s stations of both units and walked to the cardiac unit, flashed his badge and asked one of the nurses if he could use the phone. He stepped behind the desk and saw the extension to the medical intensive care unit and dialed it. When the nurse picked up he pretended to be Captain Dobey and asked the nurse to tell the officer guarding Simonetti to meet him outside. He hung up and watched as the nurse told the officer what Starsky asked her too. Starsky saw the officer get on the elevator and he strolled past the nurse’s station and made his way into Simonetti’s room. He closed the door quietly behind him. He saw Simonetti lying in the bed hooked up to a ventilator that was breathing for him. Starsky heard the systematic rhythm of the machine. He recalled seeing Hutch on one when they had been looking for a missing fireman, Roy DeSoto, from Los Angeles not too long ago. Starsky knew he didn’t have much time to do what he came in to do and he walked over to the machine that was keeping Simonetti alive. He studied the machine a minute, noticing the noise it made, the tubing that ran from it to Simonetti’s mouth, and the buttons that turned it off and on. He looked at Simonetti and felt as much hate and anger for him as he had felt for many others in the past. He thought of others in his past he felt anger or hatred for. There was Forrest, who was responsible for getting Hutch hooked on heroin; Vic Bellamy injected Starsky with a poison that almost killed him; Vic Humphries hired an assassin that ran Hutch off the road and almost killed him; Simon Marcus had kidnapped Starsky and tried to kill him. Thinking of Simon Marcus made him even madder at the man lying before him unable to breathe on his own. Simonetti had taken Huggy to the same old zoo Simon had taken Starsky. It was a move on Simonetti’s part to intimidate Starsky.

Starsky reached his hand out and allowed his index finger to lightly touch the off button on the machine. Other memories flooded his mind as his finger circled the button. He closed his eyes and recalled Hutch telling him about his run in with Gunther. Hutch didn’t try to kill Gunther even though he was responsible for having Starsky shot. Starsky knew Hutch would be disappointed in him if he went through with killing Simonetti. Starsky and Hutch were there when a Lieutenant Dan Slate shot the man who raped his daughter. The lieutenant ended up kidnapping the suspect and was the cause of his death. As Starsky’s finger continued circling the off button, he heard what Hutch had said to Lt. Slate, “Justice has nothing to do with murder; it never did.” Starsky knew Hutch was right then and those words still rang true. He suddenly remembered George Prudholm and Terry. Starsky loved her so much and thought he couldn’t go on living when she died. He had a flashback of Hutch opening the note Terry left for him. They were both sitting on the floor, drunk, as Hutch opened the envelope and read the words Terry had written. The note said something about entrusting Hutch with Ollie, her stuffed bear, and Dave and for him not to let either of them change. “I guess doing this won’t help Hutch. It will change me, Terry. It would make me into the same kind of monsters that Hutch and I work so hard to keep off the streets,” Starsky said out loud as a tear rolled down his cheek. He removed his finger from the machine. “No, Simonetti, I won’t kill you. I will see to it that you are put away for what you’ve done.” Starsky walked as quietly out of the room as he entered it. He pushed the button to get on the elevator and stepped inside. He was alone in the elevator and said, “Thank you, Terry. I know I would have regretted killing Simonetti the rest of my life and so would Hutch. He needs me and I’m going to be there for him not rotting in some jail,” Starsky said out loud.

 

Chapter 9

Starsky went back to Hutch’s room and saw Captain Dobey. He had brought flowers for Hutch and was searching for a place to set them down. Starsky took the flowers and put them on the windowsill without saying a word. Starsky could tell by the way that his captain was looking at him, that Dobey knew he had been in Simonetti’s room. Starsky sat in the chair closest to Hutch, “I couldn’t do it, Cap’n. I wanted to, God knows I wanted to, but I couldn’t. I knew that when I went in his room.”

“That’s what makes you better than him, Son,” Captain Dobey said as he moved the other chair so that he was facing Starsky. “That’s what makes you and Hutch better than the trash you put behind bars.”

“How is Simonetti doing anyway? I mean he looked pretty rough when I saw him lying there.”

“The doctors don’t know. He had a lot of internal bleeding and they still don’t know if he’s going to live or not. Before you ask, Dryden and Andrews have been moved to another part of the state for their own protection.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t go after them. And I won’t go after Simonetti again either, you have my word.”

