CHAPTER 10

Back at Hutch's apartment a soft knock on the door demanded Starsky's attention. After a pause, he walked over to the door and said cautiously "Who's there?"

"Lee Chang."

Starsky slipped the chain off the door and opened it. Mr. Chang stepped inside and Starsky closed and locked the door behind him. "Have a seat." Starsky said.

Mr. Chang walked over to the sofa and slumped down, drained and exhausted, physically and emotionally. Starsky carefully made his way over to the sofa and sat down beside the distraught oriental.

"Now, what were you trying to tell me earlier?" Starsky asked in a quiet, soothing voice.

"Early this morning…the men came back. They left a bomb. Mei must have heard them…she was downstairs when it exploded." Although his voice was carefully controlled, Starsky could hear the emotions behind his words.

"So that's why Hutch went out. Didn't you talk to the police?"

"No…I left…after I found her…after she died." Chang admitted "I've been walking…thinking. I should have told you the first time. Look at the damage my silence has caused…my Mei is dead…the restaurant gone…your injuries…" He took a deep shuddering breath to compose himself. "About eight months ago…men came to buy our land. They offered us good money. Many sold. Others waited. I didn't want to leave the restaurant. My parents had built it…many memories there. I saw no problem…"

"But those guys didn't see it that way." Starsky finished for him.

"Yes. They came back to change my mind. They got nasty. Things arrived broken, shipments got lost, customers got harassed. They sent men to beat me up and you got involved." He struggled for a moment with his emotions. "I only meant to ask you about the legalities of their actions. Now, they've destroyed everything."

"We can get them now." Starsky told him. "I'll need your help. Can we get others who will verify what you told me?"

"I think so."

"Good. Can you drive? We can take my car."

"Yes."

Starsky was startled by another knock on the door. In a quiet voice he said to Chang, "Are you expecting anyone?" When Chang shook his head, Starsky motioned him into the sleeping alcove where he would be hidden from view.

"Who's there?" Starsky asked as he crossed to the door.

"Starsky? It's me…Julie. Can I come in?"

Starsky undid the chain and opened the door to admit her.

"Hi, stranger." He said in a pleased voice "Had me going there for a minute. Thought you might be one of the bad guys. Just had a witness show up."

"Oh, yeah…me a bad guy." Julie said with a nervous laugh. She was glad that Starsky couldn't see the expression on her face. "Who's the witness?"

"Lee Chang. He's the owner of that restaurant I told you about…you know, where I got this…" Starsky said with a light tap to his head.

"What seems like a bit of luck." Julie said hoping he wouldn't hear the tension in her voice.

"His place was bombed this morning and his wife was killed. He was calling Hutch and got me instead." Starsky explained. He smiled widely. "You're right. I can still function…be of use. We're gonna chase down the facts…find the guy behind this."

"That's good news, Dave. But don't you think you should tell Hutch about this and let him do the chasing?"

"No. I wanna get a handle on this and surprise him."

"Oh…I'm sure it will…and not only him."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Just thinking out loud. I'll see you later…Okay?" Suddenly, she was anxious to leave. She needed to relay this information to Kaufman as quickly as possible.

"Sure." Starsky said as he walked her to the door. She left, the scent of her perfume lingering in the air. If he had been functioning up to par he would have picked up on her nervousness and tension but in his present condition, his game was a bit off. He had no reason to suspect Julie of being anything more than his physical therapist.

At a construction site across town Hutch made his way past the piles of boards, chuck holes and heavy equipment to a parked trailer with a sign out front identifying it as the office. Reaching the closed door, he knocked loudly. When there was no immediate answer, he knocked again. Louder.

"Just a minute." A filtered voice called from behind the closed door. The door opened and Kaufman stood in the doorway. He scowled when he saw Hutch standing there.

"Can I help you?" he said in a tight voice. Hutch started up the steps but Kaufman immediate stepped in front of him, stopping him from entering the trailer without permission. "Whoa…hold on a minute. Who are you and what do you want?"

Hutch pushed his way past the other man and into the trailer with a smirk. "Don't give me that, Sam." He said sarcastically. "Your memory must be awfully bad if you don't remember me."

Kaufman's mouth tightened into a hard thin line as he followed Hutch into the trailer. Hutch turned to face him with a thin smile. "I've been to see a few people this morning, Sam. It seems like there's a lot of interest in this little government project of yours."

"Well, you know how it is…anything to do with the government these days gets scrutinized. Why are you so interested? I'm clean, Hutchinson, so this better be good."

"Just investigating a few problems with this project." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture of Joey and Tomaso. "These turkeys look familiar?"

"Uhhh…they did some work for me a few months ago. Bodyguards." Kaufman said as he studied the picture thoughtfully. "That's all."

"If you're so clean then why do you need bodyguards?"

"I don't have to answer any more of your questions without a damn good reason, Hutchinson." Kaufman said belligerently. The phone on the desk rang shrilly. Grabbing the receiver, he snapped, "Yeah?"

"I've got to talk to you." Julie's voice said in Kaufman's ear.

"I'm sorry but that can't be arranged at the moment."

"It's important. It's about Starsky." Julie insisted

"I understand. But, I'm afraid I can't help you right now. Perhaps you'd like to call back in a little while and I'll see if I can find that information for you."

"Oh, okay…I gotcha." Julie said finally catching on. "I'll stop by in a couple of hours."

"That would be fine. I'll be expecting you."

Kaufman hung up and looked at Hutch disdainfully.

"I'm busy, Hutchinson. If you have no further business here you can leave."

"About these two goons…"

"If I see them around, I'll call you. Now is there anything else I can do for you?" Kaufman said in an irritated voice.

"Not at the moment." Hutch said calmly. "I'll let you know if anything turns up."

"You do that, officer." Kaufman said coldly as he turned his attention to some paperwork on his desk, dismissing Hutch.

Hutch let himself out of the office and climbed into his car. He knew Kaufman was heavily involved in whatever was going on but he didn't have enough to prove it. Not yet.

He drove back to his apartment to check on his partner. He was disturbed when he pulled up in front of the building and noticed that the Tornio was no where in sight. Climbing out of the car, he bounded up the steps to his apartment.

There was a note hanging on the front door. Silently he read the somewhat smeared scrawl:

"Hutch,

Have some new info on the Chang case. Checking it out. Don't worry. Starsk"

"What the hell does he think he's doing?" Hutch muttered under his breath as he unlocked the door and let himself into the apartment. Crossing to the phone, he thought for a moment and then picked up the phone and dialed Julie's number.

"Hello?" she said after a couple of rings.

"Julie, it's Hutch. Have you heard anything from Starsky? He left a note saying he was checking out some info on a case."

"I dropped by this morning." Julie said evasively. "Someone was there with him but I don't know who or why. I'm sorry."

"Damn stupid thing for him to do. Look, if you hear from him could you let me know?"

"Sure. I hope you find him."

"I will. He'll turn up eventually. It was just a stupid thing for him to do in his condition." Hutch said "I have to go. I need to make some more calls and see if I can find out who he left with."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye." Hutch said. Hanging up the phone, he began running down a mental checklist of people who might be with Starsky. Huggy seemed to be the logical first choice. He picked up the receiver to make another call.