17
Before heading back to Metro, Starsky had felt an irrepressible urge to check on the young police woman they had recently encountered. Although he had not said anything about his feelings to his partner, it seemed obvious enough to Hutch something was bothering his brunet friend. He had not tried to speak about it but simply waited for Starsky to open up his heart on this subject.
As restless as he knew him to be, the blond knew he would not have to wait for long, especially when pretty girls were involved. The only moment when they would be more discreet with each other is when some serious relationship was at hand, at even then, they would share opinions the next day... or the day after. And the lady would soon be introduced to the other and share common moments of relaxation at the pits or during a bowling session. If she was very special, she would be allowed to share a monopoly game at their place.
This time, though, Hutch felt something different about the way his partner had looked at the young woman. Was it because they had been cheating about their real identity, or because she was undercover in a rather perilous zone, or simply because Starsky had been caught under the magic spell of her voice? He did not want to choose one option and patiently waited for his partner to make the first move.
"Huh... would you mind if I joined you later on at the office? I'll drop you and come back later?"
"Yeah... Sure... take your time." Hutch replied with a bit of gentle mockery in his voice.
Starsky had noticed the tone and briefly turned his attention to Hutch then to the road again.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he mumbled.
"Nothing. Just make sure she is all right." Hutch simply said.
Starsky held the wheel a bit tighter and let a long but silent sigh out. He was indeed preoccupied by the delicate situation Tessa had found herself involved in and, perhaps because he had shown so much aggressiveness towards her in Dobey's office, he wanted to make it up to her and let her know she was not alone anymore. He had not been fooled by the apparent calm she had later displayed as they were conversing in the squad room. He had noticed her fingers sometimes twitching a bit, her look wandering around as if she were expecting Fuentes or Mendoza or one of the body guards to suddenly show up. She was good at fooling people, but Starsky was even better at unmasking pretenders.
"Yeah... Thanks."
"Don't mention it, Buddy. Anyway, this case will be closed in no time and she'll be safe after that, right?"
"Sure." Starsky whispered.
Why then do I have the feeling she must be taken out of this mess as soon as possible? He thought.
After he dropped his blond partner in front of the police headquarters, he headed to the address she had given them.
When he knocked on the door of her apartment, he suddenly felt his hands getting wet and his breathing accelerated a bit. Hey, man, calm down, you're a cop, she is a cop, you're both on duty, so forget it and concentrate on safety first. After this is all over, you'll see whether she is...
"Hi! I hope I'm not disturbing you." he said when the door opened.
"Hi... Mr Burnett." she said, putting her index on her mouth to invite him to play the game. "What brings you here?" she went on, inviting him with a nod to enter.
Starsky entered the apartment and followed Tessa who indicated the microphone under the lamp. She also pointed the various places she had found more. Starsky acknowledged he had understood and frowned for a moment, searching on the young woman's face for a sign of worry. But she seemed relaxed, for now.
"I just wanted to... congratulate you and say your … performance at The Rose was... well, I'm impressed.
"Thank you, Mr Burnett."
Tessa's voice was sweet and calm, just the way she spoke to Fuentes.
Starsky made an OK with his fingers and raised his eyebrows, silently asking her if she was fine. She nodded yes.
"You should not open the door like this without asking first who's knocking, you know." he went on, out loud, giving his voice a nuance of gentle mockery...
"I don't know why I did. But you're certainly right. I will be more careful."
"I won't stay long, just wanna check you're all right and..."
He did not know what to say, even less now that he knew that someone was listening somewhere to their pretend conversation.
"I hope I will have the pleasure to see you again on stage soon."
"Sure. If you're gonna do business with Mr Fuentes, you're likely to see him regularly, well I guess." She was trying to sound ingénue.
"Maybe I could offer you a drink some day, that is, if Mr Fuentes does not see any inconvenience. Are you... I mean... is he...?"
Starsky deliberately avoided finishing his sentence.
"You mean him and me? I owe him a lot, you know. My job, my apartment and all. So I don't know if this is... appropriate, Mr Burnett."
