Chapter 15

Hutch sat with Mel in the car at the end of Pier 16. Whatever the nonesense with the visit to West Chesterfield had been about, there was now no sigh of huge men dressed in black, and idly, Hutch wondered if it was just another one of Lilly's tests. Trusting soul that she was, Hutch felt he could suspect her of doing almost anything to ensure her operation went smoothly and he shuddered at the prespect. Taking his mind away from dark thoughts, he concentrated on the heist. He'd had the phone call from Dobey that afternoon, as promised, asking for Cal Gibbons and he had taken it, being vague and non-committal in the extreme. It wouldn't do to blow his over at the last possible opportunity. After that he felt more confident and had prepared with the others for the evenings job.

At five o'clock, the four heavies had all got themselves ready and headed out to the cars, with Lilly's instructions ringing in their ears. Make the bust, get the stuff under wraps and get out. All they were expected to do was babysit the exchange. She would follow on and would do the rest. Hutch had checked his gun carefully and had added an extra few clips to the three already in his pocket. He didn't expect the goons to go down without a fight and he knew he needed to be ready.

And now he was in position at the end of the pier, waiting for the shipment to appear. A small type of tug boat had appeared at the mouth of the harbour a few minutes ago and as it chugged its way up to the mooring, Hutch could just make out two men in the small wheelhouse. Looking around at the docks, he also spied three police marksmen carefully concealed behind some air conditioning stacks on the roof of another of the warehouses and two more in a vessel moored further up the pier. Dobey had worked his magic and Hutch felt confident that the bust was as good as scuppered.

As the boat pulled in closer and one of the sailors threw a mooring line to Bo, Hutch and Mel got slowly out of the car. The blond cop knew that they couldn't officially arrest anyone until the exchange had formally taken place and so now he watched carefully as the two sailors jumped ashore and started an earnest conversation with Bo and Ramp. Within minutes, the two men had nodded, shaken hands and had stepped on board the craft, signalling for Hutch and Mel to join them.

As Hutch walked slowly behind the ginger haired man down the wooden boardwalk, the blond could almost feel the crackle of electricity in the air - barely suppressed excitement as Mel got his first good look at the bricks of brown resin wrapped in greased paper and plastic ,lining the bows of the ship. The bricks were three deep and arranged along the gunwales ready for unloading and their coverings caught the evening sun and gleamed like blocks of molten bronze. The goon giggled to himself and looked back at Hutch, his eyes widening to the size of soup plates as he saw in the distance a black suited marksman running up behind him. Mel turned to try to shout a warning to Bo, Ramp and the two sailors as Hutch drew his gun and held it two handed pointing skywards.

'Police freeze' he shouted and fired a warning shot heavenwards.

The two men on the boat ignored him, as did every flake he'd ever shouted it at. Whoever had written the police text book on the matter had obviously never had to use the technique for real. Instead, the shout had the opposite effect and now there was a welter of activity both on the boat and also on dry land as marksmen appeared from everywhere. As the two sailors took their chances with the murky, oil tainted water and jumped overboard, Mel ran back past Hutch, his arms in the air as he tried to dash past the marksman. The man knelt and levelled his Lee Enfield rifle at the ginger hared man who cowered down on the ground, covering his head with his hands. Hutch heard him whimper and tell the cop he'd come quite and not to shoot. Ahead, the flaxen haired cop could see Ramp diving for cover in the boat, hotly pursued by another marksman, while a third stalked Bo.

Hutch ran the length of the pier, yelling back at the rifle toting cop. 'Leave him Mike, that one's mine'. Bo turned and grinned at the blond as Mike turned back to check on his partner in the boat, leaving Hutch and Bo facing off down the pier.

'Well who'd have thought? Good ole Cal Gibbons is a pig!' Nice work Mr Po – lice – man' he taunted. 'We gonna finish it here Cal? Mano a mano as it were?'

'The names Hutchinson, an' yeah, we're gonna finish it here. Right here, right now punk. Coz I have a few scores to settle, like what you did to my partner' Hutch grunted.

'Partner? Which….no! Surely not. Oh I get it now. Shapiro…..Starsky. He was your partner? Oh man, that must'a broke you up. That took balls man, shootin' him like that. Are you a crazy shot, or did ya mean to kill him?'

The last comment finally broke Hutch's steely reserves of patience, and with a yell, he launched himself at Bo, his momentum from the flying tackle sending both men off the edge of the pier and into the water. Hutch surfaced first and cast around him in a circle looking for Bo to appear. A moment later he felt a yank on his ankle and a strong hand pulled him under the water. He managed to take a desperate gasp of air before he was under and staring at Bo's fist travelling towards him like a pile driver.

The hand connected, but fortunately was cushioned by the water and so the blow was lessened. It snapped the blond's head back sufficiently though and the momentum spun Bo round so that his back was towards the cop. Hutch shook his head to clear it and seized the opportunity to lunged forwards, locking his arms around Bo's throat, squeezing hard as the big man's hands started to claw at his arms.

