Hi all,

Thanks for taking the time to read and review, it is most appreciated! There are more answers in this installment. Any remaining questions will (hopefully) be answered in chapter 10.

As always, I must thank the Usual Suspects for their unusually high quality of friendship, help and support! You ladies are the very best!

Chapter 9

Ruby twitched the curtain back into place. The detective was gone. That had been far too close. Hutchinson had almost found his friend. It had been a good thing she had known something was wrong and had returned home when she had. Her mama had always told her that she had a third eye – a minds eye- that it would guide her and it had. It was now telling her that the detective would return, though she couldn't tell just when. Her vision was hazy in regards to that.

She went to the photos of her family and caressed the glass over their still, cold, photographed faces. She grabbed her gardening gloves and headed out to the garage to collect the supplies she would need. It was time to take the garbage out.

XXXX

Hutch headed back towards the highway, his brain churning as he pondered his next move. Something kept nagging in the back of his mind. Something wasn't quite right. He looked in his rear view mirror at the road that led to the secluded home of Miss Tuesday.

An object rapidly moved into his peripheral vision and he slammed on his brakes, narrowly missing a young teen on his bike.

"Watch where the hell you're goin' man!" The kid shouted as he flipped him the finger and continued on his way.

Hutch wiped a shaky hand down his face. If his reaction time had been any slower, that kid would have been gone with the Schwinn, "Gone with the Schwinn." He chuckled nervously at his own wit. That had been a close call; he'd almost hit that kid. He eased his foot off the brake and looked around carefully. Kids were like deer, where there was one, there was likely to be several more around, somewhere.

'Schwinn… Schwinn…' He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he glanced about, the LTD slowly inching forwards. 'Wait… wasn't that the brand of bicycle that Ruby had?' He stepped back on the brake and closed his eyes as he envisioned it. The bike itself was a powder blue. The swooping stylized letters had been white, spelling out the word Schwinn. He reached down and fingered his torn pant leg. Her pedal had caught it because part of the tread was missing. Hutch felt like he had just been gut punched. It couldn't be? Could it?

Hutch grabbed the radio mic "Zebra three to control!" He pounded the hapless mic on the dashboard of his car when they didn't respond quickly enough for him. "Answer me dammit!"

"Go ahead, Zebra three. What's you're beef Hutch? You sound a little uptight."

Normally that kind sort of response from Mildred would have made him laugh, but not today, "Can it Mildred! Contact Dobey and tell 'im I think I know where Starsky is! I want some backup at 5150 Pacific View Road, gimme an ambulance too!" He didn't wait for a response, just dropped the mic and slapped the mars light on the roof of his car. The beat-up LTD's engine roared as the blond stomped down hard on the accelerator. He skillfully spun a tight u-turn, pealing rubber as he headed back the way he just come.

XXXX

Starsky awoke to the now familiar feel of the rat nibbling and licking at his fingers. He blinked dumbly at the rodent as it wavered and shimmered in his blurry vision. He shook his hand to get Mickey off of it. It was only a matter of time now. It was likely that no one would ever find his body down here. He'd end up just like that other guy, the owner of the skull he had found. He was dying, he could feel it.

His feverish brain skittered about, even now doing what little it could to avoid the inevitable. He clutched the coin tightly in his left hand and hung on to it for all he was worth. He wasn't gonna go down easily. He wasn't ready to give up just yet.

And then dirt began to rain down on him.

XXXX

Hutch's LTD roared up the road, mars light spinning, kicking up clouds of dust and gravel as he hustled back to the fortuneteller's home. He slammed on the brakes, kicking more dust in the air. He could hear the car's gears grind as he attempted to shift it into park, he didn't go far enough over with the lever, and the LTD was in neutral. Hutch didn't notice as he was out and running, leaving the car to continue to roll forward, it only stopped when it hit the white picket fence.

The lanky detective vaulted the fence and ran towards the house, pulling his Magnum as he did so. Something caught his attention off to the right. It was Ruby, she let go of the wheelbarrow she was pushing and it tipped over. She raced across the yard, away from him. Hutch bolted after her.

