BIKING - by Hutcherie
This is the first part of my Starsky&Hutch Bigbang Story on bigbang_s_and_h.
Title: Biking
Author: hutcherie
Artists: Book cover by nickygabriel , Drawings by hutcherie
Drawings: CARTOONS
Characters/Pairing: No pairing
Word count: 17.627 / Three Parts
Warnings: for adults only (violence, curses, NO SLASH)
See another picture by nickygabriel here: http://hutcherie.livejournal.com/23160.html?view=221560#t221560
Summary: A weekend off for Starsky and Hutch. It started as a peaceful bike tour and almost ended in disaster………
Notes: Many thanks to my artist Nicky for the lovely book cover, and to my friend Hilly for checking the grammar of my story and teaching me a lot about American cars.
BIKING
It started as a peaceful bike tour and almost ended in disaster........
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"Dammit! That´s all I needed!" swore Starsky, slamming the receiver on the hook. He ran to the front entrance of the gas station. Without any hesitation, he burst into the store where an elderly man stood behind the counter, polishing glasses. Starsky didn´t get very far, he felt a violent blow against his head and before he hit the ground all lights went out and a merciful unconsciousness embraced him.
Ramon Gonzalez, who was standing guard beside the door, looked grinning at his gun before he bent down, to search the stranger’s pockets. Frowning, he looked at his brother Pablo, who slowly emerged between the shelves, where he had been hiding after they had heard noises and an angry voice from abroad. In Starsky´s wallet Ramon found Starsky´s passport.
"Welcome David Starsky," growled Ramon angrily, looking at the stranger, "welcome to your funeral.”
----------
About eleven hours earlier................
"Dammit!” swore Hutch loudly, wiping the back of his hand across his eyes. But that made everything worse. His eyes were burning like fire and more and more tears were running down his cheeks.
’Why is it that onions always make my eyes water?’ he thought sighing, putting the knife aside. He rinsed his eyes with plenty of tap water and the burning faded slowly. Hutch had been in his kitchen for the last half hour preparing a picnic. First he fried chicken wings and made sandwiches and now he was frying burgers, with plenty of onions, like his partner Starsky loved them. ‘As soon as the meatballs are done, I can start,’ he thought, satisfied with his preparations.
Hutch had been looking forward to this weekend for days. Far away from noise, anger, violence and murder Hutch had planned to spend a quiet weekend with his friend and partner, Starsky. Starsky hadn´t got the faintest idea what would happen this weekend. Hutch had plotted everything secretly. Captain Dobey had given his best men a weekend off, and today Hutch had planned a bicycle tour with his best friend. Grinning, Hutch took the last meatballs from the pan. He was looking forward to Starsky´s big grin, at the sight of all the goodies he had packed. Hutch glanced at his pocket watch and peeked out of the window. The sun had risen recently, announcing a wonderful day.
*******
“Hey Hutch, that´s my blanket! Give it back!” shouted Starsky angrily, trying to snatch his blanket back.
“Forget it, Starsk! We´re going for a bicycle tour today. You´ve promised to come with me without complaining, you remember? Don´t make such a fuss, get up lazy, I`m waiting.”
Starsky protested: “Why do we have to start so early in the morning? I`m still tired.” He yawned to demonstrate his enthusiasm.
“Well, because the early bird gets the worm! Now come on, Starsk. The sun is shining and I promise you´ll love the tour I`ve chosen,” answered Hutch, impatiently.
‘It always amounts to the same thing,’ thought Hutch slightly angered.
Hutch didn`t know that this little games were great fun for his partner. Starsky loved teasing Hutch. In fact, Starsky had already been awake for half an hour and was waiting patiently for his partner to arrive. Starsky grumbled for the sake of appearance and then bounced out of bed and disappeared grinning and whistling into the bathroom.
“Ok Hutch; if it makes you happy.......”
Hutch looked behind him, shaking his head.
Thirty minutes later, after a cup of coffee for both and a piece of cold pizza for Starsky, the two of them left Starsky´s apartment. Starsky had to admit, the weather was wonderful and it was a fantastic day for a bicycle tour.
“Hutch?” asked Starsky, after biking half an hour. They had left the city and were riding towards the mountains. Starsky had no idea where they were going, but he trusted his partner and wasn´t worried about it. Something else was bothering him more.
“Yes, Starsk? What´s the matter?” Hutch looked at his partner questioningly.
“Emmm...what´ll we eat during our tour, Hutch? You know I`ll need something later. I`m always very hungry when I`m out, biking,” asked Starsky, curiously.
“You are always hungry, Starsk! Always! I really don´t know why you´re not as fat as our Captain,” answered Hutch, sighing. “Don´t worry, I´ve taken care of everything. We´ll have a nice picnic at the lake later.”
“....at the lake? Which lake?” Starsky was interested now. Lake, that meant water, swimming, sun, time to relax.....and picnic. Starsky was thrilled to bits.
“Follow me, buddy and don´t get lost!” said Hutch, grinning and started pedalling faster.
Starsky didn´t need to be told twice. To be honest, he looked forward to their biking tour and their days off. He was sure Hutch had come up with some interesting things. Whistling out of tune, he followed Hutch.
Chapter 2
“Bloody hell!” Starsky looked horrified up the hill. Wrinkling his forehead, he let out a whistling sound.
“You´re not serious, are you Hutch?”
The road wound its way, like a serpent, up the mountain, with a gradient, that would bring any professional racing cyclist to the verge of despair.
“What do you mean by that, Starsk? You think it can´t be done?” asked Hutch in return. He looked at Starsky from the side questioningly, lifting an eyebrow.
“Sure we can, emmm I mean, I can,” riposted Starsky immediately, “and certainly faster than you, old boy.” Although Starsky wasn´t really sure he added: “How about a little race, blond Blintz? The Loser has to write the reports for the next, say, three weeks, okay? Whaddaya say? Wanna chicken out?”
“Who is old, huh?” Grinning, Hutch opened his backpack. He took two bananas out of it and handed one of them Starsky. “Here you are, Starsk! I am sure, you´ll going to need it, braggart.” With this he gave Starsky a wink.
Starsky answered Hutch´s bantering with a broad grin and a poke in the ribs. Both ate their bananas with great relish while they were looking up the hill. Up there was the desired point of destination; the idyllic lake. Both took another swig from the water bottle and off they went.
“On your marks, get set, go!” commanded Starsky briefly and started pedalling like lightning. Chuckling, Hutch followed his friend leisurely.
At first, the extreme gradient of the street didn´t cause them difficulties, but after a few minutes both were drenched in sweat. Both had tried to get rid of their opponents several times, but without any success. Temporary Hutch had taken the lead, but had lost it again after a while. From time to time Starsky looked over to Hutch, hoping to see a sign of weakness, but Hutch always answered these peeks with a big smile. Both were certainly evenly matched. Starsky was thoroughly fit, even if he avoided a gym like the plague. Hutch, who trained there regularly and ran three miles every morning, couldn´t get rid of his pal either. Well, what Hutch didn´t know was the extra motivation which stimulated Starsky, to reach the lake with all speed. He had smelt them, onions, and that meant Hutch´s homemade meatballs. Yummy! Even the thought of the upcoming picnic and a welcome cooling in the lake made Starsky get a move on.
Finally Hutch made a last attempt to increase the pace but Starsky counter-attacked again.
“Nice try,” he muttered while Hutch was grinning broadly.
It was nip and tuck when they came up to the finishing line when it happened. Hutch ran over a rock, started rolling and Starsky came in in first place, while Hutch was struggling to break his fall.
‘Phew! That was a near miss,’ thought Hutch, sighing, when he´d regained his balance. Panting, he let himself fall into the grass beside Starsky. Both men were breathing heavily. For several minutes they lay side by side, gasping for air.
‘Man that was exhausting,’ they said in unison. Looking at each other they burst out laughing.
Appreciatively, Hutch patted his friend on the shoulder. Breathless, he stammered: “Well done, Starsk! How about a quick … cooling and then we could have … lunch?”
Starsky didn´t need to be told twice. “Yeah ...thanks partner, lunch would be great,” he replied delighted, still completely out of breath. “By the way, about our reports .......forget the bet.”
Hutch beamed. “Thanks buddy!” Hutch was glad. ‘That´s him, my friend and that´s why I love him,’ he thought happily.
After a while Starsky got up slowly and began undressing. All his muscles were hurting badly. Meanwhile Hutch took a blanket from his backpack, a six -pack of beer and some plastic boxes. Starsky´s eyes grew wide when he saw what Hutch had carried up the hill. He had only carried a change of clothes and a towel in his backpack. No wonder that he had beaten Hutch in the race.
“Sorry, buddy!” Starsky gave Hutch an apologetic glance, pointing with his forefinger at the contents of Hutch´s backpack.
Hutch thrust the six-pack into Starsky`s hand and pointed to the lake.
“Don´t worry, next time you´ll carry the food, Starsk,” said Hutch, grinning, “and now go ahead and dump our beer into the lake. You know I like it at the right temperature.”
“Me too.” Starsky nodded grinning and went to the lake. After dumping the beer in the shallows he jumped into the lake, screaming at the top of his voice.
‘Sometimes he acts like a child,’ thought Hutch laughing. He watched Starsky splashing around, while he stripped and finally joined in the fun. With a loud yell he also jumped into the lake. Oh, that was great! Hutch´s tensed muscles were hurting and were looking forward to a well-deserved cooling.
*******
Starsky had enjoyed the day very much. The pick of the basket was of course the picnic. He was wide-eyed when Hutch had opened the boxes with food. Sandwiches, grapes, small chunks of cheese, roasted chicken wings and not least his beloved meatballs with extra onions came to light. Hm Yummy!
Suddenly Hutch´s voice reached Starsky´s ears from far away. “Hey Starsk, wake up!”