“Your word has always been good enough for me.” Captain Dobey looked at Hutch, who was showing no signs of moving anytime soon, and said, “Go home, Starsky. Just for a few hours, get some sleep.”

“No. I slept last night. I’m okay, Cap’n. I promised him I’d be here when he wakes up and I’m not leaving him.”

Simmons and Babcock came in to check in on Hutch and Starsky. Starsky filled them in on Hutch’s prognosis. It wasn’t long after that when the nurse said everyone except for Starsky would have to leave. Simmons and Babcock promised Starsky they would check in on Huggy and let him know that Starsky would be by later to see him.

Starsky did visit Huggy later and he was doing much better. Huggy was set to be released the next day. Starsky was able to sneak Huggy into Hutch’s room for a little while. Seeing Hutch like that made Huggy sad and he told Starsky, “It’s my fault, Starsky. If Blondie here hadn’t tried to save me…”

“It’s not your fault, Hug. Hutch and I knew it was a trap. We knew Simonetti, Dryden and Andrews were there waiting for us. It was our choice, our decision to go in that cave. Don’t do this to yourself. It was Simonetti that shot Hutch and it’s his fault,” Starsky said sounding angry. He wasn’t about to let Huggy think any of this was his fault. “Look, Huggy, Hutch and I went into this with our eyes wide open. So did Simmons and Babcock. They were after us and were going to use anyone they could to get us.” Starsky said in a much calmer, quieter voice.

“Just remember that goes both ways. It’s not your fault either, my man. I know you, Starsk, and I know how you like to blame yourself when something happens to Hutch.”

Huggy stayed for a while before Starsky wheeled him back to his own room. Starsky left Huggy and went back to Hutch’s room. Starsky was tired and after talking to Hutch a few minutes he put a blanket on the roll away bed that Debbie had brought in for him and went to sleep. He left the bathroom light on so he would have enough light to watch Hutch sleep.

It was about 0400, when Starsky thought he heard Hutch moving around. He leaped up and went to his partner’s bedside. Starsky grabbed Hutch’s hand giving it a gentle squeeze, “I’m right here, Pal.”

Hutch moved his fingers but was unable to squeeze Starsky’s hand, “Starsk?” he moaned as if it took all of his strength to get the word out.

“I’m here, Hutch. That’s it, wake up. Can you open your eyes for me?”  Starsky was excited to hear Hutch’s voice and even though it was weak, it was music to his ears. Starsky realized that he just asked Hutch to open his eyes even though he had patches over them and said, “Hutch, squeeze my hand.”

“Starsk, turn a light on, it’s dark.” Starsky’s felt his heart jump into his throat.

“I know it is, Buddy,” Starsky’s voice was soft and soothing. “Hey, Buddy, I need to let the doctor know you’re awake. I’ll be right back, okay?” Hutch didn’t have the strength to say anything else, he just nodded.

Starsky ran to the nurse’s station. He ran so fast he ran right into it. He told the nurse that Hutch was awake and talking. She immediately called the doctor. Hutch’s doctor was in the hospital already because he was going to check in on some of his patients before a surgery that was scheduled for 0500. He came to the nurse’s station and Starsky bombarded him with questions. “If Hutch is awake, does that mean he’s out of danger? Should we tell him about the possibility of his being blind, and what about his hair? Should I tell about…”

“Mr. Starsky…”

“Please, just call me Starsky. I think we’ve known each other long enough to forgo the formalities.”

“Starsky it is then. Please slow down; one question at a time. Now that he’s awake, I can run more tests and see how he is from a neurological standpoint; then we can see about upgrading his condition. You’re his best friend, do you want to tell him about his vision or would you like me to?”

“I’ll tell him, Doc. He should hear it from me, but I want to be alone with him when I tell him, okay?”

“I understand. I’ll need to remove the bandages and we’ll know then if he can see. Remember what I said, if he can’t see now; it doesn’t mean it’s permanent. He could regain his sight when the swelling goes down. He’ll need another CT-Scan but that can wait. I’m expected in surgery pretty quick.” Starsky nodded as they headed toward Hutch’s room. The doctor waited outside to give Starsky time to explain to Hutch about the possibility of him being blind.

 

Starsky went to Hutch’s bedside and held his partner’s hand, “I’m back, Buddy. The doctor will be here in a minute.”

“Starsk, why is it so dark?” Hutch sounded concerned almost panicked.

