Chapter 12

Starsky and Hutch walked in through the back door and saw one of Monroe's men sitting at the end of the bar. Huggy walked up behind them and they both jumped. "Don't do that," Starsky said as he turned around.

"You lookin' at the patron at the end of the bar?"

"You know him?" Hutch asked.

"I know him alright. I know he's one of Monroe's muscle men. He told me if I saw either of you to tell you he'd like a chat."

"What else do you know about him, Hug?" Hutch asked.

"I know he moved heer with Monroe from Orlando. His name is Jason Dalton."

"I'll go see what he wants," Starsky said.

"Why you?"

"Because you're in no shape to fight, if it comes down to it."

"So, you'll back me up." Hutch took a quarter out of his pocket.

"Not this time, Pal." Starsky said as he gently placed his hand on Hutch's. He wasn't about to let Hutch talk to this Dalton guy. Not in the shape he was in. Starsky knew Hutch was trying to hide just how much he was hurting. He walked to the bar and sat down next to Dalton.

Dalton appeared to be in his early thirties, wearing blue jeans and a solid light blue t-shirt. He looked around the bar as if he was nervous about seeing someone. He had shoulder-length, light-brown hair, and a moustache. Starsky noticed he was wearing white tennis shoes. Hutch watched carefully from the small window that was on the swinging doors separating the kitchen from the dining room.

"You, Hutchinson?" Dalton asked.

Huggy set a glass of beer in front of Starsky, who took a sip and said, "Nope. I'm the other one."

"You must be Starsky then."

"The one and only. I heard you wanna chat."

Dalton looked nervously around the place again. "I heard you and your partner can be trusted and right now I don't know who else to turn to."

"It all depends on what you want."

"I don't have a lot of time, so I'm going to jump out on a ledge here. I'm not really Jason Dalton. I'm working undercover to catch Monroe and I know he's got you and your partner in a bad spot."

Starsky quietly took another sip of his beer. "You work for Monroe, how do I know what you're saying is the truth?"

"I don't have a lot of time. My name is Michael Farmer. I joined Monroe in Orlando you can check me out. Monroe moved here so fast, I didn't have time to check in with my department."

"He's been here over a month and you're telling me you haven't had a chance to contact anyone from your department?"

"He keeps a close eye on everyone. We work in pairs all the time."

"How'd you get away today?"

"I drugged, Gary, the guy that's with me. Monroe sent us here to see if either of you came in. He's asleep in the car out front."

Starsky wasn't sure if he should believe this Farmer or not. Something about the look in the man's eyes told Starsky that he was desperate for help. "Let's say I believe you, what do want me to do?"

"Let my Chief know I'm okay. Please, tell him where I am and get word to my partner that I'm okay. I've got enough on Monroe to put him away for murdering Big John and dealing, but we've got to move carefully or your friends will get hurt."

"You know about that?"

"I know. Can I trust you?"

Starsky nodded his head. "You know I have to check your story first."

Farmer closed his eyes and nodded, "I know you do. Use the word peanut butter. It's a code word; he'll know what it means." He reached in his pocket and took out a small cassette tape and covertly handed it to Starsky.

"When can you come back here?"

"Tonight. I'll tell Monroe that Huggy said you'd be here tonight."

"What time?"

"How does seven sound?"

"Perfect." Starsky finished his beer and walked back into the kitchen.

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Come on, Starsk, what did he say?"

"He said we need to come back at seven. I'll explain later."

Huggy came into the kitchen and Starsky said, "Huggy, that man is coming back at seven and it may be to set us up. I want you to call us at ten minutes till and let us know if he comes in with anyone else or if you see any of Monroe's men come in."

"You can count on me. If you don't hear from me, then you'll know not to show up."
"Thanks, Hug." Starsky patted Huggy on the back. "Come on, Hutch. We've got work to do." He picked up the pay phone and called Captain Dobey at home.

