Life

by Rescue45

Starsky, Hutch and their families deal with a paintball game that turns into much more, the detectives going undercover, and the retirement of of the partners.

Thank you, Sandy for all your help on this story too. I appreciate your help, opinions and suggestions.

Life

Chapter 1

Starsky drove to pick Hutch up for work as he was saying goodbye to Debbie. They have been married for six months now and everyday was better than the last. As he kissed her goodbye, Davey came in and said, "I thought the honeymoon was over."

Hutch laughed at his son and said, "It will never be over." He kissed Debbie again.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, Dad, are we still going paintballing this Saturday?"

"Sure, if all goes well and we don't end up working. The Chief's giving us a new assignment today." Davey nodded.

Davey looked at Debbie and said, "Are you sure you don't want to go with us. It's a lot of fun?"

"Actually, Jeanne and I are going. We'll leave the game playing to you guys but were going to make lunch for everyone."

"Cool. That'd be great."

Kenny came in and said,"Uncle Ken, Dad's waiting for you. Hi, Aunt Debbie."

Aunt Debbie, after six months, she still liked the sound of that she smiled at him and said, "Hi, Kenny."

"Yeah, I know. I'll be there in a minute." He looked at Davey and said, "Be careful." He handed him the car keys. Davey and Kenny both had their driver's licenses now and they took turns driving to school. Hutch checked his gun, put it in his holster, grabbed his jacket and quickly kissed Debbie one more time as he left. The boys were right behind him. Debbie had the day off and wanted to do some shopping for Saturday's game. She got her coat from the closet and locked the door as she left.

When Hutch got into the car, he knew Starsky had something on his mind. Starsky was quiet and tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. He usually did this when he had something he needed to say, but didn't want to say. After a few minutes of this, Hutch looked at him, put his hand on his shoulder and said, "Out with it, pal."

"Out with what?"

"Come on, starsk, I know you. You got something on your mind, out with it."

"Its, huh, well, that is, I…"

Hutch was a little worried now. His partner didn't usually stumble over his words. They have been able to talk about everything, he knew something was really bugging him. "Starsky, is everything okay?"

Starsky gave Hutch a glance, took a deep breath and in a matter-of-fact voice said, "It's time." He looked at Hutch again.

Hutch thought a minute, trying to figure out what his partner was talking about. Finally the light bulb went off; he knew what his partner trying to say but not say. "I think you're right, it is time. This way it will be on our terms not some injury to either of us, not some punk on the street, not the departments, but ours as partners and as a team."

"You agree with me then?"

"Don't I usually?"

Starsky smiled, Hutch was right, he usually did agree with him on the important things. "Yeah, you do, buddy. You okay with it?"

"I've been thinking about it anyway. I want it to be our decision. So when do you want to do it?"

"I've been thinking about it. I got the perfect date in mind…"

Hutch thought for a minute and said, "Wait, don't tell me. I think I know."

Starsky smiled, "So we can read each other's minds after all, huh?"

Hutch didn't dignify that with a look or response. "It's perfect. You're thinking April 13, right?"

"Yep."

"Have you said anything to Jeanne or Kenny?"

"No, I wanted to talk to you about it first."

"When should we tell them? When should we tell the Chief?"

"We got time. Let's tell our wives and boys Saturday at dinner after the paintball game. How's that sound?"

"Sounds good to me."

They were quiet the rest of the drive to the station. They were going to meet Chief Sterling at his office to receive their next assignment. They had no clue what their new assignment would be this time. Just before they entered Chief Sterling's office, Starsky stopped at the coffee maker, poured himself a cup of coffee then he followed Hutch inside. When they opened the door the Chief said, "Starsky, Hutch, have a seat."

The partners looked at each other. When the Chief started off with 'have a seat' it usually meant they weren't going to like what was coming next. They sat down in unison, in the oversized brown leather chairs that the Chief had just put in his office the week before. Starsky put the cup of coffee in front of him on the Chief's desk. Hutch reached out picked it up and drank some of it, which got him a glare from Starsky. He put it back down.

Starsky looked at the Chief and said, "Okay, we're sitting, now what?"

"I got a special assignment for you two, but as usual it's up to you if you accept it."

Hutch said, "You always have special assignments for us. That's why we're assigned to you." He was trying to make light of the tense vibes he was getting from the Chief.

"It's not funny, Hutch."

Starsky said, "Okay, Chief, what is it? What's wrong?"

"This assignment will require you to go undercover again."

Starsky and Hutch said simultaneously, "Okay."

Hutch said, "Chief, please just tell us what you want us to do."

"Do you know the Bay City Eagle Apartments?"

Starsky looked at Hutch and thought a minute. He had heard about them and said, "Yeah, it's a gated apartment complex. I believe it has about 600 tenants."

"Oh yeah, It's off Crowell Street right?"

"Yes. That's the apartments." He paused while looking at the file.

Hutch said, "Don't mostly older people live there? People sixty and over and most of them with physical problems or slight mental problems?"

Starsky smirked at Hutch and said, "Well, now we know why he wants us for the assignment." Then he looked at the Chief, "What's going on there?"

The Chief handed Starsky a file and said, "According to the manager, murder and a couple of the tenants are missing."

Hutch leaned closer to Starsky to see the file and said, "How many murders?"

"There have been six unsolved murders in the past three months, and two more tenants are missing."

Hutch said, "Okay, what's our cover?"

"I'd like one of you to become a tenant and the other one to be a maintenance man. The maintenance personnel get free room and board, so you'll both live there. You'll clean the windows, light maintenance, vacuum the lobby and hallways, things like that."

The partners looked at the file a few minutes. They looked at Chief Sterling. He knew their next question would be 'When do we start?' He said, "I'd like whoever is going to be the employee to start on Monday. The other one can check in as a tenant on Wednesday. Before you decided, I want you to know that no one who works there is going to know I'm sending anyone in. Not even the manager, once you're in, you'll be on your own. The tenants cannot leave the complex without notifying the office, so you can't come and go as you please. And I don't think this is going to be a case you're gonna to solve in a couple of days. You could be there a while."

Hutch looked at Starsky. He was asking him if he thought they should take the assignment. Starsky's look back and half a shrug said 'why not.' They were still looking through the file.

Starsky said, "I'll work as maintenance."

"I'll get a walker." He smiled as he nodded. He was already thinking of ways to make himself look old and feeble.

The Chief said, "I want you two to brief Seth and Thompson and work out a check in schedule with them."

Starsky, who had been looking through the file said, "Chief, a couple of the victims had family. Can Seth be Hutch's son or something? That way…."

Hutch finished his train of thought, "He can come and go when we need him." Then he looked at Starsky, "Do I look old enough to have a son his age?" He took another drink of Starsky's coffee. Starsky glared at him again, picked up the cup and took a drink.

"You will with a walker and a good disguise." He smirked. "You might even pass as his grandfather, if your disguise is good enough." Hutch gave him a disgusted look.

"I could dye my hair, use a walker, I could even change my voice a bit. How are you going to pass as a maintenance man, you don't do windows?"

Chief Sterling looked at both of them and said, "Are the two of you done playing?"

They said, "Never" at the same time and raised their eyebrows at each other and smirked ever so slightly.

Hutch said, "We'll brief Seth and Thompson Saturday night after the game. That will give us time to look at the details of the case…."

Starsky finished, "and work on our covers."

Chief Sterling asked, "Game?"

Starsky said, "We're going paintballing on Saturday with some of the other detectives. It's going to be cops against kids."

Chief Sterling looked at them, smiled and said, "Do the department a favor…"

Hutch cut him off, "Don't worry Chief, we won't embarrass the department by letting the kids win."

Chief Sterling said, "I'll give you time off to go over the case, get your covers worked out, brief Seth and Austin, and spend some time with your families. Check back here at 0800 Monday morning. I mean 0800."

In unison Starsky and Hutch said, "Yes, Sir." Hutch took a drink of coffee, took the file from Starsky and handed him the coffee cup, which was now empty. Starsky looked at the cup and frowned. Hutch chuckled as he walked on. Starsky threw the empty cup in the trash.

They went back to Starsky's house and spent the rest of the day going over the file. They decided that, since they had the next day off they would go ahead and brief Seth and Thompson on the case then.

They knew once Hutch was in his disguise, Seth could pass as his son. If they needed Thompson to help he could be a friend. They were hoping to keep Thompson out of sight. According to the file, there have been six murders and two tenants are unaccounted for. They discovered that the murders appeared to be robberies that had gone wrong. The families of some of the murdered men had reported some things missing. Maybe the tenants showed up or something, that's something they were going to have to find out once they started working on it. All the tenants had been shot in their own apartments by a small caliber gun. They had enough information to brief Seth and Thompson on tomorrow.

Tonight, they would need to tell their wives and boys they were going undercover again. They decided they would also let them know about the decision they had made on their way to work that morning Instead of waiting until Saturday. This would be the first time Hutch would be going undercover since meeting Debbie. He's had some dangerous assignment, but this would be the first one undercover and he didn't know how she was going to take it. He was hoping she would be alright with it.

Chapter 2

Hutch called Debbie at work and asked her to meet him and Davey at the Starskys' for dinner. She said she could be there about 1730. Starsky called Jeanne and let her know that Hutch, Debbie and Davey were joining them for dinner, but not to worry, he would have dinner ready by the time she got off work. Jeanne was used to having the Hutchs' over, but her instincts told her there was more to it.

By the time Debbie arrived at the Starskys' at 1730, Jeanne and the boys were there. Starsky had gone to Kiko's and picked up Mexican food for dinner. He got everyone their favorites. As they were eating Jeanne looked at Starsky and Hutch and said, "Okay, guys, what gives?"

Hutch looked at all of them and said, "We got a couple of things to tell you guys."

Jeanne said, "Yeah, I thought so."

Davey said, "Is it about your new assignment the Chief gave you today?"

Hutch said, "Well, that too."

Debbie said, "What is it, honey."

Starsky looked at them and said, "We decided it's time."

Debbie said, "Time? It's time for what?"

Kenny grinned and said, "I bet this is how their conversation went down. Dad looked at Uncle Ken and said it's time, and Uncle Ken looked at Dad and said okay."

Davey laughed and said, "Then they were quiet the rest of the day, 'cause they knew what the other was thinking and didn't need to talk."

Starsky and Hutch were laughing. Starsky about spit his drink out. As they recalled that's just about how it was. Hutch nodded and said, "Actually, that's about how it was."

Debbie and Jeanne were laughing and Debbie said, "So fill us in on the whole conversation, please."

Starsky said, "We decided we're going to retire."

They looked surprised. Jeanne said, "Really, finally you're going to retire?"

Hutch said, "Yep. We decided that we want to retire on our own terms…"

Starsky finished the sentence, "The department is going to make us retire next year anyway. We wanted it to be our decision, not the departments, not because of some injury and not because of some punk on the street threatening us."

Debbie and Jeanne smiled. They were hoping their men would retire soon. They worried so much about them every day.

Kenny grinned again and said, "Let me guess, Dad looked at Uncle Ken raised his eyebrows and Uncle Ken knew the date Dad had in mind." Debbie and Jeanne started laughing again. The boys were so funny when they talked about how their Dad's knew what the other was thinking.

Davey said, "Hey, I know the date."

Kenny said, "The date they picked."

"Yep, I bet I know it."

Hutch said, "Okay, what's the date?"

"It's the only one that makes sense. April 13."

Jeanne and Kenny nodded and said, "Yep, it makes sense."

Debbie said, "Why? What's so special about April 13?"

Hutch smiled and said, "That's the date we became partners."

Starsky said, "April 13, the day Captain Dobey made us partners."

Hutch said, "We've been partners now for 43 years and that's longer than any other team in the department."

Debbie asked, "How old were you when you became partners?"

Hutch said, "We became partners when we were twenty-three, twenty-four something like that."

Hutch laughed as he remembered how they bugged Dobey to let them be partners. Starsky started laughing too.

Debbie said, "Let me guess." She looked at Starksy, "You know what Hutch's is laughing at."

Davey said, "Now you're catching on how their minds work."

Debbie said, "That's a scary thought."

Jeanne laughed and said, "Very."

Starsky said, "We were just thinking back on how we both bugged Dobey to let us be partners."

Debbie said, "Dobey?"

Hutch changed his tone. It became sad and solemn, "I told you about him, he was our first Captain. He was a great guy. He became Chief before he retired."

"Oh, that's right."

Starsky said, "He called me into his office my fist day as detective, told me to sit down and said he had found me a partner. I was hoping it would be Hutch. We'd met in the academy and had wanted to be partners since then. Captain Dobey knew that, but we were both so young and he really wanted to pair us with and older more experience detective. He just sat there looking at me without saying anything. Finally, he picked up the phone and said send in Detective Starsky's partner."

Hutch said, "I walked in and saw Starsky sitting there. We knew from that day on, we'd be a great team."

Starsky smiled and said, "We promised him that we would be great together and would never give him a moment's trouble."

Hutch laughed and said, "Well, that part turned out to be a lie. We gave that man more trouble than he really deserved."

"He took it all in stride though. He was great. I really had a lot of respect for him."

"Yeah, I had a lot of respect for him too. He was great. I really miss him."

Jeanne said, "Well, I for one am glad you two finally decided to retire."

Debbie said, "Well, I don't believe for a minute that they will stay out of trouble, even after they retire."

Starsky and Hutch at the same time said, "We hope not."

Davey said, "So, what's the assignment."

Hutch said, "Oh, yeah. We almost forgot to tell you about it. Actually, we can't tell you a lot about it except…"

Starsky finished, "We're going undercover again."

Jeanne sighed. She accepted Starsky's job, danger and all, but didn't like it when he went undercover. She understood that's part of the job and took it in stride.

Hutch looked at Debbie and said, "This is the first time since we met that I will be going undercover."

Debbie said, "How's this work. Will you come at night or what?"

Davey said, "Nope. When he's undercover, we won't see him."

Debbie looked at Hutch. Hutch said, "We can't tell you what we're going to be doing. Please believe me when I say it's a matter of life and death, and I don't necessarily mean ours."

Jeanne asked, "Any idea how long?"

Starsky and Hutch shook their heads no.

Kenny asked, "Can you tell us who your outside contact is going to be? You do have one don't you?"

Starsky and Hutch looked at each other. Hutch shrugged his shoulders letting Starsky know it wouldn't hurt to tell them that much.

Starsky said, "Okay, we'll tell you that much, but it has to stay between us six okay. No one else, I mean it." They all agreed.

Hutch said, "Our outside contacts are going to be Seth and Thompson. We're going to finish going over the case tomorrow and Sunday. Starsky will start his cover on Monday, I'll start mine on Wednesday."

Debbie said, "You don't start at the same time?"

Davey said, "Depending on what the assignment is, they start at different times, 'cause it's harder for their marks to know they're undercover if they start on different days."

Kenny added, "And if one of them is made, the other one has a chance of keeping their cover."

Jeanne asked, "How dangerous is it this time?"

Hutch said, "We honestly don't know. We won't until we start, but we'll take every precaution, you know that."

Debbie said, "And you don't know how long you'll be undercover?"

Hutch said, "No. This time we don't know."

Davey looked at Debbie and said, "Something important to remember, if you see either of them around while they're under, you have to pretend you don't know them. Don't even speak to them."

Debbie said, "Good point."

Hutch looked at Debbie and said, "I have a lot I'll need to tell you about tonight, okay?" Debbie took a sip of her drink and nodded.

As they were getting ready for bed later that night, Hutch put his head on the pillow and looked at Debbie. She smiled at him and said, "I know you got some things you need to tell me about your going undercover, so out with it."

"Honey, it won't be easy on you, but it is necessary that Starsky and I do this. I can't tell you any more about the case than that."

"I understand that. It's okay, I work in a hospital, I understand confidentially, remember?"

"Yeah, okay. Starsky, Jeanne and I made a deal years ago. I never mentioned it because it's never came up before. Since Starsky is going in first, he's going under on Monday; Kenny will stay the night here Sunday night. On Tuesday, the day before I go under, Davey will stay with Jeanne. That way Starsky and I can have a night alone with our wives."

"That sounds like a nice deal."

"There's more I need to tell you. Davey's right, if you see me, Starsky, even Seth or Thompson after we go under, in public, you can't react. It might blow our covers." She nodded okay. "For this particular assignment, I will have to leave all of my identifications, cell phone and my weapons here. I can't have anything that has my real name on it. That includes my wedding ring, okay?"
"You won't have your gun?"

"No, but we're thinking Starsky or Seth can get it me one once I'm in. The last thing is for you not to worry too much. Starsky will be with me, I won't be alone. Starsky and I know what we're doing and we've done this before. I trust him with my life, you know that."

"Is he going to be okay until you meet him on Wednesday?"

Hutch nodded as he said, "Yes, we don't think he'll be in any danger."