Starsky gritted his teeth, “Hutch, you were shot in the head. Right now you have a bandage on your head and your eyes are covered. That’s why it’s dark.”

“Is he going to remove the bandages now that I’m awake?” Hutch seemed to be gaining some of his strength back now that he was awake.

“Hutch, listen to me, okay? Don’t say anything, just listen.” Hutch nodded. “You have some swelling around your optic nerve.” Starsky said in a matter-of-fact voice.

“And?” Hutch knew there was more that Starsky didn’t want to tell him.

Starsky squeezed Hutch’s hand tighter, picked it up, put his other hand on Hutch’s so that he was now holding Hutch’s hand with both of his and moved it close to his own chest, “Hutch, when the doctor comes in and removes the bandages, there’s a chance you won’t be able to see.”

Hutch struggled to move his hand from Starsky’s grip but Starsky held onto his partner’s hand and wasn’t about to let go, “It’ll be okay, Hutch. Listen to me. He also said that there’s a good chance that you’ll get your sight back when the swelling goes down. And you might be able to see. We won’t know until he removes the bandages.” Starsky felt the tension in Hutch’s hand ease up. He didn’t know if that was because his partner was too worn out to fight him or if he understood that the blindness, if he was blind, was probably temporary.

“Bring him in, let’s get this show on the road,” Hutch tried to sound brave but Starsky knew he was scared. He was scared too.

The doctor performed other neurological tests before he was ready to remove the bandages. He had Hutch move all four extremities and tested his reflexes. Once he was satisfied that Hutch had no other obvious deficits, he proceeded to remove the bandages. He told Hutch to shield his eyes before removing the eye pads and to keep his eyes closed. Slowly, the doctor removed the pad that was covering Hutch’s right eye and then he removed the left one. “Okay, Hutch, you can open your eyes now. You’ll need to give them a minute or two to adjust to the light.”

Hutch hesitated before opening his eyes. “I’m right here, Buddy,” he heard Starsky say and then he felt Starsky’s hand on his shoulder. He took comfort knowing that no matter what; Starsky would be there for him.

“Okay, here it goes,” Hutch said nervously as he opened his eyes. After opening his eyes, he hung his head, “there’s nothing.”

“Remember, I said there’s a good chance that you will get your sight back when the swelling goes down. That could be tomorrow or next month we have no way of knowing.”

“Yeah, thanks, Doc,” Hutch said as he turned his head to see if he could see any light if he changed his position.

“Get some rest, you’ll need it. I’ll check back after I get the results of your CT-Scan.” Hutch just nodded.

Starsky raised his eyebrows, “Thanks, Doc.”

After the doctor left the room, Hutch felt a cold draft and felt the top of his head. “My hair!”

“I’m sorry, Hutch. They had to cut it off for the surgery. Don’t worry it’ll grow back,” he sounded as sympathetic as he could. He knew Hutch loved his blond hair and would not like being bald. “You’re lucky you’re still alive. Hutch you almost…I almost lost you this time.”

“Yeah, I’m lucky, all right.” Hutch laid his head on the pillow and closed his eyes.

 

Over the next week, Hutch had other doctors examine his eyes and look over all the scans and tests. They all agreed that it appeared as if he would regain his sight when the swelling went down. None of them could tell Hutch just how long that would take. Starsky knew Hutch was putting on a good front for the doctors, the staff at the hospital as well as Captain Dobey and even Huggy.

 

Before Starsky took Hutch home, he took some of his things to Hutch’s so that he could stay with Hutch until his sight came back. It wouldn’t be the first time he stayed at his partner’s place to help him recuperate from an injury. Hutch had stayed at Starsky’s a few times too.

Starsky finished putting the last of Hutch’s things in the suitcase and closed it. Hutch was sitting on the bed, listening to everything that was going on around him. He hated to be waited on hand and foot and was determined that he would do what he could for himself.

Starsky parked the Torino in from of Hutch’s apartment and ran around the other side to help Hutch. “Starsk, I’ve been opening car doors for years now,” Hutch opened the door and got out. Starsky stood and watched Hutch making sure he didn’t trip over the curb. Hutch had been given a quick course at the hospital on how to use the white cane with the red tip and was able to navigate the curb. “See, I told you. I’ll be fine, Starsk.”

