CHAPTER 12

Hutch paced the floor restlessly. He was still sore and stiff with a myriad of fading bruises. He shouldn't have even been out of bed but Starsky was over four hours late checking in with his worried partner. Hutch had already gone by the cover apartment but it was empty and there was no sign that Starsky had been there recently. Hutch had left a hurriedly scribbled note telling Starsky to call him at headquarters ASAP if he came back to the apartment before Hutch found him.

Captain Dobey looked up with a scowl as Hutch entered the office without bothering to knock. In a gruff voice, he said, "What are you doing here, Hutchinson? You're supposed to be on sick leave."

"I can't find Starsky. I haven't heard from him since yesterday afternoon. We had an agreement…he's suppose to check in with me every morning at nine o'clock but he never checked in this morning."

"Maybe he's just shacked up and forgot about the time," Dobey suggested with a disgruntled growl.

"No," Hutch said with a firm shake of his head. "Starsky wouldn't do that. Not while we're in the middle of a case."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Missing persons."

"That's a missing officer," Dobey pointed out needlessly. He sighed heavily and reached for the phone on his desk. Punching in a three digit extension, he barked into the receiver, "I want an APB put out on Detective Sergeant David Starsky. If he's sighted do not attempt to apprehend. Contact me immediately with his whereabouts." Hanging up, he looked at Hutch who continued his relentless pacing. "Sit down, Hutch," Dobey ordered in a firm but gentle voice.

From the years that these two men had worked under his command Dobey knew first hand just how close Starsky and Hutch were. The bond they shared was unique; often making them appear that they were two halves of the same soul in two separate bodies. If one of them was hurt, physically or emotionally, they both suffered the pain. It was no secret that they were Dobey's favored team and that they often got away with more than other officers were allowed to. Over time, Starsky and Hutch had become almost like extended members of the Dobey family. His eight year old daughter, Rosie, called them Uncle Ken and Uncle Dave and they routinely spent time with the family on birthdays and during the holidays.

Dobey knew that Hutch would refuse to rest or even eat until his partner was found. The big blond would become an avenger searching relentlessly for the other half of his soul. In his heart, Dobey knew that if one of the two men died, then the other one would find a way to follow his friend and soul mate into the darkness. Their lives were too intertwined for them to function independently without the other one waiting in the background to provide emotional support.

Hutch sank into the leather chair facing the Captain's desk with a sigh. He raised his hand and ran his fingers through his thinning blond hair. Every one of his thirty-four years showed in the lines etched on his face. In a distracted voice, he said, "I knew this was a bad idea. I should have been there to watch his back…not lurking in the background and leaving him out there to fend for himself."

"You can't blame yourself for any of this," Dobey reminded him in a gruff tone. "Starsky volunteered to go under to try and catch this freak. He knew the danger…and so did you."

"A lot good any of that does us. We still don't have any idea were Starsky is or what's happened to him." Hutch turned ice blue eyes to Dobey and added solemnly, "And if the psycho that we're looking for has him…we know that we don't have much time to find him,"

"Do you think his cover got blown? Maybe somebody found out he was a cop and decided to get even," Dobey suggested

"I don't know. My gut tells me that his disappearance is connected to the case,"

Dobey grunted but didn't answer. Every cop knew about 'gut feelings' and 'hunches'. More than one case had been solved because of those instincts. And when it came to Starsky and Hutch that natural intuition seemed more finely honed than their contemporaries.

"So what do you want to do now?"

"I'm going to talk to everyone who works at the escort service," Hutch said grimly as he shoved himself to his feet. "And I'm going to check out the 'date' Starsky was suppose to have last night."

"Just keep in touch. And no private parties." Dobey issued his standard warning with a warning shake of his finger. "You might want to start with the three men who beat you up. They were arrested earlier this morning and they're downstairs in the holding cells now."

"Sounds like as good a place to start as any," Hutch said with a thin smile as he anticipated confronting his assailants and informing them that they had attacked an undercover cop.

Hutch left the office and went downstairs where the holding cells were located. After a quick discussion with the booking officer, he arranged to have Matt King taken upstairs to one of the interrogation rooms on the fourth floor. Instinct told him that Matt was the ringleader behind his assault.

Hutch went to the basement cafeteria and grabbed a sandwich and a cup of coffee. He took his time eating deliberately leaving his suspect to wait in the interrogation room for a while. It was a tactic that was used universally to make a suspect nervous and to throw them off balance.

When he finally went upstairs to the interrogation room, he paused momentarily and then opened the door, stepping into the room. Matt looked up from where he was slouched at the lone table in the room. The bored expression on his face vanished and his eyes widening with surprise when he recognized Hutch.

"I'm afraid we haven't been properly introduced," Hutch said in a deceptively pleasant voice, "I'm Detective Hutchinson, Bay City PD."

"You're a cop?" Matt said in a high pitched voice that betrayed his nervousness.

"Afraid so."

Matt's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Does that mean that Davey's a cop too?"

"He's my partner, Detective David Starsky."

"Oh, shit…" Matt muttered in a defeated voice as he lowered his eyes to the table.

"You got that right. You and your friends are looking at charges of assaulting a police officer." He paused to let that sink in and then he added, "And if you have anything to do with Detective Starsky's disappearance, you're looking at additional charges including kidnapping."

"HEY! HOLD ON," Matt said hastily "I don't know anything about something happening to Davey. I haven't even seen him since yesterday." Sweat broke out on his forehead as he looked at Hutch "I swear, man…if anything happened to Davey I didn't have nothing to do with it."

"Have you got any idea what might have happened to him?"

"No…not unless that psycho that's been killing the other guys got hold of him…"

"Do you know anything about this guy?"

"No…I'm telling you the truth! You gotta believe me." Matt pleaded plaintively. "Look, I'll admit that me, Rick and Joey beat you up. We thought we were doing Davey a favor because you were hassling him…but that's all we did. I swear…that's all."

Hutch seemed to be considering what Matt had said, then he leaned across the table and settle icy blue eyes on the younger man's face. In a lethal voice, he said, "Okay…I believe you…for now. But, if I find out you lied to me…you're not going to like me very much because I don't take kindly to anyone hurting my partner. Understand?"

Matt nodded his head without speaking, the fear in his eyes plain to see. Hutch smiled to himself as he let himself out of the room. A little intimidation had its uses sometimes. Motioning to a passing uniformed officer, he said, "Wait ten minutes and then take him back down to lockup."

"You got it, Sergeant." The uniformed officer said with a curt nod as Hutch strode down the hall with long, confident strides.