‘The Summer of Emily’ – by Stephanie White

Part 2 – July

‘Dear Michael,

I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to say it. I’m leaving you. I’m taking Cameron and we’re going away. I’m taking the Mercedes, my clothing, Cameron’s things and my bank accounts. The rest is yours.

I know you think this very cold of me, but I just couldn’t face a confrontation. Things can never be the same between us. I guess having a husband in jail will change a person’s attitudes.

You’re no longer the man I married. The man I married always had a good thing to say about everybody. The man I married loved spending time with his wife and daughter. The man I married would never, ever kill anyone. How could I stay married to you knowing that you killed your ex-wife? I stood by you during the trial because I believed in your innocence. When you were convicted, I still thought it was a mistake. I went to the policeman who arrested you for help. He showed me the evidence with a detail that wasn’t shown at the trial. He explained his reasoning that led him to you and suddenly I knew I couldn’t believe in your innocence any longer. How could you do that to another person? I know she was mean-spirited and angry, but she deserved better than to be murdered. How long before you turned on Cameron or me?

Okay, I’m going to end this letter now. I know you’ve got a parole hearing soon, so by the time you read this, I’ll have been gone for at least six months. Your lawyer processed the dissolution without you – a judge granted it without your consent because you were in prison and unavailable for consultation. As I said, everything but a very few things are yours. Good-bye Michael. Despite everything, I still love you but I can’t stay with you. Don’t bother trying to look for me. I’ve changed my name and moved out of state. I promise to do my best in raising our daughter and she will want for nothing.

Good-bye,

Sandra’

Michael Palmer stared at the note in his hand. He felt his whole world crashing down around him. Everything he lived for as he counted the days until his parole was gone. So he got the house. So he got the Jaguar. So what? She even left his bank accounts alone. But he no longer had a family. Everything he truly loved had been taken from him, all because he did something that at least three other ex-husbands had wanted to do. All because one lousy cop convinced his wife to leave him. One lousy cop…Detective David Starsky.

‘Okay, Detective Starsky, I was willing to overlook you putting me in jail. I was guilty; I knew that.’ He thought angrily to himself. ‘Taking my wife and kid away? You’ll pay for that. Let’s see how you like losing the people that mean the most to you.’

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

“PRETEND DADDY!” a much-too-exuberant voice called from the living room. “Come watch cartoons with me!”

David Starsky rolled over and blearily looked at the clock: 7:00 a.m. He silently cursed the networks for putting Saturday morning cartoons on so early in the morning.

“Hey, Princess,” he called back. “Couldn’t you watch without me? Your pretend daddy needs his sleep.”

Five-year old Emily Taylor decided it was time for drastic measures. There was no way she could truly enjoy every subtle nuance of Scooby-Doo without her pretend daddy’s arms around her keeping her warm. If she were too cold, she wouldn’t be able to truly appreciate the vital importance of a Scooby snack. She got a running start and took a flying leap into Starsky’s bed.

Starsky, who had almost drifted back to sleep, was nearly bounced off the bed when this spring-loaded little person bounded onto his bed. He sighed in defeat, rolled over, grabbed the little body and began tickling it unmercifully.

Emily shrieked in delight and began trying to squirm away from the vicious tickling that her pretend daddy was inflicting on her. Starsky, who was reveling in the sound of her happiness scooped her off of the bed and, while making airplane noises, swooped her into the living room where he plopped her down in front of the T.V. He sat down next to her and she immediately crawled into his lap. He kissed the top of her head and decided the feeling of a loving child snuggled up to him was well worth the lack of sleep.

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

Michael Palmer watched Starsky’s apartment from across the street. He saw the tall blond man climb the steps and let himself in.

‘Your partner, wasn’t it? Ken Hutchinson, I think.’ Michael tried to remember. Hutch hadn’t been present for the bust (as he was visiting his sister at the time.) so Michael only vaguely recognized him from the trial, where he sat in the gallery watching his partner give the testimony that would put away a killer. ‘You two must be very close, if he has a key to your apartment. That’s a possibility.’

However, the more Michael thought about it, the more he realized that getting rid of Starsky’s partner really wasn’t the smartest of moves. For one thing, he was huge. He had to be 6’2” if he was an inch. He also seemed to be in pretty good shape. He wasn’t going to go down easily. For another thing, killing a cop would get him the death penalty. True, he had nothing to live for in the outside world, but he didn’t have a death wish either. No, Starsky’s partner wouldn’t be a good target.

He continued to watch.

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

“Morning partner!” Hutch called out.

Starsky sat up at the sound of his partner’s voice and tried to avoid being hurt by Emily’s legs as she scrambled off of his lap to greet her ‘Uncle’ Ken.

“Hey Blondie,” Starsky called.

“Morning Sunshine!” Hutch grinned as the five-year old leapt into his arms.

“Good morning Uncle Ken!” Emily cried as she hugged him tightly. “Pretend Daddy and me was watching cartoons. You wanna watch?”

“Sounds good to me!” Hutch said as he tossed Emily over his shoulder as though she were a sack of grain and headed over to the couch.

She shrieked with laughter as he sat down and pulled her down into his lap.

“Okay, what’s on?”

“We’re watching Bugs Bunny!” she said. “We were watching Scooby-Doo, but it’s over now, so we’re watching this.”

“Well, I’m sorry I missed Scooby-Doo!” Hutch said seriously as he put his arms around the little girl in his lap.

“You guys hungry?” Starsky said. “I could make us some eggs or something.”

“Yeah!” Emily said.

“Sounds good partner,” Hutch said as Starsky moved towards the kitchen.

Hutch watched his partner and smiled. Fatherhood agreed with him. This little girl that was his for only the summer had him wrapped around her little finger and he loved every minute of it.

He marveled how a little girl could be so well adjusted after all that she had been through. Her parents arrested and jailed on drug charges a year ago. Living with and becoming attached to Starsky for two weeks until her grandmother could claim her. Surviving a serious accident that left her grandmother in the hospital. Yet here she was, living with his partner again after all that and couldn’t be happier or better adjusted.

Hutch looked down at the little girl in his lap and tightened his arms around her. She cuddled against his chest and melted his heart all over again. He sighed contentedly.

‘Okay, Hutchinson, you’re wrapped around her little finger too. It’s not just Starsky.’ He thought to himself with a smile.

“Hey guys,” Hutch said. “There’s a carnival in town just down the street. I thought maybe we could go over and have a little fun.”

“YEAH!” Emily cried. “Could we go, Pretend Daddy? Could we?”

Starsky looked over at the little girl and melted under the force of her big blue eyes pleading with him. “Okay, we’ll head over after breakfast.”

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

Michael Palmer flattened himself against the telephone pole as he saw the door to Starsky’s apartment open and two…no, make that three people came out.

‘Well…what have we here?’ Michael thought to himself. ‘A daughter, huh? She’s cute – looks just like you. Okay, I lost my daughter because of you. You’re going to lose yours.’

Michael followed the trio discreetly as they walked towards the carnival. He knew he’d have to handle this just right. One thing prison taught him was patience. He could wait for the perfect opportunity to take the child.

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

Starsky, Hutch and Emily had a wonderful time at the carnival. They rode the carousel at least a dozen times (Emily loved the colorful ‘horsies’!) and the Ferris wheel a couple of times – even with the fear of heights rearing its ugly head a few times. The things a five-year old can convince a person to do!

Emily seemed to be a bottomless pit. She had cotton candy and hot dogs and ice cream and a snow cone and whatever else she could talk Starsky into buying for her.

Finally, the trio walked home…well, Starsky and Hutch walked. Starsky carried Emily who had fallen asleep, and Hutch carried the giant teddy bear he won for her.

The two men put the little lady to bed and then Hutch headed home. Michael Palmer went home too. He knew what he had to do. It would keep until tomorrow.

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

The next morning found Michael Palmer standing in his spot across the street. He watched as Starsky and his little girl came out of the apartment and walked over to the apartment next door.

‘That’s it!’ he thought to himself as he saw Starsky leave the little girl with the gray-haired woman. ‘I won’t have to fight him for the child. This lady ought to be easy to handle.’

He smiled as he waited for the perfect moment.

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

The perfect moment presented itself all too soon. Millie Penrose decided that she needed to go to the grocery store for a few things. With little Emily Taylor clutching her hand, she made her way to the bus stop.

Michael had parked the Jaguar up the street a ways. He got out of the car and unlocked the trunk. He didn’t open it completely, but it was ready. Then he casually started walking towards the bus stop, never taking his eyes off the little girl. As he got closer, he noticed with a hint of relief that Millie and Emily were the only people waiting for the bus. He got to the bus stop and waited for the briefest of moments. Then fate and an itchy nose gave him the opportunity he needed.

Emily pried her hand from Millie’s grasp long enough to scratch her nose. Quick as lightning, Michael reached down, grabbed the little girl and started running. She screamed once before his hand was over her mouth. Millie stood shocked for a brief second before she also started screaming.

“HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME! HE’S TAKING HER! HE’S TAKING HER! HELP!”

She started running after the man, but he had a head start and was in much better shape than the sixty-something woman entrusted with Starsky’s pretend daughter.

As he reached the car, he opened the trunk and tossed the little girl in as if she were a rag doll. He slammed the trunk shut and ran around to the driver’s side. He gunned the engine as he pulled away.

Millie sat down on the curb to catch her breath for a minute. Someone came running out and announced that he had seen the whole thing and called the police. Millie nodded at the man and felt the tears start to flow.

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

“Zebra-3, how do you read?”

Starsky picked up the radio handset. “This is Zebra-3, go ahead.”

“Starsky, we’ve got a call from a Millie Penrose. She says it’s an emergency. Do you want it patched through?”

The Torino screeched to a halt. Starsky stared at Hutch with wide, terror-filled eyes.

“It’s probably nothing, Starsk.” Hutch said quietly, although he was just as scared. “Emily probably fell down and scraped her knee or something like that.”

“Yeah, patch it through.”

“David?” Millie’s frightened voice came over the radio.

“Yeah, Millie. What’s wrong?”

“He took her! We were standing at the bus stop and he grabbed her and ran!”

“Emily? Who grabbed her? Millie, what happened?”

“It all happened so fast! We were waiting for the bus. She let go of my hand for less than ten seconds! He grabbed her and ran! He threw her into his trunk and drove away! She’s gone, David! I’m so sorry! She’s gone!”

Starsky dropped the handset. His mind froze in fear for a brief moment. Hutch grabbed the handset.

“Millie? It’s Ken. Where are you?”

“I’m at my apartment. The police just left.”