Starsky didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to upset Hutch. Hutch may not have said anything in the hospital about the frustrations of being blind but Starsky knew once Hutch was in the privacy of his own home and it was just the two of them, he would. Starsky opened the door to the building and caught Hutch as he stumbled on the third step. “Take it easy, Pal. You’re not running a race. Take your time.”

Hutch nodded, “Maybe I’d better slow down a little.”

Starsky reached above the door frame and removed Hutch’s spare key. He unlocked the door and they went inside. Hutch was able to go straight to the couch. Starsky went to the refrigerator and removed two beers. He opened them and handed one to Hutch. “Thanks, Pal. You know, Starsk, you don’t have to stay with me.”

“Hutch, we’ve been over this. I’m not leaving you like this.”

“Yeah, I know. To be honest, I’m glad you’re here,” Hutch said as he downed his beer. He wanted to drink it fast, he wanted to get drunk. “I’m scared, Starsk. I thought I could handle this at first but I don’t know that I can.”

Starsky was sitting next to Hutch on the couch and he put his arm around Hutch, “You don’t have to do this alone. I’m right here with you, Buddy. We’re in this together, Me and Thee.” Starsky explained that he had talked to Captain Dobey and he would be allowed to take some of his vacation time now so he could stay with Hutch at least for a little while.

Hutch knew he could tell Starsky anything and knew he didn’t have to hide his true feeling about anything with him. “What if I don’t get my sight back? What will happen to Me and Thee then?”

“Let’s cross that road when we get to it.” Starsky didn’t want to think about would happen if Hutch couldn’t see.

“No. I want to talk about it now,” Hutch had accomplished his goal of becoming totally inebriated after downing a few more beers, “What will you do, Buddy, if I can’t go back to work?” Hutch was slurring his words.

“I guess I’ll get a job doing something else.”

“You’d quit the department? But you love being a cop.”

“Aw, Hutch, I couldn’t do this job without you. I won’t do this job without you on the streets with me.”

“You’re not good at anything else, Starsk,” Hutch said laughing. He was so unsteady he couldn’t sit up on his own and he fell on top of Starsky.

“Am too,” Starsky argued.

“What else can you do besides playing mother hen to me?”

Starsky thought for a minute about what else he could do if he had to, “I don’t know, I could do lots of things.”

“Name one,” Hutch rolled his eyes and looked at Starsky as if he could see him.

“Photography. I could be a photographer, how’s that?” Now will you get off me?”

“Oh, okaaay,” Hutch said as he tried to sit up. “Starsk, help me.”

“I’m here for ya, Buddy, every step of the way. We’ll get through this, Hutch, just like we always do, together.”

“I love ya, Starsk. You’re always here for me.”

“That goes both ways, Pal.”

Hutch shared his feelings about the possibility of being blind permanently. He said that not only was he scared and felt alone but how afraid he was for Starsky to feel like he had to take care of him. Starsky reassured him that he would always be with Hutch because he was his best friend and not because he had too. Hutch became very emotional and upset. He leaned against Starsky again and cried. Starsky just held him and let him vent all the anger and frustration Hutch had been holding in since the shooting. Finally, Hutch was all talked out and Starsky knew what they both needed now was some much-needed sleep. “You’ve had a long day and so I have I; let’s get some sleep.”

“I want another beer.”

“Hutch, you drank all the beer.”

“I drank all the beer, what about you?”

“I’ve only had one.”

“Some friend you are, you let me drink all that beer. What’s wrong with you? Do you know how I’m going to feel in the morning?”

“I tried to stop you, but you can be pretty stubborn once you decide you want to get drunk, ya know. Let me help you get into bed.” Starsky helped Hutch into his bed and then he threw a blanket and pillow on the couch and went to sleep himself.

 

“Add just a little more wheat germ, Starsk.” Hutch said as he was leaning against the counter in the kitchen.

Starsky was adding a mixture of stuff in the blender as Hutch directed him, “I put in the amount you said too.”

“I may be blind, but I can smell it and I’m telling you it’s not enough wheat germ. And while you’re at it, do me a favor.”

“Sure anything, Pal,” Starsky answered as he dipped the tablespoon in the jar of wheat germ and added it to the black strap molasses and goat’s milk that was already in the blender. He made a face that looked like he ate something sour.

“Don’t let me drink that much again. Being dizzy and blind at the same time is not a good combination.” Starsky chuckled and made another face as he smelled the concoction Hutch had him make. Hutch usually drank an energy drink in the mornings and Starsky volunteered to help Hutch until his sight came back. “Starsk, quit making faces at my drink.”