“Huh?” asked Starsky lost in thought. He was in the middle of a dream and unwilling to wake up.
Hutch smacked Starsky on the butt with his wet towel. “Starsk, come on lazy. It´s getting late and we still have to ride a few hours. Take a look at your watch and see for yourself.”
“Ow!” complained Starsky, rubbing his backside. He carefully opened one eye for a second and glanced at his watch. In fact, it was already 5 o`clock. Yes, Hutch was right. It would certainly be better to ride down the hill in daylight. The gradient was more dangerous going down than up.
“Okay, you´re right, Hutch,” agreed Starsky but stayed put. To be honest, his muscles were still hurting by the exhausting ride up the mountain. He had thoroughly enjoyed cooling off in the lake and the hours when they had been lying almost motionless in the sun, while they had talked and laughed a lot.
“What´s wrong, Starsk? Are you coming at last?” Hutch pulled impatiently at the blanket where Starsky was still lying stretched out.
Sighing, Starsky opened his eyes and saw that Hutch was standing in front of him, already fully dressed, holding his backpack with leftovers and garbage from the picnic in hand.
“Oops, sorry Hutch!” Starsky looked at Hutch apologizing and scrambled to his feet. To Starsky´s greatest relief Hutch answered his apology with a smile. Quickly, he dressed, while Hutch was rolling up the blanket. He tucked it behind Starsky's bicycle saddle.
“It´s a pity, the beautiful day is almost over,” said Hutch wistfully and both cast a last glance across the lake, “but we still have one more day left.”
Chapter 3
“Off we go!” Starsky took charge. Slowly they began to ride down the hill. Who would have thought that going up was difficult, well they knew after just a few feet of this narrow winding road, down it would be more complicated. Faster and faster they rode down the serpentine mountain road and the brakes were under a strain. Hutch sped up and Starsky had trouble keeping in touch with him.
"Not so fast, Hutch! Watch it!” screamed Starsky, as he realized that Hutch apparently had problems with his brakes.
For a moment a horrified look flashed across Hutch’s eyes when it happened. His brakes failed; Hutch cut a corner and disappeared, screaming with horror, off the road between the trees. Immediately, Starsky braked hard, dropped his bicycle carelessly, and ran to the point where Hutch had disappeared. Directly behind the first row of trees the hill fell away sharply. Damaged trees and bushes, showed Starsky the way, Hutch had taken after his fall. Starsky stumbled down the slope and called desperately for his friend. “Hutch, Hutch where are you?”
He didn´t get an answer, only a soft moan, from further below, reached his ear.
“Oh God, please,” begged Starsky imploringly, stumbling down the slope.
...and then he saw it...
Hutch was on his back; his eyes closed; he didn´t move. His breathing was rattly, constantly interrupted by faint moans. Starsky let himself drop down next to his friend. Carefully he took Hutch´s head into his hands. Hutch groaned softly at Starsky´s touch. On his forehead, next to his right eyebrow Starsky could see a nasty bleeding gash. A further minor laceration was under Hutch's right eye.
”I`m here buddy, talk to me, please,” begged Starsky with a hoarse voice. Carefully, he stroked his thumb over Hutch's uninjured cheek. “Hutch, please, open your eyes for me!”
Hutch's eyes started moving under his closed eyelids when he heard Starsky's voice. Then his eyelids started flattering and to Starsky´s greatest relief Hutch opened his eyes.
“Starsk, Starsk ….. Oh God it hurts.” Squeezing his eyes and pursing his lips Hutch groaned with pain.
“Sssh, sssssh…easy buddy, easy,” soothed Starsky. “Don´t move, don´t move. Where are you hurting, Hutch?”
“Dunno,” whispered Hutch, “everything hurts. Did you get the number of the truck that hit me?” Hutch tried a joke. With shaky voice he added: “Where`s my bike?”
Starsky had not the slightest idea to be honest; he hadn´t seen the bike on his way down.
“I didn´t see it, Hutch but I guess you can write it off.”
Hutch tried to sit up to look around but failed immediately. He let himself sink to the ground, moaning. A blood spot started spreading on his checked shirt in the area of his left shoulder. There was also a gaping hole in the fabric of his shirt.
“Don´t move, Hutch, don´t move. Let me check your injuries, buddy. Try to relax, try to relax,” said Starsky softly. “That´s going to hurt now, I am afraid. You know I'm a lousy nurse,” warned Starsky.
“Yeah I know,” Hutch sighed. “Be careful, willya!” he pleaded, closing his eyes again.
“I`ll try,” promised Starsky. “Don´t move.”
Starsky`s hands were shaking from the adrenaline rush. Carefully, he unbuttoned Hutch´s shirt and peeked through the neck of his T-shirt. It looked bad. A branch or something similar had pierced a hole through Hutch's shoulder, it was broken and now a splinter of wood stuck out of the wound. Starsky´s stomach turned at this sight. Laboriously, he tried to collect himself. Hutch groaned and looked at Starsky with pained eyes.
“...that bad?” mumbled Hutch, worriedly.
“There is a deep wound in your shoulder, Hutch and you´re bleeding badly. There is also a broken wood splinter in your wound, but I´d better not touch it or you´ll might bleed to death”, answered Starsky, automatically.
“Okay, just cover it,” whispered Hutch and tried to get a handle on the pain. Starsky searched his pockets and found what he was looking for, a clean handkerchief. He folded the handkerchief lengthwise and put it like a ring around the splinter. Then Starsky pulled off his shirt and turned it into a bandage on Hutch's shoulder. He carefully made sure that the dressing didn´t press on the splitter.
Hutch endured the treatment bravely, groaning now and then. With closed eyes and clenched teeth, he clutched to Starsky's thigh, digging his fingernails into Starsky's jeans.
"Done!" Starsky looked at his friend anxiously.
Hutch looked like a picture of misery. His face was deathly pale and sweaty and he was breathing heavily.
“If you wanna ... kill me, why didn´t you just ... give me coup de grace,” Hutch whispered through gritted teeth.
"Well, I could´ve done it, but I'm afraid, Huggy would never forgive me,” replied Starsky, joining in the old joke that only the two of them understood. He knew only too well that Hutch was trying to divert attention from his miserable situation by kidding around.
“How are you?” asked Starsky concerned.
“Hurts… hurts,” Hutch groaned with pain. Starsky put a hand on Hutch´s healthy shoulder and mumbled words of comfort.
After a while Hutch´s breathing calmed down and Starsky decided to continue with the examination of Hutch´s injuries.
“I`ll continue,” said Starsky warningly. He slid his hands over Hutch's right arm and then across the upper body down to the legs. In less than twenty seconds it was over. It looked as if Hutch had suffered two broken ribs and also his left leg appeared broken. Maybe it was just the calf bone, but… Hutch would never make it up the hill with that leg, not even with Starsky's help, that´s for sure.
“Get help, Starsk! I am not going to make it up the slope.” Hutch looked at Starsky desperately.
Starsky shook his head. "I won´t leave you alone here, buddy!" Starsky looked at his friend with determination.
Hutch locked eyes with Starsky. “Starsk, I´m not going to make it up the slope and you know it. You have to get help or I`ll bleed to death!”
Starsky knew Hutch was right, but nevertheless he felt uneasy at the thought to let Hutch alone in the wild.
“Help me to sit up,” whispered Hutch with a thin voice. “Maybe my shoulder will stop bleeding then.”
For a moment Starsky thought how he could touch Hutch without inflicting unnecessary pain. Carefully, he slid his left arm under Hutch's upper body to the armpit. Then he clasped Hutch´s upper arm with his right hand and pulled Hutch´s upper body slowly to an upright position. Hutch moaned and squeezed his eyes. Starsky paused in his movements. “You okay, buddy?”
“…..`s okay,” nodded Hutch, swallowing dryly. “Get on with it!”
Starsky leaned Hutch against the nearest tree and looked at him anxiously.
“You need anything?” Starsky bent down to Hutch and checked the shoulder bandage again.
“Could you find my backpack, Starsk? It´s getting dark, maybe I`ll need my flashlight.”
“I didn´t know you were afraid in the dark,” grinned Starsky broadly. “Hang on a sec. I´ll be right back,” he added and started searching.
Not far from the spot where Starsky had found Hutch he also found Hutch´s bike. Or rather what remained of it! The bicycle frame was twisted, both wheels bent and the lamps shattered. The bicycle was totalled.
Hastily, Starsky looked around searching for Hutch's backpack. A few yards away he found it. Starsky grabbed the backpack and hurried back to Hutch.
Hutch didn´t look good. With closed eyes, he leaned against the tree trunk, which was cavernously weathered at this point. His face looked pale and sweat had formed on his forehead.
“Hey buddy,” said Starsky softly. He pulled the flashlight out of Hutch´s backpack and handed it to Hutch. "Are you sure you want me to leave you alone?"
“Don´t worry! I`ll wait for your return! I`m going nowhere,” added Hutch meaningfully and locked eyes with Starsky. Starsky bent down, leaning his head against Hutch's head, he squeezed his arm.
“Be right back, buddy. Don´t move, hear me, don´t move,” whispered Starsky, got up and took a last glance at his friend. “You just take it easy, all right?”
Hutch nodded and a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “Yeah, see you,” he replied. “Be careful, Starsk!” He waved at his partner and then he watched him climbing up the slope, smart as a cat, until he vanish his field of vision. Hutch was left alone with his thoughts and pains.
“Please hurry, Starsk, please hurry,” he whispered, closing his eyes. “Oh it hurts, oh God it hurts.”
Chapter 4
Enrico Gonzalez and Pablo Vasquez were the kind of hoodlums that are usually known as small-time criminals. Sometimes they broke into cigarette vending machines and stole the change. Sometimes they stole a car and then sold the parts in Mexico. Sometimes they broke into houses and robbed them when their owners were working. But this time everything was different. This time they wanted to rob a gas station and they had brought reinforcements.
