The Last to Know

136

With a little help from their friends, Starsky and Hutch come to a long overdue revelation.

 

Originally published in Blue Eyes and Blue Jeans 2 in 1996 by Linda McGee, Kath Moonshine, and Mary Louise Fisher, under the name, Idiot Triplets Press.

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“Starsky, where’s that partner of yours?” Dobey’s grouchy tone of voice was the only comforting thing in the almost empty squad room.

Back turned as he got a cup of water from the fountain, Starsky hoped his captain would not notice the tremor in his hands. “Don’t know, Cap’n. He left. Said he was getting a ride with Harper.” They had come to work together that morning in the red Torino. His heart still stung from Hutch’s announcement that it wasn’t necessary for Starsky to take him home; he had already asked someone else for a ride. He had not taken into account just how perceptive his superior and friend was.

“My office,” Dobey growled.

Starsky drew a deep sigh, downed his water, and reluctantly followed his captain. Once the door was closed, he stood just inside wishing he could be anywhere else.

Dobey watched him for a few moments then ordered, “Sit down!” After the bundle of nerves flopped into the armchair he demanded, “Now what the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Starsky tried to bluff his way out.

“Don’t you bullshit me, Starsky! You’re going to tell me what’s going on, or were going to be here until you do. With your vacation starting tomorrow, I don’t think you want that,” Dobey added in an attempt to lighten the mood.

There was no sign that the bowed head had even heard him. Brow furrowed, Dobey got up and came around the desk, perching one hip on the edge and leaning toward the silent figure. In a gentle voice he seldom got to use he asked again, “What’s wrong?”

Starsky straightened in the chair but did not look up, the fingernails of his left hand consuming all of his attention. He seemed to reach a decision as he confessed, “I think I really messed up this time, Cap.”

“Professionally or personally?”

“Personally.”

Dobey said nothing for several long moments, considering whether he should pursue this. Wanting to help, he asked, “You two have a fight?”

“You know how it is with Hutch and me. It’s almost like we’re… one person or somethin’.” Starsky went back to studying his nails.

Dobey gave him the time he needed.

When Starsky spoke again, there was a tremor in his throat. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

Making a sudden decision Dobey ordered, “Get your coat.”

“Sir?”

“Don’t argue. You need to talk and this isn’t the place. Get your coat, dammit”

Looking stunned, Starsky seemed about to argue with him, then retrieved his coat and followed his superior from the building.

In the parking lot, Dobey motioned toward his sedan. “Get in.”

“Cap…”

“Dammit, Starsky, for once, just do what I say without a fuss.”

Cranking the engine even before Starsky’s door had slammed, Dobey maneuvered his car out into traffic. The short drive was silent, with Dobey intent on his driving and Starsky staring out the passenger window.

Stopping the car under a shade tree next to a neighborhood park, Dobey managed to get his bulk turned slightly toward the withdrawn figure.

“Now, we’re away from Headquarters and I can be just your friend, not your Captain. I want you to understand that anything you say here is in confidence, just between us. You can trust me.”

“I know that, Cap. Ya didn’t hafta say it,” Starsky assured him, warmth in his voice for the first time.

Dobey repeated, “You two have a fight?”

“Not exactly.” Starsky’s snort of laughter held no mirth. “Last night, I kinda… Well, things kinda… Shit, talking about it’s hard.”

“Then, back up. Tell me what happened before the problem and maybe it’ll be easier when you get to it.”

Slumped on the seat against the car door, Starsky drew a deep breath, trying to calm the cloud of butterflies in his belly, and looked out the window at the empty park. He put his right elbow on the window frame and leaned his chin against that fist. After a minute he began, “Hutch likes the outdoors, ya know? I mean, I don’t really understand it, and I try to enjoy it with him, but it’s kinda like when he’s trying to eat one of Joe’s Char Burgers just ’cause I said I had a sudden cravin’. He manages somehow to get it down, but I know he doesn’t like it. Makes me feel real special, though, ’cause he would do somethin’ he hates just ’cause I wanted it.”

He swallowed hard, and the patient listener knew that they weren’t talking burgers or the great outdoors. Dobey waited, letting the distraught young man gather his thoughts, and was startled a few moments later to realize that Starsky was fighting to maintain his composure.

