CHAPTER 9
Hutch stomped away from Danny and the young gang member with a disgusted snort. He was the fourth gang member they had spoken to so far and, like the ones before he, the sullen teen had denied any knowledge of the Tanglewood Boys or their whereabouts. He glared at Danny when the other man joined him at the car.
"This isn't getting us anywhere!" Hutch exploded barely holding his temper. "Nobody seems to know a damn thing!"
"The gang's gone underground," Danny told him. "That makes them harder to find but it can be done. We just have to keep looking."
"And what about Starsky? It could already be too late,"
"I don't think so," Danny said "Ice will want to enjoy the moment. He won't let Davy to go easy." He stopped in his tracks and looked at Hutch with a stunned expression on his face as a thought suddenly struck him. "Fuck! Why didn't I think of that?"
"Think of what?" Hutch asked as Danny scrambled into the car. Hutch barely had time to climb into the car and close the door before Danny gunned the engine and roared away from the curb.
"Ice would want to finish what they started twenty years ago…that means the same place they went after Davy before. It's an old abandoned building not far from here."
Hutch clutched the dashboard as Danny tore through the narrow streets, driving almost as recklessly as Starsky when he was in hot pursuit. His heart pounded in his chest from a combination of fear and anticipation as the adrenaline spilled into his bloodstream. Ten minutes later, Danny squealed to a stop in front of a dark, rundown building that loomed out of the shadows like a ghostly phantom.
Danny grabbed a police issue flashlight with a high powered beam from the glove box before exiting the car. As they entered the building through an unlocked front door, Hutch could hear the settling of the building, the scratching of rodents in the walls and the squeaking of mice underfoot as they began to climb the steps towards the roof.
As a precaution, Hutch drew his magnum from his shoulder holster and flipped off the safety. There was nothing to indicate the presence of anyone else in the immediate vicinity but Hutch wasn't taking any chances. Not when his partner's life could be at stake. The heavy silence inside the stairwell was as unnerving after the routine sounds of the city outside.
Finally, they reached the door that opened onto the roof of the building. Danny glanced at Hutch and gave a single nod as he reached out and shoved it open. Both men flattened themselves against the wall on either side of the opening but there was no sudden burst of gunfire to greet their arrival. Cautiously, they peered out onto the roof as they slowly eased their way through the opening.
As their eyes adjusted, they could see the piles of trash and garbage that littered the surface beneath their feet. Guided by instinct alone, Hutch walked towards the far side of the roof.
He made out three bodies lying motionless in one corner of the building. Ignoring two of them, he sank to his knees beside the third body that was lying curled in a fetal position with the hands still clenched into fists.
"Oh, Starsk…" Hutch said in a choked voice as he reached down and gently brushed a blood soaked curl away from Starsky's forehead. Even in the darkness, he could see the battered features of his best friend and the unnatural angle of broken limbs. His trembling fingers reached for the pulse point in Starsky's throat. His own heart stopped momentarily when he couldn't find a pulse but, then he felt it a faint fluttering beat beneath his fingertips.
"Call a bus! He's still alive!" He yelled at Danny focusing all of his attention on his injured partner. He wanted to gather the broken body in his arms but he was afraid of causing more damage if he did. So, he did the best he could. He shifted positions so that he could rest Starsky's head in his lap, running his fingers through the thick blood soaked curls as he waited impatiently for help to arrive. As he waited, he offered a silent prayer to a god he no longer believed in to protect Starsky and keep him safe.
Danny secured the scene as they waited after making sure there were no suspects hiding elsewhere on the roof.
"Davy took out Riko and Maxie…two of Ice's top men." Danny told Hutch with a hint of awe in his voice as the sound of sirens in the distance grew louder. "If he's still alive it's because Ice let him live."
"Why would he do that if the whole point of this whole thing was to kill him over something that happened when Starsky was a kid?" Hutch growled gruffly.
"Because Davy won the right to walk away by taking out Riko and Maxie. That means he probably did some significant damage to the others too. I'll send out a notice to the local hospitals but I doubt if any of them'll show up at the ER. The gang usually takes care of their own."
Hutch tuned out Danny's explanation as he concentrated on his injured partner. Hutch could tell that Starsky was seriously injured. He had been severely beaten and some of the marks that Hutch could see indicated that weapons other than fists had been used.
Suddenly, the roof was overrun with medical personnel and police officers as the Calvary arrived on the scene. Two paramedics immediately began assessing Starsky's condition as they worked on stabilizing him for transport to the hospital. They wisely allowed Hutch to remain where he was, gently cradling Starsky's head in his lap.
