This is not a death story:

Chapter 4

The warehouse stood in a lonely part of Bay City. It was in bad need of refurbishing; the white paint was peeling badly. Weeds grew through the broken asphalt. A skinny lone coyote, ran by searching for food. The summer had been hot and dry. Only two other abandoned buildings stood in the area. A green Camaro pulled up and parked beside the warehouse. Two men got out, one with red hair, pale skin and the other with longish black hair. They dragged Starsky from the car; he could barely walk. His eyes were blurry; he squinted his eyes trying to assess the area.

Inside the warehouse, it was dark except for light streaming in from two very small windows. The men pulled Starsky up the stairs; they pushed him hard against a small corner room. The detective landed on the concrete floor, hitting his back hard. The room began to spin and he fell into unconsciousness.

The next day:

The dark-haired man came into the room where Starsky was held. He had a hamburger in his hand; he took a bite. Starsky, with a disgruntled look across his face, said, "They don't have hamburgers in prison, Damian."

"I'm impressed cop; you remember me."

"How could I forget that ugly face."

The dark-haired man raised a metal stick he held; then he raised his hand instead. The door opened. Reed's hair, blazed red from the light striking it, Starsky suddenly remembered the red head.

Reed sat down and handed Damian a glass of water. "Give that cop a drink."

"Why would I want to do that?"

Reed gave Damian a firm pat on the back. "You don't want him to die yet; don't you want to keep cops and robbers for a while?"

"Gee, thank you Reed, your the best."

The red-headed asked. "Now tell me, why did you want that cop so badly."

The dark haired mans eyes became dark, his face distorted. "This cop shot my brother dead. I want him to feel what my brother felt when he was dying."

Reed stared at Starsky. "That sounds reasonable, cop."

Starsky's dark eyes fixated on Damian. "Your brother raped and killed a girl who was walking home from the dress shop she worked at."

Reed ignored Starsky and looked towards Damian. "The word on the street is, that blond cop is hot on our trail, I need to kill me a blond cop."

Starsky lunged towards the redhead. Damian grabbed the metal stick and hit Starsky on the front of his head. The brunet detective plummeted to the ground.

The two men left Starsky laying on the floor bleeding. Starsky grabbed his bloody head. Then reached into his pocket and took out the watch his partner had given him. "I love you Hutch."

He dropped his watch to the ground.

~~ ~

On the streets of Bay City:

"Zebra 3, come in."

Hutch grabbed the microphone. "This is Zebra 3.

"Zebra 3, Huggy Bear needs you to meet him in front of The Pits."

"On my way, Zebra 3 out."

Hutch stopped; he didn't move, he felt as if he had been punched in the gut, Starsk.

Huggy Bear stood outside his bar. The blond detective pulled up by the curb and got out. The black man moved closer looking around furtively. "Hutch, the word on the sheet is that Starsky was seen in a green Camaro. The two goons were headed southbound. The old warehouse might be a good bet."

Hutch nodded.

He put his foot on the gas and almost spun out going around the corner. The siren blast was loud. When he got closer to the warehouse, he turned off the siren.

He parked around the corner and closed his door quietly. The detective pulled out his Magnum and crept closer to the building. He peered around the corner. He scanned the area around him.

He thought, "Starsky doesn't have my back this time."

The detective bent down low and approached the closed door; slowly he pulled the door open. Carefully listening for any sounds, he crept inside.

There were two small window, but even so, there was still scattered sunlight. He scanned the small warehouse.

He carefully stepped up stairs to the second level. A small room was noticed on the side. He stood against the wall, holding his Magnum tightly. The detective listened and pushed open the door with his foot. Pointing his gun, he stepped inside the room.

The light from the window showed something shiny on the ground. The blond detective bent down to pick it up. Blood covered the glass of the object; it was a watch. He examined it closely. It was the watch he had given his partner for his birthday.

"Ah, Starsk."

He closed his eyes and raised his head. He got up off the floor and pulled an evidence bag from his pocket and dropped the watch inside.

Hutch left the building and carefully approached his car. He grabbed the microphone. "This is Zebra 3. I need a forensics team at the location 1278 Baker Street, on the double."

"Sending a forensics team to location, Zebra 3."

Back at the station:

Captain Dobey sat down, papers scattering his desk; he picked up a report and held it towards Hutch. "This just came in. I'll tell you the bad news first. The green 1975 Camaro the thieves were driving was stolen."

Hutch raised his arm up. "Well, that not surprising."

Captain Dobey finished. "There were no prints at the scene, except one: Damian."

Hutch slammed his fist against the wall. "Damn, if these two-bit hoods have killed my partner!"

His Captain stood up. "Calm down, Hutchinson. Sit down and cool off."

The big Captain tossed his pencil onto his desk. The phone rang; he answered harshly. "I'm busy; this better be good." The big Captain listened intently. "Thank you."

His Captain yelled. "Hutchinson get back in here."

Hutch had left, he was farther down the hall.

Captain Dobey hurried down the hall, to catch up to Hutch; he caught sight of his detective going around the corner. He raised his voice. "Hutch, Hutchinson."

The detective turned and took long strides towards his Captain.

The Captain stated. "A police unit saw a man with dark curly hair, a stocky build, about Five-eleven wearing a red shirt and blue Adidas tennis shoes."

Hutch's blue eyes widened. "That's Starsky."

His Captain continued. "The old 51 south highway. The team is laying low until we get there."

Hutch swiftly turned. "I'm on my way."

Captain Dobey followed his detective. "I'm right behind you."

The blond detective and his Captain made it to Hutch's beat-up Galaxy 500 parked by the curb.

Hutch's blue eye's took on a trustworthy look. "Hang on Starsk, I'm on my way."

Captain Dobey put the light bar on top the car. "The SWAT Team is on their way too." The Captain looked at Hutch with heartfelt brown eyes. " We'll find our boy, son.

The tires on the old brown car hit the asphalt hard and slid leaving black marks, smoke bellowed out the tail pipes.