The blue eyes were suddenly moist. “I really didn’t intend for it to go this far. I didn’t stop to think where it was headin’.”

“You didn’t mean to fall in love with him,” Dobey stated, just to let his companion know he understood.

The words didn’t seem to register as the expressive mouth curved in a tender smile and Starsky continued, “You know what a stuck-up, tight-assed snob he was when we first joined the force? At first, it was just a game. I badgered him ’cause he got so mad, in that cool, uptown way he had. I used to try my damnedest to push him so far, he’d hafta explode. And once I had him going really good, I’d get a case of the giggles. I don’t know what made him madder, my eggin’ him on or laughin’ at him when he lost it.” He sniffed then and wiped his nose on the back of his sleeve.

Grunting, Dobey reached over and opened the glove box, pulling out some napkins from one of the local drive-thru restaurants. Handing them to Starsky, he nudged, “The way I heard it you broke through that cool reserve of his pretty damn fast.”

“Yeah. It was like, I don’t know, we were supposed to be friends, ya know? And once I got a glimpse of the real Hutch, I hadta keep peeling away the layers. ‘Cause he’s just so… beautiful inside. The real Hutch, the one he doesn’t let most folks see, is a hell of a guy, Cap.”

“So, what happened?” Dobey asked, not sure Starsky was ready to get to the real problem.

“We made love last night,” Starsky admitted, barely audible, color staining his cheekbones. He waited in silence for his Captain’s reaction.

“And?” Dobey prodded.

Starsky’s head came around at that. “I just told you that my partner and I, my male partner and I, had sex and you calmly say ‘and’? What’s wrong with this picture?”

“No, you said that you and Hutch made love. There’s a difference. And what the hell did you think that I thought you two did together? Crochet?”

“I didn’t think you thought anything… I mean, I didn’t think… aw, shit, Cap, how would you know when we didn’t?”

“Excuse me?” Dobey’s confusion was sincere.

“I said…”

“I heard what you said. Dave, are you telling me that last night was the first time that you two ever…”

Stunned blue eyes met his. “Cap, I swear. What happened last night was a complete surprise to Hutch and me.”

Dobey fought the temptation to laugh. Starsky certainly would not appreciate that right now. Once he had his voice under firm control, he informed the dazed young man, “Out of all the people you two know, you and Hutch would be the only ones who would be surprised. Dammit, Starsky, I’ve been covering you two for over three years now, thinking I was helping you keep a secret. Joke’s on me!”

The dark-haired storm cloud in the car with him was not amused. “Just what in hell gave you the idea…” He paused. “Three years?”

“Yep, of course that’s when it finally got through my thick skull. Others have said you two were lovers lots longer than that.”

All color had bleached from Starsky’s face. Dobey knew that he must have heard the snickers and crude remarks over the years, but had evidently dismissed them. Apparently, he had never thought anyone, particularly anyone as close to them as Dobey, ever believed those stories.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Dobey placed a meaty hand on one shoulder. “Starsky, you’re not gonna faint or anything, are you?”

“I don’t think so.” His voice did not sound very convincing.

Dobey withdrew his hand and shrugged. “So if it’s just that you’ve been worried how it would seem to other people, hell, just keep right on like you always have. Most folks have already accepted the two of you, even if official policy means it can’t be openly expressed.”

“Cap, it ain’t that simple. I haven’t had time to think about how others would feel about it. Hutch can’t accept it.”

All mirth left Dobey’s thoughts as he used some of the napkins to wipe away the perspiration on his forehead. “He told you he couldn’t?”

“No, but… today, at work he could barely even look at me. And he hasn’t t-t-touched me all day.”

“I noticed. It’s just not natural for you and Hutch to be so uncomfortable with each other. That’s the reason I called you into my office.”

“I think maybe he hates me for what I did.” The pain he was feeling was evident in the whispered confession.

“There’s something you haven’t told me.”

“Yeah. I… we…”

“At the beginnin, Starsky. You were fine when you left HQ yesterday.”

“We had a really great evening. For once there weren’t any cases hanging over us. You know what that’s like. You feel so free. We went bowling and then picked up a few things for supper. Hutch was gonna cook. He’s a great cook, did ya know? Well, we went back to his place and I don’t know who said what, but we started fighting, ya know, not for real, just horsing around. And we ended up wrestling. Hutch thinks he’s so good at it ’cause he wrestled in college.

