THE EDGE OF DARKNESS
CHAPTER 5
------------------
The end of the trial finally brought the much needed return to normalcy for both detectives. Starsky looked forward to uninterrupted sleep, long, leisurly showers and sitting down with a cup of coffee and the paper in his own living room. Because they had been so involved for so long with the Stone Crawford case, Captain Dobey used some of his authority and managed to get Starsky and Hutch some much needed days off. Even with time to regroup, it was difficult for both detectives to let go of the case they had lived with for so long.
Hutch found it hard to put Stone Crawford completely out of his mind. They knew he was to be transferred to the maximum security prison up the coast but they were not told the exact date. This was done primarily because after such cases, appeals were filed, demands for humane treatment and special conditions were requested which always delayed the final date for transfer. So a delay of a week or more was typical and the police force knew never to expect a quick transfer. Some cases even sparked bets placed as to when the actual date of the move would be.
The men enjoyed their time off and concentrated on much needed sleep and recovery. An uninterrupted sleep does wonders for restoring some ability to function. Twelve hours for Hutch and by the time Starsky called him, the dark haired man had slept 14 hours. Starsky still felt drained and lethargic but knew that he had to get back to a normal routine. He cleaned his neglected home and felt some satisfaction for accomplishing that. A few hours spent washing and waxing his beloved Torino worked out some of the physical frustration he still felt with the end of the Crawford case.
Hutch had much the same reaction after his well deserved sleep. Once he was up, he spent time tending to his numerous plants and apologizing to them for the lack of care they'd received. Concerned with his weight loss and migraines, he worked out a plan for regaining his strength and started with a long, lung expanding jog up the beach and back to Venice Place. Then a protein shake followed by a healthy eating plan. He'd regain his stamina and muscle strength which in turn would take care of the migraines. Although, he knew he'd make an exception once they went to Huggy's. He realized that a few beers would help him in a way that he couldn't deny. It was a way to relax that he desperately needed. He wanted to be able to put Stone Crawford behind him. The blond still couldn't shake the nagging feeling that this man was not out of their lives yet. He was glad he didn't know when Stone was to be moved but in another way, he couldn't wait to hear that this particular evil man would never be free from iron bars and chains again.
The two detectives decided to meet up at Huggy's for an early dinner and relax. They chose late afternoon because while they were ready to unwind and have some fun, they still weren't up for a lot of noise and confusion. It had been months since they were able to spend any off time with their bartending friend, so they looked forward to catching up with the flamboyant Huggy.
As they entered through the kitchen they noticed some of the people already there. A few people sat at the bar. Smoking and nursing a beer before heading home to their families; these were the regular people who straggled in at the end of a shift at the hospital or at the end of their day on the many construction projects. Sitting at tables were business men who just wanted to forget about a business deal that didn't go so well or even drowning their loneliness, with no family or loved one to go home to.
Starsky took the lead and headed for their favorite booth in the back, facing the door. It was hard to break habits and sitting facing an entrance was one borne of necessity and had become just routine postioning. Starsky and Hutch were hardly aware of this habit. The booth had become their favorite and they never gave it a thought when magically, the place always seemed to be waiting for them.
Huggy saw them make their way to the back but was busy refilling beer and taking a meal order. He swiped the counter with his rag and handed it to Diane, a silent request to get her to take over bartending duties. He took a minute to draw up two more beers and carried the frosted mugs to his friends.
Still unaccustomed to the luxury of being off duty, the two men sank into the cushions of the leather seats. Starsky immediately stretched out the full length of the bench seat he occupied. His back to the wall, he put his head back and shut his eyes. He sighed and smiled, enjoying the fact that he didn't have to think or move for the next few hours.
"Hey dudes, to what do I owe this pleasure to?" Huggy greeted the two quiet detectives. The bar owner held a full mug of beer in each hand and set them down in front of his friends. "You both look like hell", Huggy observed when he didn't get a smart remark from either diner.