Starsky and Hutch met Captain Dobey in a small restaurant about twenty miles out of town. They had to go so far to make sure neither of them was being followed. Starsky had filled Hutch in on what Farmer had told him on the way there. Dobey started to fuss at Starsky and Hutch for working when he thought they were taking some time off so Hutch could get some much needed rest. Hutch said he was well enough for what they were doing today and said he wanted to interrogate Blinn tomorrow. Starsky asked how Rosie was and Dobey told them that Rosie had a nightmare about the man who hit her, knocking her off her bike. They sympathized and apologized for it. Dobey told them it wasn't their fault, but they felt like it was and promised Dobey they would get Monroe and the man who hit Rosie.

They filled Dobey in on Farmer and what he told Starsky including the code word Farmer told him to tell his chief. "It sounds like it could be a set up to me, Starsky. If you go through with it, be careful."

"We have to go through with it Cap'n. Hutch and I want you to check out Farmer's story. If he's on the up-and-up, this is the break Hutch and I have been looking for. And he needs our help to get out."

"How sure are you he's telling the truth?"

"You didn't see the look in his eyes. He's scared, Cap'n. I have a feeling he's on the level." He handed Dobey the cassette tape that Farmer gave him.

"What's this?"

"Farmer gave it to me."

"What's on it?"

"It's a tape of Monroe ordering the hit on Big John and Spitzer. If this is the real thing, we have enough with Farmer's testimony to arrest Monroe on two counts of murder one. Farmer says he's got more evidence on drug charges too and we get some of his boys too."

"Okay, I'll look into it and leave word with Huggy on what I find out."

"One more thing. Get rid of that bug in your office," Hutch said.

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"Sure, I'm sure. We told Monroe we were going to remove them when he met us at my apartment yesterday."

"He did what?!" Dobey's volume rose.

"Didn't we mention that?" Starsky asked.

"No. No you didn't mention that. When did…"

"Yesterday when Starsky brought me home from the hospital, Monroe was sitting in my living room. Don't worry he just wanted to say hi."

"I'll bet he did." He stared at them looking for them to fill him in on the rest of the conversation they had with Monroe.

"He wants more, Hutch."

"Yes, he wants more. I want to know what you two are up to."

"Captain, we're doing the best we can to get Monroe before anyone else gets hurt," Hutch said.

"Marsolenni was no help," Starsky added.

"What the hell. You mean to tell me you two saw Marsolenni too?"

"Now, that was all Hutch's idea. And I didn't mean to tell you, it just sort of slipped out." Starsky looked at Hutch and shrugged his shoulders.

Dobey tilted his head to one side and frowned. "What else don't you want to tell me?"

"There's nothing else, Captain. Call us at Hutch's instead of Huggy's as soon as you can with the information on Farmer. We'll be there resting up. You can get rid of the bug under your desk."

"Okay, okay. I hope the two of you know what you're doing."

"Us, too," they said in unison.

"What do mean resting up? I'm fine."

"Sure, ya are. Look we can't be running around town all day. We told Monroe Dobey took us off duty so you could rest. There's nothing else we can do anyway. Not until we check out Farmer's story."

"You two argue all you want. I'm getting back to check out Farmer's story. The Chief in Orlando is an old friend of mine."

"You have friends?" Starsky asked jokingly.

Dobey shot him a dirty look. "He means outside of us of course, Captain." Hutch chuckled.

"And I'm beginning to wonder about the two of you. As much grief as you give me." Dobey stood up to leave then softly said, "You two be careful." Starsky and Hutch nodded. They knew Captain Dobey was worried about them. Heck, they were worried about themselves too.

When Captain Dobey returned to his office, he pulled the bug out from under his desk and dropped it on the floor. He stepped on it, twisting his foot on it to make sure it was broken for good. He picked up the pieces and put them in the trash can. Then he looked around to make sure they were all gone. When he was sure it was safe, he called his old friend in Orlando, Chief Brian Thaxton. "Brian, this is Harold Dobey from Bay City."

"It's been a long time, Harold."

"Brian, we can chit-chat later. I need to know if you have a detective named Michael Farmer."

"What do you know about Farmer?"

