Chapter 10

The next morning, Starsky awoke slowly, happily and with his arms still wrapped around Melanie, who slumbered on, a small smile on her face. For a while the brunet was happy just to lie and watch the woman breathing, her long, dark lashes, with their upward sweep like smoky smudges against her pale cheeks. She looked small, childlike and immensely vulnerable as she lay there, and for a moment, Starsky had a brief twinge of regret. Had he taken advantage of her? Had he forced her into doing something that she would later regret? And then her soft moans and the memory of her body against his flooded his consciousness and he realised that last night had been something they had both wanted and needed.

Eventually, the curly haired man looked at his bedside clock. He grunted. There was just enough time for him to grab a shower, get dressed and get himself round to Hutch's house to collect him. Starsky managed to pull his arm from beneath Mel's body without waking her. He kissed her hair tenderly and got out of bed, making his way to the bathroom where he showered and shaved and got dressed.

Grabbing a mouthful of toast, he took his holster, gun and shield, jammed his cuffs into his back pocket and closed the front door softly behind him. Walking down to the car, however, in the cold light of day, more recriminations started to lurch into his head. What was he going to say to Hutch? In the past he'd tried to hide things from the blond, but he'd never been particularly successful. Working so closely with Hutch for the past ten or so years, they had both become so accustomed to each other, so attuned to each other's body language that they could read each other like a book.

Hutch was no prude of course. Starsky knew that ordinarily, his partner would be so pleased that Starsky had found a woman he was happy with and who loved him unconditionally. Never since Terri had he felt quite so at home with a girl. Melanie was all the things he wanted in a woman. She was pretty, smart, astute, self-possessed and so in tune with him and his body that she seemed to be an extension of the cop himself.

A perfect woman in every way but one, but that one was a real showstopper. She was the subject of an investigation and she was married. With a sigh, Starsky started the car and drove off in the direction of Venice Place. Mentally he prepared himself to try to keep the secret from his buddy. Evasion was the key, evasion of questions and misdirection. Treat it as an undercover assignment Davey, you're good at undercover. You can do this. But do I want to? Do I really want to deceive Hutch? That's the thing.

Starsky admitted to himself that lying to his partner went against the grain. He hated keeping things from Hutch at the best of times, but keeping Mel's presence from the blond was like an out and out lie and his stomach flipped at the prospect. Honesty was the cornerstone of he and Hutch's relationship. Neither could effectively watch the other's back if they weren't absolutely honest with each other. Scrubbing his fingers through his springy curls, the brunet tried to get his thoughts in order as he drew up outside Hutch's house. The blond was ready and they hit the streets as Hutch took the mic. and pressed the button.

'This is zebra three. It's 7:58. Log us in as out and about.' He said and replaced it on the cradle. 'Sleep well?' he asked as Starsky pulled away from the sidewalk.

'Huh? What's that supposed t'mean?'

'You went home last night and said you were tired. I just wondered if you slept well.'

'Oh, right. Um, yeah, fine. You?'

'Uh huh. Me and Ellen went to the cinema. We saw that Star Wars film and then we went back to mine.'

'Good film?'

'It was ok, yeah. They were in a line around the block to get in. You should go see it. Debra wants to go.'

'Maybe later' Starsky said vaguely.

'What's up partner? Don't you like her?'

Starsky grinned. 'With assets that size, what's not to like? She's fine, just not my type.'

'Aww come on buddy. When did you ever pass up tits and legs?'

'I guess I'm getting' old' the brunet grinned.

Throughout the morning they worked the streets. They were looking for Mickey, Starsky's snitch who they thought might have some news on a new shipment of dope that was rumoured to be coming into the port within the next week. The little man was elusive and by mid afternoon, both men were hot, thirsty and singularly unimpressed with life. Finally at about 5:15, they clocked off and Starsky turned the Torino in the direction of home.

'Are you comin' for a drink at the Pits tonight?' Hutch asked. 'There's a cool beer with your name on it waiting on the bar.'

Starsky's stomach did a little somersault. What excuse could he use tonight? 'I don't think so buddy. All this heat an' the sun….I didn't get enough to drink today. I think I'm getting' a migraine. Maybe I should just go home an' take my meds an' lie down.'

Hutch's face creased in concern. He'd always watched out for his partner, but since Gunther's attack, he'd stepped up his care. 'Do you need me to come back to yours? Will you be ok?'

