ROAD WORK AHEAD: EXPECT DELAYS
CHAPTER 11
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Huggy made his way back to Dobey, who was giving a rundown of their conversation with the two young people. As the Captain saw him, he waved goodbye to the officer and met up with Huggy.
The two men studied each other, each wondering the same thing.
"She never said anything about Hutch." Huggy spoke in a hushed tone. He was concerned for both his friends but the mystery of why they weren't together really bothered him.
"You noticed that too? Huggy, maybe you'd make a good detective." Dobey tried to lighten his mood, giving in to the need for friendship.
"They're my friends and I just can't handle thinkin' about them in trouble. What you gonna do?" Huggy reached into his pocket for another cigarette.
Without planning it, the two men began walking up the road. Not only was the road partially closed due to construction, but now it was considered a crime scene. The police and Captain Dobey had decided that the search for the missing men would start right where they were. They'd gotten out of Jimmy that he'd picked up Hutch's car a few hundred yards from where they were now. Beth confirmed that she and Starsky had been together just a little ways down the road. She couldn't be sure exactly how far, but knew that it had taken her about 5 minutes before she'd reached Starsky. Her story was confirmed when the police found Jimmy's abandoned car about ½ mile from their present location. It only made sense to start looking for the detectives in that same area.
Dobey knew the management for the construction wouldn't be happy with the delay but he really didn't care about inconveniencing them. The cars were all being directed to take the next two exits and all exits in the opposite direction were now closed. Not only was the area a crime scene but with the nails spread out as they were, that added to the problem. It was getting dark and they figured that the lighting which had been set up for the night time road work would be just perfect for lighting the area for a search.
As with many searches, the missing persons always seemed to be right in plane sight. Huggy and Dobey didn't have to go very far before they'd find the first clue.
Dobey and Huggy started walking in the direction that Beth had pointed out. Their walk was more to have something to do than any real destination in mind.
Huggy spoke aloud what he'd been thinking about earlier.
"Captain, why do ya think Starsky was alone when Beth found him? Hutch would never leave Starsky without a good reason." The bar owner tipped his hat back off his forehead to scratch his scalp.
"Who knows? Trouble seems to follow them no matter what they're doing." Dobey stopped and reached into his back pocket for a handkerchief. He wiped his face and blew his nose. It was early evening but there didn't seem to be any relief from the heat of the day. The lights had been turned on so their direction was well lit,
"When I pulled Beth out of the car, I saw two stuffed garbage bags in the back seat. That ain't Hutch's style. It was way too clean."
The men kept walking until all of the sudden, Huggy stopped. He didn't say anything but pointed at something on the ground.
Dobey walked closer, bent over to get a better look. As he straightened up, his face was lined with worry.
Addressing his companion but already walking back toward the officers, Dobey confirmed what Huggy had just seen.
"That's Starsky's shoe. What the hell happened?"
Dobey started barking out orders before he even got within speaking distance to the group of detectives who seemed just to be standing around. The captain handed out orders, expecting each team to get to work without further discussion.
He hurried back to where Huggy waited by the lone shoe. The bar owner had not touched the shoe, knowing that it would not be wise to disturb the area. But he did notice something else and stood near a pile of stones and other road debris.
"Excuse me for being forward, but do ya see all the foot prints here?" Huggy pointed out all the imprints on the side of the road. It was an expected discovery given the fact that countless people had been in this area. Not one of them was clear enough but it was the pile of stone and concrete that really caught Huggy's eye.
The Captain moved closer to the mound of debris. He was impressed with Huggy's observations but wasn't in the mood to hand out compliments.
Captain Dobey squatted down to the fragments of stone and rocks. He studied the direction the pile seemed to hint at. There was no guard rail but the stones seemed to have been scattered away from the road, toward the gradual decline of the hill below them.
"Look right there… only a couple of prints and I'd say they're fresh." He stood up and whistled to get one of the detectives to join them.
He scanned the decline of land below them. He didn't like what he was thinking, not at all. Some sort of foul play had been going on. He had no other suspects other than Jimmy and Beth but he believed their story. Something else happened here and the captain was afraid of what they might find.
"Phillips! Get a team together, get ropes and flashlights and get over the side of that hill. Starsky and Hutch just might be down there. Get a move on!"
Huggy listened, gazing down the hillside. He decided he couldn't keep quiet much longer. He had to do something. So in a voice stronger than he thought he possessed at the time, he cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed out his friends' names.
"Starsky! Hutch! Help's on the way!" There, he felt like he was doing something to help. He wasn't about to go down there to look, he knew he'd be in the way. But he was nervous. He couldn't stand there either and wait for them to find something so he continued walking along the road.
He was lost in thought as he walked. He recalled many times when one or both of the men had been in trouble. Fortunately, it always worked out. They'd be found, a bit battered and bruised but they always survived, mainly because of each other.
He had been walking perhaps five minutes when he stopped in his tracks. He turned around and realized how far he'd come. Behind him he could see a group of men milling around the captain, all of them waiting for news from the team that had gone over the hill. Huggy couldn't hear them talking, but he definitely heard somebody talking. Actually it was more of a one sided argument, the voice raised in anger and frustration. He couldn't make out the words but he did recognize that the voice belonged to a woman. He walked a bit further until he saw the source of the anger. He didn't believe what he was seeing. This whole situation with Starsky and Hutch was very strange. There were more questions than answers and here was another question. Why was there a woman chained to a dumpster? He hesitated rather than move forward right away. Captain Dobey, somebody other than him, should be here to see this. The woman had not seen him but she kept pulling on the chain that locked her to the dumpster. Huggy quickly retraced his steps to take him back to Dobey.
In less time than it took him to move away from them, Huggy returned to Dobey and his men. The thin black man tried to sort out what to say. He didn't understand the meaning of what he'd seen. It was too weird.
"Captain? Hey, I…" Huggy stopped, unable to form the words. He looked over at the men coming back up the hill. The men were moving too slowly, and they were too quiet to have found anything, good or bad. So it was up to Huggy to share the scene he found up the road.
"Captain?" Huggy started again, wanting Dobey's attention but still not sure what to tell him.
'Huggy, not now. If you're ready to go back to the city, take my car. But leave me alone." Dobey rubbed at his temple, trying to massage away the headache that pounded in his head.
"Captain, I found something." Huggy's voice was quiet, devoid of any emotion. He was tired like everybody else but no way would he leave until they found his friends.
"Huggy, I know. You found Starsky's shoe. Just stay out of the way." Dobey walked away, trying to plan what to do next. He turned around when he felt someone touch his arm. He was ready to strike out, wipe away the caring gesture. But the look he saw in Huggy's eyes got him interested in what Huggy had to say.