“I can’t believe you still actually drink this junk.”

“I can’t believe you don’t. You really should try it. It’ll make a man out of you.”

“No thanks, I think I’m man enough,” Starsky replied as he turned the blender on for thirty seconds then poured the mixture into a glass for Hutch. Hutch was able to find the table and sit in one of the chairs unassisted by Starsky who kept a watchful eye out making sure Hutch wasn’t about to trip over anything. After Hutch was seated, Starsky opened the refrigerator and found the pastrami he had brought over and made himself a sandwich.

“You’re seriously going to make fun of my drink and you’re going to eat pastrami for breakfast?”

“What’s wrong with pastrami for breakfast?”

“If I have to tell you, you’ll never understand.”

Starsky ate his pastrami and was glad that Hutch seemed relaxed at least for the moment.

“You know what I want to do today?”

“What’s that?”

“I want to go to the pier. Will you take me?”

“Sure, anyplace you want to go. Maybe afterward we can drop in on Huggy, I know he’d like to see you.”

“That sounds good. You know what I want first?”

“Yeah,” Starsky walked to the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet and took out a bottle of aspirin, “Here ya go. It’s two aspirin.” Starsky gently took Hutch’s hand and put the aspirin in the palm of his partner’s left hand.

Hutch felt for the aspirin with his right index finger and picked them up one-by-one and put them in his mouth. Starsky handed Hutch his drink. Hutch swallowed the aspirin and finished his drink. “Thanks.”

Starsky and Hutch made their way to the end of the pier and were leaning on the railing when Hutch said, “You know, I can hear a lot more than I ever had. It’s strange but I never noticed how many birds and other things were at the beach.”

“I guess it’s true that your other senses take over when you lose one.”

“This is beautiful, Starsk. I mean it’s really beautiful. The beach is so full of life and sounds that I’ve never noticed. Can you hear the seagull to the left of us flying at about eleven o’clock?”

Starsky turned his head to the left and looked up, sure enough he saw a seagull flying, “I didn’t notice him. What else do you notice, Hutch?”

Hutch stood still for a minute and cocked his head to the right, I hear two people fighting on the beach on the right, an airplane overhead, and someone down the pier just threw a line in the water.”

Starsky looked around and he saw everything Hutch was describing. “You know, I wouldn’t have noticed any of those things.” He reached out and patted Hutch’s arm.

“Close your eyes, Starsk. Close your eyes and just listen to the waves, to the birds to all the sounds we’ve been missing all these years.”

Starsky closed his eyes and he could hear the seagull and other birds. The plane was long gone but he could hear the waves crashing on the beach. He had heard the waves hitting the beach many times before but this time he really paid attention how relaxing and rhythmic the sound was. “This really is something, Hutch. I’ve heard the waves before but never really paid attention to just how relaxing it is.”

Hutch smiled and took a deep breath and sniffed the air, “Can you smell the salt of the ocean in the air, Starsk?”

Starsky sniffed the air too and said, “I can smell the fish that man caught too. I never would have noticed that before.”

They stayed on the beach for hours trying to smell and hear things they never noticed before. Starsky made a game out of it. Who could smell or hear something the other couldn’t. Only Starsky could make a fun game out of something like Hutch’s loss of sight. Hutch always knew that they shared a special kind of friendship but today he realized that if his eyesight never returned that friendship would never change.

Hutch could feel the sun on his face earlier but that warmth was leaving now and he knew it was getting dark. “Starsk?”

“Yeah, Buddy?”

“Describe it.”

Starsky knew Hutch wanted him to describe the sun as it was setting on the ocean. “It’s beautiful, Hutch. The sky is full of bright pinks and pastel colors. There are a few clouds in the sky and I can see what’s left of the sun’s rays beaming through them. Some of the clouds are outlined in a pretty silver color. I always thought that sunsets this magnificent must be God playing with water colors.”

“God playing with water colors, I like that.” Hutch let go of the railing and said, “Let’s go to Huggy’s now, okay?”

Huggy was very happy to see Starsky and Hutch as they walked in. Starsky held onto Hutch’s arm and guided him to their regular booth. Huggy had Anita bring them their usual beers as they sat down. “Man it’s good to see you. Hutch how’s it going?”

“It’s going, Hug. It’s going. I still can’t see anything but the doctor says it’s still too soon. I’m taking it one day at a time.”

