Hi all,
Thank you so much for the fabulous and kind reviews, wow! Right back at all of you as well. Blush!
Joy Ride ch. #4
Dobey drove away from Sam Eggleston's house. Mr. Eggleston was missing his brown '65 Dodge truck. Dobey and Hutch had arrived at the man's house to see if he had any idea about what had happened to his vehicle and how it had ended up torched in a junkyard across town.
The man had an air tight alibi. Mrs. Eggleston had had a mild heart attack and was taken to the hospital early Saturday afternoon. Mr. Eggleston had stayed by her side the whole time. He had returned home to pick up some things for his wife on Sunday when he saw the news bulletin on TV. He drove over to his work shop three blocks away and noticed his old Dodge was gone and called in on the hotline number.
Hutch stared out of the passenger window, and saw none of the scenery that Dobey drove by. After some time had passed, Hutch blinked and looked around "Where are we going?"
"I'm taking you home. You need to get some sleep"
Hutch raised his finger at Dobey.
"That's an order, Hutchinson!" The big man was totally unimpressed by the blond detective's angry stare. "I am ordering you off duty for the next-" he glanced at his watch "ten hours"
Hutch opened his mouth.
"I mean it Hutchinson, you set one foot in the precinct and I will suspend you. I will also have an officer make drive bys at 'The Pits', so don't think you can drown your sorrows there"
"You can't do that. It's illegal" Hutch leaned back in the car seat and eyeballed his captain.
"Watch me. Go home, get some sleep and I will see you first thing in the morning. If anything happens, if we get a lead, a clue, anything, someone will call you"
"What about my car?"
"I had one of the patrol officer's drop it off at your apartment. Stay home tonight Hutchinson. I need you bright and alert Monday morning"
"But-"
"No buts Hutch" Dobey adjusted his grip on the steering wheel.
"Captain, d-do you think…that..." Hutch ran a hand through his now messy locks.
Dobey sighed heavily and pulled over to the curb "I don't know what to think. I know I'm not giving up. I know that to be at my best, I need to eat, drink and sleep. I also have a great deal of faith in the Lord above" Dobey put out his hand to forestall Hutch's pending interruption "I know that you are not strong in that belief, I understand. And I will pray hard enough for the both of us."
"Thanks Cap, it means a lot to me… and to Starsky"
The rest of the drive to Hutch's apartment was done in silence. Each man lost in his own thoughts. Dobey stopped in front of Venice Place and Hutch exited "Take care son, I'll see you in the morning" He knew what he would see the next day at the office. It would be one red-eyed, exhausted detective. Dobey knew he would be just as red-eyed and exhausted as the blond, come morning. Sometimes he felt like such a hypocrite.
XXXX
Hutch entered his apartment, looked out the window and just caught sight of Dobey's tail lights making a turn up the street. He placed a hand on either side of the window frame and slowly leaned forward until his brow touched the glass. The glass felt cool on his face. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep, measured breath.
He opened them and he stared off into the night "Starsky, where are you?"
XXXX
Starsky awoke to a sound. A 'whooo-whooo' sound "Hutch! Hutch? What's that?" He sat up in his sleeping bag. Or tried to anyway. He couldn't move and when he tried, it hurt. Really hurt. He paused and panted the pain away. Instead of fading, thepain grew. He was hot. It was so hot. He tried to move the sleeping bag off his head; he managed to move it a little. Dirt fell in on him. Dirt?
"Hutch? Where are you?" pain lanced through him, he tried to curl into a ball to relieve the pain. More dirt rained down. The heat was stifling; the sleeping bag was too tight around him. This was dumb. He was trapped in his own sleeping bag. He struggled to move and the movement caused immense pain. He gasped "Hutch… help"
"Hey, hey Starsk! What's wrong buddy?"
Starsky was relieved to hear the smooth, gentle voice of his friend, he tried to move to see his friend and pain slashed through him, stopping him "Hurt…I h-hurt. Wh-where are we?" He opened his eyes, but could see nothing.
"In the woods, dummy, don't ya hear the owl?"
Starsky fought the pain back a bit "Woods? What're we doin' in th' woods?"
"Camping"
'That explains the sleeping bag' Starsky thought "W-why am I in so much p-pain? Did a bear attack me?"
Hutch laughed, soft and low "No, you were hit by a truck"
That answer confused him "Hit by a… truck? Then… what am I doin' in the woods?"
"Camping" Came the answer.
"Wait… if I was hit by a truck… why are we camping?" bees began to swarm around his head, he wanted to swat them but remembered, just in time, that moving hurt.
"Oh, 'we' aren't camping"
"But you just said we were camping… Hutch, I-I really hurt… I think I need a doctor" sweat started to run into his eyes. The sweat mixed with the dirt and turned to mud, the gritty substance scratched at his lenses. He couldn't believe how calm Hutch was about him being in pain. "We're camping?" It didn't make any sense.
