Chapter Ten

Captain Dobey stared at the phone as he laid it back on the cradle. He took a slow breath and read over the information he had scribbled on the notepad before looking back up. He stifled a sigh as he thought about how he would normally be handing this job to two partners but this wasn't a normal day.

Starsky cleared his throat and raised an enquiring eyebrow. "Well?"

"It seems Huggy's information was on the money. Ferretti just took a call from his snitch. He's arranged a meeting for half an hour."

"Where?"

Dobey pulled the top sheet of paper off the pad and held it out. As the detective went to snatch it out of his hand he suddenly yanked it back.

"Captain?"

"You don't know how deep this goes yet. This is surveillance only at this stage."

Starsky reached out for the paper again and Dobey handed it to him. "Play it carefully."

"Don't you think I know what's hanging on this?" The question came out harsher than he intended but he couldn't contain his agitation.

"I've got one missing detective already!" Dobey exploded. "I don't need to be looking for another one!" As suddenly as it had flared the bluster seemed to die out and he sighed.

"I know what I'm doing Captain."

"Get out of here."

"And make sure you come back," he muttered as he watched the solo detective race out the door.

He sat for a few minutes and again stared at the phone on his desk. He knew he was walking a thin line but he wasn't yet ready to call in the FBI. Doing that would make him the one who had called another cop dirty. Not that he shirked responsibility but it made him sick to his stomach to know what that phone call meant.

Starsky hunched down in the car and watched as Hanlon came hurrying out through the door and headed across the garage. The Torino was parked at the front of the station and he knew Ferretti would have to pass it on his way out. The nondescript green Ford he had borrowed from Huggy was certainly not his taste but it was a lot less likely to be picked up as a tail. There was no way he was going to lose the two men he held accountable for his partner's disappearance. He refused to give voice to the thought that they could also be responsible for his death.

The two officers eventually drove past in a black and white and Starsky allowed several more vehicles to follow before he pulled out into the traffic. Even though he knew where Ferretti was supposed to be heading he didn't want to risk losing them. It was only a five minute trip to the agreed meeting place and Starsky pulled in behind a small moving van which was being unloaded. He waited until the two men climbed out of their cruiser and headed down an alleyway before he slipped out of his own car and followed them from a distance.

From his hiding place behind a dumpster Starsky could see the meeting but not really hear anything. A mousey looking man who he knew only by sight was pacing back and forth in an agitated fashion. It never ceased to amaze him where Huggy got his information from but it was generally worth listening to. The apparent snitch looked like a stiff breeze would knock him down and yet he was now arguing wildly with the two cops.

The conversation only lasted another few minutes and suddenly Starsky found himself having to scramble around behind the dumpster as Ferretti and Hanlon came storming back down the alleyway. He could only catch snippets as they raced past him but it was crystal clear that both men were furious. He waited another minute until they had reached the end of the alley and was about to slip out from behind the dumpster when he heard footsteps coming towards him. He squeezed back into the gap and held his breath.

Huggy's contact hurried past and headed out onto the main road. Starsky gave him a minute to turn the corner before heading out to follow him. He was torn between following on foot and heading back for his car but the decision was quickly made for him. The snitch climbed into the nearest taxi and was gone before he had a chance to get across the road. It was second nature for a detective to note licence details and it only took minutes for him to get to his car and scribble down the details. Dobey had said it was surveillance only and as much as he hated the lack of action there was nothing else to do but head back to the precinct.

On the short drive back his thoughts kept returning to the blood stains on the dock.

Where are you?

He glanced across at the empty seat beside him and felt the bile rising up his throat. It wasn't often that he was on the job alone. Even when he was undercover he still knew his partner always had his back. It always worked both ways but suddenly the empty car felt overwhelmingly empty. He had no idea where his partner even was and had no hope of covering his back.

"Each time they keep telling me that you aren't coming. That you don't know where I am."

His partner's words echoed across the empty space like an accusation and he flinched. How could a dream have turned out so accurately?

"I don't know where you are! Tell me where you are!"

One of the hardest parts of police work was dealing with all the unknowns. Starsky gripped the steering wheel tighter and tried to block out the fears that were crowding for his attention.

"The only thing that woulda stopped me looking for you would be if I was dead!"

"Well I ain't dead, Blintz and nothing is gonna stop me looking until I find you!" Starsky looked across at the empty seat again and felt a little foolish to be talking to thin air. It did nothing to lessen his resolve though and he frowned. "You hear me? Nothin'!"

As he pulled into a parking bay Starsky's mind was racing. Hanlon and Ferretti had run from their meeting pretty quickly and they weren't happy. Putting the major pieces together wasn't all that hard. Obviously Hutch had stumbled onto something last night and now the two rogue cops were trying to cover their tracks. The question of whether or not they were dirty was no longer a question to Starsky. The real question was how many more were tainted too. He slid out of the driver's seat and cautiously walked down the sidewalk towards the front door.

He was barely in the front door before Ferretti came bounding up the stairs from the garage entrance. Hanlon was nowhere to be seen and it was all Starsky could manage to stop himself from looking around for him.

"Any news, Detective?"

"What?"

"From the search teams?"

Starsky had to force down the angry retort that was rising from the pit of his stomach and pretend that he knew nothing of the man's deception. After all, if he could trip one of them up he might just be able to glean something useful.

He shook his head. "Nothin' yet. But the ground crews are still out there. I came in to check out the forensics information and see if they could give me anything new."

"Is it true they found Hutch's gun at the dock?"

Starsky tried to keep a neutral face. He hadn't handed it to the forensics team at the dock. He hadn't even mentioned it at the time. It wasn't until later that he had handed it to Dobey.

"Yep."

Ferretti shuffled slightly and looked like he wanted to ask something further but stopped himself. "Well, uh … let me know if there's anything new will ya?"

"Sure. Gotta go." Starsky headed for the stairs and tried to shake the feeling he needed a shower.

Dobey was on the phone when Starsky walked into his office and judging by the look on his face, the conversation wasn't going as he wished.

"That's my detective you are talking about!" He gripped the phone tighter and glared across at Starsky. "No! I don't believe that for a minute!"

If Dobey could have climbed down the phone line and strangled the caller, Starsky was pretty sure he would have.

"Now you listen to me you …." The captain looked about ready to explode. "Thanks for nothing!" He slammed the phone down and pounded a fist into his desk. "Damn IA!"

"Cap'n?"

"You remember Dryden from IA?"

"The moron who tried to arrest Hutch for Vanessa's murder?"

"That's the one! Well guess who Internal Affairs assigned to this case?"

Starsky was quickly putting the pieces together and could see why Dobey was so furious.

"He thought Hutch was dirty then and it seems he still thinks so."

"What! Hutch was cleared of any involvement!"

"It seems that maybe Dryden and his idiot partner didn't take too kindly to being wrong."

"So I'm guessing we can't expect much help from that end."

Dobey scrubbed his hands through the sides of his hair. "Well their motive for finding him is a little different to ours. And there's a little less concern about what condition he's in when we find him."

Starsky was subconsciously flexing his left hand as he remembered the last time he had worked with the two IA ghouls. Simonetti had a hard jaw but Starsky had a mean hook.

Before he could say anything further the phone began to ring again. Dobey snatched it up.

"Yeah, he's right here."

The captain held the phone out.

"It's Huggy. Says he needs to see you right away."

Starsky didn't bother to take the phone but ran for the door. Dobey just shook his head. "Stop doing that!" he muttered to himself.

"He's on his way."