More Than A Robbery

by Rescue45

Hutch looked at Starsky and whispered, "Hey, Starsk, you don't think our boys will try anything stupid do you? Starsky looked at Hutch and whispered back, "Hutch, they're our boys, do you really think they won't?"

S & H

More Than A Robbery

It's was beautiful Saturday morning, Starsky was standing in the kitchen talking to his wife. She said, "I get off at 1900 hours do you think you'll be back by then?"

Starsky said, "With pizza and ready to watch the movie. Hutch and the boys have been looking forward to this."

Jeanne said, "I hope you two don't get called in tonight."

Starsky said, "Me too."

Jeanne said, "Is Hutch ready for this. I know it's been over a year but."

Starsky cut her off, "Yeah, I think so. If not we'll just come back early. He's looking forward to it."

She kissed him and said, "Be careful and I love you."

Kenny walked into the room as they were kissing and said, "Gross."

Starsky said, "You won't think so in a couple of years, pal." He laughed as he kissed his wife again.

Kenny said, "When are we leaving, Dad?"

Starsky said, "In a minute."

Kenny said, "Great. Mom, I wish you could go with us."

She said, "I know me too, but this time I'm the one who has to work. I will see you about 1930."

Kenny knew that both of his parents had to use military time at work so he was used to it.

Kenny said, "We'll bring the pizza and have the movie ready."

She looked at her husband and said, "He's so much like you Dave."

Starsky patted his son on the head and said, "That he is."

Jeanne said, "I have to go now. Have fun guys."

Kenny said, "Bye, Mom I love you."

She said, "I love you too." Starsky and Kenny were right behind her locking the door as they left.

In the garage Kenny walked past the red Ford Torino that had a white stripe that went down the side and across the top to the other side. It was the car his used to drive in the mid to late 70's. Starsky loved that car back then and he's kept in excellent condition. He asked his Dad, "Are you ever going to drive it again?"

Starsky said, "I have taken it out for a spin a couple of times. It's still a great car."

Kenny said, "Dad, it's a striped tomato."

Starsky laughed as he looked at his son and asked, "Did your Uncle Ken tell you to say that?"

Kenny said, "Yeah. He said I should say that every chance I get."

They both laughed. Starsky said, "It's old now. Too old to drive a lot, but I've always loved this car." They got into the minivan. There was another car in the garage. It is the car his Dad uses at work, it's a red Ford Mustang but this one does not have a stripe down the side. Uncle Ken thinks it's too flashy but they always did have different taste in cars. Starsky got a minivan so there would be room in one vehicle for all 5 of them when they wanted to go someplace.

Starsky and Kenny pulled up to the Hutch's house. Starsky and Kenny got out and went inside.

Kenny said, "Hi, Uncle Ken. Where's Hutch?"

Hutch said, "He's in his room. Why don't you go on and hurry him up." Kenny walked down the hall to Hutch's room. Starsky took the cup of coffee Hutch had just poured himself. Hutch gave him a look and got another cup and poured himself another cup.

Starsky took a sip and said, "Thanks for the coffee. Hutch, are you ready for this?"

Hutch said, "You know I think I really am. It's been over a year now. I always liked the woods and I think it's time to go back. Besides it's only for a drive and it's not like I'll be alone."

Starsky said, "No, no, you won't be alone. Well if you want to leave early just let me know."

Hutch said, "Thanks, pal."

Kenny walked into Davey's room and saw Davey tying his shoe and said, "Hey, Hutch."

Davey said, "Oh, good you're here, Starsk." Davey finished tying his shoe and picked up the baseball and glove and said, "Hey, grab a couple of bats will ya?"

Kenny said, "Sure." He paused and looked at Davey and asked, "Is Uncle Ken ready to go to the mountains?"

Davey said, "We talked about it last night and he said he was looking forward to it. Besides, all of us will be with him."

Kenny said, "Good. This should be fun." They left the room and walked down the hall.

Davey said, "Hi, Uncle Dave."

Starsky said, "Hey, kiddo. You boys ready?"

Both boys said at the same time, "Sure are."

The mountains were beautiful. The leaves on the trees were changing colors from green to bright reds, yellows, oranges and other colors. There was a slight breeze blowing. Starsky stopped the van at a spot they had often stopped at. It had a picnic table and an area large enough to play a little baseball. The boys unloaded a picnic basket and Starsky and Hutch got the baseball gloves, baseball and a couple of bats.

As they were eating their lunch, Hutch said, "It really is pretty up here."

Starsky said, "Yeah, I always liked this time of year, when the leaves change colors." Starsky knew this was one of Jennifer's favorite places. Jennifer was Hutch's wife. She died of cancer when Davey was 4 years old. When the boys finished eating and cleaned up they grabbed the ball and a couple of gloves and headed to the open field to play a little catch. Davey could pitch a baseball pretty good. Kenny was not much of a pitcher but he could hit a ball pretty good. Starsky and Hutch just watched them for a few minutes.

Hutch said, "What did we do before we had them?"

Starsky said, "I don't know. They're great kids aren't they."

Hutch looked at his son and nephew and smiled. Starsky said, "So are you ok?"

Hutch said, "Yeah, I'm fine. This has been good, coming up here I mean. I don't think I'm ready to go camping yet but this is great."

Starsky said, "You ready to play ball?"

Hutch said, "Yeah, let's show them how it's done."

Starsky said, "More like they'll show us."

They both laughed as they got up grabbed the other two gloves, the bat and headed towards the open field. The four of them played ball a while and had a great time. There were no bases or score kept. Davey pitched the ball to his Dad who hit it hard and Kenny caught it. Then Starsky caught one. Kenny tried to pitch one to Davey but he couldn't pitch well enough with no one catching so he gave the ball back to Davey.

He said, "I just can't pitch well, here you take it, Hutch."

Davey said, "You might not pitch as well as I can, but I can't hit like you can."

They played for a while and Starsky looked at his watch and said, "Hey I think it's about time we head back now."

Hutch said, "Yeah, it's pizza and movie night with Jeanne, and we don't want to be late." They packed up and got into the van.

As they were driving down the road Kenny said, "Dad, how about stopping someplace for a soda. I'm thirsty."

Davey said, "Yeah, I could use one too."

Starsky said, "Yeah, ok we'll stop. There's a store up ahead we can stop there."
The four of them walked into a grocery store. It was just getting dark.

Starsky looked at the boys and said, "You two go get some drinks Hutch and I will get some snacks and popcorn for the movie."

The boys said, "Ok, Dad."

As Starsky and Hutch saw the boys walk to the back of the store they noticed 4 men carrying guns. They were about to draw their weapons when one of the men ran up to them holding his gun and said, "You two, get to the front of the store now."

Starsky and Hutch figured that it would be better if they didn't let the thieves know they were cops. Since they didn't have time to draw their weapons first, it was a little late now. They knew they might have a chance later.

Hutch looked at Starsky and said, "Yeah, ok. Just don't hurt anyone."

The man said, "We won't as long as everyone cooperates." Starsky and Hutch walked with him to the front of the store. They both zipped up their jackets so no one would see their guns. They learned long ago not to go anywhere without their weapons.

When they reached the front of the store there were 6 others that were sitting on the floor, two of the gunmen were tying their hands behind them. The fourth gunman walked away with the manager. He said, "Let's go to the safe."

The manager said, "This is a small country store, we don't have a lot of money here."

The gunman said, "Whatever you have will be just fine now let's go." And he pushed the manager towards the office.

Starsky and Hutch looked at each other. They didn't see the boys and were hoping that Kenny and Davey were hiding in the back of the store. The man told Starsky and Hutch to sit down. He tied them up with their hands behind them . Starsky and Hutch didn't say anything they just looked at each other. The gunmen never noticed their guns or handcuffs. With so many others in the store and not knowing where the boys were it was safer if they didn't let anyone know they were cops. Starsky and Hutch were at the end of the row of people so there was only one person they could really talk to he was seated next to Starsky. Starsky asked the man sitting next to him, "Are you ok? Did they hurt anyone?"

The man said, "I'm ok. I don't think anyone's hurt. My name's Will, Will Webster."

Starsky said, "I'm Dave Starsky. Just call me Starsky. My friend next to me is Ken Hutchinson."

Hutch leaned forward a little so he could see Will and said, "Hi. Just call me Hutch."

Starsky said, "Will, I think if we all stay calm they'll get what their after and leave. I don't think they'll hurt anyone."

Will said, "I hope so. I don't mind telling you I'm a little scared."

Hutch said, "I think we all are, but like Starsky said I don't think they want to hurt anyone."

The gunman heard them talking and came over to Starsky and said, "Shut up. I want everyone to be quiet. Got it?"

Hutch said, "Yeah. I got it. It takes a lot of guts to threaten people who are tied up."

Starsky said, "Now, Hutch, after all there's no fun in making threats against people who aren't tied up. It takes a real man to do that and I see that's not what we have here."

The gunman said, "Oh. I see we have a smartass (He looked at Starsky) and a wise guy (He looked at Hutch) here."

Starsky said, "You got it wrong. I'm the wise guy, he's the smartass." Hutch nodded in agreement with Starsky.

The gunman hit Starsky and said, "Well, wise guy I suggest you just sit there and shut up."

Starsky said, "That's Mr. Wise guy to you."

The man hit Starsky again and walked away. Hutch looked at his partner and said, "Mr. Starsky, are you ok?"

Starsky said, "Yeah, he hits like a 10 year old girl. I'm fine, Hutch."

Hutch said, "Maybe we shouldn't get them too riled up, at least until we know where the boys are." Starsky and Hutch were trying to see how high strung this guy was. How easy would it be to make him lose his cool and what would he do when he lost it?

Will looked at Starsky and said, "Man, are you ok?"

Starsky looked at him and said, "Yeah. I'm fine. Best you not get him upset ok?" Will just nodded.

The others that were tied up looked at Starsky. Starsky and Hutch looked at them. They couldn't say anything but they all looked scared. There were 3 people tied up that were employees of the store, one of them was a woman who looked like she was about 18-20 years old, and 2 men who looked about the same age. The customers were Will, and a couple who were sitting next to Will that looked to be in their early 70s. Starsky and Hutch were trying to see if any of them looked like they would be much help if it came down to a fight. Will looked like he was in his mid 30s and was built like he worked out. They thought he was their best shot if they could get untied and needed help. They didn't want to take a chance just yet and tell him they were cops.

One of the gunmen told the other two to check the rest of the store for anyone else.

At the back of the store Davey and Kenny were about ready to pick out the drinks when they heard a man say, "Check the back room, make sure no one is in there then lock the door so the cops can't get in that way."

They hid behind some boxes that were on the floor. The boxes had merchandise that was waiting to be put out on the shelves. They saw two men walk by and go into the back room. The men never saw either of the boys. When the men came out of the back room and went down another aisle, the boys heard the men talking.

The taller man with short hair said, "Then we will kill all of them right. No witnesses."

The shorter man with almost no hair said, "That's the plan. We kill them all but we have to hurry before the cops come."

The tall man said, "Well no one is going to call the cops. James will put a sign on the door saying the store is closed so no one else will come in."

Davey and Kenny ran to the back of the store as soon as it was safe. Kenny took out his cell phone and called the local sheriff's department. He let them know what was going on. The dispatcher told Kenny that the nearest deputy was about 20 minutes away. She told the boys to stay in the back room and wait. As he made the call, Davey found the back door and unlocked it so the police had a way in. The boys looked at each other.

Kenny said, "They're going to kill everyone. We got to do something, Hutch."

Davey said, "Yeah, I know. You got any ideas?"

They thought a minute and Davey said, "Hey, I got it."

Kenny said, "What's the plan?"

Davey said, "Bowl and pitch."

Kenny said, "It'll be dangerous but we got to do something or everyone's going to be killed including our Dad's."

Davey said, "You want to bowl or pitch?"

Kenny said, "I'll bowl, you pitch. You pitch better than I do, but let's go down hardware aisle and get some of those zip ties first."

Davey said, "Zip ties for what?"

Kenny said, "Well if it works, we need something to tie them up with. Zip ties are what the police use when they run out of cuffs right?"

