CHAPTER 12

Hutch burst through the door to Dobey's office without bothering to knock. Dobey looked up from the paperwork on the desk in front of him with a scowl.

"You got some news on Starsky?" Hutch asked breathlessly.

"Do you know a Jessica Arnett?"

Hutch frowned, momentarily lost in thought. "Yeah, she's one of the back up singers in Mandy Reed's band."

"She's down in interrogation room 4. She says she has some information about Starsky, but she refuses to talk to anyone but you." Dobey told him

Without a word, Hutch turned and hurried out of the office. His heart pounded as he literally ran down the stairs to the interrogation rooms two floors below. He threw open the door to room four. Jessica Arnett gave a tiny squeal as she looked at him with a startled expression on her face.

"I hear you have some news for me about my partner, Detective Starsky," Hutch growled at her in his most intimidating manner.

"He's still alive…" Jessica whimpered in a barely audible voice. "Or at least he was."

"Where is he?" Hutch demanded

"You have to promise me…you have to protect me. He'll kill me if he finds out I talked to you." The fear in Jessica's voice was real and so were the tears that pooled in her eyes.

"We'll hold you as a material witness. Nobody will be able to get near you." Hutch reassured her. Although he was anxious to find out what she knew about Starsky, Hutch knew he had to give her the reassurances she needed to earn her trust and her cooperation.

"Who are you so afraid of?"

"Lonnie…" she whispered the name so quietly Hutch could barely hear her. "Lonnie Baker."

"Lonnie's the one behind all this?" Hutch said sharply as she named the last person he would have suspected.

Jessica nodded. "He's mean…real mean. He don't look it, but he is. And he likes hurting people and hurting them bad. The more he can hurt them the more he likes it."

Taking a deep breath to calm his own ragged nerves and still get the information he needed as soon as possible, he said quietly, "Why don't you start at the beginning and tell me everything?"

"Lonnie and I are both from Mandy and Jimmy's home town. Lonnie didn't exactly run in the same crowd as Jimmy or Mandy, but he knew who they were. We all did because Mandy was the hometown girl who made it big. Ya know?" Not really expecting an answer, she continued, "Lonnie was the local bad boy, and that's what I liked about him. I swear I didn't know all the stuff he did if someone paid him enough money."

"What kind of things?"

"You name it, he did it. Robbery, auto theft, Assault. I think he even killed a guy once. He likes hurting people, and he's real good at it."

"And he's never been arrested?"

Jessica shook her head. "He knew how to keep his act clean when it came to the cops. Most of the time he wasn't even a suspect because he knew how to cover his tracks. And anyone who knew him knew better than to snitch on him."

"Go on," Hutch prompted her gently as she began to cry softly.

"When Mandy got this tour, Lonnie suddenly came up with the idea for us to join the show. She needed another back up singer, and Lonnie said they could always use another strong back on the road crew." A tiny smile tugged at the edges of her mouth. "I guess it's a good thing I can at least carry a tune."

"How did Lonnie get involved with what was happening with Mandy? Was he the stalker?"

"Yes. At first he said he was just trying to scare her, that she deserved it because she was a bitch." She took a deep, shuddering breath as she fought to maintain her composure. "Then it all changed…he started talking about killing her. He said everybody would think her 'stalker' did it, that nobody would ever suspect him. Then you and your partner got involved. I don't know how Lonnie knew you were cops, but he did. He knew who you were before you even showed up."

"Who was paying Lonnie? This doesn't sound like something he'd cook up on his own."

"I don't know…I swear I don't. But, I know he got paid twice. He got five thousand dollars both times."

"What about my partner? Whose idea was it to go after him?"

"Lonnie's. He thought if he roughed up your partner, the two of you would back off. When that didn't happen, he didn't care. That just gave him a reason to grab your partner so he could hurt him some more. I told you…he likes hurting people. He really likes it."

"Has he hurt you?"

"He's slapped me around a couple of times…but that's all. But, I'm scared. I've seen what he did to your partner and I know that he'd do the same thing to me if I crossed him."

"We'll protect you," Hutch reassured her. He took a deep breath and asked the only question that mattered to him. "Where is my partner?"

"I'd have to show you. I don't know the exact address."

Hutch leaned in close and stared into her tear filled eyes. "For your sake, you better hope he's still alive, or all deals are off."

"I don't care anymore. I just want to make things right and get away from Lonnie."

"How bad did he hurt Starsky?" Hutch asked in a soft, broken voice/

"Really bad. I told you…that's what he likes to do. He was alive the last time I saw him."

"When was that?"

"About three hours ago. But, Lonnie said he'd be dead soon."

"You'd better hope to God that Lonnie was wrong!" Hutch snarled as he grabbed Jessica's forearm and pulled her to her feet. "Let's go!"

He left the building with Jessica close by his side. Once they were in the car and he was following her directions to where Starsky was being held, he called dispatch and asked to be patched through to Dobey. In as few words as possible, he brought Dobey up to speed on Jessica's confession.

"I'll get hold of Linc Jackson and tell him to stick close to Mandy and to keep an eye out for Lonnie." Dobey said. "And as soon as you find Starsky, call me so I can get an ambulance to you as soon as possible."

Hutch hung up the mic without bothering to reply and concentrated on driving through the heavily congested downtown traffic. Jessica's directions were taking him towards the docks and the warehouse district. There were plenty of empty buildings where a man could be held and tortured without anyone being the wiser.

As he drove, he stole occasional glances at Jessica. Her story sounded plausible, and her fear seemed genuine. Still, Hutch had been a cop long enough to know not to take a suspect's confession at face value. Her story made it sound as if she were just another innocent victim who got caught up with the wrong man, but his cop instincts were telling him that he still didn't have the whole story.