CHAP
8
Starsky
wore himself out with the struggling and it was to no avail.Although
the
ropes had loosened, he could not get them off.
He knew he had to try to
reach
Gayle. He'd managed to during his first
capture by Marcos, somehow
she'd
resisted Marcos' goons and not stabbed him.
Even now Gayle was clearly
trying
to protect him, even if the way in which she was doing it was more
than a
little bizarre. He had to appeal to her
to help him save Hutch. There
was no
point in him being safe, if his partner was dead. He lost track of time but
figured that it was a few hours since Gayle had left. His wrists were sore from the rubbing of the rope as he tried to break
loose. Finally the footsteps returned
and Gayle came back, looking white and tearstained.
"Hello
David. Sorry I was so long but Attard
wasn't very happy that you'd
escaped
and Peter, my brother is to be
punished. If you're not found, I'll
be
punished too, but I don't care. I'm
going to keep you safe. Let me make
you
more comfortable" and with that she removed his gag. Starsky coughed.
"Gayle,
please. You want to help me but this
isn't helping me, not if my
partner
is killed. I need to keep him
safe."
"It's
too late. Hutchinson will be killed
tonight. There's nothing either
of us
can do about it. But David, you'll be
safe here. I've only tied you up
so that
you won't do anything stupid. Nothing
can be done to save your
partner,
or my brother for that matter" Starsky detected a glimmer of hope with
that statement. Gayle was obviously
upset about what was going to happen to her
brother.
"Gayle,
I can see you love your brother. I love
my partner too, he's my best
friend
and I can't sit back here safe and sound if he's going to be killed.
Please,
untie me and I'll try to save them both.”
"But
David, Attard hates you more than anyone.
He'd rather kill you than
Hutchinson,
given a choice. I know he wants you
both dead but it's you he
hates,
and he blames you for Simon's death. If
I untie you, you'll walk
straight
into his trap."
"Please
Gayle, I've got to try to save Hutch and I promise I'll try to save
Peter
too. What's going to happen to him, and
you, if I don't turn up?"
He
didn't miss Gayle's shudder of fear.
"He won't find me, for we can hide
out"
but she was close to tears when she thought about Peter. Peter was
only involved
in this because of her and she knew how cruel Attard was. She
wanted David
to be safe, but maybe she should try to save Peter too. She looked
into Starsky's
eyes, that were begging her to untie him.
"It
could be too late David. They were going to grab him this afternoon. Then
what?"
"Then
I don't much care what happens to me Gayle, if that motherfucker kills
Hutch. But I have to try!"
"Okay"
and she untied him.
Hutch
drove around, talking to contacts but no-one had heard anything. Huggy tried to
calm him down but knew he wouldn't calm down until Starsky was safe.
It
seemed that Starsky had vanished off the face of the earth. He hadn't
eaten
or slept since the disappearance and was wearing fast. Huggy looked
at him
in concern as he sat at his bar, looking considerably older than his 32
years.
"Dunno
Hug. No-one knows anything. How can that be? Someone must know
who'd want
him dead. Oh I know, I know" Hutch
gestured impatiently as Huggy was
about
to speak "Lots of people want us both dead. But no-one has come after
me
and…." His voice trailed off as a thought struck him.
"What
is it?" Huggy knew that look.
"Marcos
goons! It's got to be! Of all our enemies, they're the ones who've
been
more concerned with getting him rather than me. When they've grabbed
me it's
been to get him to come out."
"Marcos
is dead, and so is that other son of a bitch, Attard"
"Is
he? Hug, his body was never
identified. The explosion was so bad
that
it was
impossible to tell"
"How
could he have survived a blast like that?"
"Don't
know but if anyone could that son of a bitch could. What if he had been away from the blast? Not in the hut? Hug, I've got to go.."
"Hutch…." Huggy jumped up to follow him. He was delayed by knocking into
someone,
which gave Hutch a head start. Another
question from one of his
waitresses,
further delayed him.
"HUTCH
WAIT. I want to talk to ….." he
trailed off as he saw a black van, which had been parked at the corner,
suddenly start up and come screeching towards Hutch, who was very close to his
car. All he could do was watch in horror as Hutch was grabbed by three thugs
and hauled off into the van. He
realised he needed the licence plate and fortunately he got a good view of
it. He raced back in to phone Dobey.
