Final Moments
By
Tooki
~CHAPTER ONE ~
Hutch, I don’t think I can last much longer, how long has it been? I’m not sure I can answer that, I have lost track of the days. It’s dark now; I’m not sure what happened to the lights, they went out three days ago. The corpse I’m here with is starting to rot, the smell almost unbearable. It has overpowered the stink of urine and stale air.
I’m so thirsty. The water that was in the tank of the toilet is dwindling, how many days can I last without water? It’s been days since I have eaten but the gnawing hunger in my gut has all but subsided, mind over matter I suppose.
I can feel the spiders and bugs crawling on me but it’s too dark to see where they are to brush them off. I can’t hardly tell when I sleep for my nightmares are of this place. I wonder what I did to deserve an end like this.
Hutch, are you looking for me? Are you out there somewhere wondering what happened to me? How I just disappeared off the face of the earth? There is no way out of here except for the way I came in. I can’t go out that way unless somebody comes and lets me out. Hutch where are you?
It’s damp down in here, the kind of damp that seeps into your bones and stays there. I found a few blankets but they are very old, falling apart, but at least its a little warmth. The canned goods are rusted and I’m sure no good, but there is nothing to open them with anyway. Why would you stock canned goods with no can opener?
I’m to the point where death would be a blessing, there won’t be anybody left to smell my decaying body. Hutch, I don’t blame you, please don’t blame yourself. I pray you get on with your life but I know that you will never stop searching.
“I’m going to pick up Costa at the safe house,” Starsky said grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair.
“Want me to come?” Hutch asked as he put the finishing touches on a report he was working on.
“Naw, I can handle it.” Starsky said, “Why don’t you see if you can scare us up a little lunch while I’m gone. I think this interrogation is going to last a while.”
“You be careful, people are gunning for Costa, he could put a dent in the mob activity around here.” Hutch warned.
“They don’t even know I’m coming,” Starsky said. “Dobey didn’t tell us until this morning that today was the day. The Feds will be waiting when I get back with him.”
“Hey, Starsky,” Hutch called as his partner headed toward the door.
Starsky turned and looked back at Hutch, “Yeah?” Hutch tossed his car keys to Starsky. “What are these for?”
“I would feel better if you didn’t take the tomato, stands out too much.”
Starsky sighed but he had to agree that he needed to keep a low profile, “I’ll be back within the hour.” He pocketed Hutch’s keys and headed toward the elevator.
The safe house was an ordinary house in an ordinary neighborhood, nobody would have suspected that the man inside was a felon and had a bulls eye painted on his back. Andrew Costa sat solitaire, two armed plainclothes police officers stood guard. Michaels was standing near the window and saw a beat up brown car pull up in front of the house. He instantly pulled his gun from its holster.
“Get in the back, Costa,” Michaels ordered, then called to his partner who was in the kitchen fixing lunch. “Travis, I think we might have company.”
Travis Wearing dropped the knife he had been spreading mustard on a slice of bread with and pulled his gun. He came to the kitchen door, “Where is Costa?”
“Bedroom,” Michaels answered as he saw a dark curly headed man get out of the car. He slumped against the widow frame. “Shit, it’s just Starsky. This crap is about to frazzle my last nerve.” Wearing agreed and headed back to the kitchen to finish the sandwich he was preparing.
Starsky rapped on the door with his knuckles, when Michaels opened the door Starsky said, “I’ve come for him.”
“Thank, god,” Michaels answered. “We have been on edge for days. He’s in the back bedroom.”
“Has he been a good boy?” Starsky grinned at Michaels.
“He complains about the food but other than that he’s been fine. Costa is scared shitless, so he wasn’t about to give us any trouble.” Michaels said as he crossed the room and opened the door to the bedroom. “You can come out, time for you to go.”
Andrew Costa came out of the bedroom; he gave Starsky a wary look. “You, are it?” He asked glancing out the window, seeing nothing but a clunker in street.
“Didn’t want to draw attention,” Starsky said. “If I showed up with the works, every housewife in the neighborhood would be hanging out the door. Nobody knows I’m here except the Feds, my partner and my Captain, so relax. The Feds will be waiting for us at the station, after your interview they will take you into custody and you are home free.”
Costa scoffed, “I’m a dead man. They will never let me live long enough to testify and if I do, I’ll be dead soon after.”
“Then why are you doing it?” Starsky asked curiously.
Shrugging Costa said, “Don’t know, guess I just want to stick it to them, even if it costs me my life.”
“See you guys later,” Starsky said to the two police officers as he opened the door. He looked around quickly before he stepped out with Costa; they hurried to the car and got in.
“Nice car,” Costa said with a hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “They really need to pay you cops a little better.”
“Sorry to disappoint, but it’s not my car, “Starsky said as he started up Hutch’s rust bucket. He looked in the rearview mirror then pulled out into the street. He didn’t see the car a block away pull out and follow them.
They had only gone two or three blocks when Starsky noticed a car behind them but thought little about it until it pulled up next to them, the driver swerved into the side of Hutch’s already dented up car. Starsky tried to jerk the steering wheel to the right, trying to pull away from the offending car but the streets were narrow and tree lined. The right tire went up over the curb, Starsky slammed on the brakes just before they hit a tree.
Two men jumped from the car, a shotgun was stuck under Starsky’s nose by one of the men, the second man opened the passenger side door and drug Costa out onto the ground.
“Out,” the man with the shotgun ordered Starsky.
Slowly, Starsky opened the door, the man grabbed Starsky’s gun then pushed him into the back of the other car. Costa was tossed in also and one of the men got in with them, the other jumped behind the wheel and they sped off.
“Lay down in the seat,” ordered the man in the back. Starsky and Costa did as they were told and slumped down so that they couldn’t be seen by passing cars.
Hutch looked at his watch; it had been nearly ninety minutes since Starsky had left and he should have been back by now with Costa. The Feds had been there thirty minutes and were getting antsy. Finally, Hutch picked up the phone and dialed the number of the safe house.
Wearing answered it on the third ring, “Yeah.”
