Chapter Twelve
 
As Hutch drove towards his partner's home, thoughts were racing through his mind. What if Starsky was just asleep and slept
through the call, his partner would say he was getting paranoid. But then Hutch thought to himself if his worst fear had
happened then at least he may be able to do something about it. Not really taking any notice of the conversation on the radio he

heard the dispatcher acknowledge the request for an ambulance. Must have been an accident somewhere he thought, but then
as he turned the corner into Starsky's street his heart sunk as he saw the police cars in front of his partner's home.

Quickly coming to a halt, Hutch leapt out of the car almost forgetting the hand brake. He ran towards his partner's home hoping

his partner was still alive. Officer Eddy quickly stopped Hutch and pulled him to one side. Hutch caught a glimpse of Agent
Claremont lying in the driveway with officers applying CPR.

"Hutch, you can't go in there" Eddy held him back as Hutch struggled to break free.

"Let me go, I've got to get to Starsky, is he okay?" Hutch was beside himself with worry; he desperately needed to see that his
partner was alive. Another thought flashed through his mind, what would he tell Allison if the worst had happened.

"I'm sorry ....." oh no thought Hutch the fear building up inside of him, Starsky's dead.

"Please Eddy, I have to go in there" Hutch pleaded thinking his partner was inside his home dead.

"Hutch, he's not there" Eddy tried to get through to Hutch.

"Not there, what do you mean not there?" Hutch couldn't figure out what was happening, sure they had been warned that they
were in grave danger. "Eddy, he has to be there" Hutch finally broke free from Eddy's hold and raced along the driveway to the

house. Hutch didn't care what had happened to Agent Claremont, all he wanted was to find his partner. The forensic team had
arrived minutes before hand and were starting their search of the home in particular looking in the bedroom for clues.

"Sorry Hutch" Cheryl Jennings was busy trying to find evidence left behind. They had all worked together in the years earlier;
Cheryl had been the one who helped the team to find the antidote solution to save Starsky when he had been poisoned.

"What do you have so far?" Hutch asked as he looked around the scene and saw the vomit left on the tangled bed sheets.

"The only thing we know is he was still alive when he was taken" Cheryl was trying to hold back the tears as she worked,
wishing she could give Hutch more information. Hutch raced back outside as he heard the ambulance arrive, looking around for

Eddy he quickly found the officer and went over to talk to him. As he walked past the paramedics he heard them say they had
a weak pulse. Hutch just hoped that the Agent survived so he could find out who took his partner and why the hell the Agent
didn't do his job better.

"Eddy, who made the call?" Hutch wondered who had called the police hoping that whoever made the call could also give him
the valuable information he needed.

"Mr. Mitchell next door" Eddy pointed towards the house on the left of Starsky's home. "Apparently he heard the gun shot and
looked out to see a car pull away".

"Thanks Eddy". Hutch ran over to the neighbours' house and knocked heavily on the front door. Barry Mitchell was not having
much success getting any sleep that night. He had only just drifted off to sleep when he heard the shot fired and now once again

was trying to get back to sleep when he heard the knocking on his front door.

"Morning, I'm Detective Hutchinson. I understand you heard the shot."

"That's right, I heard the shot and took a peek through the curtains here to see a sedan pull away."

"Mr. Mitchell, did you see any of the occupants of the car, the license plate perhaps" Hutch knew he was grasping at thin air
here but hoped that Starsky's neighbour might have been able to tell him more information.

"Sorry Detective, all I heard was the shot, all I saw was the car, I didn't see the occupants nor the license plate. I don't even
know what make or model it was" Hutch was deeply disappointed and sighed heavily.

"Thank you Mr. Mitchell" Hutch turned away from the door and made his way back over to Office Eddy.

"Has anyone contacted Captain Dobey" Hutch asked wondering why his boss was not on the scene.

"He's on his way here Hutch."

"Thanks when he is here, let him know I'm in the house" Hutch slowly made his way back into this partner's home. He felt so
empty and helpless not knowing where to even start looking for his partner.

Hutch sat down in the living room leaving the forensic team to finish their scene examination of the bedroom. Picking up a photo

of Starsky and Allison, Hutch was trying to figure out what he was going to say to Allison later that morning. Hutch was still
sitting there staring at the photo when Dobey arrived. Dobey quietly walked over to Hutch placing his hand on Hutch's shoulder

trying to offer some comfort.

"Eddy told me what's happened. What have Forensics come up with?" Dobey looked towards the bedroom seeing the team
busily working away.