“We’ll be there in less than fifteen minutes.”

Starsky pulled himself together and, as Hutch put the light on top of the car, raced for his apartment building.

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

Starsky took the steps to Millie’s apartment three at a time. When he got to the top, he banged on the door.

“Millie? You in there? It’s David. Let me in.”

The door opened and a teary and very disheveled Millie Penrose opened the door. Starsky took one look at her and gathered her into a comforting embrace. He felt her shuddering sobs as she started crying again.

“Shhh, Millie.” Starsky said soothingly, although he was far from calm himself. “It’s okay. We’ll find her.”

“Oh, David! She only let go of my hand to scratch her nose! I thought he was just someone waiting for the bus! I didn’t know he was going to take her!”

“Of course you didn’t know that. There was no way you could have known.”

“Millie,” Hutch said. “Did you get a good look at him?”

“Uh…I think so. It all happened so fast!”

“Do you think you could pick him out of a mug book?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Okay. Come on Starsky. Let’s go down to Metro and get Millie here set up with some mug books, okay?”

Starsky looked over her shoulder at his partner. Hutch could read the fear in the violet-blue eyes and knew that Starsky could probably see the same thing in his ice-blue eyes.

Starsky nodded and gently guided Millie down to the Torino and the three of them silently drove to Metro.

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

Michael pulled the car into his garage and quickly shut the door. He went and retrieved a roll of duct tape before opening the trunk. To his relief, the child appeared to be unconscious – probably knocked out when he threw her into the trunk. He pulled her out of the trunk and took her up to his daughter’s old room. He put her on Cameron’s bed (his wife had left the furniture) and quickly secured her hands and feet with the tape. Then he took a small piece and placed it over her mouth – no need to have the kid screaming and alerting the neighbors.

That done, he went downstairs to make himself a cup of coffee and think about what to do next.

‘I may go back to jail for this, but Detective Starsky, I’m gonna make you suffer before I go!’ He smiled evilly and went for a phone book.

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

Starsky sat at his desk staring at nothing, his gut twisted in knots. He had never felt so helpless in his life. Millie was looking at mug books but so far no luck. The only other lead they had was that the kidnapper was driving a green Jaguar. No one had gotten the license number. There were an awful lot of green Jaguars in the city.

Hutch came over and put a cup of coffee down in front of his partner. Starsky didn’t acknowledge him at all.

“Starsk?” Hutch said as he put his hand on Starsky’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay. We’ll find her. We’ll check every lead, leave no stone unturned. We’ll find her and we’ll beat the hell out of the guy who took her, okay?”

Starsky nodded apathetically, “yeah, we’ll find her – alive or dead?”

“Hey, we’ll find her and she’ll be okay!” Hutch said, hoping he sounded at least as confident as he didn’t feel.

Just then, the phone on Starsky’s desk rang. He sighed and picked it up.

“Starsky.”

“Ah, Detective Starsky. Did you lose something?”

“What? Who is this?”

“Just a concerned citizen. You really should watch your little girl more carefully. She truly is a beautiful child. There are a lot of very sick people out there.”

Starsky put a hand over the receiver and whispered to Hutch, “trace the call!” Hutch ran to get the trace started.

“Look, you miserable sonovabitch, if you hurt so much as a hair on her head, I’ll…”

“You’ll what, Detective? Kill me? Cops aren’t vigilantes. They don’t do revenge. That’s what people like me are for. I take revenge when people hurt me. You hurt me. You took my family away from me. I’m just returning the favor.” There was a loud click as the call was disconnected abruptly.

Starsky was still staring at the receiver when Hutch came back into the room. Starsky looked up at him desperately. Hutch just sighed and shook his head.

Starsky replaced the phone on the hook and buried his face in his hands.

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

Emily woke up slowly with a headache and the inability to move. Her eyes widened in fear as she realized that she was tightly bound. She tried to yell only to discover that the funny feeling on her mouth was in fact duct tape. She struggled to sit up and looked around the room. It wouldn’t have been such a bad place if she weren’t so terrified.

The room was painted a pastel pink with white carpet. She had been placed on a white canopy bed with a few stuffed animals. The bedspread had a little circus design on it and would have delighted her in other circumstances. There was a large dollhouse in one corner and a carousel music box on the dresser.

“This was my daughter’s room,” a voice said from the doorway.

Emily looked over to see a tall, thin man with sandy brown hair and green eyes. There was a sadness in his eyes that Emily didn’t recognize (having never seen such sadness before).

“I had a daughter. Her mother took her away from me. This was her room. Her mother left the furniture and some of her toys. Well, just the toys that I bought for her. I’m sorry I had to tie you up like this, but I can’t have you running away. I owe your daddy for taking my family away from me.”

Emily was puzzled. Her daddy was staying with the policemen. How could he take this man’s family away from this man from jail? She looked at the man with confusion in her eyes.

“I know you don’t understand any of this. I don’t expect you to. Detective David Starsky took my family away from me and now I’m going to do the same to him.”

Emily’s eyes widened. This man was angry with her pretend daddy! She knew he was a policeman and if he took this man’s family away, then it was police business and he had done nothing wrong.

“Are you hungry? I could make you a peanut butter sandwich or something.” Michael said. “I’m not a monster. I just want your daddy to suffer the way I have been. I owe him that much at least. So, you want a sandwich?”