"I don't mean to be rude, Miss, but you... are you sure this is what you want?"
"What do you mean: what I want? I don't really see where you're heading at, Mr Burnett."
"Please, call me Mike." and Starsky gave her a genuine big smile, remembering the conversation they had in the police squad, when all he wanted after their wording fight was to get to know her better.
"Right. Huh...Mike...I really think you should go now. I've got a few things to do before going back to the nightclub and..."
Starsky pointed at the door, inviting her to follow him outside the apartment.
Tessa gave Starsky a look which meant she was making sure the guy listening would report her faithfulness to Al, therefore comforting her undercover position.
Starsky headed for the door.
"Don't you worry, Tessa. And, shall I say, if there anything I can do for you, would you do me the favor to let me know, OK?
"Thank you, Mr Burnett;" she deliberately used his family name again, "but I think I'll be just fine."
She accompanied him to the door and when they were in the corridor, she checked no one was there to listen to them. She closed the door halfway behind her, without locking it.
"It was quite a surprise, seeing the two of you in Captain Dobey's office this morning." she whispered, as a precaution, even though she knew the microphones would not pick that up.
"Was quite a shock, right?" he whispered back.
"Yeah, for me too. But I'm relieved now, to know that you're there. I..."
Tessa paused, looked at the brunet detective standing in front of her, with a gentle smile on his face.
"What is it? Why do you look at me that way?"
Starsky went on smiling.
"I never imagined that police officers could be gifted with unusual assets as the ones you displayed. This is certainly not an easy assignment and I find you very brave to live in the lion's dent like you do. But, please tell me, where did you learn to sing like that?"
"Call it a passion. And I won't tell you I wanted to become a singer when I was a little girl. I've always been singing, to myself, or for my family, or..."
She paused again, but this time, Starsky could see the shadow of a painful memory passing in her eyes. He slowly walked closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder, gently, just to make her feel better, to let her know he was there to protect her if necessary, from anything that would show up. What he did not expect is that she quickly huddled up in his arms and held on to him as to a life jacket. He felt her rapid heartbeat, put his arms around her and held her close against his chest for a moment, until she pulled herself apart from his embrace.
"Sorry, I guess I needed to feel safe, if only for a brief moment." she apologized. "These past few weeks have driven me nervous. I really hope this will be over soon."
"It's that Rico guy, right?"
"Among others."
"I don't like him either. Feels kinda weird and not to be trusted at all."
He was still standing close to her and brushed a lock from her face. There was something so soft and fragile about her. Their eyes met. They kept silent. For what seemed an eternity, they looked at each other, his arms on her shoulders, their bodies so close. Starsky did not want to give in to the impulse he had to kiss her, yet there she was, staring at him, her big brown eyes reflecting his blue gaze stuck at her figure.
She was not trying to free herself from him. She just remained there, still trembling a little, her lips barely open, her eyes prisoner of his. Time seemed to stop for a moment, just for the two of them to silently catch their breath and decide whether they would give in to more than be reasonable for the moment.
She was the first one to pull away and leaned against the door frame, making sure the door was still almost closed.
"You really have to go now. They will begin to suspect something if they don't hear a thing for too long." she said in a silent breath.
"Are you sure you'll be OK?" Starsky asked, seeming genuinely worried.
"Yes. Please, go now."
"Take care of you, Tessa." Starsky whispered, leaning towards her and giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek.
She did not wait for him to turn his toes and entered the apartment. She never saw that Starsky had halted around the corridor corner and had turned around to give a final look to Tessa's apartment.
She leaned her back against the door, stared at the lamp and smiled.
I hope you got this – she silently thought looking at the microphone - for I'm not gonna play for long anymore now.
S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~
She was about to head to the kitchen when there was a knock on the door. She thought it was Starsky again and did not take the precaution to peep through the spy hole. Perhaps the detective had decided to stay a little longer, perhaps he felt as uneasy by the current situation as her. When she opened the door, she had the very unpleasant surprise to see Rico, standing in front of her, with a wicket smile on his face, his left hand in his jacket pocket. Without waiting Tessa's invitation to enter, he stepped in and headed straight to the window, from where he could see Mike Burnett get into his car and engage in the traffic.
"I hope you enjoyed your free time this morning." still looking outside.
Tessa shivered for a moment.
Does he know something? Has he found out about Starsky? Gosh, I hope not. How could he? No one saw me enter the police building and I was very careful when I left. C'mon Tessa, get a grip, how could he know about all this?
"Yes. I did some shopping."
"Bought anything nice?" Rico said ironically, turning around to face her.
Tessa could not bear to look him in the face and walked to the kitchen. She started to prepare some coffee.
"Actually, no. I just looked around, did some window-shopping."
"Huh uh...All morning?"
Tessa was concentrating on the coffee preparation. Not looking at Rico had allowed her to find her composure again and when she spoke, her voice was now more confident.
"You know girls..." she said, forcing a bit of amusement in her tone, "They love to dream."
Rico approached her and stopped right behind her. She could feel his breath on her neck; she could almost feel his body touching her. His voice was just a whisper now.
"I could treat you with more dreams that you ever imagined, Tessie."
She felt again a long and glacial shiver down her spine. Her hands went wet and cold. She dreaded his touch, more of his words, his very presence so close to her.
"Why do you avoid me, Tessie? I could treat you like a princess, ya know."
The young woman suddenly turned around to face him and tell him to go to hell. But she never had the chance to open her mouth as she felt his arms grab her shoulders with brutality and his lips press against hers in a violent and dominating kiss. She tried to free herself from his grip, but he tightened it even more and forced his way into her mouth. She could not hold the tears that were gliding along her cheeks. Totally disgusted by his violence and the very taste of him, she found the strength to push him away from her.
She never saw the movement of his hand, yet she felt the burning sensation when it hit her face.
"Why do flirt with that Burnett guy, whom you just met?" he shouted. "You don't know jack about this guy. And you have the guts to reject me? You'd better revise your priorities, Tessie, my dear."
"Don't even dream about it, Rico! And why do you imagine I'm flirting, as you say?"
The tone in her voice was tainted with disgust.
"Hey, this guy just got in the neighborhood and here he is, coming out of your apartment only a couple of hours after he and his associate came to propose a deal to my uncle."
She realized that Rico was most probably waiting in front of the building and had witnessed Starsky enter and come out of the building. Or was he hidden somewhere in the corridor, waiting to strike, perhaps? She sensed a great wave of fear irradiating from her stomach, as she suddenly understood that Rico was so close to maybe discover her true identity. She decided to try some counterattack.
"You've been spying on me, Rico? Is that it? What gives you the right to do that, you miserable piece of slime? I'm here because of Alejandro, certainly not because of you, and if I tell him how you've just treated me, I don't think he's gonna be very pleased with you."
Rico's face was showing nothing but contempt. He stepped away from Tessa and looked her in the eye.
"Not for long, my dear Tessie."
"Stop calling me 'Tessie! And... What do you mean 'not for long'?"
"Don't you worry. You won't miss anything. I'll take care of you... I swear" he added extending a hand and delicately caressing the cheek he had just hit.
She turned her head to avoid the touch. Rico smiled at her and left without another word, leaving Tessa shaking in the middle of the kitchen.
S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~
Matt was waiting in the car, discretely parked around the corner, where Starsky could not have spotted him. When Rico sat next to him, he saw the anger on his face and the flame in his eyes. Rico's voice was surprisingly calm when he started to speak.
"I'm gonna get this son of a bitch! And she will be forced to deal with me in any way I see convenient. That little whore! Why did she go to the police? What did she tell them? What kinda game is she playing?"
"I don't know, but I'll find out soon."
"We'd better find out what she's up to. And I'm gonna try to talk to these guys in private. If I can lure them good, I'll get rid of all of them at once. It's high time I take the place I deserve here."
S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~ S*H ~