Davey said, "Good thinking, Starsk." The boys walked quietly to the aisle where the zip ties were. They were careful not to be seen and ran from aisle to aisle. They grabbed the zip ties off the shelf and noticed some box cutters there and took a couple of them too. They each put one in their pocket. Then they went to the canned food aisle.

At the front of the store, the other two men came back. One of them said, "No one else is in the store and the back door is locked."

The man that hit Starsky said, "As soon as we get what we want we will leave. If no one does anything stupid, no one will get hurt so just sit there till it's over. The 3 men walked away from the hostages a little and were talking.

Hutch looked at Starsky and whispered, "Hey, Starsk, you don't think our boys will try anything stupid do you?"

Starsky looked at Hutch and whispered back, "Hutch, they're our boys, do you really think they won't?"

Hutch said, "I was afraid you'd say that."

About that time, in the back of the store Kenny bowled a can of peas down the aisle it made a loud noise when it hit the shelf at the end. One of the men that were guarding the customers left to see what the noise was.

When Starsky heard the noise, he looked at Hutch and said, "And here we go."

Hutch whispered, "I wonder what they're up to."

Starsky said, "I don't know but these jerks better not hurt either of them. Can you get lose?"

Hutch said, "No, but I'm still trying."

Starsky said, "Me, too."

Hutch said, "How does Kenny do it?"

Starsky said, "I don't know, but I'm gonna make him show me one day."

Will looked at Starsky and said, "What was that noise?"

Starsky didn't want to tell him just yet about the boys being in the store or about him and Hutch being cops so he said, "I don't know. Sounds like something fell off a shelf. It's probably nothing to worry about."

Will said, "You and your friend seem so calm, what do you, are you cops or something?" Starsky looked at Hutch he was asking Hutch if he should tell Will or not. Hutch looked back and his look told Starsky that he may not want to let it out just yet. Starsky and Hutch had been partners for so long they knew what the looks meant. They didn't really need to talk. It was funny to Jeanne and the boys.

Starsky looked at Will and said, "No, but we've been through this kind of thing before. Were from the big city and it happens."

Will asked, "And you think we'll be okay."

Starsky said, "Sure, if we just stay calm. Hey what do you do?"

Will said, "I'm a football coach at the high school."

Hutch heard that and nodded to Starsky. Starsky looked at Hutch and said, "You sure."

Hutch said, "May as well. We may need the help."

Starsky said, "Ok." He turned towards Will and said, "Can you keep a secret?" Will nodded. Starsky said, "Okay. What I'm about to tell you must remain between you, me and my partner here."

Will said, "Your partner? Then you are cops."

Starsky said, "Yes, but we couldn't do anything because they might have hurt the rest of you if we tried."

Will said, "I can help. What do you want me to do?"

Starsky said, "See if you can get out of the ropes. Other than that there is nothing we can do just yet."

Will said, "What do you mean just yet?"

Hutch looked at Starsky and quietly said, "You may as well tell him."

Starsky said, "Will, Hutch and I think that noise you heard was our boys in the back of the store."

Will said, "You have kids in here?"

Starsky said, "Yes, but we don't know what they're up to."

When the man got to the aisle where the noise came from he saw the can of peas on the floor. He looked around and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He bent down to pick it up, Davey stepped out from behind the end of the shelf and threw another can, a bigger can and hit the man in the head. The man fell to the ground, knocked out. The boys ran to him, pulled him to the back of the store. They used the zip ties and tied him up to a pipe on the wall. They found some bandanas they used to gag him with, and used some duct tape to tape his legs together. They wanted to make sure he didn't get away.

They looked at each other and said at the same time, "I'll be; it worked."

Davey said, "One down 3 to go."

Kenny looked at the man and said, "Hutch, he's bleeding pretty bad. Give me two of those bandanas." Davey handed him the bandanas and Kenny took one and folded it up and put it over the wound on his forehead. He took the other one and wrapped it around the man's head to hold it in place. Kenny said, "That should stop it." Davey just looked at him. Kenny said, "We want to stop them from killing all of us. We don't want to kill them."

Davey said, "Good point, Starsk. I'd hate to really hurt someone, even these guys."

Kenny looked at the man they just tied up and said, "Don't go anywhere. You'll have company soon."

They left the back room. They didn't know how long it would take help to arrive but they knew it would probably be at least another 15 minutes. They didn't know how much time they had before the men would kill everyone.

They quietly ran down another aisle and Kenny bowled another can down making a lot of noise. This time he made more noise than the first time. Another gunman left to see what the noise was.

Hutch looked at Starsky and said, "That's number 2."

Starsky said, "At least we know they're ok."

Hutch said, "Yeah, for now."

Will looked at starsky and said, "Your boys again?"

Starsky and Hutch said at the the same time, "Probably."

The boys waited and within a minute the second man came down the aisle. Davey threw a can and hit him with it. This time the man did not fall down. Kenny tossed Davey another can. Davey threw it and hit him, this time the man fell down. He was knocked out, like the first one.

The boys dragged him to the back room and tied him next to the first one. The first man was still unconscious. They bandaged the wound the man had on the side of his head using the bandanas, and duct taped his legs together like the first man.

Kenny said, "That's two down two to go."

Davey said, "Yeah, but the next two aren't going to be as easy."

Kenny said, "Yeah, one's in the office with the manager and the other one is guarding everyone else. He's not likely to leave the front."

Davey said, "Got any ideas?"

Kenny said, "Well, I do have one, but I don't know if it will work and it's pretty dangerous."

Davey said, "What is it?"

Kenny said, "You go to the front and act like you don't know anything is going on, you might get close to that one to get the gun away, at the same time I could sneak down the aisle and untie our dads."

Davey said, "That will leave just the one in the office and with our dads freed they should be able to get him."

Kenny said, "Do you think you can do it. Get the gun away from him I mean?"

Davey said, "If I can get close enough, I can get the gun away. We need to time this just right so our dads don't make a move until I create a diversion. The diversion will give them enough time to do whatever they're going to do."

Kenny said, "I think they still have their weapons."

Davey said, "Good."

Kenny said, "I'll sneak down the aisle just take your time and give me a few minutes to get into position. I'll untie them and tell them not to do anything until you make your move."

Davey said, "How's 3 minutes sound?"

Kenny said, "That should be about right."

The boys just looked at each other. Davey said, "This is scary you know, Starsk."

Kenny said, "Yeah I know, but if we don't do anything everyone dies. I don't think our dads are going to be real happy about all this either."

Davey said, "At least they'll be alive to be unhappy about it."

They both nodded at each other. They started to go different directions, they stopped looked at each other and said to each other at the same time, "See you in the front." They went their separate ways.

Kenny took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was scared but knew what he had to do. If he got caught or couldn't untie his Dad and Uncle, they would all probably be killed. He crawled on his stomach to the front of the store down the aisle where his dad and uncle were. They both knew the timing had to be right or everyone would be in big trouble. If any of them saw Kenny crawling down the aisle they could all be killed, but Kenny had to take that chance. Uncle Ken was right next to the end of aisle so Kenny lightly touched his hand to let him know he was there. Hutch didn't move but Kenny knew Uncle Ken knew he was there.

Kenny whispered, "Uncle Ken, can you hear me?"

Hutch nodded slightly. Hutch looked at Starsky so he would know something was up.

Kenny said, "Here's the plan. I'm going to cut you lose and give you the knife to cut Dad free. Davey is going to walk up to the gunman in a minute. He's going to get take his gun away from him. Wait until he makes his move. When he does you and dad can make your move. I know you can't talk and I know you probably don't like this, but they were planning on killing everyone we had to do something. The other two gunmen are tied up in the back and the last one is in the manager's officers. Okay?"

Hutch couldn't really say anything but he slightly nodded his head. Hutch looked at Starsky. Then he looked at the last gunman. He had his back turned away from them, looking down the aisle wondering where the other two were and what happened to them. Hutch thought it would be safe to talk to Kenny he said, "Kenny, you two."

Kenny cut him off, "I know Uncle Ken. You can talk to us about it later." Kenny cut the ropes and whispered, "Untie Dad but don't move yet. Wait for Davey. Here's the knife." Kenny gave his Uncle the knife.

Hutch took the knife and whispered to Kenny, "Kenny, you two are taking a big chance."

Kenny said, "We know, but we didn't have a choice. We can explain later."

Hutch looked at Starsky and said, "Don't move yet. Davey's going to create a diversion." He cut Starsky's ropes.

Starsky said, "What are they up to?"

Hutch said, "I'm not sure, but they're under the impression that these guys are going to try to kill everyone. If we move now Davey and Kenny could get hurt." Starsky nodded.

Starsky looked at Will and said, "I'm loose. I'm going to untie you but don't do anything until Hutch or I say ok? We have to wait for the right time, understand?"

Will just nodded. He was kind of scared and excited that they trusted him enough to want his help. He was a family man, two kids of his own. A 6 year old son named Will Jr. and a 4 year old daughter named Madison. He always told his boys to take chances on the field and now it was his turn to take a chance and help. Starsky cut his ropes. Will just sat there like nothing happened.

Davey walked towards the gunman just as Kenny cut his Uncle's ropes. Davey acted like he didn't know anything was going on. He looked down at the ground so it looked like he hadn't seen anything going on. He had a can of vegetables in his hand. He didn't want to say anything until he got close enough to the gunman to get the gun away. He was scared and his heart pounded so fast he thought it would jump out of his chest. He knew he had to be calm and focus at what he was supposed to do. Karate had taught him focus and discipline. He could do this, he knew he could. He'd been trained for this sort of thing. He was confident that he could get the gun away and he trusted Kenny to get their dads free.

Starsky, Hutch and Will were watching Davey come down the aisle. Davey was singing Take Me Out To The Ball Game as he was walking down the aisle, he resisted the temptation to look at the gunman. He just sang and walked towards him.

The gunman said, "Hey kid, where did you come from?"

As Davey got close he tossed the can of vegetable at the gunman. Then he hit him. The man reached out and hit Davey. Davey didn't even flinch, he hit the man again and did a roundhouse kick and knocked him down. The gun flew out of his hand and landed a few feet away as the gunman got up and went towards the gun Starsky and Hutch drew their weapons and Will scrambled and reached the gun before the gunman could. Davey kicked the man again and put his foot on the man's throat before he could get up and said, "With 2 pounds of pressure you'll never breathe again. Don't move."

The gunman looked at Hutch and started to say something. Hutch said, "I wouldn't move if I were you. Son, are you alright?"

Davey said, "Dad, he hits like a 10 year old little girl."

Starsky said, "See. That's what I said, Davey." They laughed at the man.

Will walked over to Starsky and handed him the gun. Starsky said, "Thank you Will, you did great."

Starsky ran to the gunman and handcuffed him the one of the shelves so he couldn't go anywhere.

Kenny said, "We called the police. They were about twenty minutes away. They should be here in about five minutes or so. We got three of the gunmen now. The last one took the manager to the office. It's through that door on the right. The other 2 are tied up in the back storeroom."

Hutch said, "Ok. Starsky and I will take care of the one with the manager and the 2 in the back. Will, can the three of you get everyone else loose and get out of the store."

Will said, "Yeah, sure." Starsky handed Will the knife the boys used to cut them free. Will looked at the boys and as they were cutting everyone loose said, "Great job guys. My name is Will Webster."

Kenny said, "I'm Kenny Starsky and this is my cousin Dave Hutchinson."

Will said, "I thought Starsky said his name was Dave and Ken was Hutchinson."

Davey said, "Yeah, that's who they are." Will looked confused.

Davey and Kenny laughed and Kenny said, "Our Dad's have been partners for over 40 years, they named us after each other."

Will laughed and said, "Oh, I get it. Let's get out of here now."

Everyone left the store and gathered outside. The police were not there yet. The whole thing only lasted about 15 minutes.

At the same time as Will and the boys were untying everyone Hutch looked at the man Davey knocked down and said, "You're under arrest."

The man said, "You're cops."

Starsky said, "Give him a gold medal."