CHAP
9
Hutch
had struggled hard, but he was overpowered by the three thugs, and the
element
of surprise and had been knocked
out. When he regained consciousness,
he was tied, gagged and blindfolded and being carried somewhere. He felt his wrists being untied and his
arms pulled up. He knew what was going
to happen and he now knew who had him and Starsky. He hoped Starsky was here and was okay. He'd been missing for over 48 hours and heaven only knew what
damage these lunatics could do in that time. His blindfold was still over his
eyes, as the first blow landed on him.
"Where's
your partner? He's got to die
too!" Hutch felt cold. Why were they
asking him where Starsky was? His gag
was brought down so that he could answer.
"TELL
US WHERE HE IS!"
"You
bastards know where he is!" Hutch was gasping as he struggled for breath. "You took him from the hospital."
"We
took him, but he escaped. You can't
tell us you don't know where he is!"
"Well
I DON'T! Not that I'd tell you…."
"Hit
him, but don't kill him" a flurry of punches followed, leaving Hutch bruised
and sore. Even in the midst of his
pain, he found himself worrying
about
Starsky. Where was he? Then consciousness left him.
--
Starsky
and Gayle made their way to Attard's hideout, Starsky beside himself
with
worry.
"Are
you sure that Hutch will be there? How
do we know he was caught? I
should
ring my Captain!"
"No
David. They were going to grab him
tonight, I know that. They would
have
followed him and got him. Anyway, you
promised me that you'd help me
save
Peter too! We've got to go and can't
stop to make any phone calls".
Starsky
was torn. He felt sick at the thought
of Hutch going through what
he had
at the hands of these lunatics and he knew that he couldn't waste any
time if
he had been caught. But what if he
hadn't been caught yet? He
could
be walking into another trap. After a
couple of seconds of thought,
he
realised that he had to risk it. He'd
do anything to save Hutch, up to
and
including falling into the hands of those lunatics again. He needed
his
gun, until Gayle handed him one.
"I
know you're worried David. So am
I. I don't want you to be hurt by them
again. This isn't your weapon, it belongs to Peter
and we may need it to
get him
free. I've got my own!" Starsky looked at her in concern. There
was
that fanatic light in her eyes again and he doubted that he was dealing
with a
balanced person. However, his only
concern, as always, was for
Hutch.
CHAPTER
10
As they
approached Attard’s hideout, Starsky was getting even more worried
about
Gayle. She was distant with him, and
the nearer they got to Attard,
the
more he started to worry that this was a big mistake. At least he had a
weapon
and he had a feeling he’d need it, and a great deal of luck.
However,
he was prepared to do what he had to do to save Hutch.
“Gayle,
are you okay?”
“Yes
David. We have to save Peter!”
“Hutch
too!”
“Yes
David, whatever you say.” Starsky
looked at her, very worried about
what he
was heading into. Gayle pulled up and
pointed to the house.
“That’s
where he is. We’d best stop here.
Remember you’ve got to get Peter
out
too.”
Starsky
got out of his car, drawing his gun. He
tried to stop Gayle
following
him but she ignored him and was right on his tail. This worried
him too
but Hutch was his main concern. They
crept towards the house, Gayle
suddenly
taking the lead, showing Starsky the way to the back. Suddenly she
stopped,
as the sound of Attard’s voice floated towards them, seemingly
mesmerised
by the sound. Starsky looked at her,
startled by the
transformation
again, and that was his mistake. He was
unprepared for the
attack
when it happened, four men jumping out and grabbing him, pulling him
into
the house. Gayle just watched the
attack.
“What
about Peter, Gayle? Don’t you care
about him?” Starsky made another
appeal
to Gayle as he was hauled in to face Attard.
Gayle was silent,
incapable
of helping and she followed them in the house.
“Hello
Detective Starsky” It was Attard.
Starsky braced himself as the gun
was
taken off him and he was marched into the room where he saw Hutch,
hanging
and bleeding. He was blindfolded and
had clearly been severely
beaten. Starsky was knocked to the ground, so that
he was in front of
Attard.
