Brian sat at his desk, trying to focus on the work in front of him. His mind kept wondering to the job he had to do tonight.

When he'd gone to the address yesterday, it hadn't seemed like such a big deal. A little bit of spray paint wouldn't bother anybody, right?

He may have been a rookie cop, but he knew better. He'd been involved with the Knights entirely too long to think that their sprayed-on messages never hurt anyone.

So why the hell was he going through with it? Why had he agreed to do it?

Because you're a coward, he told himself. You're a coward who doesn't know how to do the right thing at the right time.

xXxXx

Starsky and Hutch walked back to the blond's office from the cafeteris after lunch.

"As far as you know, do you need your car for anything this afternoon?" Starsky inquired.

Hutch pursed his lips as he thought through his schedule. "No, I don't think so. Are you wanting to get started on that witness list?"

"Yeah, is that okay with you?"

"No problem, just be back about a quarter to six to pick me up."

Hutch reached into his pocket for his keys, unlocked his office door, then removed his car key and handed it to his partner. "In the glove compartment is a city map. You got those addresses?"

"Yes," Starsky answered as he patted the breast pocket that contained them. "All right, I'll be back in a few hours, and hopefully I'll know something."

Hutch smiled as Starsky left the room, silently wishing him luck.

xXxXx

Starsky returned to the precinct at half past five, disheartened by the lack of information he'd uncovered that afternoon. He'd made his way through roughly half the list Hutch had given him, and while not everyone had been home, none of the people Starsky had contacted had been any more help than the first time they'd been interviewed.

Still in the car, he glanced toward the building, inhaling and letting it out slowly. Starsky let his memory go back 20 or 25 years, back to the good old days when he and Hutch were beat cops. It all seemed so easy then, almost as if the pieces simply fell into place. Even when everything was so mixed up and they couldn't make heads or tails out of anything, in the end they got the information they needed. One of their snitches always came through.

Starsky sucked his teeth and squinted his blue eyes as a light bulb came to life in his mind.

Maybe that's the problem...maybe we're looking to the wrong people for answers.

He quickly exited the car and made his way to Hutch's office.

xXxXx

The blond looked up from the paperwork in front of him as Starsky entered the room and sat down.

"Hey, how'd it go?"

"It could've gone better," Starsky responded. "I wasn't able to find out anything we didn't already know."

"No one remembered anything about that sweatshirt, huh? I was afraid of that. Well, what do you wanna do? You're welcome to my car again tomorrow."

"Thanks, but I've got an idea on how we may be able to get to the bottom of this sooner."

Hutch's interest was piqued. He knew that Starsky often came up with some crazy schemes, but when it came to police work and solving crimes, his ideas were seldom harebrained.

"All right, let's have it."

"In Bay City, who was the first person we went to when we needed info? Huggy Bear, right? Now look, I know you haven't been here that long, but do you know anybody at all that might know something?"

Of the seven years that Hutch had been in Duluth, four and a half had been spent as a lieutenant with a desk job. When he'd been promoted two and half years ago, the job had come with greater responsibility and even more paperwork. He'd never had much time for cultivating the type of friendship he and Starsky had had with Huggy.

"Starsk, I don't know. There might be one or two, but you know as well as I do that there's no guarantee."

"Will you at least give them a call? Even if they don't know anything, we won't be any worse off than we are right now."

Hutch knew his partner had a point. With the thought that perhaps he'd luck out, Hutch picked up the phone and dialed his informant's number. Upon hearing the other man's voice, Hutch promptly asked him to keep his ear to the ground.

xXxXx

Brian walked through the dark church parking lot, and as he glanced up at the overcast sky, he breathed a short prayer of forgiveness. He'd never claimed to be a man of faith, but a church wasn't exactly public property. It was supposed to be God's house, and if God really existed, Brian figured it couldn't hurt to say "I'm sorry" ahead of time.

I don't know if you're there or not, but if you are, and you're listening, I hope you know I'm not doing this out of spite. I gotta do this, or something worse is gonna happen to me. God, if you're really out there...I hope you understand.

With that thought, Brian looked around once more to be sure he was alone, then reached into his shoulder bag. He pulled out a can of black spray paint, shook it up, and took aim at the white wall of the church.