Chapter 12

Despite one or two uncomfortable silences, the brunet managed to ignore his raging hangover and pretty soon was washed and dressed and ready to roll. He snagged his keys from the stand by the door and was just about to step outside when Hutch caught him.

'Uh uh buddy. No drivin' today. You still got most of the tequila distillery in your blood. Save it huh? You can chance an early death with me at the wheel instead.'

Starsky grimaced 'An' I thought my luck was changin' OK hot shot. Where first?'

'Back to the hospital to see Alice' Hutch said as they got into the car and set off. Starsky picked up the mic. and logged them in as rolling and then leaned his head against the headrest as he closed his eyes and battled to keep his stomach under control. 'Shit. With everythin' that happened I forgot to ask. How is she - Alice?'

'I stayed with her till late. She's messed up, but the Doc thinks she'll be ok. They did a real number on her though. Those wounds – there were burns, whip marks. You name it and they'd done it to her.'

'Who's they? Does she know? Is it that flake Martini again, cos if it is, I want to be the first one to get to him' the brunet growled. Although Alice had always made a point of preferring blonds to brunets, he still had a soft spot for the proud, beautiful woman. Alice always had a calmness to her and a down home sense of pride in the fact that despite the business she was in, she could at least support herself without handouts from the state to help her. She was witty, caring and had, on occasions consoled Starsky when no-one else had been able to in the only way she knew how. And she'd used her body tenderly, like a lover on those occasions, soothing him and making him feel like the most special man in the world. She seemed to understand completely the synergy that the two men shared and she admired the love and friendship they had for each other. Starsky cared for her like he'd care for a little sister – never on a romantic level, but he'd watch out for her out in the big wide world and deal with the bullies in the playground.

'I didn't get much chance to speak to her' Hutch said thoughtfully. 'They took her to the OR shortly after we got there and cleaned up most of her wounds under a general anaesthetic. Her face is a mess and they….' The blond paused, getting his anger under control before he continued. 'How can anyone get off on burning her hair? That's not sex. It aint even enjoyment, its just plain cruel….sadistic' he slammed his hands against the steering wheel in rage, his golden face red with anger.

'Hey, s'ok buddy. We'll fine 'em. She's special to me too' Starsky said softly.

Hutch tried to relax. I know, it's just she's….. It's like someone did this to my…'

'Kid sister, I know. Did she say anythin'?' Starsky finished.

'Not a lot. She was driftin' in and out for the most part. They had her on pain meds and they um….' Hutch ran his fingers through his own hair at the memory of Alice's golden locks. 'They cut most of her hair away Starsk. It's so short now. They said it was so that the wounds didn't get infected. She just looked so…. dunno, lost. I asked 'em to put her in a private room. She needs some privacy.'

'It'll grow back. It's just hair. At least they didn't kill her' Starsky said thoughtfully. 'Did she say anythin'?'

'Only that Martini owned the studio, but didn't have anythin' to do with the film she was in. She was tired and hurtin' and I didn't want to push' Hutch drew in to the hospital parking lot and pulled up in a space close to the entrance. He waited for a moment, running his fingers over his bottom lip. 'You think these snuff movies are for real?'

'Looks that way. But where do they get the girls? An' more to the point, if they do kill 'em what are they doin' with the bodies?'

The blond got out of the car. 'Dunno. But I'm sure as hell gonna find out.'

The two men walked along the quiet corridor to the room Alice occupied and Hutch knocked on the door before walking in.

Alice was led on her side facing away from the door, the uninjured side of her face cradled on her arm. Her once long luxuriant golden hair had been cut short, but earlier that morning one of the nurses, seeing her distress had helped her to wash it and had styled it so that now it was cut into an elfin shape which framed her face and made her look incredibly young. She looked around as the two men walked in and her face cracked into a watery smile. She turned over and propped herself up on the pillows.

'Hi handsome Hutch' she whispered in her southern drawl. Her hand went instinctively to her face, covering the bruising and cuts and her eyes refused to meet either Starsky's or his partners.'

'Hey Alice. How's it goin'?' the blond asked as he walked over and planted a kiss on the top of her head. His fingers trailed gently down the uninjured side of her face before he sat down on the side of the bed.

'Hey don't I get a share in the action?' Starsky asked.

Alice held out her arms to him and enfolded him in a hug. 'Hey Starsky' she said and kissed him on the side of his face.

'How're you feelin' honey?' the brunet asked. 'Up to tellin' us what happened?'

'Not really, but I guess I don't have too much of a choice huh?'

The brunet smiled warmly. 'Uh uh. We need to nail this sucker so that he don't hurt any more pretty girls huh?'

Alice put her hands up to her new shorn hair. 'I don't feel too pretty' she murmured sadly, her eyes downcast.