“Nice
to see you Detective Starsky. You and
Hutchinson are going to die
tonight
for it was your fault that Simon died.
I offer you the choice – you
can
kill him or we will. We will then kill
you.”
CHAPTER
11
Starsky
couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.
“You
heard me Detective Starsky. You have a
choice - to either kill
Hutchinson,
or watch us kill him. You will of
course die after him but you
have
the opportunity of saving Hutchinson from a painful death.”
Hutch
had regained consciousness, although he was feeling dazed and sore.
He
could hear what was being said and everything in him protested against
what
Starsky was facing. He tried to wriggle
but it caused his stretched
arms to
hurt and he had to give in. Starsky
hadn’t noticed for he was
staring
at Attard in horror.
“Of
course we don’t expect you to be able to just stick a knife in your
partner. We’ll give you something that will help but
I want you to say it
out
loud. Tell us that you will kill
Hutchinson.”
Starsky
was speechless, looking in horror at his partner. The choice he was
being
offered was no choice at all. Either
kill Hutch himself, or have
Hutch
subjected to a long and painful death.
Oh God, this couldn’t be
happening. He shook his head automatically, hoping that
he’d find himself
waking
up from his operation and that this entire incident was nothing more
than a
nightmare.
Attard
punched him in the face, causing him to fall backwards. Two of the
men
leaned down and hauled him up, and Attard punched him again.
“You
have to die Detective Starsky. So
does your partner. Now ANSWER
ME!” Starsky had cut his lip and was dazed as he
stared at Attard.
“Please
... don’t hurt Hutch. I’ll do anything
but that....” Another blow
caused
him to half collapse, held up by the two who’d picked him up. The
blow
had landed on his sore mouth and he was very close to losing
consciousness. Attard grabbed him by his hair and lifted
his head up.
“Well?” He shook him when he realised that he wasn’t
going to get a
response
from Starsky and nodded towards Gayle who was watching in horror.
“He’s
not going to agree easily to killing his partner, so we’ll have to
persuade
him, persuade him that Hutchinson is the enemy and needs to die!”
Starsky
was pulled away and found himself being pulled out of the room.
“Hhhhuuu...”
was all he could manage. He was pushed
into a chair and tied
up,
barely aware of what was going to happen.
Gayle looked at him sadly as
she
pulled his head back to make him drink.
Before the liquid was forced on
him, he
managed to whisper to her “What about Peter?”
Gayle
jumped slightly. Peter, she had to
save Peter and David was supposed
to help
her but before she could change her mind, one of the others took the
liquid
from her and forced Starsky to drink it.
He was expecting to feel
pain,
as he had on previous occasions, but no pain came. Instead, he found
himself
with a strange floating sensation, the pain from the beatings and
his mouth,
disappearing. All specific thoughts
vanished, as he was left
alone
in the chair. He was vaguely aware of Hutch but had no will left to
fight.
CHAPTER
12
Gayle
watched as Attard and his friends continued to drug Starsky and
started
to persuade him that Hutch was the enemy and she knew what would
happen. It made her sad to see the destruction of
these two, particularly
Starsky
but she knew she was powerless against Attard.
There had been no
sign of
Peter and she knew that he was dead. It
had all been a dream,
saving
him. He’d been doomed the moment she
persuaded him to help hide
Starsky. Starsky had failed her too and she felt
very lonely and
betrayed.. She couldn’t help him and she’d been foolish
to think she could,
so she
sat back and watched as Starsky was worn down by the drugs, knowing
that
after he’d killed his partner, he would be sobered up so that he would
be
fully aware that Hutchinson had died at his hands. Simon’s revenge would
be
complete for she doubted Starsky would survive much beyond that.
Starsky’s
world had become a blur. Sights and
sounds and a strange floating
feeling. He felt no pain and had lost awareness of
what was happening to
him. He kept being told that he had to destroy an
enemy but he had no
strength
or will to do so.
--
Huggy
had managed to get the licence plate of the van but unfortunately it
was a
stolen vehicle. The registered vehicle
had been white and Attard and
his
goons had painted it black. There was
no possible tie in with the owner
and the
gang of lunatics, as the owner was a very respectable store owner,
with no
record of any kind. Dobey sighed. Starsky had been missing for
nearly
three days now, and Hutch had been missing for 24 hours. He didn’t
like
their chances for coming out of this one and it broke his heart. He
was
very fond of his maverick detectives but he knew that if one was dead,
the
other would follow, maybe not physically but certainly spiritually.
