MIND CONTROL
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Starsky crouched in the corner of the room, his eyes anxiously watching the door as he waited for Missy to keep her promise. Without a watch or a clock in the room, he had no idea what time it was. She said she'd come for him at midnight. He had been almost too excited to eat his supper but he forced himself to, knowing he would need his strength to escape and find his way back home.
Finally, the door opened, a thin sliver of light creeping into the darkened room from the hallway. Missy slipped into the room, dressed in a pair of black jeans and a with a matching pullover sweater.
"Here." She said as she handed Starsky a pair of jeans and a dark blue tee shirt similar to her own clothing. "I hope I got the sizes right. I had to guess." She glanced at his light gray sweat pants and shirt. "You'll be harder to see in the dark with those clothes on and we have to get off the base without being seen. My car is parked about two miles down the road, outside the gates."
Starsky nodded as he quickly stripped off his clothes and redressed in the clothing she had provided. The pants were a bit tight but not as tight as the ones he used to wear. Since he had no way to remove the stun belt, he had no choice but to leave it on. Missy hadn't brought him any shoes, so the soft slippers he had been wearing during his captivity would have to do. When he had finished dressing, Missy put a finger to her lips to signal silence and motioned for him to follow her. She punched in the code to open the door from the inside and stepped through with Starsky on her heels.
Starsky blinked against the sudden glare of light as they stepped into the quiet, deserted hallway. He took a deep breath, taking a moment to savor the feeling of being free, of finally escaping from this nightmare. He followed Missy down the hallway to the right and up a flight of stairs to the upper floor. They walked past a row of closed office doors towards the glass entrance doors to the building. The lights in this part of the building were dimmed, casting long shadows down the hall. Missy paused at the front entrance and punched in another code. The doors slid silently open and they stepped outside.
Starsky took a deep lungful of the clean, crisp air. He had never smelled anything so sweet. Pressing her finger to her lips again to signal him to stay quiet, Missy blended into the shadows of the building, letting the darkness of the night hide her from view. Starsky followed close behind as she began making her way through the compound to the main gate. As they moved through the shadows, Starsky frowned. It was too quiet, much too quiet. Even if it was midnight, there should still be some guards patrolling the grounds somewhere. Then again, maybe this sector of the grounds was off limits to the regularly scheduled patrols. Starsky had noticed the high security area warning signs that warned that special clearance was needed to enter the building.
They moved slowly, watching and listening carefully for any warning that Starsky's escape had been detected. The brunet felt his heart starting to pound in his chest as he saw the fence that surrounded the perimeter of the property with a locked gate almost directly in front of them. Just a few more minutes and he would be free. Suddenly, the entire area around them was flooded with light and Starsky heard the distinctive sound of several weapons being cocked. His eyes widened in alarm as he looked around wildly. They were surrounded by several uniformed officers who stepped out of the shadows. It was a trap! They had been caught!
Instinctively, he moved closer to Missy, determined to protect her from any harm. She had risked her own life to try and help him. He couldn't let her pay for that. He heard a cold, deadly laugh from behind him and turned to see Colby stepping out of the darkness.
"Did you really think it would be that easy to escape from us, Starsky?" he sneered. He glanced at Missy and smiled fondly. "Good job, sweetheart. The Major is very pleased with you."
Starsky turned stricken eyes on the woman he had thought was on his side. He cursed himself for being stupid enough to ever trust her. She blushed and lowered her head to avoid the accusing glare that he focused on her. She stepped away, moving closer to Colby and leaving Starsky vulnerable and alone. Starsky took a deep shuddering breath and tilted his chin defiantly. He refused to let them see how frightened he was at this new turn of events or how much Missy's deceit and betrayal had hurt him.
Colby nodded at one of the other men who took Missy by the arm and led her away into the darkness. A heavy silence hung over the gathering of men that was broken a few minutes later by the sound of single gunshot ringing out in the darkness.
"You bastard!" Starsky snarled at Colby in a cold, deadly voice. "You didn't have to kill her!"
"I didn't. You did." Colby said with a chuckle. "You're the one that tried to get her to help you escape. I heard the whole thing." He smiled coldly "I saw you fuck her too. Did you enjoy it? She's a real good fuck, isn't she?"
Starsky saw red as he realized that the whole escape attempt had been a set up. That everything he did and said could be overheard somehow and apparently he was being watched too. Without a second thought, he lunged at Colby, tackling him to the ground. With grim satisfaction, he pounded his fist into Colby's face again and again until the other man's face was a battered, bloody mess. Still boiling with rage and hatred, he closed his hands around Colby's throat and squeezed.
Colby bucked and clawed at Starsky's hands, his eyes bulging with terror, but Starsky had become a man possessed with one goal in mind. Killing his nemesis. With a grim sense of satisfaction, he watched as the light faded from his former friend's eyes and his body went limp. Breathing heavily, he slowly unclenched his hands from around Colby's throat. His heart was pounding in his ears and he felt cold and empty inside. He barely noticed the hands that suddenly grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet, twisting his hands behind his back and snapping on a pair of handcuffs. The cold barrel of a gun was pressed against his temple. He closed his eyes, ready to die, praying for his death to be swift and painless.
His eyes snapped open with an unfamiliar voice said, "Well done, Mr. Starsky. Mr. Colby was no longer much use to us. By killing him, you saved us the trouble of finding another way to eliminate him." The speaker was a man in his early fifties with short gray hair and a heavily lined face. Steel blue eyes peered at Starsky with a thin smile that showed crooked yellow teeth. He was dressed in the dress uniform of a three star Major. "I'm Major Lewis and I've only been watching you up until now. You're a very stubborn man but then so am I. Have you reconsidered our offer of employment?"
"Fuck you." Starsky growled, earning himself a sharp blow to the temple that made him see stars.
"I can see you're still trying to resist us. No matter. We have all the time in the world to convince you to see things our way. Perhaps a few more lessons in obedience are in order." He nodded at the armed men surrounding Starsky and said, "Take Mr. Starsky back inside and teach him some manners…just make sure you don't kill him."
Hands grabbed Starsky and dragged him back towards the building and whatever new punishment lay in store for his disobedience and act of rebellion. As they pulled him back in the direction he had come from, Starsky caught a glimpse of Missy's crumbled body lying face down on the ground in a rapidly pooling puddle of blood. His cop's mind automatically registered the fact that she had been shot in the back of the head with a high caliber weapon, execution style. He doubted if she even saw it coming. He felt a pang of guilt at her needless death. Even though she had lied to him and helped to set him up with the false escape attempt, there was no need to murder her. Starsky stumbled along, letting his captors drag him by his bound arms. He no longer cared what they did to him. He no longer cared about much of anything. He had been used and abused long enough. He knew now that death would be his only escape from this living hell.