Ramon Vasquez, the big brother of Pablo would be in on it and Ramon wasn´t a small-time criminal. Ramon had killed, several times before, and until now he´d got off scot-free. Even this time they would not catch him, Ramon had taken care of it. Grinning, he looked at his gun and stroked the gun barrel lovingly. Doubtfully, Ramon looked over to Pablo and Enrico, wondering why he had carried along these two "greenhorns".
‘I hope they will not rain on my parade,’ he thought, wrinkling his forehead. The robbery was supposed to be a piece of cake. The gas station, they were after, was run by old Matt and his granddaughter Joanna. Matt was almost 70 and certainly not a serious opponent to Ramon and his pals. Ramon grinned at the thought of Joanna. She was quite an eyeful. For some time he had been watching her secretly and he was sure, that he would have a lot of fun with her tonight. Actually, he had promised Enrico and Pablo a brothel visit after the robbery, but why wander far if the good things are within one´s grasp.
Ramon grinned again and peered over to the gas station. The coast wasn´t clear yet, they had to wait. Scott Brown and his partner Mike were in their police car parked in front of the gas station. As usual the two cops got spoiled by Joanna with some hot dogs and a cup of coffee before they would finish their shift and would drive back to the police station. For two weeks Ramon had scouted it. His plan was simple but foolproof. Every night at the same time the police car appeared, the two cops went into the gas station to have a snack and then they drove away. About 30 minutes later the guys on the night shift would appear to treat themselves by Joanna´s cooking skills. They only had to wait a few minutes, until the two village cops drove away and then the way would be clear to rob the daily receipts…and more.
The three gangsters ducked when the two cops came out of the gas station, joking and laughing. Both men walked over to their car; then they got into it and turning from the gas station onto the street they disappeared slowly into the falling night.
“Come on boys,” whispered Ramon and waved his buddies. “The coast is clear so let´s go and have fun.” Enrico and Pablo nodded with a grin and drew their guns. Under the screen of night, they carefully crept to the gas station. At the veranda they remained for a short moment to cast a searching glance through the window pane into the store. Old Matt was standing behind the counter, polishing glasses. Joanna was nowhere to be seen, which apparently meant that she was in the back room which housed the kitchen. Nobody else was visible.
Without a word, Ramon pointed his gun at Enrico and then on the rear of the building. Enrico understood immediately. He should creep to the back door and then enter the house.
‘A great idea, which would thwart an escape,’ thought Enrico and tiptoed to the back door.
Meanwhile Pablo and Ramon burst into the store one after the other. Old Matt was totally surprised and before he could grasp his gun, which was hidden behind the counter, he felt Ramon's gun at his temple.
“Not a word, old Daddy!” ranted Ramon at Matt. “Where is the cute brunette?”
Matt squeezed his lips and refused to answer. Ramon nodded at Pablo, pointing with his chin toward the back room. Pablo went to the door. He slowly pushed down the door handle and opened the door with a jerk. Two sets of eyes were looking at him.
"Mummy, who`s that man," the child asked.
*******
On all fours, Starsky climbed up the slope as fast as he could.
‘There´s no time to lose,’ he thought as he reached the edge of the forest. Searching, he looked around for his bike. Suddenly he had an idea. He needed to somehow mark the spot, where Hutch was lying. Without a little hint he would never find back to this place. All trees roadside looked almost identically. Starsky reached into his pocket pulled out his little red pocket knife and carved a cross into the nearest tree.
‘Thank God, Hutch hasn´t seen it,’ thought Starsky, grinning; ‘he would certainly rant and rave at me.’
As a plant lover, who talked to his plants and even patted them, Hutch didn´t appreciate handling plants badly. So, that should be enough. Starsky took a last glance down the slope, and then he grabbed his bike and rode down the winding road as fast as possible. Carefully, he looked left and right, hoping to find a house where he could ask somebody for help. Meanwhile darkness had fallen and Starsky had to pay his whole attention to the road to avoid an accident.
Starsky rode nearly two miles when he saw a light shining through the trees and braked abruptly. A road turned right and Starsky saw it was the entrance to a gas station. As fast as possible he rode toward that brightly lit building. From a distance he already saw a public phone booth at the side of the house. Starsky rode toward it. Leaning his bicycle against the wall near the telephone booth, he bolted into the booth. With trembling hands he took the receiver off the hook while he was looking for change in his pockets. But what was that? No sound came from the receiver. Starsky looked closer and then he saw it. Someone had yanked the cord from the telephone system and now it was dangling loose from the receiver.
“Dammit! That´s all I needed!” swore Starsky, slamming the receiver on the hook. He ran to the front entrance of the gas station. Without any hesitation, he burst into the store where an elderly man stood behind the counter, polishing glasses. Starsky didn´t get very far, he felt a violent blow against his head and before he hit the ground all lights went out and a merciful unconsciousness embraced him.
Ramon Gonzalez, who was standing guard beside the door, looked grinning at his gun before he bent down, to search the stranger´s pockets. Frowning, he looked at his brother Pablo, who slowly emerged between the shelves, where he had been hiding after they had heard noises and an angry voice from abroad. In Starsky´s wallet Ramon found Starsky´s passport.
"Welcome David Starsky," growled Ramon angrily, looking at the stranger, "welcome to your funeral.”
Chapter 5
They circled around the lamp on the ceiling, some big stars and a few little stars. Some of them were shining brighter than the others. Some looked as if they had a tail like a comet. Some of these stars even had a face and this face was vaguely familiar to him. Those baby blue eyes, the blonde hair, he had seen them before, but where? Now the stars disappeared from his view and a different face pushed into the foreground. A pretty face, a female face, was smiling at him. Hazel eyes and brown hair framed her face. Her mouth moved but he couldn´t hear the words. Much too loud was the hammering in his skull, much too loud. The man´s lower lip moved. He ran his tongue along it and sighed. The stars were back and .......... an awful headache. His stomach turned and he almost puked. Carefully, he shook his head to clear it, but that made everything worse. He felt terribly sick.
Starsky opened his eyes and looked around astonished. He was lying on the ground, next to a big coffee machine, tied up like a parcel. High above him on the wall hung an old phone. How the heck had he gotten into this situation? He hadn`t got the slightest idea. In his mind, his thoughts were tumbling around wildly. Groaning, he closed his eyes again and tried to concentrate. The pounding in his head almost made him crazy.
"Mister?" A soft voice reached his ear and let him open his eyes again. The woman with brunette hair and beautiful hazel eyes looked down at him, speaking so softly that no one else could hear her. “Do you understand me?”
Starsky moaned in response to the question and squeezed his eyes.
“Don´t move,” she said softly, smiling gently at Starsky. “You´ve got a brutal blow against your head. I covered the wound but I think you´d better not move, you have probably suffered a concussion. By the way, my name is Joanna.”
“Thanks Joanna,” whispered Starsky with a hoarse voice. He coughed gently and opened his eyes again. “My name is David but call me Dave, please. What happened here?” he added a question.
“A few minutes ago our gas station was attacked by three gangsters. They tied us up, my grandpa Matt, my little son Davey and me. They gave us no chance.” With these words, Joanna raised her hands and feet and Starsky could see the bonds.
"Where are the gangsters now and ... how did I get here?" asked Starsky softly.
“They keep a close watch over the front and the back door and...,” Joanna looked at Starsky surprised, “you suddenly ran into our store and the guy at the front door hit you with his gun. Don´t you remember?” Starsky saw the question in her eyes.
“No!” Starsky looked at Joanna with wide eyes. His face was a picture. No, he couldn´t remember. Obviously the blow to his head had knocked out a few memories. ‘What the hell am I doing here at this gas station?’ he thought.
A child´s head appeared behind Joanna. "Mummy, who`s the man," asked the little boy who was about 4 years old. Curious and a little sheepish he looked at Starsky.
“This is Dave, Davey. He has a headache and needs to rest. Will you please go back to grandpa?”
Little Davey smiled at Starsky: “Your name`s the same as mine, that´s funny,” he said, turned and disappeared behind the counter.
"Take a rest, Dave," said Joanna. She squeezed Starsky´s hand and smiled at him. "If you feel the way you look, you feel lousy."
“Yeah,” replied Starsky sighing, narrowing his eyes to slits in pain. “Lousy is an understatement, Joanna.”
*******
"Pablo!" Ramon shouted the warning just in time to keep his brother from stepping out onto the veranda. A car came along the street. It was obviously a police car. Ramon looked at his watch in disbelief.
“Why the hell are the cops back? They left the gas station only a few minutes ago. What´s happening here?”
“Dunno, but why didn´t we do a runner as long as we could? Now we're trapped," muttered Pablo angrily.
Chapter 6
Two miles away............
Hutch startled from his sleep. Something had woken him up, but what? Maybe it was only a bad dream? Maybe it was the images in his mind? Carefully, he looked around. Everything seemed to be all right, but ... Hutch turned into a pillar of salt. He knew that sound, that quiet hissing sound.
"Oh no, please ...," whispered Hutch imploringly. He felt goose bumps spreading all over his body and his heart beating like a tambour.
‘Don´t move, just don´t move,’ Hutch thought desperately, holding his breath. ‘Where is it?’
His eyes were searching the darkness. Nothing! He could hear but not see it. There it was again, that quiet hissing sound and even worse another sound, a rattling sound. Hutch could hear it very clearly. It was close; too close; way too close.
“Oh God,” groaned Hutch and gasped, when he felt a tickle at his leg and something crept into his pants.
‘Don´t move, Hutch, don´t move,’ reminded Hutch himself. He swallowed hard with horror and felt panic rising. ‘A snake, oh God, a rattlesnake!’
Hutch clenched his teeth and stifled a groan as the snake slithered over his broken leg. Oh no, not that! Now the snake moved along the inside of his thigh. Hutch held his breath, as the snake pushed forward. At this point was no exit for the rattlesnake. What would the snake do now? What if “little Kenny” would respond to the sensual touch? Would the snake bite for fear of an attack?