Anyway, we were rolling around on the floor and, suddenly, everything was just so still and quiet. God, my heart was beating like it was gonna explode. And Hutch was looking at me with those big blue eyes of his all filled with wonder. Then, I don’t really know how, but we were kissing.”

His voice became distant, as if Dobey wasn’t in the car and he was thinking out  loud. “It felt like… home. Like all these years, and all those kisses with all those women, I had been looking for that place. To be right there, him holding me and kissing me.

I don’t think either one of us really thought about where it was going. I know I wasn’t thinking at all. Just feeling. I ain’t never felt that way, not ever. Like, if I died right then it would be okay ‘cause Hutch loved me.

“We were touching, and… It was really strange. All these years, we’ve known each other. Seen each other in every situation possible. There ain’t no part of him I haven’t touched before, like when he was sick or shot and I had to take care of him. But it was all new.

“I don’t know about Hutch but I was so turned on, every time we touched I was on fire all over again. I didn’t know it was possible to love someone so much that no matter what you did, it seemed right.

“There wasn’t any hesitation. You’da thought, with it all being so new, that we would have gone slow. It was like we had been lovers for years and at the same time it was all brand new.”

There was silence for a long while. Dobey was reluctant to break the spell the soft words had created. He knew his imagination was working overtime, but he could almost physically feel the presence of love in that car. When he could trust his voice he asked, “Don’t you think Hutch felt the same way?”

“Maybe. I know I should have stopped before it went too far.”

“Starsky, it sounds to me like there wasn’t any stopping it. Maybe it was just meant to be.”

“That’s what Hutch said.”

“And you don’t believe him?”

“Right now, Cap, if Hutch told me the sky was orange and the moon was limburger cheese, I’d believe him. The problem is, Hutch doesn’t believe it.” He paused again, collecting his thoughts.

“Didja ever notice that Hutch… well Hutch thinks he’s the leader of this team, like he kinda expects me to follow him? And I kinda let him think that? Not that I really follow all the time. And not that he really thinks I do. It’s just his way, to always hafta be in charge. And I don’t mind playin’ it that way, ya know? ‘Cept last night, I was the one leadin’. And this morning when we’re both thinkin’ a lot clearer, I don’t know if he can deal with that.

“See, I couldn’t stop myself. And when he said…” He blushed deep red. “Maybe I ought not tell this part”

“In for a penny, in for a pound, Starsky. You might as well.”

Starsky swallowed hard. “We were still on the floor and he asked if we should move into the bedroom. I told him I’d move into his skin if he’d let me, and he got all still, and soft, and lovin’. Then he said I could have anything I wanted.”

He dropped his eyes, ashamed of himself for taking advantage of the moment. “I shouldn’t have. I know that, but right then I couldn’t think of anywhere else I wanted to be. And it was, ya know, it was just like I moved right into his skin. Body, mind and soul.

It’s never been that way for me before. I’ve made it with lots of women. You know that. You probably thought that most of my bragging was made up stuff, but there’s been lots. With them it was all physical. Even Terry. I loved her, but when it came to making love, it was always just the body. Never all of me. I just never knew it could be like that.”

“So you think Hutch let you have intercourse with him just because you wanted it?”

“Damn, you make it sound so clinical.”

“You’d rather I said Hutch let you fuck him?”

“Naw, I guess not I’m sorry,” Starsky apologized. “It’s just… this is Hutch we’re talking about, Cap. Can you ever see him submitting himself like that? Letting someone do that to him?”

“Someone? No. You? Starsky, you know Hutch would give you the world if he could.”

“That’s just it. He already did.”

There was nothing to be said to that and silence once again surrounded them. At last, Starsky asked in a quiet voice, “Cap, how can you be so acceptin’ of all of this? I mean, having to tell you… I was scared shitless this morning knowing that I should tell you what was going on and being afraid of your reaction. Didn’t think I could handle losing your respect.”

“I had a hard time dealing with it at first,” Dobey admitted, then he had to laugh at Starsky’s reaction. “You’re forgetting, I’ve had years to get used to the idea.”

He became very serious as he collected his thoughts. “You and Hutch are my boys and I love you just like Cal. It’s not something I would choose for him or you guys.

