CHAPTER 14
(Ok…girl. See what happened because I had to go down there and get you. Poor Starsky …He didn’t even get a chance to get started before we had him off the stage and undressed. I knew I shouldn’t have left the controls. Don’t do that to me again.
Ok…Ok…but you gotta admit. It was fun. And Hutch thought they would be safe. Hey, lets give them something to worry about. After all we can’t be too predictable now can we?)
Joe Joe walked outside in a huff and got into her car. She sat there for a long time thinking about the way she had been rejected and grew more furious with each passing minute. How could he turn her down like that? Just like Bobby. He rejected her and paid dearly for it. But this time will be different. Bobby was unconscious when she performed her deed on him…but Ken will be awake. She would enjoy watching him suffer. He would beg her…as she held him at her mercy… to make love to him instead. It will be his choice. To die or to surrender…it really didn’t matter to her. She would enjoy herself either way. Ken would be hers. The other one however would be given no choice. Once she had Ken in her bed his little boyfriend will be nothing more than a distant memory… She had gotten everything she ever wanted in her life by persuasion or by force…and Ken would be no exception.
Starsky got himself cleaned up in the bathroom and put his street clothes back on while Hutch waited for him. It took quit a bit of scrubbing to remove the lipstick from his skin but he managed to make himself presentable at least from the neck up. The other guys had calmed the crowd down and went back to the performing lineup…the girls were allowed to stay as long as they promised to behave themselves. Hutch asked a couple of the guys if they had seen Joe Joe and was told of the strange way that she was behaving while Starsky was being attacked.
“You would think she had something against the guy.” One of them told him
“Yeah, but as soon as she saw you…she did a complete turn around.” Another dancer remarked.
Hutch thought about it for a minute. There was something very strange about Joe Joe…besides the fact that he made a pretty convincing woman.
Starsky emerged from the bathroom and the two of them left the club. Out the back door and to his car…Hutch told Starsky what he had discovered while waiting for him. They could hear the chanting as they left the building. The list girls calling for them…even as the other guys were dancing. There was no way they could make it through the front door without causing another scene.
As Hutch slid into the driver seat and waited for his partner…he thought about Cassie. He hoped that she had time to make it home and put herself to bed before he dropped his partner off. She should be punished for her behavior tonight…but he just didn’t want to get caught in the middle. She would be mad at him and he would wind up feeling guilty about it. She wasn’ t his responsibility anyway…was she?
“C’mon lets go home…I’m beat.” Starsky said as he threw one leg up to hang his foot out the window. “This whole thing was a bad idea from the start.” He admitted.
“I think we need to try a different approach…” Hutch told him as he drove out of the parking lot and headed for home.
A sound hit their ears at that moment but neither one really acknowledged it. It was the squeal of tires on pavement…obviously not Hutch’s car. The sound came from behind them…but it was so distant and seemed to blend into the background.
“I think maybe we should put a tail on Joe Joe.” Starsky suggested. “Since she was so close to Bobby…she’s our best suspect.”
Starsky was silent for the rest of the way home. His thoughts were on Joe Joe and the way she acted around Hutch. He had noticed it even when his partner wasn’t paying attention. The way she looked at him…the way she slapped him when he rejected her…all of it.
“Hey…I’m sorry I was late tonight…I shoulda gotten there sooner.” Hutch said in attempt to break the silence. He thought that maybe his partner might be a little mad at him for it…because he hadn’t spoken for the past few minutes.
The thought really hadn’t crossed his mind until Hutch brought it up just now. “Well I was kinda curious..” He began. “Where were you anyway…couldn’t you see what was going on?” He asked as he looked over at his partner.
“Well I went outside for a minute.” Hutch answered him as honest as he could.
“Outside?…what for?” Starsky questioned him…he hadn’t mentioned stepping outside before….and his partner always told him everything.
“I was feeling a little sick to my stomach…I guess the smoke was getting to me.” Hutch lied…he hated to do it but it was either that or tell him about Cassie.
They arrived at Starsky’s place and Hutch pulled all the way up into the drive beside Starsky’s car. He waited for his partner to unlock the door and noticed a few lights were on inside. Cassie was obviously awake since it was not a school night and she had company. He wondered if she would be able to convince him that she and her friends had just gotten back from the movies.
As Hutch backed out of the drive and sped off Starsky watched and waved him on. He was about to step through the doorway when he caught a glimpse of another car…black and expensive looking. It pulled off just after Hutch pulled away…but he paid it no mind as it seemed to come from one of the neighboring houses. He stepped in and closed the door behind him. Then he paused…as he let his mind wander. There was an uneasy feeling in his gut. Something he couldn’t explain but it made him feel as if he should jump into his car and follow after his partner. He had heard something or seen something that told him that Hutch was in danger…but he just couldn’t remember?
“Hi..” Cassie called to him as she turned her head in his direction. She and the other two girls were in their nightgowns and watching a Horror movie on TV. They had rushed to get ready for bed as soon as they got home. Scrubbing away the makeup and taking down their hair to reflect the image of three young innocent girls behaving themselves…and he fell for it…hook line and sinker. Or so it seemed.
“So…you three have a good time?” He asked as he lifted his leg and placed half his weight on the back of the sofa to talk to them.
“Sure did.” Taryn said in a little bit of a teasing tone.
Cassie wasn’t sure if Hutch had told on her or not…but just in case he didn’ t, she was gonna play it out the innocent act.
“So what did ya see?” He asked in a calm manner.
Nothing…I swear.” Stacey spoke up in a panicked voice…she was so afraid that they were already caught and took a different meaning from his simple question.
“Well you had to see something…the hoods still warm.” Starsky said still calm but now a little suspicious.
“It was a Horror movie…you know…the guy with the chainsaw…goes after the innocent teenagers. Blood and guts kinda stuff.” Cassie said trying to save what little bit of the story as she could.
“So tell me about it.” He asked with a smile…by now he knew something was up…and he knew he would find out what.
“Nothing to tell really…the guy kills all but one of the kids and then he buys it.” Taryn told him with confidence. “I’m tired…lets go to bed.”
They all three jumped up…Stacey turned off the TV…and Cassie reached up to give him a quick kiss on the check as she rose to her feet. “Goodnight..” They said symotaineously.
“CASSIE “ He called before she made it into the bedroom. “Come here.”
“What.” She said as she reluctantly walked back to him. She was sure she was in for it now.
“I don’t know where you went…but it wasn’t to the movies.” He told her as he looked down at his watch and noted the time. “Unless you have a habit of walking out in the middle of the show.”
“You’re right.” She told him as she lowered her head. “ I’m sorry I lied to you.”
“Go on to bed and we’ll have a long talk tomorrow.” He told her as he grabbed her on the back of the neck and pulled her close to kiss her on the forehead. “At least the car’s in one piece.”
“Oh I took good care of it.” She told him and turned to walk away. “Goodnight.” …They did walk out in the middle of the show” She thought to herself. “He didn’t know how right he was.”
“Goodnight Princess.” He said as he smiled at her…they had probably gone joy riding…or something…he’ll find out later. Right now he had Hutch on his mind and the same eerie feeling crept over him again. He walked into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of milk and reached into the cabinet for the chocolate drink mix. Still thinking about the events of the night…going over every detail on his mind….Until it dawned on him….the one thing that put it all together. The reason that his gut feelings were calling to him.
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Chapter 2
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