“Base one.” Hutch said into the phone. It was the code word so they knew it was one of their own.
“Just fixing to leave, subject picked up.” Wearing said.
“When?” Hutch asked, something in his gut told him things weren’t right.
“I guess about thirty, forty minutes ago.”
“Starsky isn’t back with him.” Hutch said. “If he left that long ago they should be here by now. Anything suspicious happen?”
“No, the transfer went smoothly.” Wearing answered.
“I want you and Michaels in here now.” Hutch said slamming the phone down without giving the man time to answer. He then went directly to his Captain’s office and opened the door. “Cap, we have a problem.”
Dobey was on the phone and held up his hand. “Yes, alright dear, I’ll stop on the way home.” Dobey scratched a list down on a pad. He hung up, ripped the grocery list from the pad and shoved it into his pocket. “What problem… besides not knocking?”
“Starsky isn’t back.” Hutch said.
“How long has he been gone?” Dobey asked.
“About ninety minutes.”
“Maybe they ran into traffic, Hutchinson.” Dobey said not ready to panic. “Did you try to raise him on the radio?” Hutch shook his head no. “Get dispatch to raise Starsky on the radio.”
Hutch decided to go to dispatch instead of calling, just before he arrived at his destination, he heard, “There you are.” Hutch turned half expecting to see his partner, but instead, Sean McCann was heading toward him.
“What’s up Sean?” Hutch asked the uniformed officer.
“We just had your car hauled in.”
Hutch’s face paled, “Hauled in?”
“Yeah, found up over a curb.”
“Where?” Hutch asked, McCann told him it was only a few blocks from the safe house.
“Get out,” the man in the back seat ordered.
“Oh, come on, Billy,” Costa said as he sat up in the backseat, “You don’t want to do this.”
“Got my orders,” Billy answered, but he didn’t look happy. “Let’s get this over with, Joe.” He addressed the man in the front seat.
Starsky sat up and looked around; they were in a neighborhood not much different than the one they had just left. A little older, a little more run down, it was clear that the house they were parked in front of was no longer inhabited.
“Take them around back,” Joe ordered, he looked up and down the street to see if anybody was watching. The streets were all but deserted, satisfied that they weren’t being watched he followed Billy, who was pushing their captives toward the back yard. What Joe hadn’t seen was an elderly woman sitting in the window across the street watching every move that they were making. She stroked a large white cat that was in her lap.
There was a small building toward the back of the property; it was too small to be a garage. They stopped in front of the structure, the only thing new about it was the shiny padlock on the door. Joe pulled a key from his pocket as Billy kept the shotgun trained on Starsky and Costa. He inserted the key in the lock and turned the lock sprung open; Joe pulled the lock off, stuck the key in his pocket for safe keeping and pulled open the wooden door whose hinges protested loudly.
“What the hell is this?” Starsky asked, his emotions were in between rage and fright.
Joe didn’t answer as he switched on a single bare bulb that hung in the center of the small shed. The shed was empty except for a metal hatch that sat in the center of the floor; the opening had a heavy metal latch on it that had to be cranked open with a wheel that was on top of it. The hatch was rusted and looked as if it hadn’t been used in a very long time.
Both Costa and Starsky were confused as they stared at the metal door; it was just big enough for a person to pass through. Joe knelt next to the door and began opening the hatch, turning the wheel with some effort. It squealed as the rust gave way but slowly the latch began to slide open. Joe pulled open the round door and looked down inside, it was pitch black and an odor of decay and dampness emanated from the hole. They could see the first few rungs of a metal ladder that descended down into the darkness.
“In ya go,” Joe commanded.
Starsky looked at the man in horror, “You want us to climb down into that hole?”
“You can either climb or I can toss you, whichever you prefer.”
“I prefer to do neither,” Starsky snarled, at the moment he would rather die in the shed, above ground, than to go down in that hole.
“You don’t have a choice,” Billy said jabbing the shotgun in Starsky’s back.
Taking a deep breath Starsky said, “Ok, ok, don’t push.” Against his better judgment Starsky put a foot on the rung of the ladder. “How do you know the ladder won’t break?”
“You don’t,” Joe answered, “Just move it.”
Starsky tested each rung before he put his full weight on it. As he descended into the darkness he wondered if Hutch was worried about him yet. Starsky was twelve feet down when his foot touched solid ground. “Now what?” he called up through the hole. He could see the light at the opening but it shed none where he was standing.
“Your turn, Andy,” Billy shoved the man toward the hole.
Reluctantly, Costa began his descent into pitch blackness; his breath was coming heavy as he reached the bottom. “Come on, guys.” He called up through the hole.
All they could hear from above was laughing as the light began to fade as Joe started to put the cover over the opening. “Hey, how about some light?” Starsky yelled.
Joe pulled a box of matches from his pocket and dropped them down the hole; they hit the ground at Starsky’s feet, “For when the bulbs finally burn out.” With those words Joe closed the opening and secured the lock.
~CHAPTER TWO ~
Hutch? Hutch? Are you there? I’m trying to conserve my water but there isn’t much left. I am so thirsty. Do you know how good a beer at Huggy’s would taste right now? I keep trying to hold on; I have faith that you are going to find me. That hope is the only thing that keeps me from giving up. It would be easy to give up. Living is painful; it’s so dark and lonely in this hole. I try to talk to myself but that takes too much energy, I spend most of my time lying on a bug eaten mattress.
If I just had a little light it would be bearable, your eyes can’t get use to this kind of darkness; I can’t even see my hand in front of my face. I ate a bug this morning, I don’t know what kind it was, it was bitter but I ate it anyway. I think I’m going in and out of consciousness now, but it’s hard to tell. I don’t even know what time it is. I think I’m slowly going crazy. I guess it’s a race to see if I go crazy or die first. Hutch?
Michaels and Wearing stood at Hutch’s desk, “Listen,” Michaels said, “We didn’t see any thing. Starsky came in got Costa; they went got in some piece of junk and took off. Wearing and I were cleaning up the joint when you called. I don’t know what else you want me to tell you.”
