A/N: sorry about the delay in posting. I have to replace my laptop so I am sharing a computer right now with my granddaughter.
Chapter 11
After a good night's sleep, Buck and Hutch headed out early the next morning to begin interviewing the people who had known Dave Tuber the best. They decided to start with his ex-wife and daughter since they both still lived in the area. Melissa Tuber had never remarried and still lived in the family home. Her daughter, Robin, was married and expecting her first child in the fall.
Melissa Tuber greeted Hutch and Buck cordially but still with a certain amount of suspicion. She ushered them into a modestly furnished living room with a large bay window that overlooked her back yard.
"Would you like some coffee or some lemonade?" she asked
"No, thank you." Hutch politely declined. Buck did the same with a slight shake of his head as the two men sat down on the sofa.
Melissa smiled nervously and sat down in the matching chair sitting across from her guests. "What can I do for you, Buck? You're a long way from home this early in the morning."
"Melissa, we'd like to ask you some questions about David."
"David?" Melissa said, her eyes widening in alarm. "What on earth for after all this time? Does it have something to do with his body finally being found?"
"In a way. I can't go into any detail but needless to say, his body was discovered under rather unusual circumstances." Buck told her in the gentle tone that he reserved for skittish witnesses. "Before Dave disappeared did you notice anything unusual about his behavior? Anything at all?"
"We'd been divorced for almost six months when he disappeared." Melissa reminded him. "And separated for a few months before that. I really don't know what I can tell you."
"Why did you get divorced?" Hutch asked a question of his own. He had no connection to this woman so he could ask leading questions that Buck might not think of or want to dwell on.
"I don't suppose it matters after all this time…" she said with a sad little smile. "But, he'd been cheating on me for years and I finally had enough."
"What about after the divorce? Were there any problems that you were aware of?" Hutch continued.
"I know his little girlfriend broke up with him and he wasn't happy about losing the house or paying me child support and alimony." Melissa said with a hint of bitterness in her voice.
"Was he having financial problems?" Buck asked
"He was always having financial problems. Paying the bills was never one of his priorities…everything else was."
"When you had him declared legally dead so that you could close his estate…did you notice anything unusual then?" Hutch asked
"Yeah, he had five thousand dollar deposit in the bank shortly before he died," Melissa said "He never had that much money in the bank…and it was gone anyway when I finally was able to settle things."
"Gone?" questioned Hutch. "Did you report this?"
No, " replied Melissa. "I figured David had taken it out and there was just a clerical error. Besides, I was happy to be able to get hold of his state insurance...I had two children to raise and you need money for that..."
"Do you have any idea where it came from?" Buck asked.
"His partner said he might have won it gambling…but Dave never gambled." Melissa said with a thin smile. "Unless that was another one of his secrets. Too tell the truth, I really didn't care at that point." She looked at Buck with a hint of fear "You're not going to talk to Robin or Brad are you?"
"We thought about talking to Robin since she still lives in the area." Buck admitted.
"Oh, please don't do that!" Melissa said in a suddenly frightened voice. "She was only eight years old when David left. She doesn't know anything that can help you…neither does Brad. Please, promise me that you won't talk to her. Her doctor said that she should avoid any stress right now because of the baby…she's already considered high risk."
"I think we can get by without talking to her." Buck reassured her with a soft smile. "Thank you for being so honest with us. We'll be in touch if we need anything else."
The two men rose to their feet and let themselves out of the house.
"Damn," Buck muttered as they walked back to the car. "I never knew he was treating Melissa that way."
"It's not exactly something you'd brag about." Hutch told him as they climbed into the vehicle. "…and what about that five thousand dollars? Do you know if he gambled?"
"He bet on the ball game, played poker with the guys once in a while…that sort of thing." Buck said "But nothing that would give him much of a payout."
"So where did he suddenly get five thousand dollars to put in his bank account?"
"I'm not sure I wanna know." Buck said with a heavy sigh.
"Where to next?" Hutch asked
"Let's go talk to Alicia Trent. She was the only eye witness we had to the abduction. She was pretty upset when the officers first talked to her…maybe she remembers something now that she forgot back then."
