CHAPTER 14

Hutch jerked awake. Heart pounding, his eyes swept around the room. A soft moan from the man lying on the bed caught his attention, and he was instantly at his partner's side. Starsky's eyes were still closed, but the brunet was agitated, moving his head back and forth restlessly as his fingers curled into fists.

"Shhhhh…" Hutch brushed his fingers against his partner's cheek to soothe him. "It's okay, buddy. You're safe now. Hutch is here." He leaned closer and whispered in Starsky's ear. "I'm here, buddy. Hutch is here now."

Starsky quieted immediately. Hutch sensed that he had slipped out of the coma and into a deep, healing slumber. With a practiced eye, he cataloged Starsky's various injuries in his mind. Severe bruising and lacerations to his face. His right cheekbone and the orbit around his eye had been broken. His jaw was broken in three places, and his lips were swollen and cracked. Three broken ribs and a punctured lung on the right side. Cigarette burns on his arms and chest. Six broken fingers, three on each hand. His left wrist had been dislocated and three fingernails on his left hand been ripped off. The doctor had told Hutch the night Starsky was admitted that his vital organs were starting to shut down and he was minutes away from death His internal injuries included badly bruised kidneys, a ruptured spleen, and a lacerated liver. Only the expert intervention of the doctors on hand had saved his life. That had been three days ago.

The desperate urge to relieve his bladder forced Hutch to leave Starsky's side. When he returned, he found Captain Dobey sitting next to the bed,

"Hey, Cap," he greeted his superior cordially. "How's it going on the case? Anything new?"

"Lonnie seems to have dropped out of sight," Dobey told him gruffly. "We've got a state-wide A.P.B. out on him."

"What about Jessica?"

"She's been charged as an accessory to abducting a police officer and attempted murder. She'll probably be able to cut a deal with D.A. for testifying against Lonnie and helping you find Starsky before it was too late."

"What about the money man? Any word on who hired them in the first place? They couldn't have pulled this off alone."

"We've brought in Miss Reed's fiancé, Jimmy Dalton, for further questioning based on some new information we just got from the police in his hometown. It seems that he took out a seventy-five thousand dollar insurance policy on Miss Reed just before she left on this tour. One with a double indemnity clause if her death was ruled accidental." Dobey paused to take a deep breath and adjusted his bulk in the too-small hospital chair. "They also went back and re-opened the case into his parent's death. They think now that he may have had something to do with it after all."

Hutch sighed heavily and nodded. Nothing shocked him anymore. He had seen it all in his years on the streets, every kind of conceivable evil that man could do to his fellow man. "How's Mandy holding up?"

"As well as can be expected, under the circumstances. She pretty upset obviously, but I don't think she was all that surprised about her fiancé's possible involvement." He smiled slightly "On the brighter side, she did win the most promising new female singer nomination at the awards show."

"Who's going to interrogating Jimmy Dalton?"

"I thought you might like that little assignment," Dobey told him with a thin smile.

"Yeah, I would," Hutch answered with a twist of his upper lip. He bent over Starsky's bed and gently rubbed the knuckles of his right hand against his partner's cheek, a familiar gesture of comfort between the two men. "Have to take care of some police business." He said softly into a curl-covered ear. "Don't you go anywhere while I'm gone." As much as he hated to leave Starsky at a time like this, he had a job to do. With a grim look of determination in his eyes, Hutch followed Captain Dobey out of the hospital room.

At police headquarters, Hutch went directly to interrogation room C where Jimmy Dalton had been cooling his heels for the last hour and a half, waiting for someone to talk to him. Leaving a potential witness or suspect alone for a long period of time before questioning them was a common police tactic intended to throw them off balance and make them more likely to crack under the pressure of an interrogation.

Jimmy Dalton looked up when the door to the room opened. If he was surprised to see Hutch, his expression didn't show it. He appeared to be calm, but Hutch saw the nervous twitch in his cheek. A highly skilled interrogator was trained to recognize the little gestures and nuances that helped them to recognize when someone was lying or when they were telling the truth.

"It's about time." Jimmy grumbled belligerently. "What's the meaning of this? I thought you people found out who was responsible for trying to hurt Mandy."

