Chapter 12

The ambulance came quickly to Venice Place and the two paramedics shouldered their way through the small crowd that had formed at the entrance to the steps to the apartment. Helene had come out of her shop, wondering what was going on with the handsome cop from the upstairs apartment and was talking to one of the other store keepers. Ken Hutchinson was always so quiet – almost the perfect tenant and he endeared himself to his neighbours by always being on hand to do odd jobs, open tight bottle tops and water plants.

As the two medics made their way upstairs, one of them paused to check over the woman sitting on the bottom step in handcuffs. Sue had been momentarily knocked out by the fall down the steps, but fortunately her landing had been cushioned by Captain Dobey's padded bulk and although she was shaken, she was relatively uninjured…..and tight lipped. The paramedic checked on her once, asking if she was ok. She snapped that of course she wasn't ok, but refused any medical treatment and so the man continued his way up the stairs as a uniformed officer stood the woman up and escorted her out to the waiting car.

Inside the apartment, Dobey still sat by the side of the unconscious cop. Hutch had continued to moan Starsky's name once or twice and his hand had managed to cramp around the coin he'd found in Sue's purse. But his eyes remained closed and sweat beaded on his brow as his body continued to shudder from the pains in his stomach. The Captain divided his time between checking periodically on the blond, and trying to reassure Kiko that he could have done nothing more and that in fact he may have saved Hutch's life. The young man's nose had stopped bleeding but it was evident even to the Captain that it was broken and as one medic took the young man by his arm and led him away, the other knelt by the side of the stricken cop.

'What happened? Who is this?' the paramedic asked

'His name is Ken Hutchinson, but he's known as Hutch. He's been sick for a few days and then I think the woman downstairs tried to smother him. Is he gonna be ok?' Dobey asked.

The medic placed his hand on Hutch's brow, raising an eyelid as he shone his penlight into the blond's eyes, noting the sluggish reaction of the irises. 'Hutch, can you hear me buddy? My name is John and I'm gonna try and help you. Can you open your eyes for me Pal?'

John leaned in close, trying to discern what Hutch tried to whisper, and looked around for clarification. 'Starsk? Is that what he's saying? What's starsk?'

'That's his partner. We thought Starsky was dead but now….now I'm not sure. I need to um….'

'You need to come with me. You look like you've been in the wars yourself and I need someone to tell me more about him. He looks to me like he's been poisoned. After that, we can sort out your mystery.'

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The apartment block stood cold, grey and lifeless in the early morning dawn. Grey concrete surrounded mean grey windows whose grey, dirty glass stared out at the world like so many depressed eyes. The building had stood empty now for two years, it's residents long gone, along with almost all of their possessions. Some of the windows still had drapes over them, but most stared soullessly out onto the building site across the way. Condemned as it was, the apartment block had not as yet suffered the final fate of the demolishers wrecking ball, but it was standing on borrowed time.

Inside, only two rooms were occupied. One room held a sofa, whose stuffing protruded from tears in the leather upholstery, a television set, a table upon which stood empty bottles of beer and a telephone. The residents of that room had been sitting idly in front of the television set for almost two days now while they waited for the phone to ring, and both were getting bored.

In the other room, Starsky lay propped against the wall of the bare concrete shell, his eyes closed and his breath shallow and rapid. In the two days since the final beating, the only contact he'd had with Mutt and Jeff had been the times when they'd come in to force more of the poisoned water down his throat. He'd long since given up the struggle with them. He had so little strength any more that all his energy was taken up with breathing and keeping the heart beating within his chest. Bruises marred his body, the broken bones stood out at odd angles and he had a raging fever. The water caused pains in his stomach and his vision had deteriorated to the extent that he saw the world in monochrome and as though down a cardboard tube. Starsky knew he was dying; the only question remaining to him was whether he should fight every painful step of the way, or whether he should simply succumb to his body's wishes and let the inevitable happen.

The only thing keeping him going right now was the thought of Hutch and of what would happen to his buddy if and when someone did find his body and Dobey would have to tell the blond that Starsky was this time dead for real. He cursed Sue Gardner up hill and down dale, realising now that she'd stalked the both of them, feigning love for Hutch just to get to the both of them. The only thing he couldn't work out was why and try as he might, Starsky could think of no-one they'd ever come into contact with who'd been called Gardner. Ben Forest had had a daughter, he knew who may have been married, but she'd been committed to an insane asylum shortly after they'd arrested her father. And besides, Heather Forest had been a tall girl with stunning black hair, nothing at all like Sue.

The brunet tried to shift himself against the wall. The room felt cold to him and the bare concrete leached the warmth from his body. Despite having been given his jeans back, he was still without a shirt and he longed for the feel of a warm comforting sweater around his shoulders, the idea of snuggling into the warm fabric being both alluring and tortuous.

Seconds seemed like minutes and minutes seemed like hours, each marking of time being more painful than the last as the curly haired cop tried to reason out his existence. Things had once seemed so easy. He and Hutch would ride the city in his striped tomato, chasing down flakes, making their arrests and then celebrating with a beer and a girl. Life had been good.