The brunet snickered to himself. Hutch's "mother hen" routine was always simmering away in the background. 'No, I'm fine. I just need to get somewhere cool an' dark.'

'You sure?'

Starsky hated lying to his partner, especially about his health. 'I'm ok. It's nuthin. Don't fuss Blondie. I know where you are if I need ya.'

Hutch shrugged his shoulders. 'OK. Take care. Drink plenty when you get in. You look tired. I could….'

Starsky smiled. 'Hutch, just go, huh? I'm fine, honest. Nuthin a lie down won't cure. See you tomorrow?'

'Maybe I should drive tomorrow' the blond ventured. 'Maybe the drivin's….'

'Hey, Blondie. Stop it. I'm fine. It's just a headache. I'll be round for you at 8:00. Don't fuss.' The smaller man waved through the window, turned his car for home feeling every inch the rat for lying to Hutch and making him worry unnecessarily and drove away.

As he got in, Mel was already in the kitchen and as he walked up behind her and put his arms round her waist, kissing her neck, she turned to him and flung her arms around him. He realised she was shaking.

'What's the matter honey?' he asked, 'Are you ok? Are you sick?'

Mel shook her head. 'No, I'm fine. It's….there was a phone call today. I never thought…… I answered the phone without thinking. No-one answered at the other end, the line just went dead, but…..'

'But what?'

'Dave, I think it could have been Manny. I think maybe he rang the number you left on the card and now he knows where I am.'

The cop kissed her hair gently. 'We can deal with that. You don't know for sure that it was him. Just don't answer the phone any more, keep the doors locked. I'm only on the end of the telephone of you need me. You'll be fine. He'd be crazy if he came here makin' trouble and somehow I don't put him down as the crazy type'

Mel smiled wanly. 'It's not me I'm worried about, it's you. If Manny thinks I'm here with you…… I don't want you to get hurt.'

Starsky held her tight. 'It's ok honey. I'm a big boy. I can look after myself. And apart from that, I don't think he'd be stupid enough to do anything like that. We'll be fine.'

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Each day for the next week was about the same. Each morning Starsky would carefully extricate himself from Mel's arms, drive around to pick up his partner, spend the day dodging questions and make up some excuse about why he couldn't come out that night. By the end of six days, Hutch was getting more than a little suspicious and Starsky was fast running out of excuses. On the evening of that sixth day, Hutch was sick to death of the stress lines around Starsky's eyes and decided that something radical had to be done.

'Starsk, you haven't been yourself for almost a week buddy. I'm worried for ya. Whatever's goin' on, you need to chill.'

'I'm chilled' Starsky said. 'There's nuthin wrong.'

'Uh uh. Not buyin'. If you won't tell me what it is, I've arranged a little diversion for us to take your mind off of it. I'll be round to pick you up tonight at 8:00.'

'Hutch, I said I was fine. You don't need to do this, I don't need my mind takin' off anythin'.

'Well it's gonna be, so get your best pair of crummy blue jeans on, we're out on the town tonight.'

The brunet sighed. 'Where?'

'I've arranged with Ellen. She's bringing Debra….. remember Debra – tits and legs? So we'll start off at the Pits at 8:00 and take it from there and I'm not takin' "no" for an answer. Apparently Debra's done nothin' but talk about you since she met ya last time. God knows, the girl must have her taste in her mouth coz I don't know what she sees in you, but you hit the mark buddy.'

Knowing there was no way out, Starsky sighed. 'Yeah, great. A night out on the town. But um…..tell you what. I'll meet you there at 8:00 huh? I needed to um…..well I have some stuff to do first' he finished vaguely.

'Stuff? You're not gonna back out of this are you?' Hutch asked, looking curiously at his partner

'No! I said I'd be there at 8:00 and I will be.'

'OK, I'll get the drinks in?' the blond agreed, getting out of the Torino at his house. 'See you tonight buddy.'

'Yeah, see you tonight' the brunet grunted as he drove away. Life was getting complicated. He'd managed to keep Hutch at bay for almost a week, but he knew he was pushing his luck further each day and sooner or later something would give. Maybe if he went along with the blond's wishes tonight, Hutch would give him some breathing space for a little while longer until he could find the right time to tell him that he and Mel had fallen in love.

Getting home, Starsky explained to Mel that he had to work again and he would probably be back late that night. The woman was understanding and when Starsky was washed, dressed and ready, she kissed him on the cheek and told him to be careful.