"You really have no idea how long this assignment is going to last do you? I mean is it going to be a few days, a couple of weeks or maybe even a month?"
"We honestly don't know. Seth should be able to give you messages from us and he'll let you know we're okay. If there is an emergency, you can call Chief Sterling. Try not to call Seth or Thompson we don't want their covers blown either. Talk to Jeanne while I'm gone. She'll understand. You two will need each other. I need you to do one more thing for me too."

"Anything."

"This will be the first time I'll be going undercover since my kidnapping. Davey seemed okay about it tonight, but after I actually leave might be a different story. I know that was over 3 years ago, but he may have some separation anxiety. Please keep a close eye on him for me and if it gets bad, I'll do something."

"I will. I promise. He really is an amazing young man you know."

"That he is. I'm so proud of the man he's becoming."

"You have every right to be."

"I love you." He gazed into her eyes. He held her tight.

"I'm scared."

He held her tighter and said, "I know. I know you are but it will be okay. Trust me, trust Starsky." They fell asleep holding onto each other.

The next day, Friday, Starsky, Seth, and Thompson met at Hutch's place while everyone else was gone. They spent the day going over the file. They went over everything that had to do with the tenants that had been killed and the ones that were missing. Since it looked like the murders may have been a result of robberies, Hutch decided that he would bring in a lot of expensive jewelry and electronics. The tenants that were missing had probably been killed, but they weren't going to give up on finding them for their families. Thompson was going to be checking with some of the families and see what he could find out. All of the tenants that were killed were men in their early 70s and all of them lived in the same wing. The wings were numbered 1-6 and all the tenants were in the 3rd wing. They were all also on the third and fourth floors. The murders on the third floor were in rooms 360, 370 and 373. The murders on the fourth floor were in rooms 380,386, and 395. The two tenants that are missing are from wing 5 and both from the fourth floor their room numbers are 580 and 586.

The tenants that lived in the complex were mostly older people who did not have anyplace else to live. Some of them had or at least appeared to have money. For various reasons, their family members couldn't take care of them. Many of them had physical or slight mental problems but they were not in bad enough shape to need a nursing home or other such facility.

Seth laughed and said, "So, Hutch, or should I call you Gramps?"

Hutch glared at him as the other three laughed, "Call me that and it'll be the last thing you call anyone." He laughed too.

"Okay, Dad. Any idea how long you think this will take to crack."

At the same time Starsky and Hutch said, "Not a clue."

Thompson asked, "Do the two of you rehearse that stuff, or what?"

They replied, "Rehearse what?" Seth and Thompson just shook their heads. They answered in unison without even knowing they were doing it.

They decided that the four of them would meet on Sunday to iron out the final details of the case.

Hutch looked at Seth and said, "Son." He said with a bit of friendly sarcasm. "I'd like you to do me a favor while I'm under."

"Sure, Dad." He repeated the friendly sarcasm. "What is it?"

"This will be the first time I'll be undercover since getting married, and I'm worried about Debbie. I'm also a little worried about Davey. I haven't been undercover since the kidnapping. I don't know how he's going to react to my being gone."

"Sure, Hutch, I'll keep an eye on them."

"Thanks."

The subject changed to the paintball game they would be playing the next day.

Chapter 3

Starsky and Hutch liked taking the boys out for a good game of paintball. It was a good way to teach them how to work together as a team of two, as well as part of a larger team. It was also good target practice. They tried to go every couple of months, but it had been awhile since their last game. It's hard to get everyone together with the work schedules they all have. Starsky was a little worried about Kenny since it would be the first time they had gone since the shooting. He had talked to him about it and Kenny seemed okay.

Saturday morning Starsky, Hutch, their wives and boys met the others about half an hour outside of town for a good, fun game of paintball. The area was out of the way, heavily wooded and belonged to Reynolds' brother. Everyone was dressed in an outfit they thought would give them a good advantage, which was green camouflage. They all had their own paintball guns, masks, and paintballs. They had decided it was going to be cops against the kids for the first game, and then they might mix the teams up a bit as the day went on.

Debbie and Jeanne had packed enough food for everyone to have a good lunch and they had brought a couple of card tables to put it all on. The tables were set up far enough behind the cars, they would be safe. They would enjoy the fresh air, sunshine and each other's company, while the kids and cops were shooting each other with various colors of paint.

On the kid's team, there was Kenny, Davey, Calvin, Tracy, Amy, and James. Amy and Tracy's Dad's were working but Johnson picked them up so they could play. On the cops team there was Starsky, Hutch, Seth, Austin, Thompson, Martin, Reynolds and Johnson. The teams were uneven, so Seth volunteered to be on the kid's side.

Reynolds went over the safety rules. Everyone was to keep their masks on until he gave the all clear, the power level of all the guns was checked and they were told that if they were hit they were to go to what he called the 'safety area.' The safety area was an old shed. If they went inside the shed they could take off their face masks, but only if they were inside. This shed was at the far right side of the field.

After the safety rules were clear, the boundaries were set. The area in front of the parked cars was one end, there was a creek on the right side down an embankment, the end of the woods on the left and at the opposite end of the park cars, was another road that led to an old house that had been abandoned years ago. The whole field was about five acres.

The kids were to take the far end road and the cops stayed at the upper end for the first game. The cops thought that was a good idea because by making them walk to the lower end, it would tire the kids out first. Reynolds gave the kids five minutes to get into position then the game would start. He had a whistle and when he blew the whistle, everyone knew the game was on.

The kids went quickly to the bottom of the field. Their plan was for Kenny and Amy to go to the road and follow it to the left side of the boundary line. Davey and Seth were going down by the creek and up the embankment on the right. Calvin, Tracy, and James were going to take a chance and go straight up the middle taking cover behind the trees. Each team would cover the others and hopefully they would be able to 'take out' the cops.

The cops had about the same idea. Starsky, and Austin were going by the creek, Hutch, Martin, and Reynolds were going in the middle and Johnson and Thompson were going to stay on the left side of the boundary.

When they played paintball, they tried not to put the partners with each other. This was good practice for them to work as a team with others. They wanted the kids to learn that sometimes you have to work with others and learn how they do things. It was fun game, but it was also a great learning experience.

Everyone put their masks on and Reynolds blew the whistle for the game to begin. Kenny and Amy were quiet as they made their way to the road at the far end of the field. As they reached the road, a car pulled up and two men got out. As the driver got out he yelled, "Hey, what the hell are you kids doing here?"

Kenny put his finger to his lips and said, "Shhhhh. We're playing paintball."

Amy said, "Please, don't give our position away."

Kenny and Amy figured these two men were looking at the old house. The property had been for sale for a while now. Then Kenny saw it. He saw the man had a gun tucked in his pants on his left side. He pretended not to notice. Through the backseat window he saw two briefcases. He pretended not to notice them either. He looked at Amy and said, "Come on, let's go before they find us." He looked at the man and said, "Bye, Mister." He turned and started to run with Amy right behind him.

The man knew Kenny had seen the gun and the briefcases and pulled out his gun and said, "You two aren't going anywhere."

Kenny and Amy tried to pretend they didn't hear the man and kept running. The man yelled, "Drop the guns, or I will shoot."

Kenny looked at Amy and calmly said, "They're not real. I told you we're just playing paintball. No one's gonna hurt you."

"I said drop them." Kenny looked at Amy and nodded, and then they both put the guns on the ground.

The other man had gotten out of his car and said, "Now what do you plan on doing with these two?"

"I don't know, but we can't just let them go now, can we?"

Kenny tried to look like a dumb scared kid. Amy followed his lead. They both knew this was a drug drop off. That's why the gun and the briefcase. Kenny said, "I don't care if you steal anything from that old house. We won't say anything, will we?" He looked at Amy.

Amy said, "Who cares about that house. That man died a year ago, you can have whatever you want." She tried to walk away like she didn't care.

The man with the gun said,"I know you're not stupid enough to think this is about that house. Sit down over here." He pointed to a tree. Kenny and Amy moved towards the tree. The second man got some rope out of the backseat.

Kenny shook his head and asked, "What are you going to do to us. We're just a couple of kids."

The second man tied them to the tree, as the man with the gun said, "Relax, we're going to leave the two of you tied up here. We'll leave when we finish our business and your friends will find you. If you promise not to yell out, we won't gag you."

Amy said, "Please, don't gag me. I have asthma. You won't hear a peep out of us I promise." That was a lie. She didn't want to be gagged in case she did need to call for help when these two leave. Kenny thought that was a good idea on her part. He was surprised how calm she remained, but she too was a cop's kid. Kenny knew he could get out of the ropes anytime he wanted and so did Amy. His plan was to do just that when they left. They were lucky they had not been blindfolded or gagged.

Davey and Seth had made their way to the creek. Davey looked around and out of the corner of his eye saw Kenny tied to a tree, and then he saw Amy next to him. He took a second look. He wouldn't put it past Kenny to use that as a trick to lure him out. As he took that second look, he saw their paintball guns lying down too far away from them to be a set up. He was worried. Seth was a little ahead of him and he whispered, "Seth, Seth, come here." Seth didn't hear him. In a louder, almost panicky voice he said, "Seth!"

That got Seth's attention, turned around and whispered, "What?"

Davey motioned for him to come closer. Davey put his fingers to his lips and said, "Shhhh, look. Someone tied Kenny and Amy to that tree."

Seth looked around and didn't see anyone, but he did see a car pull behind the old house. He whispered to Davey and said, "Find your Dad and the others, let them know what's going on."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna try to free them and find out what's going on."

Davey said, "Be careful not to get caught yourself."

"I'll be careful, now get outta here." Seth was hoping Davey would go before he got caught. Davey put his gun on the ground so he could run faster. After he left, Seth took his pistol out of his leg holster and slowly walked towards Kenny and Amy.

As he watched Davey run off he quietly ran towards the tree. He saw that Kenny had noticed the car had pulled away from the road and towards the back of the house. Kenny got himself loose and untied Amy as Seth was running towards them. Kenny and Amy saw Seth and they ran towards him. Just as they reached him a man came up behind Seth and said, "Put the gun down." Seth just stood there a minute and didn't move. He debated if he should try to fight the man. The man said, "My gun isn't aimed at you. It's aimed at the girl, now put yours down." Seth carefully put his gun on the ground. He knew he didn't have a choice. The man walked the three of them back to the tree. He tied Kenny and Amy up to the same tree and tied Seth to a tree next to them. He thought Kenny was able to get loose last time because his hands weren't tied tight enough, so he tied them tighter. He had no way of knowing that Kenny could get out of anything he could tie him up with and so could Seth. Kenny figured that Davey would have help coming any time now. Kenny and Amy had been turned away from Seth so they couldn't talk to him without being heard. All three of them had to wait until help arrived.

Davey ran off up the hill quietly. He ran towards the middle of the field because he knew that's where his dad was going to be. He usually took the middle. He ran as quickly as he could. He heard someone's paintball gun fire. Davey turned toward the sound of the shot and saw his dad. He ran towards him waving his arms. He was hoping by waving his arms his dad would know something was wrong. Hutch saw Davey and was about to shoot him but knew something was wrong. Davey didn't have his gun for one thing and he was running straight towards him. Hutch's first thought was that someone was hurt. As Davey got close to his dad, he took off his mask so he could talk. Hutch knew then something was really wrong, everyone knew the risk they took if they took their mask off while on the field. He was out of breath as he told him what happened. Hutch said, "Son, slow down, catch your breath." Davey ducked down so they wouldn't be seen.

Martin could hear some voices, he couldn't hear what was being said, but he knew it sounded important. He ran over to Hutch. Davey took a deep breath and said, "Dad, I saw Kenny and Amy tied up to a tree by the road next to the old house. Seth went to try to free them and find out what happened. He told me to get the rest of you guys."

By now the others knew something was wrong. They all followed the voices they heard. Davey explained the whole story again. Hutch took out his cell phone and tried it. Just as he thought, there was no cell signal. None of the others had a signal either. Hutch said, "Davey you and the kids get to Debbie and Jeanne and get out of here. Go get help." Hutch bent down and took his real gun out of the holster he had on his leg. Starsky and the other cops did too. They handed the kids their paintball guns. As Starsky and Hutch handed Davey their paintball guns Davey said, "Dad, I…"

Hutch said in a soft quiet voice, "I know, Son. I know you don't want to leave us, but we need you guys to get Debbie and Jeanne out of here."

Starsky, in about the same tone, said, "We can't do what we need to if we have to worry where you kids are and we need back up. Please, go get us help." Reluctantly, the kids left taking all paintball guns with them.

Debbie and Jeanne had set the food on the table and were about to make sandwiches for everyone when a car pulled up. Two men got out and pointed guns at them. They wanted to scream, but knew if they did it would put the others in danger. They looked at each other. They were scared and could only follow the directions they were given, which was to sit down and be quiet or they would have to be gagged. Not wishing to be gagged, they sat down quietly. The two men tied them to the chairs. They didn't ask the men anything, they figured the less they knew the better they would be. If they found out too much they would probably be killed. The men sat down in chairs with their back towards the cars. Debbie's heart was pounding and she thought it would beat out of her chest. Jeanne looked at her and slowly breathed in and out. She was trying to get Debbie to calm down. Debbie took her cue and started breathing rhythmically with her. It did help calm her down and she was able to focus and think clearly. They both knew it would be a matter of time before the rest of them would come back. Jeanne thought it was strange that she didn't hear any paintball guns being fired. She didn't want to worry Debbie any more than she already was so she just kept quiet. With the two men sitting right there she couldn't really talk to her anyway.

Davey, James, Tracy, and Calvin walked towards the cars. They were quiet. They didn't know where the men were that had Kenny and Amy. Calvin was in front and as he got closer he stopped the others. He ducked down, the rest followed his lead. Davey whispered, "What is it?"

Calvin whispered back, "There's two men, and they got your aunt and Debbie tied up."

Tracy said, "What do we do?"

Davey said, "We can't go back to our Dads. They'll be down the hill by now and we don't want to get in their way." He thought a minute and said, "I got an idea. Everyone turn the power all the way up on the guns and put your masks back on." As they turned the power up on the guns Davey said, "There's only two of them, I figure I can take them out, but I have to get close enough."

James said, "You want us to distract them so you can sneak up on them, right?"

Davey said, "Exactly."

Calvin said, "Let me go with you, I'm a pretty good fighter and it will give you a little more even odds." Davey was glad Calvin suggested that. Calvin was pretty good sized and he could use the help.

Tracy said, "That sounds like a good plan. Let's check the guns and make sure there's plenty of ammo in them. James and I can shoot from a little closer and the two of you can take them out."

They put the rest of the paintballs in six of the guns, that way Tracy and James would have two guns and Davey and Calvin would each of one. With two guns fully loaded and ready to go, Tracy and James could put one down next to them while they fired the other one. If they ran out of ammo they'd another gun handy.

Davey said, "If this works, Uncle Dave keeps a couple of extra handcuffs in the glove box of the van and we can cuff them. Then go get help. Tracy, James, give us a minute to get a little closer then start shooting." Tracy and James nodded.

Davey and Calvin moved quietly around to the right side. Davey cringed when he saw Debbie and his aunt tied up. Davey and Calvin knew this was no game. What they were doing was dangerous. They started breathing fast and they could hear each other. They looked at each other and took a couple of deep breaths to calm down. They knew surprise was their best chance. They had to be quiet. As they got closer, Debbie saw Davey. The men still had their backs to them. Davey was happy about that. It would give him the advantage he wanted. He put his finger to his lips to tell her not to say anything. She blinked her eyes, so he would know she wouldn't make a sound. She was obviously shaken up by the whole thing and so was his Aunt. As Jeanne saw Davey; Tracy and James started firing at the two men. They may have only been paintball guns; but with the power turned up high, and as close as the kids were, every shot hurt. The two men started yelling from the pain. Tracy was a good shot and she was able to shoot the gun right out of one of the men's hands. The other man tried to fire his gun but Davey and Calvin jumped them both. Davey had no problems taking out the man he was fighting. He knocked him out by a kick to the head. Calvin had been hit by the other man, but Davey jumped him too and with another kick was able to knock him to the ground. Calvin grabbed one of the guns that fell and said, "Hold it. I'm not afraid to use it." By now the two men were hurting so much they thought they had been shot by real guns. The man just put his head back down and said, "No more, please, no more."

Davey said, "Tracy, James come on up." Tracy and James came out the woods still carrying the guns. They stopped to pick up Davey and Calvin's guns too. He said, "Great job, cover them. I'm going to get the cuffs.

Davey ran to the van and took out the extra cuffs his uncle kept in the glove box. He used one set to cuff the men to each other. James kept the gun he was holding on the two men as Tracy and James untied Jeanne and Debbie. Davey had the men stand up and he used the second set of cuffs to cuff them to a tree.

Jeanne saw the second gun on the ground and picked it up. Davey filled Debbie and Jeanne in on what he saw and what his dad said to for them to do. He looked at the men and said, "We can't leave them."

Debbi said, "What do we do now?" Her voice was noticeably shaken. She had only joined this family six months ago and was not used to all this excitement.