Emily, too scared to be hungry, just shook her head. Michael shrugged. “Okay, suit yourself. I’m off to call your daddy again. Relax. Make yourself at home!”

As soon as the door shut, Emily lay back on the bed and cried.

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

Starsky was a basket case. There were some days that he was sorry that he ever became a cop. Today was one of those days. If he hadn’t been a cop, then he wouldn’t have incurred the wrath of whoever this nutcase was. If he hadn’t been a cop, then he would’ve been able to hold out some hope of finding Emily alive. Unfortunately, being a cop, he knew the statistics of kidnapped children – how many are found alive and how many aren’t.

He sighed deeply and looked at the little cot in his living room. Dobey had sent him home because he was getting nothing done but panicking. Meanwhile, his apartment was alive with people putting taps on his phones and preparing for this maniac’s next call. Starsky sighed again and hugged Emily’s teddy bear to his chest.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Dobey standing there with sympathy in his eyes.

“Cap’n? When did you get here? I didn’t hear you knock.”

Dobey shrugged, “I didn’t. I came in with Hutch. He’s in the kitchen making coffee right now. How’re you holding up?”

“I’m not. You know when we deal with kidnappings and Hutch ‘n me tell parents not to give up hope and keep believing that their kids are still alive?”

“Yes,” Dobey answered.

“We lie to them. I never realized it before, but it’s a lie. We all know the statistics of finding a kidnapped child alive. We just tell the parents what they wanna hear so we don’t lose their cooperation. We almost never find them alive! The guy did this because he wants revenge on me! What’re the odds of getting her back alive? I don’t even know who this creep is!”

“Speaking as a father of two, I understand how you feel. When my family was threatened, I was terrified. The thought of losing any of them hurts so badly sometimes, I can’t breathe. We’ll find this guy. We’ll find her too. You have to believe that! You think it’s a lie, but if you don’t believe it, then she’s dead already.”

“He’s right Starsk.” Hutch said coming over to sit down next to the distraught detective. “If you believe she’s dead already, then what’s the point of all of this? You can’t just give up on her so easily. I know you love her and I know you’re scared. I’m scared too, but if we give up on finding her alive, then we’ll lose her for sure.”

Starsky hugged the teddy bear a little tighter and felt his partner’s arm snake around his shoulders to take him into a comforting embrace.

“We’ll find her, Starsk.” Hutch whispered. “I promise we will.”

Starsky smiled weakly at his partner. “Yeah. We have to. Let’s call Huggy Bear. See if he can dig anything up.”

“Now you’re talking!” Hutch said, relieved that his partner had finally snapped out of his terror-induced inertia.

He was reaching for the phone when it suddenly rang.

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

All movement in the room stopped for a brief moment. The other officers scrambled to start a trace on the line. Finally, one of them nodded at Starsky who picked up the phone.

“Yeah?”

“Pretend Daddy? It’s Emily!”

“Emily!” Starsky gripped the phone a little tighter. “Where are you Princess? Are you okay?”

“I’m scared, Pretend Daddy! He says he wants to hurt you. He won’t let me go!”

“Do you know where you are?”

“No. I woke up in a pretty pink room. I don’t know where I am.”

“Don’t worry, Baby. Uncle Ken and I will find you. I promise.”

“Hurry! He’s scaring me. He…” There was a click as the line was abruptly disconnected.

“Emily? EMILY?” Starsky cried desperately, knowing there would be no answer. He looked at his fellow officers tracing the call. They shook their heads.

“No.” He whispered. Then, more forcefully, “NO! DAMMIT!” The phone went flying across the room.

Hutch renewed his embrace on the darker man and could feel his partner trembling in fear and anger. “It’s okay, Starsk. We’ll find her and we’ll get this sonovabitch. Don’t you worry about that. You promised her and we’re not going to break that promise.”

Starsky took a deep breath. He pulled himself together and sat up. “Right, we were gonna call Huggy, weren’t we?”

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

Emily turned on the man, “You hung up! I was talking to my pretend daddy and you hung up!”

“What do you mean ‘pretend daddy’?”

“My real daddy is staying with the policemen. Pretend Daddy is takin’ care of me.”

‘Staying with policemen? Jail?’ Michael reasoned silently. ‘So, she’s not really Starsky’s kid, huh? Of course, it’s getting the reaction from him that I was hoping for, so I guess I can’t be too picky.’ He sighed as he looked at the beautiful child. ‘Poor kid. It’ll be a shame to kill her, but it can’t be helped.’

“When can I go back to my pretend daddy?” The little voice startled him out of his musings.

“You can’t.” Michael said abruptly as he picked her up and took her back to his daughter’s room. “You’re going to spend the rest of your life with me.”

“NO! I wanna go back to my pretend daddy! I wanna go home!” Emily was starting to sob.

“Don’t worry, the rest of your life isn’t as long a time as you think.” Michael said quietly.

“NO! I WANNA GO HOME! I WANNA GO HOME!”

Michael swore under his breath and reached for the duct tape. He re-sealed her mouth before putting her back onto his daughter’s bed.

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

Huggy Bear picked up the phone to find a near-panicked Starsky on the other end of the line.

“Starsky, you have got to slow down, m’man! The Bear don’t understand a word you’re sayin’.”

“Huggy, little Emily’s been kidnapped. We need your help.”