Hutch tried to concentrate. ‘Don´t move, Hutch, don´t move,’ he warned himself again. ‘Think about something else. Think about Starsky, Dobey, or something funny.’
Hutch let the bated breath escape slowly, when the snake started moving again. Obviously, the rattlesnake didn´t feel like withdrawing and so it tried to thrust itself forward. Hutch compressed his lips, suppressing a groan. He was sweating, scared. Slowly, he slid his right hand toward his belt. If the snake wanted an exit at this point, then it should get it. Hutch gently opened his belt buckle, unbuttoned and pulled down the zipper.
‘Get out, you fucking beast!’ he thought and waited with bated breath. The snake did not read his thoughts, or if it did, gave no hint of understanding. For several seconds nothing happened, but suddenly the snake moved and peeked cautiously out of Hutch's fly.
‘Please...,' begged Hutch in thought. The animal snaked through Hutch's zipper and wound its way higher to Hutch's upper body. Hutch could feel the snake slowly moving across his broken ribs up to his head. Hutch stared at the snake as if hypnotized. Now it was really getting serious.
The snake was only a few inches away from Hutch's face now. Hutch held his breath. The snake had stopped, had risen, ready to bite. The rattle on the tail rattled wildly. Obviously, the rattlesnake had noticed the slight rise and fall of Hutch´s chest as he breathed.
‘I`m not a danger to you,’ tried Hutch to suggest. The snake was staring at Hutch. Suddenly it lay down again and continued crawling toward Hutch´s face. Hutch desperately squeezed his eyes and bit his lower lip.
‘Now it´ll bite, oh God, help me,’ begged Hutch mentally. But nothing happened! The snake wound its way past Hutch´s neck and then it vanished slowly on the tree trunk behind him. Hutch waited until the snake was completely on the tree trunk and then he gazed, out of the corner of his eyes, until the snake disappeared silently into the bushes.
“Phew, that was close,” Hutch said to himself, leaning back exhausted. He could hardly believe his luck. “Starsky will never believe this story, never.” He sighed at the thought of his friend. “What happened to Starsky? How come he hasn´t come back?”
"Aaaaaaaaaah!" Suddenly they were back. Hutch closed his eyes and groaned. There they were again, these terrible pains that had obviously been pushed back by the fear of the snake. Hutch curled up, gritting his teeth. It hurt so much.
"Starsk, Starsk, I need you. Where are you?" whispered Hutch, desperately.
*******
"Look, Mike! There´s a brand-new racing cycle standing next to the phone booth. I am sure it doesn´t belong Matt.” Frowning, Scott Brown looked at his partner, pointing with his forefinger towards the bike.
“Yes you´re right, that´s definitely not Matt´s,” said Mike Parker and wound down his window a few inches. “Drive closer, I`ll have a look at it.” Too bad, he had forgotten his glasses at the gas station earlier and they had to turn round. Heather would certainly get angry if he kept her waiting with the dinner tonight. ‘Well, I can´t help it,’ he thought, sighing. He opened the door and got off the car. Mike didn´t get very far. Shots broke the silence and bullets hit into the ground in front of his feet. Swearing, Mike jumped back into the car and took cover while Scott stepped on the gas and backed out of the danger area.
"Damn, what´s that?” screamed Matt terrified and looked at his partner who had gone pale. Determined, he grabbed the mike and called their headquarters to report a 10-10 at Matt´s gas station and asked for backup.
“Dunno, but that wasn´t Matt´s rifle,” replied Scott, convinced. “The shots came from the peep-hole in the back door. I bet there`s a robbery going on. I`ll sneak around the house and check the front. Stay covered, Mike. Whoever is in there, we don´t let him out again, right?”
Okay, Scotty, but be careful,” said Mike and glanced behind his partner, who carefully crept to the front of the gas station, using the surrounding bushes for cover.
Meanwhile Pablo and Ramon were sitting in the gas station behind the shelves, peering out of the window. They had only seen a police car, moving to the back door. Everything else outside seemed to be quiet. Unfortunately Enrico, the fool at the back door, had behaved like a madman and fired at the cops. What a bummer! Surely, the cops had raised the alarm immediately and requested backup. Now they were trapped.
‘Maybe we can still disappear,’ thought Ramon. Carefully, he crept to the front door and opened the door a crack. The answer came immediately. Several bullets whistled past his ears. Swearing, Ramon threw himself for cover and cast a fierce glance over to his brother Pablo. “If the cops’ don´t shoot Enrico, then I will! Because of him and his bad nerves we have the cops on our back,” he growled at Pablo, his voice husky with tension.
Meanwhile Enrico pushed the heavy wooden table against the back door and piled it with chairs. Fortunately the wooden shutters were attached inside the windows and Enrico closed them hastily. ‘What´s happening here?’ he thought. ‘Ramon had told me, it should be a piece of cake. The old man and his granddaughter would be no problem. Only a little money that´s all we wanted. Ramon had promised me a woman, the first woman of my life. Actually I should lose my virginity today, but instead we´re stuck with 4 hostages and surrounded by cops. Oh crap!’
Chapter 7
The noise came unexpected and the shots tore Starsky out of nowhere back to reality, causing a heavy earthquake in his head. Looking around frantically, he opened his eyes. Damn, what a bad idea. Moaning, he let himself fall back again. He felt dizzy and ill and this headache nearly drove him over the edge.
"Dave?" Joanna's worried face looked at him. "You okay?" she asked softly, wanting to be sure.
"Yeah, what happened," wondered Starsky. Squeezing his eyes briefly, he tried to stand the deafening ringing in his head.
Joanna looked at Starsky and gave him an encouraging smile. “A car drove up outside the house and the guy at the backdoor shot at the car. I think it´s Scott and Mike. Usually they eat at our place every night, just before the end of their shift, but today, Mike had left his glasses on the counter and I think that´s probably why they came back,” Joanna explained the situation.
Starsky tried to understand the pile of information but his current state wasn´t exactly very helpful. Somehow he couldn´t think straight, but at least he´d understood that colleagues were at the door.
Clearing his voice Starsky said: "That's good, Joanna. How are you and Davey and your grandfather?"
"We're fine, but .....," Joanna paused, looking at Starsky worriedly.
"What happened?” asked Starsky, alarmed. Joanna´s worried face made Starsky´s hair stand on edge.
"These gangsters, I mean the leader, he ... he ... I'm scared of him. He leered at me and .....,” stammered Joanna. She shuddered at the thought of dirty hands touching her.
“Don´t be afraid, Joanna! He won´t hurt you, I promise,” Starsky tried to calm her.
"Yes, but ...," said Joanna, looking at Starsky doubtfully, who still was lying at the ground, tied up like a parcel. “Let´s face the facts. We are helpless.”
“No, we´re not!” said Starsky firmly. He looked Joanna straight in the eye. “I`ll come up with something, I promise. Don´t worry, I`ll take care of you! He won´t hurt you!”
“They can´t get away with this, can they?” she whispered afraid.
“No doubt, they can´t,” answered Starsky reassuringly.
Relieved, Joanna kissed Starsky very gently on the cheek. Starsky flashed a smile back while he felt his heart beating faster. He had to acknowledge to himself that the beauty and warmness of this woman had swept him of his feet.
*******
Mike Parker sighed. He´d planned this weekend differently. It was the day before Thanksgiving and his wife Heather had been in the kitchen for days. She was still cooking and baking all sorts of goodies for their family, who were coming for the holidays. And now this! Terrific!
‘We have to put a stop to the robbery as fast as possible,’ he thought. Heather will make my life a living hell if I leave her alone with the family. So what do we have here? Well, Matt and Joanna are probably in the gas station. There is also little Davey´s bicycle, that means three hostages at least, or maybe even 4 hostages if I also count the stranger with his racing bike. Bloody hell! That´s a fine mess!’
Another police car drew up at the driveway of the gas station. Four young officers jumped out and took cover behind the trees and their car. Mike Parker sent two of them with a gesture toward the front door to guard the front.
Spontaneously, he grabbed his mike and asked headquarters to patch him through to the gas station. Moments later they all could hear the phone ringing in the house.
*******
Starsky looked up startled when the telephone, that hung above him on the wall, rang. Ramon looked over to his brother Pablo. “Keep an eye on the cops,” he murmured and crawled on the floor to the phone. Protected by the counter he got up.
“Piss off!” Ramon spat at Starsky and kicked him. Something cracked and Starsky doubled up and gasped for air as the shoe hit him hard in the ribs. From half-closed eyes he looked at Ramon angrily. Starsky didn´t argue. He´d got the impression from this man that it wouldn´t be wise. Instead he thought: ‘Just you wait! You´re going to pay for it, I promise! As soon as I can I`ll stop this nightmare.’
"Come here and get on the phone" Ramon urged Joanna. “No wrong word. You can´t fool me. Do what you´ve been told and don´t make mistakes,” he said warningly. Joanna got up slowly and lifted the receiver two-handed. Her voice was very small and very frightened. “Hello? Who is it?” she asked, shyly.
“Joanna? Are you all right? Gimme one of the men, willya?” said Mike Parker, impatiently, without waiting for an answer. Ramon took the receiver. The phone conversation developed to become a monologue when Ramon started talking. Eventually, the conversation didn´t last long. Furiously, Mike Parker slammed the receiver on the hook.
