CHAPTER 6

Hutch was frozen in place at the sound of the shot for a brief moment…terrified that the bullet might have found Starsky.  He knew that he could bleed to death on a plane that wasn’t going to land for hours…and even when it did, there probably wouldn’t be much of a chance for an ambulance. They were still in a hostage situation and he didn’t want to have to face
these guys alone.

The sound of the gun-shot and the screaming passengers made Charlie decide to leave the pilot and stewardess he was keeping watch over in the cockpit and make his way through the doorway to see what the hell was going on.

 Hutch reached for the pile of tangled body parts as Starsky threw Joey’s limp leg off of him and slowly rolled him over…a gaping wound in his chest. Joey was dead…and Starsky was covered in blood from the point blank blast through his heart.  Cassie fell to the floor and grabbed hold of Starsky who was still in a kneeling position ….holding the blood soaked gun in his hand. She wrapped her arms around him for a moment and then Hutch extended his hand to pull his partner to his feet.

“God I thought…….” Hutch put his head down and blew a sigh of relief.  “I thought …”

“I know….I’m ok.” Starsky put a hand on Hutch’s shoulder and then he saw …something that made him freeze in place.

Charlie had come up from behind Hutch and was standing in the aisle…looking down at Joey’s dead body on the floor.  The look of rage on his face had caused a sudden chill to run down Starsky’s back.

“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!……JOEY!! Charlie yelled as he stared at the bloody corpse on the floor. “YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!”

Starsky raised the gun in his hand and gently shoved Hutch out of the way with his right arm…Charlie was too upset at the moment and the sight of the gun in his face caught him completely off guard.

“Drop it….Nice and easy.” Starsky told him. “I’ll kill you if I have to”

Charlie caught sight of another figure in the doorway between First Class and Coach, a sight that the others couldn’t see from their perspective.  He let the gun fall from his hand as a single shot rang out. Starsky was thrown against the wall with the blast…a look of pain and surprise on his face as he collapsed onto the floor.

Castiano who had heard the first shot and who had also been watching the whole time…motioned to Charlie to drop his gun.  He had a clear shot at Starsky and was just waiting for the proper moment.  Both Starsky and Hutch had underestimated him…hoping that he would remain in the back guarding the other passengers.

Hutch spun around to see where the shot had come from and spotted Castiano in the doorway. Starsky was in shock as he sat on the blood-soaked carpet…leaning against the wall in pain.  His eyes where glassy as he stared straight into space not believing what had just happened to him.  Hutch crouched as he crept slowly towards Starsky and pulled Cassie down with him. Charlie just stood there laughing but not at all in a joking manner.

“Didn’t expect that now did ya...Cop?” He said as he leaned towards Starsky.

“Now I’m gonna let you suffer…” He looked up at Hutch. “Put him in one of the seats.”

“He can’t cause much trouble the way he is…” Hutch protested.

“Just do what I said…and be glad I don’t just blow him away right now.” He told him.  “Let him bleed to death slowly… if he’s still alive when we land…I promise to put him out of his misery.” He said as he glared at Hutch.

Charlie stood there as Hutch hoisted Starsky to his feet and he let out a scream of pain. Cassie held onto him on the other side…helping to support his weight as best she could.  She was crying softly and trembling but did her best not to show how really terrified she was for Starsky’s sake.

The pregnant woman who had been left alone in the other row of seats began to release rhythmic moans of pain. She had been trying as best she could to keep quiet so she wouldn’t draw attention to herself…but apparently the baby had other plans.

“What the hell is her problem?” Charlie yelled as he looked over at her and back at Hutch.

“She’s probably in labor…she’s pregnant…or hadn’t you noticed?” Hutch said with a tone of sarcasm as he proceeded to set Starsky down gingerly in one of the seats.

“Well keep her quiet. You can have the Stewardess in the front…I don’t need her anymore. But you cause any more damn trouble and I’ll open fire on this whole section.” He told him with assurance and then he moved quickly to the back to Speak to Castiano for a moment.

Hutch leaned close to Starsky.  “My gun…in my carry-on.” He whispered as he tied some towels that Cassie had found him in the Stewardesses cart drawers together… they where the kind that they used to clean with but they looked new.  Hutch managed to wrap then tightly around Starsky’s shoulder…using some bundled in front and back of the wound to stop the bleeding.

“Not Cassie..” Starsky whispered…telling Hutch not to use her to get it. She was terrified of guns and if she was caught she could get hurt.

“I’ll get it…I just have to find the right time…it’s in the storage compartment above…” He stopped suddenly as he noticed Charlie walking towards him and then into the cockpit. Maureen stepped out a moment later with Charlie behind her. “Let her help you with the problem in the corner.”

Hutch was still trying to tend to Starsky and Alexandra was becoming louder with each passing moment.  The stewardess was already sitting next to her trying to calm her down and Cassie was kneeling on the floor beside Starsky as he moaned in pain.

 Hutch motioned to her and said softly “See if you can help the stewardess over there…and call me if her water breaks.” He told her.

 He figured it would give her something to do for a few minutes…long enough for him to asses the damage.
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