“That’s rough,” Huggy said. He too was extremely fond of the little moppet and hated the thought that someone would want to hurt her.

“Yeah, Hug. Look, it’s some nut who thinks I took his family away from him. I have no idea who it could be. He don’t stay on the line long enough for a trace. The only thing we really know about him is that he drives a green Jag.”

Huggy whistled softly, “a Jag? Man, that cat must have some bread. I don’t know if he’d have any friends down this way, but I’ll put some feelers out. I’ll call you if I get anything.”

“Thanks Huggy,” Starsky said gratefully.

“Yeah, don’t worry. We’ll find ‘er okay. I’ll turn over rocks that ain’t been turned over in years if I need to.”

“Yeah,” Starsky said. “Thanks.” Starsky put the phone down and looked at his partner. “Now what?”

“Let’s call over to Metro and see how Millie’s coming with those mug books. She’s been at it all day.”

“Nah, let’s head over there. She’s gonna need a ride home anyway.”

Starsky advised the officers of their destination and the two of them headed down to the Torino.

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

Millie sighed in frustration as she slammed yet another mug book closed. She looked up to see Starsky and Hutch walking into the squad room.

“Oh David! I’m so sorry! I haven’t been able to find him. These photos are all beginning to look alike!”

Starsky sighed. “S’alright Millie. Come on, let us take you home.”

“I don’t want to leave until I’ve found his picture!”

“Millie,” Hutch said reasonably. “You just said they’re starting to look alike. We’ll take you home and you can come back and look some more tomorrow after you’ve had a chance to rest.”

“I don’t know…”

“Millie, you need to step back. In your current frame of mind, you’ll never find him. Take a break and come back tomorrow.”

She sighed as she looked between the two detectives. “You’re right, I know. I just hate the thought of that dear child in the hands of a stranger. Who knows what he might do to her!”

Starsky blanched at her last comment. Hutch put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Relax, Babe.” He whispered into Starsky’s ear.

“Oh, I’m sorry David!” Millie said abruptly as she noticed Starsky’s renewal of fear. “I forgot what I was saying.”

“It’s okay, Millie.” Hutch said quietly. He could tell that if Starsky tried to speak now, he’d lose whatever shred of sanity he had left. “Come on, let’s take you home. I’ll drive.”

Starsky nodded numbly and handed Hutch his car keys – forgetting entirely that Hutch had his own set of keys to the Striped Tomato.

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

Michael Palmer stood in the doorway watching the exhausted little girl sleep. He sighed regretfully.

‘I really don’t want to kill a child.’ He thought to himself. ‘Not like I killed Debbie anyway. Maybe I’ll just give her an O.D. of those sleeping pills I’ve got. The little angel won’t feel a thing. But Starsky, he’ll feel it alright.’

Smiling, he put a blanket over the bound form of the sleeping child.

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

Starsky spent a sleepless night staring at the ceiling in his bedroom. He could hear Hutch on the couch in the living room (he couldn’t bring himself to sleep on Emily’s bed) and could tell that his partner was awake too.

“Hutch?” he called softly. “You awake?”

“Yeah,” came the quiet reply. “Couldn’t sleep either, huh?”

Starsky stood up and headed out to the living room. He sat down on the chair and looked at his partner lying on the sofa with one arm under his head.

“I can’t stand it, Hutch! She ain’t my flesh and blood, but she’s still my little girl! That maniac’s got my little girl!”

“He hasn’t hurt her yet. We just have to believe we’ll find her before he does.”

“How do we know? She wasn’t hurt at four o’clock this afternoon! It’s two o’clock in the morning! That’s ten hours.”

Hutch got off the couch and went over to where his partner was sitting. He knelt before him and put his hands on Starsky’s knees.

“Starsky, look at me.” Hutch’s voice was quiet, yet compelling. Violet eyes met blue eyes.

“We WILL find her. She WILL be alive. Do you hear me? We have to believe that. YOU have to believe that.”

“I hope it’s soon. I dunno if I can take this much longer.”

“Starsk, I hate to ask this, but have you gotten any more idea as to who this nutcase is?”

Starsky stood up abruptly and began a furious pacing. “NO! That’s just it! There are hundreds of creeps I busted in the past ten years. God knows how many had families to be taken away. The guy’s wife probably left him and he blames me for…” Starsky trailed off.

“What are you thinking, Babe?”

“There was a guy I busted about 8 years ago. You were outta town or somethin’. He went in for killin’ his ex. Shot her or stabbed her, don’t remember which off-hand. After the verdict, his current wife came to me asking me to help her prove his innocence.”

“And?”

“And I showed her the evidence and explained my belief in the verdict and that convinced her that the creep was guilty. I dunno what happened to them, but I’d be willin’ to bet that she left him.”

“What was his name? Do you remember?”

“Parker? No, that ain’t it…Porter…nope…Palmer…That’s it! Michael Palmer!”

Hutch reached for the phone and it rang. Starsky dove for it and picked it up.

“Yeah?”

“Ah, Detective. You’ll be pleased to hear that your little angel is sleeping peacefully. But how will you explain to her real parents what happened to their little girl while in your care?”

“Listen you asshole! If you’ve hurt her in any way…”

“No, I haven’t hurt her in any way…in fact, such a beautiful child, I couldn’t hurt her. Just don’t have the heart.”

Starsky felt the slightest wellspring of hope grow in his heart, only to be quickly destroyed by Palmer’s next statement.