Twenty minutes later, Buck pulled up in front of a rundown trailer about ten miles outside of town. The rusted hulk of a car sat in the front yard and two small children were playing outside in the dirt. A willowy blonde stepped out of the trailer as the sheriff pulled up in front of the trailer. She was dressed in a pair of short shorts and a tank top that barely concealed her ample cleavage. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her makeup had been applied with a heavy hand.
"Hello, Alicia." Buck said with a friendly smile as the two men walked into the unfenced yard. "I'm Sheriff Hawkins from the next county over."
"You're out of your jurisdiction, Sheriff." Alicia drawled, batting her lashes at Hutch in a blatant attempt at seduction. "This is Claymont County."
"I know that but I'd like to ask you a few questions about the robbery that took place nine years ago…the one where the Deputy disappeared."
"That's old news. I told you everything I knew back then." She turned to the two small children and snapped "You kids get inside and wash up!" The two children ignored her and continued playing in the dirt.
"We'd still like to ask you some questions." Hutch said with a bright smile, turning on the charm. From the gleam in the blonde's eyes it was working.
"Okay, handsome. What do you wanna know?" she said with a simpering smile.
"Tell us what you remember about that day." Hutch probed gently.
"I had just started my shift when this green car pulled up out front of the gas station and two men got out. They had on these ski masks and they were carrying guns. They came inside and told me to give them the money in the cash register. I figured they must be pretty desperate since there was only about fifty bucks in there."
"What happened then?"
"I'm not stupid. I gave them the money. Then one of them grabbed me and tried to cop a feel. He said I was going with them…about that time the cop showed up." Hutch frowned slightly but didn't comment. "He got out of his car and told them to let me go, to take him instead. So they did."
"So they left you there and took the cop." Hutch clarified.
"That's what I just said." Alicia said with a stiff smile. "They took the cop and drove off and that was it."
"Thank you. You've been a big help." Hutch said, signaling to Buck that he was ready to leave. The two men walked away, leaving a very pissed off looking Alicia to stare after them.
As they drove away, Buck glanced at Hutch and said, "Okay, what do ya got? I know you picked up something back there."
"Doesn't it seem to you that your friend showed up pretty quick?" Hutch said "Maybe too quick."
"Are you trying to say that he may have been a part of the robbery?" Buck asked in a startled voice.
"I'm not saying anything yet." Hutch said "But it's something that we need to consider."
"That still doesn't explain how he went from being abducted at the scene of a robbery and then ended up in that box." Buck said in a frustrated voice.
"Unless the men who pulled off the robbery were the same men who had Starsky to begin with." Hutch said as he thought out loud.
"Then why would they take the time to rip off a dinky ass little gas station in the middle of nowhere?" Buck asked
"I don't know." Hutch admitted "There has to be some kind of connection. I just wish I knew what the hell it was."
"If we knew the answer to that then we'd probably blow this case wide open." Buck grumbled as he headed back towards his home turf. He'd uncovered enough disturbing facts about the man he had considered a friend for one day.
As he pulled into the driveway of his home, Hutch looked at him and said,
"Would you mind if I used your vehicle for a little bit?"
"That depends," Buck said with a grin "You ain't planning on paying Alicia a little visit, are you?"
"God, no." Hutch said with a hearty laugh. His eyes turned dark and serious. "I want to go up by the lake and try to talk to Starsky."
"You sure that's such a good idea? You're liable to get yourself shot." Buck said
in a concerned voice worried about his new friend's welfare.
"I have to try." Hutch said "He was my best friend. I can't just let it go."
"No, I guess you can't." Buck agreed "Just bring the truck back in one piece and try to bring yourself back without any holes in your hide."
"I will." Hutch promised with a grin as the two men exchanged places. Buck waved as Hutch drove away. With a sigh, he turned and trudged into the house. He hoped the big blond knew what he was doing. He had no idea how protective those mountain folks could get about their land and their families. And whether he realized it or not, his friend was one of the mountain dwellers now.