"Starsky and I just need to relax. This beer is a good way to start Huggy, thanks." Hutch lifted the mug in salute and took a long swallow of the amber liquid.
"What's up with him? Starsky hasn't budged since I set the beer in front of him. His beer radar on the blink?" Huggy sat beside Starsky, pushing the dark haired man's feet out of his way.
At the disruption in his position, Starsky cracked one eye open and only raised a middle finger in response. However, he did sit up and with a sigh, reached out to the beer in front of him. As if parched and desperate, he downed the glass of beer in one long chug before finally speaking.
"Huggy, another one of these please and just keep 'em coming! Friend, you don't know how good it is to just sit here with no responsibilities for the next few hours." Starsky sat up straighter and passed the empty glass to the edge of the table.
Hutch watched in fascination as his friend had downed his beer. Hutch still nursed his and quite enjoyed the cold liquid as it slid down his throat.
"Huggy, we're finally done with Stone Crawford." Hutch shook his head and yawned before he continued. "What a nightmare that bastard turned out to be."
"Yeah, this is the first time you guys have been in here in over a month. The papers didn't have much good news about that dude." Huggy caught one of the waitresses as she passed and motioned for three beers. He gave her a wide smile and blew her a kiss.
Huggy waited until the beers were delivered and since neither man seemed able to communicate, he continued with his previous observation.
"First the papers wanted to hang every cop in the city 'cause none of ya were any good at finding the guy. But no sooner was the trial over and you two were up for cop of the year!"
Starsky grunted and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm just glad it's over. I just wish we coulda caught him sooner. It was a damn shame what he did to those girls. At least the papers spared sharing those details."
Hutch watched his friend as Starsky tried to control a shiver. The blond felt his own spine tingle at the memory of the poor girls who'd been beaten and raped. He'd never understand what made humans do such terrible things to other humans. Even after the girls were dead, Stone had defiled their bodies and mocked the cops by using the dead bodies as his own graffiti canvas. Hutch wondered again why he felt so nauseous at the thought of this man. They had dealt with this kind of sick person many times but Hutch couldn't shake the nagging worry that nobody was safe until Stone Crawford's death sentence was carried out.
"C'mon, Starsk, the purpose of this night is to put all this shit behind us. No more shop talk! Huggy, what's been going on at The Pits since we saw you last!" Hutch punched the skinny black man in the arm, wanting to lighten the mood that had somehow turned so dark.
"Yeah, Huggy, who's this girl you keep winking at? A new waitress or is she more than that?" Starsky teased their friend. He dug in the basket of peanuts on the table and threw one at Huggy. The conversation took on a more relaxed, friendly banter, all worry about Stone Crawford put behind them.
It was now the time of day that was in between the lunch crowd but before the busy night crowd. When the two friends first enterered the bar, it had been filled with people seeking a quiet release from their hectic day and a few hookers looking for business of their own. Most of those people had left and the bar took on an eerie quiet. Huggy never liked this time of day. It made him worry that business wouldn't pick up again but usually after 8 pm, a different crowd filled the stools and booths.
So Starsky and Hutch got the quiet diversion that they both needed. Neither one paid much attention to the thinning populace, they just kept drinking and laughing with each other. From time to time, Huggy checked on the room to be sure that those few people left in the bar were taken care of and that the waitresses kept the place clean.
On one of those occasions that Huggy vacated the booth, Hutch looked around as if noticing the empty place beside Starsky for the first time. His beer glass was empty but he'd lost interest in drinking awhile ago. The beer did what he'd wanted. It left him numb to the concerns and worries of his job and a man named Stone Crawford. It also erased the harsh reality and allowed him put it all behind him. If only for a little while,he could actually believe that he was as carefree as Starsky.
He'd always admired that about the dark haired man. Perhaps it was the beer that suddenly made him introspective but now he really thought about his best friend's ability to turn off the ugliness of the world and reach out and hug the exact world that also offered joy and hope. Starsky was the one who always saw the bright side of things. Despite losing Terry, despite the ugly things he'd seen and experienced ,Starsky was always able to see that silver lining no matter how thin it was.
