15

Starsky invited the young girl to take his chair. She was looking a bit embarrassed and avoided to look at either detectives in the eyes. When she had seen the face of the brunet detective and made the connection with the dealers who had come to negotiate a new contract with Fuentes, she has felt a mixture of both anger and relief. She was angry because they were now three cops working undercover and no proper communication had been established between them from the start. This was normal standard procedure. And even without this, the common sense would have imposed a prior contact, if only to avoid any possible blunder. On the other hand, she had felt better to know they were both cops. After all the time she had spent in the vicinity of Fuentes and Rico, gathering all the information she could and forwarding it to Dobey, using all the discretion she was capable of not to be spotted out, she had felt pretty much isolated until she had recently decided to ask the BCPD Homicide section Captain to relieve her from this case if no quick solution was to be found.

She had made up an excuse for her morning absence to Fuentes and she had spent more than an hour in Dobey's office, early in the morning, trying to explain the limits she had reached and the reason she wanted out. He had found all the proper words to reassure her, without immediately mentioning his men, and had promised her the case would be nothing more than a memory in a couple of days.

And then, they had appeared, both of them, in this police reality, and they had looked like saviors. She felt better. Definitely better now. But she had a hard time to let all the tension fade away.

Starsky poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Tessa.

"Do you want some sugar?" he asked.

"Yes, please." He turned, took the sugar box and smiled when he saw her take two lumps and put them in her small plastic cup.

"My kinda gal!" he whispered very low while putting the sugar box back on the side table.

"What's that you said," Hutch questioned lightly.

"Huh... nothing;"

Starsky was trying not to stare at the brunette sitting on his chair, sipping a very sugary coffee and his mind started to wander. He was wondering what she was like when off duty. Was she as tough looking as she had been in Dobey's office? Was kind of music did she like? Did she like jogging in the park? Okay, forget about that, last time I tried to exercise in the park, I burned my heart. Well, this is not like you're interested in the girl, as in – I'd be lovely if we could go out to dinner together and maybe go to a place where we can dance and... - Davy boy, get a grip, she is a cop. I don't know what she was like in SD but the job she did here seems good enough to respect her and not jump on her like on a new casual prey.

He smiled for himself and was forced out of his reverie by the heavy silence that Hutch and Tessa had kept since he had put the sugar back in place.

"What?" Starsky asked. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"No reason, pal, it's just that you seemed a million miles away for a while. You're okay?"

Hutch was speaking casually, but he had heard what his partner had said about the sugar and knew where his mind had been wandering during the last few seconds.

Starsky was on the verge of sending some humorous retort, but Minnie had just entered the squad room and headed for the detectives.

"Hello, you two!" she happily called.

"Hi Minnie, what brings you in our den?" Starsky questioned.

"Sorry, guys, I'm not coming to see you today. Oh, Starsky, please don't look too disappointed. I brought this file to one of your colleagues. Hello!" she politely nodded to the woman sitting in Starsky's chair.

"Hello." Tessa responded.

Minnie let a discreet smile raise the corners of her lips, but said nothing.

As she was obviously waiting for an official presentation, Hutch called out to Minnie "Why don't you deliver the file to whomever is waiting for it, Minnie?"

"Yeah... Sure."

She turned heels and went back to her business, put the files to a colleague and left the room, after she peeped inside one more time.

Starsky sat on the corner of his desk.

"Miss Harriman..." he started

"Please, call me Tessa."

"Tessa. We're supposed to meet Fuentes again before finalizing the... deal. What you have communicated to our Captain may be crucial for this operation to run smoothly and preventing anyone to get hurt."

"It's part of my job." she simply answered.

"You did more than your job." Hutch answered back in a gentle voice. "You infiltrate their circle and... How did you meet Fuentes anyway?"

"When it was decided to nail him down, I was... well I was planning to file a request for transfer anyway. I had visited this city quite often already, because a very good friend of mine moved here and she has inviting me over a lot. I like it here... the ocean and ..."