“I’m sorry,” Hutch apologized for his outburst when the men first walked into the squad room. “I’m just worried.”
“It’s okay,” Wearing said waving away the detective’s apology. I would feel the same way. We will do what we can to help you.”
The three men went over the details of what took place when Starsky picked up Costa but nothing new developed. It was a smooth hand off from the officers at the safe house to Starsky; they had watched him drive off with nothing unusual happening.
“I guess next we start canvassing the area, maybe a neighbor saw something.” Hutch said.
Andrew Costa’s breath was coming in wheezing gasps as the two men stood there in the dark, “Are you okay?” Starsky asked.
Costa didn’t answer right away, he was busy feeling the pockets of his jacket and pants he had on. Finally, he found what he was looking for, he pulled his inhaler from his pants pocket and put it in his mouth and depressed the button. When he felt he could speak, he answered, “I have asthma.”
Great, Starsky thought to himself but didn’t say it out loud. He stooped over and began feeling around on the ground knowing that the matches had to be there some place. Starsky’s fingers closed around the oblong match box and as he was about to straighten up he recalled Joe’s words, matches for when the bulbs go out. Immediately Starsky stuck his arms out in front to feel for the wall. He bumped into Costa.
“What are you doing?” The man asked.
“Looking for a light switch.”
Costa snorted a laugh, “Yeah right.”
But shortly after Costa said the words Starsky found a switch and flipped it on praying that it worked. A line of three bulbs came on bathing them in a dim light. “What the hell is this place?” Starsky asked as he squinted in the sudden light.
There were two rooms, a fourth bulb lit up the smaller of the two rooms, Starsky went and looked in, a sink was attached to the wall and a filthy toilet sat next to it. A small shower with a plastic curtain which hung by one edge with two rings as the rest of it that drug the floor was on the back wall. He came back into the larger room; Costa was still standing rooted where Starsky had left him. “Come on; let’s find a way out of here.”
“There is no other way out,” Costa said looking up the ladder. He pointed up toward where they had come in, “That is the only way out.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I think we are in a fallout shelter.” He answered.
“Fallout shelter?” Starsky said not quite understanding.
“You know, a bomb shelter, like they used in WWII, the Cuban Missile Crisis, didn’t you go to school,” Costa asked in a sarcastic voice.
“Don’t be a smart ass,” Starsky snapped back. He looked around the room and was sure that Costa was right though. The room was fairly large with two sets of bunk beds along one of the walls but they were unusable as the springs had rusted out, the thin mattress that had once been on them was now moldy and laying on the floor. Along another wall were shelves that held a selection of can goods but the labels had long rotted off and the cans had rust on them also. There was some freeze dried things that Starsky hoped they would be able to eat. Blankets sat on the top shelf and on the bottom shelf were mason jars full of a liquid that he figured was water.
“Looks like we can last for a little while,” Costa said.
Starsky sighed, last for what, he though to himself. They were never getting out of this prison. Trying to make the best out of the situation, he suggested that they take account of what was useable. At least that would give them something to do besides wait to die.
Costa nodded, again, he looked up the way they had come down, then grabbed one of the rungs and climbed back up. He pounded on the door and screamed until he started wheezing again, then he climbed back down to use his inhaler.
“You better take it easy man, you run out of that stuff and you are going to be in trouble,” Starsky said wondering what would happen to Costa when he ran out of his medication.
“Like it matters,” Costa said in a defeated voice. “We are going to die in this hell hole.”
“My partner will find us,” Starsky said trying to sound positive.
Costa scoffed. “Yeah, right. Nobody would ever think of looking for us here.
“How about if we check this place out and see what we can scrounge up to eat.” Starsky said not wanting to think of their plight.
“Anything?” Hutch asked as Michaels and Wearing approached him. Both men shook their heads, it was nearing dark and they had knocked on all the doors within a three block radius of the safe house and where Hutch’s abandoned car had been found. Hutch sighed, it was clear that they had probably been snatched to keep Costa from testifying. But going to the mob boss to ask would be useless, he would never get anything from the man.
“Now what?” Michaels asked.
“A.P.B., maybe some media coverage, just because nobody saw them being taken doesn’t mean that nobody hasn’t seen them at all.” Hutch said. He needed to get back to the station and talk to Captain Dobey.
“If you need us…” Wearing began.
“Thanks,” Hutch said as he got into Starsky’s car.
“This officer is missing tonight.” The news anchor reported, a photo of Starsky flashed on the TV screen. “Officer David Starsky was last seen moving a prisoner from a safe house, both he and the prisoner, Andrew Costa are missing. If you have seen either of these men please call the police department.” A photo of Costa appeared next to Starsky’s and the number for the department was written on the bottom of the screen.
Ida Goldsmith stroked her white cat, “Looks like the ones from earlier today, Marshmallow.” She looked toward her living room window, the curtain was now drawn. “We’ll tell June about it when she comes in the morning.”
June Goldsmith unlocked the front door of her mother’s small house and entered the living room. Ida was still sitting in front of the TV, her white head resting on her chest. Marshmallow jumped from the old woman’s lap and went to June.
June bent down and stroked the cat’s head, “Hi, Mallow, I bet mama forgot to feed you last night didn’t she?” June said as the cat wound its way in between the woman’s legs. She decided that she would feed the hungry cat before waking her mother.
“Here ya go,” June said as she sat a bowl of food down for the cat. Marshmallow ate greedily as June went back into the living room to tend to her mother. “Mama?” She touched the old woman’s shoulder.
Ida jumped and looked up at her daughter, “W-what are you doing here so late?”
“Mama it’s ten a.m.” June said taking the remote for her mothers wrinkled hand and turning the TV off.
“Oh goodness, I did it again didn’t I?” Ida said.
“You really need to go to bed at night,” her daughter said, “This isn’t good for you to sit like this all night long.”
“I know, I know,” Ida said as she gingerly got to her feet with help from her daughter. June steadied her as they made their way to the bathroom. After using the toilet and washing up Ida suddenly remembered the story about the missing officer from the night before. “June dear, did you see that story on the news last night about the missing officer?”