The fortuneteller disappeared in some bushes; Hutch shoved his way past the thick barrier only to nearly plummet off a cliff. He was only barely able to keep himself from falling off the cliff. His toes hung over the sheer drop; he windmilled his arms to keep from going over the edge. He looked down as bits of rock tumbled and banged their way down the face of the cliff. He caught his balance and heaved a sigh of relief before looking for the woman.

He looked around and saw that Ruby Tuesday was standing about ten feet away from him.

"Wh-what did I m-miss?" she asked, panting for breath as she watched him intently.

"What?" Hutch was nearly as winded as she was, after his frantic drive, short sprint and near tumble off the cliff. Since she was unarmed and on the brink of suicide, he put his gun back into its holster.

"I must've missed something, something that brought you back to me. I must've gotten a little careless, what was it?"

"Please step away from the edge and I'll tell you." Hutch urged, using his softest, most persuasive voice as he held out a hand to her.

"I can't do that detective. I'm not going to jail. I'd rather go to Heaven." She smiled at him. "Can't you let me go? We're on the same side, you know."

'Oh… so that's how this is gonna go.' "Please step away from the edge." He coaxed as he wiggled his fingers a little to encourage her to grab them. She didn't seem to notice, so he continued talking to her. "What did you mean when you said we're on the same side, Ruby?" He inched towards her.

"We want the same thing officer, we both want justice." She snuck a peek over the ledge.

He sighed, "We have courts and laws for that." While she had looked down, Hutch edged nearer.

She returned her attention back to him, "Yes and that system fails far too often. The guilty walk away without ever paying the proper price for their crimes. My system of justice is better."

Trying to buy time until backup arrived Hutch continued with his questions, "How is your system better?"

"I'm judge, jury and executioner. Justice and I work together." She smiled brightly. "The guilty always get a life sentence; they are imprisoned until the day they die, then God gets his turn. He drops the ultimate gavel on them and they spend an eternity burning in Hell." Ruby laughed.

Hutch gulped at that, but covered it by asking, "Where's my partner?"

"His sentence has been carried out." She gave a firm nod.

A lump formed in his throat, but he managed to speak, "Sentence? What did you do to h-" Hutch cut off the accusation, fearing it might make her jump to her death. "What did he ever do to you?" He moved ever closer to the fortuneteller, she didn't seem to notice.

"When I touched him last weekend, I knew he was guilty. I always know. It's my gift." She sighed. "His case was difficult to try, it took longer then all the others. But in the end he was found guilty."

Hutch gasped, "Guilty? Guilty of what?"

"Murder, he's killed people. I saw him shoot a car… the gas tank exploded and the men burned to death. Then he just rode away on a motorbike… Left the scene of his crime, like the devil himself was chasing him. I knew he was guilty when I first saw him. And then when I touched him…" Ruby rubbed her arms as though cold, "that was when I knew he would be the death of me. And he would not be tried for it. He would once more get away with causing death without ever serving a single day behind bars. I couldn't let that happen. Justice will be served."

"What?" Confused by the mad logic, the blond slowly shook his head, "I don't understand… you're not dead. And those men you saw, they were kidnappers who had just shot me. Detective Starsky shot the tank so the fuel would run out, thereby stopping the car... Contrary to what you see in the movies or television, it's very unusual for a car to blow up like that. There was no way he could have known that would happen."

Hutch continued speaking as he closed the gap between them, "There is no reason for this, please let me help you." He moved an inch closer, keeping his hand out towards her as he kept talking, "You said his sentence was carried out…" He let the words dangle, trying to drawn her in, gain her confidence so she would tell him where Starsky was.

Ruby quickly counted on her gloved fingers before looked up at him, "It's now day six, by now justice was served. They never live past day six."

"Who never live past six days?" Hutch gulped, 'Was Starsky already dead?' No, he wouldn't allow himself to believe it.

"The guilty ones, of course." Ruby pulled off her gardening gloves and let them drop over the side of the cliff. They fluttered down the face of the cliff like flower petals.

Hutch stiffened, "Please, just step away from the edge Ruby. Please?"