Starsky and Hutch went to the manager's office. On the way Starsky asked Hutch, "Do you think the men in the back will be okay there until we get this one?"

Hutch said, "Starsk, if our boys had anything to do with it you know they won't be able to get loose." And they grinned at each other.

They reached the manager's office and could hear the manager talking to the last gunman. They had their guns drawn and were ready to use them if they needed to.

Starsky and Hutch heard the gunman tell the manager, "Hurry up and get the stuff."

The manager said, "You were supposed to wait until the store was closed. I told you I'm not dumb enough to bring that into the store you idiots. It's in my car."

Starsky looked at Hutch and said, "It's not about the money, Hutch. It's a drug deal."

Hutch said, "That makes more sense. This is a small store there wouldn't be much money here."

Hutch looked at Starsky and said, "Ready." Starsky nodded. Hutch went high and Starsky went low on the door as Hutch kicked it in.

The manager looked surprised and said, "Get him, he's trying to rob me."

Starsky grabbed the gun away from the gunman and Hutch grabbed the manager and said, "You're both under arrest."

The manager said, "Both, what did I do? I'm a victim here."

Hutch said, "Yeah sure you are." They took the men to the front of the store. Starsky handcuffed the gunman with the other one to the shelf and Hutch held onto the manager.

Hutch said, "If you got them, I'll take Mr. Victim here to his car. We have enough for probable cause."

Starsky said, "What about the other two in the back?"

Hutch said, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about them."

They used the rope they had been tied up with to tie the manager up. Starsky said, "Now you boys be good and stay put."

Hutch added, "Or we'll send the kids back in." Starsky laughed.

Starsky and Hutch went to the back storeroom where Kenny said the other two men were. When they got there and saw the other two gunmen they laughed at them.

Hutch looked at the men as he laughed as he took off the gag, and asked, "How did two 14 year olds get you tied up like that?"

One of them said, "I'm bleeding. I need stitches. That kid hit me with a can."

Hutch said, "You're lucky that's all they did to you. The Blonde's a blackbelt. You'll get the medical treatment you need as soon as they get here." Hutch removed the bandanas from his head that Kenny had used to stop the bleeding. It looked pretty good. He said, "You'll live.

The first man said, "Those boys will pay for that."

Hutch said, "Hey, that's my son and nephew you're talking about."

Starsky said, "By the way you're both under arrest."

They showed the men their badges. Starsky read them their rights. Starsky and Hutch had to cut the zip ties the boys had tied them to the pipe with and duct tape off the men to free them. Hutch found the bag of zip ties and used them as handcuffs. They walked the men to the front of the store where the other two were still handcuffed to the shelves.

Starsky looked at Hutch and said, "If you got this, I'll check on the boys and see if the police are here yet."

Hutch said, "Yeah, sure I got this." Starsky walked outside.

Starsky walked outside. All of the customers were talking to the boys and Will. They were thanking them for getting them free.

As Starsky walked one of the employees that had been tied up asked him, "If you're a cop, why didn't you do anything?" He didn't sound mad or upset.

Starsky said, "They got the drop on me and my partner before we could do anything. After they had us, if we let on we were cops they would have taken our weapons and we would all have probably been killed."

The man said, "Yeah, I figured it was something like that. Those are pretty smart kids you and your partner have here."

Starsky said, "Yeah, we think so too."

The man said, "My name is Justin Bell." He held his hand and shook hands with Starsky

Starsky said, "I'm Dave Starsky, my partner is Ken Hutchinson."

Justin said, "Well thank you."

Starsky said, "No problem."

He looked at the boys and said, "Hey you two come here minute please." The boys came over to Starsky.

Starsky looked at Justin Bell and said, "This is my son, Kenny Starsky and my partners son and my nephew here is Davey Hutchinson." The boys shook hands with Justin.

Justin said, "Thank you all for saving us."

The boys, at the same time said, "You're welcome."

Justin walked away and walked over to the others who were talking about what happened.

Starsky looked at his son and nephew and asked in a calm voice as he bent down to their eye level, "Are you two ok?"

Kenny said, "Dad, we're fine."

Starsky said, "You two could have been killed. Why didn't you two just hide in the back room?"

Kenny said, "We were going to, Dad, but we heard two of them talking. The two we tied up in the back."

Davey said, "Uncle Dave, they said they were going to kill everyone as soon as they got what they wanted from the manager. They didn't want witnesses. So we had to do something."

Starsky said, "Really."

Kenny looked at his dad and said, "Yeah, dad. If we stayed hidden everyone else would have died including you and Uncle Ken. We couldn't let that happen."

Starsky asked, "Well how did you manage to catch em?"

The boys at the same time said, "Bowl and pitch."

Starsky said, "What?"

Kenny said, "I bowled a can down the aisle and made a lot of noise, when they came to see what the noise was"

Starsky cut him off and said, "Davey pitched another can and hit them and knocked them out right. That was the noise we heard."

Davey said, "You got it. It worked great Uncle Dave."

Starsky laughed, "Bowl and pitch uh. You two stay here I'm going to check on Hutch."

Three police deputies and two ambulances pulled up after Starsky went inside. Kenny said, "Our dads are Detectives from Bay City and they're in there now."

Davey said, "All the gunmen are under control. Two of them need medical attention."

The Sheriff said, "Thank you boys."

Starsky walked in the store and patted Hutch on the shoulder and asked, "You ok."

Hutch said, "Yeah, you and the boys."

Starsky said, "Yeah. They said they were going to lay low until they heard these two say they were going to kill everyone as soon as they got what they wanted. Hutch, they weren't going to let anyone go."

The deputies and the EMTs went inside the store. Starsky said, "They're all yours."

Hutch said, "These two need medical attention."

Starsky told the Sheriff, "You may want to check the manager's car. This wasn't a simple robbery."

Hutch added, "It was a drug deal."

The Sheriff, "Yeah, well that doesn't surprise me. We've been trying to catch the local dealer for a while now. We had it narrowed down to the manager here, Frank Brown, and a couple of others. I'd like to thank you two for catching them. Who are you anyway?"

Hutch said, "I'm Ken Hutchinson and this is my partner Dave Starsky we're detectives from Bay City." Hutch took out his badge and showed it to the Sheriff. Starsky showed him his badge too. As Starsky and Hutch were talking to the sheriff they could see the deputies walking out of the store with the gunmen and the store manager being put into the police cars. All of them were handcuffed. The two that needed medical attention were put in the back of the ambulances and one of the deputies got in the back with them. Both of them had been handcuffed to the stretcher.

The Sheriff said, "I'm the Sheriff here my name is Ryan Coats. Thank you."

Starsky said, "It wasn't really us who caught them."

Hutch said, "It was actually our boys."

Sheriff Coats said, "Your boys."

Starsky said, "It's a long story."

Hutch said, "If we promise to come back tomorrow with the boys and tell you everything can we go now? We have important business tonight."

Sheriff Coats said, "Sure that will be fine. Just leave me your names, name of your department and badge numbers."

Starsky said, "Yeah, sure." He wrote down all the information.

Starsky and Hutch walked outside. As they left the store Starsky said, "You know how the boys got them?"

Hutch said, "They said they were hit in the head with cans."

Starsky said, "The boys called it bowl and pitch."

Hutch said, "What?"

Starsky said, "What you do is roll one can down the aisle making a lot of noise then when one of them came to see what the noise was"

Hutch cut him off and said, "The other one, probably Davey he pitches better than Kenny, pitched a can and hit him knocking him out."

Starsky and Hutch both laughed. Hutch said, "Bowl and pitch uh. I'll have to remember that one. Why didn't they stay hidden?"

Starsky said, "They heard two of them talking and they said they were going to kill everyone. No witness."

Hutch said, "So they saved us, all of us. We're slipping, Starsky."

Starsky said, "Hey speak for yourself. I was almost loose. We've been in tougher spots than this. One of us would have figured out something."

Hutch said, "Yeah, I guess we would have. I don't know whether to be mad at them or hug em."

Starsky said, "I think I'm just glad they're on our side." They smiled at each other.

Hutch said, "You know we need to talk to them about the risks they took tonight."

Starsky said, "Yeah, I know but what do we say? They really saved us. I'm proud of them both."

Hutch said, "I'm proud of them too, Starsk."

Starsky said, "So what do we say?"

Hutch said, "I don't know let's just play it by ear." Starsky nodded.

They walked over to the boys and Hutch said, "Okay boys let's go."

As Starsky and Hutch drove off, Sheriff Coats took Frank Brown out of the patrol car. The two men went to the back of Brown's car and opened the trunk.

Frank Brown said, "I told them it was here. They never should come in the store. Now what are we going to do?"

Sheriff Coats said, "Calm down. Tomorrow when they come up, I'll take their statements and thank them. I'll tell them that you were just the small fish in the big pond and we're still trying to catch the big wheel. This is way out of their area they won't pursue it."

Frank said, "If they do?"

The Sheriff said, "If they do, then we'll have to take care of them then."

Frank said, "All 4 of them?"

Sheriff Coats said, "All 4 of them. You have to stay in the jail until they leave tomorrow you know."

Frank said, "I'll be there by 6 a.m. You can lock me up then."

The Sheriff said, "Good enough."

Frank said, "What about those clowns? What are we going to do about them?" He pointed to the four men who had been arrested.

Sheriff Coats said, "I'm going to keep them in custody until tomorrow after Starsky and Hutch leave. That's what they get for being stupid."

As they we driving to the Starsky's house the boys were in the back seat talking about what happened. Everything they heard, saw and what they did. They laughed at how they were able to knock out the two gunmen.

Starsky said, "That was very dangerous, what you did."

Hutch said, "You could have been killed."

Davey said, "We knew that. We were going to just hide in the back room after we unlocked the door, but we heard the men say they were going to kill everyone. They really did."

Kenny said, "We didn't make it up."

Starsky said, "I know you didn't make it up."

Hutch said, "It's just that you had us worried about you."

Davey said, "Are you mad at us?"

Starsky said, "Absolutely not."

Hutch said, "No. We're not mad at you. You had us scared that's all."

Kenny said, "What should we have done? They were going to kill everyone. We could have hid and been safe but,"

Davey cut him off adding, "Everyone else would have died we couldn't just sit back and let that happen."

Hutch said, "We know boys. We know."

Starsky said, "You did the right thing. You really did."

Kenny said, "You sound like you're mad at us."

Starsky said, "No were not mad. Actually we're very proud of you two."

Hutch said, "We are proud. Weren't you scared?"

Kenny and Davey said at the same time, "Of course we were."

Starsky said, "That's good."

Davey said, "What do you mean Uncle Dave."

Hutch said, "We'd be worried more if you weren't scared."

Starsky said, "If you're not scared that's when you make mistakes."

Kenny said, "We were plenty scared but we were careful."

Davey asked, "Do you two get scared?"

Starsky and Hutch said at the same time, "Yes."

Hutch said, "We just wanted to make sure you boys realized that yes, you did the right thing today, but we don't want the two you taking unnecessary chances like that all the time."

Kenny said, "We won't Uncle Ken."

Davey said, "I do have to admit though that it was exciting."

Kenny said, "Got my heart beating anyway."

Starsky said, "Well, Hutch, they are our boys. What did we expect?"

Hutch said, "Yep, they're chips off the old blocks I guess. Boys that was really good teamwork you did. We were worried, but we are proud of you two. You thought of a plan, a good one, and you carried it out."

Starsky added, "You played to each other's strengths. That was good thinking too."

Hutch said, "That's good teamwork and being good partners is all about knowing each other's strengths and weakness and using them to your advantage."

Starsky said, "Hey guys, we have another big problem that we haven't thought of yet."

Kenny said, "What's that? How we're going to explain all this to Mom?"

Starsky said, "You said it, kiddo."

Starsky said, "Hey guys, let me and Hutch explain what happened tonight to Jeanne first."

Kenny and Davey said, "Ok."

They stopped on the way home and picked out the pizza and got home about an hour late. Jeanne was waiting for them.

When they walked in she said, "We'll you're not too late."