'Stay inside and lock the doors' he said. 'I have a key. Don't answer the phone and I'll be back by midnight.'

'Don't worry' Mel smiled. 'I'll be fine. I love you.'

Starsky took her face in his hands. 'I love you too honey' he said and kissed her deeply. 'Now, lock the door huh?' he closed it behind him and heard the dutiful click of the lock before he trotted down the steps to his car.

The Pits was dark and smoky when he arrived. It was Friday – disco night and the heavy bass of the record deck were already beating out a rhythm as the brunet pushed open the back door of the bar and stepped into the hot room. Disco lights ripped around the ceiling, sending rainbow colours dancing off the mirrors and there was a steady him of conversation above the loud music. Friday night was always a popular night and Starsky looked around, his eyes becoming accustomed to the dim lighting until he saw Hutch wave from a booth over the far side of the room. Carefully, Starsky got a beer from the bar and threaded his way through the swaying figures on the dance floor to the waiting trio. He smiled at Hutch and the two girls and they shifted round to give him room to sit down.

'You're late' Hutch yelled over the music. 'Debra thought you'd stood her up.'

'Nah, traffic was bad. An accident on the freeway. It was stacked up an' I got caught in it' Starsky lied. He was amazed how easily the lies came from his lips these last few days. Covering up his tracks seemed to be a way of life now, but not one to which he wished to become too accustomed.

Debra smiled at him and shifted a little closer, her arm close to Starsky's body as though she wanted the cop to put his own arm around her. The brunet ignored her advances, but smiled at her anyway. She smiled back.

'Do you want to dance?' she asked.

'Sure.' The curly haired cop led her onto the dance floor and they bopped and shimmied. Bruce Springsteen belted out "Born in the USA" as the crowd on the floor yelled out the lyrics on the chorus and waved their hands in the air and Starsky danced next to Debra as she playfully bumped him with her hip. But as the mood changed and Paul Young started "Everytime you Go Away" and Debra moved in closer for a slow dance, Starsky backed away.

'Need a drink honey' he said and led her off the dance floor and back to the booth. Debra gave him an odd look and sat around the other side of the table, pouting and watching Hutch and Ellen smooching around the dance floor as Starsky stared into his beer.

Throughout the next couple of numbers, the two sat out, watching and barely saying a word. It wasn't that Starsky aimed to be rude, but more that he had no intention of leading the woman on. Debra might have fallen for him, but Starsky was a one woman man, and right now that woman was waiting for him back at home. By song number 4, which was the theme song to a new TV show called Miami Vice, Debra was sitting with her back to the brunet cop, openly ignoring him and half way through the number, an unknown guy came over to her.

'Are you on your own?' the man asked.

'I feel like it' Debra said with feeling, not looking at her supposed date.

'Wanna dance?' the guy asked.

'Do I?' she said with feeling and followed him onto the disco floor where the couple soon became lost in the seething crowd of dancers.

Eventually, Hutch came back to the booth, panting and smiling. He took a deep chug of his beer and looked around. 'Where's Debra?' he asked.

'Dunno' Starsky answered non-committally.

'What?'

'I didn't want to dance so she…..' the brunet's explanation was interrupted by Ellen storming over to the booth. She pulled Hutch towards her and hissed something animatedly into his ear, then pulled away and headed off across the room. Hutch scowled.

'Ellen says Debra is going home with someone else. She says you ignored her.'

'She was comin' on strong and I didn't want to disillusion her' the brunet said matter of factly.

'Starsky! You said you liked her. What the fuck are you playin' at?'

'No, Blondie. You said I liked her. She's fine. She's a great girl, I'm just not interested right now.'

'So you thought you'd be rude and ignore her?'

'No, she was the one that was rude. She went off with Mr Muscles over there. Its fine, no sweat.'

'What the fuck is goin' on with you partner?'

'Nuthin. You were the one who wanted to drag me out tonight. I'm here aren't I? What more d'ya want?'

Hutch shrugged his shoulders angrily. 'I haven't a fuckin' clue what's goin' on in your head Starsk, and right now, I don't wanna know. I'm leavin'. You can sit there in solitary state all night if ya want, or you can come with us an' try to make it up to Debra. The choice is yours.'

Starsky glared defiantly. He hated making Hutch mad, but he also hated the fact that his partner had backed him into a corner. 'I'll stay' he said softly and took another drink.

'Fine. See you tomorrow' Hutch grunted, turned and with Ellen and Debra in tow, he left the Pits.