ROAD WORK AHEAD: EXPECT DELAYS
CHAPTER 10
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Captain Dobey wasn't in the mood for conversation. He concentrated on the road ahead and tried not to think what lay beyond what he could see in front of him.
For once, Huggy remained quiet. He sensed that the captain wouldn't appreciate a lot of noise so Huggy kept his thoughts to himself. He knew they were traveling the same road that Starsky and Hutch would have taken so he searched ahead, looking for the LTD.
A few miles before there was evidence, they began to see the road signs announcing the construction ahead. It was now early evening and between shifts. They would actually be working on the road through the night. The crew wanted to take advantage of the dry weather so large stadium type lighting had been set up and as soon as the next shift began work, the lights would be turned on, making the areas as bright as day.
But even without the crew at work, the signs warning of delays and lane restrictions still remained. It was close to dusk and very sticky outside. Cars slowed down in response to the merge signs. Three lanes were directed into one and as always, there were some cars that defied the instructions about when to merge. The road shimmered in the heat and drivers had their windows down, hoping to capture some breeze to cool off their slow pace. So the line of cars crawled forward; some drivers already anxiously honking their horns in frustration.
The car inched slowly while it bumped along on the torn up road.
Huggy snickered at the sign ahead.
"Well, that's thoughtful. A sign stating the obvious: ---BUMPY ROAD AHEAD--." He shook his head but continued to search the shoulder of the road, keeping his eyes open for signs of his friends.
Captain Dobey got on the police radio, asking for recent information about either of his detectives.
"Minnie, come in please! What have you got for me?"
"Sorry Captain, nothing yet, the guys still haven't…" Her explanation was cut off by a very grouchy voice.
"Damn it. What are you doing down there? Get me answers!" Captain Dobey clicked off and turned a dark stare as Huggy offered reassurance.
"Hey, hey slow down! Your people are doin' the best they can!" Huggy reached out to the driver, offering an understanding hand on the other man's shoulder.
Captain Dobey continued to glare out the window. "Well, it's just not good enough." Dobey slammed on the brakes as his attention turned back to the cars in front of him.
None of the cars moved for the next few minutes. Horns blared behind Dobey's car, as if that would fix the problem and miraculously unplug the bottle neck ahead.
After another delay, the cars began to move and the car directly in front suddenly veered off, taking the next exit. A short time later, as they came up to another exit, the next vehicle in front of the captain took that turn off without the benefit of using a turn signal. There were two car lengths between the next car. The captain wasn't in any hurry to close the space, especially once he saw what had caused the problem.
It seemed that the reason for the long delay was a disabled car with two flat tires. Something was scattered over the road ahead so Captain Dobey wasn't anxious to follow too closely.
He stared out the windshield though, suddenly more interested in the car ahead. He remained well behind it but had an urge to engage Huggy in conversation.
"Huggy, what kind of car do you think that is in front of us?" He waited while Huggy turned his attention to the car in question.
"Sure is a wreck! I wouldn't be caught dead in such a beat up clunker!"
Exasperated, Dobey blew out a breath and rubbed his hand over his face.
"I didn't ask your opinion of it, I wanted to know the make of that car." His voice was hard, but had an edge of curiosity to it.
"Well, my best guess is that it's an LTD, like… like… hey, you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"
"Damn, see the license plate? I'm gonna get closer. I don't wanna get on the radio though in case…" He left the sentence unfinished as the car moved slowly.
Huggy leaned forward to get a better view of the license plate. "018 MEL.. shit, that's Hutch's car! Get on that radio, call it in, shout out to Minnie, do something!"
The implication of the license plate had the opposite effect on the captain. His head cleared as he forced himself to think rationally even though he wanted to jump out and rip apart who ever it was that was driving Hutch's LTD. He was certain once they got a better view, the person driving wouldn't be one of his detectives.
"Well that sure ain't curly sittin' there," Huggy noted. They were close enough to see that the passenger was a woman. But the back window was so dirty that the view of the driver was obstructed by built up grime.
"Think I'm gonna make it mandatory for all detectives to have a clean car. I can't tell who's driving because of all the dust on the damn window." Dobey thought a minute before he reached for the mike. Huggy realized what he was about to do and searched the man's face for an explanation.
"Dispatch, this is Captain Dobey. I'm requesting a DMV reading on plate number ZERO-ONE- EIGHT Michael-Edward-Larry, that's 018 MEL."
Minnie's excited voice came over the line in response. "Captain, that's Hutch's car. Did you find them?"
The captain smiled to himself and waited to see what would happen next.
"Huggy, we're about to find out how this yahoo acquired Hutch's car. I'm pretty certain he's gonna make it real easy for us!"
Just then the back end of Hutch's car shimmied and rocked. Huggy could see the people inside moving around, twisting to look out the windows. Huggy rolled his window down completely and chuckled as he heard loud voices from the car ahead.
