CHAPTER 6

"What the hell happened to you?" Hutch demanded when he saw the bruise on Starsky's cheek the next morning.

Starsky sighed painfully as he eased himself to his feet, and gentle hands reached out to help him. Starsky couldn't hide a wince when Hutch's hand accidentally brushed against his tender left side.

.

Hutch noticed immediately and pushed up Starsky's tee shirt for a closer look at his torso. Ice blue eyes smoldered with rage when they saw the bruise that covered most of Starsky's left flank and the road rash on his lower back. "Starsky, what the hell happened?" the big blond repeated impatiently, as his fingers carefully explored the injured areas.

"I'm fine," Starsky insisted. "It looks worse than it really is." He took a deep breath, immediately regretting it when his bruised ribs objected. He exhaled slowly and added, "Some guy jumped me last night when I went to the carry out for something to drink. He told me the next time, you won't be so lucky if you don't stay away from Mandy."

"He's definitely getting bolder," Hutch said. "Are you sure you're okay? Nothing broken?" Although none of Starsky's injuries appeared to be serious enough to warrant a trip to the hospital, Hutch was still a mother hen when it came to his partner's well being.

Starsky shook his head. "Just bruised and scraped. Hurts like hell, but that's about it."

"Grab a clean shirt and come with me to the men's room." Hutch's tone warned against any argument on his partner's part. "We need to wash those scrapes and put something on them so they won't get infected. I'll grab the first aide kit out of the car."

Starsky let Hutch help him down from the truck and across the lot to the arena, with a brief stop at the car to grab the first aid kit and a clean shirt. They went into the men's room just inside the rear entrance, and Hutch helped Starsky slowly ease the ruined tee shirt over his head.

Hutch turned on the water, adjusting the stream to a comfortable temperature. Wetting a washcloth under the tap, he gently began to wash Starsky's wounds. Starsky let Hutch tend to his injuries without complaint. Over the years they had become accustomed to being taken care of by their partner when either of them was hurt.

Hutch was just finishing up his first aid when the door opened, and Randy came into the men's room. He glanced at Starsky's battered face with a startled expression and then took in his bare chest and Hutch's close proximity to his partner. He smirked as he disappeared into one of the stalls and closed the door.

Starsky and Hutch exchanged rueful smiles. They were accustomed to their obvious intimacy causing people who didn't know them to jump to the wrong conclusion about their relationship. They had learned to ignore the questioning glances and raised eyebrows long ago. Hutch helped Starsky slip on a clean shirt and they left the men's room.

Crew members were busy packing up equipment and loading the trucks to move on to the next spot. Mandy was just stepping down from her bus when she saw the two detectives. Her eyes widened in alarm at the sight of Starsky's bruised face.

"David! What happened?" She said stepping closer so she could examine his bruised cheek. Luckily, his shirt hid his other bruises and scrapes.

"I slipped climbing into the truck last night," Starsky said, the lie rolling easily off his tongue.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Positive," Starsky told her with a lopsided grin that never failed to charm the ladies. "Blondie here is usually the klutz, not me." He was thankful that she didn't question his explanation of how he had gotten injured. He didn't want to alarm her by telling her the truth about what had actually happened.

"We're going to the show in Encinitas. We rescheduled the one in Santa Cruis along with the makeup show for this spot. So after the next show, we have a few days off before we get to Bay City." Mandy said. "I think everyone on this tour has earned a few days off

"I should help get the trucks loaded," Starsky said, remembering his undercover role as part of the road crew.

"And you and I can discuss the security arrangements between now and when we get to Bay City," Hutch suggested. As the two detectives parted ways, neither of them noticed that they were being closely watched by a man and a woman standing near the empty stage.

"Those two are going to be a problem," the man told his companion as he glared at Hutch's retreating figure.

"You need to be more careful," the woman hissed. "It was stupid to go after Curly like that! Don't forget…those two aren't what they seem to be. It's a good thing that the boss recognized Curly from that situation with Sue Anne Granger a few years ago and knew that he was a cop."

