BOOM
                                                                                                                  By Tooki

“Starsky where is your partner?” Dobey stormed as he opened his office door to see Starsky sitting alone at his desk.
“Don’t know Cap,” Starsky answered his captain, worry creasing his forehead. “I went to pick him up this morning, he wasn’t home. I thought he would be here when I got there but …” Starsky held up his hands, “I have a bad feeling.”
“Now don’t go off half cocked,” Dobey advised, “He could have had an appointment or something.”
“An appointment?” Starsky shook his head, “That isn’t Hutch and you know it. If he was going to be late or he didn’t want me to pick him up he would’ve called.”
“You are right,” Dobey conceded, “But it doesn’t mean something has happened to him.” Starsky hiked his eyebrows at this captain. Dobey sighed. “Wilson, put an APB out on Detective Hutchinson.” Dobey pointed a finger in Starsky’s direction. “If this is nothing you can take the heat from Hutch.”
Starsky nodded, “Thanks, Cap. I think I’m going to head out, maybe I can spot him.”
“Why don’t we wait and see what the APB turns up, give it an hour then you can take off.”
Starsky didn’t like it but he agreed. If his partner was in trouble every minute counted.
Starsky did as his Captain asked and blindly going through a case file, every ten minutes he would pick up the phone and dial Hutch’s number hoping to catch him at home but nothing. He glanced up at the clock on the wall it was nearly nine a.m. Hutch was officially two hours late to work. He had waited Dobey’s requested hour now it was time to start searching for his missing partner.
Starsky got up pulling his jacket from the back of his chair and was in the process of putting it on when he heard what sounded like everybody in the room getting up at once. He turned and as he did he saw Ken Hutchinson standing just inside the squad room doors. He looked fine except for the explosives strapped to his body; it looked like enough to level the whole building.
“Hutch,” Starsky said taking a step toward his partner.
“Stay there,” Hutch warned, he stood perfectly still afraid to move anymore. “Three hours, we have three hours, then I go boom.” The timer on front of the bomb confirmed what the blonde detective said. The angry red numbers ticked off a minute, now they had two hours fifty-nine minutes.

                                                                                                     2:59

Everyone in the squad room had moved as far away from the detective as they could as if that would protect them from the blast if the bomb went off. Starsky realized he had been holding his breath. He let it out in a hiss as he stared at the device strapped to his partner.
Dobey’s office door jerked open and the plump captain started to bellow but stopped short as he saw Hutch, “What the hell is going on here?” he said quietly.
“Hutch has a bomb strapped to him,” Starsky informed the captain.
“I can see that,” Dobey’s face puffed up but worry also was etched on his forehead. “Get the bomb squad up here.”
“Cap, if anybody touches anything strapped to me it will go off.” Hutch said, beads of sweat popping out on his forehead.
“How did this happen?” Dobey wanted to know.
Hutch was almost afraid to breathe let alone talk but he slowly began telling his tale of how he was knocked out when he got home from work the night before and when he woke up he had the bomb strapped to him.
“We need to find out who did this,” Starsky said, “and make them turn it off.”
“I know.” Hutch said, his legs were getting very tired, he felt as if he didn’t sit down soon he was going to fall down. “Can somebody get me a chair?”
Wilson who had put the APB out on Hutch grabbed his desk chair and sat it behind the detective and then retreated to his spot against the wall.
Gingerly Hutch sat down, “It was Frank Anderson.”
Starsky mulled the name over in his head his eyes widened, “The guy whose son was kidnapped? That was…” Starsky furrowed his eyebrows trying to come up with a year.
“Four years ago,” Hutch said, “His son Kyle was three at the time. He was never found.”
“Okay so why did he strap a bomb to you?” Starsky asked.
“He wants us to find his son.” Hutch had a hopeless look on his face, “By noon.”
“Is he nuts?”
“In a word, yes,” Hutch said trying to keep his breathing even. “Yesterday was the anniversary of the day Kyle went missing, his wife, Kyle’s mother, committed suicide. It just sent Frank over the edge.”
“And this is the answer?” Dobey rubbed his hands over his face.
“I guess it’s his answer.” Hutch knew it was impossible to find a boy that had been missing for years in less than three hours.