Hutch said, "Come on guys, let's set the table. Let Starsky talk to Jeanne." The three of them walked into the kitchen. Davey was carrying one pizza and Kenny was carrying two of them. Hutch had a bag that had drinks in it. None of the three of them wanted to tell Jeanne anything. Hutch knew that Jeanne had always been very understanding about Starsky's job, and was well aware of the dangers he faced daily. But, this time the boys were in on it. This would be the first time the boys were involved. Hutch wasn't sure how she would take the news. He was hoping that she would realize that it wasn't Starsky's fault or his fault for that matter. It just happened. He didn't know how she would react to the boys, bowl and pitch game either. They had promised her years ago that they would never lie to her and they had always kept that promise, so he knew Starsky had to tell her everything.

After Hutch got the boys out of the living room Starsky walked Jeanne over to the couch, sat down and said, "Honey, I got something to tell you."

Jeanne said, "You have to work tonight?"

Starsky said, under his breath, "If only it was that simple."

Jeanne said, "What?"

Starsky said, "Oh nothing. Tonight on the way back from the store we stopped for drinks." He went on to tell her about the robbery that turned out to be a drug drop. He didn't want to leave out anything either because the boys would probably tell her everything. So, he told about it all, even the boys bowl and pitch plan. He told her that they were smart in the way they handled it and they were not hurt. After he explained everything he looked at her and said, "And that's about it."

She said, "You're all safe now though right."

Starsky said, "Yes, we're all fine." Jeanne looked worried and took a couple of deep breaths. Starsky said, "Are you ok, honey?"

Jeanne said, "I'm fine. Let's go eat."

After a few minutes Starsky and Jeanne sat at the table with the others. They just sat down. Starsky looked at Hutch winked and gave Hutch one of his it's ok half grins. Hutch knew all was well with them.

Jeanne looked at Starsky and Hutch and said, "You two really can't go anywhere without running into some kind of trouble. I get it. I'm used to that, but do have to drag the kids into it with you?"

The boys laughed. Kenny said, "Mom, it's not their fault. It just happened and we're ok."

Jeanne looked at Hutch and said, "Ok, but you two aren't out of hot water yet." Hutch looked at Starsky and they smiled. They knew by her tone that she wasn't really mad at them.

The next day Starsky and Kenny picked up Hutch and Davey. They had told Sheriff Coats they would come back and answer any questions and give their statements. They walked into the Sheriff's station and Sheriff Coats stood up and said, "Hi, guys."

Starsky said, "We came back like we said we would."

Hutch introduced Davey and Starsky introduced Kenny.

Sheriff Coats laughed and said, "I get it, you two named your kids after each other."

Hutch said, "Yeah."

Sheriff Coats said, "I got a couple of laptops you can make your statements on."

Hutch said, "Do you want statements from the boys too?"

Sheriff Coats said, "Yeah. The four of you can come in here."

Sheriff Coats led them down a hall to an empty room. He told one of the deputies to get the computers. The four sat down at the table. A deputy came in with 4 laptops and said they could put their reports on them.

Hutch whispered to Starsky, "He doesn't want to talk to us. He just wants the reports. That seems strange."

Starsky said, "Maybe he wants the reports first."

Davey looked at his dad and said, "Uh, Dad."

Hutch said, "Son, start at the point where you first knew something was wrong. Type what you heard, saw, and what you did. Everything you can remember should go in the report."

Kenny said, "We're going to be here all day."

Starsky said, "Welcome to real police work."

Hutch said, "Well a couple of hours anyway. It shouldn't take much longer than that."

Starsky and Hutch looked at each other and laughed. Starsky got up and stretched after about an hour of working on the report.

He said, "I'm going to find some drinks. Anyone else want one?" The other three said they did. Starsky left the room.

Hutch and they boys continued to work on the reports. Hutch always hated that part of the job. It was hard to recall what happened in detail everything that happened. Although it was easier now than when they first became cops with the computers. He told the boys to write what they could remember in detail.

Kenny said, "I don't think I'm going to like this part of police work."

Hutch said, "Welcome to the club, kiddo."

Starsky went down the hall to get drinks and he walked past the jail cell. No one saw him. He heard the Sheriff talking to the inmate. He recognized the voice it was Frank Brown, the manager from the store. Starsky, being a noisy detective, stopped and listened.

He overheard Sheriff Coats say, "As soon as they leave I'll let you back out and you can make the drop, now settle down."

One of the gunmen said, "What about us? When do we get outta here?"

Sheriff Coats said, "Shut up. You idiots are the reason we're all in trouble anyway. You'd better hope they don't find out the rest of it. When they leave, I'll let you out too."

The gunman said, "Ok. Just get them to hurry will ya. Those guys want their merchandise they don't like waiting."

Sheriff Coats said, "Calm down."

Brown said, "Do they suspect anything?"

Sheriff Coats said, "Naw, they just think the 5 of you are involved."

Frank said, "And if they find out the rest of it?"

The Sheriff said, "Like I said last night, we have their names. We'll take care of them."

Frank said, "The boys too?"

Sheriff Coats said, "The boys too. We can make it look like an accident. But I don't think that will be necessary. They'll leave as soon as they finish the reports and that will be the end of it."

Frank said, "I hope so for their sakes."

Starsky hurried back to the room making sure no one saw him. He handed the rest their drinks. He looked at Hutch. Hutch knew that look, it meant something was wrong. He sat down and after a minute he stood up said, "Great, now I got to use the little boy's room."

He went to the front of the station and asked the deputy where the bathroom was. The deputy pointed to it. Starsky went inside the bathroom. He closed the stall door and took out his cell phone. He sent Hutch a text that they needed to leave and they would have to finish the reports and leave as soon as they could. He also said would text the boys. He said he would explain later. Hutch got the text looked at it and went on typing. He looked at the boys when they received the text. He looked at them and put his finger to his lips then went back to typing. The boys went back to typing. Starsky went back to the room. All of them acted like nothing happened. Each of them hurried up with their report. Starsky and Hutch emailed a copy of their report to their own email address. Starsky and Hutch each read their sons reports. When they read the boys reports they emailed a copy of them too.

Starsky whispered to the boys, "When we leave act like nothing's wrong. I'll explain later." The boys nodded.

They told the Sheriff they were done. The Sheriff thanked them and walked them to the door.

Starsky said, "If we think of anything else we'll give you a call."

Sheriff Coats said, "Thank you all for everything."

Hutch said, "Don't mention it."

Starsky, Hutch and the boys got into the van and they left. As soon as they were out of sight Starsky said, "Boys I want both of you to lie down on the floorboard and stay out of sight. Do it now."

They didn't question Starsky they knew enough to listen to what they had been told.

He said, "Hutch, keep an eye out make sure they didn't follow us."

Hutch said, "Ok. I don't see anyone. Now can you tell us what's going on?"

Starsky said, "Well, I know why the good Sheriff didn't want to talk to us. He was in a hurry to get rid of us. When I went to get the drinks I heard the Sheriff talking to his friend the store manager, Frank Brown, and the clowns from last night. They were talking about us. Brown was worried about us finding out the Sheriff is in on the whole operation. They were in a hurry to get rid of us."

Hutch said, "That means the Sheriff and maybe the deputies are all in on it."

Starsky said, "You got it, pal."

Hutch said, "Great, just great."

Starsky looked at Hutch again. That look let Hutch know that there was a threat made during the conversation Starsky heard. Starsky was driving carefully because he didn't want to get a ticket or be pulled over.

Hutch said, "What do you want to do now? State police?"

Starsky said, "I don't know, but if the Sheriff, all, some or none of his deputies are in on this, then the local State police may be too. Who do we trust?"

Kenny and Davey were on the floorboard and said at the same time, "Same people we always trust, me and thee."

Starsk and Hutch laughed. Hutch said, "You've heard that one before huh."

Davey said, "Dad, are we far enough away can we get up now?"

Kenny said, "We promise we will get back down if we need to."

Starsky said, "Yeah, you can get up now. I had to make sure we weren't being followed."

The boys got up on the seat and buckled up. Hutch said, "So what do we do now?"

Starsky said, "I'm going to the station. We can't do anything until we get the kids safe. Let's talk to the Chief and see what he says." Hutch agreed.

Davey said, "So huh Dad, how did we do acting like nothing happened?"

Hutch said, "You boys were great."

Starsky said, "You did exactly what I wanted you to do."

Kenny said, "You know we never finished that report."

Starsky said, "Yeah, I know son. It's ok. I do want you to finish it when we get to the station. You hit the highlights enough for the Sheriff anyway."

Davey said, "How's Aunt Jeanne going to like this Uncle Dave?"

Starsky just looked at Hutch and said, "I don't think she's going to like this at all."

Starsky pulled up the station and they all got out. The boys were in front. Hutch grabbed Starsky's arm to slow him down and said, "Hey, Starsk, are you sure the Sheriff doesn't know we know? I mean he has our ID, he can find out where we live. What did you leave out? I know you left something out."

Starsky said, "I don't think he knows that I heard anything. I just didn't want to take a chance since we had the boys with us." Starsky looked worried and said, "Hutch, the Sheriff said if we found out anything he would take care of us and the boys, and make it look like an accident."

Hutch said, "At least we made it back here and the boys are safe." They went inside. Starsky and Hutch put the boys in an interrogation room and gave them laptops and told them to access their emails and look at the reports they worked on earlier.

Before they left Starsky said, "Hey boys, you're here this time to finish the report not hustle the rookies ok."

The boys laughed and Kenny said, "Ok dad. Leave the rookies alone. I got it."

Hutch just shook his head.

Kenny asked, "Where are you going dad?"

Starsky said, "To talk to Chief Sterling. Just stay in here until we get back ok."

Hutch added, "Don't say anything about what happened today to anyone. You're just here waiting for us okay?" Both boys nodded. They knew how to keep a secret. They've kept many secrets over the years about what their dads did, like when they went undercover.

Starsky and Hutch walked in the Chief's office and told him everything. Starsky said, "The way we see it it's the Sheriff and possibly at least some of his deputies."

Hutch added, "Plus the store manager, Frank Brown."

The Chief said, "What's your plan?"

Hutch said, "We really don't have one just yet. With boys involved this time, we don't know what to do Chief."

Starsky said, "That area is way out of our area. There's not much we can do. I think it's time to call in the Feds."

Chief Sterling said, "I think so you. What do you think Hutch?"

Hutch said, "I'm with Starsk on this."

Chief Sterling said, "Big surprise there. Where are your boys?"

Starsky said, "We got them in interrogation room 3 typing up a report on what they did and saw last night."

Chief Sterling said, "They're just kids not cops. Why do you have them writing reports? They don't have to do that."

Hutch said, "They don't know that and we figured since they want to be cops they may as well learn the whole job."

Starsky finished Hutch's thought, "Besides we need to know in detail what they saw and heard."

The Chief said, "You both know if this goes to court, they will have to testify too."

Hutch said, "Yeah, we know."

The Chief said, "I want a copy of all of the reports."

Starsky said, "Naturally Chief. We'll get them to you."

Hutch said, "We need to go check on the boys and finish the reports."

The Chief said, "Yeah, ok. I'll call the Feds, see me before you leave."

Just as Starsky and Hutch got up to leave the Chief added, "You did the right thing coming here."

Starsky turned around and said, "Yeah, we know."

The boys were busy typing when they came in the room. Starsky sat beside Kenny and Hutch sat beside Davey. Both boys told their dads that they were done with the reports. Starsky and Hutch read the reports the boys wrote. They were surprised how detailed they were. When all the reports were finished Starsky printed them out.

Davey said, "Dad what happens now. I mean if that Sheriff is in on it."

Hutch said, "We're working on it boys."

Starsky said, "Remember that he doesn't know t we know."

Kenny said, "Should we be scared?"

Starsky said, "No son. You have nothing to worry about. Let us worry about that, ok guys. That's our job."

Kenny said, "We know you didn't tell us everything. You held something back."

Davey added, "They made some kind of threat against us didn't they?"

Starsky stumbled over his words as he said, "Sort of, something like that. But he doesn't know we know."

Kenny said, "Then why do you and Uncle Ken look so worried."