Bits of their conversation drifted into Hutch's consciousness:
Internal bleeding
Severe concussion with possible skull fracture
Pupils fixed and dilated
Blood pressure falling
Broken ribs with collapsed left lung
Abrasions and lacerations
Hutch was forced to relinquish his hold on Starsky when the paramedics transferred him to the stretcher for transport. Hutch trotted along behind them as they carried the stretcher down from the roof and loaded it into the back of the waiting ambulance. The paramedics didn't raise any objections when Hutch climbed into the back of the ambulance to accompany them to the hospital. He stayed to one side out of their way so they could monitor Starsky's condition and provide the necessary care as the ambulance sped towards the nearest medical center.
Under the harsh unforgiving lights inside the ambulance, Starsky's facial injuries were clearly visible. His entire face looked like a slab of raw hamburger with several lacerations and deep bruising around both eyes and the entire right side of his face. His lips were torn and bloody, swollen to nearly twice their normal size. Bruises resembling finger marks discolored the flesh of his throat.
Hutch noticed with a twinge that Starsky's knuckles were torn, swollen and bruised from his own battle against his assailants. Two fingers on Starsky's left hand had the nails torn loose from the nail beds leaving the flesh underneath exposed and bleeding. It was obvious that some of his fingers were broken. From the odd angle of his left wrist, it was obviously that it was broken too.
Fifteen minutes later, they pulled into the emergency entrance at Bellevue hospital. Despite it's somewhat dubious history, Bellevue was the oldest continuously operating hospital in America. Although it had started as a haven for the indigent, over the years Bellevue had become a major academic medical institution. Affiliated with the NYU School of Medicine, Bellevue offered a wide range of medical, surgical and psychiatric services and was a major referral center for highly complex cases.
Hutch was separated from his partner at the entrance to the emergency ward by a persistent nurse with a firm but warm nature.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you need to stay out here. The doctors will let you know how your friend is doing as soon as they can."
"You don't understand," Hutch said insistently "He's my partner. We're cops from California. I need to be with him."
"I promise the doctors will take good care of him. You'd only be in the way and they need the room to care for your friend." As she spoke, she gently steered Hutch towards the waiting area and settled him onto a comfortable leather covered sofa. "Wait right here. My name is Angie and I'll do my best to keep you updated on your friend's condition. Deal?"
"Okay…" Hutch muttered hanging his head in defeat. His shoulders slumped as he buried his face in his hands. His very posture was one of anguish and sorrow. A man left alone with his own demons and innermost fears.
Angie gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze before walking away. She returned to her normal duties but kept a close eye on the distraught blond she suddenly found under her care.
Hutch lost track of time as he sat there. A gentle hand on his shoulder startled him. He looked up with a jerk, surprised to find Rachel Starsky smiling down at him gently. She sank down on the sofa beside him and opened her arms. Without a word, Hutch leaned into the comfort of her motherly embrace.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He muttered against her shoulder "I should have been there. I should have been protecting him."
"Shhh…" Rachel soothed him "Stop that kind of talk right now. None of this is your fault. I know my son. He's always been headstrong. You couldn't have stopped him even if you had tried." She smoothed back the thin strands of Hutch's baby fine hair. A gentle gesture filled with a mother's love that comforted him beyond words.
"I should have called…" Hutch mumbled without raising his head.
"Danny called me. I know that David has told you not to call me when he's hurt until you know more about his condition. I know he doesn't want me to worry. But, that's my job as a mother. A mother never stops worrying about her child. No matter how old they are."
Hutch straightened up and straightened his shoulders as he regained his composure. Sometimes he felt as if he had spent half his life sitting in hospitals waiting for news on his injured partner. But, then Starsky had spent almost as much time waiting for news about him when he was hurt.
"This is where they brought my Davy when he was hurt before," Rachel said as she settled back against the sofa and let her memories drift back to another time. "I was so scared and the staff here was so thoughtful. They have good doctors here. Doctors who care. They took good care of my Davy. It's because of them that he can walk without a limp."
Hutch pulled his pocket watch out of his jeans and flipped it open so he could see the face. He was stunned to realize that he had been waiting almost four hours for news on Starsky's condition. He knew from bitter experience that the longer the wait the worse Starsky's condition could be.
Three hours later, Angie finally approached Rachel and Hutch. In a soft voice she said, "The doctor will talk to you now. Please follow me."
Hutch and Rachel exchanged a concerned glance as they rose to their feet and followed Angie down a long hallway to their left.