'You're still beautiful' Hutch said softly and rested his hand on hers. She smiled at him.

'You always were my knight on a white horse.'

Hutch snorted. 'Ok honey. So, tell us from the top huh?' he sat back and waited as the woman settled herself back on the bed, her face taking on a serious, pained expression.

'I had a new client. He was like most of the others. Ya know – don't tell my wife…. My friends should never know. I'm used to it. It's just one of those things that comes with the territory – the secrecy. An' I pride myself on bein' discrete. So, he saw me a couple of times an' then he said he knew of a place that was lookin' for models an' the money was good. He could make me famous an' I'd never have to work again. Well what's a girl to do? I was careful. After Janos beat me that time, I said I didn't want no kinky stuff an' the guy said there's kinky an' then there's kinky. He said it was a high class outfit an' if anyone did get hurt they'd pay the medical.'

'Well how gentlemanly can ya get?' Starsky grunted.

Alice smiled at him, loving the fact that these two men were prepared to watch out for her. 'So I told him yes. I was shocked when we got to the studio an' it was "Sexational Films", but Martini wasn't there. He still owned it, but the guy who was there said he leased it for the night. So we went to work an', well.' She looked away, embarrassed despite her usual line of work. Starsky took her hand and squeezed it encouragingly.

'I'm sorry hon. We need to know. What did he do?'

She studied the sheet covering her. 'There was another guy there. He was big – tall and muscular. He was the "star". So they um…. They had the chains and um… I told them I didn't do the kinky stuff no more but they ignored me. They were bigger than me an' they used the chains an' I was cryin' and tellin' them to leave me alone. But they kept sayin' I was doin' good, like that's how they wanted me to behave. They hung me from the ceilin' and the guy had a whip and he…..' she looked directly at Hutch, her eyes imploring him to let her stop, but instead the flaxen haired cop sat by the side of her on the bed and put his arm round her shoulder.

'You're doin' great honey. Keep goin' huh? We're here, me an' Starsk. We'll look after ya.'

Alice leaned against the big blond and sighed shakily. 'It hurt Hutch. And I was cryin' so bad, but they kept goin' and then they took a cigarette from the camera man and they put it out on me. I screamed an' they laughed an' did it again.' She put her hands up to her face as though trying to blot out the memory and snuggled against Hutch's body as Starsky sat at the other side of her and stroked her ravaged hair gently.

'Sssh. S'ok' the brunet crooned softly. 'You're so brave. It's nearly done Alice. Just tell us the rest an' then ya can sleep huh?'

The woman hitched a sobbing breath and nodded gently. 'I must have passed out coz when I woke up again, I was on a bed and my hands an' feet were tied to it. And the huge guy was over me. He had a candle and he kept burning my hair. I could hear it sizzle and then he put it down and started to….. He started having sex with me and then he put his hands round my neck and started to squeeze.' Alice looked up into Starsky's face wildly.

'He was tryin' to kill me. I couldn't speak. I couldn't do anythin' to stop him but I felt like I'd die and he wouldn't stop. He wouldn't stop doin' that' her voice rose and tears flowed down her cheeks as Starsky reached up and tenderly wiped them away.

'Sssh, s'ok honey. You did so well. You told us everythin.' Can you remember any names? Anythin' else?'

She shook her head from behind her hands. 'No. There were no names. They never said anythin'. I'm sorry. Help me? Make them go away?' she pleaded.

'We will. We'll get 'em' Starsky said, kissing the woman lightly on her cheek. By his side, Hutch looked away. They stayed a while longer with the injured woman. She had no living relatives and her friends didn't tend to come out during daylight hours and so she was lonely and relished the company of men who liked her for who and not what she was, But soon they had to go and they both kissed her and promised to come back soon and also come get her when the hospital discharged her.

As they went out of the door, Starsky looked back and winked encouragingly at the fragile woman, willing her to get better. At his side, Hutch sighed, folded his notebook up and stowed it away inside his breast pocket. he got up and kissed the woman gently on her cheek. A single tear slipped from the corner of her eye and with his thumb, Hutch tenderly brushed it away.

'Be brave Hon. And don't worry. We'll catch 'em' he said softly. alice smiled up at him tremulously and watched as the blond walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

'How could they? How could they do that? And how could she allow herself to get mixed up in somethin' like that?' Hutch asked wearily. 'What is it with these guys huh? Aint sex enough any more that they have to throw in all that violence too?'

Starsky nodded. 'Alice is a big girl. Most of the time she can take care of herself. And when she can't….'

'When she can't, we're here to pick up the pieces' Hutch said bitterly. 'God I can't wait to put these turkeys behind bars.'