DARKNESS FALLS
Simon Marcus is dead but he still has followers who want revenge and this time they have Starsky and Hutch both in their clutches. This is a dark tale with lots of violence. If this offends you, this is not the story for you.
CHAPTER 1
David Starsky strolled into the detective squad room with a characteristic strut to his step. In one hand he held a chocolate iced doughnut and in the other he held a cup of coffee from a local carryout. His partner, Ken Hutchinson, known as Hutch to his friends and co-workers, was already seated at his half of their shared desk.
"Morning, partner." Starsky greeted his partner as he flipped his chair around and straddled the seat. He stuffed the rest of his doughnut in his mouth and chewed happily washing it down with swallow of his coffee.
Before Hutch could greet his partner, Captain Dobey's voice bellowed form behind his closed door. "Starsky! Hutchinson! Get in here!"
"How the hell does he do that?" Starsky muttered as he brushed his hands off on his faded jeans and shoved himself to his feet.
Hutch shrugged his shoulders as he stood up. "Maybe he's got the squad room bugged." He suggested with a grin. Captain Dobey did seem to possess an eerie sixth sense that seemed to alert him whenever his favorite pair of detectives was in the squad room.
The two men entered Dobey's inner office. Starsky caught the door with the edge of his foot and pulled it shut behind him, earning him a steely glare from the heavy set black man sitting behind the desk.
"Starsky!" He barked. "How many times have I told you not to do that?"
"Mornin', Cap." Starsky said, ignoring the reprimand as he sprawled in one of the two chairs facing the Captain's desk with his long legs stretched out in front of him.
"Good morning, Captain." Hutch said more politely as he took a seat in the second chair at his partner's side.
Dobey leaned back in his chair and regarded his men solemnly. In a gruff voice he said abruptly, "Simon Marcus is dead. He was found murdered in his cell at San Quentin early this morning. Someone slit his throat and then bashed in his skull for good measure."
Starsky and Hutch exchanged a meaningful look at the unexpected news. They both remembered Simon Marcus with vivid clarity. The man had been a monster who had murdered and mutilated an estimated twenty-five men, women and children with the help of his band of drugged and brainwashed followers. His victims had been butchered as part of satanic rituals performed by Marcus and his sect.
It had taken months of painstaking investigation to finally get enough evidence to arrest Marcus and, eventually, to try him for the murder of nine people. Although Starsky and Hutch were both convinced that the number of Marcus' victims was much higher, they couldn't collect enough solid evidence to pin any additional murders on the charismatic cult leader.
Marcus had been found guilty on all counts and on the day of his sentencing, some of his followers had abducted Starsky from a bathroom in the downtown courthouse. They had issued an ultimatum and given the city twenty-four hours to free Marcus or they would kill Starsky. Hutch had doggedly followed the available evidence and had managed to rescue Starsky with only moments to spare. Marcus' followers had been about to butcher him in the same grotesque manner as their other victims. Starsky's physical injuries had healed but it had taken weeks for him to recover mentally from the trauma of his abduction.
Even with Marcus' sentencing to death row and the arrest and conviction of his key followers, the warden at San Quentin had reported periodically that Marcus remained obsessed with Starsky. In his warped and twisted mind Marcus believed that he could foretell Starsky's fate with his dreams. Although it had been almost six years since he had been sent to death row appeals had postponed his execution date several times. This time there would no appeal. He was rotting in hell where he belonged.
Dobey watched the silent communication that seemed to flow between his two detectives. Starsky and Hutch often seemed to carry on entire conversations without speaking a word. At other times, they spoke a verbal shorthand that only they understood. Dobey had grown accustomed to seeing them do it over the years but it could still be unnerving to witness.
Clearing his throat loudly, Dobey continued with his briefing of his men. "We'll probably never know who murdered him. Most of the other inmates were either scared to death of him or they hated his guts. We've got a whole cell block full of potential suspects and the majority of them are already on death row."
"And they all had a motive." Hutch commented dryly. He was enough of a realist to admit that there were some cases that would never be solved and Marcus' murder was more than likely one of them.
"He got what he had coming to him." Starsky added "I'm surprised that it took somebody this long to take him out."