“I guarantee you, she won’t feel a thing.” There was a quiet click as the line went dead.

Starsky slammed the phone down in frustration.

“What’d he say, Starsk?”

“That she wouldn’t feel a thing.” Starsky whispered. “He’s gonna kill her, Hutch. He’s gonna kill her.”

“Not if we can help it. We have an idea of who the creep is. We just have to find him.”

“Yeah, there’s the trick.” Starsky said sadly. “Where is he? Once we find him, can we get to him before he kills her?”

“Let’s call Huggy. He should just be closing up for the night. Let’s see if he’s found anything yet.”

Starsky took a deep breath and picked up the phone.

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

Huggy Bear was just sweeping up behind the bar when the phone rang. He answered it to find a scared-sounding Starsky on the other end.

“Hug, he just called me. He’s gonna kill her and he’s gonna do it soon. Whatcha got for us?”

“There’s only one cat out there that I heard of who owns a Jag and has reason to hate you. Name’s Michael Palmer. Apparently, he got paroled and went home to an empty house. His wife took his kid and left the state. I talked to Perry Wilcox. Perry shared a cell with Palmer. Says all the man talked about was his wife and kid.”

“Wilcox know where to find him?”

“Nah, Palmer came to see him, not the other way ‘round. I think he’s your man, Starsky.”

“If you’re right, Huggy. I’ll owe you big time. Thanks.”

“Anything for the little lady.” Huggy said. “You just bring ‘er home, okay?”

“You bet. Thanks again, Hug. Bye.”

Starsky picked up the phone again and dialed, “Yeah, Detective Starsky here. I need a run-down on the whereabouts of one Michael Palmer. He woulda been paroled recently – probably in the last couple o’ weeks. Make it priority one. Call me at home as soon as you get anything…I don’t care what time it might be! Just call me! Right, thanks.”

As soon as he hung up the phone, he stood up. “You want some coffee, Partner? I don’t know about you, but I ain’t sleepin’ tonight.”

“Coffee sounds good. Thanks, Starsk.” Hutch said.

Starsky made the coffee and the two men settled in to wait for the phone call from R & I.

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

The next morning dawned bright and clear. Michael Palmer decided that it was time to end this once and for all. He went to the medicine chest and got the bottle of sleeping pills. He read the label carefully. In bold print were the words, ‘not for use with children under the age of 12.’

‘Perfect. Three or four of these ought to do it for a child of her size.’ He thought to himself.

Then he went into the kitchen and poured a glass of milk. He crushed four of the pills into the white liquid and then poured a generous amount of Hershey’s syrup into the milk to disguise the taste. He found a brightly colored straw, stuck it in the glass and headed upstairs.

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

Starsky pushed the Torino to its limits and beyond. As soon as R & I called with an address, he and Hutch were out the door. Starsky was driving like a madman and Hutch just hung on for the ride, praying that they got there alive and in time.

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

“Up and at ‘em!” Michael said as he walked into the bright room. “I’ve got some nice chocolate milk for you. Whaddaya say?”

Emily naturally said nothing (tough to talk with duct tape covering your mouth). Michael gently removed the tape from her mouth and held the straw to her lips. She sipped it cautiously.

“Come on, drink up! I don’t want to sit here all day waiting for you to finish.”

Watching him carefully, Emily drank the tainted milk – not tasting anything but chocolate.

“That’s a good girl. You just relax. Nothing’s gonna hurt you here. If you’re really good, I might undo the tape on your arms and legs. Would you like that?”

Emily, still unsure of his motives, nodded.

“Okay then.” He pulled out a pocketknife and cut the tape from around her arms and legs. “You just play with Cameron’s teddy bears or something. I’ll see you later!” He sighed regretfully as he watched the child try to rub some circulation back into her sore limbs.

“Sorry Angel.” He said softly as he left the room, locking the door from the outside.

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

Starsky pulled the Torino up to the house. He and Hutch looked at each other and nodded. Speech was no longer necessary. Each knew what the other was thinking – the result of being partners on the streets for so long.

They made their way up to the door. Hutch signaled that he was going around to cover the back of the house. Starsky nodded and counted to ten as Hutch moved off. By the time Starsky hit ten, Hutch was at the back of the house and ready. Starsky banged on the door.

“Police! Open up, Palmer!”

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

Palmer looked up in surprise. He knew they’d probably catch up to him eventually, but he didn’t think it would be so soon. He sighed. No use putting this off. Emily was taken care of. He had succeeded in that respect anyway. He had taken Starsky’s loved one from him as Starsky had taken his from him.

He stood up from the kitchen table and went to open the front door. As soon as the door was opened, he found himself pinned to the wall by a VERY, VERY angry David Starsky.

“WHERE IS SHE?” He yelled as he banged Palmer against the wall again. “WHAT’VE YOU DONE WITH HER?”

“She’s in my daughter’s bedroom. Third door upstairs on the left. I’ve given her an overdose of sleeping pills. She’s probably pretty close to dead by now if she’s not gone already. I may go back to jail, but at least I made you pay for taking my family from me. That’s all I wanted.”

Starsky felt a cold hand grab his heart and twist. The thought of never seeing his little princess alive again was almost more than he could bear. In a blind rage, he slammed Palmer against the wall again and punched him. He was beating the crap out of him when Hutch pulled him off the near-unconscious man on the floor.