“And you’re right. Everything about me, everything about who I am, says that homosexuality is wrong. But that’s not who you are. This isn’t about homosexuality. This is about the deepest, truest kind of love ifs ever been my privilege to witness. The way you and Hutch are together isn’t dirty. Or wrong. It just is.”

That produced another swell of emotion as Starsky managed to whisper, “Thanks, Cap.”

“I need to find a phone and call in. Then we’re going to go get a drink. I think we both could use one.” Dobey started the engine and they pulled away from the curb, a pair of blue eyes looking wistfully at the little green island of trees.

* * * *

Hearing the bell on the bar door chime, Huggy Bear called, “Sorry, we’re closed.” He stuck his head around the bar. “Hey, I said… oh, its you, blondie. Calling it a day a little early, ain’t ya?”

Hutch hesitated halfway to the bar. “You don’t mind, do you, Huggy? I didn’t want to go home, and I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Uh-oh,” Huggy muttered under his breath, then deliberately brightened his mood. “Have a seat, my man. You look like you could use a stiff one.” He poured Hutch a shot of bourbon and waited for him to get seated on the barstool before observing, “You look a little lop-sided.”

Confused blue eyes tried to focus on him, as if to make sense out of the nonsensical statement. “What?”

Huggy had not thought the problem this serious and immediately gentled his question. “Where’s your missing half? You know, dark curls? Blue eyes?”

Hutch’s only response was an effort at a smile that didn’t quite come off.

This is serious, Huggy thought to himself. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Everything.” Hutch downed the bourbon in one gulp.

“Tell your friend Huggy Bear all about it,” the lanky black man encouraged.

“You don’t want to hear this one.”

“Wouldn’tve asked if I didn’t.”

Elbows on the bar and holding the empty glass with both hands, Hutch drew a deep breath and held it, his shoulders rounding over as his head bowed. Letting it out slowly and without looking up, he admitted, “Your friendship means a lot to me. I’d rather not jeopardize that, okay?”

“What could ever stop us from being friends?” Huggy asked, all street jive aside. Hutch needed him and not the character he portrayed.

“Something about me and…” He stopped himself. “Really, Hug, just leave it alone. You don’t want to know.”

“Something about you and Starsky? You two have a fight?”

“Please, just let it go?”

Huggy ran all the possible scenarios he could imagine through his mind. Not only could he not come up with what was bothering his friend, he couldn’t fathom why Hutch wouldn’t confide in him. Starsky and Hutch had always been completely open with him. Well, almost. They had never come right out and said… anger hit him and he stiffened. “Don’t stereotype me, Hutchinson.”

The anger in Huggy’s voice seemed to shock Hutch into some semblance of rational thought. “Excuse me?”

“You’re not in Duluth anymore. I thought you’d outgrown those WASP notions you brought with you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

“Don’t stereotype me. All black folks are not homophobic, no more than all white folks are!”

“I wasn’t… I haven’t…” Hutch blanched as Huggy’s words sank in and he whispered, “I guess we are now, huh? Homosexuals, I mean?” Guileless blue eyes searched Huggy’s face for answers.

Huggy immediately regretted his anger. “And don’t go puttin’ no labels on yourself, neither. Don’t need no labels. Besides, ain’t no label for what you and Starsky got.”

“Had, Huggy. What Starsky and I had.”

“Tell me what happened,” Huggy ordered as he poured more bourbon.

Hutchinson was gesturing with his hands as he tried to make himself understood. “I’m not sure I can put it into words. We had a free evening last night and we went bowling. I know what a pain in the butt I can be sometimes, I know I have moods… But last night was… good. I was feeling all warm and… contented. I was feeling relaxed. Maybe the first time in weeks, I just felt…” He couldn’t come up with the right word so he took a sip of his drink.

“We went back to my place. I was going to fix us some dinner. We got to fooling around, real high school stuff. We started wrestling. And then, I don’t know how it happened, Huggy. One minute we’re best pals, kidding with each other, and the next we’re making love.” He stopped, waiting for the reaction.

“So how was this time different?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re all bent out of shape about last night. What made last night different?” Huggy repeated patiently.

Hutch looked at him as if he had grown two heads. “I told you Starsky and I made love.”

“Right,” Huggy responded, waiting for more.

“I feel like I just fell through the looking glass.” Hutch ran both hands through his flaxen hair. “Would you please tell me what it is I’m missing here? Besides my mind?”

