Red Hair, Blue Eyes

The two 11-year-olds, Davey and Kenny, ran into the house. Kenny's mom, Jeanne, had set their afterschool snacks on the counter. They dropped their bookbags on the floor and headed for the goodies. "Aren't you forgetting something?" Jeanne asked.

"Forgetting what, Mom?"

"Your backpacks."

"Oh, yeah. We'll put them in my room." The boys picked their backpacks up and went to Kenny's room and placed them on the bed. They went in the kitchen and Jeanne made them wash their hands before eating their snack. They sat down at the table and ate a few cookies and drank their milk.

"Can we ride our bikes around the block, Aunt Jeanne?"

"Yes, but stay together and be back by five."

"Okay, thanks," they replied in unison.

The boys ran into the garage and got their bikes. Only a few months ago, Davey became big enough to ride his uncle's bike. They put on their helmets and knee pads and rode away.

About half way around the block, they heard what sounded like a girl screaming. They both stopped dead in their tracks. "What was that?" They asked each other at the same time.

They heard the scream again and looked to their left to find a tall, dark haired man forcing a girl, who appeared to be around their age, into the back of a black, work type van. They looked at each other and knew they were both thinking the same thing. "We gotta help her," they said at the same time.

Davey ran up behind up behind the man knocking him down while Kenny grabbed the girl and tried to run. The man got back on his feet and punched Davey so hard in the face that he was knocked unconscious.

Kenny tripped over a rock and the man snatched the girl by her long red hair and shoved her back into the van. Another man snuck up behind Kenny and hit him in the back of his head with his gun. Kenny felt a sharp pain on the back of his head and everything went black.

Davey woke up just in time to see the black van speeding away. He saw the license plate number, "XYZ 572," He mumbled to himself as he ran back to his bike. He jumped on his bike and followed the van as fast as he could. The van turned a corner and Davey lost it. He rode back to Kenny's house, still mumbling the plate number, he ran inside. "Aunt Jeanne, someone took…someone took," he stuttered out of breath.

"Someone took what?"

"Someone took Kenny," he finally shouted.

"What do you mean, someone took Kenny?" She asked sounding extremely concerned.

"There was a girl and we tried to save her…and he took Kenny. He knocked me out and…"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a black eye and a bloody nose. Call Dad and Uncle Dave."

Jeanne picked up the phone and called Starsky.

Starsky and Hutch were at the Pits. They just finished asking Huggy if he knew anything about a man named Michael Gonzales. "Never heard of him."

"But you know everyone," Starsky said sarcastically.

"I might know something, if you'll order another drink. A man's gotta make his money."

"Fine I'll have…" Starsky was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. He saw it was from Jeanne. He answered it, "Hello."

"Someone kidnapped Kenny!" She said in a panicky tone.

"Do what!?"

"The boys saw a girl being forced into a van and tried to save her. They grabbed Kenny and the girl. Davey was knocked out but he's here with me. He has a black eye and bloody nose."

"We'll be right there." Starsky hung up the phone.

"What's up?"

"I'll tell you on the way, let's go."

Starsky pulled up to the house and Jeanne and Davey ran outside. Davey had an ice pack on his eye. Hutch ran up to Davey and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"What happened, Davey?" Starsky asked.

"Kenny and I were riding our bikes around the block when we heard a girl scream. We saw a tall dark haired man shoving a girl into a black work van. I knocked him down while Kenny grabbed the girl and tried to get away. The man hit me and knocked me out. When I woke up, I saw plate number, Dad. It was XYZ 572."

"What did she look like?" Starsky asked him.

"She had red hair, blue eyes and freckles."

"How old?"

"She looked about my age."

Starsky ran back to his car and got on the radio. "Zebra 3 to dispatch, put a BOLO out on black work van, plate number XYZ 572. I also want a BOLO out for Kenny Starsky description on file, and a Jane Doe red hair, blue eyes and freckles age 11. Both kidnapped and in extreme danger."

Starsky walked back to Hutch and said, "It fits the profile. All the missing children have red hair, blue eyes and freckles."

"Except Kenny."

"He must have been in the way."

Jeanne was hysterical by now. "There must be something you can do."

"There is. Davey, take us to where it happened," Starsky said. Other units pulled up and Starsky looked at Jeanne and said, "I want you to stay here with Marie." Marie, a female officer, took Jeanne inside the house.

Chief Sterling arrived and went with Davey, Starsky & Hutch to where Kenny and the girl had been taken. They saw the bike still lying on the ground. There was nobody around and no witnesses.

Kenny woke up and he was in a dark room. The only source of light was coming from a small window that had bars on it. All of a sudden, there was a blindingly bright light. It took his eyes a minute to adjust. He looked around and saw that he was in what looked like a jail cell. It had rusty iron bars on the window and the door and cement walls. He saw the girl leaning against the wall she appeared to be sleeping. He looked out of the cell door and saw a row of cells. The cell across from him had one boy and one girl both had red hair and blue eyes. He asked, "Where are we?" The boy and girl turned around and walked to the back wall.

He heard a quiet voice behind him saying, "Where are we? What's going on?"

Kenny turned around, walked over to her and saw the girl's eyes were wide from fear. "I'm Kenny, what's your name?" He offered her his hand and helped her stand.

"Tiffany," she said.