“ENOUGH! Go find Emily.” Hutch said desperately. “I’ll take care of this scumbag. Don’t worry about that. Go get our little girl.”

Starsky looked at his partner for a brief moment and Hutch could see the rage slowly fading. “She needs you, Starsk. Go get her.”

Starsky took a deep breath and bolted for the stairs. When he got to the correct room, he found it locked. He kicked the door with everything he had and it gave way easily. He ran into the room to find little Emily asleep on the bed holding a stuffed kitten. Starsky would’ve thought the scene adorable if he wasn’t so scared. He ran over and shook the little girl, trying to wake her.

“Emily? Princess? Come on Baby, it’s time to wake up! Don’t you leave me!” He felt for a pulse and was rewarded with a slow, weak pulse. She was alive. Barely.

He scooped the little girl up into his arms and carried her downstairs. “HUTCH! He gave her an O.D. of sleepin’ pills. We gotta get her to the hospital! She’s barely breathing!”

Hutch took one look at the limp form of the normally energetic little girl and roughly dragged Palmer around and handcuffed him to the heavy wooden banister on the staircase. Then he pushed Starsky out the door. “Come on, Babe. I’m driving. You hold onto her.”

Starsky nodded and headed for the Torino. As Hutch drove, Starsky picked up the radio and asked dispatch to send someone to pick up Palmer and also to have them alert the ER to their arrival. Then he checked on Emily. She stopped breathing.

“Hutch! She ain’t breathing!” Starsky laid her out on his lap and rather awkwardly began artificial respiration. He felt for a pulse and still found it…barely. He kept breathing for her, praying that the pulse wouldn’t disappear. At the angle she was laying across him in the front seat of the Torino, CPR would be next to impossible.

Hutch was barely able to drive as his partner started rescue breathing. His vision blurred as the tears welled up. He started praying silently.

‘Please God! Don’t take this little one from us! Please, I love her so much and I know Starsky won’t be able to take it if she doesn’t live. She’s so young! Please let her live!’

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Hutch pulled the Torino into the hospital parking lot. He drove around to the Emergency department where they were met by medical professionals prepared to take care of the precious thing in Starsky’s arms.

They pulled the little girl away from the dark-haired detective and put her on a stretcher, inserting an airway before even moving her into the building. Once she was bagged, they rapidly moved the stretcher into one of the treatment rooms.

Starsky followed closely until they got to the door. “I’m sorry sir, you’ll have to wait out here. We’ll let you know how she’s doing as soon as we can. Do you know how she came to be like this?”

“She had been kidnapped. The guy gave her an O.D. of sleepin’ pills.”

“Do you know what kind of sleeping pills they were?”

Starsky seemed startled to realize that he didn’t know. Hutch materialized at his side holding out a bottle. “I think this is what he used. I found them in the kitchen next to the chocolate syrup.”

The nurse took the bottle and headed back into the room.

“Thanks.” Starsky said softly.

Hutch put his arm over Starsky’s shoulder and hugged him briefly before guiding his shell-shocked partner towards the waiting room.

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

Starsky paced the waiting room like a caged tiger. The only times he stopped were when he collided with Hutch who was also doing his caged tiger impression.

Both men looked up expectantly as the door to the waiting room opened. Both faces then fell when they realized that it wasn’t the doctor.

“Well, I’m glad to see you too!” Huggy Bear said as he saw that the two detectives weren’t too thrilled with his arrival.

“Sorry, Hug.” Hutch said. “It’s been a couple of hours and we still haven’t heard anything. We were just hoping you were the doctor.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Huggy said. “I just thought you boys might be hungry. It’s about lunchtime and I know neither of you been eatin’ much since this thing started.”

“Thanks Hug, but I ain’t hungry,” Starsky said.

“Same goes for me, Huggy.” Hutch said with a grateful smile. “Thanks anyway.”

Huggy shrugged and gave the food to another couple that was waiting for news of a loved one. Then he joined the pacing detectives.

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

Another hour later, the door opened and a very tired-looking doctor walked in. He looked around at the families all looking anxiously at him.

“For Emily Taylor?”

Starsky nearly knocked the doctor over in his desperation to hear about ‘his’ little girl.

“That’s me, Doc. How is she?”

The doctor sighed. “Lucky to be alive. It was touch and go for a while, but she’s more or less stabilized.”

Hutch walked up behind his partner. “What do you mean ‘more or less’?”

“Are you family?”

“I’m her uncle,” Hutch said without hesitation.

“She’s in a coma. The next 48 hours will tell. If she doesn’t come around in the next two days, then the odds that she will ever wake up drop drastically.”

“I wanna see her.”

The doctor nodded. “She’s in the pediatric ICU. It’s on the fourth floor. I’m not sure what room they’ve got her assigned to, but she’s just been moved up there.

“Thanks, Doc. Thanks a lot,” Starsky said as he shook the doctor’s hand.

The doctor excused himself as he was paged back to the ER. Starsky and Hutch looked at each other and then, followed closely by Huggy Bear and Dobey (who had arrived about half an hour earlier) headed upstairs to see Starsky’s little princess.

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

As they got to the room, a passing nurse said, “No more than two visitors at a time, please.”

Starsky addressed Dobey and Huggy, “You guys go first. I dunno about Hutch, but once I get in there, I ain’t leaving ‘til she’s awake.”