June sighed, “No, mama, I was probably in bed, where you should have been.”
“I saw him. I saw both of them.”
“Oh, mama,” June sighed again. She guided her mother into the tiny bedroom so that Ida could change into some fresh clothes. “You spend too much time at the front window. You really need to get out more; they have such a nice senior center only three blocks from here. I would be glad to take you.”
Ida waved away the idea, “I’m not going to any senior center and make pot holders or any of the other silly things they make. Besides, we are going to out today.”
“I don’t call going to your doctor’s appointment, ‘going out’.” June said as she helped her mother with a clean dress. “You need to be with people your own age.
“Do we have to have this discussion every time you come over?” Ida wanted to know. “I know what I saw yesterday and I saw that young man and the other man that is missing, along with two other men, go around back of the house across the street. You know the one that has been vacant?”
June put a sweater over her mother’s shoulders, “We are going to be late, mama.”
Starsky woke with a start, at first he couldn’t remember where he was; only that he was chilled. It was pitch black and a damp musty odor filled his nostrils. Suddenly, he remembered, he was trapped in a bomb shelter with Andrew Costa. “Andy, you awake?” Starsky whispered in the darkness.
“Yeah, I’m not sure I even slept,” the man answered. “Can you get the light?” He sounded a little wheezy again and a little frighten.
“Sure,” Starsky felt his way to the wall and flipped the switch bringing the light bulbs to life. He surveyed the work they had done last night; they had emptied the contents of the mason jars and filled them with the water from the bathroom, hoping it was more drinkable than the contents that had been in them. Starsky piled up the freeze dried packets of food on one shelf; they hadn’t tried any of it to know if it was edible yet. He left the rusted can goods alone, figuring that even if they had a way to get them open that they were spoiled anyway.
Andy got up slowly from the floor, the mattresses that they had been sleeping on were only slightly better than sleeping on the bare earth beneath them. “How long do you suppose it’s been since anybody has been down here?”
“I would say, from the looks of things, a long time.” Starsky said picking up one of the jars of water, he opened the lid and sniffed, he wished that they had some way to boil the water so that at least it was safe.
He started to put the lip of the jar to his mouth. “Are you really going to drink that?” Andy asked.
“Well, if we aren’t going to drink it, we sure went to a lot of trouble last night.” Starsky said lowering the jar. “I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had anything to drink since yesterday morning and I’m pretty thirsty.” Once again Starsky raised the jar to his mouth, this time he took a sip of the water; he held it in his mouth for a few moments before swallowing it. “Kind of rusty tasting.” He handed the jar to Andy.
Andy took the jar; he looked at Starsky like he thought the cop was going to drop dead any second. Finally, his thirst got the best of him and he took a small sip also. “Not bad, kinda tastes like the well water at my Grams.”
“You want to try some of this freeze dried stuff?” Starsky asked.
Andy shrugged, “What do we have to lose? I guess we will only die a little quicker if it’s bad.”
~CHAPTER THREE ~
Hutch, I think it’s time that I go, I have held on as long as I could, the water is all but gone. How many days have I been down here? I lost count at fifteen, I dropped the rock I was scratching the marks on the wall with and couldn’t find it. You must be going out of your mind with worry. I hope you know that my last thoughts are of you.
The days were endless for the two men trapped underground. They talked until they didn’t know what to say any longer. They ate and drank only twice a day, which was the high spots of their long days but that didn’t last long as they only had a few swallows of water and a few bites of the tasteless dried jerky. They had contemplated once, just eating and drinking until they had enough, knowing that they were never going to be found. But something always held both of them back, they didn’t know if it was hope, belief or just the fear of dying.
Their bodies were growing thin from lack of food and they found themselves sleeping more and more due to boredom and lack of energy. In the beginning, they tried to make their tomb more comfortable, moving things around, shooing bugs from their hiding places but they finally gave up knowing it would do them no good, there was nothing to make it more comfortable.
It was on the tenth day that Andy Costa began to gasp for air; he fumbled his inhaler from his pocket and put it to his mouth. He depressed it and waited for the relief to come but nothing happened. He yanked the container from his mouth and shook it next to his ear, nothing, it was empty. Andy’s face went white as he put it back in his mouth hoping against hope but again nothing happened.
Starsky was dozing on the filthy mattress when he heard the familiar gasping. “Are you okay, Andy?” Starsky called to the man who he now called a friend. There was no answer, Starsky got to his feet and followed the sound into the bathroom. There he found Andy on his knees, the inhaler on the ground next to him. He knelt next to the gasping man and picked up the inhaler. Starsky tried to hand it to Andy but the man only shook his head as he gasped for air.
“Gone,” Andy managed to choke out.
Starsky put his arm under Andy’s and helped him up, “Why don’t you lie down.” Slowly, they made it back into the other room and he laid Andy where he had been napping. “Okay, take a deep breath. It’s going to be alright. You just have to calm down and breathe.”
Andy nodded as he tried to slow down his breathing but his airway only constricted more, he brought his hands to his throat as if holding onto it would open up his lungs.
Starsky watched helpless as Andy finally succumbed to his illness, his hand fell from this throat and lay lifeless next to his body. Starsky picked up his hand and felt for a pulse, there was none. “You can’t leave me here alone!” Starsky cried as tears coursed down his face leaving clean trails on his dirty face. “DAMN IT, HUTCH WHERE ARE YOU?” He ranted as he looked at the ceiling of his coffin.
He jumped to his feet and continued his rant, kicking rusty shelving causing dust and dirt to fill the room. Starsky climbed the ladder and banged on the door holding him captive until his fists bled. Finally spent, he climbed back down the ladder and stood looking at Andy’s body wondering how much longer he was going to last. At least the man was out of misery and Starsky guiltily thought he could now last longer for the food and water would stretch a little further.
Ida sat staring out her front window at the house across the street. The cat startled her when it jumped up into her lap purring for attention. Ida petted the cat on its white head for a moment then looked out the window again. It had been a long time since she had seen those four men walk around the back of the house. Why wouldn’t June believe her? The news and paper had been plastered with photos and stories of the two men that had just vanished into thin air. But Ida knew where they were, if only some one would believe her.
Marshmallow shoved her head under Ida’s hand wanting her master to feed her before the old woman fell asleep and forgot again. Ida sighed, “Okay, okay Mallow, I’ll feed you and I must remember to go to bed tonight or June will be scolding me in the morning. “
Ida put her hands on the arms of the rocker and pushed herself up; as she stood and looked around the room she forgot why she was getting up. “Now, what was it I was supposed to do?” The cat meowed at her and ran into the kitchen. “Oh, yes.”
Ida headed toward her tiny bedroom and began putting on her night gown. Marshmallow came to find her master, and sat in the doorway of the bedroom, knowing that she would have to wait until morning to eat now. Ida climbed into bed, something was nagging at her, something that she forgot to do, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember what it was.
Hutch sat at his desk, his face was haggard and had several days’ growth of beard. He had barely eaten or slept since his partner had disappeared. He had walked the neighborhood where Starsky disappeared until people living there started to greet him as he pounded the sidewalks hoping that he would find something. With the permission of the parents Hutch talked to the children, thinking that maybe they had seen something and just didn’t realize it. Finally, Dobey started having complaints from the residents and he had to order Hutch to stay out of the neighborhood.
“But, Cap, I know something is there, somebody had to have seen something.” Hutch said desperately.
“Son,” Dobey said kindly, “I think you need to face the facts, Starsky isn’t coming back. We may or may not ever find his body.”
Anger set into Hutch’s face, “He is not dead, at least not yet. I know he’s not, it’s a feeling I have; he is being held some place and is waiting for me to find him.”
Dobey shook his head. “You are going to drive yourself crazy, Hutchinson. You have got to let this go.”
“Let Starsky go, just forget he was ever my partner? My friend? You tell me how do I do that? If he was your partner, would you just give up?”
Sighing, Dobey shook his head no, “I would do just what you are doing. But there will come a time when you will have to move on.”
Hutch dropped his head and in an almost inaudible voice he said, “I know, but I’m not giving up yet.”
“I’m not going to put you back on the duty roster, I’m giving you one more week, but that is it.” Dobey said, sympathy filling his voice. “But, Hutchinson, I’m warning you; stay way from that neighborhood.”
“Alright,” Hutch said as he got to his feet, he went out to his desk and sat down. He didn’t know what more to do. He had called in every favor from every two bit bookie and snitch in the city; he had haunted Huggy’s bar hoping for news, he had pounded the pavement and nothing.
There was one final thing that Hutch could do, he hadn’t thought it would get him anywhere but he had to try. He picked up the phone and dialed a number from a slip of paper he had been carrying with him since Starsky had disappeared.
The house was large, mansion large; with a huge circular driveway and an exquisite landscaped yard. Hutch pulled Starsky’s car up to the gated driveway and pushed a button. He spoke into the box telling them who he was and that he was expected. Although Hutch had gotten his car back from the impound lot, he still drove his partner’s, it made him feel closer to Starsky.
As Hutch pulled around the driveway, the front door opened and a man stood waiting on him. The detective parked, he got out of the car and climbed the steps, he was greeted by a gentleman wearing what looked like a tux to Hutch and was ushered into a sweeping hallway. “Wait here.” The man ordered.
It was only moments before the man was back and asked Hutch to follow him down the hall; they stopped in front of enormous double doors. The butler put his gloved hand on the door knob, “May I bring you a drink, Detective?”
“No thanks,” Hutch said trying to be polite; all he wanted to do was talk to Schitoskey and get the hell out of there. Alvin Schitoskey was his last chance for finding Starsky, he was pretty sure the man had put a hit out on Andrew Costa.
The butler nodded and opened the door as Hutch stepped in what was obviously a study; the man closed the door firmly behind the detective causing him to jump. Hutch took a few more steps into the room, he couldn’t help but admire the wood paneled walls and the leather bound volumes of books that filled the shelves.
“Come in, Detective Hutchinson, have a seat.” Alvin Schitoskey invited. Hutch felt a little like the fly and Schitoskey was the spider.
Hutch walked the remainder of the way to the man’s desk and stood by one of the two chairs sitting there. “Mr. Schitoskey, I have come about my partner.”
“Sit, sit, and call me, Al,” the man said as he leaned forward to get a look at the officer standing in front of him.
There was nothing spectacular about Alvin Schitoskey, he was a good twenty or thirty pounds overweight, had thinning hair and pasty skin. Hutch figured the only thing that made him attractive to women was the power and the money.
“I know you had a hit on Costa, I am guessing that you were successful at carrying out that hit. All I care about is getting my partner back.” Hutch said as he remained standing.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know an Andrew Costa,” Al said. “And I don’t put hits out on police officers.”
“I didn’t say you put a hit out on my partner, I think he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Hutch said, his patience growing thin. “I know you know Costa, your lawyers have gotten him out of jail enough in the past.”
Al shrugged, “Maybe I do, and maybe I don’t.”
“It has been over ten days since Costa and my partner disappeared. If my partner is dead just tell me where I can find the body. But then, be assured that I will come after you with everything I have.”
A grin spread across Schitoskey’s, “I like you detective, you are a ballsy guy. But I don’t know where you partner is.”
“Then what about Costa?”
Again the man shrugged, “Like I told you, I don’t know the man.”
Rage filled Hutch as he looked at the smug man behind the massive desk. “I’ll find my partner and when I do, I’ll be back for your sorry ass.” Hutch turned on his heels and walked swiftly out of the room. The butler was waiting at the front door and opened it for Hutch as he made his way down the long hall.
“Have a good day, sir,” the butler said pleasantly.
Hutch only grunted at the man as he ran down the steps toward the car.
