Cassie leaned down carefully so she wouldn’t frighten the little puppy as she held the plate of food out in front of her.  Then without warning she felt an unfamiliar arm grab her tightly around the waist and pull her backwards.  She tried to scream but it was silenced quickly. (With a white piece of cloth held tightly against her open mouth.)  As she breathed in the fowl smelling substance, she could feel herself growing weaker… until she could no longer keep up her frantic struggle.  Her then motionless body was carried over to a waiting van and she was tossed into the back.  They sped away only moments before he had gone out to look for her.

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Starsky stood there holding onto the red ribbon for a moment.  Then he ran down to the street to see if he could spot any sign of tire tracks or possibly a glimpse of her assailant…anything.  But the street was empty. There was nothing but one familiar car pulling into his neighbor’s driveway. His mind was racing and his heart was pounding out of his chest.  She was gone…just like that.  He yelled for her a couple more times but he knew she wouldn’t answer him.  Someone had taken her…maybe at random or maybe because they knew who she was.  He had made a lot of enemies on the streets and he had always told her to be careful and never to go anywhere alone.  So many thoughts flooded his mind at the same time that it was hard for him to think clearly.  He ran back into the apartment and headed straight for the phone.

Hutch had just settled down into bed with the book that he had been trying to read for the past couple of weeks.  He had been so tired lately that he hadn’t made it past three pages before falling asleep with it on his chest. The sound of the bedside phone ringing had awakened him from his peaceful dream.  Turning his head in the direction of the disturbance…his eyes opened slightly and his hand grabbed aimlessly in that direction.  He fumbled with the receiver for a second before recovering it enough to place it next to his ear.

“Yeah..” He said in a very groggy voice.

“She’s Gone Hutch!” A panicked Starsky yelled on the other end of the phone.

Pulling the phone away from his ear slightly he reached one hand up to his tired eyes and rubbed it down his face to his chin.

“What are you talking about?” He asked a little more alert.

“She’s gone…I don’t know…I think somebody took her.” He said still in a panic. “Oh God Hutch …”

“Call the station and tell them what happened…I’ll be right there.” Hutch told him as he sprang to his feet and pulled a fresh shirt and pants from his dresser drawers with one hand. “Don’t worry…we’ll find her.”

“Alright…just hurry.” Starsky said as he pushed the buttons on the top of the phone down and released them quickly as he dialed the station.  It rang at least three times before it was answered.  He was a little calmer now after speaking with Hutch and was able to sound a little more professional as he explained the situation to them in detail.

A missing persons would have to be filed and he was given the standard lecture that since she was over the age of fourteen, they wouldn’t consider it seriously until twenty four hours had past unless he had cause to believe there was fowl play involved.  With that Starsky went off on him…reading him the riot act up…down…and sideways.  After a few choice words and a threat to one of his most prized body parts…the officer agreed to send a patrol car over to investigate.  He obviously didn’t know who he was dealing with.

Hutch pulled up behind a marked police car that was already in the driveway. He could hear a commotion coming from the other side of the building as he stepped out of his car.  It sounded like Starsky was mad as hell at someone…probably the officers who had come over to investigate.  He knew that it was procedure and they would be going by the book.  But he wasn’t in the mood for twenty questions…especially stupid ones.

 Hutch hurried around the side of the building and found his hot-tempered partner telling the two pale in the face officers exactly what he wanted them to do and how he wanted it done.  They were young and couldn’t have more than a few years on the force between them.  Hutch knew there was no way he was gonna let them handle this case.  Dobey would have to put them on it or Starsky would have the two of them call in sick until they found her…it was that simple.
***********************

She slept for what seemed like a long time and awoke slowly to find herself in a motel room lying in bed with her cheerleading outfit still on and covered with a blanket.  Her head hurt so badly that she could feel it throbbing with every beat of her heart.  Two men sat in front of her playing cards and talking as if she wasn’t even there.  She wasn’t tied up or restrained in any way but she had a feeling that they weren’t about to let her walk right through the front door either.  She realized that the two men were obviously placed there to baby-sit her.

“Where am I?” She asked in an innocent voice as she sat up in bed and looked at them.

“Just stay right there and don’t cause any trouble.” One of them spoke up. “And if you’re a good girl we might get you some scrambled eggs and bacon in a little while.”

The mere thought of breakfast began to turn her stomach…she was already feeling nauseous and his words were enough to send her straight to the bathroom cupping her hand over her mouth as she ran.

They laughed at her for a couple of seconds and then resumed their card game.  There was no window in the bathroom and so no chance for escape…that is unless she intended to flush herself down the toilet. It was just one of the many thoughts that ran through her mind as she hovered over it on her knees.

As she crept slowly out of the bathroom she glanced around and spotted a small clock on the dresser…the time as far as she could tell was 3:00AM. Dave would be so worried by now.  He must be looking for her she thought. But he’ll never find her here.  She didn’t even know where here was.

She stayed awake and listened to them…trying to catch a clue as to where she might be.  But they were careful…even as she pretended to be asleep… they kept their conversation simple.  Either they were too smart or too dumb to
give her any clues…she wasn’t sure.

******************

Starsky and Hutch decided to go to the station and pull some files on some of their old cases.  Starsky felt that she must have been taken by someone he knew and maybe if they dug out some old names and ran them down…they could track the most recent parolees and possibly find the guy.  Hutch knew they were grasping at straws at best.  Kids are kidnapped everyday just because they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  There must be any number of perverts on the streets at all hours of the night that would love to get their hands on her.  But if his partner was right…and she was taken to get to him…odds were she would still be alive.  It would actually be good news.  A pervert would rape and kill her and then dump her body somewhere and go on with his life.  But someone with an ax to grind would have nothing to hold over him if he killed her before he could prove that he even had her. And in order to have the necessary leverage he would then have to prove that she was still alive.  Hutch could only hope that Starsky’s instincts were right…for his sake and for Cassie’s

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  Chapter 3
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