Chapter Ten

 

Hutch rushed to his partner’s side, panic in his voice. “Starsk! Starsk! Are you okay?”

 

“Get this idiot off me.”

 

Relieved to hear his voice, Hutch rolled Curly off of Starsky, ready to cuff him, but the bullet had entered Curly’s forehead and he’d been dead before he hit the ground.

 

Starsky started to sit up, but finding his right arm wracked with pain, he rolled onto his left side, hoping to use it as leverage. Hutch turned back and reached to help him sit up, but stopped suddenly when he felt blood on his hand. “Lie still,” he ordered, his concern evident. “You’re bleeding.” He gently rolled Starsky onto his side to get a better look. “Looks like you probably tore some or all of the stitches.”

 

At that instant, two uniformed officers entered the room, guns drawn.

 

“Detective Starsky?”

 

Hutch stood up and ordered, “I’m Detective Hutchinson. We need a coroner’s unit and an ambulance.”

 

As one of the officers hurried off to call, Starsky tugged on his partner’s pant leg, his voice almost a whisper. “Hutch?”

 

“What is it, buddy?” Hutch turned and knelt down next to his partner

“I don’t want an ambulance.”

 

“I ordered it for Willie. Though, I think you’ll be going along for the ride.”

 

As Hutch started to rise, Starsky said, “Then you’d better make it two.” And he pointed to the blood on the back of Hutch’s head.

 

Hutch reached up and winced as he touched the tender spot. “Looks like we’ll both be having headaches for a while. How about I drive the walking wounded to the hospital?”

 

˜ ™

 

Hutch pulled up in front of Tony’s Party Store, and he and Starsky got out. It had been a busy day, and Hutch could tell from the lines starting to appear around Starsky’s mouth and eyes that he was rapidly tiring. But he’d promised his friend that they would make this stop. That morning, they’d been to the doctor’s office to have Starsky’s stitches finally removed, and from there they had celebrated with lunch at The Pits. It was the first time in a week that Starsky had been out of the apartment.

 

After being released from the hospital a week earlier, Starsky and he had been met in the hallway by a livid Captain Dobey and an angry Lieutenant Jackson. Dobey had borrowed the doctor’s office, and, once all four were inside, Dobey and Jackson had proceeded to ream them for the “lame brain stunt they’d pulled this time.” Dobey had put Starsky on report for going out on surveillance with Hutch when he hadn’t been medically cleared. Then, Jackson let Hutch have it for taking Starsky along, despite Starsky’s protests that if he hadn’t been there, Hutch probably would have ended up at the end of some pier. Dobey had ordered Starsky to stay home, “and I mean home,” until his doctor had given him the okay to report back to duty. As their conversation ended, Jackson finally relaxed his stance and turned to the three men, sincerely thanking them for their assistance in finding the men who had murdered his father.

 

This morning, the doctor had released Starsky for desk duty and, at Starsky’s insistence, had even called Dobey to tell him he’d received the all-clear. Apparently properly chastised and unwilling to challenge Dobey’s orders, Starsky had given Hutch little trouble, and surprisingly few complaints, about staying indoors for the week. He did, however, extract a promise from his partner that on the day the doctor gave him the all-clear, they could stop by the party store to see how Maria was doing.

 

Starsky and Hutch exited the car and walked into the corner store. Tony was behind the counter, and they were both surprised to see Maria sitting behind him on a stool.

 

“What are you doing here?” Starsky asked in amazement. “We were coming to check with Tony on how you were doing, but I guess I’ve got my answer.” He walked over and gave Maria a kiss on the cheek and took both her hands in his.

 

She blushed and said, “I’m doing good, Davey. I can’t work yet ’cause I get worn out too fast, but I was tired of being home and I came to sit with Tony for a while.”

 

Hutch laughed and said, “Don’t let Captain Dobey hear you say that.”

 

“Huh?” she asked, confused.

 

“Just ignore him.” Starsky grinned and stepped back to look Maria over, holding her hands in his. “I just wanna make sure you’re okay.”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“Did they ever find out who robbed us?” Tony asked Hutch.