‘They want 20.000 dollars and a getaway car within two hours! These guys have probably seen too many crime stories on TV. This is not “Kojak”. I think I´d better call the SWAT team. They´re trained in hostage rescue in the context of hostage taking and robbery. This case is really out of our league,’ he said to himself. Frowning, he took the mike and called headquarters again.
to be continued
Second part can be found here: http://hutcherie.livejournal.com/12047.html
Third part you can find here: http://hutcherie.livejournal.com/12388.html
Title: Biking
Author: hutcherie
Artists: Book cover by nickygabriel , Drawings by hutcherie
Drawings: CARTOONS
Characters/Pairing: No pairing
Word count: 17.627 / Three Parts
Warnings: for adults only (violence, curses, NO SLASH)
See another picture by nickygabriel here: http://hutcherie.livejournal.com/23160.html?view=221560#t221560
Summary: A weekend off for Starsky and Hutch. It started as a peaceful bike tour and almost ended in disaster………
Notes: Many thanks to my artist Nicky for the lovely book cover, and to my friend Hilly for checking the grammar of my story and teaching me a lot about American cars.
BIKING
It started as a peaceful bike tour and almost ended in disaster........
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dammit! That´s all I needed!" swore Starsky, slamming the receiver on the hook. He ran to the front entrance of the gas station. Without any hesitation, he burst into the store where an elderly man stood behind the counter, polishing glasses. Starsky didn´t get very far, he felt a violent blow against his head and before he hit the ground all lights went out and a merciful unconsciousness embraced him.
Ramon Gonzalez, who was standing guard beside the door, looked grinning at his gun before he bent down, to search the stranger’s pockets. Frowning, he looked at his brother Pablo, who slowly emerged between the shelves, where he had been hiding after they had heard noises and an angry voice from abroad. In Starsky´s wallet Ramon found Starsky´s passport.
"Welcome David Starsky," growled Ramon angrily, looking at the stranger, "welcome to your funeral.”
----------
About eleven hours earlier................
"Dammit!” swore Hutch loudly, wiping the back of his hand across his eyes. But that made everything worse. His eyes were burning like fire and more and more tears were running down his cheeks.
’Why is it that onions always make my eyes water?’ he thought sighing, putting the knife aside. He rinsed his eyes with plenty of tap water and the burning faded slowly. Hutch had been in his kitchen for the last half hour preparing a picnic. First he fried chicken wings and made sandwiches and now he was frying burgers, with plenty of onions, like his partner Starsky loved them. ‘As soon as the meatballs are done, I can start,’ he thought, satisfied with his preparations.
Hutch had been looking forward to this weekend for days. Far away from noise, anger, violence and murder Hutch had planned to spend a quiet weekend with his friend and partner, Starsky. Starsky hadn´t got the faintest idea what would happen this weekend. Hutch had plotted everything secretly. Captain Dobey had given his best men a weekend off, and today Hutch had planned a bicycle tour with his best friend. Grinning, Hutch took the last meatballs from the pan. He was looking forward to Starsky´s big grin, at the sight of all the goodies he had packed. Hutch glanced at his pocket watch and peeked out of the window. The sun had risen recently, announcing a wonderful day.
*******
“Hey Hutch, that´s my blanket! Give it back!” shouted Starsky angrily, trying to snatch his blanket back.
“Forget it, Starsk! We´re going for a bicycle tour today. You´ve promised to come with me without complaining, you remember? Don´t make such a fuss, get up lazy, I`m waiting.”
Starsky protested: “Why do we have to start so early in the morning? I`m still tired.” He yawned to demonstrate his enthusiasm.
“Well, because the early bird gets the worm! Now come on, Starsk. The sun is shining and I promise you´ll love the tour I`ve chosen,” answered Hutch, impatiently.
‘It always amounts to the same thing,’ thought Hutch slightly angered.
Hutch didn`t know that this little games were great fun for his partner. Starsky loved teasing Hutch. In fact, Starsky had already been awake for half an hour and was waiting patiently for his partner to arrive. Starsky grumbled for the sake of appearance and then bounced out of bed and disappeared grinning and whistling into the bathroom.
“Ok Hutch; if it makes you happy.......”
Hutch looked behind him, shaking his head.
Thirty minutes later, after a cup of coffee for both and a piece of cold pizza for Starsky, the two of them left Starsky´s apartment. Starsky had to admit, the weather was wonderful and it was a fantastic day for a bicycle tour.
“Hutch?” asked Starsky, after biking half an hour. They had left the city and were riding towards the mountains. Starsky had no idea where they were going, but he trusted his partner and wasn´t worried about it. Something else was bothering him more.
“Yes, Starsk? What´s the matter?” Hutch looked at his partner questioningly.
“Emmm...what´ll we eat during our tour, Hutch? You know I`ll need something later. I`m always very hungry when I`m out, biking,” asked Starsky, curiously.
“You are always hungry, Starsk! Always! I really don´t know why you´re not as fat as our Captain,” answered Hutch, sighing. “Don´t worry, I´ve taken care of everything. We´ll have a nice picnic at the lake later.”
“....at the lake? Which lake?” Starsky was interested now. Lake, that meant water, swimming, sun, time to relax.....and picnic. Starsky was thrilled to bits.
“Follow me, buddy and don´t get lost!” said Hutch, grinning and started pedalling faster.
Starsky didn´t need to be told twice. To be honest, he looked forward to their biking tour and their days off. He was sure Hutch had come up with some interesting things. Whistling out of tune, he followed Hutch.
Chapter 2
“Bloody hell!” Starsky looked horrified up the hill. Wrinkling his forehead, he let out a whistling sound.
“You´re not serious, are you Hutch?”
The road wound its way, like a serpent, up the mountain, with a gradient, that would bring any professional racing cyclist to the verge of despair.
“What do you mean by that, Starsk? You think it can´t be done?” asked Hutch in return. He looked at Starsky from the side questioningly, lifting an eyebrow.
“Sure we can, emmm I mean, I can,” riposted Starsky immediately, “and certainly faster than you, old boy.” Although Starsky wasn´t really sure he added: “How about a little race, blond Blintz? The Loser has to write the reports for the next, say, three weeks, okay? Whaddaya say? Wanna chicken out?”
“Who is old, huh?” Grinning, Hutch opened his backpack. He took two bananas out of it and handed one of them Starsky. “Here you are, Starsk! I am sure, you´ll going to need it, braggart.” With this he gave Starsky a wink.
Starsky answered Hutch´s bantering with a broad grin and a poke in the ribs. Both ate their bananas with great relish while they were looking up the hill. Up there was the desired point of destination; the idyllic lake. Both took another swig from the water bottle and off they went.
“On your marks, get set, go!” commanded Starsky briefly and started pedalling like lightning. Chuckling, Hutch followed his friend leisurely.
At first, the extreme gradient of the street didn´t cause them difficulties, but after a few minutes both were drenched in sweat. Both had tried to get rid of their opponents several times, but without any success. Temporary Hutch had taken the lead, but had lost it again after a while. From time to time Starsky looked over to Hutch, hoping to see a sign of weakness, but Hutch always answered these peeks with a big smile. Both were certainly evenly matched. Starsky was thoroughly fit, even if he avoided a gym like the plague. Hutch, who trained there regularly and ran three miles every morning, couldn´t get rid of his pal either. Well, what Hutch didn´t know was the extra motivation which stimulated Starsky, to reach the lake with all speed. He had smelt them, onions, and that meant Hutch´s homemade meatballs. Yummy! Even the thought of the upcoming picnic and a welcome cooling in the lake made Starsky get a move on.
Finally Hutch made a last attempt to increase the pace but Starsky counter-attacked again.
“Nice try,” he muttered while Hutch was grinning broadly.
It was nip and tuck when they came up to the finishing line when it happened. Hutch ran over a rock, started rolling and Starsky came in in first place, while Hutch was struggling to break his fall.
‘Phew! That was a near miss,’ thought Hutch, sighing, when he´d regained his balance. Panting, he let himself fall into the grass beside Starsky. Both men were breathing heavily. For several minutes they lay side by side, gasping for air.
‘Man that was exhausting,’ they said in unison. Looking at each other they burst out laughing.
Appreciatively, Hutch patted his friend on the shoulder. Breathless, he stammered: “Well done, Starsk! How about a quick … cooling and then we could have … lunch?”
Starsky didn´t need to be told twice. “Yeah ...thanks partner, lunch would be great,” he replied delighted, still completely out of breath. “By the way, about our reports .......forget the bet.”
Hutch beamed. “Thanks buddy!” Hutch was glad. ‘That´s him, my friend and that´s why I love him,’ he thought happily.
After a while Starsky got up slowly and began undressing. All his muscles were hurting badly. Meanwhile Hutch took a blanket from his backpack, a six -pack of beer and some plastic boxes. Starsky´s eyes grew wide when he saw what Hutch had carried up the hill. He had only carried a change of clothes and a towel in his backpack. No wonder that he had beaten Hutch in the race.
“Sorry, buddy!” Starsky gave Hutch an apologetic glance, pointing with his forefinger at the contents of Hutch´s backpack.
Hutch thrust the six-pack into Starsky`s hand and pointed to the lake.
“Don´t worry, next time you´ll carry the food, Starsk,” said Hutch, grinning, “and now go ahead and dump our beer into the lake. You know I like it at the right temperature.”
“Me too.” Starsky nodded grinning and went to the lake. After dumping the beer in the shallows he jumped into the lake, screaming at the top of his voice.
‘Sometimes he acts like a child,’ thought Hutch laughing. He watched Starsky splashing around, while he stripped and finally joined in the fun. With a loud yell he also jumped into the lake. Oh, that was great! Hutch´s tensed muscles were hurting and were looking forward to a well-deserved cooling.
*******
Starsky had enjoyed the day very much. The pick of the basket was of course the picnic. He was wide-eyed when Hutch had opened the boxes with food. Sandwiches, grapes, small chunks of cheese, roasted chicken wings and not least his beloved meatballs with extra onions came to light. Hm Yummy!
Suddenly Hutch´s voice reached Starsky´s ears from far away. “Hey Starsk, wake up!”
“Huh?” asked Starsky lost in thought. He was in the middle of a dream and unwilling to wake up.