Hutch just nodded in agreement.

Dobey and Huggy went in first.

When they came out of her room, Dobey had tears in his eyes and muttered, “so young! Poor kid.”

Huggy was wiping something resembling tears out of his eyes. When Starsky looked at him curiously he said, “Just…uh…got somethin’ in my eye.”

Then Starsky and Hutch went in.

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

Starsky and Hutch looked at the tiny figure in the bed. There were tubes and wires coming from several different places on her body. She barely resembled the lively five-year old that both Starsky and Hutch knew she should be.

Each man took one side of the bed. Starsky sat down in a nearby chair and took her tiny hand in his own. Hutch sat down on the other side and started gently stroking her hair. Both men just drank in the sight of the precious child for a few minutes before either one could speak.

Finally, Starsky broke the silence. “Hey Princess, I’m here. I’m right here for you. I ain’t leavin’ you again. You just gotta wake up for me, huh?”

“Come on, Sweetie,” Hutch whispered into her other ear. “You can wake up for us, can’t you? We’re both here and we’re not leaving you. Please wake up. You’re sleeping the best part of the day away!”

“Yeah, don’t you wanna go outside and play? We could probably go back to the carnival again. You wake up and we’ll go, okay?”

Emily decided she wasn’t ready to go back to the carnival just yet.

“I love you, Baby.” Starsky said quietly. “You can’t leave me like this! Who am I gonna watch cartoons with? Please come back to me!”

“I love you too, Sweetie. Please come back to us!”

The two men continued talking quietly to the comatose child. Both praying as they’d never prayed before. It was one thing for one of them to be hurt – they were cops; it’s part of the job. But a child should never, ever be hurt like this – especially this child.

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

Later that night, both men had fallen asleep at Emily’s bedside. The nurses had been talked into letting the girl’s ‘father’ and ‘uncle’ stay as long as they wanted. Starsky was sitting on the chair, resting his head on the bed and Hutch was leaned back in his chair.

Starsky slowly became aware of a small hand gently petting his hair. He stirred slightly, but didn’t wake up completely. He just mumbled, “Princess?”

“Pretend Daddy? Wake up! Pretend Daddy?”

Starsky’s eyes popped open. He suddenly realized that the hand he felt wasn’t a dream. He sat up and saw Emily’s beautiful blue eyes looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“Why are you sleeping like that? Where’s your bed?”

Starsky was too overjoyed to answer. He leaned forward and hugged her carefully, trying not to disturb any of the various medical attachments. She however, had no such qualms and threw her arms around his neck (getting extremely lucky and not dislodging even one tube or wire anywhere).

“I missed you Pretend Daddy! He said I couldn’t see you again. He was wrong. I’m glad he was wrong.”

“So am I, Princess,” Starsky said in a shaky voice. “So am I.”

She suddenly seemed to remember where she had been, “He can’t get me again, can he?”

“No Baby. He can’t get you ever again. I made sure o’ that.”

“Good,” she sighed as she snuggled into Starsky’s chest. Under the pressure of the loving child’s head, Starsky’s heart swelled almost to bursting.

Starsky looked over at his partner who was still asleep. He almost hated to wake him – almost.

“Hey Hutch…Hutch! Wake up!” Starsky called softly.

Hutch opened his eyes, “Wha…?” Then he realized why his partner had awakened him. “Hey Sweetie! Welcome back! You got a hug for your Uncle Ken?”

Starsky looked over at Hutch with a grin, “Wait your turn, Partner.”

Emily gave Starsky one final hug before letting him go and moving over to the blond man on the other side of the bed. He held her gently, eyes closed, savoring the feeling of the affectionate child in his arms. Finally she pulled back and looked at him curiously. She reached up a tiny hand and wiped a tear off of his cheek.

“Uncle Ken? Why are you crying? Are you sad?”

Hutch chuckled through his tears, “No Honey, I’m happy. People sometimes cry when they’re really, really happy.”

“Oh. I’m glad they’re not sad tears.”

“Me too,” Starsky said quietly.

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

The doctors kept Emily in the hospital for one more day to make sure there were no lasting effects of the overdose. When Starsky and Hutch came to pick her up, each of them brought a teddy bear and a small bunch of balloons. An orderly came with a wheelchair and Emily climbed in. Starsky and Hutch sat the bears in her lap and tied the balloons to the wheelchair handles.

The three of them drove home together and Starsky carried Emily up to his apartment while Hutch followed with her things.

When they got inside, Emily was thrilled to see a big banner saying ‘WELCOME HOME EMILY!’, a veritable feast (courtesy of Huggy Bear), Huggy Bear, Harold, Edith, Rosie and Cal Dobey, Millie Penrose and a pile of dolls, games and stuffed animals that made the small apartment resemble a happy little toy store.

Emily squirmed out of Starsky’s arms and went around hugging everybody in turn – even Rosie and Cal (who wasn’t sure he liked being hugged by a girl, but put up with it in the spirit of things).

Then the whole group of them got down to business and had a darn good party.

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

Later that night, Starsky was getting Emily tucked into bed. He had given her an extra cookie with her bedtime snack and read her two extra stories. Finally, she was settled in and sound asleep.

He sat watching her for a long time, almost as if he was afraid that she would disappear again if he turned his back. Finally, he leaned down and kissed her forehead gently.

“I love you Princess.” He said softly before finally heading off to bed.

End.

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