Then came the shooting and his struggle to recover and as he'd lain in the hospital bed, he'd made a promise to himself and to Hutch that when he got out and made it back to the precinct, he'd grab every day and live it as though it were his last. Because he'd stared death in the face, not once or twice, but three times. He'd cheated the grim reaper out of his catch on three separate occasions, but he knew now what it was to be mortal; how he would only ever travel that road once and each minute that passed could never be relived. As he lay in that room, craving human contact and especially contact with his partner, he felt as though he was reneging on his promise to himself. By wanting to end this miserable existence and die, he felt that he was going back on his promise to Hutch and to himself, but he knew he couldn't go on much longer. If Hutch thought he was dead, there would be no escape; no cavalry coming over the hill and no blond knight on a white charger come to save him.

Starsky closed his eyes, no energy left to keep awake, and as he drifted off into a troubled sleep, he dreamed of Hutch. The blond was walking towards him, his hand outstretched as though welcoming him, or beckoning him, but as he got closer and reached out to touch the golden haired man's hand, Hutch withdrew it' 'Don't give up Starsk. I'm comin' buddy. It'll take a while, but I'm coin' Just hang in there huh? Just a while longer. I'm comin', I promise.'

As Starsky slipped further into his sleep, he clung onto that thought and a small smile played over his broken lips. Hutch. He'd seen Hutch again.

In the other room, Mutt and Jeff were getting tired of waiting. Sue had given them a phone number to ring only in emergencies, should they ever need it and now Mutt took the phone and stared balefully at it.

'She aint gonna call and we aint gonna get paid.'

'Sure she'll call.'

'It's been two freakin' days. She aint gonna call I tell ya. We should use the number.'

'She'll be mad as hell.'

Mutt snorted. 'Do I look like I care? I'm pissed off with waitin'. He's beginning to stink an' I'm fed up of the game. I'm gonna call her.' He punched numbers into the telephone and jammed it to his ear as he waited. The phone rang and rang and finally was picked up. An Asian accented voice picked up and answered, taking Mutt by surprise.

'I wanna speak to Sue' he said down the line.

'Sue? Sue who? No-one here called Sue' the voice said sullenly.

'SUE. S.U.E.' Mutt spelled the name as though that would help.

'No-one here called Sue' the voice persisted and put the phone down, leaving Mutt staring at it. The man's temper broke and his face took on an angry red hue. Yanking the telephone line out of the wall, he flung the receiver across the room with a yell.

'The fuckin' bitch! She double crossed us. She aint there' he yelled

'What d'ya mean, she aint there? Where is she?' Jeff asked

'If I knew that, d'ya think I'd be so fuckin' angry?'

'Hey, buddy, calm down. You'll blow a fuse!'

'I'll blow more than a fuckin' fuse! Don't ya get it ya moron? She aint there. The boss lady has done a runner. The woman with the money is gone. We. Don't. Get. Paid.'

'We don't get paid?' Jeff said slowly. Obviously the slower of the pair, there was a moment while the news sunk in. 'So what do we do?'

'We split.' Mutt said simply.

'What about him?' Jeff motioned with his head towards the other room.

'He's almost dead anyway. Leave him. He aint goin' nowhere.'

'Someone might find him' Jeff said doubtfully.

'What if they do?'

The bigger of the two men shook his head. 'Dunno.'

'So what do ya wanna do?' Mutt asked.

'I wanna finish him. If we don't get pain, at least let me have a last bit of fun.'

Mutt grinned at his buddy. 'Always the workaholic. What'm I gonna do with yas huh?'

'Well can I?'

Mutt nodded. 'Sure, but don't be long. There's a game we can catch if we're outa here soon.

Jeff headed out of the room as Mutt set about trashing it, leaving no sign that it had ever been inhabited by them. So busy was he that he didn't see the shadow move past the open doorway down the hall and Jeff was too busy relishing his job to take notice either.

The big man snapped the door to Starsky's room open, causing the cop's eyes to open. Starsky regarded the heavy with trepidation, his face a picture of resignation of what was to come. The men's presence only ever meant more bruises and more hurts and he braced himself, pressing his body against the wall, as though he could insert himself into the very concrete to escape. He locked eyes with the big man who walked towards him, a shadow of the former defiance still alive in the bloodshot indigo right eye. The left had long since swollen shut and was now caked and sealed with dried blood.

'We're gonna be sayin' bye bye now' Jeff said.

'Can't say I'm sorry' the cop grunted hoarsely.

'Aww, an' I though we got on so well together.'

'Yeah, sure. Best buddies huh?' Starsky snickered.

'Sure thing.'

'So?'

'So I wanted to tell ya' Jeff hunkered down by the side of the cop who flinched away from the man's body, expecting a blow. It didn't come, for the moment and Jeff continued. 'I wanted to tell ya how much fun it's been, but I'm so sick of your screamin' and groanin' an' all that "Oh God Hutch" shit. It really pulled at my heartstrings!'

Despite himself, Starsky felt the temper rise and he summoned the small amount of saliva in his mouth. 'Go fuck youself' he managed to grind out.

Jeff smiled wolfishly, the comment being what he'd been waiting for. The heavy stood, towering over the brunet as Starsky stared back at him, defiant to the last. Without a further comment, the man took one step back, looked over his shoulder as though checking around him and then swung his booted foot at the cop's head.

Starsky's whole head exploded in a blaze of pain as he felt his jaw crack under the power of the blow. He had time only to register surprise and the word "Fuck" sounded in his head before the world winked out as his body toppled slowly sideways and he fell to the floor.

Without a backwards glance, Jeff walked swiftly out of the room, meeting up in the hallway with Mutt. A moment later they ran from the building, leaving the unconscious cop to his solitary fate.

Only the shadow watched what had happened and very slowly and stealthily, it approached the man on the ground.