She stopped speaking, seeing the brunet detective stare at her.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" she asked.

"No. Please, go on. How did you get into Fuentes's circle?"

"People here had made a discreet survey of his travelling habit and hobbies, or to be more precise what kind of entertainment he cherished most. It happens that... well I love to sing and this was a criteria to charm him in the first place. You could say this was a cheap trick, but it worked. I sort of tumbled on him as if by chance and he took the bait."

"How do manage day-to-day living with this guy?" Hutch asked a bit worried.

"Oh, I don't live with him. I have my own apartment. You know, I feel more like an employee than anything else. I pretended to be addicted to some kind of illegal stuff to make it more believable, and in fact I take my regular dosage of antihistamines." she added giving a mocking look at Starsky.

"Sorry 'bout that, but it seemed so..." Starsky apologized.

"If I managed to fool you, I fooled them too from the start. So I know exactly how it seemed to you, Detective."

"Please, call me Dave."

"And I'm Hutch." replied the blonde with a smile. "Now the presentations are over, what are we gonna do?"

"We are gonna go on reconnaissance of the rendez-vous place and nail this Fuentes and his gang."

"Sounds simple enough." Tessa replied. "But do I have a strange feeling about all this."

"Why, piece of cake, you'll see." Starsky's voice was reassuring.

"Don't trust anyone. They are mean, especially Rico. He's a twisted and dangerous one, I can feel it."

Tessa's voice was now more brutal again.

"Hey, it's us. Don't start that verbal fencing again. Trust us. OK?"

"Sorry." Tessa tried to calm down and let out one big sigh. "I've been on the edge for quite a while and I guess I'm only wishing for an end to all this now. I never expected this mission to be so..."

She could not find the proper word and instead took a long gulp of her now cold coffee, holding the cup with both hands. At that precise moment she looked so fragile that Starsky had a hard time trying not to take her against him and comfort her. He simply put a hand on her shoulder.

"The moment you don't feel safe anymore, just call and we'll get you outa there, right?"

"But I never feel safe now, not with Rico around all the time. He is so... arrogant. And I think he is trying to set up something bad but I don't know what."

Hutch interrupted them.

"Huh, Tessa, are you supposed to be out of their sight for long? Don't you have to go back now? I'm sorry, I may sound a bit rude, but... your cover..."

"Yeah, you're right, I should be heading back to my apartment."

She stood up, handed the empty cup to Starsky.

"Thanks for the coffee and... everything."

"Hey, don't mention it. As soon as the slightest danger appears, give a big shout and the white knights will come to the rescue. I have named Burnett and Collins!" Starsky pompously recited, while extending his arms in the air, as if to embrace the whole universe.

"White Knights on a big red horse!" Hutch retorted amusingly.

"I prefer my big red horse to your poor emaciated rotting carcass."

Tessa looked at both and felt light-hearted while listening to their friendly fight.

"Be careful!" Starsky suddenly said as he saw her face. "You almost smiled there!"

Then she gave them a real big smile.

"I gotta go. Thanks again. See you around."

She shook their hands and left the room.

S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~

Someone at the other end of the room watched her leave and waited for a few seconds before going out too, in search of a phone.

After a couple of rings, a voice answered him.

"Yeah?"

"It's me."

"What's up?"

"I got some news for you. Tessa was here this morning. She first talked to the Captain. Then his two favorite boys joined.

"So what?"

"You're gonna love this. You know who the big boys are?"

"Shit, man, I don't like riddles. Spit it out!"

"Detectives David Starsky and Kenneth Hutchinson."

"Ah? And why am I supposed to love this?"

"Because in another life, they are also known as... Burnett and Collins."

There was a silence at the other end of the line.

"Good job. Thanks for the tip. I think indeed Mendoza is gonna love this."

"Anythng else?"

"Keep your eyes and ears open and call me if anything new shows up."

"Sure."

Both hung up at the same time. The one in BCPD smiled and went back to his daily tasks.

S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~