Davey said, "Well, I think you, Tracy and I should take Uncle Dave's van and go get help. Jeanne, Calvin and James can stay here and keep an eye on these two." He looked at the rest of them and added, "Unless anyone has another idea."

Jeanne said, "Sounds good to me." The others agreed.

Debbie said, "I'll drive. Davey I'd like you to keep trying the cell phones." She handed him her cell phone.

Tracy asked, "Mrs. Hutchinson…"

Debbie said, "Please, call me Debbie that goes for all of you."

Tracy said, "Debbie, what happened?"

Debbie said, "Jeanne and I got the stuff out of the van and was getting ready to make lunch when those men pointed the guns at us." She was still shaken.

Davey put his hand on her shoulder and said, "It's okay, Debbie. Everyone's gonna be okay. Dad and Uncle Dave know what they're doing and so does everyone else."

Debbie took a deep breath, nodded and continued, "They pointed their guns at us and tied us up. We couldn't yell for help or anything."

Tracy asked, "Did they say anything, like why?"

"No. They didn't say anything else."

Jeanne handed everyone a drink and said, "They were driving that car there."

"Maybe they're the same guys that tied Kenny and Amy up." He cringed himself. He didn't like seeing Kenny and a friend tied up. He tried the phone again.

Jeanne was worried about her son and her husband and Debbie was worried too. They had to trust their husbands and the other detectives to know what they were doing.

Chapter 4

Once the game became real everyone got back with their own partners. The plan was for Starsky and Hutch to sneak up on the left side of where Davey said Kenny and Amy were tied up, Reynolds and Johnson were going down the middle and Austin and Martin and Thompson were going straight. Starsky and Hutch saw Kenny and Amy tied up to the tree, then they saw Seth had been caught and tied up to another tree next to them. Starsky said, "I'll bet Kenny and Seth are loose by now."

Hutch looked around and said, "If not, they can get loose anytime. They may be waiting for us. I don't see anyone else. Do you?"

Starsky shook his head no. They moved in a little closer, as they did they saw Austin, Martin and Thompson. Hutch made a motion for them to hold their position. Starsky tossed a rock towards Kenny. Kenny heard it and looked towards the sound, Amy did too. He motioned for them to be quiet.

Hutch stayed back a little as Starsky moved in closer. He had a clear view of the three of them now. He looked at Kenny and mouthed the words, "Where are they?"

Kenny shrugged his shoulders. He mouthed, "Stay put." Kenny nodded.

Starsky looked at Seth and mouthed, "Do you know where they are?"

Seth looked in the direction of the house. Starsky nodded and mouthed, "Can you get loose?"

Seth nodded, yes. Starsky looked at Kenny again and motioned for him to get loose and untie Amy. As Kenny and Seth untied themselves and Amy, Hutch and the others were watching. They were ready for any signs of trouble.

Kenny, Amy and Seth ran towards Starsky as soon as they were free. Starsky hugged Kenny and Amy and said, "Are you three okay?"

Kenny said, "I'm fine, Dad. I saw a man with a gun and two briefcases in the back seat. He tied us to the tree. We got free when we saw Seth but they caught us."

Amy said, "I'm fine. Seth, how did you know?"

Seth said, "Davey saw you two tied to the tree and got me." He looked at the others and continued, "I take it he found you?"

Hutch said, "Yeah. We sent the kids back to the cars and told them to get Debbie and Jeanne out of here and go for help."

Seth said, "I saw the men who tied us up go into that house." He looked at the old house.

Starsky said, "Seth, I'd like you to take Kenny and Amy out of here. The rest of us will check out the house."

Seth said, "Okay. I'll take them back to the cars. You said the others went to get help."

Hutch said, "Yeah. We wanted them out of here."

Seth said, "Okay. I'll keep these two by the cars. They should be safe there."

Kenny said, "Dad, …"

Starsky said, "I'll be fine. I want you to go with Seth. He'll watch after both of you okay?" Kenny nodded and the three of them started walking towards the cars.

The detectives decided that Starsky, Hutch, Austin would go to the front of the house, Martin and Thompson would watch the window on the side and Reynolds and Johnson would take the back of the house. They set their watches and as Starsky, Hutch and Austin stormed the front door, Reynolds and Johnson went through the back door. They all identified themselves as police officers. The two suspects were taken off guard and put their hands up in the air.

As Starsky put the cuffs on one of them he said, "You care to tell me why you tied my son, a young lady, and a Detective to a tree?"

The man looked at Starsky and said, "Detective Starsky. Man, I didn't know that was your kid."

Starsky looked at Hutch. He was trying to figure out how this man knew who he was. Hutch looked at the man and said, "Rawlings. Eugene Rawlings, what are you doing here?"

Starsky said, "Rawlings. Oh, yeah, I remember you. We gave you a big break last month on that dealing charge. That was my son you tied to that tree. You low life, you're gonna…"

Reynolds said, "Rawlings, I thought you were better than this. Didn't you promise me and Johnson here that you were going to go straight? And you, Dempsey." He looked at the other man. "Brian Dempsey, didn't you promise us just last week that you'd stay out of trouble."

Johnson said, "You know what this means? It's back to jail for both of you."

Rawlings said, "Come on guys, Starsky, I swear I didn't know that was your son. We weren't gonna hurt any of them. We were just going to conduct a little business and leave them alone."

Starsky said, "So you were going to leave my son, a young lady, and a Detective tied to a tree for God only knows how long?"

Dempsey said, "That guy's a cop?"

Rawlings, "Why couldn't you have played paintball any other day?"

Hutch said, "Okay, you're buying, where's the dealers?"

Rawlings shrugged his shoulders and said, "Don't know. They were supposed to be here about half hour ago."

Starsky asked, "Who's selling?"

Dempsey looked at all of the Detectives and said, "I can't tell you that."

Hutch said, "You tied my nephew to a tree pulled a gun on him and a young girl and you won't tell me who you're selling too. I'd rethink that answer if I were you." He pointed the famous Hutchinson finger at him as he gave him a very angry look. He looked like he was about to throw him against the wall. Starsky knew that was just an act. Hutch had pretty good self control.

Rawlings said, "Okay, we were selling to Cannon. Adam Cannon."

Johnson said, "You're buying from Cannon. You're dumber than I thought."

Reynolds added, "Even as dumb as you two are, you know you can't trust Cannon to make straight deal. What were you thinking? He's just as likely to kill you as make a straight deal."

Dempsey said, "If you're gonna bust us, just get it over with."

Johnson said, "Oh, you're busted alright. You are so busted. I doubt you'll make bail this time. Tying two kids and a cop to a tree, is probably one of the dumbest things you've done and knowing you two, that's saying a lot."

Martin said, "Let's get out of here."

Starsky said, "You heard the man, get up."

They went around to the back of the house where the car had been taken. It was decided that Starsky, Hutch, Reynolds and Johnson would drive Rawlings and Dempsey to where their cars were. Dempsey was put up front between Starsky and Hutch and Rawlings was in the back seat between Johnson and Reynolds. Austin, Thompson and Martin had to walk back.

As Starsky drove up to the rest of the cars he saw that Jeanne was still there and he saw Calvin, James along with Seth, Kenny and Amy. Hutch started laughing. Starsky looked at him and said, "What's so funny?"

Hutch said, "Take a look at the tree."

Starsky looked to his left and saw the two men handcuffed to a tree and gagged. He started laughing and said, "Must be some of Davey's handy work."

Jeanne, Seth and the kids were sitting at the card tables drinking sodas and eating sandwiches. As they got out of the car, Reynolds and Johnson started laughing. Reynolds said, "Well, we know where Cannon is." He shook his head smiling.

Reynolds and Johnson made Rawlings and Dempsey sit on the ground next to the other two men, and then they sat down in chairs at the table. The two men already tied to the tree had been gagged and Reynolds said, "If you promise to behave, I'll take the gag out." The two men nodded.

Johnson said, "Cannon. When are you going to learn, crime really doesn't pay? Who's your new side kick here?"

Cannon said, "Those kids shot us."

Reynolds chuckled and said, "Yeah, paintball guns can hurt, especially at close range."

Cannon said, "I'm not kidding this hurts, Reynolds."

Reynolds unbuttoned Cannon's shirt and saw a bunch of marks all over his chest. He had some pretty nasty bruises under all the bright green and yellow paint. From the looks of them, he knew the kids had turned up the power on the guns to max. He looked at Cannon and said, "I'll bet that does smart. We'll get a doctor to look at you when we get back into town."

Reynolds said, "You're both lucky the kids are good shots and didn't hit you in the face. You could have lost an eye or worse."

Johnson looked at the other man and as he looked at his injuries asked, "Care to tell me your name?"

"Not really."

"Suit yourself, we'll find out anyway. Cannon, who's this clown you're hanging out with?"

"Just some hitchhiker I picked up on the way up here. He has nothing to do with all this."

"I'll bet. You four just sit tight until our backup arrives."

Kenny got up and handed his dad and the others a drink. Starsky hugged Jeanne and asked, "What happened."

Jeanne took a sip of her drink and told them about how she and Debbie had been tied up. She said, "All the kids were great." She glanced at the men handcuffed to the tree and looked at Hutch and said, "That's complements of your son, Hutch." She looked at Johnson and added, "With the help of your son. Their guns are right here on the table." She pointed to the guns the men had pointed at them. "Tracy and James shot at them from the woods with the paintball guns, and while they were creating the diversion Davey and Calvin jumped them. Davey knocked one of them out and the other was knocked down. The boys used the handcuffs from the glove box of the van and cuffed them to the tree."

Hutch asked, "Where's Debbie, Tracy and Davey now?"

"They went for help. We couldn't leave these two alone. I hope we did the right thing."

Starsky looked at the men handcuffed to the tree and laughed as he said, "You did the right thing, honey. You all did."

Johnson hugged his son and said, "I'm proud of you, Son."

"Thanks, Dad. To tell you the truth it was kinda fun, scary, but fun."

Johnson laughed and said, "That's my boy."

Martin, Austin and Thompson were seen coming out of the woods. They saw the men handcuffed to the tree and Austin looked at Hutch and asked, "Some of Davey's handy work?"

Hutch laughed and said, "He had help."

Austin handed Davey his paintball gun and said, "I found this." Davey thanked him as he took it and put it on the table with the other guns.

They heard sirens and saw Starsky's van coming up the dirt road. Hutch went to the driver's side as it stopped and hugged Jeanne. She said she was alright. He hugged Davey too.

That night at dinner Jeanne looked at the four men in her life, then she looked at Debbie and said, "See, it's like I said, they can't go anywhere without getting into trouble." She looked at the guys and said, "It was a simple paintball game for crying out loud."

Kenny said, "Mom, you were there too this time. See it's not our fault. Trouble just finds us."

Davey added, "Yeah, it's not like we go looking for it."

Debbie laughed and said, "I'd hate to see what would happen if you went looking for it." She took a drink of her soda and added, "I must admit it was kind of exciting, once I got over the sheer terror of it all." Starsky and Hutch gave each other a grin.

Chapter 5

Starsky and Hutch met Seth and Thompson one last time on Sunday to work out the rest of the details of the undercover case they were working on. Most of the details had been worked out but they still needed to come up the names they would be using while undercover.

In a phony accent Starsky said, "This is my big chance to be Ramon again."

Seth said, "Who's Ramon and what's with the phony accent?"

Hutch laughed, "Starsk, Ramon was a dance instructor, not a maintenance man. Do you really think he'd vacuum a floor?"

Seth and Thompson looked at each other. They knew that was probably a long story about another undercover assignment they had been on.

"Yeah, but I like Ramon."

"Okay, you can be Ramon just don't expect me to be good time Charlie."

Seth said, "Okay, I'll bite, whose Ramon?" He tried to use the same accent.

Hutch laughed at the attempt, "There was an extortion racket at a dance studio and Ramon was the cover he used as a dance instructor."

Starsky said, "Yeah, he was from Argentina. Should I tell them what your part of that case was?"

Hutch looked at him and said, "Absolutely not." He raised his eyebrows, he didn't want Starsky to tell them how he had to let himself be seduced.

Starsky chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't. So you don't want to be good time Charlie, Who do you want to be then?"

"I've been thinking about that. I think I'll be a new character. I'll be Ollie Star."

"Ollie?" Starsky questioned.

"I keep Ollie on my dresser to remind me why we do what we do. I think it's fitting I use his name this time."

Starsky smiled, Hutch was right it was fitting; especially since this was probably going to be their last undercover assignment. "Ollie I get, but Star?"

Hutch just looked at Starsky and smiled. So did Seth and Thompson. They were witnessing, yet another, silent conversation between the 'old time partners.' Starsky started to chuckle. He knew why Hutch had chosen Star as a last name. He couldn't help but laugh.

Seth said, "Huh, guys, you want to fill us in?"

Starsky said, "I'll tell you about Ollie another time, but he chose Star as a last name because it's a shorter version of my name. Kind of ironic isn't it. We're undercover and our names will be right under their noses. I think Ramon's last name will be Hut."

Thompson and Seth laughed and said, "You two are too much."

Hutch shrugged and they both said, "We do what we can."

Starsky said, "We're supposed to meet Chief Sterling at 0800 in the morning. He can have the new IDs ready in about an hour."

Later that night, after Hutch had picked Kenny up, Starsky and Jeanne were in their room. Starsky hugged Jeanne and said, "I know you don't like it when we go undercover."

"No. I don't, but I know that's part of your job and I can accept that. I'll be fine."

Starsky took off his wedding ring and as he put it in his jewelry box, he said, "You know, I hate taking this off."

"I know you do, but it'll be back on soon."

He smiled a half grin. He hoped this assignment wouldn't take too long. He then emptied his wallet of everything except for some cash. He took his shoulder holster with its gun in place, off and hung it in its place on the back of the closet door. He told Jeanne that Seth might be able to get it to him, but he couldn't take it with him in the morning. She didn't like him going unarmed, but she knows he knows what he's doing. She trusted him and she trusted Hutch. He put his leg holster and its gun on the top shelf in the closet. He would be receiving a new ID in the morning. Jeanne asked, "Hutch isn't going to be with you until Wednesday, are you going to be okay without him?"

He looked at Jeanne and said, "Yeah. We don't think that part of the job is going to be dangerous. I'll be fine until he's with me."

"I'll feel better when he is."

"Me too, but trust me I'll be okay. Hutch is worried about Debbie and Davey."

"I thought he might be. First time he's gone under since he married and first time since the kidnapping. Tell him I'll keep an eye on both of them." He hugged her and told her he loved her as he kissed her as they fell over onto the bed.

Starsky and Hutch walked into Chief Sterling's office at 0830. The Chief said, "What part of 0800 did the two of you not understand?"

Starsky mumbled so only Hutch could hear him, "Obviously the hundred part." Hutch chuckled.

"What did you say, Starsky?"

"I said, we're sorry late, Chief, it won't happen again."

"Yes, it will. I know it will. You two better be glad you're so good at your jobs, otherwise, I wouldn't put up with it. Now, sit down."

In unison they said, "Yes, Sir" as they sat down.

"Now, Seth and Thompson have briefed me on the covers you've come up with. Cute, real cute."

In unison, "We thought so."

The Chief gave them an unimpressed glare. Starsky and Hutch grinned at each other. "I'm having Starsky's ID made up now and Hutch, I'll get yours on Wednesday morning after your in disguise." Hutch nodded.

"Now, as usual, I don't want either of you to make unnecessary chances. If you see any signs of trouble, I want you to pull out. Got it?"

Again, in unison, came the predictable reply, "Yes, Sir."

Seth said, "The plan is for me to help Dad here move in, then I'll visit him once every couple of days for the first week or so."

The door opened and a Policewoman came in and handed Starsky a new picture ID that had the name Ramon Hut on it. He thanked her, laughed at the name, and showed it to Hutch. Hutch smirked and handed the ID to the Chief. He tried to look unimpressed, but managed a little smirk. He thought these two had a good sense of humor. He handed it back to Starsky and said, "Okay, Mr. Hut, time for you to get going."

Starsky got up; Hutch followed him out the door, put his hand on Starsky's shoulder and said, "Hey, Starsk?"

"Don't worry, I'll be careful, Mom, and I'll see you on Wednesday."

"I won't be late." He gave him one of his 'please be careful until I can get there looks.'

Starsky smiled and nodded. He knew Hutch wouldn't be late for an undercover assignment, especially if he was going to be undercover himself for a couple of days first. Starsky was a little nervous and would feel better once Hutch was with him.

As he was driving to the apartment complex he reminded himself that he was now Ramon Hut and Hutch was Ollie Star. To get into his character, he had to think of himself and his partner as their cover names from this point on until the investigation was over. To him, Starsky and Hutch were names he could not even think of. One slip of the tongue and it could blow their covers. He knew Hutch would think the same way.

Ramon Hut walked, or rather waltzed, his way in the office of the Bay City Eagle Apartments. He talked in the phony accent of Ramons and said, "I am Ramon Hut. I am here to start work as your new maintenance man."

The woman behind the desk offered her hand out for Ramon to shake it. He took her hand and kissed it instead and said, "I hope to be working with you a lot." He glanced at the nameplate on the desk that had the name Sheila Ferguson, and added, "Mrs. Ferguson."

"That's Ms. Ferguson."

"Even better." He kissed her hand again. Ramon knew how to turn on the charm, as well as, if not better than Ollie.

She picked up the phone and pushed four buttons, so Ramon knew she was calling an inside line. She said, "Mr. Ramon Hut is here to start working with your maintenance crew." She paused a few seconds and said, "Okay." She looked at Ramon and said, "Dean Anderson, the maintenance supervisor, will be here in just a moment to show you around."

Anderson showed up a couple of minutes later and took Ramon to the maintenance office and gave him a uniform. Ramon went into the bathroom and changed. His uniform was dark blue shirt and pants that matched. On the left side of the shirt he had a pocket and on the right side it read 'Bay City Eagle Apartments' below that were the words 'Maintenance Department.' He came out of the bathroom holding his clothes in his hands. Anderson opened a locker and said, "This locker is for part-time personnel but you can put your things here, until I assign you an apartment. No one will bother them. Here's the key." He handed Ramon the key.

Ramon put his clothes in the locker, put the lock on it and locked it. "Thank you. Where do I start?" He said with the same Spanish accent.

Dean said, "For starters, you can call me Dean. I'm the maintenance supervisor, but I'm a pretty laid back, take-it-easy kinda guy as long as you get your work done and you're nice to the tenants, you'll be just fine."

Ramon shook his hand. Dean explained that today he would just be going over the paperwork, and showing him around the grounds. There was a lot of paper work to be filled out. This was a special apartment complex and he had to sign a confidentially agreement as well as other necessary paperwork. He showed him where all the maintenance rooms were on every floor and introduced him to tenants when they saw them. With 600 tenants, and six wings, there was a lot to show him. Ramon knew which rooms the murders had taken place in. He wished he knew which apartment Hutch would be assigned to. 'No, Ollie, I have to think Ollie not Hutch' was going to be put in so he asked, "How many vacant apartments do we have?"

"Right now, only four, if you can believe that. A place this size and there's only four openings. We're expecting a new arrival on Wednesday. A Mr. Star, Ollie Star, will be going to room 373."

"Can I assume we help new tenants move in right?" Ramon was really getting into the ole accent again.

Dean smiled. He liked Ramon, he seemed eager to help and do a good job. He said, "Yeah, we do. You can help Mr. Star, if you'd like. I'll assign you to help him."

Ramon felt relieved. He was hoping he'd let him help Hutch, 'no not Hutch' he thought, Ollie move in. "I would be very happy to help, what did you say his name is?"

"Mr. Star. Ollie Star."

"Mr. Star. I'll be happy to help him move it. Just tell me where to be and when to be there."

"Okay. Follow me, I'll show you where that wing is. As a matter-of-fact, I need a new maintenance guy on that wing anyway. I'll give it to you."

"Thank you." Dean showed Ramon where room 373 was. Since it was empty, Ramon asked if he could see the inside of it. He said he'd like to see what the apartments looked like on the inside. Dean unlocked the door and they went inside. The inside of the apartment looked nice. It was fully furnished. There was only one bedroom, but it was a nice size and had a walk in closet. There was a full size bed, a TV with cable, and a dresser. All the bathrooms were fully handicapped accessible, according to Dean. The kitchen was kind of small, but these apartments were designed for one person. It had an electric stove, a small microwave, refrigerator, and a very small round table that looked it would seat only two people. The living was pretty big and there was a coat closet by the front door. There was a small light tan couch, a desk in the corner, and a recliner chair. There was a wall that had empty shelves on it. There was also a big window that overlooked the parking lot. The rooms were all painted a plain boring white. Ramon thought, 'Ollie isn't going to like this, he likes a little color.'

Dean looked at Ramon and said, "You want to see your apartment now?"

"Sure."

They walked to the end of the hallway and Dean handed Ramon a key and said, "This is your room. It's not that fancy, but it's free."

"Free is always good." His room was 376 and only two rooms down from Ollie's he was glad he'd be so close to Ollie. "This will be just fine. Thank you. I like it."

"You are most welcome, Ramon." Dean was use to his maintenance personnel complaining how small their rooms were. Ramon seemed to like his room.

Dean asked if Ramon had a cell phone and when he was told no, he handed Ramon a radio. Ramon was told that if there was problem and he ever needed Dean he could use the radio, his was always on.

Ramon had followed Dean around all day and learned what was expected of him. He thought it wasn't too bad and he figured he'd have plenty of time to check things out. After hours he would be on call to assist tenants in the third wing if they had problems. He could leave the premises, but he was supposed to let one of the other maintenance personnel know, so his area would be covered while he was gone. He was given a master key that would open every door of all the apartments in all the wings. He noticed cameras in all the common rooms, but none in the hallways on the floors. He was grateful for that.

In the lobby, there was a TV room that had one big screen TV on the wall, some tables that had puzzles in various stages of being completed, a couple of tables had checker boards on them, and another table had a couple decks of cards on it. The camera in that room was above the TV and was positioned so everyone coming in and leaving would be visible.

The complex was separated into wings. There were six wings and they were simply named 1-6. Each wing had four floors and there were twenty-five rooms on each floor. The room numbers were in logical order. Wing one, floor one had rooms 100-125, 2nd floor had rooms 126-150, 3rd floor rooms were 151-175, and the fourth floor rooms were numbers 176-200. Wing two has room numbers 201-300, and wings 3-6 followed the same pattern.

Each wing had its own kitchen and dining room. The tenants could fix meals in their own apartments or they could eat in the dining room. Ramon and Dean ate lunch in the third wing dining hall. Ramon decided that he would be happy to eat in his room and he figured Ollie would too. As bad as the food was, and it was bad if Ramon didn't like it, there were about fifty tenants eating there. He saw cameras at both entrances.

Outside there were a couple of small gardens with a lot of flowers of different colors. Ramon thought 'Ollie will know what kind of flowers these are.' It was pretty area with a bench to sit on.

When he left for the day he called Huggy and had him call Hutch, Seth, Thompson and arranged a meeting for 2000 hours at Huggy's. He wasn't expected to start work until tomorrow, so he could leave tonight without attracting attention. That would give Ramon time to do some shopping. He picked up some food he would need and he also picked up a house warming present for Ollie.

When Hutch, Seth and Thompson arrived at Huggy's, Huggy nodded towards the back booth where Starsky was sitting. Hutch slid in next to Starsky, picked up the beer Starsky had in front of him and drank it. Hutch said, "I've been worried. How'd it go?"

"Today went pretty good. I was introduced to Dean Anderson, the head of the maintenance department. Seems like a nice enough guy. He showed me all around the place and I now have a master key that will unlock every apartment in the place. Tomorrow I'll start work. Oh, and my apartment is only two doors down from yours, Hutch. There are cameras in all the common areas and in the lounge. I haven't met anyone from security yet, maybe I will tomorrow."

Thompson said, "I'll run a background check on Anderson."

Seth asked, "How many of those master keys are walking around?"

"Not a clue." Starsky said as he took his beer back from Hutch.

Huggy brought a round of beers to the table and he brought Starsky the hamburger and fries he ordered.

"I really don't have a lot to tell you. It's a big complex. I'll check it out more tomorrow. When I'm off duty tomorrow, I'll see if I can meet some of the tenants. Hutch you're going to be in room 373 and I'm in room 375 that's in wing three. I haven't seen anyone check in yet, so don't pack the guns just yet. Seth may be able to bring them later in the week." Seth and Hutch nodded. "After hours, I have to be on-call so I can't leave unless someone relieves me."

They talked a little while. Starsky was able to use Hutch's cell phone to call Jeanne and Kenny to let them he was alright.

Seth took a sip of his beer and said, "Cannon and those creeps from the drug deal Saturday sang like Canaries this afternoon."

Thompson said, "With all the testimonies we have, they knew they didn't stand a chance. The judge is going to throw the book at all four of them."

"Serves them right, tying up a couple of kids like that, especially my kid." Starsky said taking a bit of his burger.

Seth laughed as he said, "They'll have bruises from the paintballs for a while. Those kids really got them good."

They stayed and talked a little while then Ramon decided he'd better get back. He didn't want to have people start to wonder what he does on his off time. Seth and Thompson left first, Hutch looked at Starsky and said, "Be careful, pal. I want us to make it to retirement."

"You got it, pal. I'll see you the day after tomorrow, Mr. Star. Oh, and just so you know, you won't like the food."

Chapter 6

Starsky had to be Ramon again and thought of that all the way back to the Bay City Eagle Apartments. He put away some groceries he had bought. The next day he met with Dean and started working. He asked Dean, "I've noticed all the cameras in the common areas, are they actual working cameras, or are they for looks?"

Dean said, "The cameras are real working cameras. They're only in the common areas though. There are none in the hallways on the floors or any tenant's rooms. There are cameras in all the elevators too. They're all for security reasons. We have a lot of tenants with medical problems and we can find out pretty quickly if there's a problem."

"So someone watches the cameras?"

"Yeah, I'll show you the security room now if you'd like to see it."

"That would be great. I'd like to know how everything works here. The more I know the better employee I'll be."

Dean smiled at Ramon. He thought he was going to make a good employee. Ramon was wondering why Dean had not mentioned the murders.

Dean took Ramon to the main lobby through an unmarked door. In the room he saw monitors. There was a monitor for each common room on each wing. The monitors also showed outside of the building. Every parking lot and even the dumpster areas had cameras. Dean introduced Ramon to Tammy White, who was the security officer on duty. He kissed her hand as had Ms. Fergusons. Tammy blushed, she was young and was not used to such gentlemanly acts. Ramon smiled at her. Ramon did not want to appear too curious about the security, but he asked what kind of security problems he should notify them of, and which ones he should call the police for. Tammy explained that mostly the security watched the monitor's 24-hours a day for problems and there was one unarmed security guard on-duty walking the grounds. She also said that if there was a problem security should be notified and if it was something serious he could go ahead and call the police. She told him about the murders and the two missing tenants and said the police had investigated them, but they had no leads. Ramon asked about where murders took place and tried to look surprised when he found out they were on his wing. Not wanting to sound like a cop he thanked Tammy and left to start his work. Even though Dean had told him there were no cameras in the hallways, he felt better after seeing the monitors for himself.

Ramon got his work assignments from Dean. He thought the work wasn't that bad. He had to vacuum the hallways on all four floors of wing 3, empty the trash cans by the elevators and the main lobby. One resident complained of a stopped up toilet and Ramon easily fixed that with a plunger.

The first time he saw Mrs. Templeton he was emptying the trash can on the third floor by the elevator. Ramon said hi, and asked how she was. She winked at him and said she was fine now that she saw him. She introduced herself. She's a widow who lives in room 330, who appears to be about 70-years-old and she seemed to take a liking to Ramon. About the 5th time he saw her, she was going up in the elevator with two bags full of groceries. He, being the gentleman that he is, couldn't help but offer to help her. She opened the door to her apartment and he put the bags of groceries on the counter in the kitchen. She moved in very close to Ramon, making him uncomfortable. She said, "Ramon, I've always loved a man with an accent. Where are you from?"

Ramon was wishing he'd chosen a different identity now, said, "I came from Argentina when I was a small boy with my grandparents." She moved in closer as she tried to kiss him.

His eyes got big and he stood up, pretending not to notice her advances. He said, "I am very sorry Mrs. Templeton, I have to get going now. I need to finish the windows on the 4th floor." As he closed the door behind him he said, "Why was I blessed with so much charm?" He finished his jobs for the day and clocked out at 1700 hours. As he went back to his apartment, he peeked around the corner when he got off the elevator to avoid Mrs. Templeton. If she kept following him, she could be a problem. He needed to talk to the tenants and be friendly to get information from them, but didn't need this much attention. He took a deep breath and let it out when he made it back to his apartment without running into her again.

He searched his apartment for hidden cameras and microphones just in case, but he didn't find any. He was relieved at least once Ollie arrived they could talk in his room freely.

He decided to look in Ollie's room just to be sure there were no cameras or microphones. He waited until midnight to sneak out to Ollie's room because he didn't want to be seen. He spent a couple of hours looking in his room and didn't see any microphones or cameras. Ramon had a hard time getting to sleep; he was partly nervous about this whole case and partly excited that Ollie would be joining him tomorrow. With the two of them working different angles it would go a lot quicker, he hoped so anyway. He laughed himself to sleep when he thought about Mrs. Templeton. He decided not to warn Ollie about her. There were some things Ollie could figure out himself.

Dean called Ramon on the radio at 1100 the next morning to tell him that Mr. Ollie Star had arrived. Ramon smiled, he was glad Ollie would be with him now. He ran to his apartment got the housewarming gift he bought Ollie and put it under a blanket he placed on the cart. He wanted to put it in his room the night before, but wasn't sure if Dean would be going in there before Ollie checked in and he didn't want anyone to know he had been in there. He could sneak it in the apartment when Ollie wasn't looking.

Ramon met Ollie and Seth at the assigned parking spot. He had a flatbed cart to put Ollie's items on. Ramon laughed on the inside when he saw Ollie's disguise. He dyed his hair gray. He had a mustache, was walking with a walker very slowly and was leaning over. He looked like an old man in his late 70s or 80s. Ollie was wearing a three piece suit. He was dressed as if he had money, after all that was the plan.

Ramon's glance at Ollie let him know that it wasn't safe to talk right now. Seth picked up on it. Seth and Ramon put all of Mr. Star's items on the cart. Seth, purposefully, dropped a box on the ground that had some expensive jewelry in it. He also put a laptop, nice CD player, DVD player, and other electronics on the top where it could be easily seen, as was planned. Everything Ollie had seemed to say he had money. If the murders and disappearances were a result of robberies, then he should be a target.

Ramon looked at Ollie and with his best accent asked, "Mr. Star, my name is Ramon and I am here to assist you any way I can. Now, can you walk, or would you like me to get you a wheelchair?"

"You can call me Ollie, and I think I can make it, Ramon." He talked in a slow voice as though he had to concentrate on every word. He gave his partner a disapproving glance. Ramon raised his eyebrows back at him. Seth was trying not to laugh.

Ollie looked at Seth and then Ramon and said, "This is my son, Seth. He's a good boy, but no longer wants me to live with him."

"Dad, it's not that I don't want you to live with me it's just…"

Ollie cut him off, "No, son, you don't. Its okay, I understand. I don't want to be a burden on you and your lovely wife."

Ramon pretended to help Ollie and moved in very close to him so he could whisper, "Cameras."

Ollie nodded ever so slightly so if anyone was watching they wouldn't notice the exchange.

One the way to his apartment, Ramon showed Ollie around a little bit. It was hard to show him too much while pushing the cart, but managed to show him the TV room and told him how to find the gardens.

Ollie unlocked the door to his temporary home and went inside. Seth and Ramon were wrestling with the cart and unloading it. When Ollie had gone into the bedroom, Ramon put the house warming gift he bought on the kitchen counter.

Ramon asked, "Ollie, you said to call you Ollie, right?" Ollie nodded. "Yes, I'd prefer to be called Ollie."

"Is everything to your liking?"

Ollie saw the little green plant with the red bud on it. He picked it up, looked at it and read the note that was next to it. The note said 'glad to have you here, buddy. I hope this brightens up the place a bit.' It was signed 'The Me of the Me and Thee.'

"Why I think it's just perfect." He looked at Ramon and smiled. He was thinking this place had no color, just plain boring white rooms. Ramon always had a way of brightening up a place.

Ramon speaking in character said, "We can talk in here. There are cameras in every common room in the whole complex as well as outside. There are no cameras in the hallways on the floors but there are in the elevators. And as far as I've seen, there are no microphones anywhere."

Ollie said, "Well at least we can talk in here. Where's your room?"

"I'm in room 375, just two doors away."

Seth said, "At least you'll be close."

"I hate to leave you right now, but I have other duties to attend too. If you need anything from maintenance just push number 82 on the phone."

Ollie laughed as he said, "You're kidding?"

Ramon smiled, "Yes, it's number 82."

Seth didn't get the inside joke at first, then he remembered 82 is Starsky's badge number. He broke out into laughter, "This could only happen to you two."

Ramon said, "When you come back, Sonny boy, please bring our weapons, but make sure they're well concealed."

"Sure thing, Ramon." Seth knew that staying in character, even if no one else was around was important. Ramon took the cart with him when he left so he could take it back to the lobby.

Ramon smiled at Ollie as he closed the door on his way out. Seth stayed a little while longer and helped him unpack. He too finally had to leave. He said, "I'll be back in a couple of days, Dad. You call me now if you need anything."

"I will, Son. Jeanne and Debbie can tell you where our guns are." Ollie could tell that Seth didn't want to leave but he knew he had too. He winked at Seth letting him know it was okay for him leave.

After Seth left, Ollie went walking around. He figured that as a new tenant he might be able to get by with walking into areas he was not allowed in if he didn't overdo it. He started by walking past Ramon's place. He wanted to know exactly where it was. Then he went to the other end of the hall. He found a locked room that had a maintenance sign on it. Other than that one door he didn't find anything on his floor.

He went downstairs. He knew where the community room was and thought he could start by meeting some of the other tenants. He sat down next to some men that were working on a puzzle. They looked at him and introduced themselves as a Peter Baxter, Mark Witherspoon, and Thomas Barnes. He said, "Nice to meet you. How long have you been here?" Peter said he'd been there two years; Mark had been there for a year and a half and Thomas move in just six months ago. He asked how they liked it there and they all seemed to enjoy it. None of them said anything that would lead him to believe they had any problems. He stayed with them a while taking and helping with the puzzle. He was watching others come and go as sat there working on the puzzle.

He decided to eat dinner in the dining hall. As he sat down Mrs. Templeton asked if she could sit next to him, he said, "Sure, my name is Ollie Star. I just moved in."

She smiled and said, "I'm Mrs. Templeton, but don't worry, I'm not married. I'm a widow. What room are you in?"

"I'm in 373."

"Oh good, I'm in 330 just one floor down." She smiled at him. Ollie wasn't sure what to think about her. After they ate she asked him if he would mind walking her to her room.

"I'd be delighted to." He walked her to her room and as she unlocked the door she asked him in for a cup of coffee.

Ollie didn't really want to, he wanted to see more tenants and look around more, but thought 'what the heck, I need to make some friends anyway.' He went inside and sat down on the couch. He looked around and noticed that her apartment was very much like his own. When she came back with the coffee she sat next to him. Right next to him, there wasn't enough room for a piece of paper between them. He noticed she tried to kiss him, just then he leaned over to pick up his coffee. He took a sip and tried to act like he didn't see her advances. She quickly tried again and managed to kiss him on his cheek. Ollie blushed and he was speechless. He thought Ramon was going to laugh at this. It took him a few minutes to figure a graceful way to leave, finally he said, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Templeton…"

"Please, call me Marilynn, Ollie."

"Okay, Marilynn, I hate to leave right now but my son is supposed to be calling me in a couple of minutes and since this is my first day here, he'll be worried if I don't take his call. This had been lovely and I thank you for the coffee and your company."

"I hate to see you leave too. Perhaps I will see you tomorrow."

"Maybe. Bye for now." He got up and left the room, he was using the walker so he could only go so fast. When the door closed behind him he said, "Why was I blessed with so much charm?"

Ramon went to Ollie's room at 2300 hours. Ollie handed Ramon a beer out of the refrigerator and sat down on the couch. The window blinds were closed so Ollie could walk around without the stupid walker and so no one would see Ramon in the room. Ollie told Ramon about his adventure with Mrs. Marilyn Templeton. Ramon laughed so hard he thought he was going to break a rib. "Oh, did I forget to warn you about her? Sorry, buddy."

Ollie knew by the way he said that, even through the fake accent, Ramon knew about her. "You mean you knew?"

"She almost kissed me too." They both laughed. "I hope she's not going to be a problem."

"No kidding."

The next day Ramon completed his daily duties. He kept an eye on everyone he saw and talked to as many people as he could without drawing suspicion to himself. Mrs. Templeton, or Marilynn, as she now informed him she wished to be called, only saw him three times. Each time she managed to brush against him, making Ramon very nervous. He avoided her as much as she could, although, he did feel kind of sorry for her. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, otherwise. He saw Ollie a couple of times walking around. Poor Ollie, it was slow going with that walker. Ramon laughed when he saw Ollie going as fast as he could, using a walker, to avoid Marilynn. If she kept following the two of them, it would be difficult to find out who the murderer was.

Ollie walked all around the community rooms and pretended to eat in the dining room for lunch. He would put the food in a napkin, then his pocket. He needed to be visible as much as possible, but couldn't stand the food. Ramon had been right, it was awful. Marilynn saw him sitting and walked over to sit next to him. Ollie didn't want to be rude so he stayed and ate with her. He tried to talk about the weather and how pretty the plants were in the garden, but all's she seemed interested in was finding a way to get him to come up to her apartment.

Marilynn looked at Ollie and said, "Excuse me, Ollie. I see someone I know. I'll be back in a few minutes." As soon as she left the table he did too.

He walked to the TV room and sat at a table where some others were just sitting chatting. "Do you mind if I join you?" He asked.

One of the men said, "No, not at all. Hey, you're new here aren't you?"

"Yes. Yes, I am. I'm Ollie."

They introduced themselves and like the others he'd met, they seemed happy here. They talked about the men who had been murdered. They knew them, and thought they were nice men, who often helped people who needed it. They said they spent a lot of time in the common room and usually ate most of their meals in the dining room. They didn't mention anything about the men who had simply disappeared so Ollie didn't either.

The next two weeks went about the same. Seth had come by and brought their guns. They were glad they at least were armed now. He also brought them prepaid untraceable phones. They could at least call each other on them. They didn't want anyone else to call them so no one knew the numbers except for Seth and Thompson. They wouldn't call unless it was a real emergency. Marilynn kept after both of them. It was hard to tell which one of them she wanted more. Ramon could always say he had work to do and stay on the go, poor Ollie ate a lot of meals with her. Ramon didn't know whether to feel relieved that she wasn't with him, or to feel sorry for Ollie. Thompson was trying to check on the two missing people, but he was getting nowhere. A background check on them revealed there was no information on them prior to four years ago. They all thought that was strange. Thompson was going to look into it further.

At the end of second week, Ramon was emptying the trash can in the main lobby when he saw the security guard running towards the office. Ramon stayed as close to the office as he could so he could hear what was being said. The guard told Ms. Ferguson that someone had been found dead in apartment 378. Ramon knew that was on the fourth floor of wing 3. When Tammy came out of the security room, he asked if there was anything he could do. He couldn't risk blowing his cover right now, so he didn't let on is real identity. She said that he could show the police where the room was when they arrived. He could see Ollie in the TV room talking to some of the other tenants and he motioned for him to come over. Ollie got up and slowly made his way by the elevator to meet Ramon. Ramon couldn't exactly hold a whole conversation so he quietly said, "Murder 378." Ollie nodded ever so slightly and pushed the button to go to the fourth floor. Once on the fourth floor, he stood back enough to be out of the way and unnoticed by security. He heard them talking and discovered that the tenant in room 382 had walked by and noticed the door was opened and saw the body when he looked in. Ollie noticed the door and it did not look like the lock had been tampered with.

Ramon escorted the police to the room when they arrived. He did not recognize the plain clothes officers. He saw Ollie at the end of hall when he arrived. Tammy thanked Ramon and said they had it and she would be grateful if he would keep everyone away from the area until they could move the body. Ramon said he would be happy to help. He walked to the elevator as did Ollie. Ollie whispered my room 2000. Ramon looked at him letting him know that he would be there. There was nothing they could do right now.

Ramon met Ollie at the predetermined time and he told him he knew the tenant was a Charlie Ryan. Ollie called Seth on the cell phone and let him know what happened and that they were both okay. Seth said, "When the call came in, the Chief didn't want to send in anyone that knew you two. He didn't want your covers blown. I'll run a check on him and come by to see Dad tomorrow."

Ollie said, "Ramon and I will see what we can find out at this end. Come by about noon and bring a good lunch. We'll eat in my room for a change."

Ramon told Ollie to ask Seth to do background check on Dean Anderson and Tammy White. Ollie nodded and made the request.

Ramon used his master key to gain access to the room at 0100, Ollie was with him. They ducked under the 'Crime Scene' tape and went on in. They looked around and saw the pool of blood where the tenant had been shot in the living room. There didn't seem to be a struggle of any kind. They took a closer look at the door and noticed that it did not look like it had been tampered with.

Ollie looked at the shelves on the wall and didn't see any kind of small electronic devices. He didn't know if Charlie Ryan had anything like that or not. Seth or Thompson could check with the family and see what, if anything, was missing.

They looked around for a couple of hours and decided the only thing they found out was that Charlie probably knew his killer. They would have to wait for the coroner's report to find out the exact time of death. Until then, they would just keep their eyes and ears open.

The next day Dean was talking to Ramon about the murder that took place the day before. Dean said that he was working in the gardens when the call came. Ramon told Dean he showed the police where the room was. Ramon acted like it was the first time he'd seen a dead person.

Ramon noticed that Dean was listening to a MP3 player and he'd never seen him with one before. Ramon asked him what that was. He acted like he'd never seen one before. Dean explained that you can go on the computer and download songs on it. He said he just got his yesterday and only had time last night to add about ten songs on it. Ramon was hoping Seth would get back with him on his background check soon.

At noon the next day, Seth showed up and he brought Ollie and Ramon's favorite food from Kiko's restaurant. Ollie dialed 82 on the phone and said he was having problems with his plumbing. Dean received the call and sent Ramon to fix the problem. Ollie and Ramon were very thankful for the meal. Ramon couldn't stay long but he was there long enough for Seth to tell him that Dean had a history of petty theft. He said the record showed he had taken a couple of DVD players from a store and sold them, but that was over five years ago and there has been nothing since then. Ramon and Ollie wondered if Dean changed his ways, or changed his venue. Ramon and Ollie would keep a closer eye on him.

Thanksgiving Day was about a week later and Ollie acted like he didn't even know, so did Ramon. Didn't know or they didn't care. They were working a case and holidays could be celebrated later when they were with their whole families. In fact neither of them had seen the other since about 1100. Ramon saw Ollie while he was emptying a trash can by the elevator.

At 1730 Ollie dialed 82 on the phone, Ramon answered, "Ramon here."

"Yeah, Ramon, I'm having a problem with my garbage disposal can you come look at it please."

Ramon let out a deep sigh, he didn't really want to leave the apartment but Ollie was calling for help so he said, "Sure, I'll be right there." Ramon locked his door as he went the two doors down to Ollie's room. Ollie opened the door and Ramon could smell the best food he'd smelled in a while.

Ollie smiled and said, "Now, Ramon, you didn't think I forgot this was Thanksgiving Day did you?"

Ramon laughed and said, "You didn't think I did either, did you, Ollie? You should see what I've got on my stove."

"You mean…"

"Yep, all the fixings, been working all day on it. I was just about to tell you to come down." They both laughed. Ramon said he needed to turn his oven off and he'd be right back. When he came back he rubbed his hands together, tucked a napkin in his shirt and looked at Ollie and said, "I love this, Ollie. Thank you."

"I guess we'll have plenty to eat the next couple of weeks, huh?"

Ramon got a serious look on his face and said, "Really this is great. I appreciate you, Ollie."

Ollie smiled at his partner and said, "I appreciate you too, Ramon. If I can't be with my whole family, I'm glad we're together."

"It's bearable, as long as we have us right, partner."

"I'll drink to that."

They lifted up their glasses of wine and, in unison, said, "To Me and Thee."

At the Starskys' house Debbie and Davey had joined Jeanne, Kenny and Huggy for Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone was eating, but it felt like they were going through the motions out of some strange sense of obligation. Huggy thought they looked so sad. He stood up and said, "Okay, enough of the long faces. You know as long as Starsky and Hutch are together they are okay. I know they are missing you too, but I'll bet they are having a nice turkey dinner together and they would want all of us to enjoy this time together. So, no more long faces okay?" He raised his glass and said, "Let's have a toast. A toast to the two best detectives Bay City will ever have. May they come home soon." They all smiled and touched their glasses.

Jeanne said, "This certainly isn't the first holiday they've missed, but if they're home by Christmas it should be the last."

Debbie said, "Amen to that."

In the middle of their fourth week undercover, Ramon noticed that Ollie seemed a little down. He knew he missed Debbie and Davey. They were both frustrated that they seem to be getting nowhere on the case too. Noting had happened since Charlie Ryan had been killed. They should have leads by now. They had been watching Dean closely but nothing unusual was noticed. It was the beginning of December and they wanted to be home by Christmas. There was a Christmas tree in the main lobby and a lot of the tenants had decorations on their doors. Ramon had to help put up decorations in the hallway and other places in Wing 3, and there was even reindeer pulling a sleigh in the front of the building. Some of the tenants were in the Christmas spirit and some appeared like they couldn't care less about it.

They were talking in Ollie's room when Ollie looked at Ramon and whispered, "I just want to hear my own name once. I know that sounds dumb. We've been undercover before and longer than this, but I feel almost like I'm losing myself this time. Maybe it's the walker and the character. It's just getting to me you know. I want to be home for our first Christmas."

Ramon got up out of his chair and sat next to Ollie. He put his arm around him, ditched the accent, and said, "I won't let you lose yourself, Hutch. I'm right here with you, buddy. I'm right here. We'll be home for Christmas, I'm sure. We got plenty of time."

Hutch looked at Starsky and felt instantly relieved. He leaned into Starsky's chest and said, "And I'm here with you too, Starsk. No matter how long this lasts. It'll be Me and Thee like always. I'm sorry."

"Hey, you got nothing to be sorry for, pal. I'm feeling the same way. I'm just glad you're here with me."

Hutch feel asleep leaning against Starsky on the couch. Starsky stayed there and fell asleep too. About 0500 Ramon woke up and he gently laid Ollie on the couch, gave him a pillow, covered him up and went to his apartment.

Chapter 7

Davey walked by the bedroom and saw Debbie holding his Dad's wedding ring. He thought how saw sad she looked. He went to his room took out a silver chain and went back to the master bedroom. He knocked on the door, even though it was open. She turned still holding the ring, with tears in her eyes, Davey gave her a friendly hug and said, "He's okay you know. Seth said he's okay and he's with Uncle Dave."

"I know, I just can't but wonder what he's doing and how much danger he's in."

"I know. I worry about him, especially when he's undercover." He gently took the ring from her hands and put it on the chain then he put the chain around her neck. "He'd like you to wear this and keep it safe for him, I'm sure."

"Thank you, Davey. I'd like to keep it with me. I think this is the worst part of his job, us not knowing what he's up to."

"Yeah, I know, but he's with Uncle Dave and as long as they're together, they'll both be okay. They've gotten each other out of more scrapes than I even know about."

She smiled, she knew Davey was right. "I wonder how much longer they'll be gone."

"Seth said they still don't know. Whatever they're working on, they must not have any good leads yet."

"You'd better leave before you're late for school."

"Are you okay now?" His voice had a very caring, very soft tone to it. It reminded her so much of Hutch's voice, she had to smile.

"I'm fine, thank you Davey." As he turned to leave she said, "Davey."

"Yes."

"If I ever had a son of my own, I'd like him to be just like you."

He walked back to her gave her a hug and said, "You do have a son like me." He left for school.

Later that day, Jeanne and Debbie had arranged to eat lunch together. They ate lunch together a lot, but even more since their men had gone undercover. Jeanne told Debbie about a couple other times they'd gone undercover. They don't go undercover very often anymore, because they have been detectives so long, most of the dealers and people they'd be after know them already. Debbie said she wished she knew more about what the case was about. Jeanne said, "Believe me, sometimes you're better off not knowing, at least until it's over."

Debbie agreed she probably didn't want to know. They held onto the fact knowing that as long as they were together, they'd be safe. Seth was able to let them know they were doing fine so far. He couldn't tell them any more than that, but it was enough. Debbie showed the necklace Davey gave her to put Hutch's ring on. Jeanne smiled and said, "I never thought of that. I think I'll put Dave's ring on one too."

"They really are wonderful boys. Hutch was lucky to have you help raise him."

"It was my pleasure and always will be."

Debbie laughed and said, "You know they're going to retire, then in a couple of short years the boys will be in the academy and all the worrying will start all over again."

"Don't think for a minute that the worrying and excitement will go away after they retire. Trouble just finds them."

"I've noticed." They talked some more as they finished their lunch break.

They were delighted later that night when they received a call from their husbands. Both saying they were alright and they missed them. They couldn't talk long but it was long enough to make them feel better.

Ollie and Ramon knew they couldn't make phone calls home very often because they had to stay in character and had to stay focused on the case. They also knew for the well being of all of them one phone call wouldn't hurt. They were happy to hear their voices.

Thompson walked into Chief Sterling's office and explained that he had almost no information on the two people that were missing. He said they were missing from a different wing of the complex and couldn't understand it. It was beginning to look like the disappearances were a completely separate case from the murders. He told the Chief that up until four years ago it appeared as if they didn't even exist. Chief Sterling nodded his head and picked up the phone. Thompson could only hear what the Chief said but he heard him say, "I really need to know, Don. The names are Richard Adams and Samuel Riley." There was a pause. "We're working on a multiple murder case at an apartment complex and those two are missing. Now if you tell me not to pursue looking for them, I'll drop it." There was another short pause. "Okay, great, and thanks." Chief Sterling hung up the phone and looked at Thompson and said, "Drop the missing person case."

"What? Drop it just like that?"

"That's what I said, drop it and tell Starsky and Hutch, or rather Ramon and Ollie to drop it too."

"Are you sure?" He knew by the look the Chief gave him that was dumb question and said, "Okay, Sir. We'll drop it."

Chapter 8

After work the end of their fourth week, Ramon arranged for another maintenance man to watch his wing so he could go to the store. He needed food and other stuff. He was dressed as Ramon would be. He had on black pants a white shirt and black jacket and was wearing a fake black moustache. It almost looked like a tux. He didn't want to be recognized if it was at all possible. He went to a store close the apartments hoping he wouldn't run into anyone he knew. It was about 1800 hours when he was in the store and he saw Kenny and Davey. They were with a couple of friends from school. Kenny looked away, but gave his dad a half nod letting him know he saw him. Davey just looked the other way. Ramon heard one of Kenny's friends say, "Hey, Starsky, isn't that your Dad?"

"Where?" The boy pointed at Ramon. "That's not my Dad. He does look a little like him though."

Davey said, "That's not Uncle Dave."

Ramon let out the breath he didn't know he was holding when he heard Kenny and Davey deny it was him. 'Good boys' he thought. They knew better than to say anything to any officer in street clothes in public, unless they were spoken to first. They were told from the time they were old enough to understand, that they never knew when an officer was undercover and they could blow that cover by talking to them. Ramon quickly went down another aisle and left the store as soon as he was finished.

Ramon and Ollie continued talking to other tenants and employees and were getting nowhere. They found out the exact time of death of Charlie and could rule out everyone they saw downstairs at the time.

They had been gathering as many names of people, who worked at the complex, as well as the tenant's names, and visitors' names without drawing too much attention to themselves. They could have obtained a list of everyone from the main office, but they didn't want anyone to know an investigation was being conducted.

They kept an eye on Dean too, but still didn't see anything suspicious other than that MP3 player. His whereabouts during Charlie's murder could not be proved. He said he was in the garden but Ramon and Ollie didn't see him until almost half an hour later. Every couple of days, Ollie called Seth and gave him a new list of names so he could do background checks on them. That seemed to be the most logical thing to do at this point. Seth ran the names through the computers but wasn't finding out anything unexpected. He told them the Chief said to drop the missing person's case. He didn't understand it either but they were supposed to drop it.

Thompson talked to the families of the men that had been murdered. Only four of the men had families, the other two had no one. He felt bad for the two men that had no families. To die, and not have any family was just sad. There appeared to be nothing unusual about any of the six men or anything that appeared to link them, other than the fact they lived in the same wing.

They met nightly and discussed the case and lack of information. They did look for clues in Ollie's apartment, since one of the murders took place there. The next time they talked to Seth he said he no useful information on the last few names they had given him. It appeared that, according to the families, only a few small items had been taken from the apartments of the men who had been killed. A couple of cell phones, an i pad, an MP3 player, some jewelry and a couple of laptop computers were missing. Ollie thanked Seth and hung up.

Ramon said, "You know, Ollie, if the murders have to do with robberies, maybe we need to change our pattern. We've done the same thing almost every day."

"You work, you have to do to the same things, but I think you're right. Tomorrow, I'll stay here most of the day. Maybe we shouldn't meet tomorrow night."

"Ollie, I don't like that. I don't like that at all."

"I didn't think you'd go for that. What about me staying in my room more tomorrow?
"I don't like that either, but I can live with it if you find me at least once and we meet here when I get off at 1700."

"That, I can do."

The next day, Ollie stayed in his room and only went out for a few minutes to the garden area around the left side of the building. He saw Ramon and waved but didn't speak to him.

Ramon was emptying the trash can on the fourth floor when he noticed the door to room 378 was slightly ajar. He knew the tenant was a Mr. Keith Blackstone. He slowly opened the door and said, "Mr. Blackstone, are you okay?" There was no answer. He crept inside slowly and looked around. Lying face down on the floor in the kitchen was Mr. Blackstone. Ramon rolled him over carefully and saw that he'd been shot once in the chest by a small caliber pistol. He rolled him back the way he found him. He called Ollie on his cell phone and told him to keep his distance but let him know what he found. He looked at the door and noticed it didn't look like it had been tampered with. He got on his radio and called Dean to let him know about the murder. Dean asked him to stay outside and not let anyone in. In about two minutes Tammy, from security, came with Dean. Ramon showed them the body. Ollie walked by and just stood at the end of the hall in case Ramon needed him. He stayed out of the way and tried to stay out of sight. Only Ramon saw him.

The complex security called the police and this time, the Chief decided to go ahead and said detectives. He sent Johnson and Reynolds. They pretended not to know Ramon as he introduced himself to them as the person who found the body. Johnson took Ramon down the hall so they could talk alone. "So, Mr. Hut…"
"Please, call me Ramon." Johnson almost lost it when he heard the fake accent Ramon had, but he kept it together.

"Okay, Ramon, when did you find the body?" Ramon told him everything he knew. He told him about him and Ollie being undercover.

Johnson looked down the hall and saw Ollie. Ollie smiled and waved. Johnson gave a nod back. He didn't want anyone to know they knew each other. Ollie walked on towards them. He figured he could just act like he was on the wrong floor if Dean or Tammy said anything. He looked in the room and saw Mr. Blackstone. He looked at Ramon and said, "Hey, I know him." He walked away nodding at Ramon and Johnson so they would follow him. "I saw him getting on the elevator yesterday with." He looked at Ramon, "You'll never guess who?"

"No" was Ramon's reply.

"It doesn't prove anything but I have an idea. Meet me tonight in my room usual time." Ramon nodded.

Johnson asked, "Anything I can do?"

Ramon and Ollie, simultaneously, said, "Not yet." Johnson smiled and thought 'even when they're undercover, they're in tune to each other.'

That night they met in Ramon's room. It was after midnight so no one would see them.

"I don't like it, Ollie."

"I know you don't" came the soft reply. "But if I'm right, it's the only way to catch the murder."

"It's dangerous."

"I know, but you'll be here. I couldn't ask for a better backup."

Ramon didn't like the plan, but he knew Ollie was right. They were there to catch a killer and if they were right, this is the only plan that they could think of that would work.

The next day Ollie left the apartment early. He walked around the grounds making himself quiet visible. As he sat down for lunch, he took a deep breath when he saw Marilynn coming towards him. He cringed he couldn't get out of it, when she asked if she could sit next to him. He couldn't say no. She scooted her chair as close to his as she could. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he didn't move. He had been trying to avoid her as much as possible, so was Ramon. They didn't know what it was about them that attracted her to them but they didn't want the extra attention. Ramon said it was his accent; Ollie thought it was his good looks and charm. They had what she thought was a nice lunch. She looked at him and smiled so sweetly and said, "Ollie, I'm baking a cake tonight do you have a cup of sugar I can borrow?"

"Sure. What time do you want to come by and pick it up?"

"Oh, how about seven, is that okay?"

Ollie nodded as he said, "That will be fine. I'll be back in my room by then."

Marilynn got up and smiled because she knew she would be seeing Ollie in a few hours. It made her happy. He thought he actually heard her singing as she walked away. He knew he was doomed. He sighed.

Ramon went to his room at 1700 when he clocked out for the day and called Seth from his cell phone. He told him their latest plan and they should expect to hear from them within a couple of days. He said there was nothing for him to do now and told Seth not to come by until he heard from them. He also told him to tell Jeanne and Debbie that everything was okay but not to say anything else. Seth told him he wouldn't come by and he would talk to their wives. He also told Ramon that things were okay on both home fronts. Ramon thanked him and hung up.

Ollie reluctantly opened the door, with a cup of sugar in hand, holding onto the walker with the other, when the doorbell rang at 1900 hours. He knew it was Marilynn. She came on in without really being invited. Ollie was expecting that from her. He smiled and said, "Here's the cup of sugar you wanted." He held it out for her, hoping she would just take it and leave. She walked towards him. He walked backwards to put some distance between them.

She was almost in tears when she asked, "What's wrong with me?"

"Wha, I mean, huh, what do you mean, there's nothing wrong with you?"

"Why do men run away from me? Why do they act afraid of me?"

He hesitated, "I don't know. For me It's just, I loved my wife and don't want to be with anyone else. You can understand that can't you." His voice was calm and deliberately quiet and soft. He didn't want to hurt her feelings.

She sounded angry now, really angry she yelled at him, "No. I don't understand." She put her hand in a pocket in her dress and pulled out a gun as she said, "I hate men." She pointed it at him.

"Why?" His voice was still calm. He let go of his walker as he walked towards his room.

"I killed them all you know."

"Why?"

"Because, all's men want to do is hurt people, well I want to hurt them."

"Not all men are like that."

She started yelling, "Yes, they are. You invite me to your room and then you'll hurt me."

As calmly as he could he said, "You said you needed a cup of sugar, I was trying to be nice."

"No." She yelled.

Just then Ramon appeared from behind the door of the bedroom he had his gun aimed at her and said, "Drop it. You're not going to hurt him."

As he ducked he heard a single shot ring out. He heard the thump as a body hit the floor. He opened his eyes to find Starsky at his side, "Are you okay, buddy?"

He took a deep breath closed his eyes as he saw her limp body lying on the floor, "See, I told you I'd be okay, you were here, pal."

They rolled her over and it was obvious that she was dead. Starsky doesn't miss. He got on his radio and called Dean. Hutch got on his cell phone and called the police.

When Dean and the security officer showed up Starsky and Hutch introduced themselves as Detectives. Dean said, "You're cops."

"Yes," Came the reply simultaneously.

Hutch told them that the police had already been called. They went to Sheila Ferguson's office to finish explaining everything. They told her they were sorry for the lies they had to tell, but they couldn't risk anyone knowing about the investigation. She said she was just happy it was being investigated. She thought the police weren't doing anything. Hutch told her not to worry about the tenants that were missing, they were accounted for.

As they left her office, Starsky put his arm on Hutch's shoulder and said, "Let's go home, partner."

They packed up the few things they wanted from their apartments. Hutch smiled as he packed up the plant Starsky had given him as a housewarming gift. Only Starsky, his partner, would have thought of giving him that.

Chapter 9

No one had called their wives or boys and told them their assignment was over. They decided to surprise them. They were home by the time the boys came home from Davey's karate practice. They went to Starsky's and as Kenny drove up to the house he saw his dad's car. Both boys were smiling because they knew the assignment was over. They went inside and hugged their dads, then hugged their uncles. Kenny said, "It's over?"

Starsky said, "Yeah, Son, it's over."

Davey asked, "So, how was it."

Hutch said, "It was long, too long, but it's over now. We're home."

Starsky said, "Hey guys, you want to surprise Debbie and Jeanne?"

The boys, in unison, said, "Sure."

Starsky said, "I'll go get us pizza, Davey, call Debbie and ask her to come here after work."

"I won't need to call her, Kenny drove today and we had planned on all of us eating dinner here tonight anyway."

Jeanne and Debbie and arrived at the house about the same time and both of them noticed Starsky's car in the driveway. They each hurried to get inside and make sure everything was alright. The guys had picked up the pizzas and they had a good family dinner. Starsky and Hutch were happy to be home again, and their wives and sons were happy too. During dinner Kenny asked, "You're still going to retire in April right?"

Starsky said, "Yes, we are."

"We have to retire sometime next year anyway. The department has a mandatory retirement age and we're almost there."

Debbie said, "Can you tell us about the case you were working on or does it still have to stay a secret."

Hutch smiled and said, "Let's talk about the case later, for now I'm just happy to be home. It may have only been a few weeks, but I missed you guys."

Starsky said, "So, where's all the decorations."

Kenny said, "We wanted to wait for you, Dad. I know how much you like decorating and picking out the tree."

"Hey, let's go tomorrow and well find the perfect one. Hutch you want to meet me about noon."

"Huh, Starsk, don't forget we're supposed to meet with the Chief in the morning and we got to finish the reports."

"We should be finished by the time the boys are out of school and Jeanne and Debbie are off tomorrow right?" The two women nodded. "Alright, we'll come here after we finish at the station."

Davey asked, "Have you told the Chief you're retiring yet?"

Hutch said, "No we haven't."

Kenny said, "We haven't said anything to anyone either."

Starsky said, "You boys did great when you saw me in the store, pretending it wasn't me."

Kenny said, "That was Mark and I told him it wasn't you, but even if it was he shouldn't talk to any officer out of uniform in public."

Davey said, "Neither of his parents are cops, so he didn't know. He believed us that it wasn't you."

They had a nice family dinner. They all thought, it felt right to be there together again one big happy family.

Later that night after Davey had gone to sleep; Hutch filled Debbie in on the basic parts of the case. He didn't go into too many details and he certainly didn't tell her about the gun being pointed at him. She took the necklace off that had his wedding ring on it and handed him his ring back. He smiled and said, "You put it on a necklace?"

"Actually, Davey did. He saw me looking at it one day when I was really missing you, and put it on that chain." He smiled at the thought of how thoughtful his son was.

"With our retirement coming up, we probably won't have to go undercover again. I'm glad that's over."

"Now, you just have to make it through the next 3 1/2 months."

"If only it were that easy."

"What do you mean?"

"Well Starsky and I have made a lot on enemies over the years. Some of them aren't too happy about all the jail time they've received."

"So you're saying that people may still come after the two of you?"

"Maybe, but let's not think about that now." He turned out the light, rolled over and whispered, "It's good to be home. I love you Mrs. Hutchinson." He kissed her ever so gently.

After Kenny had gone to sleep, Starsky and Jeanne were lying next to each other in bed and he asked Jeanne if she was okay. She said, "You're the one who was undercover and in danger. Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"I know it's hard on you when I'm under."

"You were with Hutch, and Seth told us you were alright. Yes, I was worried, and it was nerve-wracking, but I'm okay. I had Debbie this time too. She handled it better than I thought she would."

"Have the two of you thought about retiring?"

"No, but now that you mentioned it, it's not a bad idea. Let's get you and Hutch off the force first, and then we'll worry about getting us out of the hospital."

He smiled that famous half-grin of his and said, "Okay." He turned out the light and held hugged her as he said, "It's good be back. I love you."

The next day Starsky and Hutch were in the Chief's office at 0900. Seth and Thompson found out that Marilynn Templeton's real name was Andrea Simmons and she had mental problems as a young girl. Her father physically abused her and her mother. She spent some time in a mental institution. She changed her name years ago to start a new life and did really well for years. About six months ago she started showing early signs of dementia and that brought back all the memories of the abuse she suffered and witnessed. They found all the missing items in her room. The Chief said, "You're lucky, Hutch, that she didn't kill you too."

Starsky, in Ramon's accent, said, "He was safe as long as Ramon was around." Hutch smiled. He knew Starsky was right. As long as he was around, Hutch was safe.

Thompson asked Chief Sterling about the missing men. Starsky looked at him and said, "You said he made a phone call and was told to let it go right?" He nodded yes.

Hutch said, "They were probably in the witness protection program and once the murders started they were relocated to keep them safe. Am I right, Chief?"

"You both know I can't answer that."

Starsky looked at Hutch and nodded. Hutch said, "Chief, you may as well know, Starsk and I are going to turn in our papers."

"I knew this day was coming, when?"

Starsky said, "April 13."

The Chief laughed, "Its fitting."

Thompson said, "Why's that?"

Hutch said, "We're retiring on the same date we became partners."

Seth said, "That seems appropriate."

Chapter 10

Starsky and Hutch met their wives and boys at Starsky's after they finished with the Chief. They told them the Chief had given them the whole next week off. He said they had earned it. Jeanne, Debbie and the boys were glad to have them home again.

They all loaded into the van and went looking for the perfect Christmas tree for both houses. They finally found them at a place out of town called St. Nix Christmas Trees. They put the Starsky's tree in their living room then Starsky drove Hutch to his place so they could put up their tree. Each family decorated their own place. This was a special Christmas for Hutch and Debbie, as it was their first one as husband and wife. Davey retrieved the boxes with the ornaments and lights out of the garage. Starsky and Hutch had missed a few Christmas' over the years when they were on assignments. Hutch was glad he was going to be home for this one. As they were decorating the tree, Davey left the room. Hutch was about to put the angel on the top of the tree when Davey returned and said, "Not yet, Dad. The angel goes on last."

Hutch looked at the tree and the empty box of ornaments and said, "There's no more ornaments. We're done."

"Nope, there's one more, here. I hope you like it." He handed Debbie an ornament.

She looked at it and said, "It's perfect. Look, Hutch." She hugged him.

She handed him the ornament. It had two people who were kissing each other and on the bottom it read, 'Our First Year Together' with the year on the bottom. Hutch hugged Davey and said,"She's right, it is perfect. Thank you, Son."

"Don't get too mushy on me, okay."

He patted his son's head and laughed, "Okay."