She put her hands on her hips, "You must think I'm stupid. I know you what you have in mind and I didn't even have to consult my crystal ball. You are going to try to stop me from jumping. Then you'll send me to jail, where a psychiatrist'll evaluate me. I won't be free to continue my life's work. I can't let that happen." She stepped closer to the edge.

He edged a hair closer to her. "Please, step back, just a little, so we can talk… Why are you doing this?"

"Why? I was raised to believe that you get what you pray for. After that farce of a trial five years ago, I couldn't wait any longer for Him to drop the gavel. I decided to do it all myself… I made sure that the guilty paid the price for his crimes. And he did. And they do. I can always tell when someone is guilty. They can't hide the truth from me. I am judge, jury and executioner. Justice and me have been friends for years now, but now it looks like it's not just us, justice. Not anymore." She stepped off the ledge and fell without a scream.

"NO!" Hutch leapt forward, trying to grab her hand, his chest slammed into the rough rocks on the edge of the cliff, his arm reaching downward towards her. "No!"

He closed his eyes, so he wouldn't have to watch as she bounced off of rocky protrusions that stuck out of the cliff face. But he couldn't stop the sounds of muffled thuds of the body as it dropped and crack of bouncing rocks that had been loosened by the fortuneteller's fall.

Abruptly, the sounds stopped. The blond slowly opened his eyes. The woman's body had landed chest down, her arms and legs were bent and twisted into impossible angles. Eerily enough, her face was turned upwards and even at this distance, she seemed to be staring at him. Hutch closed his eyes and carefully backed away from the cliff's edge. When he was on firmer ground, he carefully stood up and headed back the way he came.

"Where the hell's my back up?" Hutch huffed as he sprinted towards the house. There might be a clue or something in the house, something that would tell him were his best friend was. Starsky had to be somewhere on the property.

Hutch burst into the small house and called out Starsky's name as he threw open doors and tore through the home. One room caught his attention, not because his friend was in it, but that it was made up to look like a courtroom. Curiously, there were large spot lights and tape recorders placed strategically throughout the room. He wondered briefly, what they might have been used for before his worried mind skittered back to the whereabouts of his missing friend.

The thought of Starsky having to endure a mock trial made him shudder. What made him even more ill was the realization that Ruby Tuesday had been at this for a while. Serial killers –if that's what she turned out to be - usually got more proficient, and their fantasies more elaborate, with each kill, if that held true in this case… A cold knot formed deep in the lanky detective's belly. Starsky could very well be dead. But Hutch was not about to give up hope just yet.

He headed back to the kitchen and looked out the window above the sink to the backyard. Where the hell could his partner be? The fortuneteller wasn't a very big woman. Where could someone her size move a live person or dump a body? He then remembered the crazy things she had said to him when he was looking at the wishing well. She had said something about the well being dead, with only a worm in the bottom of it… The well! That had to be where Starsky was.

Hutch dashed out the door and across the lawn "Starsky! Starsky!" He slipped and fell to his knees in his haste; he got back up and ran around the huge dogwood bush to the wishing well. The wooden structure had been moved a few feet and the shaft of the well was visible, there was loose dirt and a shovel next to the rim.

His blood froze in his veins, it looked liked she had been about to dump dirt into the well... most likely to bury Starsky. Another thought hit him; maybe she had had time to dump dirt into the well already.

Frantic, Hutch flopped to his belly "Starsky! Starsk? I'm here! C'mon buddy, answer me!" he shouted down the well. He tilted his head and listened for a response. Once his echoes faded, there were no sounds issuing from the well.

Time was of the essence and he had to get to Starsky now, if his friend had been buried in dirt, he only had a few minutes to dig him out before he suffocated. Hutch got to his feet and bolted to the garage to look for some rope so he could get down to his friend. Just inside the garage door was a rope ladder. He grabbed it and ran back to the well.

Realizing he needed to tie the ladder to something sturdy, he crashed his car right through the white picket fence and drove across the yard to the well. He quickly grabbed two rocks from a flowerbed boarder and chocked his wheels. The blond tied one end of the rope ladder to the frame of his car and carefully dropped the rest down the well.