Hutch smacked Starsky on the butt with his wet towel. “Starsk, come on lazy. It´s getting late and we still have to ride a few hours. Take a look at your watch and see for yourself.”
“Ow!” complained Starsky, rubbing his backside. He carefully opened one eye for a second and glanced at his watch. In fact, it was already 5 o`clock. Yes, Hutch was right. It would certainly be better to ride down the hill in daylight. The gradient was more dangerous going down than up.
“Okay, you´re right, Hutch,” agreed Starsky but stayed put. To be honest, his muscles were still hurting by the exhausting ride up the mountain. He had thoroughly enjoyed cooling off in the lake and the hours when they had been lying almost motionless in the sun, while they had talked and laughed a lot.
“What´s wrong, Starsk? Are you coming at last?” Hutch pulled impatiently at the blanket where Starsky was still lying stretched out.
Sighing, Starsky opened his eyes and saw that Hutch was standing in front of him, already fully dressed, holding his backpack with leftovers and garbage from the picnic in hand.
“Oops, sorry Hutch!” Starsky looked at Hutch apologizing and scrambled to his feet. To Starsky´s greatest relief Hutch answered his apology with a smile. Quickly, he dressed, while Hutch was rolling up the blanket. He tucked it behind Starsky's bicycle saddle.
“It´s a pity, the beautiful day is almost over,” said Hutch wistfully and both cast a last glance across the lake, “but we still have one more day left.”
Chapter 3
“Off we go!” Starsky took charge. Slowly they began to ride down the hill. Who would have thought that going up was difficult, well they knew after just a few feet of this narrow winding road, down it would be more complicated. Faster and faster they rode down the serpentine mountain road and the brakes were under a strain. Hutch sped up and Starsky had trouble keeping in touch with him.
"Not so fast, Hutch! Watch it!” screamed Starsky, as he realized that Hutch apparently had problems with his brakes.
For a moment a horrified look flashed across Hutch’s eyes when it happened. His brakes failed; Hutch cut a corner and disappeared, screaming with horror, off the road between the trees. Immediately, Starsky braked hard, dropped his bicycle carelessly, and ran to the point where Hutch had disappeared. Directly behind the first row of trees the hill fell away sharply. Damaged trees and bushes, showed Starsky the way, Hutch had taken after his fall. Starsky stumbled down the slope and called desperately for his friend. “Hutch, Hutch where are you?”
He didn´t get an answer, only a soft moan, from further below, reached his ear.
“Oh God, please,” begged Starsky imploringly, stumbling down the slope.
...and then he saw it...
Hutch was on his back; his eyes closed; he didn´t move. His breathing was rattly, constantly interrupted by faint moans. Starsky let himself drop down next to his friend. Carefully he took Hutch´s head into his hands. Hutch groaned softly at Starsky´s touch. On his forehead, next to his right eyebrow Starsky could see a nasty bleeding gash. A further minor laceration was under Hutch's right eye.
”I`m here buddy, talk to me, please,” begged Starsky with a hoarse voice. Carefully, he stroked his thumb over Hutch's uninjured cheek. “Hutch, please, open your eyes for me!”
Hutch's eyes started moving under his closed eyelids when he heard Starsky's voice. Then his eyelids started flattering and to Starsky´s greatest relief Hutch opened his eyes.
“Starsk, Starsk ….. Oh God it hurts.” Squeezing his eyes and pursing his lips Hutch groaned with pain.
“Sssh, sssssh…easy buddy, easy,” soothed Starsky. “Don´t move, don´t move. Where are you hurting, Hutch?”
“Dunno,” whispered Hutch, “everything hurts. Did you get the number of the truck that hit me?” Hutch tried a joke. With shaky voice he added: “Where`s my bike?”
Starsky had not the slightest idea to be honest; he hadn´t seen the bike on his way down.
“I didn´t see it, Hutch but I guess you can write it off.”
Hutch tried to sit up to look around but failed immediately. He let himself sink to the ground, moaning. A blood spot started spreading on his checked shirt in the area of his left shoulder. There was also a gaping hole in the fabric of his shirt.
“Don´t move, Hutch, don´t move. Let me check your injuries, buddy. Try to relax, try to relax,” said Starsky softly. “That´s going to hurt now, I am afraid. You know I'm a lousy nurse,” warned Starsky.
“Yeah I know,” Hutch sighed. “Be careful, willya!” he pleaded, closing his eyes again.
“I`ll try,” promised Starsky. “Don´t move.”
Starsky`s hands were shaking from the adrenaline rush. Carefully, he unbuttoned Hutch´s shirt and peeked through the neck of his T-shirt. It looked bad. A branch or something similar had pierced a hole through Hutch's shoulder, it was broken and now a splinter of wood stuck out of the wound. Starsky´s stomach turned at this sight. Laboriously, he tried to collect himself. Hutch groaned and looked at Starsky with pained eyes.
“...that bad?” mumbled Hutch, worriedly.
“There is a deep wound in your shoulder, Hutch and you´re bleeding badly. There is also a broken wood splinter in your wound, but I´d better not touch it or you´ll might bleed to death”, answered Starsky, automatically.
“Okay, just cover it,” whispered Hutch and tried to get a handle on the pain. Starsky searched his pockets and found what he was looking for, a clean handkerchief. He folded the handkerchief lengthwise and put it like a ring around the splinter. Then Starsky pulled off his shirt and turned it into a bandage on Hutch's shoulder. He carefully made sure that the dressing didn´t press on the splitter.
Hutch endured the treatment bravely, groaning now and then. With closed eyes and clenched teeth, he clutched to Starsky's thigh, digging his fingernails into Starsky's jeans.
"Done!" Starsky looked at his friend anxiously.
Hutch looked like a picture of misery. His face was deathly pale and sweaty and he was breathing heavily.
“If you wanna ... kill me, why didn´t you just ... give me coup de grace,” Hutch whispered through gritted teeth.
"Well, I could´ve done it, but I'm afraid, Huggy would never forgive me,” replied Starsky, joining in the old joke that only the two of them understood. He knew only too well that Hutch was trying to divert attention from his miserable situation by kidding around.
“How are you?” asked Starsky concerned.
“Hurts… hurts,” Hutch groaned with pain. Starsky put a hand on Hutch´s healthy shoulder and mumbled words of comfort.
After a while Hutch´s breathing calmed down and Starsky decided to continue with the examination of Hutch´s injuries.
“I`ll continue,” said Starsky warningly. He slid his hands over Hutch's right arm and then across the upper body down to the legs. In less than twenty seconds it was over. It looked as if Hutch had suffered two broken ribs and also his left leg appeared broken. Maybe it was just the calf bone, but… Hutch would never make it up the hill with that leg, not even with Starsky's help, that´s for sure.
“Get help, Starsk! I am not going to make it up the slope.” Hutch looked at Starsky desperately.
Starsky shook his head. "I won´t leave you alone here, buddy!" Starsky looked at his friend with determination.
Hutch locked eyes with Starsky. “Starsk, I´m not going to make it up the slope and you know it. You have to get help or I`ll bleed to death!”
Starsky knew Hutch was right, but nevertheless he felt uneasy at the thought to let Hutch alone in the wild.
“Help me to sit up,” whispered Hutch with a thin voice. “Maybe my shoulder will stop bleeding then.”
For a moment Starsky thought how he could touch Hutch without inflicting unnecessary pain. Carefully, he slid his left arm under Hutch's upper body to the armpit. Then he clasped Hutch´s upper arm with his right hand and pulled Hutch´s upper body slowly to an upright position. Hutch moaned and squeezed his eyes. Starsky paused in his movements. “You okay, buddy?”
“…..`s okay,” nodded Hutch, swallowing dryly. “Get on with it!”
Starsky leaned Hutch against the nearest tree and looked at him anxiously.
“You need anything?” Starsky bent down to Hutch and checked the shoulder bandage again.
“Could you find my backpack, Starsk? It´s getting dark, maybe I`ll need my flashlight.”
“I didn´t know you were afraid in the dark,” grinned Starsky broadly. “Hang on a sec. I´ll be right back,” he added and started searching.
Not far from the spot where Starsky had found Hutch he also found Hutch´s bike. Or rather what remained of it! The bicycle frame was twisted, both wheels bent and the lamps shattered. The bicycle was totalled.
Hastily, Starsky looked around searching for Hutch's backpack. A few yards away he found it. Starsky grabbed the backpack and hurried back to Hutch.
Hutch didn´t look good. With closed eyes, he leaned against the tree trunk, which was cavernously weathered at this point. His face looked pale and sweat had formed on his forehead.
“Hey buddy,” said Starsky softly. He pulled the flashlight out of Hutch´s backpack and handed it to Hutch. "Are you sure you want me to leave you alone?"
“Don´t worry! I`ll wait for your return! I`m going nowhere,” added Hutch meaningfully and locked eyes with Starsky. Starsky bent down, leaning his head against Hutch's head, he squeezed his arm.
“Be right back, buddy. Don´t move, hear me, don´t move,” whispered Starsky, got up and took a last glance at his friend. “You just take it easy, all right?”
Hutch nodded and a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “Yeah, see you,” he replied. “Be careful, Starsk!” He waved at his partner and then he watched him climbing up the slope, smart as a cat, until he vanish his field of vision. Hutch was left alone with his thoughts and pains.
“Please hurry, Starsk, please hurry,” he whispered, closing his eyes. “Oh it hurts, oh God it hurts.”
Chapter 4
Enrico Gonzalez and Pablo Vasquez were the kind of hoodlums that are usually known as small-time criminals. Sometimes they broke into cigarette vending machines and stole the change. Sometimes they stole a car and then sold the parts in Mexico. Sometimes they broke into houses and robbed them when their owners were working. But this time everything was different. This time they wanted to rob a gas station and they had brought reinforcements.
