FAULT LINE- PART 2

CHAPTER 10

TREMORS

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Starsky loved the dance club. The low lighting mixed with the different music choices made him anxious to dance. Mindful of the assignment though, he surveyed the crowd first and grimaced as he heard a familiar voice across the room. He watched Hutch and Kira at a far table. Hutch was dressed in a long trench coat, cap low over his eyes and why the hell would he wear sunglasses in an already dark setting? Hutch was loud and seemed to be enjoying Kira's company. She was laughing at something he said and they both had their heads together as if they shared a secret.

The dark haired man made a face but decided he should join in on the fun. He followed the procedure of the club and then picked out the other blond woman to dance with.

"Susan, anybody stranger than normal been seeking you out? Anybody overly anxious to spend time with you? And by the way,don't worry. Hutch and me are gonna stick close to you. One of us will be with you every night after closing, just like we outlined for you earlier."

"David, for the first time in weeks I finally feel safe. I need this job but not at the expense of being scared all the time. But haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. Just don't stray too far okay?" Susan rested her head on the dark haired man's shoulder, enjoying the strength she felt from the contact.

After a few minutes, he punched out his time with her and joined up with another of the women to dance with.

Normaly he would have enjoyed this opportunity to dance, but tonight, his feet weren't connected to his brain. He couldn't concentrate on the woman in his arms and for the third time, apologized to her for tromping on her feet. He excused himself, gave her a good tip and stood off to the side for a few minutes while he observed Hutch.

Since meeting up with Kira at the Golden Lady, Hutch had filled up his time with her. Now, Starsky was not the jealous type. He was too confident in his own ability to attract and hold a woman to worry that Kira could be more interested in Hutch than himself. The two had now been dating almost a month and were having a great time. But he just didn't understand what was up with Hutch. The drastic changes in his personality and looks continued to worry Starsky.

If it had been anyone else, the first explanation that would have come to mind was drugs. Well, perhaps pills but certainly not anything injected. But Starsky couldn't help thinking that maybe he was drinking too much and not sleeping. But the mustache and sloppy appearance were so unlike Hutch. Then his attitude had been in the toilet for months.

Normally Hutch was thoughtful and serious. Starsky always felt it was his job to cajole Hutch as much as possible. He tried to keep Hutch from taking life too seriously. Starsky was the one who had enough energy for both of them and tried to find the glass half full at all times. Lately though, his blond friend had done a 180 in his appearance and mood. Sloppy and loud was fine, but not when three months ago that same guy was fashion model handsome and reserved.

Shaking off the gloomy thoughts, Starsky turned his attention to Kira. Starsky had felt so restless before he met Kira. Since their first date, he felt-- jeeze, that was just the point. He'd felt nothing other than bitterness for so long that it was just nice to experience something positive for a change.

Starsky was a little embarrased at the way Hutch was hanging all over Kira at the moment. He was also slightly pissed that Hutch was sticking so close to Kira instead of mingling and trying to get some kind of feel for the place. They were there to look for a killer, not for fun.

Starsky ambled over to the table with the intent of reminding the two why they were there. He felt like Dobey, complaining and threatening, but without any clues, they needed to find something to go on as quick as possible.

"Hey, you guys wanna share the joke? Have you had time to nose around the place? Got any ideas-- Huh?"

"Ya just had to be here Starsk. Hey, who made you Mother Superior? Sit down, take a load off!" Hutch pulled his dark glasses down his nose, providing a better view of his disgruntled partner.

Hutch felt the disapproving stare melt his sunglasses so he decided it was time to change positions.

"Kira, why don't I get you back to the pool of ladies so Starsky here doesn't have a kitten. I'll reconcile with Chenille and you still have some time to mingle!" Hutch unfolded himself from the chair, tipped his hat to Starsky and followed Kira over to pay for her 'time'.

Kira waited while Hutch paid then he came back over to her. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. She handed over her house keys and stroked his face as she did so. He waved in Starsky's direction and left the club. She stood a few minutes, waiting to see if anyone approaced her. Since no one reached for her time card, she decided to join David at the Juke Box. He looked gorgeous and so vulnerable. She liked that about him.

His back was to her when she joined him so she leaned over his shoulder and kissed his ear.

Starsky turned around with her in his arms and moved her onto the dance floor.

"Riddle: what has two eyes, two arms and is crazy about you?" Starsky whispered in her ear.

"I give up", Kira breathed.

"I wish you would" Starsky pulled his head away and drank in the glow from her eyes.

Suddenly shy, Kira averted her gaze and bit her lower lip. She couldn't believe how the honest emotion she saw in those blue eyes made her toes curl. It had been a long time since any man had captivated her like David. She felt so fortunate to always be in the company of such handsome men.

The lights began to flicker over head signaling the end of the evening. Starsky sighed and told Kira she should go on home and he'd follow her shortly.

"But I already gave Hutch my house key. He said it was his assignment to be with me tonight and you'd be with Susan. See, she's over there, waiting for you." Kira looked confused at the angry appearance that covered Starsky's face.

"Well, no it was not his assignment. But doesn't matter. As long as you both are covered, it's okay." Starsky tried to reassure Kira that he was okay with the change. After all it wasn't Kira's fault that Hutch was playing some game. Starsky had no wish to try and figure out this new zinger obviously aimed at him by his partner. Wasn't worth arguing over.