Fear fumbled his fingers as he struggled to tie a sturdy knot. After tugging hard on the rope to make sure it was secure, he started down the ladder. As he descended, the smell of decay, human waste and death hit him. He choked and gagged at the stench as he hastened down the ladder, fearing he was already too late.

Hutch's eyes adjusted to the dim of the well and he breathed through his mouth, trying hard not to think about what it might mean. As he neared the bottom, he could make out the form of his friend, lying on his side next to the wall. "Starsky? C'mon buddy, don't do this."

Worried that he might be too late, Hutch hustled the rest of the way down the ladder, dropping the last few feet to the ground. He knelt next to the still form. About a two-inch layer of dirt covered Starsky and the bottom of the well. The blond brushed the dirt off of his friend's head as he leaned down close and put his hand to Starsky's cool face, as he listened for breaths and felt for a pulse.

The blond couldn't feel one at first, so he repositioned his fingers and was relieved to feel a weak and rapid pulse fluttering beneath his fingertips. He then leaned in to make certain Starsky was breathing; he was, and those were rapid and shallow. Hutch released the breath he had been holding. "That'sa boy Starsk, I knew you wouldn't let me down." He set about gently brushing the dirt off of his friend so he could check for injuries or broken bones.

As he proceeded, it bothered Hutch how cool to the touch Starsky was. After removing much of the dirt, he eased the limp body into his lap and tenderly caressed the slack face to remove any remaining dirt from around his eyes, nose and ears. He carefully cradled the brunet's dirty head in the crook of his arm. He took in how sunken Starsky's eyes were, how blue his lips were and also noted the slight swelling of his hands and feet, which could indicate poor circulation.

He took a small pinch of skin on his friend's arm and gently pulled up, before releasing it. The bit of skin stayed tented several long moments before slowly collapsing and smoothing out. It was terrifying to see, for it meant his friend was extremely dehydrated. Hutch hugged him a little closer, fearing how near Starsky was to dying.

And if he hadn't come back when he had, if he had been even a few minutes later… Ruby would have buried him, alive. Hutch shivered as he imagined Starsky choking on the dirt, since he was far too weak, he would have been unable to move to avoid it.

An answering quiver ran through the brunet.

"Easy Starsk, easy… I'm here, I'm here." He carefully worked his fingers through the tangled curls, unmindful of the oil, dirt and smell. None of that mattered. Starsky was alive. But not for long if more help didn't arrive soon. Hutch pulled him closer and started rubbing and even breathing on his partner, anything to help him warm up.

Continuing his ministrations, the lanky detective picked up Starsky's dirty and cold left hand, Hutch noticed the tightly clenched fingers; he worked gently on opening them. It took some doing, since he could only use one hand, but when he pried the digits apart, a coin slipped out and rolled onto the floor. Hutch recognized it as the one he had pitched in the well after making his wish. He had wished to find Starsky and his wish had come true. Ruby was wrong; this wasn't a dead wishing well after all. Tears started welling up in his eyes. He blinked to force them away.

Starsky shifted in his lap.

"Easy buddy… I've got ya…" Hutch choked back at the growing knot in his throat.

Sunken eyelids weakly fluttered, a low hissing sound escaped the cracked, parch lips.

The blond tilted his head and put it close to Starsky's lips, straining to hear whatever Starsky might be trying to say. Dry lips brushed against his earlobe. "Shh, Starsk… don't try to talk, 'kay? Help's on the way."

Light blue eyes turned upwards, the circle of bright light high above him, seemed to be mocking him. Here it was, a bright, sunny afternoon. And here he was, down in a stinking pit of despair with his best friend clinging to life in his arms. Was this how Starsky had felt as he endured his six days here? He swallowed hard at that notion.

"Where the hell is my backup?" Hutch snarled quietly as he tightened his grip on his fading friend.

TBC

Author notes: Pony gave me the idea about the kid on the bike. Thanks Pony! And 'Gone with the Schwinn' comes from the 'Muppet Movie', I –think – the line was, "That was close, I was almost gone with the Schwinn!" Kermit said it after a steamroller smashed his bike flat, and nearly poor Kermit too. –G-