                                                                                                   2:45

Several men dressed in full body armor pushed open the squad room doors, the bomb squad had arrived. “Clear the room,” One of the men ordered, the detectives quickly left the room, all but Starsky and Dobey. “Everybody!”
“Not a chance,” Starsky said, “That is my partner,
Dobey shook his head, “And my detective.”
“Suit yourself,” the padded man said, he then looked at one of his partners, “Have the building evacuated, by the looks of this if it goes off it could bring most of the building down if not all of it.” He had been busy looking over the device as he talked. He looked in Hutch’s eyes for the first time, “Names Chris.”
“Hutch,” the blonde detective gave the man a nervous smile.
“Let’s see if we can get this thing off you.”
“Don’t touch me.” Hutch said, “It will go off.”
“I just want to make sure it’s real, it might be a fake.”
“Trust me it’s not fake, the man that strapped it on me is a demolition expert, he learned in the service and he now works for a demolition company.”
“So you know who did this to you?”
“Yes.”
Chris turned around and looked at Starsky, “Bring this joker in here.” He turned to his partners, “Mitch, Todd, help me assess the device in case we end up having to remove it ourselves.”
“I told you, you can’t,” Hutch said worried that they were going to touch him. “There is a pressure switch, if removed or even loosen anything it will go off.”
“He told you this?” Chris looked at the wiring but didn’t touch anything.
“Yes and since it’s attached to me I tend to believe him.”
“Hutch,” Starsky crouched down close to his partner, “You hang in there, and I’ll go find Anderson.”
“He dropped me off out front,” Hutch told Starsky, “As crazy as he is, Anderson might still be sitting out there waiting for the explosion, Starsk he’s in my car.”
“Hang tight partner, I’ll be right back.”
“Make it fast, time is ticking.” Hutch pointed at the numbers that now read 2:30.


                                                                                                      2:30

Starsky jammed the down button on the elevator; he waited several minutes then slammed the palm of his and on the door and ran to the stair well. He raced down five flights of stairs, he hit the last door with his shoulder and stumbled into the empty room, the watch desk that was usually a flurry of activity was quite, and the offices were also vacant.
He pushed open the front doors and stood on the steps surveying the street, looking for Hutch’s beat up brown Ford. He didn’t have much hope that Anderson would still be hanging around, but to his surprise he saw Hutch’s car parked across the street and a man that he vaguely remembered sat behind the wheel.
As Starsky approached the car the man didn’t move, he looked straight ahead, Starsky had his hand on his gun, “Frank Anderson?”
“Yes sir.” The man looked at him, his eyes were sunken in his skull, he looked as though he hadn’t slept in days.
“You need to come with me.” Starsky opened the car door and Anderson stepped out. “Turn around,” Starsky order as he pulled out his cuffs.
“You don’t need those,” Anderson said.
Starsky slapped the cuffs on the man anyway and drug him across the street and back into police headquarters. Starsky pushed the button on the elevator hoping it would work this time and it did. He shoved the man onto the elevator and poked the number five button. They waited in silence, the doors slid open, and Starsky led the man into the squad room.

                                                                                                        2:15


Hutch wasn’t surprised to see Starsky back so quickly with Anderson in tow; he figured Anderson would hang around to see the big boom.
Starsky pushed the man toward his partner, “Get that damn thing off my partner.”
“I can’t,” Anderson said in an even tone.
“What do you mean you can’t?” Starsky gave the man his best menacing look.
“If I or anybody else tries to take it off the bomb will detonate.” He said matter-of- factly. “I’m not an idiot, I know that my son can’t be found in three hours.”
“GET THAT THING OFF MY PARTNER!” Starsky yelled in the man’s face.
“I can’t,” Anderson said again.
“You can’t or won’t?” Dobey asked.
“Can’t.”
Hutch looked at the three men from the bomb squad, then to his captain and finally to his partner and best friend. “I want everybody to leave, no need for all of us die.”
“I’m sure there is something we can do,” Chris said eyeing the device again.
“The only thing that is going to happen is that you and your men will die. Just go please.” Hutch said resigned to his fate.
Chris stood up and sighed, “Okay guys let’s get out of here, if you change your mind Hutch we are only a phone call away.”
“I won’t change my mind.”
As the men left, Starsky yelled after them, “That’s it?”
“Starsky let them go,” Hutch said softly to his partner.
Starsky pulled out a desk chair and slammed Frank Anderson into it. “Don’t move.”
“You and Cap gotta go buddy.”
Starsky shook his head, “I’m not leaving you alone but Cap, you need to go, you have Edith and your kids to think of.”
Dobey started to shake his head no, but Hutch said, “You can’t leave your family without a father, please Cap, go.”
Dobey took a deep breath, “If you need anything…anything at all, you call me.”
Hutch nodded, “Thanks Captain, for everything.”
Tears stood in Dobey’s eyes as he made his way to the squad room doors.