~CHAPTER FOUR ~
Hutch...Hutch…………………………
Starsky pulled Costa’s body into the bathroom, placing it in the furthest corner he could, then he covered the man’s body with some of the bug eaten wool blankets. He knelt there for a few moments, he couldn’t help wonder how much longer he would have. The food was dwindling and the water almost gone. Dysentery had also taken its toll on his body, Starsky knew it was the water but there was little else he could do to survive.
He made his way back into the main room and lay down on a stack of mattresses but they gave him little comfort. Starsky closed his eyes as his stomach growled; his thirst was painful, just as much as the grinding of his gut. Starsky longed to be outside, to smell fresh air, to see the stars at night. But he was coming to the realization that was probably never going to happen. He wished that he had something to take down his thoughts with in case somebody eventually found their bodies, so they would know their story and who they were.
Starsky wondered what Hutch was doing. Had he given up? Starsky thought not, he knew his partner too well and if it had been Hutch missing he wouldn’t have given up. He smiled as he thought of his best friend, how he was always there for him, kept him strong when he wanted to quit, kept him going when he wanted to stop. He hoped that Hutch wouldn’t blame himself.
Tears leaked out of Starsky’s eyes and fell on the mattress beneath him. Why? Why him? Wrong place, wrong time, it was just that simple. He should have let Hutch come with him that day, what was it ten days ago? Fifteen days? He didn’t know anymore nor did it matter. He was only counting the days until he fell unconscious and died.
“Come on, mama,” June coaxed the old woman out of her home. “I’ll take you shopping, get you something pretty.”
“I have all I need, June,” Ida protested, she glanced up at the house across the street, her brow furrowed as she suddenly remembered the four men that had gone into the backyard of the house with only two returning. “June, I know where that police officer is. You know the one on the television?”
“That was weeks ago, I’m sure he was found by now.” June said as she guided her mother toward the waiting car.
“No, no, I would have seen them come out.” Ida insisted. “We must call the police.”
June sighed, her patience was running out with her mother and she knew the day was quickly coming when she was either going to have to move her mother into a nursing home or take Ida home with her. “It was probably just some kids messing around that vacant house.”
“It was not kids!” Ida said becoming agitated, “It was four grown men, my mind might be slipping but I know what I saw.” The old woman pulled away from her daughter almost causing herself to fall. “I want you to call the police, if I’m wrong, then I’m wrong, but what if they are there somewhere?”
“Mama, please,” June begged.
Ida Goldsmith dug in her heels, “I’m not going anywhere with you until you call the police.”
“I swear you are a stubborn old woman,” June said but there was love in her voice. “Alright, but then you have to promise to go shopping.”
It was pitch black, Starsky strained to see in the darkness, he must have fallen asleep after taking care of Costa’s body but he didn’t remember turning the lights out. Carefully he made his way to the wall where the switch was and flipped it back and forth several times. Nothing happened, “Nooooooo,” the word sounded more like the howl of an animal than the voice of a human. “I can’t do this anymore,” he yelled as he dropped to the ground and curled into a ball. Starsky felt as if he would go crazy. He had to face facts; nobody was going to find him, not even Hutch. It would take him three or four days to die once the water was gone.
Three or four days, he would go totally nuts in that length of time. He crawled back to the smelly mattress, thankful that the room was small enough that he could find everything in the dark. Starsky pulled a blanket up over him and closed his eyes.
When he finally awoke, the pain in his stomach was much worse and his throat was so dry that he couldn’t swallow. Starsky wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep; it could have been hours or days for all he knew. He felt around until he found the remainder of the water that he and Andy had so carefully drained from the sink faucet. The water had been a brownish color with tiny particles of god knows what floating around in it. He could tell that there was very little water left by the weight of the glass jar. Starsky tipped the jar to his lips and greedily drained the water that was left. It wasn’t enough to quench his thirst, it was only enough to heighten it. As soon as the water hit Starsky’s stomach it cramped on him causing him to drop the Mason jar. The jar shattered on the ground sending shards of glass all round him.
He lay back until the cramps subsided, then he brushed what glass he could from the mattress so that he wouldn’t cut himself. That was when the idea struck him; he could end it all right now. He could find a large piece of glass and take his own life; it would have to be better than dying of thirst and hunger over the next several days.
“Yeah, yeah, I got it lady,” the desk sergeant said into the phone as he wrote an address on a pad of paper. Over the past twenty-one days the station had gotten hundreds of calls on the missing David Starsky. Every single lead had been followed and every single lead came up empty.
The sergeant hated to even bother Detective Hutchinson with the call. There hadn’t been any in the past week; he figured all the weirdo’s had moved on to something else. But there was something different about this call, the woman on the other end didn’t sound like a druggie wanting the reward money that Hutch had put up himself. He folded the paper with the address and telephone number on it and put it in his breast pocket. He would take it up to Hutch after his shift was over.
Hutch was sitting at his desk, not doing much of anything. A cup of coffee that had gone cold sat in front of him, someone had brought him a sandwich from the local deli but it was still in the bag untouched.
“Hutch?” Sergeant Pageant called to the detective.
Hutch looked up at the Sergeant, “Hey, Paul, what can I do for you?”
The man fished the slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to Hutch, “This call came in a bit go. The woman said that her mother thought that she saw Starsky.”
Hutch snapped to attention and he grabbed the paper from his hand. He read the address; it didn’t mean anything to him. “What else did she say?”
“That was about it, the woman didn’t sound like she really believed her mother, she said she was in the first stages of Alzheimer’s and didn’t always know what she was saying.”
Hutch got to his feet and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. “I’m going to check it out anyway.”
June was just getting ready to head home when there was a knock on the front door of her mother’s house. Ida was already in bed, but she still had on her bed side light wanting to read a little Reader’s Digest before going to sleep.
“Yes?” June said as she opened the door.
“Did you call the police station today about a missing officer?” Hutch asked hoping that he had the right house.
“Oh, dear,” June said. “I didn’t really think anybody would come out here.”
“I have been desperately searching for my partner and if you can be of any help I would really appreciate it.” Hutch had so much desperation on his face that June invited him in.
“Listen, Officer…” she began.
“It’s Detective, Detective Hutchinson,” Hutch said.
“Well, Detective, it was my mother that insisted that I call this morning.” June said as she waved Hutch to take a seat.
“Can I speak with her?” Hutch asked.
“I’m afraid she has gone to bed.”
“Please, this is so important; he has been missing for over twenty days.” Hutch pleaded with her.
“Just a moment,” June left the room, she was gone nearly ten minutes but she returned with a white haired woman who shuffled along in her slippers. She had a shawl round her stooped shoulders. “Sit here mama; this Detective would like to speak to you.”
“Who’s the young man?” Ida asked as she sat in her rocking chair.
“He’s a detective from the police department; remember you had me call this morning?” June said she crouched next to her mother.
“Why did you call the police?”
June sighed and looked over at Hutch, “I’m sorry, she gets very confused in the evenings, she is much sharper in the morning, maybe you should come back then.”
Hutch had the feeling if he returned in the morning it might be too late for Starsky. “Do you mind if I try?”
June shook her head and stood up; Hutch took her place next to the old woman. “Hi there,” Hutch said gently. “My name is Hutch.”
Ida patted his hand, “It’s a little late for gentleman callers.”
“I know, but this is very important Mrs. Goldsmith.”
“Oh, call me, Ida,” she smiled at him.
“Ida, my partner is missing. He has been for a long time now and I need to find him. Do you know where he is?” Hutch asked.
The old woman furrowed her brow as if she was thinking; something was tugging at the edge of her thoughts. “Who is missing?”
“My partner and my friend, I’m afraid if I don’t find him soon that something horrible might happen to him.” Hutch said trying to keep his voice calm. “Maybe this will help.” He pulled a photo of Starsky that had been in the paper and on the news from his pocket and handed it to her.
Suddenly Ida’s face lit up, “I have seen this nice looking young man before. “
“Where, Ida, where did you see him?”
“He was with three other men, but it’s been a long time now.”
“Yes, it has been a long time; please tell me where you saw them.” Hutch begged.
Ida pointed through the curtained window, “Across the street, they went around the side of that abandoned house to the back. After a while only two of the men came back.”
“Have you seen anybody else over there since then?” Hutch asked.
Ida shook her head no, “Mallow and I spend a lot of time sitting, looking out this window and I never saw anybody else come in or out.”
“Mallow?” Hutch questioned.
As if on cue, Marshmallow showed up to rub herself on Hutch’s leg. “That is Marshmallow.” Ida said patting her lap, the cat jumped up and settled herself in purring loudly.
Hutch rubbed the cat’s head, “Thank you, Ida.”
“Next time don’t come so late.”
“I promise, I won’t,” Hutch got up and looked at June. “Do you know who owns the house across the street?”
“No, I’m sorry; it has been empty for years.” June said.
“I’m going to go over and check it out.”
“Do you want me to call anybody for you?” she wanted to know.
“Let me take a look first,” Hutch said, “I can radio in from the car if I need to. I don’t want to disturb your mother again.”
~CHAPTER FIVE ~
After grabbing a flashlight from the trunk of the car Hutch made his way over to the abandon house. It was pitch black as it was a cloudy night; Hutch wished he had a little moonlight so it was easier to see. He stepped up onto the porch and tried the doorknob; it was locked so he peered into one of the windows as he shined the light inside, the room was empty. He moved around the house wiping the grime from the windows and looking in. It was clear that the house was totally empty. Hutch’s hope faded, the old woman had been mistaken, probably seeing the news and just thinking that she had seen Starsky.
His shoulders sagging, Hutch went back to the car tossed the flashlight into the passenger’s seat as he got into the car. He banged his palms on the steering wheel; he had wanted this call to pan out so badly. The woman had seemed so sure of herself. Maybe he was just hearing what he wanted to hear.
It was time to face facts, Starsky was most likely dead after this length of time or he would have been in contact by now. Hutch felt a huge sadness come over him, it was the first time that he had even allowed himself to think that Starsky might actually be dead. He would have to notify Starsky’s mother, whom he had kept in the dark, not wanting to worry her.
He inserted the key into the ignition and started the car but he couldn’t bring himself to drive away. What if they were in the house, what if there was a basement that he couldn’t see from the just looking in. What if Starsky and Costa were really there? Hutch turned the car off, grabbed the flashlight again and headed toward the house. Once on the front porch for a second time, Hutch used the light to break out one of the windows. He climbed though carefully so that he didn’t cut himself. The house was just as bare from the inside as it was from looking in. Several rats scurried away as he proceeded through the house. Hutch opened every door, hoping against hope, that it was a doorway leading into a basement. After a while, it was clear that the tiny house had no basement in it.
Defeated once again Hutch started to leave the house, as he was walking through the kitchen he glanced at a bank of windows that looked out into the back yard. The moon had just broken though the clouds and for the first time he saw a shed near the back of the property. Hutch opened the backdoor and waded through the unmowed grass. The first thing he noticed was the shiny new padlock on the door. Hutch pulled on it and shouted Starsky’s name, he looked around for something to cut or pry the lock off the shed with but there was nothing. Something told Hutch this was where Starsky was, but he was fearful that his partner was dead after all this time locked in the tiny shed. Little did Hutch know that his partner lay dying several feet under where he was standing.
Hutch ran back to the car and put in a call to the station, then grabbed some bolt cutters from the trunk and dashed back to the shed. His hands were shaking so badly he could hardly make the cutters work. Hutch kept calling Starsky’s name as worked on the lock, finally, it fell to the ground in two pieces. Hutch grasped the handle of the shed and took a deep breath; he was afraid of what he was going to find when he opened the door. Letting out his breath, he yanked the door open, the shed was empty, Hutch dropped to his knees as tears ran down his face. He didn’t know if it was relief because Starsky wasn’t in the shed and dead or that the shed was his last hope.