“What’s your pleasure tonight gents, cause this one’s on me?”

“It’s good to see you up and back at work,” Hutch said as he felt around for his beer. Starsky put Hutch’s hand on the cold glass. Huggy shook his head. It made him sad to see Hutch blind.

“Don’t do it, Hug.”

“Don’t what, Hutch?”

“Feel sorry for me. I don’t need that, okay? Just be your normal self, please.”

“Well, in that case, don’t forget you owe me thirty-five dollars for last month’s tab.”

Hutch picked up his beer and said, “That’s more like it. Besides I bet by the end of next week I’ll being seeing your ugly face again.”

“I hope so, Hutch.”

 

Chapter 10

Another week had gone by with no change in Hutch’s eyesight. One day it started raining. It was a nice steady rain and Hutch wanted Starsky to go with him outside to stand in it. “You’re crazy, Hutch.”

“I know but I want to feel the rain if I can’t see it.” Hutch’s hair was slowly growing out, but it was thin and so blond that he still looked bald. He was holding onto the white cane.

Starsky rolled his eyes and shook his head, “Yeah, sure.” They went outside and stood in the rain. It was only a little cold and Hutch felt very much alive as each drop of rain hit the top of his head. Starsky shut his eyes and stretched his arms out and turned around soaking up the water as it fell from the sky. Hutch could smell the freshness in the air the rain brought. “You know what, Starsk?”

“Yeah, we must be crazy. If Dobey sees us he’ll make us talk to a shrink,” Starsky yelled over the sound of the rain.

“What does the rain sound like to you?”

Starsky stood very still for a minute and listened to the rain. He noticed the different sounds the drops made as it hit different objects. “It’s a band, Hutch.”

“A band?”

“Yeah. Listen to the different sounds it makes as it hits different things, like the trash can on our left or the car.”

“It does sound like music if you listen hard enough. That’s pretty good, Starsk.”

By the time they went inside they were soaking wet and laughing. Starsky told Hutch, “You know if I get sick from standing in the rain, I’m blaming you.” Starsky went into the bathroom and returned with two towels and handed one to Hutch.

“I’ll make you some chicken noodle soup if you do.”

They removed their wet clothes and Starsky laid out a pair of blue sweat pants and a matching blue t-shirt for Hutch to change into. Hutch could dress himself without assistance, but he couldn’t pick out what to wear without being able to see what he was wearing. Starsky had been getting his clothes out for him.

 

Hutch was beginning to wonder if he would regain his vision. He was much better at getting around his apartment and although he appreciated everything his partner was doing to make things easier for him, Hutch wanted some time alone. Starsky had only left for an hour or so at a time and then it was only to go shopping or other short errands. Hutch had a long talk with Starsky and told him that he felt like he really needed to be alone tonight. He explained that it wasn’t anything Starsky had done, but he needed to prove to himself that he could handle being alone for a night. Starsky agreed to go home but only if Hutch promised to call him if he needed anything. Hutch agreed and after they had dinner, Starsky reluctantly went to his own place.

Hutch locked the door behind Starsky and found his way to his record player. He reached his hand in the box containing his records, “I’ll have to get Starsky to help me put these in some kind of order,” he said out loud as he realized he had no idea what record he just put on.

As Starsky pulled away from Hutch’s he had an uneasy feeling about leaving his partner all alone in the dark. He knew it was what Hutch wanted and he understood the reason behind Hutch’s request that he leave for a night, but still he felt uneasy.

 

Simonetti was still in the hospital because of the massive injuries he suffered, or that’s what Starsky and Hutch thought. Simonetti was much better than he let on. He pretended to be so weak that he could hardly talk, let alone walk. Simonetti had heard that Hutchinson was blind but that was expected to be temporary. He wasn’t about to give up on getting his revenge against Hutch or Starsky. Simonetti had been walking in the room, building his strength when no one was looking. Sometimes, late at night, he would do a couple of pushups on the floor. Tonight he felt the time was right. He felt strong enough to make his break. When his nurse came in the room to check on him, he was pretending to be asleep. She checked all of his vital signs and listened to his lungs. He never opened his eyes. He kept his breathing at a slow steady pace and his whole body still and relaxed. When she was finished and left the room, he looked through the small dresser and found his clothes. He quickly and quietly changed out of the hospital gown.