Debbie put the ornament on the tree in the front where it could be easily seen. They put the empty boxes back in the garage. With the tree done the lights were next. They put up a few lights outside around a window, but Hutch never liked too many lights outside the house. He didn't want his house to stand out. That was the detective in him. Starsky on the other hand went all out and put as many lights up as Jeanne would let him. Hutch laughed quietly to himself as he thought of his partner putting all the lights up.

Debbie got the recipe from Jeanne for the baked chicken Hutch liked, and she made that for dinner. It was a late dinner, but it was a good dinner. They were glad to be together as a family again.

The Starskys' put lights and ornaments on their tree too. After they put the angel on, they started getting the lights ready to be put up outside. They were able to get a few lights up around the window before it got dark. The rest of it would have to wait until tomorrow or the next day.

The boys had school the next day, but Starsky, Hutch and their wives had the day off. They slept in and about 1300 hours Starsky called Hutch and asked him to come over and help put up the decorations on the outside. They were joined by Seth, Thompson, Austin and his partner Martin. Starsky liked a lot of decorations and it took the six men about four hours to finish. The boys thought it was great. Every window had lights around it, there were lights along the outline of the whole house and even the garage door had lights on it. A Santa Claus was on the roof with reindeer, there was even a big blow up snowman and Santa Claus on the front lawn. Hutch thought it was a bit overkill but that was Starsky. He always was like a little kid when it came to decorations. Jeanne just kind of let him do whatever he wanted. She was just glad he was home again. The two women had fun watching the men put up all the decorations. Hutch was actually enjoying himself, even though he tried to pretend it was a lot of work for nothing.

Christmas Eve they all met at Hutch's for a party with family and friends. They had a houseful of people. Outside of the six of them, Huggy, Kiko, Molly, Sandy, Seth, Austin, Thompson, Martin, Johnson and his wife and son, Calvin; Reynolds and Reynolds wife and son, James. Everyone had a wonderful time, the party ended at midnight so they could say they saw each other on Christmas. Starsky and Hutch decided that they would spend the next morning with their own families and get together later for dinner. They would exchange their gifts then.

Davey woke up first at the Hutchinson's house. He quietly went into the living room and set out stockings for Debbie and his dad. He had set out a stocking for his dad since he was about twelve years old. He thought it would be nice if he set one out for Debbie too. It would be a great surprise. He made them coffee and started breakfast. By the time breakfast was ready; Hutch and Debbie were awake and came into the kitchen. Davey had poured his dad and Debbie their coffee and sat the cups on the table. Debbie said, "That smells good. Thanks for making breakfast, Davey." She sat at the table and took a sip of her coffee.

"You are most welcome."

Hutch came in behind Debbie and said, "Looks good, Son. Thanks." Hutch sat next to Debbie and drank some of his coffee too.

Davey plated Debbie's breakfast and set it down in front of her. He had made bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns and toast. He plated his dad's plate then his own and sat down. Hutch and Debbie thanked Davey for the breakfast and said it was great.

After breakfast, they went into the living room and Debbie noticed the stockings. Davey smiled and said, "I've put out a stocking for Dad since I was about twelve, and I thought I'd surprise you with one too."

Hutch smiled at her and said, "Go ahead, see what's in it."

She looked at it and took the items out one at a time. Davey had bought her favorite perfume, chocolate covered cherries, a new coffee cup that read, 'World's Greatest Nurse.' He also put in some of her favorite flavored coffees. She was starting to tear up as she said, "This is great. Thank you so much, Davey. Everything is perfect."

"That's what its supposed to be. You're welcome. I'm really glad Dad married you."

Hutch looked in his stocking next. Davey had bought him a new coffee mug that read, 'Retired: And no place to go.' Hutch laughed. He also received some special flavored coffee and cologne. Hutch smiled at his son and said, "Thank you, Son. It's all great. Look in yours."

Davey looked in his stocking and he saw a new set of nunchuka he had been wanting for a while. He also had some candy and a new watch. Davey thanked his Dad and Debbie.

Hutch handed Debbie his gift from him to her and said, "I love you."

She opened the tiny box and inside it was heart shaped ruby earrings that matched her engagement ring. They were beautiful. She put them on right away. She hugged him and kissed him.

Debbie handed Hutch the present she got him. He unwrapped the beautifully wrapped present with its gold bow and it was a scrapbook of their honeymoon. It not only had the pictures of Alaska, she had put down their thoughts and feelings of the moments. She had been working on it since the trip. On the front of the book was the picture of the ship. Hutch looked through some of the pages and said, "This is wonderful. Thank you, honey." He kissed her.

Davey handed Debbie the gift he had for her. He said, "I hope you like it."

She opened it, and found a photo key chain that had pictures of the wedding downloaded on it. He had also put a few of her favorite pictures of the honeymoon and a couple of family photos of all six of them. She hugged him and said, "This is wonderful. Now I can have the pictures with me all the time." She kissed him on the cheek.

Davey had given his Dad a photo album. On the front of it were the words Me & Thee in gold letters and a picture of Starsky and Hutch standing with their arms on each other's shoulders. It was a photo he always liked. He opened it and the album and it was full of pictures of him and Starsky throughout their years as partners. Davey had pictures of them in the academy together all the way through this past year. He had gotten several pictures from Aunt Jeanne. Some pictures were of them in the hospital, some from the station, he had a picture of them the time they were undercover as Hack and Zack on the cruise ship. Hutch wondered how he managed to find that one. He had pictures of Chief Dobey too. Hutch was speechless and he looked thorough the album. Davey said, "I got pictures from everybody even Uncle Huggy. Starsky made one for Uncle Dave too. We've been working on the albums for over a year. We wanted to give them to you this year because you're retiring. We thought it was the right time. You can add your retirement pictures later."

Hutch was actually in tears as he looked through the book. There were so many pictures of the good and bad times he and Starsky had shared over the years. He knew he would cherish this book forever. He wiped away a tear and said, "I don't know what to say, Son. This is great." He hugged him.

Davey said, "Uncle Dave has most of the same pictures, but some are different. Starsky added more pictures of the tomato in his album."

Debbie nudged Hutch, and he said, "Oh, yeah and he picked up a little box and handed it to Davey and said, "Son, this is from both of us."

Davey took the box and said, "Thank you." He opened it and inside the box was a key. He looked puzzled.

Debbie said, "Open the front door."

Davey walked to the door and opened it. He couldn't believe what he saw. A car he'd never seen before was parked in the driveway. His jaw dropped. "A car? You got me my own car?"

Debbie and Hutch got up and stood beside him. Hutch put his arm on his son's shoulder and said, "Son, you have proven to me that you are responsible you deserve it."

Debbie hugged him and said, "Go check it out."

Davey went outside and looked at the car. His car, it was his very first car. It was a green with black stripe 2010 Ford Mustang. Davey loved it. Debbie looked at Hutch and said, "I think we surprised him."

He smiled at her and said, "Yeah, I think so too."

Kenny woke up first at the Starsky's and he too, fixed breakfast for his parents and set out stockings for them. Starsky and Jeanne woke up about the time breakfast was ready. Starsky and Jeanne came in the kitchen and told him good morning and thanked him for fixing breakfast. He had made the same thing Davey did.

After breakfast, they went into the living room and they all looked in their stockings at the same time. Kenny had gotten each of his parent's new coffee mugs. Kenny got his Dad the same mug Davey got Hutch. He had also put in a new key chain and large pack of salami. Starsky liked his salami. He would eat it for breakfast sometimes. He got his Mom some perfume, the same coffee mug Davey got Debbie and some of her favorite perfume. They thanked him and said they enjoyed their gifts.

Starsky had gotten Jeanne a new necklace. This one had the birthstones of the three of them. Jeanne got Starsky a new train set to go under the tree. He always liked them and his had broken a couple of years ago. He really liked it. He missed his old train. Kenny got his Mom earrings that matched the necklace Starsky gave her. Then Kenny gave his Dad the gift he had for him. He said, "Dad, I made this myself. I hope you like it."

Starsky opened it and it was a photo album. On the front were the words Me & Thee in red letters with white stripes on them and a picture of him and Hutch standing on top of the 'tomato.' Starsky rubbed his fingers over the words that had meant so much to them over the years. Kenny said, "Hutch made one for Uncle Ken too. The pictures are almost the same. We got pictures from everyone we could, even Uncle Huggy."

Starsky opened it and saw what Hutch had seen in his album, a lot of pictures of the good and the bad times. Times they had shared over the years as friends, buddies, and as partners. He too had to wipe away tears from his eyes. He hugged his son tightly and was at a loss for words. Kenny said, "We wanted to give you these this year since you're retiring." Like Davey had told Hutch, Kenny explained that they had been working on the albums for over a year and their retirement pictures could be added.

Starsky hugged him again and finally managed to say, "Thank you, Son. I love you so much."

"Huh, Mom, help. I can't breathe."

Starsky laughed and let go of the death grip he had on his son. He walked over to the tree and picked up a small box and handed it to Kenny and said, "I hope you like it, kiddo."

Kenny opened the box and saw a key. His jaw dropped, he started to say, "Where is….

Jeanne said, "Outside, look in the driveway."

He too was given a car. His was the same year, a 2010 Ford Mustang that Hutch got Davey. Kenny's car was red, with a white stripe down the front. Kenny said, "You got me a car. Oh my God, I got my own tomato. I love it." Starsky laughed when Kenny called it a tomato, so did Jeanne.

The two families met as one later that evening for Christmas dinner. Starsky and Hutch compared the pictures in their photo albums. They laughed when they saw a picture of Starsky putting a red bow on a toilet and simultaneously said, "Hey, I remember that." Starsky said, "Captain Dobey wasn't too happy about that."

"Yeah, but we made it up to him when we took him out to dinner."

They saw a picture of them when they were undercover as Rafferty and O'Brien and asked the boys how they got that one. Davey said they found that one in a box of pictures that was in the garage. Hutch said some of those were pictures that Chief Dobey had taken. He must have taken that one. Davey said that they made copies of pictures and the real pictures were put back in the box. There were a few pictures of them in the hospital after various injuries too. Huggy and Dobey must have taken a bunch of pictures they'd never seen before. Davey showed them a picture Huggy gave them where they were dressed really goofy and asked about that one. Starsky and Hutch laughed when they saw it. It was goofy, Davey was right. They were wearing what looked like bad golfing clothes. Hutch said they were undercover as Day and Knight. Kenny said, "Day and Knight?"

Hutch laughed and said, "I'll tell you about it later."

Hutch handed Starsky the present he had gotten him. Hutch knew that Jeanne had given Starsky a train to go under their tree so Hutch got him a special caboose for the train. It was red like most cabooses, except this one had a white stripe Hutch had painted down on the side, just like his favorite car. Hutch had painted the words 'Friends, buddies, pals, brothers, partners, and Me & Thee forever' in the white strip. Starsky read the words and smiled like his heart had just been touched as only his partner could touch it. He put it on the train.

Starsky had a special guitar strap made for Hutch. It was leather and had all the words to the song he had sung to him at his bachelor party. The name of the song was 'Buddies'. Hutch looked at the words and knew Starsky meant every one of them. He smiled and said, "Its beautiful, I absolutely love it, thanks, pal." His heart had been touched too.

Starsky and Jeanne gave Davey a green sports jacket that had Hutch embroidered on the back in black letters. Davey loved the jacket and he put it on. He thanked his Aunt and Uncle as he hugged them. "It matches my car."

Hutch and Debbie gave Kenny a red sports jacket that had Starsky embroidered on the back in white letters. Kenny said, "This is awesome. It goes great with the car." He hugged them as he thanked them.

Starsky, Jeanne and Kenny gave Debbie a picture of the six of them that had been taken at the wedding. It was one of her favorite pictures of the wedding and they had it blown up to 11x14 and smaller pictures of the wedding to go around it. She had mentioned to Jeanne while the men were undercover that she'd like to put some of the wedding pictures on one of the walls in the living room that had no pictures on it.

Hutch, Debbie and Davey gave Jeanne a coupon for at a spa where she could have a massage, manicure, pedicure and she would even get her hair done. They also gave her a gift card for her favorite restaurant and a night at hotel overlooking the beach.

They all had a great Christmas together and really enjoyed the gifts they had received and the company. The six of them were one happy family.

Chapter 11

Christmas and New Years had passed and it was time to focus on their last few months as police officers. They had not had a regular 'beat' since they had been assigned to Dobey when he made Chief years ago. They had worked on special assignments since then. Austin and Martin along with Seth and Thompson worked their beat now. Huggy of course gave information to Starsky and Hutch as he always had. He was starting to trust the other two teams of detectives but didn't think he'd ever have the bond he had with Starsky and Hutch. He was kind of sad about that, but he knew Starsky and Hutch would still come around.

Huggy had given Austin a tip on a big drug deal that would be going down in a couple of days. It seems a new dealer was in town looking to make a name for himself. With the info they got from Huggy; Austin, Martin along with Starsky and Hutch were able to make the bust.

As the suspects were being booked, Austin asked Starsky and Hutch if they would interrogate one of them using the 'ask and stare' technique they had been known to use from time to time. Austin said, "Martin and I have never seen that technique used before and we'd like to see it."

Starsky and Hutch looked at each other shrugged and said, "Sure." Starsky said, "You ask, I'll stare." Hutch nodded.

Austin and Martin watched through the two-way mirror. For some reason, they didn't understand why, the suspect waved his right to have a lawyer present. Hutch would ask the questions and at times pointed that famous Hutchinson finger at the suspect. Starsky just sat in a chair across the table from the suspect. The madder Hutch sounded the more intense Starsky's stare became. The suspect became confused when Hutch would switch from sounding mad one minute, to compassionate and caring the next. It was like he was playing good cop/bad cop all by himself, with Starsky just there, staring, barely blinking. Hutch used a lot of names of the local dealers and told him how they each dealt with people trying to move in on their territory. He mentioned everything from cement shoes, being beaten to death to the last man they found who had been burned alive. He asked this clown if that's what he really wanted. The whole time Starsky just stared and didn't say a word.

Austin and Martin couldn't help but laugh at how upset and confused the suspect became. After about an hour, the suspect told them everything they wanted to know. He even gave them the name of his supplier. Starsky and Hutch left the interrogation room and in unison said, "That's how it's done." Austin and Martin said they couldn't wait to try that one out.

Austin said, "Man, we're really gonna miss you two when you retire."

Hutch said, "Hey, we will always be around if you need us. I mean that. You can always come to either of us, just because we're retiring doesn't mean we're gonna stop caring about what's going down on the streets."

Starsky added, "Yeah, if you ever need help personally or with a case we want you to come to us."

Austin said, "Thanks guys."

Starsky and Hutch had assisted Seth and Thompson on a case during the last month of their time on the streets. They had been working on a murder case and Starsky and Hutch were able to give them some ideas on how to find the suspect. They told Seth and Martin the same thing they had told Austin and Martin, that they could come to either of them any time they needed too. Hutch said he meant it, he really wanted to stay friends with all of them, and after all, Seth and Austin had saved his life. He didn't feel like he owed them anymore, but he wanted to stay friends with all four of them. Seth said that he wanted to stay friends with them too. They had been such a big inspiration to them over the years and had learned so much from them.

Starsky picked Hutch up for their last day on the streets, April 13, in, what Hutch always referred to as 'The Tomato.' Starsky had it tuned up and polished inside and out just for the occasion. Hutch opened the door when he heard him pull up and just laughed. He was actually expecting Starsky would show up driving it, for old time's sake. He got in the car and looked at Starsky. He couldn't even pretend to be upset he said, "Funny. Predictable but funny, Starsk."

"I thought you get a kick out of it. Our last day on the street in the 'ole Tomato,' seems fitting doesn't it."

"Yeah, I guess it does."

They were unusually quiet as they drove around. Each of them was deep in their own thoughts. Starsky looked at Hutch and said, "What are you thinking, Hutch."

"Oh, it's just our last day on the streets as cops."

"And partners."

"Yeah."

Starsky thought Hutch sounded kinda sad. He put his hand on Hutch's shoulder and said, "I know, partner, me too."

Just then Hutch saw a woman they knew to be a dementia patient that was supposed to be in a nearby nursing home for the demented. Starsky stopped the car and they got out. Her name was Theresa and whenever she escaped she would go up to unsuspecting men, usually waiting for a bus, lift her shirt up and flash them and take off running. Sometimes she would walk up to strangers and hit them for no reason and start cussing them. She was also known to walk up to a store window and just lick the windows for no apparent reason. Starsky and Hutch thought she was sad case. She saw them as they walked over to her and looked at Starsky and said, "Hutch, are you going to take me back home again?"

Starsky smiled at her and said,"Terri, I'm Starsky, he's Hutch." He pointed to Hutch as he said that. "Yes, we're going to take you home."

Hutch put his arm around her and said,"Let's go."

"Okay. I'll go with you 'cause I like you two, after all these years you're still cute. Are you taking me to your place or mine?"