“Couldn’t say, bro, cause I’m missing it, too. Somehow, we’re not communicating. I want to know what made the way you two made love last night so different from all the other times that you come in here telling me you and Starsky are history.”

“All the other times?!” Hutch squeaked. “What other times?!”

Huggy dropped the glass he had been drying and it rolled away unnoticed by both men. There was stunned silence as the pair looked at each other, trying to make sense of it all. “Hutchinson, are you telling me that last night was the first time that you and Starsky got it together?”

“Damn right, last night was the first time! What makes you think that we’d ever done that before?”

Huggy came around the bar and sat down, suddenly needing that support under him. “Man, I’d have bet my life on it that you two had been tripping the light fantastic for years.”

Silence reigned for several minutes, each man lost in his own thoughts. It was Huggy who broke the quiet “Maybe you two hadn’t had sex before last night, but I swear you’ve been making love for almost as long as I’ve known you. I’ve seen you do it, man. The way you touch. Shit, sometimes the sexual tension is so thick, I get a hard-on just watching you guys.” He hadn’t meant for his confession to include that part and he blushed. Huggy was relieved that Hutch seemed to be so involved with his own thoughts that he hadn’t noticed.

Hutch said, “I do love him. You’re right about that, and it seems like years now. We just never thought about it in terms of sex. Don’t know how we got to that point last night Just happened.

“Starsky’s like a part of me. Sometimes I think he’s the best part. He’s taught me so much. About himself. People. Mostly about me. Where I grew up, people didn’t express themselves so freely. You thought first. Weighed the possibilities. And if you decided you weren’t going to give away too much of yourself, then you could express what you thought. Not Starsky. He just wades right in, like he owns the place. He sort of announces ‘Here I am, world. Like it or stick it up your ass.’

“I couldn’t ever tell him, and don’t you tell him either, but I’ve always wanted to be more like him.”

In the silence of the next few moments, Huggy could see by the tender smile that Hutch was thinking of his other half.

“You think that since you shared your bodies that you can’t be friends anymore?” Huggy prodded, knowing they still hadn’t hit on the real problem.

“I think that maybe he’s lost respect for me,” Hutch whispered.

“I just can’t see that, Hutch. You’re gonna have to explain.”

“In our job, Starsky has always followed me. Well, not always, but in the really important stuff. It’s like his half compliments my half. Together we’re whole, with me sort of being the helm and him being the rudder.

“Last night, I just wanted him to lead. I wanted to follow him. God, I wanted him to take charge so bad, and when he did…” He closed his eyes. “It was magnificent. It was like… it wasn’t our bodies that were coupling, but our souls. Feeling him, over me, around me, in me. I have never felt so whole, so complete in my whole life.” He opened his eyes as he realized that he had been speaking out loud. Embarrassed, he blushed bright red. “Shit, you probably didn’t want to hear that part.”

It wasn’t embarrassment that Huggy was feeling, but awe. “Do you realize what a gift you two shared last night? Most folks will never get to feel what you just told me. And I still don’t see where the problem is!”

“Huggy, last night was our first time together. We have never, I swear, never touched each other in any way that could be thought of as sexual. Don’t you think it a little… I don’t know. A little strange that our first time would go as far as it did? We never talked about what we were doing. Never asked the other was it all right It just happened.”

“Do you wish it hadn’t?”

“No, I don’t wish that! It was the singular most intense event in my entire life.”

“Help me, here, man, ’cause I still ain’t seeing it. Are you thinking Starsky regrets what happened? Is that the problem?”

“Maybe. We were kind of uncomfortable with each other this morning. like we really didn’t know what to say. And like we were kind of scared to touch each other.”

“You think that Starsky really doesn’t respect you now?”

Hutch flinched and closed his eyes. “I think I got carried away. It was just that it felt so good. So right And I just wanted to take him all in. Make him a part of me. After what I said and what I did, maybe he thinks I’m not what he thought I was.”

“And I think you’re doing your usual number and thinking the whole thing to death!” Huggy scolded. The phone rang and he went to answer it, leaving Hutch to do even more thinking.

* * * *

When Dobey pulled up in front of The Pits, Starsky informed him, “Huggy’s not open yet.”

