CHAPTER 15
Starsky pulled his car up slowly to the back entrance of the warehouse with his headlights off. He had decided to stake the place out first before announcing his presence. If he could get an idea as to just how many men were inside and the approximate area they were holdup…he would have a much better chance of surviving the ordeal. With no one to watch his back and no hope for the Calvary to come to his rescue in the nick of time…he had to be extra careful. One bad judgement call and he would be at the mercy of a madman.
He decided to take a quick stroll around the building to see if he could catch sight of the vehicle that they had arrived in. He found what he was looking for as he rounded the southeast corner. A dark blue Chevy Malibu with white walls and a black convertible top. He made a quick mental note of the plate number just in case and decided for himself that with no other cars in sight…he couldn’t be dealing with more than four or so bad guys. Judging from the size of it. If they had Hutch and Cassie with them…the number may even be less.
Starsky knew that he had to go in and announce himself…but he wasn’t about to just stand there and let them blow him away. He walked back around the building quickly and opened the door just far enough to see if there might be anything that he could use for cover…before he made his entrance. The room as far as he could tell was very dimly lit with a few scattered pieces of machinery and stacks of boxes along one wall. He remembered that the place was used for storage by a large canning company a few years back…and was abandoned when the business went belly up. He opened the door a little further and stepped in quickly…ducking behind one of the large machines as he blinked his eyes to adjust them to the darkness.
He found himself in a smaller area than he had first imagined. A door at the other end of the room seemed to lead to other parts of the warehouse. He pulled the gun from the back of his shorts and stepped around the confined area in a crouched position to make sure that he was alone before going any further.
As he put his hand on the doorknob he listened to the faint sound of voices that had become evident as he stepped closer. Prudholm definitely, but the other two were unfamiliar to him. Three separate voices were arguing apparently over the reason that they had come there. One demanding that they leave with the money and another making the comment to Prudholm that his obsession with that cop was gonna land them all in jail. Then there was Prudholm…telling them both to shut up and wait.
Starsky took the opportunity to quietly go through the door and hide himself behind a huge wall of boxes as he listened to them still bickering and bellyaching. Still only hearing three voices…so far no mention of Cassie or Hutch. He could hear the voices echo as they called to each other from opposite sides of the huge area in the darkness. They weren’t speaking very loud…almost in whispers…but in the quiet void the sound carried and seemed to bounce off the walls at him. All of a sudden Starsky heard one of them ask a question that finally gave him an answer to one of his own.
“Do you think he’ll bring the other one?” Randy whispered to his boss from across the warehouse as he held his position on the catwalk above.
“He’ll be here…so what if he brings his partner.” Prudholm yelled back still in a loud whisper. “We’ll just kill them both.”
They didn’t have Hutch. Starsky thought to himself as he leaned against the heavy boxes and held his gun in his left hand across his chest. So why didn’ t he answer the phone earlier? Where was he? He couldn’t seem to pinpoint an exact location on Prudholm or the other man on the bottom level with him…but he was sure that one of the voices was coming from somewhere overhead. With that in mind he decided to climb up and surprise him before announcing his arrival. Two against one sounded like better odds to him.
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Hutch pulled up alongside Starsky’s car at the back of the warehouse and drew his gun as he stepped out of his car.
“Stay here while I check it out.” Hutch told her. “If I’m not out in fifteen minutes…get on the radio and call for backup.”
“Be careful Hutch.” She called to him as he crept over to the door and pulled it open slowly. He glanced back for a moment and motioned to her to keep her head down…and then he ducked inside.
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Starsky moved quietly to a corner of the large airport hanger sized room and found a ladder that lead to the catwalk above. He shoved his gun back into the back of his jean shorts as he began to climb slowly up it. Randy was perched above him with his eyes on the ground level but even from where he stood the darkness made it difficult to see everything clearly. The moonlight shining through the overhead skylight had given Starsky a clear view of a man’s silhouette, as he stood poised with a large handgun at the end of the platform. He crept up slowly from behind him and drew his gun from the back of his shorts once more.
Randy hadn’t noticed him at all and Starsky was about to make his move when suddenly he stepped on a weak spot. The catwalk creaked loudly and one of the chains that held his weight gave way…sending both men off balance and reaching out for whatever they could to keep from falling the thirty or so feet to the hard concrete floor below.
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Chapter 16
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