                                                                                                    2:00

Anderson shifted in the chair; his arms were beginning to fall asleep from being cuffed behind him. He knew there was no sense in asking to be set free, it wouldn’t happen. “This feeling you are having Detective Starsky doesn’t even come close to how my wife and I have felt over the past four years. Hoping and praying for a miracle to happen just like you are doing right now. Hoping that I’ll change my mind and tell you how to defuse the bomb, well it’s not going to happen. I’m not lying.”
“Shut up,” Starsky snapped at the man.
“Starsk, please,” Hutch begged, “I don’t want you to die with me, you are being stupid.”
“It’s not stupid to be with your best friend. You would do the same if the situation was reversed.”
Hutch conceded to his friend.
“Why don’t we get this over with,” Anderson lunged toward Hutch but Starsky was quicker and drew his gun and fired at the man.
Frank Anderson dropped to the floor; a pool of blood began to spread under him, “Thank you.” He whispered and then was still.
Hutch watched the man die on the floor, it didn’t matter they were all dead. Hutch looked at the timer, time was running out.

                                                                                                     1:50

“I’m sorry,” Starsky said, “Maybe…”
“It’s okay Starsk he wasn’t going to give up his secrets,” Hutch slowly stood up. “Let’s get out of here. There has got to be a better place to die.”
“One last ride in the tomato?” Starsky smiled using his partner’s description of his car. “I’ll even let you drive.”
Hutch shook his head, “I think you better drive partner.”
They rode down in the elevator both lost in their own thoughts. When they reached the parking lot Starsky asked, “Where too buddy?”
“The beach, do you think we can find a place with no people?”
“Yeah, we’ll make it happen.”

                                                                                                  1:20

Hutch got out of the car and took a deep breath of the ocean air, it was hard to see where the ocean ended and the sky began, several gulls flew by squawking as they went. He walked toward the water, Starsky following close behind him, watching his partners every move.
“I could just walk out into the water, maybe it would …” Hutch shook his head and turned to face Starsky. “It’s been a great ride hasn’t it?”
It’s not over, I’ll hold out hope until the last second,” Starsky gave him a sad smile. “I never thought it would end like this.”

                                                                                                     1:00


“Only got an hour left,” Hutch said checking the timer; he could almost feel his life ticking away. Hutch walked toward an outcropping of rocks and leaned against the rough surface, “No regrets buddy.”
“None,” Starsky agreed. He felt like he was going to be sick. His mind had been racing for the last three hours trying to figure a way out of this. Trying to figure out how to save his partner, now time was almost up.

                                                                                                     0:45

“Hey take care of my plants will ya?” Hutch asked.
“I’m coming with you remember?”
“Oh, yeah.”

                                                                                                      0:30

“We didn’t even get a last meal” Starsky said.
“Leave it up to you to think of your stomach in our last moments.”
“What can I say?” Starsky shrugged.
Hutch smiled a real smile since his ordeal had started. “I love you Starsk, you know that right?”
“I love you too buddy.”

                                                                                                       0:15

Time was nearly up fifteen minutes was not nearly enough time to tell Starsky what he had meant to him over the years, the highs, the lows, the laughs, the tears.

                                                                                                      0:05

Hutch glanced down at the time, he pushed himself away from the rock, gave Starsky one last look and took off down the beach running as fast as he possibly could.
Starsky stood staring after his partner, “Hutch!”
“Stay there, you are not dying today!”

Starsky watched with tears in his eyes as Hutch ran down the beach, he wanted to run after him, even willed his feet to move but he remain rooted in the sand watching his friend.


                                                                                                4-3-2-1

Starsky closed his eyes waiting for the blast. Hutch looked down at the timer, 0:00, time was up. He looked back at Starsky one last time then waited.
When nothing happened Starsky opened one eye then the other, Hutch was standing on the beach looking down at the device.
Starsky started running down the beach, “Stay back,” Hutch yelled.
“The hell I will!” Starsky said, “Let’s get that thing off you, it’s a dud.”
“I’ll take it off, you stay there,” Hutch ordered as he began to fiddle with the straps that were holding it over his shoulders without much success.
Starsky ran to his friend, quickly helping him rid his body of the bomb. Once it was off Starsky chucked it in the ocean as far as he could.
“That son-of-a-bitch lied,” Hutch said giving a huge sigh of relief. He was going to live.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Starsky wrapped his arm around Hutch’s neck. They had only gone a few feet when a tremendous explosion rocked the ocean causing the water to shoot up into the air.
Both detectives ducked and stumbled forward falling to their knees in the sand. They looked out at the water that was still looked as if it were boiling.
“Holy Shit,” Starsky exclaimed.
Hutch hugged himself with shaking hands.
Several people began to gather on the beach to figure out what had just happened.
“Let’s get out of here,” Starsky pulled Hutch to his feet.
Hutch nodded, he turned one more time to look out at the water that was beginning to return to its former self. It had been a close one, too close. He jumped in the car and looked over at his partner that was looking a little shell shocked. “How about that last meal?”
Starsky looked at his partner and grinned, then started the car a pointed it in the direction of The Pits, they had a story to tell Huggy Bear.

The End
                                                                                                                                                               Beta read by Tonya