Starsky gave Kira one last kiss on the cheek and went over to join Susan.

"C'mon Susan, go ahead and start home. I'll be there shortly. Just don't go in till I get there." Susan did as she was told and quickly got into her car. This wasn't the place to be loitering or daydreaming. Once she got in the car and locked the doors, she felt safe.

Starsky followed Susan and parked in front of her ranch style home. He followed her inside and made the rounds of each room, looking for any unwelcome guests. As he went from room to room, he tried to squelch the nagging annoyance he felt at Hutch for double crossing their plans. Lately it seemed that his blond friend and partner was discontent and had to have the last word about everything.

But pushing these dark thoughts aside, Starsky continued his survelliance inside the house. When all was secure, he reminded Susan to lock all the doors and that he would be sitting outside in his car until his replacement would take over.

"I'm gonna walk around outside then settle in my car. If you need anything, just flick your bedroom light on and off and I'll be in to save you!"

Starsky attempted to show some humor. He didn't want Susan catching on to his dark mood. She was already nervous about this whole murder threat. She had wanted to quit as soon as Starsky and Hutch had been ensconced in the club but they had convinced her that she would be doing a great service by remaining and they had reassured her that she would be safe. If she knew that the two detectives had been fighting about their responsibilities, then rightly so, she would have demanded to be let out of this nightmare.

"I know, David. I'm okay as long as one of you is around. But, before you go, can I make you a sandwich and some coffee?" Besides the blond hair, Susan had green eyes that turned dark when she was nervous. She moved to the kitchen before hearing Starsky's answer but he followed her anyway and sat at the table while she busied herself getting the coffee pot ready.

"Well, great. Something to keep me awake. I'm sure you'd appreciate that!" Starsky laughed and was relieved when he realized that Susan's shoulders dropped from the tense sharpened position of a few minutes ago to a more relaxed rounded appearance. While Susan started the sandwich, Starsky left to check outside around the house. Nothing unusal there, he went back in to wait for his meal.

They talked more as the coffee was brewing and Susan finished the sandwich. Once everything was ready, Starsky took his unexpected feast to the car and got as comfortable as possible in the front seat. He watched as the lights in the house slowly went out, leaving one light in the bedroom.

Giving a quick look around the street, he nibbled at the sandwich and left the coffee on the dashboard. He found his mind wandering again to Hutch and his hard, discontented attitude. His physical appearance had changed so subtly that by the time Starsky noted the mustache, it had actually been sitting under the blond's nose for a few months. Ever since they had thrown their badges into the ocean, Hutch seemed to be so restless. The difficult case had resulted in the death of Huggy's friend and they had felt so helpless as to how to solve the edginess that it had created.

At the time, they had seriously wanted to leave the police force. They relented and accepted their badges back and Starsky was okay with his decision. He was never one to give up on anything easily and he still felt fulfilled and rewarded with the job that he did. But both Starsky and Hutch wrestled with their demons over their inability to solve this completely. It had affected their own relationship and Starsky felt like he was standing on shaky ground. They had been reinstated into the force but both handled it in totally different ways. Starsky was not ready to peer under the emotional bandaid at his wounds, so he settled for the moment trying to figure out Hutch's attitude.

The blond, even a year ago, had been so free with his smile and easy attitude. He had still been so neat in his appearance. Starsky thought Hutch looked like he was going on a date or a job interview rather than run down criminals on the street. At that time, Hutch was still wearing pressed pants and clean shirts. His hair was short and neatly combed. There was no mustache. But ever since the badge incident, he just didn't seem to care about himself. He had taken to wearing his hair long, which given its thinning nature, just made the blond hair stringy and dirty looking. He just didn't understand the ruffled appearance Hutch now favored.

His attitude had also changed. The two of them fought often now over stupid things. It had been ages since they had been at Huggy's to share a meal or just relax together with their skinny friend for a beer. It just seemed that Hutch was doing everything he could to keep Starsky at an impersonal distance.

Starsky was not even comfortable talking to Hutch about his relationship with Kira. When this assignment came up which included Kira, Starsky was at first excited for the opportunity to see more of this new woman in his life. A month into the relationship and he still had not given Hutch any details.

Was it just because of Hutch's coldness or was there something else that prevented Starsky from sharing? Normally, Starsky couldn't wait to regale Hutch with details about a new love interest but this time, he felt he had to keep the news to himself.

He had never said too much to Hutch about Kira. Trying to rationalize his behavior, Starsky gave in to self examination.---- I told him I was seeing someone but I didn't go into specifics. Maybe that was my first mistake. But Kira was special and I just didn't want to jinx what I felt.---

Starsky finished his sandwich and took a sip of the coffee. He squirmed around in his seat to take a better look down the street. All was quiet. Nobody peeping around. He turned back around and kept his eyes fixed on the rear view mirror. No cars or people appeared for half an hour so Starsky finally settled back against the seat. He finished the coffee then laughed to himself as he threw the cup to the back of his car. Wouldn't Hutch just love it that Starsky was trashing his own car? When was the last time he had heard Hutch really share a joke or include him in anything personal?

Well, this was more than Starsky could figure out in one night so he just sat back and concentrated on the job at hand. He also couldn't help thinking about Kira.