“It’s okay, I called him. He knows we’re coming.” What Dobey didn’t tell him was that he had called Huggy looking for Hutch. It had seemed to him to be where the blond officer would go if he were hurting and couldn’t go to his partner.

They were already well into the establishment before Dobey’s eyes adjusted to the dim light and he was able to see Hutch sitting at the bar and looking at Starsky, the unspoken acknowledgment of who they were to each other blazing in the clear blue eyes.

Starsky had frozen in place, but he received a hearty nudge from behind from his superior and he moved toward Hutch just as Huggy was giving the blond a push away from the bar.

Neither spoke as they met, eyes locked together as if they shared some silent telepathic communication. Several heartbeats later they came together in sweet surrender. Their lips met in a humbling relinquishment of all doubts, as their arms found their way around trim waists, and their bodies were pressed together in total commitment.

Dobey had silently circled around to the bar, and he and Huggy watched, feeling like they should at least turn the other way and yet held captive by the beauty of the gentle caresses.

Hutch stretched his neck in appreciation of the kisses Starsky bestowed on him there. Then he ran his hands through the luxurious dark hair to push Starsky’s head back so he could look at him face to face.

“I love you,” Hutch breathed.

“I love you, too. God, Hutch, is everything all right now?”

“Yes, babe. I think maybe it is. Thanks to some friends of ours.”

They both seemed to remember they weren’t alone at that point, and they separated only minutely, maintaining contact as if parting would cause pain.

As they turned toward him, Dobey cleared his throat, growling, “Well, I’m glad that’s settled. Huggy, I sure could use that drink now.” His voice was a little more brusque than necessary, but, knowing what he thought he had known all these years had been one thing. Seeing them together now and knowing it to be fact was something entirely different.

“Comin’ right up, Captain.” Huggy seemed grateful for the excuse to cover his own awkwardness.

Hutch’s voice was tight with emotion as he said, “Thanks, Captain, Huggy.”

“Yeah, from me, too,” Starsky seconded, then directed to his partner, “What I want to know is, how come we didn’t know we were in love?” His incredulous question brought a round of laughter which eased the tension in the bar.

* * * *

While Dobey finished his drink, Starsky and Hutch talked softly, faces inches apart, fully absorbed in each other. Huggy and Dobey exchanged knowing looks, both concerned, each remembering how his half of the team had described the way emotions had snowballed the evening before.

Huggy cleared his throat loudly to get their attention. “I hate to break up the happy reunion, fellas, but my establishment is going to be open for business in fifteen minutes. You guys want to go upstairs or you planning on being the entertainment tonight?”

That produced a matched set of bright red faces. It was Hutch who found his voice first, squaring his shoulders as if he refused to be ashamed of the way he felt about his partner. “Actually, I think we’d like to go back to my place. If you’d give us a ride, Cap?”

“I think that I can do that.”

On the way to Venice Place, it was all Dobey could do to keep his eyes on the road and out of the rear-view mirror. The few times he had given in to temptation when stopped by a traffic light, his passengers were sitting with their foreheads touching, talking softly, hands gently traveling over each other, straightening a collar, picking imaginary lint, smoothing non-existent wrinkles in the shirts. He had seen them perform the exact same motions hundreds of times over the years, just not so much concentrated into such a small time frame.

He listened shamelessly to the whispered endearments being traded until he got a fragment of conversation.

Obvious concern in his voice, Starsky asked, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, silly, you didn’t hurt me.”

“You sure? God, I was so afraid you were hurt.”

“Relax. I’m a little sore, but what hurt most this morning was my throat.”

“Yeah, mine, too. I did my share of screaming last night, too. Thank god, you don’t have any close neighbors. They migh’ve called the cops.”

Both snickered like teenagers and Dobey reached to turn on the radio.

When they pulled up in front of Venice Place and his passengers got out, Dobey knew that whatever problems they might still face, they were ready to talk them out.

They thanked him again, and turned as one to go up the narrow stairs.

Dobey watched until they were out of sight, struck by the fact that from the moment they had been reunited at Huggy’s, the pair had never broken physical contact. With an affectionate smile, he pulled away from the curb. He didn’t have to wonder where his best team of detectives was going to spend their two-week vacation. He did wonder momentarily if their new discovery would change them in any way, then decided that it wouldn’t.

Nothing had changed, really. He shook his head in amazement at the fact that Starsky and Hutch had been the last to know.