Hutch said, "Kenny, were not worried about the two of you."

Starsky said, "We're just thinking about what to do."

Hutch said, "You two stay here while we take the reports to Chief Sterling. And thank you for doing such a good job on them."

Starsky said, "Hey remember don't say anything to anybody about what's going on ok."

Davey said, "Ok, Uncle Dave, we won't."

After Starsky and Hutch left the room, Seth walked by with his partner and he saw the boys sitting there. He stepped in and said, "Hey guys. What are you two doing here?"

Kenny said, "We're just waiting for our Dads. They're in the Chief's office."

Seth said, "Hey meet my new partner. James Thompson. He just transferred here from San Diego. James you've heard me talk about Starsky and Hutch, these two are their boys, Davey Hutchinson and Kenny Starsky." They boys got up and shook James' hand.

James said, "So which one of you can get out of the handcuffs?"

Davey said, "Starsky here can."

James said, "Can you really?"

Kenny said, "In less than 1 minute now."

Seth said, "You're down to 1 minute now uh."

Kenny said, "Yep, and I can get out the straight jacket now in 5."

James said, "I hope he's on our side."

Seth said, "They both are. Davey here is a blackbelt."

James said, "An escape artist and a blackbelt they're going to make quite a team when they join the department."

Starsky and Hutch left the room. Hutch said, "I don't like this. I mean if it was just us we could handle it, but the kids."

Starsky said, "Yeah, I know what you mean. Jeanne's not going to be happy about it either."

Hutch said, "I don't envy you telling her about this."

Starsky said, "You'll be with me though, right beside me right?"

Hutch put his hand on Starsky's shoulder and said, "Yeah, I got your back pal, like always. Let's go talk to Sterling."

They went back to Sterling's office and handed him all 4 reports. The Chief said he had called the Feds in and they would need to talk to all 4 of them and would be there in a couple of hours. They also said that they have had the Sheriff under investigation for a while now but didn't know who he was working with. Sterling said for them to take the boys out to lunch and come back in a couple of hours. They told Chief Sterling they would be back.

They left Sterling's office and got back to the room where the boys were in time to hear Seth's partner they'd make quite a team when they joined the force.

Starsky said, "It's a good thing they're going to be on our side."

Seth said, "Starsky, Hutch hi. I saw Kenny and Davey here and thought I'd say hi. This is my partner James Thompson. James this is Dave Starsky and Ken Hutchinson."

The men shook hands. James said, "I thought it was Dave Hutchinson and Ken Starsky."

Starsky and Hutch just gave each other a half grin.

Seth said, "These two are Dave Starsky and Ken Hutchinson."

James said, "Oh I get it, you named your boys after each other. Funny, very funny."

Hutch told James, "Yeah, we like to keep people confused. James, take good care of your partner here. He saved my life."

Seth said, "I wouldn't change a thing."

James said, "Don't worry, I watch him like he was my little brother."

Seth said, "We got to get out on the streets now. I'll see you guys later."

Starsky and Hutch said, "We need to get together again soon."

Starsky looked at the boys after they left and said, "Did you tell them anything?"

Davey said, "No, Uncle Dave, you asked us not too."

Hutch said, "Good thinking boys."

Davey said, "Now what?"

Hutch said, "Now we go to lunch."

Kenny said, "Good I'm hungry. Can we eat at Huggy's?"

Starsky said, "That's what we were thinking."

They went to Huggy's for lunch. When they walked in the boys said, "Hi, Uncle Huggy."

Starsky and Hutch looked at him. Huggy knew that look. It meant something was going on that usually wasn't good. They all ordered what they wanted. Starsky said, "Boys stay here a minute, we need to talk to Huggy a minute ok."

Davey said, "You gonna tell him what's going on?"

Hutch said, "Something like that."

Starsky and Hutch went to the end of the bar and Huggy joined them. Huggy said, "Hey, my favorite dynamic duo what's up?"

Hutch said, "We may be in trouble, Hug."

Huggy said, "What's new about that? The two of you are usually in some kind of trouble or another."

Starsky said, "And this time it's not just the two of us but the boys too."

Huggy said, "Yeah, I heard about last night."

Hutch said, "Word spreads fast."

Huggy said, "It's all over the news."

Starsky said, "Do you know anything about the Sheriff."

Huggy said, "No man, he's way out of my area."

Starsky said, "It was worth a shot."

Huggy said, "What about the Sheriff?"

Starsky and Hutch filled him on what Starsky heard that morning.

Huggy said, "Man, can't the two you go anyplace without getting into trouble?"

Starsky said, "Huggy, you sound like my wife."

At the same time Hutch said, "Apparently not."

Starsky said, "Only this time, the boys were with us."

Huggy said, "From what I heard they held their own."

Starsky and Hutch laughed and nodded. Starsky told Huggy about the Chief calling in the Feds and going back to talk to them in a couple hours. Huggy told them that if they needed to crash for the night they knew they could count on him. Starsky thanked him but said that they thought they would be safe. He told them that Hutch and Davey were staying at his house tonight. Huggy asked about Jeanne too. Starsky said that she was at work in the operating room and couldn't be reached but she would be safe. Starsky and Hutch went back to their table Huggy joined them. After they finished eating they went back to the Chief's office.

All four of them walked into the Chief's office where some Federal agents were waiting for them. Starsky and Hutch recognized the agents. In over 40 years on the force they knew a lot of people in different agencies. These two men were Steve Jenkins and his partner John Stevens. They liked these two and what's more important they trusted them.

Starsky said, "Steve, John this is my son Kenny." Kenny shook their hands

Hutch said, "And this is my son Davey."

John said, "The last time I saw you two you were about 8 years old. You've grown a lot since then."

Steve said, "Hutch, I heard about what happened last year. I want you to know we were all looking for you."

Hutch said, "Thanks Steve."

John said, "We're glad you were ok." Hutch nodded.

Chief Sterling said, "I've briefed them on your situation."

He looked at Starsky and Hutch and said, "Are you sure you want the boys in here for all of this."

Starsky looked at Jenkins and Stevens and asked, "Do you have any questions for the boys?"

Jenkings said, "We've read your reports. I like the bowl and pitch plan you came up with. That was pretty dangerous thing you boys did."

Kenny said, "We know, but we couldn't let them just kill everyone else."

Davey said, "We had to come up with something."

Stevens said, "I'm glad it worked. Davey you can really throw that well?"

Davey said, "Yeah, especially knowing I had to."

Jenkins asked, "How'd you come up with the idea to use the zip ties?"

Kenny said, "We knew once we had them we had to have a way to keep them quiet and tied up."

Davey said, "So we found the bandanas and used duct tape so they could call for help or get away."

Jenkins said, "Well, thank you boys. I'm glad you're on our side. I don't think we have any more questions for the boys. They can wait outside now."

Starsky said, "Ok boys go wait at our desk please. We'll call you in if we need you ok?"

Davey said, "Ok, Uncle Dave, and don't worry we won't say anything to anyone."

Starsky and Hutch looked at them as they left like they were a couple of very proud Fathers. Just as the boys turned the knob on the door to leave Hutch added, "No betting boys. Not with the Feds here."

Davey and Kenny looked at each other and laughed and they left .

Steve looked at Hutch and said,"Betting?"

Starsky said, "You don't want to know."

Hutch said, "So what do we do."

Steve said, "We've read all 4 reports. Your boys wrote good reports by the way."

Starsky said, "What do you want us to do?"

John said, "Right now, nothing."

Hutch said, "Are our boys safe?"

John said, "We don't believe the Sheriff knows that you know anything about his little operation. One of the deputies is one of ours undercover. He made contact today. He didn't know who the Sheriff's contact was until last night. He also said that he didn't think the Sheriff knows that you know anything. You were smart to get out of there."

Steve said, "If the Sheriff calls and wants to see you just let us know."

Starsky said, "You got it."

Hutch said, "Do you know what you're going to do now?"

Steve said," We can get search and arrest warrants now. I think the whole thing will be over with, in a matter of days now. We got enough to get Sheriff Coats, Frank Brown and the 4 men that held you up."

John said, "Just sit tight until you hear from us. It won't be long."

Hutch said, "Should we send the boys to school tomorrow or should we keep them home?"

Steve said, "Send them to school. If you vary your routine, theirs or Jeanne's they might know something's up if they are watching you."

Hutch said, "Well Davey and I will be staying with the Starsky's tonight. I'll feel better if we are together."

Starsky looked at Hutch in agreement.

John said, "Is that unusual for you stay at Starsky's?"

Starsky said, "Not really, they stay over a lot."

Steve said, "That should be okay."

Starsky said, "What about school tomorrow Chief. Can we get someone to follow the boys tomorrow?"

John said, "Yeah, we'll provide someone and we'll met you ourselves at the school in the morning so you and the boys will know who they are. Just tell the boys not to say anything to anyone. "

Steve added, "It's important that they understand that."

Starsky said, "We'll tell them tonight. They won't say anything if tell them not too."

Hutch said, "After all the special assignments and undercover work Starsky and I have done over the years, they know how to keep things to themselves."

Steve said, "Ok. We'll see you in the morning in the principal's office."

Hutch said, "We'll be there. Chief, were going to be a little late tomorrow."

The Chief said, "I think I could have figured the out Hutch."

Starsky said, "Are we done here? I don't want to leave the boys for long." The Chief looked at Steve and John and they nodded.

John said, "One more question. Hutch what did you mean by no betting boys?"

Starsky, Hutch and even the Chief laughed.

Hutch said, "Well Kenny can get out of handcuffs in less than a minute. When one of the guys comes in with a rookie the boys bet them. No one believes that he can do it so they always win."

Steve and John laughed. Steve said, "That would be your son right Starsky?"

Starsky said proudly, "Yep, that's my boy." Starsky and Hutch left.

As they walked out they saw Kenny and Davey talking to some other officers. Hutch said, "You're not taking advantage of them are you boys?"

Kenny said, "No, Uncle Ken. You said to leave the rookies alone."

Starsky said, "Good. Let's go home and fix dinner."

Starsky and Hutch wanted to have dinner ready by the time Jeanne got home from work. The boys were helping. Kenny and Davey were cutting vegetables for the salad.

Starsky said, "Hey guys, better let me and Hutch talk to Jeanne about what happened today ok."

Kenny said, "I sure don't want to be the one to tell her."

Davey said, "She's gonna flip."

Hutch said, "Now Davey your Aunt is not going to flip."

Starsky said under his breath so Hutch could hear him, "This time she just might."

Hutch said under his breath so only Starsky could hear him, "It's not our fault she'll know that right?" Starsky just looked at Hutch.

As dinner was being placed on the table Jeanne came home. She saw all the fixings and looked at Starsky and said, "Dave, what happened?"

He looked at Hutch and said, "Does something have to be wrong just because the four of us wanted to fix dinner."

She said, "You may be the detective but I'm the wife. I know when something's up."

He walked over to her and said, "I'll tell you over dinner ok. You hungry?"

She said, "Actually I am hungry and it looks like you four have gone to an awful lot of trouble to make this. Let me change and I'll be right out." Starsky looked at Hutch. He knew they were in for a long night. Jeanne was great about understanding what kind of risks Starsky and Hutch took daily but this was different. This time the boys were involved.

She sat down at the dinner table and looked at the four men in her life. She could tell something was up. She said, "First let me say that all four of you are here and not in the hospital so you can only be in so much trouble right?"

Starsky said, "That's a good way of looking at it, honey."

She said, "Ok, so tell me what is it? Did you break something?"

Hutch said, "No, nothings broken."

Jeanne said, "Well somebody better tell me before."

Starsky cut her off. He took a deep breath looked at his wife and said in a serious voice, "Here it goes, but don't say anything until I finish. Promise me that."

She said, "Ok I promise."

Starsky said, "Remember that all of us are here and were safe. Today when we went back to give our statements to the Sheriff I overheard the Sheriff talking and he was involved in the drug deal last night. We're not sure but his deputies might be too. I overheard the Sheriff and the manger, Frank Brown, talking about what would happen if we found out anything. Now, we left and they don't know that we know any of that. As far as the Sheriff knows, we finished our reports and left. We talked to Chief Sterling today and he called in the Feds. Now, they told us that they have had the Sheriff under surveillance for a while now and they don't think there is any real danger to any of us. Hutch and Davey will be staying here tonight just to make sure there is no trouble. With both of us here it will be safer." He took a deep breath as he finished.