“Not yet. But we will.” The last was added emphatically.

 

“I was so surprised to find out you were a cop,” Maria exclaimed to Starsky. “Imagine, a policeman washing my floors.” She shook her head in amazement.

 

“They call it going undercover,” Starsky explained. “But in this case, it didn’t work out too well.”

 

“I don’t agree. We still caught the two felons we were after,” Hutch said, shaking his head. “And Samuelson will never see the light of day outside a prison, now that we can add to those charges murder, robbery, assault on a police officer and attempted murder. The jury put Samuelson behind bars once; it’ll be a real pleasure extending his time there. Willie is singing long and sweet about the robberies, not only at the liquor stores but also at the warehouses and jewelry stores. We’ll even be able to pin Jackson’s murder on Samuelson.”

 

At the sound of the door opening, all heads turned.

 

“Billy,” Maria called out in pleasant surprise. “How’s your grandmother?”

 

“She’s fine.” Billy looked at Starsky and Hutch, and then stared at the tiles on the floor.

 

“What do you need today? More candy?” Maria teased.

 

“No. More soup.” Billy rolled his eyes and walked over to the soup aisle. He stood there studying the cans.

 

As the others continued talking, Starsky wandered over to stand next to Billy. “How ya doin’?”

 

Billy kept his eyes on the ground, but he answered, “Okay.”

 

“That’s good.” Starsky reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple dollars and handed them to Billy. “Here. Buy yourself some candy.”

 

Billy looked at the money longingly, his fingers closing tightly around the bills when Starsky shoved them into his hands. As Starsky walked away, Billy called out, “Are you really a cop?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“How come you was working in this place?”

 

Starsky returned and knelt down, looking at the young boy. “I was undercover trying to catch some thieves.”

 

“Did you find them?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Were they the ones that hurt you and Mrs. Viviano?”

 

Starsky shook his head. “No, there are lots of bad guys out there, and we don’t catch them all. But Hutch and me, we’ll keep trying.”

 

As Starsky patted him on the head and stood to leave, Billy said softly, “I know who done it.”

 

Starsky stopped and returned to Billy’s side. “What do you mean?”

Billy looked Starsky in the eye and pulled him down to whisper in his ear, “Paulie done it.”

 

Starsky grabbed Billy’s arms. “Are you sure?”

 

Billy nodded. “I heard him bragging to some neighbor boys. He said he stabbed two people and took some money. He was laughing about it. At first, I didn’t know it was you…”

 

Starsky straightened up. “Thanks for the information, Billy. You don’t know how much that helps. And don’t worry about Paulie; he isn’t going to know it was you who told me.”

 

Billy straightened up, chest out. “I ain’t afraid of him. I’m just sorry he hurt you and Mrs. Viviano.”

 

Starsky ruffled Billy’s hair and headed to the counter. “Maria, where does Paulie live?”

 

“Around the corner in the King Apartments. Apartment 305, I think.”

 

“Thanks.” Starsky headed out the door with Hutch close on his heels.

 

“What’s up?” Hutch asked, knowing something had set his partner in motion. He could see the determined look in Starsky’s eyes—the look that dared anyone, including himself, to try and stop him.

 

Starsky practically ran around the corner, explaining as they went, “Billy just told me he overheard Paulie bragging to his friends that he’d stabbed two people and stole some money. Paulie’s the punk that was in here giving Maria a hard time and extorting money from the little kids.”

 

Hutch grabbed Starsky’s sleeve trying to slow him down. “Wait a minute, you’re not even on active duty yet; Dobey will have both our hides if you arrest him.”

 

Starsky paused for a moment, then yanked his arm away, letting his anger win out. “I don’t care. I can’t believe he would stab Maria, leave her for dead, and then steal her money. She’s been kind to him all his life…”

 

“Starsk, wait. You’re forgetting that he also stabbed you. You can’t go storming over there. You can’t even make an arrest right now; Dobey still has your gun and badge.”

 

Frustrated, Starsky started pacing back and forth. “What are we gonna do? I wanna get my hands on that kid.”