Next, he looked around the room for something he could use to knock out the guard. He found a small oxygen bottle in the corner and picked it up. He knew his next action needed to be swift. He opened the door and hit the guard with the oxygen tank, effectively knocking him out. The nurses were all still doing their rounds and were with other patients. Simonetti knew he had about ten minutes before anyone would notice the guard slumped in the chair with blood dripping down the side of his face. He grabbed the officer’s gun and handcuffs and ran toward the elevator. He stuffed the gun and handcuffs in his pants and pushed the elevator down button.

Without a hospital gown on or an IV, Simonetti now looked like another visitor as he walked past security and out of the hospital. He checked his pockets and still had some money so he hailed a cab. He had the cab drop him off a couple of blocks away from Hutch’s place. He was feeling a little weak but good about his daring escape. He walked to Hutch’s just as the Torino was pulling away. He had heard the guards talking about how Starsky was taking care of Hutch and hardly left his side. Simonetti knew this was his chance to get Hutch. He could easily kill Hutch and wait for Starsky to return and then he would get him.

Simonetti climbed the steps to Hutch’s apartment. Hutch was sitting on the couch listening to one of his records when he heard the front door being kicked in. He jumped up and went into his bedroom and grabbed his gun out of its holster before Simonetti knew where Hutch was. Simonetti hadn’t counted on it being so dark in Hutch’s apartment and it took his eyes time to adjust to the lack of light. Hutch on the other hand, was used to being in the dark and knew where every piece of furniture was.

After Hutch had his gun, he walked quietly into the living room. He stood very still and listened. He could hear someone breathing. He had no clue who was in his apartment and he was scared. Simonetti fired a shot and missed. Hutch knew the shot came from the front doorway and he ducked behind his couch. “Simonetti, I know that’s you. You may as well give up.”

“Not a chance, Hutchinson. I’m going to kill you and when Starsky comes back I’m going to kill him too.”

“You’ll never get away with it.”

“I don’t care. I just want you and your partner.”

“What the hell did we do to you?” Hutch was stalling for time. He knew Starsky would call him when he got home and if he didn’t answer the phone he would come back. The longer he could keep Simonetti talking the better the chance he had at pinpointing his exact location and taking a shot at him. He kept moving every time he talked so Simonetti never knew where he was.

“Come on, Hutch, you and Starsky ruined us. Because of you two Dryden and I are laughing stalks of the IA. You killed your ex-wife and got away with it.”

Hutch was crawling on the floor and was now in the kitchen under the table. Simonetti’s eyes had adjusted with the low light level and could see Hutch. He walked over to Hutch and grabbed him by his shirt. He stood Hutch up and banged his head on the counter. Hutch dropped his gun and Simonetti laughed, “Now what are you going to do?” He hit Hutch in the abdomen. Hutch reached out and connected with Simonetti’s jaw delivering a blow that almost knocked the man down. Simonetti took a swing at Hutch and missed. Hutch dropped to the ground and started searching for the gun he dropped on the floor. He felt a sharp pain in his hand as Simonetti stepped on it. Hutch yelled from the pain. Hutch grabbed Simonetti’s foot and yanked it so hard he fell on the ground. Hutch grabbed the gun and stood back up. Simonetti crawled on the floor to the living room and Hutch pointed the gun at the front door.

Starsky couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling he had and just before he turned the corner to his place he turned around and headed back to Hutch’s. He learned a long time ago, not to ignore his gut feelings, especially when it came to Hutch. He couldn’t explain it but he knew something was wrong and he needed to get back to Hutch. He pulled up to Hutch’s and put the car in park. He looked at the window to Hutch’s apartment and saw that all the lights were off. “He’s going to be mad at me for coming back,” he said out loud as he got out of his car. Maybe it was because he was more aware of his surrounding and sounds since Hutch’s blindness, but he could have sworn that he heard the scuffling sounds of a fight. He ran up the steps drawing his weapon out and saw Hutch’s door had been kicked in. He entered the apartment, “Hutch!”

Simonetti fired a shot at Starsky and missed as Starsky hit the floor. He knew by the sound where Simonetti had moved to after shooting at him.  Hutch hit his fist on the floor once to let Starsky know where he was. Simonetti had Starsky pinned behind Hutch’s couch and Starsky couldn’t get a clear shot at him. Starsky was praying that somehow Hutch had his gun, “Hutch, three o’clock!” Starsky shouted as he moved to his left. Hutch shot where Starsky told him too and he heard Simonetti as he hit the floor. Simonetti yelled out from the pain.