"I just thought the two of should know before you heard it on the news." Dobey said gruffly. "Now get out of here and get to work."
Starsky and Hutch rose to their feet and left the Captain's office. Hutch grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and followed his partner out of the squad room.
They went down the rear stairway and out the exit to the employee parking lot. As usual, Hutch felt a sudden chill crawl down his spine as they stepped out of the building. Two years ago, he had almost lost Starsky when they were ambushed in this very parking lot by two assassins disguised as uniformed officers.
Starsky had been shot at almost point blank range and had suffered five life threatening wounds to his chest and abdomen. Hutch had been terrified that Starsky would die in his arms before the help he needed so desperately arrived. By some miracle, he had survived long enough to reach the hospital and then he had pulled through a grueling ten hours of emergency surgery as the doctors fought to repair the massive damage to his internal organs.
The doctors had still expected him die. In their professional opinion, the damage to his body was just too great. Their prophecy almost came true when Starsky flat lined just hours after surgery. The myth surrounding the unique bond that the two men shared had been strengthened when Starsky's heart had miraculously started beating again at the exact moment that Hutch burst thought the doors that led into the ICU.
Against all odds, Starsky had survived the assassination attempt but it taken him almost a year of excruciating pain and intense physical therapy before he was deemed recovered enough to reclaim his rightful place at Hutch's side. Hutch had used up all of his own sick days and personal leave, finally resorting to a leave of absence without pay, to care for Starsky during his convalescence. As a result, the bond between them had deepened until they were virtually inseparable.
They had both avoided parking in the employee lot for months until they finally dealt with the memory of what had happened there. But, that didn't stop Hutch from catching his breath and feeling sick to his stomach each time he stepped out on that tarmac.
The two detectives walked across the lot to Starsky's pride and joy, his 1973 Ford Gran Torino. The Torino was a distinctive looking vehicle with its custom paint job. The car had been almost as damaged as its owner in the shooting. And, although he claimed to hate 'the striped tomato', it had saved Hutch's life that day protecting him from the hail of bullets that had cut Starsky down. Knowing how much Starsky loved that car, Hutch and everyone one else in the department had pitched in to have it repaired. By the time Starsky was released from the hospital six weeks after the shooting, the car was as good as new.
The two men climbed into the car and Starsky twisted the key in the ignition. The powerful engine roared to life and Starsky pulled out of the lot with a squeal of his tires. Turning east, the two men prepared to start patrolling their assigned distract in the notorious inner city neighborhood where they spent the majority of their working hours.
Shortly before noon, Starsky pulled into the alley behind a downtown bar and grill named The Pits. He parked in a spot just outside the rear entrance that was designated as a loading and unloading zone. The sign was a distraction that had been posted there as a favor by Huggy Bear, the owner of the bar. It kept the space open and gave the two detectives a private place to park so as not to attract attention to their presence in the bar.
Climbing out of the car, the two men strolled around to the front of the building and entered through the main entrance. The bar opened at eleven for the lunch trade and it was one of the most popular eating spots in the neighborhood. The food was good and relatively inexpensive with generous servings. And it was a well known fact that Huggy Bear kept out the troublemakers.
Only the DMV, the IRS, his relatives, and a few trusted friends knew Huggy Bear's real name. The tall thin black man and Starsky were old friends. They had met shortly after a thirteen year old Starsky had been sent to Bay City to live with relatives. Huggy had helped Starsky to adjust to the culture shock of moving from New York to California. He had been there when Starsky had desperately needed a friend that he could rely on and confide in.
Huggy served as Starsky and Hutch's best link to the streets. He was an invaluable source of information and had numerous contacts all over the city. If anyone could find out anything in a relatively short period of time, it was Huggy Bear. Suspects and potential informants often contacted Huggy before they would anyone else because they knew that he could be trusted and would pass their information along to Starsky and Hutch without telling them where the information came from.
Starsky spotted two empty stools at the end of the bar and led the way though the crowd to the vacated seats. Huggy Bear was working behind the bar while his two best waitresses waited on the customers sitting at the tables and booths scattered throughout the room. As the two detectives settled on the bar stools Huggy glanced in their direction with a curt nod to acknowledge their arrival.