 

Hutch grabbed Starsky by the arm to slow him down. “That’s what I’m afraid of. Now, go back and call for a black-and-white; tell them to meet me here, and I’ll go arrest this Paulie. It’ll be my pleasure. Okay?” Hutch knew Starsky wasn’t happy with the idea, but he waited until he saw Starsky’s nod of approval. “You stay either in the car or inside the store. I don’t want you blowing this arrest or your career. You won’t like directing traffic, and that’s what Dobey threatened if you didn’t follow his orders.”

 

Starsky looked at Hutch, weighing his options. He finally nodded in agreement and raced back to the car. Impatiently sitting, anxiously waiting and listening to the sound of the siren announcing the approach of the black-and-white, Starsky stewed in his anger. He wanted to be there making the arrest, but he knew it was probably better that Hutch was doing it. Suddenly, a smile spread across his face as he imagined the scene in the apartment. He was glad he wasn’t Paulie and on the receiving end of Hutch’s wrath. Paulie had a made a mistake, robbing and hurting Maria, but he’d made a bigger one when he’d hurt the blond’s partner.

 

˜ ™

 

Hutch was diligently working on an arrest report when he saw Starsky coming through the door, his usual smile and carefree swagger missing. He walked slow and dejected.

 

Hutch stood up and quickly approached Starsky as he reached his desk. He pulled out his partner’s chair for him to sit down. “What’s up? You don’t look so good.”

 

Starsky plopped into the chair disgustedly and looked down at his desk. “Can you get me a cup of coffee?”

 

“Sure,” Hutch said, and turned to the coffee pot to fill Starsky’s cup. “So tell me what happened…”

 

“Huh…it was horrible, Hutch. I saw this lady crying as she left, and I was really scared. I didn’t know what they were going to do to me.” He stopped to take a sip of coffee.

 

“So, tell me about it. How much do you owe the IRS?”

 

Starsky reached in his pocket and pulled out a stack of papers stapled together. He waved them in the air and said, “It was really terrible. I don’t know how I’m ever going to pay it back. I asked if I can have them take some out of my paycheck each week, but they said that’s only going to cost me more in penalties and interest.”

 

“Don’t worry about it, partner. I’ll lend you the money if that’ll keep them off your back. Sure you don’t wanna go home, you don’t look so good?”

 

“Nah, I’ll be fine.” When the phone rang, Starsky set the papers down on the desk and grabbed it. Hutch leaned over, picked up the papers, and quickly glanced through them.

As Starsky hung up, Hutch stood, his face flushed. “You had me worried sick, and you were lyin’ to me, Starsk. This doesn’t say you owe. It says you’re getting a refund.”

 

Starsky stood up and warily smiled. He backed toward the door. “Now, Hutch, I am getting a refund, but it’s only a little one.”

 

“A little one?”

 

“Yeah, only a dollar.”

 

“A dollar?”

 

“Well, a dollar sixty-seven to be exact. Nancy asked if I still wanted it, and I said yes.”

 

“You convinced the IRS to give you a dollar refund?”

 

Starsky nodded, swallowing quickly. “’Said as long as it was more than a dollar it was okay with them.”

 

“How’d you manage to get a refund?”

 

“Lester forgot to include some medical bills. She had to, uh…‘disallow,’ yeah, that was the word she used, disallow some of the things Lester put on the return. But when she found the other bills, Nancy was really nice and let me add them.”

 

“Nancy?”

 

“Yeah, the auditor. Nancy. Nancy Cooper.” Starsky felt himself being backed into the filing cabinets as Hutch’s voice rose.

 

“You’re on a first-name basis with the auditor?”

 

Starsky smiled weakly. “Yeah, she’s a real pretty lady—long, dark hair, lovely smile.”

 

“Starsk…”

 

“Guess what, Hutch?” Starsky patted the front pocket of his jacket. “I got her phone number, and I even asked if she had a friend…” As Hutch bore down on him, Starsky pushed open the squadroom door. “Now, Hutch…I’ll even share the refund with ya…”