ENSLAVED
Chapter 6
Starsky stirred in between the blue sheets, slowly he opened his eyes to see what time it was. A half empty bottle of sleeping pills were on the bedside cabinet beside his bed. He looked round at the clock it was 7.15am. He felt more awake this morning than what he had during the past month and slowly he made his way out of bed and into the bathroom. He finished showering, got dressed and grabbed a cup of coffee and a slice of cold pizza left over in the fridge and rushed out of his apartment.
The torino had been left by the cult members outside his apartment in its usual parking spot, they had moved it there from the hospital car parking garage. Starsky had no recollection of the events of the past few days. The last thing he remembered was waking up in the middle of the night trying to get some sleep, but that had been a week ago. He now had a new found energy, those sleeping pills must have been really good he thought to himself as he started up the car, he was really feeling like his old self again.
Pulling up outside of Hutch’s apartment at Venice Place and seeing Hutch’s car not there he remembered that he was suppose to be taking Hutch to Merl’s garage to pick up his car. The old LTD had been running erratic again a month ago and finally Starsky had persuaded Hutch to leave his treasured car with Merl to do a tune up on the engine. Merl had been busy with other cars and had put Hutch’s car to one side and got around to tinkering with it as time allowed. After all Hutch had not exactly been very polite to Merl in the past and was not exactly jumping for joy at leaving his car with Starsky’s mechanic.
Starsky emerged from his car and climbed up the stairs leading to Hutch’s apartment. He reached above the doorframe to get the key and let himself in as usual. That’s weird thought Starsky, the key should be here. The only time the key was not there was if Hutch had a friend in there with him and was pre-occupied with other matters.
"Hey Hutch, open up" no reply, and Starsky did not hear any movement at all from within the apartment. Starsky banged louder on the door and now was shouting at the top of his voice "HUTCH OPEN UP" still no movement. Starsky was getting a horrible gut feeling that something was not quite right. I hope you forgive me Hutch he thought as he put all of his weight into the door and forced it open on the second attempt. The smell which greeted him was stomach wrenching and Starsky was quickly in Hutch’s bathroom emptying his stomach of its contents.
Starsky emerged from Hutch’s bathroom and knocked on Hutch’s bedroom door, "Hey blondie, you have 30 seconds and then i'm coming in". Still no reply. Starsky opened the door and was almost sick again with the sight before his eyes. There was Hutch on his bed naked from the waist up and covered in bruises of various shades. Beside him lay a bloodied decaying corpse dressed in white, the long red hair was covering her face. God Hutch, Starsky quickly tried to check on his partner, Hutch’s breathing was shallow and his pulse weak. Starsky reached for the phone.
"Get me an ambulance, and a coroners wagon and crime team to 1029 Abbot Kinney Bolevard, and hurry" "hang on Hutch, just hang on" Starsky moved around to the other side of the bed. He was starting to get used to the smell of the decaying body. Moving the hair away from the face he recognised was Gail the girl who was only a very newcomer to Simon’s cult that month ago when he had been abducted. Starsky moved back round again and checked on Hutch, it seemed like an eternity since he had made that phone call.
Again he picked up the phone "Captain, its Hutch, he's been hurt bad, can you meet us at memorial"
"Starsky, where the hell have you two been, I've been trying to phone you all day yesterday, both of you"
Starsky had no recollection of yesterday. So as far as he was concerned he must have slept for the day.
"Cap, I was asleep, these sleeping pills I have really knock me out. I have no idea where Hutch has been. Cap you are not going to believe who is here"
"Try me Starsky" grumbled Dobey who was already standing ready to leave his office to make his way to the hospital.
"There is a body here at Hutch’s, its Gail, Gail from Simon’s cult. Cap I think Simon’s people are behind this somehow"
The ambulance crew had finally arrived and where working on Hutch. Oxygen was starting to flow into Hutch and an iv was started. Hutch was transported to Memorial Hospital. Starsky waited for the crime lab team and the coroners people to arrive and then went onto the hospital to check on his partner. Dobey was very surprised that Starsky had not travelled in with his partner.
"Starsky, what are you up to" asked Dobey, "You're partner is in there fighting for his life"
"I just wanted to make sure the coroners team and the crime lab were doing their job. I'm sure Simon Marcus is behind all of this. How is Hutch doing? I thought they had stabilised him before they left"
"Doctor Lancaster is working on him now, he has taken a fair beating and has been poisoned"
"Poisoned" asked Starsky and he rushed into the emergency room to see his partner. Doctor Lancaster was still working on Hutch, the oxygen was still flowing into Hutch’s lungs and he was starting to moan. Doctor Lancaster injected a sedative into the iv which was flowing into Hutch’s arm. Starsky noticed another needle mark nearby the current iv. "Doc, how is he, when can I talk with him?"
"Not for at least the next 24 hours, I have just had his stomach pumped to empty out the poison he was given, his breathing is steady now and his pulse rate is increasing. I'm keeping him sedated for at least the next 24 hours to give his body time to rest and recover. I'll move him to a room now.
"Doc, I want to stay with him. I need to be there when he wakes up" Starsky was almost in tears, the thought of Hutch having been in the hands of Simon’s people was almost too much to bare. He had no recollection whatsoever of the past week and no idea of what lay ahead of him. