CHAPTER 3
After spending about 45 minutes in Dobey’s office figuring out how they would be spending their day…Starsky and Hutch were finally able to hit the streets. But before they could concentrate on business…they had to see about taking the fowl smell out of the imitation leather of Starsky’s backseat. It took Starsky 10 minutes to talk him into taking on the job and Merle’s employees another half an hour as Hutch stood by the candy machine inside the garage and eyed his watch…watching the minutes tick by as if they were hours. The delay to the start of their busy day was beginning to irritate him. It wasn’t the first time that Starsky’s love life had interrupted their schedule…and he knew that it probably wouldn’t be the last.
Starsky was eating a candy bar and talking with his mouthful as he hovered over the two young boys who were working to get the now hardened and crusty substance off of his seat. Instructing them on certain areas that he thought they might miss and making a complete pest out of himself. Hutch could tell by the look on their faces that Starsky was beginning to annoy them.
“Starsk!” Hutch called to him from a few feet away.
“What?”
“C’mere…” Hutch said as he motioned to him with his hand.
Starsky strolled over to him glancing back at the two young men as he approached his partner.
“What do you want?”
“Leave them alone…” Hutch told him in a low voice. “They don’t need you hanging over their shoulders.”
“I just wanna make sure they do a good job.”
“As long as the smell is gone…it’ll be good enough.” Hutch said impatiently. “We’ve wasted enough time here already.”
“They’re almost finished…just keep you’re shirt on.” Starsky told him. “I don’t think it’s gonna leave a stain anyway.”
“It’s fake leather Starsky.” Hutch replied a little annoyed at him. “Grape juice couldn’t stain it.”
Starsky gave him a smart-ass look and came back quickly. “It’s the carpet I’ m worried about dummy.”
“C’mon Starsk.” Hutch said growing a little more annoyed with him. “Like anybody’s really gonna notice.”
“Maybe not in your car.” Starsky told him. “But mine’s almost new.”
“Fine…” Hutch said as he gave into his partner’s obvious determination. “Just see if you can get them to hurry.”
Starsky walked back over to the Torino just as they were climbing out of the back and gave it one last inspection before feeling satisfied enough to reach into his wallet and pull out the twenty bucks Merle had demanded to get the job done. He felt that the price had been a little steep…but having it done anywhere else would have taken longer…and Hutch was already irritated with him in spite of the rush job.
The foul smell was gone. That at least was a relief. But to hide any
lingering oder…they had used a very potent strawberry fragrance on the
area which was almost as hard for Hutch to deal with. His day…hell his
whole week…hadn’t started out too great…and he imagined that things could
only get worse.
Starsky sat in the living room watching television with Max as Miranda put the final touches on her makeup and they all waited for the sitter to arrive. He had decided to take Hutch’s advice even though he felt a little guilty for leaving Max behind. There were times when Starsky actually felt close to him…when he wasn’t being a pain in the butt. He was laughing at the small dogs as they jumped through hoops for their trainer. His laughter warmed a place in Starsky’s heart and caused a smile to appear on his face as he listened to it. He felt that Max was a large part of Miranda…and somehow…he couldn’t picture her without him. He made her complete.
A knock came at the door as Max burst into yet another fit of hysterical laughter and Starsky stood up to reach for the doorknob. A very pretty young teenage girl stood in the doorway…chewing a piece of gum and holding a stack of books and folders in her hands.
“Hi…I’m Janet.” She told him with a smile. “Where’s the kid?”
Starsky gave her a curious look and opened the door a little wider to allow her to step inside.
“His name is Max.” Starsky told her a little disappointed with her smug attitude.
“Is that Janet?” Miranda called from her bedroom.
“Yeah…” Starsky called back.
“Good…I’m almost ready.”
“You got a phone?” Janet asked him as she dropped her books on the coffee table and popped a large bubble with her gum.
“Over there.” Starsky said as he motioned towards the kitchen.
“Thanks Pops.” She replied as she sailed by him and reached her hand up to grab the receiver.
“Pops?” Starsky whispered as he thought out loud to himself.
(I’m not THAT old…am I?)
Before she had time to lift it from the hook…it began to ring. Without hesitation she picked it up and spoke into the mouth-piece.
“Hello?”
Starsky took a seat on the couch next to Max only half paying attention to the phone call until Miranda picked it up.
“Phone for you…” Janet called as Miranda emerged from the bedroom and took it from her.
“Hello?”
There was a moment of silence before she spoke again.
“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” She said in a voice that made Starsky suddenly take notice. “It’s over Mark.”
He rose to his feet suddenly and made a silent motion to her to hand him the phone quickly…which she did. He then listened for a moment to the ramblings of the desperate voice on the other end. He was demanding but at the same time Starsky could sense the fear that had obviously led him to make the threats and accusations he was now screaming into his ear.
“Didn’t you hear the lady?” Starsky began as he interrupted him. “She doesn’ t want you to call here anymore.”
“You the guy she’s been hanging around with lately?” The voice came back angrily. “Put Miranda back on the phone.”
“I don’t think you get it.” Starsky said as he tried to control his anger. “She doesn’t want to talk to you…She doesn’t want to see you…and if you keep calling her with your threats…I’m gonna have to come over there and haul your stubborn ass to jail.” Starsky told him as he kept his back to Max so he wouldn’t have to listen to the conversation. “Now the way I see it…you’ve got two choices here…you can be smart and walk away…or you can keep playing this game…only difference is…now you’ll be playing with me…and I play dirty.”
“I know you’re a cop.” The voice came back. “I know all about you. She thinks you can protect her? (He laughs) She’s just looking for a body guard.”
“Does she need one?” Starsky asked him in an attempt to keep him on the line…long enough for them to be able to trace the call. He remembered the phone tap he had requested…it was the joker he had up his sleeve…he only hoped the guy would be willing to continue the conversation.
“Maybe YOU need one PIG!” He told him as he hung up the phone quickly.