Silvery air bubbles streamed from Hutch's nose as he held on, fighting to stop himself from taking a breath. His lungs burned with the need to breathe and yet still Bo fought on although his struggles were getting weaker. With a final effort, Bo kicked out one last time and then the goon's body finally hung limp in Hutch's arms and with powerful desperate kicks of his long legs, the cop finned for the surface, his head breaking the surface of the water as his mouth opened to suck air greedily into his lungs. He looked around, seeing one of the marksmen hanging over the side of the boat, holding out a hand to him and with Bo's unconscious body tucked under one arm, the flaxen haired cop struck out for the side, handing Bo up to the waiting men before allowing himself to be pulled bodily into the boat himself. He lay on the bottom gasping and limp like a fish in its death throes as around him men were still mopping up the last of the operation. It had gone down in textbook fashion and as he looked up, Hutch could see Dobey walking across the gangplank towards him.

He forced himself to sit up and gratefully accepted the towel that one of the officers handed to him. As Dobey squatted down on the quayside above him as he started to towel at his face and hair.

'Nice to see you again Hutchinson' the black man said softly. 'You did good, real good'.

'How's Starsky?' Hutch asked, his question muffled by the towel.

'Wanting to see you'.

'Feeling's mutual. Where's Lilly?'

Dobey looked around. 'Wasn't she here?'

'No, I thought you guys had waited till she'd arrived. Shit! We didn't get her?' the blond V'd his eyebrows in annoyance.

'I thought she was on the boat. Hutch? Hutch, where are you goin?' Dobey yelled as the blond staggered to his feet in a spray of salt water droplets, vaulted onto the dock wall and ran for the nearest black and white.

'I'm gonna put the bitch away if it's the last thing I do' he yelled over his shoulder as he got into the car and started to drive away.

'Where are ya goin'?'

'Restaurant…..she'll head back there' Hutch answered through the open window

'We'll meet you there' Dobey yelled back as he got himself together.

Hutch sat in the puddle on the seat, his clothes still dripping wet as he drove. In his head he went over everything he'd love to say to the woman who'd caused him so much heartache over the past months. But truth to tell, now that all of her operation had been blown out of the water, all he really wanted to do was to get back to his partner, go home and sleep for a month. He drove mechanically through the downtown traffic and the deepening gloom and as he drew up in the alleyway at the back of Le Quatre Seasons he had the satisfaction of seeing her car there, engine running as if for a swift getaway.

The blond got out of his car and made his way into the back entrance of the restaurant, through to Lilly's quarters. He flung open the door, before he realised that his pistol was now feeding the fish at the bottom of the bay. Damn, why did he have to be so impetuous now?

Cautiously he walked into the room, his senses on high alert as he looked left and right. He didn't see her immediately, but Lilly saw him and in a whirlwind of movement she launched herself at him, her own gun outstretched and aimed directly at Hutch. She loosed off a shot and the cop rolled himself behind one of her easy chairs, but from there she had him pinned. Another shot rang out, sending up splinters of wood and stuffing from the well padded furniture and as he stood and dived for the safety of the bathroom, she shot again.

Hutch felt the hot metal rip into his shoulder, sending him catapulting against the door lintel and within a second Lilly was on top of him, beating at him with her fists and shrieking at him.

'You're a cop! You thought you could take me down. Well you can't, you can't. Was its good for you? Did you enjoy watching me with your pretty curly partner? Feel jealous did you?' she asked, pounding at his wounded shoulder with her fists.

'Lilly, listen to me' he tried to calm her, gritting his teeth against the pain, but again she brought the gun up, this time aiming it right between his eyes as she stared down at him, full of hate'.

'We would have been good together, you and me. I always did like you more than the others. I'd have been willing to share' she said softly. 'I would have shared with you Cal' the gun wavered and Hutch stared dry mouthed down the barrel as her finger twitched against the trigger. He closed his eyes.

'Don't do this Lilly. Don't add murder to your rap sheet. It's not worth it' he muttered, opening his eyes to fix her with a crystalline gaze.

'You don't know shit' she cried, tears now running down her cheeks. 'I can't live behind bars, it'd kill me. I'm gonna have to kill you, then I'm next'. The gun levelled once again at him and Hutch's heart stopped beating as he saw her index finger start to squeeze.

The shot rang out, making him scream and his body twitch beneath the woman and Hutch closed his eyes one last time, the pains from his wounds blending into one gigantic blaze of agony. The room seemed to dip sideways and then there was only blackness.

Lilly looked down at the flaxen haired cop in sorrow and shock. Her hands came up, one to clutch at her chest and one that gently brushed the stray golden hairs from Hutch's forehead before she slumped down, her own body covering his. In the doorway, Dobey stood with a smoking gun looking at the hole he'd just blown in Lilly Matteu's chest.