"'We' aren't camping. You're the one in the woods in a sleeping bag. I'm not"
"Wait… if I'm in the… woods… camping… and you're not in the woods… how are we talkin'?" a groan of pain issued past his clenched teeth.
"You're delirious... I'm not really here"
"D-delirious? W-why am I delirious? Only someone who is really sick… or hurt bad…" Starsky had to stop talking and gritted through another wave of pain. The buzzing bees droned louder in his ears.
"Starsk… I gotta go now"
"NO! Don't go! Ya gotta tell me w-where I am… h-how did I get here? W-why do I hurt sooo m-much?" he clenched his teeth until his jaw ached.
"Sure buddy, I'll tell you. You're in the woods, you got hit by a truck" Hutch's voice started strong but faded as the sentence went on.
Starsky panicked "Hutch! Don't go! P-please… you have to tell me…why can't I seem to m-move?" he had to listen hard to hear the answer as Hutch's voiced grew quieter.
"They buried youuuuu" Hutch's voice then faded completely away.
Buried? "Huuuutch!" Starsky's pain filled world disappeared along with his friend.
XXXX
Hutch awoke kicking his covers off his bed, he was drenched in sweat. He rubbed his chest; it ached. He then noticed he was breathing very harshly, as if he had been running really hard for a long time, it was as if he couldn't get enough air.
It was dark in his room, too dark; he reached over and snapped the bedside lamp on. That was better. He tried to remember his dream… he must have had a whopper of a nightmare to be this worked up over it. He thought hard. Nothing came to mind, just a vague, closed in feeling and a feeling of being too warm. But his room wasn't very warm and he was cooling off quickly.
He put a hand down on the bed beside him and found that both the top and bottom sheets were soaked. He glanced at the clock. Three a.m. It was Monday morning. He rolled out of bed and headed for his shower, eager to renew his search for Starsky. He would be at his desk by four a.m., to hell with what Dobey had said.
XXXX
Mel walked out of his first period class, Algebra, it was all ABC's and 1, 2, 3's to him, it was like alphabet soup, letters and numbers swirling around in a confusing bowl. When the hell was he EVER going use that stuff?
Mel was walking from Algebra class to Biology class when he heard someone call his name, looking about; he spotted Jake heading out a side door. He trotted to catch up to the other boy. He looked about, no one was around them "Hey Jake! Wait up!"
The sandy-haired boy glanced over his shoulder and gave a little nod and kept walking out the side door.
When Mel caught up with Jake, he was lighting up a cigarette. "What is it? I gotta get to my next class in two minutes" he looked at the wall clock located inside the building; he'd have to run to make it on time.
"Did Ashley call you yesterday?" The boy took a drag off the cigarette and blew the smoke out, not making eye contact with Mel.
"Yeah Jake, she called me right after the bulletin… we killed a cop!" Mel glanced around; petrified that someone might be near. Thankfully, no one was.
"No, Ashley accidentally hit him. 'We' didn't murder him. We helped her bury him, well; actually, we did all the digging." Jake's voice was low and almost nonchalant, but Mel knew him better than that. Jake was scared. "What did she tell you?"
Mel blushed, he wasn't gonna tell Jake that Ash had told him she was falling for him.
"She told you she loved you, didn't she?" Jake snorted and rolled his eyes; he leaned back against the school and looked at Mel.
"How'd you…?" Mel could feel his face heating up even more.
"She's told me that before, when she wanted something from me, it's her way of getting things. Don't believe her and don't trust a thing she says" Jake took another drag of the cigarette and dropped it to the ground. He took extra time grinding it into the pavement. He exhaled the smoke and looked out at the athletics' field, that grass sure looked inviting; it just begged to be walked on.
"What? Why not?" Mel now had one minute to get to class.
"She doesn't mean anything she says. Ashley looks out for Ashley, always… don't ever forget that" It was a far too nice of a day to stay in school any longer today. Jake had done what he needed to do here anyway.
"How can you say that? She's our friend" Mel shot a look at the clock, shit! He was gonna be late!
"If she were really our friend, she would talk to us regardless of what anyone says" Jake made eye contact with his friend.
"No! She-"
Jake pushed away from the wall "Ashley is for Ashley, she don't give a fat rat's ass about anyone. I'm outta here" he sauntered away without looking back at Mel. He had warned Mel, if he wanted to blow off the warning… Jake shrugged and continued to walk. It was just too nice too spend anymore time inside. He began to whistle.
Mel stared after Jake. The period alarm rang. Class was in session. Mel bolted back inside and ran down the nearly empty hallway to his next class.
XXXX
SMACK!-
Mel sat up straight in his chair when the yardstick hit the desk in front of him.
"Mr. Wagner? Do you care to join in this discussion?" the teacher asked.
"Ummm, I'm sorry… I was daydreaming… what was the question?" He looked at the clock, three more minutes until class was over.
"What is the over all process of rigor mortis?"