"I think you're here because you look like them," he pointed to the other cells. "And I think I'm here because my cousin and I tried to save you. Do you know what happened to Davey, my cousin?"

"They left him on the ground back there."

"Davey probably went to get help when he woke up. Don't worry my Dad and Uncle will find us they're cops."

The tall, dark-haired man walked in the hall that led to the cells. "As you may have noticed we have some new kids here." He walked over to Kenny and Tiffany's cell and said, "You may be wondering why you are here. You'll find out soon enough." The man left and the lights went off.

Kenny looked at Tiffany and said, "I think I know where we are."

"Where?"

"The old Kemper jail." Kenny looked out of small bared window and saw two men getting in the black van and driving away. "Watch this. I'm a magician," Kenny whispered. The next thing Tiffany knew, she heard the cell door being opened. "Come on let's get out of here." He turned toward Tiffany and asked, "How many men did you see."

"Two. The driver and the one that you knocked you out."

Kenny opened all the cell doors and said, "Let's get outta here."

The other kids were nervous and too scared to leave. Kenny assured them that he saw the van leave. One by one, the kids left their cells. Kenny opened the door which led to another room. That room had more cells with more children. All of them had red hair, blue eyes and freckles. Kenny opened all the doors in that room. He opened another door which led to what seemed to be a control room. He saw food wrappers, drinks, blankets, two beds in the small room. He began to look around and saw a backpack which he opened and found a bunch of money, rope and a fully loaded handgun. He left everything in the backpack and put it on. He didn't want the others to know about the gun. He opened another door which led outside. Kenny said, "We should all stay together."

"He's right," Tiffany chimed in.

"I know where we are and there's a store about a mile up the road," Kenny said. They all started walking up the road with Kenny and Tiffany in the lead.

"That was pretty amazing how you opened the cell doors back there."

Kenny blushed and said, "Thanks."

"What did you find in the backpack?"

"Rope, money and a handgun but don't tell the others about the gun."

"I won't."

"How long was I unconscious?"

"About an hour. Thanks for trying to save me."

"That's what men do."

A group of 50 red headed, blue eyed, freckled face kids, led by Kenny who had green eyes and dark brown hair, walked into the store. They were all hungry and thirsty and ran to grab stuff off the shelves. "You're the missing kids, aren't you?"

"Yes," Kenny replied.

"Go ahead take whatever you want. I'll pay for it."

"Can I call my dad, he's a detective."

The clerk handed Kenny her cell phone. Kenny took the phone and called Starsky's cell.

Starsky was sitting on the couch next to Jeanne when his phone rang. He didn't recognize the number but answered it anyway hoping it was new about Kenny. He heard the familiar voice of his son on the other end. "Dad, I'm at the Kemper Street Market. I found all the missing kids."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. The others are hungry but the clerk said they could have whatever they wanted so they're eating now."

"We'll be right there," he said to Kenny. "That was Kenny, he's okay. He found all the missing kids."

He got up and ran out with Hutch not far behind. Hutch got in the passenger seat and put the tear drop red light on the top while Starsky hit the siren. Hutch picked up the mic and said, "Zebra three to dispatch."

"Dispatch, go ahead Zebra three."

"Dispatch we're on the way to the Kemper Street Market. Send back up. Missing kids are there with Kenny Starsky."

"10-4, Zebra three. Sending back up now."

Starsky and Hutch were the first to arrive at the store. They went inside and saw 50 red haired, blue eyed, freckled face kids sitting on the floor eating everything in sight. Kenny ran up and hugged his dad and uncle. "Dad, Uncle Ken, we were held at the old Kemper jail."

"Are you okay, son?"

"I'm fine, Dad. I don't know about them."

"You're dad really is a cop," Tiffany said.

"Yep. Dad, this is Tiffany. She's the girl Davey and I tried to save." Kenny handed his dad the back pack. "Dad, there's a bunch of money, a gun and some rope in here. I found it in one of the rooms at the jail."

"I wonder why he kidnapped these kids," Hutch said.

"I don't know. He said that we would find out soon enough," Kenny replied.

Starsky and Hutch asked the other kids if they had any idea why they were kidnapped or if they knew who took them. None of the kids had any idea why they were taken or who took them. Their ages ranged from nine to eleven. The first child was taken four months ago. Some of the kids showed signs of physical abuse. They had bruises and some had black eyes. They were scared half to death.

A bus came to take the kids to the hospital to be checked out. Kenny and Tiffany hung back. "Thanks again for saving me," Tiffany said. Then she kissed him on the cheek. Kenny blushed and held her hand as they walked to his Dad's car.

Two weeks had gone by and they had narrowed the kidnappers to five suspects. Jack Cinder, Benjamin Andrews, Alex Mathews, Mason Jackson, and Peter Sexton," Hutch read the list out loud.

"Let's get them in here and ask Tiffany and Kenny to look at them and identify him," Starsky said

Tiffany and Kenny had become good friends but Davey would always be his best friend.

The suspects were brought in and several of the kids were asked if they could identify them. All of the kids identified Peter Sexton and Mason Jackson as the men who had kidnapped them. At the trial they were both sentenced to 10 years per case so basically they received life behind bars. Neither of them ever said why they were interested in kidnapping red headed, blue eyed, freckled face kids.

Starsky and Hutch went to the Pits and ordered that drink they promised Huggy.