He put
out an APB for the vehicle, hoping that it would be seen. The rest
was a
waiting game.
---
Hutch
was dazed and sore, but desperately worried about Starsky. He
couldn’t
forget what he’d heard and he prayed that something would give. He
wasn’t
so much afraid to die, but was afraid of what would happen to Starsky
if he
was made to kill him. He had no doubt that Starsky wouldn’t give in
but it
sounded like they had ways of achieving this.
He found himself
praying
that Starsky wouldn’t be made to suffer, either before or after he
was
killed. The sound of approaching
footsteps interrupted his thoughts
and his
blindfold was brought down, but the gag remained. He was appalled
at the
sight of his dishevelled and obviously confused partner being led
into
the room carrying a knife.
“This
is your enemy Detective Starsky. He
must die and when he does, you
will
belong with us. You want that don’t
you?”
Starsky
nodded slowly. Something was wrong,
terribly wrong. He was so tired
and
confused. His mind was dancing. Images were haunting him. Images of
someone
calling to him, looking for him. It was
the man hanging from his
wrists
in front of him. He was being told that this man was his enemy and
had to
be destroyed but his images told him
something different, his images
showed
a man who had helped him, not hurt him.
Starsky closed his eyes.
He
couldn’t comprehend what was going on and he was just so tired. Attard
was
furious at his dazed state. He’d wanted
more life than this and he was
annoyed
that maybe the drugs weren’t having the desired effect. He gave
Starsky
the knife.
“Go on,
kill him!”
CHAPTER
13
Huggy
had decided to go to visit Dobey, since he was very worried about
Starsky
and out of his mind with guilt about Hutch.
He knew it was
irrational,
that there had not been a thing he could do to prevent the
abduction,
but it haunted him. He felt as if he’d
let Starsky down by just
watching
some thugs abduct Hutch. He knew he’d
have trouble facing Starsky
with
the news. He just wished Starsky was
around so that he could worry
about
that. Both boys were missing and he
wanted to find out from Dobey
what
was being done. There didn’t appear to
be much happening.
Before
Dobey could respond to Huggy’s impatient question, his phone rang.
Huggy
noticed the lines on his face soften slightly and looked at him in
expectation.
“The
van has been spotted outside a house.
I’m going over there, with some
uniforms.”
“Cap’n?”
“I’ll
let you know Huggy, as soon as I know anything!” with that Huggy had
to be
content.
--
Starsky
looked at the knife in his hands and at the man staring at him so
desperately. Something was wrong and he wished his head
would stop pounding
so he
could work it out. He walked up to
Hutch, pointing the knife at him.
He was
so dizzy. It was as he stood there,
pointing his knife towards
Hutch,
that the police units came charging in.
The goons tried to run off
but
they were easily caught by the surprise attack. Starsky turned around
at the
commotion and ran out the back, ignoring the muffled groans from
Hutch. A couple of the uniforms took off after him,
and Attard, while the
others
grabbed the remaining cult members, including Gayle. Dobey came in,
not
having seen Starsky take off with the officers after him, and with the
help of
one of the other officers, released Hutch and took off his gag.
Hutch
half collapsed on the floor, but pulled himself up with grim
determination. He knew Starsky wasn’t thinking clearly and
was a danger to
himself.
“Cap’n..”
Hutch was weak and sore. “Starsk....
he’s run off. They drugged
him....”
they could hear shouting from outside but it was the sound of a
single
gun shot that froze them to the spot.
From somewhere, Hutch found
the
strength to pull himself up and stumbled out the back. What he saw
turned
his world upside down. A rookie cop,
was talking to him and Dobey
but all
he could see was his partner lying in a pool of blood, shot by one
of his
colleagues. The other uniformed officer
returned, hauling Attard
with
him. Attard laughed when he saw what
had happened but was whisked away
before
he could say anything.
“He
resisted arrest, I had to shoot...” the man was upset at having shot his
first
person, not realising yet, who he had shot.