As Hutch was getting to his feet he dropped the flashlight, which rolled into the shed and the light struck something that sounded metal. Hutch retrieved the flashlight and trained it on the floor of the shed. To his amazement he saw a round metal lid with a wheel on top of it. It was old and rusty looking but he could see where the ground around the door had been disturbed recently. “STARSKY!” Hutch yelled as he grasped the wheel and tried to turn it. The rust made it nearly impossible to turn, he threw all his weight into it and with a squeal the wheel turned a half a turn.
Every muscle in Hutch’s body screamed as he tugged on the wheel trying to get the latch to open. “Need some help?” said a voice behind him.
Hutch looked over his shoulder to see Michaels standing there. “What are you doing here?
“Wearing and I were out when the call came in so we thought we could come check it out.” Michaels said, shouldering his way into the shed next to Hutch. Both men grabbed the wheel and under protest the latch began to slide open. Hutch pulled on the door and it opened and the stench that permeated from the dark hole nearly made both men lose the contents of their stomachs.
They looked at each other, it was clear there was something down there decaying. “We need more light.” Hutch said to Michaels as he leaned forward trying to shine the flashlight into the darkness. Hutch grabbed the sides of the opening and started to lower himself onto the ladder that led the way down.
“Hutch, you have got to wait,” Michaels said grabbing Hutch’s arm. “You don’t know what you are going to find down there. Wait until help and more light comes.”
Reluctantly, Hutch sat down next to the opening; he knew the man was right. He had no idea what he was going to find down there. His fear was that Starsky was already dead and the smell was his decomposing body.
In mere minutes more help was on the scene, large lights were brought in, which made the backyard look like midday. A light was lowered into the darkness of the hole by Officer Jason Trask, who had been trained in such a rescue, he started to climb down the ladder but Hutch stopped him. “I need to go first, he’s my partner.”
“I don’t think that is a good idea,” the search and rescue officer said, knowing what might be found in the hole.
“It has to be me, Jason,” Hutch said without waiting for an answer, he grabbed a hold of the ladder and started making his way into the hole. He looked around as he climbed down; the smell only became worse as he descended. The officer came down behind Hutch, who waited for the officer at the bottom of the ladder. With high powered lights they looked around their surroundings. “What the hell is this?” Hutch wanted to know.
“I’m pretty sure it’s a bomb shelter, probably from back in the 40’s,” Jason answered.
“Starsky?” Hutch called to his partner but there was no answer, only the powerful stench.
The officer walked into the smaller of the two rooms where the smell was even stronger, that was where he saw the body against the wall covered with some sort of blanket. “Hutch!” he called out, “In here.”
Hutch stepped into the room and looked to where the man was training his light. Hutch’s heart jumped in his chest as he looked at the body, he didn’t want to go over and look but he forced himself to walk slowly to where the body was laying.
“Put these on,” Jason said holding out a pair of rubber gloves.
Hutch snapped the gloves on his hands then crouched down and picked up the corner of the blanket. The smell was overpowering and the corpse was crawling with maggots and other insects. This time Hutch did lose the contents of his stomach on to the floor. He got up and stumbled away from the sight.
“It is Starsky?” Jason asked.
“N-no…I think it’s Andrew Costa.” Hutch managed to get out. He put his hand over his mouth and made his way out of the room. After taking a deep breath and spitting the bile from his mouth he looked around the room where they had entered. There didn’t seem to be anything there except for a pile of old mattresses, worn blankets and rusty shelves with equally rusty cans of food. “Starsky, where are you?” Hutch called out.
Jason followed Hutch into the room, “Somebody covered that body up, it sure didn’t cover it’s self up.” Jason said also looking around the room.
Then, there was a sound, they both heard it, it was so soft that if they hadn’t turned and looked at each other at the same time they would have dismissed it. “Starsky?” Hutch called out. Then, they both listened, the sound came again, it was the raspy sound of somebody breathing or perhaps trying to say something.
Hutch?
“Starsky.”
Hutch?
“Starsky, where are you?”
Hutch?
“Hutch,” it was all Starsky could do to say his partner’s name out loud. He was sure he was dreaming. But he thought he could see light in front of his closed eyelids, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t open his eyes. He tried to move, tried to kick one of the blankets off but he was just too weak. “Hutch.”
“Over here,” Hutch moved toward the pile of mattresses and blankets. He reached down and pulled several blankets away. The face he saw frightened him, Starsky’s face was so thin, his cheeks sunken in, his lips cracked and bleeding. “Starsky,” Hutch threw back the rest of the covers and pulled his partner into his arms. “Its okay, buddy, I’m here I’m here.” He cooed as he rocked Starsky back and forth.
Starsky tried to bring an arm up to touch Hutch’s face but it fell back to his side, he was just too weak to move. “Hutch.”
“We are going to get you out of here, buddy,” Hutch promised, wishing that he had some water to offer his dehydrated partner. “You are going to be fine.” Hutch turned around to Jason, “Get him some water.” He knew it was going to take a bit of doing to get Starsky out of the bomb shelter, since he was too week to climb.
Jason climbed back up the ladder to tell the rescue workers what he was going to need in order to get Starsky out. When he returned he had a bottle of water for the trapped detective.
He handed the bottle to Hutch who opened it and held it to Starsky’s lips. He drank nearly half of the bottle then promptly threw it all right back up. Hutch turned and looked worriedly at Jason.
“Slow sips okay?” Jason said, “He should be able to keep that down better.” Jason then turned his attention on the litter that the other officers were lowering down to him. “It’s going to be a tight fit but I think we can get him out.”
When Jason had the stretcher positioned, Hutch carried Starsky over and laid him in it. He was frightened at how light Starsky felt. Jason strapped Starsky down so that he couldn’t fall out and they began the painstaking task of getting Starsky out.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity the litter carrying Starsky was out and he was transferred to a gurney so that he could be put in an ambulance. Hutch stayed by his partner’s side until they loaded him in the ambulance then he jumped in with him. Starsky gave Hutch a weak smile, “What took you so long partner?”
“Sorry, Starsk, I’ll try to do better next time,” Hutch said as he pulled a clean sheet up to his partner’s neck. “You are going to be just fine.
~The End ~