"We found the people that we believe were hired to do that, yes." Hutch replied. "We just have a few more questions to ask you so we can clear up a few loose ends."

"Of course. Whatever I can do to help resolve this so Mandy and I can get on with our lives."

"You can start by telling me about your relationship with Jessica Arnett and Lonnie Baker."

"They both work for the show. Jessica is one of Mandy's back-up singers, and Lonnie is part of the road crew."

"I just find it a bit of a coincidence that they are also both from your hometown."

"I'm not sure what you're implying detective, but just because they come from my hometown doesn't necessarily mean that they were friends. I knew who they were, yes, but they didn't exactly run in the same crowd as me or Mandy. And with this tour coming up at the last minute like it did, it wasn't that unusual to hire some of the crew from our hometown for open positions. Randy's from back home too. Besides, I don't have anything to do with hiring any of the crew or other performers."

Although his explanation sounded plausible, instinct told Hutch that he wasn't being entirely truthful. He decided to let it pass for the moment and move on to the issue of the life insurance policy.

"Do you mind telling me why you took out a seventy-five thousand dollar life insurance policy on Mandy just before the tour started?"

"Standard procedure," Jimmy said coolly. "Mandy was the star performer at my club. I was just protecting my interests."

"Just seems like another one of those little coincidences," Hutch stated mildly. "There seem to be a lot of those that keep popping up."

"What are you trying to say, Detective?" Jimmy asked with a smirk. "That I had something to do with this whole thing?"

"Did you?"

"Of course not! And I resent the implication that I did! Maybe I should call my attorney before I answer any more of your questions."

"You have the right to do that. Of course, it does tend to make you look suspicious. We're just talking here. You're not being charged with anything." Hutch kept his tone calm and innocent. If Jimmy called a lawyer, the interrogation was over. "But, of course, it's all up to you, so, by all means, call your attorney. I'm sure you have nothing to hide."

Jimmy appeared to think it over and then shrugged his shoulders. "You're right. I have nothing to hide. Go ahead. Ask me your questions, detective."

His condescending attitude grated on Hutch's nerves. He was going to enjoy bringing him down.

"You mentioned before that you were just waiting for Mandy to set a wedding date, but it seems like her career is more important to her right now."

"It's important to both of us. In the music business, you have to strike while the iron is hot."

"Still, it must have really pissed you off when you found out she had an abortion without telling you she was even pregnant to begin with. I know I would have felt like knocking the hell out of her."

"That's over and done with. Nothing to do about it now except accept it. There's plenty of time to start a family later." A hard edge crept into Jimmy's voice alerting Hutch that the abortion issue was still a touchy subject.

"Still, how'd that make you feel?" Hutch lowered his voice. "That was your kid and she didn't even tell you about it until after she got rid of it. She just went and killed it, threw it away like so much garbage. All because her career meant more to her than a baby…your baby." A thin smile tugged at Hutch's mouth as he continued in the same sympathetic tone, "A career that you helped her build. Hell, you made her a star by letting her sing at your club. And this is how she repays you? Looks like her career means more to her than you ever did."

"Her career…" Jimmy sneered "She wouldn't have her precious career if it weren't for me."

"That's right," Hutch agreed, sensing that a break though was eminent. All he had to do was keep pushing. "You gave her everything and how does she repay you? She throws it all back in your face."

"Yeah, well, that's all about to change."

"Guess you really showed her, huh? Now she knows how dangerous it is out there on the road. She's safer staying at home with you."

"Yeah, next time she might not be so lucky,"

Hutch hid a satisfied smile as he deftly led Jimmy into his trap. "Too bad Lonnie and Jessica didn't do what they were hired to do…and after they got paid all that money…"

"Stupid fucks…should have just done it myself…" Jimmy said. His face suddenly paled as he realized what he had said.

"James Dalton, you're under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder." Hutch said with a tight smile.

Jimmy vaulted to his feet, looking around the locked room frantically. "You tricked me!" he yelled. "You can't prove anything!"

The door to the room opened and two uniformed officers rushed into the room. They immediately restrained Jimmy and put him in handcuffs. He ranted and raved, screaming his revenge, as he was led from the room. Hutch ignored his outburst and gave a heavy sigh, relieved that it was over. He rose to his feet. He needed to get back to the hospital, to Starsky.