THE EDGE OF DARKNESS
CHAPTER 8
"Hutch, Hutch! You okay? What happened?" Dobey flicked off the speaker part of the phone and grabbed the receiver tighter in his hand. He stood up just as Huggy did. Dobey put his hand out to stop Huggy's approach.
The Captain struggled to make sense of the confusion and chaos on the other end of the line. He strained to make out the different voices. He heard cries of pain. He identified Hutch's agonized voice and tried to follow the gut wrenching sounds he heard in the bar. As if he was meant to witness this terrible tragedy unfolding over the phone line, the captain strained to hear every terrible scream of torture and distress. His inability to stop both the sounds and the unseen action kept him glued to the phone. In some way he hoped that the connection over the phone line would enable him to keep the two detectives alive. The events that happened in the bar next would stay with Harold Dobey and invade his nightmares for a long time. Helpless, the captain sagged against the desk, unable to do anything but listen.
"Starsky!" Hutch stopped in his tracks when he saw Stone holding the bat against Starsky's body. The bat hovered over the area where on the other side of his body, the bullet lodged deep inside.
"I'm sure it would hurt like hell if I hit him right... there!" Without warning Stone lifted the bat and brought it down with all his strength to connect with the stained area of Starsky's side. The dark haired man screamed in agony as the bat pushed deep into the hole made by the bullet.
Stone took advantage of Hutch's mistake. The blond wasn't hovering over his friend and the convict decided that attention needed to be focused back on himself. He was not happy that things were getting out of his control. He grabbed the baseball bat tighter. In one quick move, he brought the bat down again, this time directly on Starsky's leg. It dropped with a sickening crack followed by a surprised outburst of fear and pain from the man on the floor. Starsky tried to move away from the source but the bat found it's target again.
Hutch dropped the phone once he heard his partner's screams and dove toward Stone.
Dobey continued his helpless vigil over the phone. Hutch's pleas sounded loud in the Captain's ears.
"You sick bastard! Get away from him!" Hutch dropped to Starsky's side as the man writhed in severe pain. Blood began seeping out again around the wound. It was now a bigger, ragged laceration. As Hutch bent down to inspect the new problem, Stone raised the bat yet again, intending to inflict more damage to the already severely injured Starsky.
The crazed man closed his eyes and whooped with delight. He took no notice as to who the bat made contact with but was pleased when he realized that the blond was now below him. The bat landed directly over Hutch's shoulders and neck. The blond cried out in distress and rage. He slumped forward and curled himself over Starsky's body in a protective pose. His last thought was of the safety of his friend until he joined his partner in a black abyss of nothingness
Then all was quiet in the bar. Dobey couldn't tear himself away from the phone or bear to disconnect the line. The Captain could hear faint sounds, almost like chanting.
"It's time, I'm doing what you asked!"
"Crawford! What's goin' on? Crawford!" Dobey lost control and screamed into the phone. He soon heard a long drawn out cackle of frenzied laughter. At first the laughter was staticky but it gradually grew clearer until the haunting sound reached the captain's brain. It was a sound he would never forget.
The Captain listened, his face growing more wrinkled with worry. His eyes flared with anger the more he listened.
Stone heaved in great gulps of air. He was consumed with the pure rush of excitement. He held the bat in the air, ready to strike again, but threw it over the two still bodies. The bat landed with a thud against the bar and rolled along the floor. Suddenly remembering about the phone, he slowly walked over Starsky and Hutch and reached for the phone. The voices grew louder in his head, insistent and demanding. He shrugged off the words and instead, indulged in out of control laughter as he put the phone to his ear. While he spoke, he rubbed his right temple. The pain was sharp but exhilerating at the same time.
"You're welcome to come and witness the end of Starsky and Hutch Captain!" Stone continued the hysterical laughter as Dobey hung up the phone.
The unnerved Captain set the phone quietly back in the cradle. Huggy watched the unexpected action. The deliberate control where just seconds before there had been fear and anger caused Huggy's stomach to rebel more than the blow to his head and the spinning room combined had.
"What happened?", Huggy asked quietly. He stood up slowly, gaining his balance and moved cautiously toward the desk.
A minute passed before Harold Dobey felt he could respond.
"Stone Crawford said he already shot Starsky but beat him also with a baseball bat because Hutch wasn't paying attention and he was arrogant."
Dobey fell heavily in his chair. The leather chair creaked and protested the bulk against it. The room was still.
"He also said he was ready for us to come and witness the end of Starsky and Hutch." This last sentence was whispered in disbelief. The captain dry washed his face and closed his eyes. The appalling sounds and plausible spectacle he had just heard assaulted his senses.
The defeated pose only lasted for a few seconds. Suddenly, the big man sprang to his feet, sending the chair crashing into the wall.
"Huggy, you're going to the hospital. Please don't fight me on this. This situation with Starsky and Hutch has gone on long enough. This goon can't continue thinking he's got us by the throat!" Dobey moved as if being chased, which in fact the captain felt exactly like that. The calm resolve evident in Stone's voice scared Dobey more than he wanted to admit.
Captain Dobey's threat to send Huggy to the hospital was quickly forgotten in the mad rush to get to The Pits. Surprisingly agile, the captain rushed out of his office, screaming directions, orders and calling out names of the officers and detectives he wanted with him.
Minnie flew out of her office as she heard the excited voices outside her door. She watched as Dobey lead the surge of men down the hall and to their squad cars. She heard parts of sentences and the names 'Starsky' and 'Hutch' came back to her loud and clear.
She stopped Huggy as he weaved down the hall, attempting to keep up.
"Huggy, wait a minute! Please tell me what's going on? We heard that Stone Crawford had escaped but what does that have to do wtih Starsky?" Minnie pulled the lanky black man to her and out of the melee of foot traffic.
"Honey, Starsky's been shot by that creep and judging by the phone call Dobey just had with Crawford, our two friends are in a heap a trouble. I gotta hitch a ride with one of the cops. I need to know that those boys are alright!"
Huggy struggled out of Minnie's grasp and slid along the wall for support. The dizziness was back but he forced the symptoms down, intending to help his two friends in anyway he could.
Hearing that her favorite dark haired man was in trouble, she quickly got the dispatchers organized and recruited volunteers for the long seige she anticipated. She manned the line directly to Captain Dobey herself. Her long standing infatuation with Starsky drove her to be the first to receive any information regarding the stand off.
Huggy made his way to the police garage and managed to slip into one of the squad cars. He knew Whitehead and Jenkins wouldn't question his appearance in the back seat of their car. They had seen him with the captain and now with the confusion and concentrated effort to get organized, they gave him little notice. They glanced at him in the back seat and just nodded their acceptance and made just one comment.
"Huggy, try and be invisible. Stay out of our way and believe us when we tell you to definately stay out of Dobey's way."
The cars moved out of the parking garage. Last minute shouts from open windows and squealing tires echoed through the now almost empty parking area.