Jeanne looked at all four of them. She waited a minute to digest what Starsky had just told her. She knew that none of this was their fault they were just caught in the middle. She took a deep breath then she said, "Ok. Now it's my turn. You four boys are going to be the death of me yet. Hutch I'm glad you and Davey are staying here tonight. I feel better knowing all of us are together if something happens. I know you all just got caught up in the middle of this. It's really not your fault. I'm glad the two of you are so good at your job (She looked at Starskyand Hutch). Dave tell me just how worried should I be."

Starsky said, "On a scale of 1 to 10 about a 6 for a couple of days. The Feds will be making arrest within a couple of days it should all be over."

Jeanne said, "The boys have school tomorrow, what about that?"

Hutch said, "I almost forgot. They are going tomorrow but they will have someone following them."

Davey said, "I don't need a babysitter."

Hutch said, "You will have a Federal agent following each of you tomorrow. In the morning we will go to the principal's office and you will see who that is. They will be discrete and no one will know that you're being watched. Now, this is important so both of you listen up. You cannot tell anyone about any of this. Nothing about what happened today. You can tell what happened last night, but do not mention anything about it being a drug deal."

Starsky added, "Right. If anyone other than the agents you see in the morning claim to be an agent or another officer you get to the office and call us."

Kenny and Davey both said, "Yes, sir."

Starsky said, "We don't mean to make this sound like a lecture or scare you, but it's that important. Hutch and I know that the two of you can keep a secret and we trust you. We just want to make sure that you understand that this time it's not just us that's involved. It's all four of us."

Kenny said, "Dad, how long is this going to last?"

Starsky said, "We're hoping for just a couple of days. The Feds are getting search and arrest warrants."

Davey said, "You know we won't say anything to anyone we promise."

Kenny said, "What about Mom? Is she safe?"

Starsky looked at his son and wife and said, "Yes, she wasn't there and your Mom works in the OR tomorrow and no one but hospital personnel has access there. An agent will be in the hospital tomorrow too."

Jeanne said, "The hospital has really good security I'll be ok."

Kenny said, "So we can tell about us catching the bad guys but nothing about today right?"

Hutch said, "Right. It was on the news today about the robbery and what the two of you did. You can say all of that."

Davey said, "Good. I'd hate to keep that a secret."

Jeanne said, "Please be careful tomorrow, and I mean all four of you."

Starsky said, "You know us."

Jeanne said, "That's what I'm afraid of."

Kenny said, "I'm hungry can we please eat now."

Jeanne said, "Yeah, let's eat."

That night Davey slept in the bed he had in Kenny's room and Hutch slept in a spare room that Kenny called Uncle Ken's room. Starsky and Hutch kept their weapons close by. Neither of them slept real sound. They were ready for trouble if it came.

As they drove the boys to school the next morning Hutch said, "Your principal is going to know that the two of you need extra protection today, but he will not be told all the details. That has to be our secret, even from him ok?"

The boys said, "Ok."

Starsky said, "Ok, boys who can pick you up today?"

Davey said, "Hey Starsk, ping pong, or alphabetical?"

Kenny said, "Ping pong, you go first."

Davey said, "Either of you."

Kenny said, "The Federal agents we met yesterday."

Davey said, "The Federal agents that are watching us today."

Starsky looked at Hutch and whispered, "They're a couple of real wise guys aren't they."

Hutch laughed and said, "Well they are our boys."

Starsky said, "True."

Kenny said, "Mom."

Davey said, "Chief Sterling."

Kenny said, "Seth Green."

Davey said, "Austin Green." They stopped.

Hutch said, "Come on boys there's one more."

Davey and Kenny looked at each other and at the same time said, "Uncle Huggy."

Starsky said, "That's about it."

They met Jenkins and Stevens and two more agents in the principal's office. Jenkins had already briefed the principal on what was going on without going into too much detail. He just knew the boys were going to be watched today.

Jenkins said, "Starsky, Kenny this is Dave Morris he'll be watching you Kenny.

Stevens said, "This is Mark Blanks, he'll be watching you Davey." They all shook hands including the boys.

Jenkins said, "Now boys just go about your regular day like nothing is out of the ordinary. Can you do that?"

Davey and Kenny both said, "We can do that."

Morris said, "We will be in the hall and just walking around. No one will know that we're watching you boys." Kenny and Davey nodded.

Stevens said, "Good. We don't really think anything is going to happen, this is all just a precaution."

Principal Miller said, "I know there's a school rule about no cell phones in the class but if you two will promise you'll only use them if there's an emergency and you turn them off, you can carry them today."

Davey and Kenny at the same time said, "Thank you Mr. Miller."

Principal Miller said, "Now if you're done with the boys, they should get to class."

Agent Morris said, "Just remember boys we'll be watching you."

The boys left for class and Morris and Blanks were right behind them.

Starsky looked at Jenkins and said, "Now what."

Just then Jenkins phone rang. He answered and said, "Jenkins." He waited a minute then said, "Yeah, they're with us. Ok we'll be there in a few." He hung up looked at Stevens, Starsky and Hutch and said, "That was Chief Sterling, he said we need to get to the station right away it's important."

Starsky said, "Well, let's not keep the Chief waiting." They left the principal's office.

As they walked into the Chief's office they saw one of the Sheriff's deputies already there. Starsky and Hutch figured it was the undercover office that Jenkins had told them about. The Chief said, "Guys, I'd like you to meet, Lucas Gray. Gray, this is Starsky and his partner Hutchinson."

Hutch shook his and said, "Just call me Hutch."

Gray shook his hand and Starsky's and said, "Ok, Starsky and Hutch."

The Chief said, "And this is Steve Jenkins and his partner John Stevens."

Starsky and Hutch looked at each other but didn't say anything. They knew what the other one was thinking. They thought, if this deputy was the uncover agent Jenkins told them about, the Chief wouldn't have needed to introduce him to Jenkins and Stevens.

The Chief said, "Now that all the introductions are out of the way." He looked at Gray and said, "Tell them what you just told me."

Gray said, "I'm one of Sheriff's Coats deputies and I had no idea what he was into until this morning."

Hutch said, "What happened this morning?"

Gray said, "I saw the Sheriff looking at some videos at the office. He came upon one where he saw you Hutch in the hallway."

Starsky cut him off and said, "That was me. I'm Starsky, he's Hutch."

Gray continued. " Starsky then, listening to a conversation he had with that store manager Frank Brown. He knows you know he's in on it. I heard him tell a couple of the other Deputies to get you both and your kids. They're on the way now. I snuck away and came straight here to warn you. I'm a good, honest cop. I don't want any part of that."

Hutch said, "We appreciate that."

The Chief said, "The boys are at school now right."

Starsky said, "Yeah."

Jenkins looked at Starsky and Hutch and said, "I think you two should stay off the streets today."

Starsky and Hutch at the same time said, "That's not happening."

Jenkins said, "But you'll be targets."

Hutch said, "Better us than the boys."

Starsky looked at Hutch and said, "You feel like fishing?"

Hutch said, "Yep."

Chief Sterling said, "Let me guess the two of you are going to be the bait."

Starsky and Hutch at the same time said, "You got it."

Stevens said, "But that's suicide."

Starsky said, "Maybe not. We can go on the streets, act like we don't any of this, you two tail us. When they find us we'll find them."

Jenkins said, "Steven's is right that's suicide, Starsky."

Hutch said, "We'll take that chance."

Starsky said, "We'll have to trust you to cover us."

The Chief said, "I don't like this but I don't have a better idea. Do the two of you know what you're doing?"

Hutch said, "I sure hope so Chief."

Starsky said, "Of course not. Look it's the only way to draw them out into the open. The boys will be safe at school, but only until school lets out."

Hutch said, "We got to find them before that."

Jenkins asked, "What time does school let out?"

Starsky said, "1545."

The Chief looked at Starsky and Hutch and said, "Ok, you two hit the streets." He looked at Jenkins and Stevens and said, "You two watch them. They've been on the force a long time and I don't want to lose them just yet."

Jenkins said, "We will chief. We'll use both our cars and take turns tailing you so it won't be so obvious."

Gray said, "What do you want me to do?"

Stevens said, "You can ride with me if you want. An extra gun never hurts."

Hutch said, "We'll be in Starsky's car. It sticks out like a sore thumb."

Starsky said, "Jenkins you do have someone watching Jeanne too right?"

Jenkins said, "Yes, Tom Singleton is at the hospital."

Starsky said, "Thank you."

Stevens said, "We'll play follow the leader, with you two as the leader."

Starsky said, "Sounds like a good plan to me."

The Chief said, "Let's not play any games. Not when your lives are at stake."

Hutch said, "Awe, come on Chief, it's no fun if we don't play."

Starsky said, "Yeah. You know how much we like games. Bedsides haven't you heard our middle names are danger and trouble."

The Chief said, "The four of you get out of here." As they turned to leave he said, "Starsky, Hutch be careful."

Starsky said, "Yes Mother." And they walked out.

The Chief said under his breath as they left, "Those guys are going to give me ulcers one day."

Hutch said, "We need to stay off the radio. We should use cell phones."

Starsky said, "Good idea Hutch." They all exchanged phone numbers.

Starsky walked back into the Chief's office and said, "Oh by the way, were going to stay off the radio and use only cell phones."

Chief Sterling said, "Ok, but you'd better keep me updated."

Starsky said, "Sure thing Chief."

As they were walking to the garage, Starsky looked at Jenkins and asked, "What kind of cars do you drive."

Jenkins said, "I drive a blue 2 door Prius."

Stevens said, "I drive a 4 door Lincoln."

Hutch said, "I sure hope this works."

Starsky said, "Yeah, me too."

Hutch said, "Where do you want to start."

Starsky said, "Huggies ok?"

Hutch said, "That's as good as place as any."

They drove to Huggies bar. It's called the Pits. Huggy's had it since the late 70s and kept the same name all those years. They walked in and Huggy came over to where they were sitting.

Jenkins and Stevens with Gray were following Starsky and Hutch. They waited outside The Pits. Jenkins was four block away. They were supposed to take turns tailing Starsky and Hutch and it was Stevens turn right now.

Huggy said, "Man you two look as worried as I've ever seen you. And after knowing you for over 40 years, that's a lot of worry. What's up?"

Hutch said, "It shows that much uh."

Starsky said, "It's about the drug deal the other night."

Huggy said, "Let me guess, they found out you know."

Starsky said, "Yep. Only that's not all. One of his deputies drove here to tell us they're not after just us."

Huggy said, "You don't mean."

Hutch said, "Yep, they want the boys too."

Huggy said, "What you want me to do?"

Starsky said, "We're trying to draw them out into the open. They're in town looking for us now."

Huggy said, "I'll keep my ears open you know I'll do what I can. I'll call if I come up with anything."

Hutch said, "Thanks Huggy."

Starsky said, "We can always count on you." They left the bar.

In the car Hutch said, "Now where? Any ideas?"

Starsky said, "Nope. Let's just drive around. Something will turn up."

Hutch said, "Usually does. Which one's behind us now?"

Starsky said, "Stevens, but it should be Jenkins in a couple of blocks."

Hutch said, "Anyone else back there?"

Starsky said, "Not so far."

They drove around for a little while then Starsky turned a corner and looked in both mirrors.

Starsky said, "Looks like the fish are biting."

Hutch said, "Let's just hope they don't bite too hard."

Starsky said, "I don't care how hard the fish bites, I just hope the bait bites harder." They both looked at each other and chuckled.

Hutch took out his cell phone and dialed Jenkins and said, "The fish are biting."

Jenkins said,"Yeah, I see them. I'm going to back off a little. Where are you going to take them?"

Hutch asked Starsky, "Where?"

Starsky said, "There's a dead end on the left in two blocks."

Hutch said, "Two blocks on the left. Is Stevens close by?"