"Yeah, yeah…well whose idea was it to make it look like somebody was stalking Mandy?" the man shot back. "That hasn't worked out like you said it would!"

"This is no time to start arguing with each other. We'll just have to move on to plan B."

"And just what is plan B?" her companion asked sarcastically.

"Making sure that Mandy has a little accident before we get to Bay City. After all, we are getting paid a lot of money to make sure she never makes to the A.C. ." The woman turned and walked away as her companion joined the rest of the crew to finish loading the equipment.

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Despite his sore muscles and aching body, Starsky pulled his own weight when it came to loading the trucks. He noticed several of the other crew members curiously eyeing his bruised face, but nobody questioned him about it.

He was taking a short break when Randy came up to him, grinning as he handed him a cold soda. "Looks like you could use this."

"Thanks," Starsky smiled his gratitude and took a long, deep swallow.

"Looks like you and Ken had a little tiff," Randy said with a curt nod at Starsky's bruised face.

"It's not what you think," Starsky told him with a tight smile. "I did this myself."

Randy shrugged. "Hey, it ain't none of my business what's going on between you and Blondie. If I swung that way then I wouldn't mind tapping that myself."

Although it was apparent that Randy had jumped to the wrong conclusion concerning his relationship with Hutch, Starsky decided not to correct him as he normally would. "Look, I know what you saw but Hutch didn't do this. I told you, I did this to myself."

"Okay, if that's the way you wanna play it. Makes no difference to me. Guess that explains why he's supposed to be Mandy's main squeeze but seems to spend more time with you."

"I didn't think we were that obvious."

"Maybe not to everybody else, but I know Mandy better than most of these guys. We grew up together." Randy leaned in closer "Besides, I know about her fella back home too." He smiled. "I guess you could say I try to look out for her, if ya know what I mean." Without elaborating or giving Starsky a chance to comment, he walked away.

Starsky frowned. He had read the background reports on the crew, and there had been no mention of Randy and Mandy being from the same hometown. He wondered what other secrets were hiding behind the seeming innocent façade of a country music star on the rise. Finished with his break, Starsky rejoined the others to finish loading the trucks.

When the caravan was ready to pull out for the next venue, Starsky and Hutch decided to ride together so they could discuss the case. Up until then, Hutch had been riding on the tour bus with Mandy while Starsky followed the trucks in the Hutchmobile.

"We have to be missing something," Starsky grumbled as he stared through the windshield at the rear of one of the trucks hauling equipment.

"Okay, what do we have so far?" Hutch mused aloud.

"We know it has to be someone connected with the show, or at least someone with the show is helping whoever is behind all this. The stunt with the overhead light proves that."

"That also would explain how the stalker knows exactly where Mandy is going to be and when, including her room number if they stay at a hotel while they're in town for a show."

"It also could be how someone can get close enough to leave her flowers and love notes without anyone questioning them or noticing anything out of the ordinary," Hutch added thoughtfully. "But, we checked out everybody connected with show, and they all came back clean."

"Well, I found out earlier that Randy and Mandy supposedly grew up together, and he knows all about her boyfriend back home."

"I thought Mandy said nobody knew about that?'

"No," Starsky corrected him, "She said that nobody knew that they were engaged, because the record company thought it was for the best."

"And that her fiancé is the one who suggested that Mandy and I pretend to be a couple."

"Yeah, to explain why you were suddenly being brought in as the opening act for the show."

"And that we were picked because Sue Anne Granger recommended us."

"So what are we missing?"

"Maybe it's not what it seems," Hutch suggested "Maybe there is no stalker. Maybe that's just a cover for some other motive."

"Like what?"

"Well, the most obvious reason would be to keep Mandy from showing up at the A.C. ."

"Great, that gives us another whole list of suspects to consider," Starsky complained with a heavy sigh.

Hutch's mind was already sorting through and eliminating possibilities. "Let's see if we can figure out who would have the most to gain if Mandy doesn't show at the awards show."