"Nothing yet, at least he was still alive when he was taken. Something happened to him in there, there's vomit on the sheets"
Hutch tried to hold back the tears. Hutch sighed heavily again "If only I had stayed with him here, if I......"

"Don't torment yourself with that" Dobey tried reassuringly to comfort Hutch "Son, you know as well as I do that if you were
here, whoever it was that took Starsky probably would have taken you too."

Nothing was comforting Hutch he was beside himself with worry.

"What am I going to tell Allison" the tears flowed out of Hutch's eyes he couldn't hold back any longer. "What if we don't find
him, what do I say to Allison" Hutch completely broke down in heavy sobs. Dobey sat next to him putting his arm around the
grieved partner. Dobey waved the other officers away as they came into the living room.

"Come on Hutch, lets get you out of here, I'll take you home. One of the officers can follow us in my car" Dobey tried to get
Hutch to his feet, it was like lifting a dead weight. Hutch did not want to move he wanted to stay and wait for the Forensics
team to finish. "Son, come on there is nothing more we can do here."

                                         Chapter Thirteen

Starsky moaned as he started to regain consciousness, he felt the rag in his mouth again and hoped the wave of nausea would
not hit him. The RV had turned off Route 66 and was travelling over the rough country road. Starsky tried his best to move to a

more comfortable position. His back was hurting like hell after being shoved backwards into the table and his arm muscles felt
as if they had been pulled in all the wrong directions. Hoping his captors would not see he was conscious again, he slowly rolled

onto his side to try and ease the pain. The RV continued its bumpy ride across the country road for what seemed like an
eternity for Starsky. Slowly the vehicle came to a halt.

"Well men, almost home" Harris smiled at the trio. "Time to move our friend again" Starsky heard them talking and tried to
prepare himself for the pain he knew was coming. Harris took his turn at Starsky, pulling the injured Detective to his feet.
Starsky bit down hard on the rag as the pain surged through him again. "Come on, move" Harris gave Starsky a shove forward
causing the detective to crash heavily into Pardee. Pardee didn't help the detective regain his balance; instead he grabbed
Starsky and pushed him out the door. Starsky missed the steps and feel in a crumbled heap on the side of the road. He could
feel the wetness trickling down his face as his head bled profusely again from the cut sustained a few days earlier in the
accident. "Pick him up," yelled Harris, "We haven't got all day to wait for him" Sloane and Pardee lifted Starsky onto his feet
and dragged him along the road pushing him into the cattle truck ahead of them. As Starsky began to fall forward Pardee
grabbed his arms causing a muffled scream of pain to come. The smell of the cattle truck was getting up everyone's noses, the
hot weather was not helping.

"Get him over here" ordered Matwick preparing his area for the Detective. The two men dragged the detective over to the far
end of the makeshift accommodation and dumped Starsky onto the mattress.

Bending down to his patient Matwick removed the rag from Starsky. "Now, are you going to behave yourself"

"Leave me alone, you sick bastard" Starsky gritted his teeth trying to get control of the pain that was intensifying again.

"Now, now Detective that is no way to speak to me" Matwick took hold of the hypodermic needle and began to fill it with the
contents from a small bottle. Starsky looked up wondering what was going to come next. He tried his best to roll away from
Matwick as the doctor moved in closer. Unable to get away Starsky tried lashing out with his feet. Harris saw what was
happening and quickly moved over and grabbed Starsky in a headlock.

"You would be best not to try and struggle, you'll just get more injuries from us and I'm sure Mr. Miller wouldn't want that to
happen" So now Starsky knew who was behind all of this. Shit, he thought, the Feds were right after all.

Matwick approached Starsky with the syringe. "Get away from ......" the rest of the words were mumbled as Harris quickly
stuffed the rag back into Starsky's mouth.

"You'll need to turn him onto his side, this has to go in his back" Matwick helped Harris pull the struggling detective over to his
left side. Starsky screamed a muffled cry as he felt the needle pierce his back. The injection quickly took hold and Starsky
realized he could no longer move his legs nor did he have any feeling from the waist down. At least there was some relief he
thought he could no longer feel the pain of the catheter inside him. "Make sure that rag is secure" Matwick moved back over to
his supplies and came back with a second catheter. Starsky was paralyzed from the waist down and he clenched his hands and
bit down on the rag again as he watched Matwick approach him. Quickly the first catheter was removed and the nausea wave
came closer as Starsky saw the blood covered tube. Matwick worked quickly to insert the new tube and bag much to the relief

of Starsky the whole procedure was over in less than a few minutes. Harris released his headlock hold he had on the detective
and moved back to join the other members of the team. Starsky turned his head to watch Matwick carefully pack the first
catheter and bag into a box. 'I wonder what the sick bastard is doing with that' thought Starsky. Carefully addressing the box
he handed the package to Harris.

