I must beg for your forgiveness, dear Readers, RL is getting me completed overworked. So little time to finish this little fic. But I promise that the last chapter(s) will come asap. Thanks a million for being faithful and for all your comments, public or private. They're very precious to me.

22

Suddenly, it seemed to Dobey's detectives that the Earth was spinning faster and faster.

Starsky never seemed to relax as soon as he started thinking about Tessa.

Hutch was keeping his legendary so-called zen attitude and managed somehow to calm down and reassure his partner.

Dobey was briefing all the troops that were supposed to deploy around the Fuentes transaction site, the warehouse by the sea.

Rico was sharpening his final conspiracy to take control of the Fuentes' empire.

Matt was now wondering if he'd get a piece of the cake and be allowed to take vengeance himself against the New York blue-eyed cop.

Sebastian was getting nervous, as he felt his boss wasn't acting his usual self and that his nephew was preparing a nasty trick.

Tessa felt the events were closing in on her, burying her in an abyss so far down she feared escape would be impossible.

Bernie had tried over the last hours to provide Tessa with his best comforting words, as it was the only thing he could do.

One hour before the time the transaction was supposed to take place, Sebastian parked the car at the rendez-vous site Dobey's undercover agents had chosen. The so-called Burnett and Collins stepped in, one in front, the other one at the back, despite Sebastian's persistence to invite them both to take a place on the back seat.

Things started to get quite uncomfortable for the detectives when they noticed the car wasn't heading for the harbour.

"What are you doing? I thought we had set the rendez-vous at Mr Fuentes' warehouse," Hutch asked as politely as he could.

Starsky, who was sitting right behind Matt, moved his hand down very slowly and made sure the small gun was in place against his leg.

"Mr Fuentes decided to change the location and meet you at a location where he feels safer."

"You should have warned us." Starsky snapped back in a tone he had unsuccessfully wanted more relaxed.

"He's the boss. What can I say?"

"Where are we going?" Hutch asked.

"To where Mr Fuentes is waiting for you."

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

Earlier that day…

Tessa had taken the risk of calling Dobey early in the morning to confirm that Fuentes and his gang would be meeting Burnett and Collins at the warehouse later that day.

She had barely hung up when Rico forced his way into the apartment, without even knocking.

"What are you up to, slut?"

Tessa startled at the name but refrained from showing any emotion. She had to hang on, for both the detectives' sake.

"Nothin'."

Rico walked to her like a starved feline about to tear its prey to pieces.

Before she had the chance to react, he slapped her real hard in the face.

"Don't you give me that nothing shit talk! I know who you are!" he shouted.

"I don't see what you mean," Tessa answered, trying to keep a low profile and slowly rubbing the cheek where Rico had hit so hard.

"I know what you are and why you're here."

"I don't…"

Another hit prevented the young woman from saying another word.

"Your friends at the Police station will wait a long time before they see you again, I can assure you."

Tessa's eyes widened in fear and before she managed to reach for her gun, carefully hidden in its usual place, the door banged wide open again and Matt rushed in and towards her. He grabbed her by the arms and held her wrists behind her back so that Rico could tie her up.

"Let me go!" Tessa shouted, yet before she could utter another word, she felt a piece of tape stuck on her lips.

Rico brutally dragged her and forcefully put her on a chair where he intended to restrain her with some more tape.

All the while, Matt had been granting her a wicked smile. Thoughts began to rush into the young woman's head: what would Rico do next? Were Starsky and Hutch safe? Was Alejandro aware of this? Would he save her? Was she gonna die, here, now?

"I'm gonna take care of your cop friends as well as my Uncle. And then, I'll come back for you, dear Tessie," Rico said with a nasty grin on his face. "Did you think you could fool me that long?"

He started to pace in the room, like a lion waiting to enter a circus central arena and show the audience how wonderful and unique he is.

"As soon as Matt told me about your visit at the Police station and the three of you being undercover, I thanked destiny for bringing me on a plate the perfect scenario to get rid of you all. Tonight, I'm gonna take the reins. Bye bye, Uncle! Bye bye, cops! Now Bay City will have to remember my name. I'm fed up of being second-best. My time has come."

Tessa was fidgeting on the chair, trying to untie her wrists, but Rico had secured the tape hard enough. She felt so helpless. Maybe her time was up too, maybe this was supposed to put an end to her futile attempts to recover from …

"I must admit that I lured my Uncle in a way I never thought possible. He's been acting so weak lately. Changing the location of the transaction was just a formality for me. And now they're heading to the place I have decided. Ain't it cool?"

Tessa's eyes were begging for more details.

Rico approached her until she could feel the warmth of his face next to hers.

"Tonight, we are literally printing History, Sweetie. And after I'm done with 'em all, you're next."

"C'mon, let's go." Rico ordered to Matt.

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