"Rigor who-dis?" his face reddened at the other students laughed at him.
The teacher sighed "rigor mortis – it's Latin for 'stiffness of death'"
Mel was instantly interested "Could you please tell me?"
"I'll go over it one more time, it'll be on the test tomorrow, by the way…rigor mortis tends to affect the smallest muscles first, and then spread throughout the larger muscles. Typically, rigor is first apparent in the small muscles of the eyelids, then the lower jaw and neck, followed by the limbs. When rigor affects the levator muscles first, the eyelids open and the muscles stiffen. Thus, when rigor affects the orbicularis muscles shortly afterwards, the force of contraction they produce is not enough to overcome the stiffness of the levator muscles and the eyes remain open. You do not need to know all the medical terms, just the process of it" The dismissal bell rang, interrupting the teacher "Remember class, there is a test tomorrow, please be prepared"
Mel closed his book and waited until everyone else was gone "Mr. Schemid?"
The teacher turned around "What can I help you with?"
"I… was just wondering, does everything that dies get rigor morris?"
"It's rigor morTIS, and yes, pretty much everything, cats, dogs, frogs-"
"Humans?" Mel held his breath.
"Yes, humans, is that all? I can tell you more, but I don't want you to be late for your next class" Mr. Schemid looked at him.
"One more quick question, how long does it take to set in… in a human, that is?" Mel again held his breath, a cold sweat slowly starting up his spine; he could feel his heart beating faster. He hoped Mr. Schemid couldn't hear it.
"In broad terms, in warmer temperatures, it can occur as early as thirty minutes, but as long as four hours to take full effect. But remember the ambient temperature has an effect as well, it's all in chapter ten-"
"Thanks, I… uh, was just curious, gotta go… don't wanna be late for class, thank you" Mel bolted from the room and he headed off to his History class.
When he reached his desk in History, he popped open the Biology book to chapter ten and read it closely. His heart rate increased with each paragraph he read. By the end of History, he knew that the three of them had probably buried the man while he was still alive. The bell rang just in time and Mel barreled down the hall to the boys' room, where he threw up his breakfast into a toilet.
He sat on the floor for several minutes and then he climbed to his feet and searched his pockets for a dime. He had a phone call to make.
XXXX
Dobey peered out his office door as Hutchinson wandered back to his desk. He knew Hutch had come in early, so had he. He could tell by the detective's body language that the lead he had responded to was a dead end. He picked up the photos that the lab had delivered to him and took them to Hutch.
Dobey handed the envelope to the blond "Here, these are the last …er; these are the pictures that Starsky took before…"
Hutch grabbed the envelope and tore it open. Four pictures of the Torino spilled out onto the desk. He picked them up, one by one and studied them. They were beautiful, the car never looked better. He swallowed hard. "Is… is this all of them?" He stood up and walked to the file cabinet and leaned against it. He closed his eyes as the pain hit him. Those four photos might just be the last ones Starsky would ever take.
"Yep, there were no other pictures on the film… just those four" Dobey picked one picture up and stared at it.
Hutch's phone rang and he picked it up "Hutchinson… what! Transfer the call to me!" he put his hand over the mouthpiece "Pick up the other line Cap… some kid is calling, says he knows where Starsky is… Sandy? You still on the line? Put a trace on this call, record it too… you are? Great! Transfer it now"
Hutch held his breath and waited impatiently for the transfer to be made, when he heard the click, he forced himself to calm down "Hello? ...Who is this? ...Can you give me your name, please? ...Why not?" When he heard the answer, he paled and flopped down hard in the chair.
His legs had lost all strength and his stomach clenched hardwhen the boy told him about a joy ride gone wrong. And about a man they had accidentally hit, then buried. The crying boy was difficult to understand.
"Could you repeat that?" Hutch had to listen very hard to hear what the boy was saying.
"I-I said… I d-don't think that he was… d-dead when we buried him…" the boy sobbed " we thought he was… d-dead, we really did… but in cla… but today I heard about rigor mortis" more heavy sobbing could be heard "I think he m-might h-have been still alive… when we… I'm sorry, I'm sorryImsorryImsorry-" -CLICK-
Hutch paled, Starsky might have been ALIVE when they buried him? Oh Dear God, NO! He traded a look with his equally distraught Captain when he heard a click and then a dial tone "Hello? HELLO?" Hutch looked at Dobey "Dammit! We were disconnected…" The blond punched the buttons on the phone "Sandy? Tell me you got a trace… a partial trace? …WELL WHERE DAMMIT?" When he heard the general location, he slammed down the phone and ran for the door.
Dobey headed into his office to make the appropriate calls and had several squad cars sent to the area to assist Hutch in his search for the caller.
XXXX
Mel stared at the hand that had just disconnected his call at the public phone booth; he blinked away the tears that were blinding him and turned around to see who had interrupted his call "What the…? Ashley?"
TBC