"Check with the driver and mail this off in the next town" Starsky watched Matwick come back towards him and was
wondering what was going to happen next. At least he was more comfortable on the mattress and it was a relief not to feel the
pain from the catheter. "Now if you keep your mouth shut and stop mouthing off I'll remove the gag" Starsky nodded a yes and
was grateful when the gag was removed again.

                                         Chapter Fourteen

Sonya was wondering what was keeping her fiancé, she was finding it difficult to sleep instead spent the hours tossing and
turning and only caught a few minutes sleep. Finally she heard the front door open and heard Hutch talking with someone.
Sonya couldn't quite place the voice; she had heard it before. Quickly slipping on some clothes she walked into the living room
to see who was with her fiancé.

"Oh, hello Captain Dobey" Sonya knew the worst must have happened if Dobey had brought Hutch back home. "What's
happened? Is Starsky....."

"Hon, Starsky is gone" Hutch had managed to get himself pulled together before walking into the living room. When Sonya
heard the word gone, she thought Hutch meant *dead* gone. Sonya burst into tears. "Honey, I'm sorry" Hutch walking over to
her pulling her close to him. "I don't mean dead, he's missing, someone has taken him" Sonya looked up at him and stopped
crying.

"What do you mean? Ken what is happening" Sonya desperately wanted to know what was going on. She looked at Dobey.
"Captain will you please tell me what is happening?"

"I think you had better sit down" Dobey then looked at Hutch "Have you not told Sonya anything?"

"Capt, there hasn't been any time" Hutch was regretting now leaving Sonya so quickly and not explaining the situation to her.
"I'm sorry hon, I was going to tell you when I came back from ........" Hutch started to loose control again and the heavy sobs
returned. In between the sobs he managed to speak "What am I going to tell Allison?" Sonya sat as close as she could to her
fiancé and held him tight.

"I'm sure everything will turn out well" Sonya gave her fiancé a tight hug and started rubbing his back hoping to ease the pain in
him. Looking over at Captain Dobey "Please tell me what is going on."

"The FBI visited my office yesterday. They were insisting on providing extra security for Starsky and Hutch after the early
release from prison of a man they helped put away. This man has made many threats against them before and the FBI had
strong information that there was going to be an attempt made again."

"They were right, oh god why didn't I stay with him" Hutch couldn't take it anymore, he looked for his car keys.

"Ken, where are you going?" asked Sonya.

"Hutchinson, sit down" Dobey did not want his detective running off in this mood.

"I can't just sit here, I have to do something" Hutch was pacing up and down the living room.

"Hutchinson, sit down. We'll go in a minute, let me finish explaining what is happening to Sonya. SIT DOWN."

"The man both your fiancé and his partner put away was a businessman by the name of Miller. The FBI have information that
he is planning something against my detectives. Yesterday I offered Dave and Ken the safety of my home for you and Allison
and Sarah, we don't want any of you to be in any harm from this man" Sonya was getting more than a little upset by hearing all
of what had happened.

"Ken, how could you keep this from me. What if this had happened to you and not to Starsky. You bastard for not telling me"
and she lashed out at Hutch hitting him across the face before storming back into the bedroom and slamming the door. Hutch
got up and went after her.

"Hon, I was going to tell you when I came home here. There wasn't any time earlier" Hutch watched as Sonya started to pack a

suitcase.

"SURE YOU WERE GOING TO TELL ME" she shouted at him. "Ken you have always told me what is happening and now
when a threat is made you decide to wait until later" Sonya finished packing her suitcase and grabbed her uniform.

"Hon, where are you going" Hutch followed Sonya back to the living room.

"Captain Dobey, I would like to take you up on your offer on some safer accommodation. I don't wish to stay here if it is not
safe" Sonya calmed down to speak to Captain Dobey. Turning, she started back at Hutch, "and you Kenneth Hutchinson, can
have some time to damn well think about our relationship. Don't you dare keep me in the dark again." Turning back to Dobey
and taking a deep breath, "Captain, would it be too much trouble to ask for you to take me to your home now please" Dobey
looked at Hutch in surprise.

"Sure that will be fine Sonya" He took the suitcase from Sonya's hand, "I'll meet you out at the car." Looking back at Hutch,
Dobey tried his best to comfort him "Don't worry Hutch, Sonya will be okay, just give her time to cool down."