Jenkins said, "Yeah, I'm on the other line with him now. He'll be there."

Starsky said, "Are you ready to let the fish bite?"

Hutch said, "Now is as good as time as any. I'll take the driver."

Starsky drove the car to the dead end. The car following them pulled in behind them. They both jumped out. Hutch pulled the driver out of the car at the same time Starsky ran for the passenger. Starsky pulled his gun and the passenger gave up without a fight. Jenkins showed up about then and the driver gave up too. Stevens, with Gray, pulled up just as they were being handcuffed.

Starsky asked the passenger at the same time Hutch asked the driver, "Who are you? Why are you following us?"

The driver said, "I'm not saying anything without a lawyer."

The passenger said, "I want a lawyer too."

Steven put the driver in his car and Jenkins put the passenger in his car.

Starsky said, "See you at the station."

Jenkins said, "See ya there."

At the station the two men were put in different interrogation rooms. Starsky asked which one they wanted to start with.

Hutch took out a coin and said, "Heads or tails?"

Starsky said, "I'll go with heads this time."

Hutch flipped the coin and said, "Heads it is."

Just then Jenkins and Stevens walked up and told them that the driver was the undercover deputy.

Starsky said, "Then I guess we interview the passenger."

Hutch asked, "Where's Gray?"

Jenkins said, "Little boy's room. Don't worry we're keeping our eye on him."

Just before they went in the interrogation room Hutch said, "You want to be the good cop or the bad cop?"

Starsky said, "No, I'm tired of that one."

Hutch said, "What then?"

They looked at each other a minute and said, at the same time, "Ping pong?"

Hutch said, "Yeah, we haven't played ping pong in a while."

Ping pong is an interrogation method where they sit on each side of the suspect and ask questions quickly taking turns. The suspect turns his head from side to side to answer the questions. With questions being asked from two people and quickly, it's hard for a suspect to have time think of a lie.

The partners walked into the interrogation room and moved the chairs to position them on each side of the passenger.

Starsky asked, "What's your name?"
Before he could he answer Hutch asked, "Why are you trying to kill me and my partner."

Starsky asked, "What do you know about Sheriff Brown."

The suspect said, "Now, come on boys, I know this little game. It's not going to work. I was never going to hurt either you or your boys. You can ask Deputy Martin. I told him on the way here I wasn't going to hurt anyone. Ask him."

Starsky asked, "Then why follow us?"

Hutch said, "Ok. Start from the beginning."

Starsky said, "Something simple like your name."

The suspect said, "I'm Jason Mitchell. I swear we weren't going to hurt you or the boys."

Just then the phone on the wall rang. Starsky picked it up and said, "Yeah." There was a short pause and he said, "You sure." After another short pause he said, "Ok." Then he looked at Hutch and said, "Hutch can I see you a minute outside." He looked at Jason and said, "We'll be right back."

They walked outside the room Hutch said, "What is it?"

Starsky said, "That was Jenkins on the phone. He said the undercover cop, Martin, just told them that Mitchell told him he wasn't going to kill anyone and that he was going to tell us everything."

Hutch said, "Did he believe him?"

Starsky said, "He said he did."

Hutch said, "What do you want to do now?"

Starsky said, "Let's go to Sterling's office and see what Jenkins and Steven's think. We can leave Mitchell here for a while."

They walked to the Chief's office where Jenkins, Stevens, and Gray were.

Hutch said, "So let me get this straight. Sheriff Coats sent an undercover cop and some other deputy that was going to turn him in to kill us. I don't like it, Starsk."

Starsky said, "Yeah. It does sound kinda fishy to me."

Jenkins said, "Go back and talk to Mitchell. See what else he has to say. Maybe the Sheriff doesn't know his men, as well as he thinks he does."

Martin walked up and introduced himself to Starsky and Hutch. He told them what he told Jenkins and Stevens. Starsky and Hutch didn't know what to believe. Surely the Sheriff would have sent men to kill them that he trusted.

Hutch asked Martin, "Why did Sheriff Coats send the two of you kill us?"

Martin said, "He trusts me and thought if Mitchell helped kill the two of you he would have him in his pocket. He trusts me and wanted me to recruit Mitchell into his little ring. There is only one deputy that I know of that would have gone through with the plans and that's Baker."

Hutch asked, "Then why didn't he send Baker in today?"

Martin said, "Oh, he trusts me. He thinks I'm in on it as much as Baker. He really believed that I would have taken you and your boys out. Mitchell told me on the way here that he wasn't going to hurt anyone. He said he wasn't going to have any part of the Sheriff's plan. His plan was to draw you two out into the open and tell you everything. I never told Mitchell that I was a Federal agent. I thought drawing the two of you out would be a good test to see if he was telling the truth. You were never in any danger."

Starsky asked, "What would Mitchell have done if you tried to kill us?"

Martin said, "He had his hand on his gun. I believe he would have killed me first. When you turned down that ally and we started to get out of the car he told me he wasn't having any part of it and pulled his gun on me. He wasn't going to hurt you."

Hutch said, "What about that Lucas Gray here? What's his part in all of this?" He looked at Gray, "No offense meant."

Gray said, "None taken."

Martin said, "He's straight, the Sheriff never would trust him. He really had no idea. He's ok, we can trust him."

Starsky said, "Ok, Jenkins, Stevens this is your party, what do you want to do?"

Martin said, "If I tell Coats you two got away he'll send someone else after you. We need to hide you and your boys."

Jenkins said, "Let's let the Sheriff think you succeeded."

Stevens asked Martin, "What were you supposed to do after you killed them?"

Martin said, "We're supposed to call him and then go back."

Stevens said, "Let's get you boys here and safe before we do anything."

Starsky said, "What about Jeanne?"

Martin said, "Yeah, her too."

Jenkins said, "We need Coats to think all of you are out of the picture.

Hutch said, "We've never hid before and I don't think I want to start now."

Martin said, "Maybe you haven't but this time he will go after your boys, Jeanne and the two of you."

Starsky said, "Maybe he's right Hutch. We need to keep Jeanne and the kids safe."

Hutch looked at Starsky and asked, "What do you want to do?"

Chief Sterling said, "Hey, I'm here too you know. This is my office and you two at least (He looked at Starsky and Hutch) work under me."

Starsky cut him off, "I'm sorry Chief what do you want us to do?"

The Chief said, "Where are the boys and Jeanne now?"

Starsky said, "The boys will get out of school at 1545 and Jeanne is working in the OR until 1900."

The Chief said, "Jenkins you got men guarding the boys and Jeanne right?"

Jenkins said, "One man on each of them Chief."

The Chief said, "Let's get the boys in here now. Starsky, will Jeanne be safe at the hospital until the end of her shift, or do you want her brought in too?"

Hutch said, "Let's say we bring them here. Then what?"

Martin said, "I think the Chiefs right guys. Bring them all in at least for now to keep them safe while we figure out what to do."

Starsky looked at Hutch. Hutch nodded. They both knew they needed to keep Jeanne and the boys safe. Bringing them in now was the best way until they decided what to do.

Hutch looked at Starsky and said, "Let's go pick them up."

Stevens said, "You two can't leave. Let our agents bring the boys in."

Starsky said, "Bring Jeanne in too."

Starsky called the Jeanne and said, "Honey."

Jeanne said, "Hey Dave, you just caught me just in time. I'm on lunch then back into surgery."

Starsky said, "I'm sorry, honey, I don't have time to explain right now, and I don't want to scare you but the agent that is watching you today is going to bring you to the station. It's important and I need you to come with him now. The boys are on their way in too."

Jeanne said, "But Dave, this next surgery is important and the hospital can't put it off until another nurse comes in. I'll be in the OR and no one can get in there but hospital employees. I'll be safe in there and the agent can be close by."

Starsky said, "It's that important."

Jeanne said, "Yes."

Starsky hesitated a minute. He knew she was right. She would be safe at the hospital and in the OR she would be safe. He wanted her to come in so he could protect her. He knew she valued her job as much as he did his and this time he had to let her do her job. He said, "Ok. Honey, but after this surgery you come here ok. Please."

Jeanne said, "I will. It should take about 2 hours maybe a little longer."

Starsky said, "Ok. Call me when you're done, please." Starsky looked at Hutch and the others there and said, "Jeanne is going to stay at the hospital for a couple more hours. She's going to be in the OR and will be safe there. The agent watching her will bring her afterwards."

Hutch looked at Starsky, he knew his partner was worried. He asked Starsky, "Are you okay with that?"

Starsky said, "No. But I have to respect her decision this time. Besides, I know she'll be safe in the OR." Hutch nodded.

While Starsky was talking to Jeanne, Jenkins was calling Blanks and Morris to bring the boys in.

After the calls were made, Martin said, "Now let's figure out how to set the Sheriff up quickly."

Jenkins said, "Martin, can you call him and tell him Starsky and Hutch are out of the picture?"

Martin said, "Yeah, I'll try to get him to admit to ordering the hit on them and the boys and we can get him for that too. He'll probably roll over on Brown and those flunkies that held up the store."

Jenkins said, "Let's get a warrant for the phone tap, but it's got to be quick."

Chief Sterling said, "That I can do." The picked up the phone and told his secretary to get Judge O'Brian on the phone. He knew that Judge well and knew he would sign the warrant. All they had to do now was wait until the boys got there.

Starsky and Hutch waited at the front of the station for the boys. They waited about 15 minutes then Morris and Blanks came in with the boys. They boys looked nervous. Kenny said, "Dad, is everything ok?"

Starsky said, "Everything's fine."

Davey said, "Then why did we have to leave school early?"

Hutch said, "We needed to get you here to keep you safe."

Davey said, "What happened?"

Kenny said, "They tried to kill you didn't they?"

Hutch said, "Not exactly. Look everyone's safe and we have a plan to catch the Sheriff and Brown, but we needed you here and safe first."

As they took the boys to a meeting room next to the Chief's office, Davey looked at his Dad and asked, "Dad, as long as we're all here and safe can you tell us the plan?"
Kenny said, "Yeah, can we be in on it this time? I mean we can't go anywhere or tell anyone."

Starsky and Hutch looked at each other and shrugged. Hutch looked at Morris and Blanks and said, "Well that's not really our decision guys. The Federal agents are in charge."

They boys looked disappointed. Starsky said, "We could talk to them and see if you can at least listen in on a phone they'll be making."

Kenny said, "Really. That'd be awesome."

Davey said, "Yeah it would ask them will ya, Dad please."

They took the boys to the meeting room. Davey asked, "Why here and not Chief Sterling's office?"

Hutch said, "Too many people on this to get in the chief's office."

Starsky opened the door to the meeting room. Sitting around a table were Chief Sterling, Stevens, Jenkins, Gray, Martin, and Mitchell. When the boys came in with their dads, they looked a little intimidated. Starsky and Hutch put their hands on their sons shoulders to reassure them everything was ok. Baker and Morris sat down as the boys were being introduced to everyone.

Hutch said, "This is my son, Davey. Davey you've met everyone here except for Lucas Gray, (He pointed to each person as he introduced them to his son.), this is Martin, and Mitchell."

Davey said, "Hi, nice to meet you." He shook each person's hand has he was introduced."

Starsky said, "This is my son, Kenny." Kenny shook everyone's hand too.

When Kennny was introduced to Martin he said, "You were there Saturday at the hold up with the Sheriff Coats weren't you?"

Martin said, "Yes, I was there. You remember seeing me?"

Davey said, "Yeah, you were the one who put the cuffs on the store manager,"

Martin said, "Good memory you two have."

Gray said, "Nice, polite boys you two have."

Starsky and Hutch said at the same time, "Thank you."

Kenny looked at his Dad and asked, "Where's Mom? Shouldn't she be here too?"

Starsky said, "She's working in the OR and will be here when she's done."

Morris and Baker didn't know anything that had happened earlier. They only knew they were ordered to bring the boys in safe.

Morris asked Jenkins and Stevens, "What's going on, what's the plan?"

Stevens said, "We're going to try to get Sheriff Coats for ordering a hit on Starsky, Hutch and the boys.