Hutch looked embarrassed and said, "We're taking you to your place, Terri, like always."

They took Terri back to the nursing home and found out she had been missing about an hour. They had just called the police to start looking for her. The nursing supervisor said evidently she had gone out when a visitor came in. The charge nurse thanked Starsky and Hutch for bringing her back.

They had been back on the streets for about an hour when they spotted Eddie. Eddie was a pickpocket and had been for years. He promised Starsky and Hutch years ago that he would change his ways, he never did. Every time they saw him they watched him and waited for him to go to work. Starsky pulled over and let Hutch out, and then he pulled up about half a block in front of him. Hutch walked up behind Eddie as he put his hands in a man's back pocket. Starsky walked up about that time and said, "Put that in your pocket, you'll pull out a stump." Hutch told him to give the man back his wallet and he handed it back. The man was pleased that someone had seen him drop the wallet and give it back. He tried to give Eddie a reward, but Eddie refused to take it, mostly because Hutch was glaring at him.

They took him to the car. Eddie looked at them and said, "I thought you two were retired?"

Hutch shook his head and said, "Not just yet, Eddie. But you get the honor being our last bust."

"Ahh, come on guys. Let me go, have a heart will ya? Besides you'll spend half the day in booking." Eddie looked at Starsky and Hutch and said, "Come on guys. I promise, I won't…"

Hutch said, "Sure you will Eddie, because that's how you are. You take what you want and don't think about how hard people work for what they have. You've been picking people's pockets for years now. You stole that man's wallet today because you thought we were off the streets. That tells us, you'd do it again."

"I promise. Just give me this last break."

Starsky said, "Not anymore, my friend. This time we're going to book you. We know you know Seth and Thompson and we know they have given you several breaks since they took over this beat. Now assume the position." Starsky frisked the man and found three wallets on him. Hutch shook his head and put Eddie in the car.

After they booked Eddie, Starsky drove to their favorite pier. They were now officially off duty, forever, off duty. They got out of 'The Tomato' and walked to the end of the pier. They looked at the sunset. It was a beautiful sunset. All the colors of the spectrum seemed to touch the earth as the sun went down into the water. Hutch took a deep breath and, "Well, partner, that's it I guess, huh?"

"Guess so, Hutch, but you know what?"

"You don't have any regrets about any of it do you?"

"You mean retiring? No, I don't."

"Well, that too, but I was talking about the life we've lived, the job we've done. Any regrets?"

"I might have changed a few things, but regrets not really. You?"

"Nope. Starsk, I want to tell you…"

"It's okay, Hutch. You've meant everything to me over the years too."

Hutch smiled as he said, "This job we've done. We did a lot of good didn't we?"

"We sure did, buddy. We saved a lot of lives and put a lot of really bad people away."

"We had a lot of good and bad times, Starsk, and during them all we had one thing…"

"Yeah, we always had each other. And look at us now, both married with kids who want to be just like us."

Hutch looked out at the black water and said, "I wonder if that's good or bad."

"They'll be great cops, Hutch."

"I hope they will be as close to their partners as we are."

Starsky put his hand on Hutch's shoulder and said, "I think they will be partners."

"You think the department will let them."

"I was saving this till tomorrow night's retirement party, but Chief Sterling said that if he's still the Chief when they become detectives he will make sure they are."

"Heaven help the Chief." They both laughed.

They stayed on the pier a while talking about some of the good times they had and the bad ones too. There were a lot of both. They decided they had made a difference. Sure, there were always going to be drug dealers, murders and just plain mean people out there on the streets, but during their years they had put a lot of them away. They had also helped a lot of people, like Kiko and Molly and so many more. They felt good about what they've accomplished and decided it was all worth it.

They talked about how much things had changed since they first joined the force. All the technology they now have. The sun had been down a couple of hours and it was time for them to go home. They turned and walked back down the pier, not even realizing they had put their hands on each other's shoulders.

Chapter 12

Starsky didn't really want to wear a suit to the party but he knew it was expected and Hutch would be wearing one too so he put on the navy blue suite with a light blue shirt that matched. Kenny liked getting dressed up, he said the girls like it. Jeanne was always proud of her husband and the work he did, but she was glad he was finally retiring. It was time.

Starsky and Hutch had planned to wear the same suits. They thought it would be fitting and funny. They even wore the same tie and shoes. No one would know until they saw them at the party. Hutch told Debbie and Davey that tonight was more ceremonial than anything and the party he was looking forward to was the one that would be at Huggy's the next night. Hutch told Debbie that he would be keeping his weapons. She was relieved of that because he had told her before that he may be a target for a long time. He had a lot of people mad at him, so did Starsky. They put a lot of people behind bars over the years.

The Starsky's met the Hutchinson's outside the hotel where the party was going to be. Their wives and boys laughed when they realized the guys had worn the same suits. Davey said, "I bet they planned this."

Starsky said, "No, we didn't plan it. I read your dad's mind and knew what he was going to wear so I wore the same thing."

Kenny looked at his dad and said, "Really?"

Starsky laughed at his son and said, "Really."

Hutch shook his head and said, "No, not really. We planned it weeks ago."

Debbie and Jeanne just laughed.

Inside they were seated at the front table. They saw all of their friends including the Chief. Kiko and Molly had been invited by the Chief himself and they were sitting at the table next to theirs along with Seth, Austin and their partners. The atmosphere was a little more formal than Starsky and Hutch had expected, but then again it wasn't every team that had been on the force as long as they had. The big round tables were covered with white table clothes and there was a buffet set up with light h'orderves.

After everyone had time to mingle and chat a while the Chief stepped up to the podium and turned on the microphone. There was a loud feedback sound and everyone cringed and rubbed their ears. The Chief turned the sound down and said, "Sorry about that." He looked at Starsky and Hutch and everyone who came to see them tonight. He smiled proudly at them. He said, "Starsky and Hutch or Hutch and Starsky, see it doesn't really matter who's who because as most of you know, if you see one you see the other one. As I have learned over the years, they are one in the same." He took a sip of his ice tea and Starsky and Hutch looked at each other and grinned. "When Chief Harold Dobey retired, he spent hours briefing me about Starsky and Hutch. He told me how much he relied on them and how they were the best detectives he had ever seen. He also said they were the best because of their friendship and closeness they shared. He also worried about them, because of that closeness. I don't mean to embarrass you two."

Starsky looked at Hutch and whispered, "He did that when we walked in here." Hutch laughed quietly.

"But Chief Dobey thought a lot of you two as do I. He told me and I found it to be true, that if the two of you were together, I had nothing to worry about. Just let you work on whatever case you were working on in your own way. He said to give you some leeway and you'd be alright. He also said that if one of you was hurt or missing, to worry and worry a lot. You would each do whatever it took to save the other and you proved that several times over the years." He paused and took another sip of his tea. He looked at them again and said, "You are both strong individually, but as a team you are unbeatable. You have been partners for forty-three years and that's longer than any other team in the history of the department. Other records you have broken include the most commendations ever awarded, and an arrest record that surpasses all others. As a team, you two have also spent the most time in the hospital and cost the department the most money in workman's compensation claims." The audience laughed. Starsky and Hutch looked at each other and shrugged, knowing that was probably true. They had spent a lot of time in the hospital. He raised an eyebrow at them and continued, "You two have been suspended a couple of times too. The department has also had to pay for more damages done to doors, cars, broken windows and even streets because of the two of you." The audience laughed again. The chief laughed himself and continued, "The department owes you its thanks and gratitude for all you have done over the years. You have endured being shot, drugged, stabbed, poisoned, almost blown up, kidnapped and more over the last forty-three years. I know you have seen friends killed and have shed a lot of blood, sweat and tears over the course of your careers. It's amazing you've lived this long and stayed with the department." As Chief Sterling was talking, Starsky and Hutch looked at each other like they had seen a ghost. They both could have sworn they just saw Chief Dobey standing right beside Chief Sterling smiling at them. It was just a brief second but it looked just like him. They knew Dobey would be very proud of them. They smiled when they thought of him.

They heard the Chief continue, "I'd now like to turn the stage over to a couple of people you did all that for. Kiko, Molly." He nodded at Kiko and Molly who stood up and walked up to the podium.

Kiko was the first to take the microphone he looked at Hutch and said, "Hutch, you became my big brother when I was ten years old after my father died. I was so lost without him. You couldn't take his place, but you became the friend I needed at the time. Both of you have been there for me since. I don't mind saying in front of everyone here, I love you both." He stepped back wiping a tear from his eye. Starsky and Hutch wiped the tears they had too.

Then Molly stepped up to the microphone. She looked at Starsky and Hutch and said, "I was twelve when I felt my whole world shatter. I had no mother and my Dad had been killed. Hutch you took me into your home that Christmas and you both let me into your hearts. It was the first time I ever really felt loved. You never judged me, you just accepted me for who I was. I don't know where I would have ended up without you, but with you I ended up with a wonderful family with Kiko and Mom. As you retire remember that you did make a difference, not only to me and Kiko but many others. I will never forget how you took a scared little girl into your home and your hearts. I love you both so much." Kiko helped her off the stage as they both went to the table and gave Starsky and Hutch hugs.

Hutch hugged them and whispered, "Why'd you have to bring me to tears?"

Starsky hugged them both and said, "Yeah, turn us big tough cops into blubbering idiots."

Molly said, "I love you guys."

Kiko said, "Me too."

Starsky and Hutch at the same time said, "We love you too."

The Chief looked at Starsky and Hutch and said, "Will you come up here please."

They stood up and walked up on the stage. They each shook hands with the Chief and then each others as they gave each other a silly grin. Starsky walked up to the microphone and said, "Just for the record, I'm Starsky, he's Hutch." The audience laughed, and then he said, "Really, I don't know what to say."

Hutch looked at Starsky and said, "Well, that's a first, Starsky not knowing what to say." The audience laughed. Then he looked at Chief Sterling, "We went through all that, really?"

The Chief said, "And the department's got the medical bills to prove it."

"Wow. Starsk, we should have retired years ago, what were we thinking hanging around for all that abuse?" He looked at the Chief and the audience and said, "Starsky and I have gone through a lot, that's true. Looking back we would change a few things, but for the most part we consider ourselves blessed that we had the opportunity to work for this department and have been surrounded by so many wonderful friends. I would like to thank my family for their support over the years. I know it hasn't been easy. So stand up please." He nodded at their wives and the boys. As they stood up, the audience clapped. He turned to Starsky and said, "Buddy, I wouldn't have done any of this without you. No matter what I've gone through, you have always been there for me." He hugged Starsky on stage in front of everybody. He wasn't embarrassed and neither was Starsky. Everyone there knew about the special friendship and bond these two have.

Starsky said, "My turn." He looked at his wife and son and Davey and Debbie and said, "Hutch is right, without you guys, and the support you've given us the past few years, we would have quit a long time ago." Then he looked at Hutch and said, "Partner, I don't know how many times you saved my life or how many times I saved yours, but you're right through everything that's happened the past forty-three years we've gone through together as more than partners. It's never been about what I went through or what you went through, it was always what we went through as Me and Thee. I know I don't need to tell you what that all means to me, buddy, you know that already."

Hutch said, "Good, I hope we're finished with the mushy stuff." Starsky laughed.

The Chief walked up to them and said, "Starsky, Hutch I'd like to have your badges now."

In unison they said, "Sure thing, Chief." The audience laughed as they said that at the same time, they just couldn't help it. They handed him their badges.

The Chief held them up and said, "I'm going to hold onto them for about four or five years and give them to the next Starsky and Hutch team if they still want to be partners by then." He looked at Kenny and Davey.

Kenny and Davey looked at each other and smiled. They have always wanted to be partners but thought as cousins that would never be allowed. They looked at the Chief and in unison said, "We do."

"Like I said, I'll hold onto them for you." The Chief pulled out two plaques from the small shelf in the podium. He said, "Starsky, Hutch this in no way makes up for everything you two have done for the department or the citizens of Bay City, but it is a small token of our appreciation." He held up one of the plaques and said, "It reads to David Michel Starsky, Thank you for all your years of service to the Bay City Police Department and to its citizens. Your years of service will not be forgotten." He looked at Hutch and said, "Yours says the same thing." He handed them their plaques.

Starsky and Hutch shook his hand and both thanked him. The Chief whispered,"I'm proud of you two, and Chief Dobey would be too."

The night continued with others getting up and saying how much Starsky and Hutch had helped them through the years. Starsky and Hutch were both humbled and a little embarrassed by all the attention. They didn't really expect all this. They each realized how many lives they had influenced over the years in a good way. They had suffered a lot over the years, but somehow this made it all worth it

After all the speeches and there was nothing else to be said, they were able to talk to Chief Sterling alone. They told him how much they appreciated the evening and they let him know they respected him not only as a Chief but as a friend too.

At home Hutch took off his suit and tie he felt better. It had been a tough night emotionally. It hit him that he did not have to report to work tomorrow. Starsky would not be picking him up and there would be no more long stakeouts with his best friend, no more interrogation techniques, or games and no more missed meals because of work. He sat down on the bed and was feeling kind of down in the dumps when his phone rang, he knew it was Starsky because the ring tone was, 'It's the Me of the Me and Thee.' He smiled, Starsky always knew when he needed him the most. He said, "Hello, Me."

"Hey, pal, I just wanted you to know that just 'cause we're no longer on the department doesn't mean we can't still hang out all the time right. I mean if I…"

"What time do you want to pick me tomorrow, Starsk?" He knew his partner was feeling the same way. It was great to have someone who knew him as well as Starsky did.

"How about noon."

"Sounds great."

"We still have that party at Huggy's."

"I know. I'll be there."

Starsky picked Hutch up at noon as promised and they didn't really do anything special. They just hung out together like they had done for the past forty plus years. They stopped by Kiko's and he gave them a free lunch and said that he would be at Huggy's by 6. He said that Molly was planning on being there. Starsky told him he didn't want any more speeches like the ones last night. Kiko laughed and said, "No more speeches. We just wanted everyone there, especially you two, last night to know how we feel. Chief Sterling asked us weeks ago if we'd say something."

Hutch said, "I knew the Chief had something to do with it."

They finished their lunch and drove around some more. They were back at their own homes by the time their sons got home from school. Even though they each had their own cars now, they still took turns driving. They just liked each other's company. Starsky and Hutch took them back to the police driving course. They wanted the boys to be great drivers and it was the best place to teach them. They talked to the boys about the importance of driving defensively. They were both getting pretty good.

They were at Huggy's by 1800 hours. This was just a nice relaxing time with the guys. Davey and Kenny went so they could drive their dads' home. They knew they were going to drink too many beers to drive themselves. It was as nice and relaxing as they had hoped it would be. No embarrassing speeches, no awards or mention of commendations they had received over the years. It was just a good night out with the guys. Jeanne and Debbie had been invited, but they declined. They wanted to give them one last night out with all their friends.

Davey and Kenny had both brought cameras to the party last night as well as the one at Huggys, so they could take pictures for their dad's albums they'd given them for Christmas. They had taken some pretty interesting pictures of their dads the last couple of days. They got photos of them wiping the tears out of their eyes after Kiko and Molly spoke last night. Tonight they got good photos of the two of them dancing after one too many beers. Huggy saw them take the pictures and laughed as he said, "I want copies." The boys laughed and promised him blown up sizes.

Starsky was so tired by the time he made it home at 0300 he just laid his head on the pillow without even getting undressed. Jeanne rolled over, looked at him and laughed and whispered, "That's my hero" and went back to sleep.

Davey called Debbie from the garage as he pulled up and told her they were home and he would be helping his dad get into the house. He wanted to give her a heads up so she would be decently dressed when he came in their room. He helped his dad into bed and Hutch just fell asleep instantly. Debbie looked at Davey and said, "I take it they had a good time?"

Davey smiled and said,"Yeah, they did. It was great. Wait till you see the pictures Starsky and I took for their albums." Debbie laughed.

Jeanne was quiet the next morning she knew Davey and Hutch needed to sleep. She was watching a movie on TV when she heard Hutch's phone ring. It was Starsky calling. She knew that from the ring tone.

Hutch was awake just lying in bed. Not really wanting to move. His head felt like it was going to explode. He picked up the phone and said, "Hello, Me."

"Hutch?"

"Yes, it's me."

"Since the women both have to work tonight, what do you say we go to the movies tonight. There's that double feature we've wanted to see."

Hutch smiled as he thought it's true the more things change, the more they stay the same. He said, "Sure. What time are you picking me up?"

"They have to be at work by 1800 so I'll pick you up at 1700, okay?"

"I'll be ready, if my head will stay on. Sounds great, Starsk." Starsky laughed at Hutch as he hung up the phone.

Debbie just came in and asked, "What sounds great?"

"Starsky's picking me up at 1700 hours."

She sat down next to him on the bed and said, "Some things will never change will they?"

"I hope not."

Two weeks after Starsky and Hutch retired, a man was being released from prison. He had two things, revenge on his mind and anger in his heart.