Ramon Vasquez, the big brother of Pablo would be in on it and Ramon wasn´t a small-time criminal. Ramon had killed, several times before, and until now he´d got off scot-free. Even this time they would not catch him, Ramon had taken care of it. Grinning, he looked at his gun and stroked the gun barrel lovingly. Doubtfully, Ramon looked over to Pablo and Enrico, wondering why he had carried along these two "greenhorns".
‘I hope they will not rain on my parade,’ he thought, wrinkling his forehead. The robbery was supposed to be a piece of cake. The gas station, they were after, was run by old Matt and his granddaughter Joanna. Matt was almost 70 and certainly not a serious opponent to Ramon and his pals. Ramon grinned at the thought of Joanna. She was quite an eyeful. For some time he had been watching her secretly and he was sure, that he would have a lot of fun with her tonight. Actually, he had promised Enrico and Pablo a brothel visit after the robbery, but why wander far if the good things are within one´s grasp.
Ramon grinned again and peered over to the gas station. The coast wasn´t clear yet, they had to wait. Scott Brown and his partner Mike were in their police car parked in front of the gas station. As usual the two cops got spoiled by Joanna with some hot dogs and a cup of coffee before they would finish their shift and would drive back to the police station. For two weeks Ramon had scouted it. His plan was simple but foolproof. Every night at the same time the police car appeared, the two cops went into the gas station to have a snack and then they drove away. About 30 minutes later the guys on the night shift would appear to treat themselves by Joanna´s cooking skills. They only had to wait a few minutes, until the two village cops drove away and then the way would be clear to rob the daily receipts…and more.
The three gangsters ducked when the two cops came out of the gas station, joking and laughing. Both men walked over to their car; then they got into it and turning from the gas station onto the street they disappeared slowly into the falling night.
“Come on boys,” whispered Ramon and waved his buddies. “The coast is clear so let´s go and have fun.” Enrico and Pablo nodded with a grin and drew their guns. Under the screen of night, they carefully crept to the gas station. At the veranda they remained for a short moment to cast a searching glance through the window pane into the store. Old Matt was standing behind the counter, polishing glasses. Joanna was nowhere to be seen, which apparently meant that she was in the back room which housed the kitchen. Nobody else was visible.
Without a word, Ramon pointed his gun at Enrico and then on the rear of the building. Enrico understood immediately. He should creep to the back door and then enter the house.
‘A great idea, which would thwart an escape,’ thought Enrico and tiptoed to the back door.
Meanwhile Pablo and Ramon burst into the store one after the other. Old Matt was totally surprised and before he could grasp his gun, which was hidden behind the counter, he felt Ramon's gun at his temple.
“Not a word, old Daddy!” ranted Ramon at Matt. “Where is the cute brunette?”
Matt squeezed his lips and refused to answer. Ramon nodded at Pablo, pointing with his chin toward the back room. Pablo went to the door. He slowly pushed down the door handle and opened the door with a jerk. Two sets of eyes were looking at him.
"Mummy, who`s that man," the child asked.
*******
On all fours, Starsky climbed up the slope as fast as he could.
‘There´s no time to lose,’ he thought as he reached the edge of the forest. Searching, he looked around for his bike. Suddenly he had an idea. He needed to somehow mark the spot, where Hutch was lying. Without a little hint he would never find back to this place. All trees roadside looked almost identically. Starsky reached into his pocket pulled out his little red pocket knife and carved a cross into the nearest tree.
‘Thank God, Hutch hasn´t seen it,’ thought Starsky, grinning; ‘he would certainly rant and rave at me.’
As a plant lover, who talked to his plants and even patted them, Hutch didn´t appreciate handling plants badly. So, that should be enough. Starsky took a last glance down the slope, and then he grabbed his bike and rode down the winding road as fast as possible. Carefully, he looked left and right, hoping to find a house where he could ask somebody for help. Meanwhile darkness had fallen and Starsky had to pay his whole attention to the road to avoid an accident.
Starsky rode nearly two miles when he saw a light shining through the trees and braked abruptly. A road turned right and Starsky saw it was the entrance to a gas station. As fast as possible he rode toward that brightly lit building. From a distance he already saw a public phone booth at the side of the house. Starsky rode toward it. Leaning his bicycle against the wall near the telephone booth, he bolted into the booth. With trembling hands he took the receiver off the hook while he was looking for change in his pockets. But what was that? No sound came from the receiver. Starsky looked closer and then he saw it. Someone had yanked the cord from the telephone system and now it was dangling loose from the receiver.
“Dammit! That´s all I needed!” swore Starsky, slamming the receiver on the hook. He ran to the front entrance of the gas station. Without any hesitation, he burst into the store where an elderly man stood behind the counter, polishing glasses. Starsky didn´t get very far, he felt a violent blow against his head and before he hit the ground all lights went out and a merciful unconsciousness embraced him.
Ramon Gonzalez, who was standing guard beside the door, looked grinning at his gun before he bent down, to search the stranger´s pockets. Frowning, he looked at his brother Pablo, who slowly emerged between the shelves, where he had been hiding after they had heard noises and an angry voice from abroad. In Starsky´s wallet Ramon found Starsky´s passport.
"Welcome David Starsky," growled Ramon angrily, looking at the stranger, "welcome to your funeral.”
Chapter 5
They circled around the lamp on the ceiling, some big stars and a few little stars. Some of them were shining brighter than the others. Some looked as if they had a tail like a comet. Some of these stars even had a face and this face was vaguely familiar to him. Those baby blue eyes, the blonde hair, he had seen them before, but where? Now the stars disappeared from his view and a different face pushed into the foreground. A pretty face, a female face, was smiling at him. Hazel eyes and brown hair framed her face. Her mouth moved but he couldn´t hear the words. Much too loud was the hammering in his skull, much too loud. The man´s lower lip moved. He ran his tongue along it and sighed. The stars were back and .......... an awful headache. His stomach turned and he almost puked. Carefully, he shook his head to clear it, but that made everything worse. He felt terribly sick.
Starsky opened his eyes and looked around astonished. He was lying on the ground, next to a big coffee machine, tied up like a parcel. High above him on the wall hung an old phone. How the heck had he gotten into this situation? He hadn`t got the slightest idea. In his mind, his thoughts were tumbling around wildly. Groaning, he closed his eyes again and tried to concentrate. The pounding in his head almost made him crazy.
"Mister?" A soft voice reached his ear and let him open his eyes again. The woman with brunette hair and beautiful hazel eyes looked down at him, speaking so softly that no one else could hear her. “Do you understand me?”
Starsky moaned in response to the question and squeezed his eyes.
“Don´t move,” she said softly, smiling gently at Starsky. “You´ve got a brutal blow against your head. I covered the wound but I think you´d better not move, you have probably suffered a concussion. By the way, my name is Joanna.”
“Thanks Joanna,” whispered Starsky with a hoarse voice. He coughed gently and opened his eyes again. “My name is David but call me Dave, please. What happened here?” he added a question.
“A few minutes ago our gas station was attacked by three gangsters. They tied us up, my grandpa Matt, my little son Davey and me. They gave us no chance.” With these words, Joanna raised her hands and feet and Starsky could see the bonds.
"Where are the gangsters now and ... how did I get here?" asked Starsky softly.
“They keep a close watch over the front and the back door and...,” Joanna looked at Starsky surprised, “you suddenly ran into our store and the guy at the front door hit you with his gun. Don´t you remember?” Starsky saw the question in her eyes.
“No!” Starsky looked at Joanna with wide eyes. His face was a picture. No, he couldn´t remember. Obviously the blow to his head had knocked out a few memories. ‘What the hell am I doing here at this gas station?’ he thought.
A child´s head appeared behind Joanna. "Mummy, who`s the man," asked the little boy who was about 4 years old. Curious and a little sheepish he looked at Starsky.
“This is Dave, Davey. He has a headache and needs to rest. Will you please go back to grandpa?”
Little Davey smiled at Starsky: “Your name`s the same as mine, that´s funny,” he said, turned and disappeared behind the counter.
"Take a rest, Dave," said Joanna. She squeezed Starsky´s hand and smiled at him. "If you feel the way you look, you feel lousy."
“Yeah,” replied Starsky sighing, narrowing his eyes to slits in pain. “Lousy is an understatement, Joanna.”
*******
"Pablo!" Ramon shouted the warning just in time to keep his brother from stepping out onto the veranda. A car came along the street. It was obviously a police car. Ramon looked at his watch in disbelief.
“Why the hell are the cops back? They left the gas station only a few minutes ago. What´s happening here?”
“Dunno, but why didn´t we do a runner as long as we could? Now we're trapped," muttered Pablo angrily.
Chapter 6
Two miles away............
Hutch startled from his sleep. Something had woken him up, but what? Maybe it was only a bad dream? Maybe it was the images in his mind? Carefully, he looked around. Everything seemed to be all right, but ... Hutch turned into a pillar of salt. He knew that sound, that quiet hissing sound.
"Oh no, please ...," whispered Hutch imploringly. He felt goose bumps spreading all over his body and his heart beating like a tambour.
‘Don´t move, just don´t move,’ Hutch thought desperately, holding his breath. ‘Where is it?’
His eyes were searching the darkness. Nothing! He could hear but not see it. There it was again, that quiet hissing sound and even worse another sound, a rattling sound. Hutch could hear it very clearly. It was close; too close; way too close.
“Oh God,” groaned Hutch and gasped, when he felt a tickle at his leg and something crept into his pants.
‘Don´t move, Hutch, don´t move,’ reminded Hutch himself. He swallowed hard with horror and felt panic rising. ‘A snake, oh God, a rattlesnake!’
Hutch clenched his teeth and stifled a groan as the snake slithered over his broken leg. Oh no, not that! Now the snake moved along the inside of his thigh. Hutch held his breath, as the snake pushed forward. At this point was no exit for the rattlesnake. What would the snake do now? What if “little Kenny” would respond to the sensual touch? Would the snake bite for fear of an attack?
