The Peake Sisters

Chapter 2: Catching Meredith Peake

That evening Starsky set out for a drive, going nowhere in particular, just being visible. Once he saw her, he headed for the beach. Now and then he'd catch sight of her following him, but she was maintaining her distance. He figured the beach would be a quiet spot to meet, but still public enough so she wouldn't get spooked away. Ok girl, I'm turning this cat and mouse game around. I'm tired of being the mouse, now I'm going to be in control. We're going to meet, and I'm going to find out what you want.

He pulled up at the end of the parking lot by some benches. There were people still on the beach, but not close. He parked the Torino, walked to a bench and sat down as if he were there to watch the sun set.

Stretching out his legs, he let his head bob backwards, and closed his eyes. If she was a tease, then fine, he'd know to ignore her. If she was flirting and interested, all the better, maybe he'd have a good romp. However, he needed to find out for himself.

He heard the bike pull up, and remained still. He wanted her to believe he was deep in thought or maybe even asleep. She cut the motor and just sat there watching him. Finally, he heard movement, her soft footsteps coming toward him.

"The sun's beautiful when it's sinking into the ocean like that, isn't it?" came a soft voice.

"Yes, it is", he responded nodding his head but not looking her way.

"May I sit down or would you rather be by yourself?" she asked.

"No, that's fine, have a seat", he responded, just momentarily glancing her way.

They sat in silence, watching the sunset. He felt her watching him, but kept his eyes focused on the sunset. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, he shifted his body to face toward her. Mitch's description didn't scratch the surface; even in the fading light, he could see that she was gorgeous.

She had a head full of long strawberry blonde tight curls that fell well down past her shoulders. Her face looked delicate with a small button nose and a dimple in her right cheek. Her eyes were big and totally focused on him, and showed apprehension. What are you worried about girl?

They both started talking at once then stopped. "You first", offered Starsky, wanting to hear what she had to say.

"I really love your car. The bright red with the bold white stripe is quite eye catching. Who did your paint job?"

"Thanks. Is that why you've been following me, to ask me who painted my car?" I'm not going to buy that one for a minute, girl, so you had better come up with something better. Starsky was irritated, he didn't like being followed and that irritation came through in his voice.

She looked down, swallowed, and took a deep breath. Ok Meredith, you can do this. "Initially, yes. But I could never find you when there wasn't a lot of traffic around." She looked down and took another deep breath then looked into his eyes, "Then one day I pulled up next to your car and was going to just ask and I saw you. I thought you were really cute and I forgot about your car and just wanted to ask you out to dinner, but you looked, ah, like you were in a bad mood, and I got cold feet."

Starsky's tensed body relaxed a bit, yes, he had been agitated whenever he caught sight of her bike, he couldn't help himself and a small smile formed on his face. Thought I was cute, huh?

She continued, "I tried a couple more times, but by that point I guess I had made you mad, because you always looked upset … ah…. annoyed."

"Well ya. I thought you were some guy on a bike trying to challenge me. With the dark visor, I never could see your face." He still had his eyes locked on her trying to determine if she was telling the truth, but he was starting to feel this was just a big misunderstanding. Leave it to my imagination to run wild, just like Hutch said.

"My sister said you probably thought I was stalking you or something", she weakly smiled. "She's also the one that suggested we remove our helmets so you could see our faces. I hadn't thought about that."

"Stalking had crossed my mind. In my line of work, we make enemies, and I can't just assume the best all the time. But I was irritated and I didn't look closely enough to see that you were a girl. I should have picked up on that", his voice softening. Maybe she's not so bad. She is cute. Wish you would have taken that bulky leather jacket off, like to see what's under there. Hormones are kicking in, got to focus. Starsky pinched the bridge of his nose to regain his concentration.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't know you were a cop until you pulled us over."

"Would it have made a difference had you known I was a cop?" his head shot up, irritation back in his voice.

"No, no, it's just that I know a few cops, and I might have been able to contact you through them instead of trying to catch you out on the street. Might have left a better impression."

"Oh, well ya, it might have. So now that we have this misunderstanding settled, I accept your offer, where are you going to take me for dinner?" he said as he flashed a big smile. He had decided she probably wasn't stalking him or dangerous and he wanted to get to know her better. The girl can't be all bad, she likes my car, thinks I'm cute, and I'd like to see that body without the leather or any clothes for that matter. Hormones win every time!

She looked at him and smiled, then laughed, "Ok, then. I'm so glad you're not mad at me. I'm not a stalker! You like Italian or Mexican?"

"Love 'em both!"

"Your ride or mine?" she asked nodding toward her bike.

"Mine", he laughed. "How about I follow you home so you can lock up your bike, and then we'll go onto the restaurant?"

"Great!" she smiled and jumped up from the bench and started walking toward her bike. Starsky followed her, watching her hips move. How in the hell did I miss that butt when she was on her bike? Jeeze, I'm slipping!