Then, the door opened, as a man stepped outside with something dangling from his hands. Noticing the nails spread over the highway, he kicked the door closed then ran carefully but quickly to the shoulder of the road. While Huggy and the captain watched, the man lifted the police radio above his head and threw it to the ground. The equipment broke apart and for good measure, the tall, muscular fellow stomped on the bigger pieces, sending parts skidding across the gravel.
Quickly, the captain got back on the radio, gave his location, asking for back up and an ambulance for good measure. He was pretty certain that the rescue vehicle would no doubt be needed.
The Captain hauled himself out of the car and strode over to the car thief. Dobey was anxious to find out how this person got involved with Hutch's car. He tried not to think beyond his professional responsibilities.
"Hold it right there." The captain barked orders, holding his gun on the man. He got out his handcuffs to secure this man as quickly as possible.
"I'm Captain Dobey with Bay City Police Department. You're under arrest for car theft, destroying government property and you're under suspicion for kidnapping." After identifying himself and the charges, he snapped the handcuffs around the man's hands and dragged him back to his car.
Huggy got out of Dobey's car and in spite of his apprehension, couldn't help chuckling to himself. How would Hutch take the news that his car had at least two flat tires due to some bizarre rain of nails scattered over the highway? The iron spikes were strewn over the road in the section where Dobey had met up with the blond detective's car.
The bar owner wasn't quite sure he should get involved but he was too curious to find out about his friends to really stop and think. He hurried over to the LTD, opened the door and dragged the woman out. He stared at her and held her wrist with a strong grip. The two people watched as Dobey secured his prisoner. He latched the other handcuff inside the car. There was a hook on the roof which would secure the thief safely until back up arrived.
Huggy dragged the woman with him as he came back to their car. She was sobbing and pleading for mercy toward her man, making Huggy want to slap her. Her high pitched, continual chatter got on his nerves.
"What's your name?" The captain began to question.
"Jimmy. My name's Jimmy and that's all you're gettin from me, pig." Jimmy ducked, fully expecting to be slapped for his insolent manner. But no such rebuke came other than a dark, steely gaze in his direction.
"Lovely lady, what might your name be?" Huggy asked in a polite voice. She'd finally stopped crying but now in answer to Huggy, she launched an attack on her boyfriend.
"My name's Beth and that moron is my boyfriend. Jimmy if you weren't so pig headed we wouldn't be in this mess. I tried to tell him to leave that guy alone but no, he's so jealous he couldn't wait to beat the poor guy up."
Jimmy scowled at Beth and began his own tirade. "Woman, shut the hell up! Can't you ever keep your trap closed?" The exchange between them had heightened the Captain's concern and he wanted to know more but Huggy beat him to it.
"Listen girlie, what guy are you talking about? Was he drivin' that car?" Huggy still held Beth by the wrist and pointed her in the direction of Hutch's LTD. Dobey let him continue, realizing he didn't trust himself at the moment to keep a professional attitude. He didn't like where the conversation was headed.
"Yeah, I was tryin' to get away from him," She pointed her head in Jimmy's direction, "when I ran into this really sexy guy! I was so upset that when I reached him, I just couldn't help myself and I collapsed in his arms and man, did he smell good!" At the memory, she licked her lips and curled a piece of hair around her finger.
Dobey regained control of his emotions enough to ask a question of his own.
"Did this man have blond hair or brown?" The captain waited for an answer he didn't want confirmed.
"Ohhh, he had the best hair, all curly and dark. I like my men with lots of hair. He had the cutest little mole right here…" She pointed to a place under her eye and continued to dream about the handsome man. She'd really hoped that Jimmy's crazy scheme would have worked and that they'd find him and she could sit between the two macho specimens. What an adventure that would be!
"But then Jimmy had to go and screw things up when he started beatin' on him because the guy had his arms around me."
"Beth if you don't stop talkin', I swear I'll… " Jimmy's frustration was cut off by sirens in the distance. He pulled at his restraints.
"Captain, excuse me for saying so, but she just described Starsky. Just like him to try to help out a woman in trouble!" Huggy let go of Beth's wrist. He shook his hand, trying to get the circulation back. He hadn't realized he'd been holding Beth's hand so tightly. Now they knew about Starsky, but they still weren't any closer at finding out where the two detectives were. Huggy tried not to think too far ahead and gladly stepped away from the little group as the police cruisers pulled up to Dobey's car.
Huggy walked over to the side of the road as the ambulance pulled over to the shoulder. The bar owner stared at it, hoping the rescue vehicle wouldn't be needed. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He paced up and down, taking a drag of the cigarette and blowing it out his nose. Smoking always calmed him down and helped him think. He watched as Jimmy and Beth were loaded into two different police cars. Jimmy continued to complain about Beth and for her part, she just jabbered on, with no particular subject to her ranting.
Huggy thought about what the girl had said about Starsky. She never mentioned the blond. So where was he? What had happened that the two of them had gotten separated? Neither man would have willingly let the other out of their sight unless they'd not had a choice. But Beth never said that Starsky was concerned or upset about anything, she just never mentioned Hutch. Why would he be hitting on a woman if Hutch were in danger? Huggy flicked his cigarette to the ground and stomped at the butt.