He looked over at the curly haired man sitting across from him and couldn't help breaking out in a big grin of his own. Starsky smiled at him. Actually, Hutch found that it felt good to smile. Like exercising his face. He reached over and held onto Starsky's hand. They locked a glance at each other and both smiled again.
"Okay, blondie, maybe we've both reached our limit for the night? Now it's getting pretty soapy around here!" Starsky pushed his half full beer mug away from him and tried to supress a burp.
"You've got so much class Starsk! Hey where'd Huggy get to? He's been gone awhile." Hutch turned in his seat, trying for a better view of the bar.
"I'll bet he went out to feed that damn stray dog he found a few months ago."
Hutch reached for the last peanut in the basket and flipped it into his mouth. Starsky took a small sip of the beer then continued explaining about the dog.
"This dog shows up occasionally and Huggy keeps feedin' it. I don't know where you were the last time I was here but the dog seems to trust him. I couldn't get near the thing. In fact when I came near Huggy to get a better look at it, the damn thing growled at me and ran off." Starsky smiled at the memory of how Huggy had been so pissed when the dog darted away that he'd thrown a wilted up piece of lettuce at Starsky in retaliation.
A few minutes went by in easy silence and without the return of Huggy. The bar continued to move rather slowly. Only one person at the bar and he reached into his pocket and pulled out some bills. He slapped them on the surface and spoke to the waitress and waved good bye.
Now only two other tables held customers. One of those, obviously a hooker trying to talk her table mate into joining her at the motel down the street. The man was well into his 60's with heavy stubble over his pudgy face. His beard was gray but his thinning hair on his head was more brown than gray. He stood up, unsteady on his feet. He tried to button his vest but wasn't successful. Either because he had lost his coordination or more likely, the buttons didn't reach across the belly bulge. He swayed until the girl rose up and took the man's arm in her hand. She guided him towards the exit and his shaky, high pitched laughter followed them out the door. Now the bar was very quiet. The juke box finished the last chords of a song but nobody fed any more money into it. It stood unused and now only whispers and occasional noises from the kitchen puncuated the bar.
Starsky gazed around the room and moved to the end of the bench seat. He stood up and raised his arms above his head as he stretched and then grimaced.
"Be back, I'm goin' to the john then I'll go see where Huggy is. Go put money in the juke box and get this joint jumpin' again!" Starsky scratched his shoulder as he moved off toward the restrooms.
Hutch sat for a minute, just enjoying the quiet. But for some reason, that wasn't satisfying. He felt nervous again so he got up and headed toward the juke box. He shoved his hand into his pants pocket and jingled the change. He pulled his hand out to dig between the pieces of tissue and his keys until he found the right amount of money for the music. He jangled the change again in his hand before slipping it back into his pocket. He studied the selections but turned his head once he heard the back door slam. He smiled at the thought of Huggy feeding a scrawny dog. The comparrison brought an easy laugh deep from his belly as he thought of his skinny black friend with a skinny, homeless animal.
---------------
While the two friends had been inside the bar drinking and putting the past behind them, Huggy made a pass through the kitchen to be sure that everything was clean and orders filled. He spoke briefly to the guy washing the dishes. The man was new and Huggy just wanted to make sure he felt needed. He tended to hire down on their luck street people who needed a job and Huggy sometimes loaned them the room upstairs until they got on their feet. Josh had been here a week and so far was reliable and efficient.
The tall bar owner grabbed the garbage. He started out the door but instead, set the garbage outside the kitchen door and went back inside to load up a bowl of scaps in case the dog he'd been feeding showed up. The dog seemed to like the hamburgers and fries so instead of throwing these morsels away, Huggy planned to feed the animal with some of it's favorites.