Huggy immediately filled two tall glasses with ice and filled them with iced tea. He sat the drinks down on the bar in front of Starsky and Hutch with a flourish. He knew that they were on duty and couldn't drink anything alcoholic while they were working.
"Hey, Hug," Starsky greeted him with a lopsided grin. "How's it hanging?"
"A little to the left most of the time." Huggy shot back with a smirk. He leaned closer and lowered his voice so that only the two detectives could hear him. "A little birdy told me that somebody finally iced that crazy bastard, Simon Marcus. About time if you ask me. Nobody in his right mind is gonna be sorry that he's gone."
"It just happened this morning," Hutch said with a frown that deepened the natural crease between his eyebrows. "Don't tell me it's on the news already."
"Come on, Blondie…you know I don't need the news to tell me what's happening." Huggy chided Hutch in a mocking tone.
"At least nobody else is gonna suffer because of that prick." Starsky said. He took a swallow of his iced tea and sat the glass down a bit harder than necessary. "They should have fried his ass a long time ago."
"I couldn't agree with you more." Huggy said. He had helped Hutch and Captain Dobey to sift through one of Marcus' cryptic messages which actually held the clues that had helped Hutch to find Starsky before it was too late. Huggy also had a vested interest in the case because one of the cult's early victims had been an acquaintance of the lanky bartender. "It's too bad that monsters like that still have rights too."
"Yeah, and a good attorney who knows how to manipulate those rights." Hutch grumbled. "And keep criminals like Marcus alive for years."
"Until he meets up with some good ole fashioned jail house justice." Starsky added. "Sometimes there is a God after all and now Marcus is rotting in hell where he belongs."
The biggest complaint that Starsky and Hutch had about their job was the legal system that protected criminals like Marcus and the attorneys who manipulated that system to get vicious killers off with just a slap on the wrist until they did something so atrocious that it was no longer possible to look the other way. Rapists, child molesters, murderers…there were dozens of them out there on the streets because of the flaws in the legal system. Even the ones that Starsky and Hutch managed to send away seldom stayed away for very long. Eventually they ended up back out on the streets wreaking havoc.
"You guys eating today or just wetting your whistles?" Huggy asked as he used a bar rag to wipe off the scarred top of the bar.
"Eating. I'm starved." Starsky said quickly before Hutch could answer.
"Starsky, you're always starving." Hutch teased him good naturedly. He turned his attention back to Huggy Bear and said, "I'll have a chef's salad with oil and vinegar on the side."
"And I'll have two cheeseburgers with the works and a double order of fires." Starsky told him. Huggy nodded and walked over to the crossover window between the bar and the kitchen to turn in their orders. When he was done he turned his attention to a demanding customer at the other end of the bar.
Starsky and Hutch were finishing up their food when Huggy rejoined them. Collecting their empty dishes, he said, "Hey…can you guys stop by after you get off work tonight?"
"Yeah, sure." Starsky answered for both of them. "What's up?"
"You remember that kid? Dylan?"
"The runaway from Nebraska?" Hutch said. "The one you had doing odd jobs around here for a while."
"That's the one." Huggy said "I think he got himself messed up in something and now he's in over his head. I thought maybe you two could talk to him."
"We can give it a shot." Starsky said "Do you think he'll trust us enough to open up to us?"
"I told him that you two would be square with him. He's just a scared kid and doesn't know who he can trust." Huggy said "I think he's probably being pressured by one of the local pimps to join his stable."
"There are a lot of chicken hawks out there looking for fresh meat." Hutch remarked as the two detectives slid off their stools and prepared to get back to work.
"Dirty old men who get their rocks off messing with kids." Starsky growled. "They should all be castrated."
"Wouldn't work." Hutch quipped "Some lawyer would probably come along and say it was a violation of their legal right to exercise their sexual preferences."
"You're probably right." Starsky said with a snort. He turned his attention back to Huggy "We'll be here as soon as we get off tonight. Probably around five-thirty or six unless something comes up." Huggy nodded and returned to his own tasks as Starsky and Hutch left the bar.