“He was waving his knife
around....”
suddenly the attitude of Hutch, and the others struck him and he
watched
in disbelief as Hutch fell down to the ground and gathered his
fallen
partner in his arms, sobbing.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” the cry was from
the
heart and Dobey thought his own heart would break. He knew he’d never
forget
the sight of Hutch holding his bleeding partner.
CHAPTER
14 - FINAL
Hutch
was like a zombie as he travelled in the ambulance with Starsky. The paramedics hadn't shown any undue
concern about Starsky, in fact one of them, Greg, was more concerned about Hutch. Hutch just brushed him aside. He'd
assumed
that Starsky was dead and it had taken all of Dobey's powers of persuasion to
convince him that Starsky was still alive, and even more persuasion power to move him out of the way, so that the
paramedics could get to work. He'd been
shot in the shoulder and there had been a large amount of blood loss but he'd
been lucky.
Hutch
remained in his shocked state, even at the hospital. He refused to have any doctors treat his own cuts and bruises,
just wanting word on his partner. He
was shut off from everyone and even Dobey and Huggy couldn't get through to
him. He was oblivious to the conversation
that they had.
"Peterson
is a rookie cop and it was an accident.
He thought Starsky was one of the lunatics and he was waving a knife around"
Dobey was weary but Huggy was demanding to know what had happened. Normally he wouldn't have said anything to
him but he was too tired to put up any resistance. IA would look into the shooting but it was unlikely that any
charges would be laid. He was too tired
to think about it and he wasn't even worried what Hutch would do to the rookie,
since
Hutch was in a world of his own.
Finally
word came that Starsky was out of surgery and was expected to make a full recovery. The bullet had missed all vital organs and
had been removed safely. The effects of
the drugs were the most worrying to the medical staff as it wasn't clear what
he'd been given. The bullet had needed
to be removed but there had been an element of risk with it, when they had
realised that he had
been
given some form of drugs.
Hutch
watched his partner sleep. He had no
intention of leaving him alone again. He smiled weakly to himself. Starsky was going to be pretty upset that he
still had the operation to remove his tooth waiting for him, but at least this
time, he would have his partner with him, for he wouldn't be leaving him alone
in this hospital again. Finally Hutch
allowed himself to relax and believe that
everything would be okay. He sat back
in the chair to wait for him to wake up.
Starsky
woke up to a pounding headache, and sore shoulder. Moving slowly, he realized his
whole body hurt. Everything except his
mouth. Didn't he have a tooth removed? He
looked at the sleeping form of his partner.
"Hutch?"
Hutch
was awake with a jolt.
"Starsk? How are you
buddy?"
"Sore. What happened? They operate on the wrong part?" Hutch looked at Starsky's honest
confusion and realised that his memories were mercifully blurred. He gently put his hand on Starsky's cheek.
"No
Starsk. You've still got to have the tooth removed. The important thing is
that
you're okay buddy. I'll tell you
everything later" he could see that Starsky was already sleepy.
"Hutch,
you okay...?"
Hutch
was touched at the concern from his weary partner. He guessed he must look a mess.
"I'm
fine Starsk. Really fine, especially
now."
"My
shoulder...." he reached up to
touch the bandages. Some of the memories were already returning. "I guess
I was stupid to be scared of the dentist Hutch"
“That's
what I tried to tell you Gordo! You
wouldn't believe me.."
"I
do now. I won't be scared
again..." Hutch grinned at him as
he fell asleep. He knew he would but that's what made Starsky. His strange mixture of childlike naivete and
fear for the most common place things – the outdoors, spiders and dentists, and
the courage that he possessed that got him through the
ordeals
that their job brought on them, the ordeals that he had just faced. Hutch had no doubt that Starsky would pick
himself up and get on with things, with nightmares, but they wouldn't stop
him. Getting him to the hospital for
his tooth removal again would be another story. Even though this time, he'd have his partner with him every
second of his stay in the hospital.
Hutch had his fears too, and he'd come very close to having to face them
this time - his fear of losing Starsky.
It had been too close, far too close and he was going to stick close to
him, to make sure they both got through this.
Staying at the hospital with him when he had to return, would help them
both with their fears. Hutch wasn't
going to take any more chances.