Kenny and Davey at the same time said, "A hit, on us?"

Stevens said, "I'm sorry Starsk, I forgot they were here."

Starsky said, "It's ok." He looked at the boys and said, "Yes, but you were never in any danger. We had it covered."

Davey said, "As long as we know that much can we hear the plan?"

Starsky looked at Hutch and they shrugged at each other. Then he looked at Jenkins and said, "May as well let them in on it."

Jenkin's phone rang. He said, "Yeah, bring her now then. Call when you get here." He looked at Starsky and said, "Jeanne's off work. They're on the way in now."

Starsky said, "Already?"

Jenkins said, "They said something about the surgery being postponed."

Starsky said, "Good."

Hutch said, "They're involved they may as well see how all this plays out."

Jenkins said, "Well alright but you have to stay quiet while Martin's on the phone." He looked at Martin and said, "Is it ok with you?"

Martin said, "Yeah. As long as they're here anyway they may as well listen in." He looked at Jenkins and asked, "When can your men get into position?"

Jenkins phone rang. He answered it and said, "Jenkins here." He paused a minute and said, "You sure it's him?" He listened a few seconds and said, "Ok. We'll make the call now. We'll try to get him to admit to the drug charge too. Yeah, both of them. Since Brown's there too we can get them both." Jenkins looked at Martin and said, "The good Sheriff is with Brown now. If you can get them to admit to everything we can get them both on the drug charges and the attempted murder charges. "

Martin said, "I hope it works. Is the tap on the line ready?"

Just then Jenkin's phone rang. It was the agent that was assigned to Jeanne. He was at the station with her and wanted to know where everyone was. Jenkins told him where to go. They arrived at the meeting room.

When Jeanne and Agent Perry entered the room Starsky stood up and pulled the chair that was next to him for her to sit in. Before she sat down, he introduced her everyone there.

Jeanne looked at Starsky and asked, "What's going on here?"

Kenny said, "We're about to catch the bad guys."

Starsky said, "I'll explain more later but, now Martin's going to make a phone call to the good Sheriff and see if we can catch him admitting to everything."

Jeanne said, "With the boys here?"

Starsky said, "Yes. We decided to let them hear this."

Jeanne said, "Are you sure you want them to hear this."

Starsky said, "It'll be ok and besides we want them where we can keep an eye on them."

Jeanne said, "That makes sense."

Chief Sterling hung up the phone and said, "The tap's in place. Just dial 8 to get an outside line."

Martin said, "Ok. Here it goes. Just remember everyone has to keep quiet or they'll know it's a trap."

Starsky and Hutch looked at the boys. The boys nodded. They knew it was a special privilege to be allowed to listen to this. They felt really important and special. They knew so much more than they should have. They knew Martin had been working undercover, they knew about a hit that was taken out on them and their Dads and now they knew there was trap being set to catch a Sheriff for drug dealing and attempted murder. They were excited by it all.

Martin had dialed the number and everyone knew it was time to be quiet it was on speaker. The phone at the other end rang twice then they heard Sheriff Coats say, "Hello."

Martin said, "It's done."

Sheriff Coats said, "The boys too?"

Martin said, "They had a tragic accident on the way to school. It seems they were all victims of a drive-by shooting. No witness." When Jeanne heard she reached for Starsky's hand. He held hers it tightly. He knew it wasn't easy for her, as a Mother, to hear there had been a hit put out on her 14-year-old son.

Sheriff Coats said, "Well, that is a shame."

Martin said, "When can I pick up my money for the hit? I want to hurry and get out of town."

Sheriff Coats said, "I can meet you in an hour at the jail. I'll have your money ready then."

Martin said, "Did Brown make the drop ok?"

Frank Brown said, "Not yet, but it's ready. I'm leaving now to make it."

Jenkins looked at Stevens and Martin they knew that that meant that Brown and the Sheriff would be caught with the cocaine in their position.

Sheriff Coats said, "Too bad you're leaving town. We could use you in our little operation."

Martin said, "I'm not sticking around here after wasting 2 cops and their kids. I'm getting as far away from here as I can. I'll see you in an hour." Martin hung up the phone.

Jenkins was already on his cell phone ordering the agents outside to pick up both men.

Kenny looked at his Dad and said, "Does that mean it worked and they'll be arrested?"

Hutch said, "Yes, son. It worked and Sheriff Coats and Frank Brown will be arrested now."

Davey asked, "So are we all safe now?"

Stevens said, "Yes, son you, your aunt, and your dads are safe now."

Jenkins had been on the phone talking to the agents who were arresting Sheriff Coats and Frank Brown. He said, "They just got them both, with the drugs."

Chief Sterling said, "That's great."

Stevens said, "By the time they get out of jail Kenny and Davey here will be retired."

Martin said, "I guess we'll see you all at the trial."

Starsky said, "Guess you will."

Hutch said, "Sure thing, just let us know when and where."

Davey said, "Dad, will Kenny and I need to testify too?"

Jenkins said, "Yes, son you and Kenny will both need to testify about the hold up the other night along with everyone else that was there."

Davey said, "Cool."

Jeanne asked, "Are we done for now? Can we take the boys home now?"

Chief Sterling said, "I'm done with them if you are Jenkins."

Jenkins said, "Yeah, sure Mrs. Starsky you may all leave now. We'll be in touch if we need you Starsky, Hutch."

The Chief could see the worry in her eyes. He knew she needed to talk to Starsky. The Chief looked at Starsky and Hutch and said, "You two take the rest of the day off. You've earned it."

Starsy and Hutch looked at him and said at the same time, "Thank you Chief." They left the room.

The hallway was empty, Jeanne looked at Starsky and said, "You, Mr. Detective, I hope you know how lucky you are to have a wife as understanding as I am."

Hutch looked at her and said, "Oh. He knows. He knows."

Starsky said, "I'm sorry you had to hear that honey." She just looked at all four of them.

Hutch knew that Jeanne was worried and needed to talk to Starsky too and he said, "Starsk, let me take the boys, we'll go get Chinese and have an early dinner. We'll met you back at your place in about an hour ok?"

Starsky knew that was Hutch's way of giving him time to talk to Jeanne. He patted Hutch on the shoulder and whispered to Hutch, "Thanks, Pal." Hutch gave him a wink. He said loud enough for Jeanne and the boys to hear, "That sounds like a great idea. Jeanne what do you think?"

Jeanne who was still a little shocked at what she had just witnessed, "Yeah, huh ok Hutch."

The boys said, "Chinese cool."

When Jeanne and Starsky got in the car she said, "Dave, what happened today?"

Starsky said, "This morning after we took the boys to school Lucas Gray came to the station and told the Chief." He stopped and looked at her.

Jeanne said, "Everything. Yes, I want to know."

He said, "Ok, everything. He told the Chief that the Sheriff saw me on a video tape listening to what he said about the drug deal. The Sheriff sent two men to kill Hutch, me, and the boys. The man he sent was, Martin, he's an undercover Federal agent working for Coats and the other man was Mitchell. He worked for Coats too, but he told Martin he wasn't having any part of killing anyone. It seems the good Sheriff didn't know his men as well as he thought. The Feds had to let Coats think the four of us had been killed, so we had to get the boys out of school and bring them here for protection. You were never a target."

Jeanne said, "Me, Dave I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about those boys."

Starsky said, "Hutch and I were too. I promise we didn't take any chances with the boys."

Jeanne said, "I know you wouldn't take chances with their lives. Taking chances with your life and Hutch's is bad enough. Dave, if there's one thing I know, it's that I can trust you and Hutch. I may worry about the both of you because I love and care about you, but I trust your judgment. How did the boys handle having a hit out on them?"

Starsky said, "We told them that they were safe the whole time, and they were, they seemed to handle it ok."

Jeanne said, "Those two are gonna make good cops aren't they?"

Starsky said, "Hutch and I think so. Since they want to be cops, we want to teach them while they're young how to be safe out there."

Starsky and Jeanne talked more on the way home. He told her about how he and Hutch let themselves get caught this morning. They talked about the boys and their part in all of this. He assured her that they were safe and were going to stay that way. Starsky knew Jeanne was one of a kind. He knew how lucky he was to have found a wife like her. She was worried and he expected her to be, but she really was ok with everything that happened. She told him that they had been married so long now she was used to just about everything Starsky and Hutch had gotten into. Over the years it had been a lot. He had told her stories about things that happened before they met. She pretty much knows everything Starsky and Hutch have through since they became partners. When he got serious about her a long time ago, he told her he would never lie to her about anything. She knew there were parts of the job he couldn't tell her, but he would not lie about what danger was involved. She wanted it that way. She always wanted to know just what they were getting into and how serious it was.

When Hutch arrived at the house with the boys and dinner, she asked the boys to help her put dinner on plates. They followed her into the kitchen. Hutch looked at Starsky and asked, "Everything ok?"

Starsky said, "Yeah. I told her everything."

Hutch said, "And she's ok with it?"

Starsky said, "We'll let's just say I know I'm a very lucky man."

Hutch smiled at him and said, "Yes, you are."

They all sat down to eat. Jeanne, Hutch, and Davey were using chop sticks but Starsky and Kenny couldn't figure out how to use them. Davey was sitting next to Kenny and was trying to show him how but he just gave up and used his fork. Davey laughed at him. Hutch and Jeanne were trying to show Starsky how to use chop stick too but he wasn't having any better luck than Kenny was and he gave up too.

Jeanne said, "So about today."

Starsky said, "What about today?" He thought they had worked all this out earlier. He thought she was ok about it all.

Jeanne said, "I'm sorry I got so worried at the station. I'm just not used to it."

Starsky said, "Honey, you have nothing to be sorry for. None of this is your fault."

Jeanne said, "And I know none of it is your fault either. You just went for a drive in the mountains and ended up being held up and found out it wasn't a hold up but a drug deal instead. This could have happened to anyone. I'm not upset or mad at any of you. I just want you to know that I'm glad you were there and knew what to do. And boys"

Starsky knew now that she was talking now to let Hutch and the boys know that she was ok and not mad at any of them.

They both said, "Yes mam."

Jeanne said, "I want you to know that I'm very proud of both of you for everything you've done the last couple of days. I worry about you becoming cops like your Dads, but you've shown me that you can handle yourselves and I'm proud of both of you."

They both said, "Thank you."

Jeanne said, "Don't think this means I won't worry about you. I worry every day."

Hutch knew that Starsky and Jeanne could use a night alone. A lot had happened the last couple of days and it would be nice for them to spend some time alone. He said, "I have an idea. Kenny, if it's ok with your Mom and Dad, why don't you come stay with me and Davey tonight and I'll take you both to school tomorrow? You can watch that movie with us."

Starsky looked at Hutch. Hutch winked at him.

Kenny said, "That'd be great. Can I Dad, Mom?"

Jeanne said, "Yes, that'll be fine."

Starsky said, "Don't forget to take your school books."

Kenny said, "They're at school. We left in a hurry today and left everything there."

Starsky said, "Oh, ok."

After everyone had finished eating the boys helped Jeanne clean up. While they were cleaning up Starsky and Hutch walked into the living room. Starsky said, "You don't have to keep Kenny tonight."

Hutch said, "I know. Look, I'm going to have Davey anyway. I figure you need a little time alone with your lovely wife. She really has been a trooper about all this you know. Now's your chance to pamper her a little, relax have a nice night. I'll take the boys to school in the morning and meet you at the station."

Starsky said, "Yeah, she has. Maybe a little pampering would be nice. Thanks, Hutch."

Hutch said, "Anytime, partner, anytime."

After Hutch and the boys left and it was just Starsky and Jeanne they sat on the couch in the living room. Starsky had poured them each a glass of wine.

Starsky said, "What do you say we have a nice, quiet night in."

Jeanne said, "How is it that Hutch always knows what we need?"

Starsky got a little closer to her and cuddled her in his arms, kissed her gently and said, "Because he's my partner and he knows me that well."

Jeanne cuddled with him and said, "Well, I'm glad he knows you that well."

Starsky kissed her again and said, "Yeah, me too." He reached for the light on the table and turned it out.