Captain Dobey explained that two of his detectives ran into him on a case and it appeared that Farmer might be in trouble. "Oh, he told my detective to tell you peanut butter."

"He's in big trouble then, Harold. Your men can trust him, he's my best man. I'm sending his partner, Dave Singleton, out there as soon as I can arrange it. He's been pretty upset since Farmer disappeared. He'll be glad to know Farmer's been located."

"I'll send Starsky and Hutchinson to pick him up. Call me back when you've made the arrangements."

"Will do and uh, thanks, Harold."

"If this works out the way I hope, our men will be able to save each other." Captain Dobey hung up the phone. He paced nervously in his office until Chief Thaxton called back ten minutes later. The arrangements had been made and Captain Dobey got a description of what Dave Singleton looked like and what he would be wearing. Chief Thaxton contacted the local FBI and was able to arrange for their jet to bring Singleton to Bay City. The jet would be leaving within the hour and would arrive in Bay City at five.

"Thanks, Captain. That's great news." Hutch was nodding and smiling as he was talking to his captain. Starsky was listening to the conversation. "Yeah, we can do that. Sure." Hutch finally hung up the phone.

"What'd he say?"

"He said the FBI is bringing Farmer's partner here and they'll be here about five. We're picking him up at the airport. His name is Dave Singleton and he's been worried about Farmer. Seems Farmer disappeared a little over a month ago. He wants me to wear my sports jacket, so they'll recognize us. Singleton will be wearing a dark blue windbreaker."

"That is great news. Now maybe we can catch this slime and put him away for good."

"I'll bet Singleton's glad to hear Farmer's all right," Starsky said.

"I'll bet he is. Farmer's been gone over a month. Can you imagine how either of us would feel?"

"I don't even want to think about it. You were missing a day and I went crazy."

"And when Marcus had you that time I drove myself crazy with worry. A whole month, I think I'd be a basket case."

"Yeah, me too."

"I have an idea."

"I don't know, Hutch. The last time I agreed to one of your ideas I ended up in a dress."

Hutch chuckled as he remembered seeing Starsky dressed as woman. That was just a few months ago when they were trying to get some evidence against Simonetti and Dryden. "No. It's nothing like that, Starsk."

Starsky and Hutch were at the airport a few minutes early. They saw a tall, thin, worried-looking man pacing in the terminal. He was wearing a dark blue windbreaker and had light brown hair just as Captain Dobey said Singleton had. There were two men sitting in the chairs nearby who looked like they could be FBI agents.

Hutch leaned again a wall as he watched Starsky approach the man. "Singleton?"

"Hutchinson?"

Starsky shook his head no and said, "I'm the other one, Starsky."

The two men that had been sitting in the chairs stood up and walked toward Starsky and Singleton. That made Hutch nervous but he wanted to hang back just in case there was trouble. "These are the FBI agents who brought me here. Tell me, is Farmer actually okay? I've been really worried about him."

Starsky nodded, acknowledging the two agents. "I saw him this afternoon and he's fine. I think he's scared and we need to pull him out, but he looked good." Starsky motioned for Hutch to join them. After the introductions were made, the FBI agents asked if they could help in any way. Starsky and Hutch excused themselves so they could talk alone a minute. "Whatdaya think, Hutch?"

"Yeah, let's have them hang around a couple of days. They may come in handy."

"Your plan was to have Singleton at Huggy's tonight. Let Holmes and Watson keep him company."

"That's just what I was thinking."

They rejoined Singleton and the men from the FBI. The men introduced themselves as Wesley Fairbanks and Ray Tillman. They said they would rent a car and follow Starsky to Hutch's.

Starsky took the long way to Hutch's so he could make sure he wasn't being followed. As they got out, Tillman chuckled, "Hey, Starsky is that a car or a tomato?"

Hutch laughed, "I've been telling him that for years."

"That's not funny." He turned to Hutch, "Did you tell him to say that?"

Hutch pointed at himself, "Who, me? Would I do that?" He asked as they walked up the stairs.