Mickey moved quietly and slowly through the building. Some rooms had been finished and some were not. She had already avoided two traps, the first one cluing her in there would be others. On the second floor, a board gave way under her right foot as she was stepping on it, causing her to throw herself forward to avoid the two-story drop. Sitting for a minute to check her left ankle that twisted, Mickey retrieved a board to test the rest of the floor. The board being loose was no accident. Coming to a door and more cautious, she opened the door while standing to the left of the door. Her caution was rewarded as a sandbag swung to where she would have been standing if she had not been careful. The two traps would not have killed or seriously injured anyone; she wondered if this was the party Francine had referred to; they either would let her and Ken escape to see how well they navigated the traps; or the traps were there to prevent their escape.

The sandbag amused her, she said to herself, 'Didn't Kenny and I try that on Carlton?' They had put shaving cream for his toothpaste, prank-called him setting up non-existent dates to make him feel foolish while he waited for a date that never showed and many other things . . .

Mickey told herself, 'Focus!' as stepping on a newspaper made a crackling noise. That room was covered with them and could give her away if she continued, not to mention what might be under the newspapers.

She hesitated near a temporary staircase. Did Francine take Kenny out of the building or did she simply move him to another room in the building? It was a large building complex and she knew there had to be more of Francine's goons around. She needed to find a phone and get help. Had Stan figured out she had escaped by now?

"Hey!" She heard. "Ralph! There's the girl! She's getting away!" Ralph ran towards her and promptly fell when the floor gave way.

The second man slipped and fell down a temporary staircase several yards from her.

Banana peels, possibly Mickey thought, amused.

Two more men, more careful than the first two appeared. "Stop!" one called loudly as he raised his gun and fired a warning shot.

Mickey chanced the stairs and came to a halt at the top. There was a chasm from where she stood atop the stairs and only a very thin board between her and another floor with the distance probably about twenty feet. She would either have to stay where she was, go down the stairs where the two goons were closing in on her, or cross the distance. She decided to cross, counting on her good balance and planning to push the board off when she reached the other side. She reached the other side, heard multiple curses, then pushed the board to keep anyone else from crossing. It almost fell on one of the men inciting cursing.

Starsky and Big Ben heard the shot and rushed forward, narrowly avoiding stepping on some marbles and a trip wire. "Mickey!" they yelled.

"You stop right there, or we'll shoot!" Ralph raised his gun again and was about to fire when Starsky leaped, knocking Ralph down and the gun went flying. Big Ben shot the second man after seeing him aim his gun at Starsky.

Starsky was happily releasing some of his pent-up fury on Ralph, who was yelling for Stan to help him. Stan and Red had been handcuffed together as a precaution.

"That's enough, Starsky! Cuff him!" Big Ben yelled. The man who fell down the stairs and the one crashing through the floor were unconscious.

Starsky, panting, let up. "How many more goons are there, Stan?"

"Maybe two – if they didn't leave for lunch."

"Starsky!" Mickey yelled. "We have to . . ." and in her anxiety about Kenny carelessly took a step. There was a rope nearby and as the board started to give way, she grabbed the rope. The rope extended down to about twelve feet and was ratty and torn.

Seeing no other way to get her, Starsky yelled, "Where's a ladder?"

"I can't hold on that much longer!" Mickey exclaimed. "The rope is frayed; I can't count on it holding me!"

"Okay, Mickey," Big Ben said calmly. "Climb down as far as you can. I'll catch you."

Mickey did as he said as Starsky stretched out his hands.

"I'm seven inches taller than you," Big Ben objected, pushing Starsky aside. "Less of a drop for her."

The rope frayed more, and Mickey lost her grip. Big Ben caught her, hugging her tightly as he set her on her feet.

"You okay?" Starsky asked but was looking around for the other Hutchinson sibling. "Where's Hutch?"

Stan looked at Red.

"Where's Hutch?" Starsky bellowed, shaking Stan.

Before Mickey could catch her breath to answer, Stan leered. "Francine took him."

"Why?" Big Ben asked as Mickey leaned against him.

"Because she liked what she saw and decided to make him her next lover."

Starsky turned to Mickey, who was biting her lip and nodding.

"Why you . . ."

"Look, man, he went with her willingly to save his little sister. Mickey would be dead, otherwise. It's a good thing for her Francine is enamored with him; though it surprised all of us and even Francine that she fancied him."

"Because of me," Mickey said in a small voice. "He only did it to keep me alive."

Starsky gave her a small squeeze on her shoulder and then turned to the goons. "All right, I'm only going to ask this once. Where did she take him?" The blank looks he received sent a chill through his body.

TBC