Huggy picked up the lid to the garbage can and threw the bag inside. He put the lid on and set the bowl of food on top. He reached into his shirt pocket for a cigarette, lit it and blew the match out before he threw it to the side. He inhaled deeply and let the smoke exit through his nose. He leaned back against the wall, just enjoying some time alone. A noise by the dumpster caused him to push away from the wall and reach for the bowl on top of the garbage can. He whistled softly and tentatively walked toward the blue receptacle.
It wasn't quite dark out and the only noise in the alley came from behind the dumpster. Scratching and yelping noises convinced Huggy that his four footed friend was close by, looking for food. He hunched down near the noise and whistled again and encouraged the dog to come out of hiding.
"C'mon Special, I got your favorite here for you!" The scratching stopped and the dog started to whine but didn't come out immediately.
"Hey, it's me! What, you don't like the name "Special"? C'mon boy, you must be hungry!" He snapped his fingers and whistled again. He called more softly, not wanting to scare the dog with any sudden loud noise.
After another minute the dog appeared around the corner of the dumpster. It was hard to tell the real color of the dog but now he was a very dirty dark brown. At some point the dog must have had a shiny coat and light brown in color. A life on the run caused the animal to become skinny with it's ribs sticking out. But the dog's eyes looked brighter than a month ago. That was the first time it had dared to show itself. It stood, not moving and just stared at Huggy for the longest time. At first he'd been scared because he knew that there were some stray dogs around and most of them helped themselves to the garbage and just left a mess in their wake. But this fellow was smaller and did not belong to any pack. He showed up a month ago and Huggy fed him when he could.
The dog sniffed the ground and darted toward the food in front of him. He sniffed around the bowl and looked up at his new friend. Huggy didn't try to pet him. The tall man didn't see any tag or I.D. of any kind around the scrawny neck so he just stood back on his heels as the dog continued to sniff the contents of the bowl. His hunger finally got the better of him and the dog shoved his face into the food and lapped up the fries first.
Suddenly the dog stopped and cocked it's head. He bared his teeth but didn't make any noise. He backed up and sniffed the air.
Huggy fell back on his butt, not trusting the look on the dog's face. He scooted back slowly until the dog growled. Huggy stopped.
"Okay now, easy does it. You don't like the fries? No problem." Huggy spoke, keeping his voice soft and level. He tried not to show he was scared.
He backed up again and slowly stood up. But the dog came toward him just as slowly and growled again, baring his teeth. The animal backed up, barking furiously. Between barks, the growls got longer and deeper in his chest.
Huggy took a couple steps back as the dog began to slobber through the growls.
As the dog continued to grow more agitated, Huggy felt a heavy object connect with his back and he was down instantly. He laid there thinking the dog was going to attack but instead, he felt a hard kick to his gut. The ground swirled around him and the barking grew as if echoing through his brain. Noise like a freight train split his head in two. The last thing he was aware of was pain in his belly. He knew he'd just been kicked but the only thing he could do was curl into himself. He tried to lift his head, thinking the dog had attacked and bit him. When he raised his head, he couldn't really focus on anything. All of the sudden his vision cleared as he blinked. Someone stood over him with a gun and a tire jack. How he identified these he couldn't recall even later. He opened his mouth but tasted only fear. He tried to call out, wanting rescue. But the gurgled plea died on his lips as another kick, this time to his back, connected and finally blackness descended like a steel curtain.
Stone Crawford stood over the man on the ground. He kicked the body again just as the dog growled a deeper, angrier warning. Stone briefly thought of shooting the dog but didn't want to announce his presence just yet. The dog kept watch over the man on the ground but snarled and growled at the human standing in front of him. Stone shifted the tire jack to his other hand, heaved it in the direction of the dumpster and shouted a warning to the dog.
"Get the fuck out of here you filthy animal!" Just as the heavy weapon clattered to the ground, the dog turned around and darted away from the scene behind him. Stone kicked at the body once more before turning his attention to the door which Huggy had come out of.