Hutch tried to concentrate. ‘Don´t move, Hutch, don´t move,’ he warned himself again. ‘Think about something else. Think about Starsky, Dobey, or something funny.’
Hutch let the bated breath escape slowly, when the snake started moving again. Obviously, the rattlesnake didn´t feel like withdrawing and so it tried to thrust itself forward. Hutch compressed his lips, suppressing a groan. He was sweating, scared. Slowly, he slid his right hand toward his belt. If the snake wanted an exit at this point, then it should get it. Hutch gently opened his belt buckle, unbuttoned and pulled down the zipper.
‘Get out, you fucking beast!’ he thought and waited with bated breath. The snake did not read his thoughts, or if it did, gave no hint of understanding. For several seconds nothing happened, but suddenly the snake moved and peeked cautiously out of Hutch's fly.
‘Please...,' begged Hutch in thought. The animal snaked through Hutch's zipper and wound its way higher to Hutch's upper body. Hutch could feel the snake slowly moving across his broken ribs up to his head. Hutch stared at the snake as if hypnotized. Now it was really getting serious.
The snake was only a few inches away from Hutch's face now. Hutch held his breath. The snake had stopped, had risen, ready to bite. The rattle on the tail rattled wildly. Obviously, the rattlesnake had noticed the slight rise and fall of Hutch´s chest as he breathed.
‘I`m not a danger to you,’ tried Hutch to suggest. The snake was staring at Hutch. Suddenly it lay down again and continued crawling toward Hutch´s face. Hutch desperately squeezed his eyes and bit his lower lip.
‘Now it´ll bite, oh God, help me,’ begged Hutch mentally. But nothing happened! The snake wound its way past Hutch´s neck and then it vanished slowly on the tree trunk behind him. Hutch waited until the snake was completely on the tree trunk and then he gazed, out of the corner of his eyes, until the snake disappeared silently into the bushes.
“Phew, that was close,” Hutch said to himself, leaning back exhausted. He could hardly believe his luck. “Starsky will never believe this story, never.” He sighed at the thought of his friend. “What happened to Starsky? How come he hasn´t come back?”
"Aaaaaaaaaah!" Suddenly they were back. Hutch closed his eyes and groaned. There they were again, these terrible pains that had obviously been pushed back by the fear of the snake. Hutch curled up, gritting his teeth. It hurt so much.
"Starsk, Starsk, I need you. Where are you?" whispered Hutch, desperately.
*******
"Look, Mike! There´s a brand-new racing cycle standing next to the phone booth. I am sure it doesn´t belong Matt.” Frowning, Scott Brown looked at his partner, pointing with his forefinger towards the bike.
“Yes you´re right, that´s definitely not Matt´s,” said Mike Parker and wound down his window a few inches. “Drive closer, I`ll have a look at it.” Too bad, he had forgotten his glasses at the gas station earlier and they had to turn round. Heather would certainly get angry if he kept her waiting with the dinner tonight. ‘Well, I can´t help it,’ he thought, sighing. He opened the door and got off the car. Mike didn´t get very far. Shots broke the silence and bullets hit into the ground in front of his feet. Swearing, Mike jumped back into the car and took cover while Scott stepped on the gas and backed out of the danger area.
"Damn, what´s that?” screamed Matt terrified and looked at his partner who had gone pale. Determined, he grabbed the mike and called their headquarters to report a 10-10 at Matt´s gas station and asked for backup.
“Dunno, but that wasn´t Matt´s rifle,” replied Scott, convinced. “The shots came from the peep-hole in the back door. I bet there`s a robbery going on. I`ll sneak around the house and check the front. Stay covered, Mike. Whoever is in there, we don´t let him out again, right?”
Okay, Scotty, but be careful,” said Mike and glanced behind his partner, who carefully crept to the front of the gas station, using the surrounding bushes for cover.
Meanwhile Pablo and Ramon were sitting in the gas station behind the shelves, peering out of the window. They had only seen a police car, moving to the back door. Everything else outside seemed to be quiet. Unfortunately Enrico, the fool at the back door, had behaved like a madman and fired at the cops. What a bummer! Surely, the cops had raised the alarm immediately and requested backup. Now they were trapped.
‘Maybe we can still disappear,’ thought Ramon. Carefully, he crept to the front door and opened the door a crack. The answer came immediately. Several bullets whistled past his ears. Swearing, Ramon threw himself for cover and cast a fierce glance over to his brother Pablo. “If the cops’ don´t shoot Enrico, then I will! Because of him and his bad nerves we have the cops on our back,” he growled at Pablo, his voice husky with tension.
Meanwhile Enrico pushed the heavy wooden table against the back door and piled it with chairs. Fortunately the wooden shutters were attached inside the windows and Enrico closed them hastily. ‘What´s happening here?’ he thought. ‘Ramon had told me, it should be a piece of cake. The old man and his granddaughter would be no problem. Only a little money that´s all we wanted. Ramon had promised me a woman, the first woman of my life. Actually I should lose my virginity today, but instead we´re stuck with 4 hostages and surrounded by cops. Oh crap!’
Chapter 7
The noise came unexpected and the shots tore Starsky out of nowhere back to reality, causing a heavy earthquake in his head. Looking around frantically, he opened his eyes. Damn, what a bad idea. Moaning, he let himself fall back again. He felt dizzy and ill and this headache nearly drove him over the edge.
"Dave?" Joanna's worried face looked at him. "You okay?" she asked softly, wanting to be sure.
"Yeah, what happened," wondered Starsky. Squeezing his eyes briefly, he tried to stand the deafening ringing in his head.
Joanna looked at Starsky and gave him an encouraging smile. “A car drove up outside the house and the guy at the backdoor shot at the car. I think it´s Scott and Mike. Usually they eat at our place every night, just before the end of their shift, but today, Mike had left his glasses on the counter and I think that´s probably why they came back,” Joanna explained the situation.
Starsky tried to understand the pile of information but his current state wasn´t exactly very helpful. Somehow he couldn´t think straight, but at least he´d understood that colleagues were at the door.
Clearing his voice Starsky said: "That's good, Joanna. How are you and Davey and your grandfather?"
"We're fine, but .....," Joanna paused, looking at Starsky worriedly.
"What happened?” asked Starsky, alarmed. Joanna´s worried face made Starsky´s hair stand on edge.
"These gangsters, I mean the leader, he ... he ... I'm scared of him. He leered at me and .....,” stammered Joanna. She shuddered at the thought of dirty hands touching her.
“Don´t be afraid, Joanna! He won´t hurt you, I promise,” Starsky tried to calm her.
"Yes, but ...," said Joanna, looking at Starsky doubtfully, who still was lying at the ground, tied up like a parcel. “Let´s face the facts. We are helpless.”
“No, we´re not!” said Starsky firmly. He looked Joanna straight in the eye. “I`ll come up with something, I promise. Don´t worry, I`ll take care of you! He won´t hurt you!”
“They can´t get away with this, can they?” she whispered afraid.
“No doubt, they can´t,” answered Starsky reassuringly.
Relieved, Joanna kissed Starsky very gently on the cheek. Starsky flashed a smile back while he felt his heart beating faster. He had to acknowledge to himself that the beauty and warmness of this woman had swept him of his feet.
*******
Mike Parker sighed. He´d planned this weekend differently. It was the day before Thanksgiving and his wife Heather had been in the kitchen for days. She was still cooking and baking all sorts of goodies for their family, who were coming for the holidays. And now this! Terrific!
‘We have to put a stop to the robbery as fast as possible,’ he thought. Heather will make my life a living hell if I leave her alone with the family. So what do we have here? Well, Matt and Joanna are probably in the gas station. There is also little Davey´s bicycle, that means three hostages at least, or maybe even 4 hostages if I also count the stranger with his racing bike. Bloody hell! That´s a fine mess!’
Another police car drew up at the driveway of the gas station. Four young officers jumped out and took cover behind the trees and their car. Mike Parker sent two of them with a gesture toward the front door to guard the front.
Spontaneously, he grabbed his mike and asked headquarters to patch him through to the gas station. Moments later they all could hear the phone ringing in the house.
*******
Starsky looked up startled when the telephone, that hung above him on the wall, rang. Ramon looked over to his brother Pablo. “Keep an eye on the cops,” he murmured and crawled on the floor to the phone. Protected by the counter he got up.
“Piss off!” Ramon spat at Starsky and kicked him. Something cracked and Starsky doubled up and gasped for air as the shoe hit him hard in the ribs. From half-closed eyes he looked at Ramon angrily. Starsky didn´t argue. He´d got the impression from this man that it wouldn´t be wise. Instead he thought: ‘Just you wait! You´re going to pay for it, I promise! As soon as I can I`ll stop this nightmare.’
"Come here and get on the phone" Ramon urged Joanna. “No wrong word. You can´t fool me. Do what you´ve been told and don´t make mistakes,” he said warningly. Joanna got up slowly and lifted the receiver two-handed. Her voice was very small and very frightened. “Hello? Who is it?” she asked, shyly.
“Joanna? Are you all right? Gimme one of the men, willya?” said Mike Parker, impatiently, without waiting for an answer. Ramon took the receiver. The phone conversation developed to become a monologue when Ramon started talking. Eventually, the conversation didn´t last long. Furiously, Mike Parker slammed the receiver on the hook.
‘They want 20.000 dollars and a getaway car within two hours! These guys have probably seen too many crime stories on TV. This is not “Kojak”. I think I´d better call the SWAT team. They´re trained in hostage rescue in the context of hostage taking and robbery. This case is really out of our league,’ he said to himself. Frowning, he took the mike and called headquarters again.
to be continued
Second part can be found here: http://hutcherie.livejournal.com/12047.html
Third part you can find here: http://hutcherie.livejournal.com/12388.html