Starsky stood up and turned on a light. After he kicked the gun away from Simonetti, Starsky went to Hutch who was on the floor by the bathroom. He sat Hutch up, “My God, Hutch, are you okay?” He saw blood dripping down the side of Hutch’s face.

“I don’t know. How many fingers am I holding up?” Hutch held up three fingers.

“Three, why?”

“I thought it was two,” he said laughing as he leaned into Starsky’s shoulder.

Starsky got the joke of Hutch not being able to see how many fingers he was holding up, “You’re a nut, you know that?”

“Yeah.”

“What happened to your head?”

“It had an argument with the counter and lost. What about Simonetti?”

“He’s still breathing. Let me get you to the couch and I’ll make some calls.”

Keeping an eye on Simonetti, Starsky assisted Hutch to the couch. Then Starsky turned Simonetti face down on the floor, frisked him and handcuffed him. Simonetti had been shot in the arm and the wound was not life-threatening. Starsky picked up the gun Simonetti had used and set it on the coffee table. “Don’t you dare even think about moving, Simonetti.” Starsky called Captain Dobey who said he just found out that Simonetti had escaped the hospital.

“How’d you know to come back?” Simonetti whined.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Starsky answered. Starsky went into the bathroom and wet a wash cloth and cleaned the blood off Hutch’s face. He held pressure on the wound until the ambulance arrived. The paramedic said that Hutch would probably need a couple of stitches and with the recent brain injury, he strongly suggested Hutch go to the hospital. Hutch didn’t protest too much about going and the paramedic said that it would be okay if Starsky took him.

Captain Dobey arrived as Simonetti was being loaded onto the stretcher. Simmons and Babcock arrived behind Dobey and Simmons said that he would be more than happy to escort Simonetti to the hospital. He stated he would personally stay with him until the doctor released him and then he would escort him to the station.

Starsky stayed the night with Hutch again that night, but the next night he went home. He was a little worried about leaving Hutch alone, but he also knew how important it was for Hutch to be able to stay in his own home by himself. He called Hutch as soon as he got to his house and everything was just fine. Hutch was listening to his favorite records. Starsky said he would be there first thing in the morning but made Hutch promise to call if he needed anything.

A couple more days had gone by and Starsky and Hutch were at their favorite pier taking in all the smells and sounds of the ocean just before sun set. Hutch rubbed his eyes which did not go unnoticed by Starsky. “You okay?”

“I don’t know they’re, itching.” He rubbed them again and then said, “Starsk?”

“Yeah?”

“I can see the sun. It looks like it’s sitting on the ocean. I can’t quite make out all of the colors, but it’s beautiful. It’s so beautiful, Starsk.”

Starsky put his hand on Hutch’s shoulder, “It is that, Buddy.”

“Do you mind if we stay here a little while longer and watch it?”

“We’ll stay here as long as you want.”

“Do you know how I feel right now?”

“How’s that?”

“I feel lucky that I had the chance to see without my eyes and then I got them back. And I feel extremely blessed to have a wonderful partner to share the experience with.”

“You know how I feel, Hutch?”

“How?”

“I’m proud of how you handled it all.” Hutch put his hand on Starsky’s shoulder and they watched the sun as it appeared to have sunk into the ocean.

“You know, Hutch, you look funny with no hair,” Starsky said as they walked back to the car.

“I do have hair. It’s just blonde so you can’t see it very well yet. You’re just jealous because it’s blond.”

“No I’m not.”

“Starsky?”

“Yeah?”

“I look better with stubble than you did in a dress with pantyhose and make up.” Hutch laughed as he opened the car door and got inside.

“Shut up, Hutch.” Starsky opened the driver’s door and got in. They headed to Huggy’s to share the news about Hutch regaining his vision.

 

Epilogue

Starsky and Hutch were back on the streets the following week as the well-tuned machine they had always been. Hutch’s hair continued to grow and it wasn’t long before it was back to its normal length.

During the trial, Dobey sat beside his favorite detective team. Simonetti, Dryden and Andrews were all sentenced to life in prison. The thought of prison scared the hell out of the three men. Prison life was tough for anyone but as former cops their life would be a living hell.

Starsky and Hutch were pleased that the justice system had worked once again. Sure the system had its flaws, but today it worked.