                                          Chapter Fifteen

The truck stopped on the outskirts of Albuquerque and the driver waited while Harris took the package to be couriered.
Starsky still had no feeling from his waist down but could see that at least the bleeding was easing and it was mostly his urine
going down the tube. Not wanting to say anything to get his captors worked up again he lay perfectly still and tried to move his
arms slightly to ease the strain on his muscles. They had only stopped for a few minutes while Harris organized for the package
to be delivered to its destination urgently. The group then continued on their journey towards Taos. Once back on the road,
Harris and Pardee walked over to where Starsky lay.

"Won't be long now until we reach our final destination" Pardee thought how much this situation was almost identical to the one
Hutch had been in with him a few years earlier. "Mr. Miller has some accommodation all prepared for you" Starsky still resisted

saying a word to his captors, instead the midnight blue eyes darkened with anger. "Don't you want to speak to us Detective"
Pardee asked as he was getting frustrated nothing was being said back to him. Harris stood on the other side of Starsky.

"Perhaps he needs a reminder who the bosses are around here" Harris grabbed Starsky's right shoulder and Pardee grabbed
his left shoulder. Together both men hauled Starsky to his feet. Not knowing that Starsky had no feeling below his waist, both
men wondering why their prisoner was not gritting his teeth in pain. Starsky tried not to make eye contact with them and
concentrated hard on seeing his wife and daughter again. "Still not talking to us Detective" Harris was growing impatient also.
"Bring him back down here" Pardee and Harris moved Starsky to the back of the truck cab turning him round Harris unlocked
the cuffs and watched as Starsky's arms dropped to his sides. Still concentrating hard on seeing Allison and Sarah again
Starsky tried to block out the pain in his arms as his muscles moved freely for the first time in hours.

Releasing their hold on Starsky, he slumped to the floor, his legs unable to support him. Starsky brought his hands together and
started to rub each wrist trying to ease the pain from the hours of being restrained. "Get up" ordered Harris. Starsky tried his
best to move his legs but he could not get any response from them.

"He can't move his legs, that shot I gave him will last for about another hour" Matwick advised the men.

"Should have told them that earlier" Starsky mumbled. That comment was met by a swift kick from Harris to Starsky's left side
causing the detective to crash heavily on his right side. Battling the pain Starsky once again tried hard to concentrate on the
vision of Allison and Sarah, all he wanted to do was survive this ordeal to see them again. The room was starting to spin and
slowly the voices where just faint echoes.

"HARRIS BACK OFF" Matwick shouted. He didn't need Starsky injured any further at the moment. "At least wait until Mr.
Miller has had him for a while before you start again" Oh great, thought Starsky, where the hell are you Hutch when I need you.

Back at the station Dobey was having a meeting in his office with Cheryl from the Forensic team, Agent Claremont's partner
and Hutch. "So what do we have so far?" Dobey asked gruffly. The hours had passed while he waited to hear news and now
that it was mid afternoon he expected answers.

Cheryl was the first one to offer information "Capt, so far we know there were more than two people in the room, possibly
four. We knew from the start that Detective Starsky was taken alive from his home. The latest information we have is that there

was some sort of medical equipment on his bed and we have found a small droplet of blood on the sheet."

"Medical equipment! What the hell is going on?" Hutch was beginning to slip deeper into despair, "What medical equipment?"
Hutch started to pace up and down his captain's office, all he wanted to do was find his partner.

"Hutch, we don't know, only that there is evidence there from a chemical used to sterilize medical equipment. We don't know
anything more than that" Cheryl wanted to help but that was all the information Forensics had turned up.

Agent Harbottle spoke next "Detective Hutchinson, further sources we have spoken to have indicated Miller has associated
with a man named Harris you and your partner arrested. Our sources have indicated that Harris has hired a team of three men
to do a job for Miller." Hutch stopped pacing right in front of the Agent. The rage was building up in Hutch and he grabbed the
Agent by his collar.

"Well you better tell me all you know, or god help me I will hold you and your damn stupid partner responsible for what
happens to my buddy. NOW WHAT DO YOU KNOW?" The Agent cleared his throat.

"We know Harris has hired a Mr. Sloane, a Mr. Pardee and a Mr. Matwick to help him with his job for Miller." We believe the

job may be related to your missing partner. Hutch looked at Dobey; those names sounded familiar and Hutch himself knew the
name Pardee straight away.

"Capt, ....."

"I know Hutch" Dobey grabbed his phone and requested all the records on the men to be delivered to his office "AND I
WANT THOSE RECORDS HERE IN FIVE MINUTES." he bellowed down the phone.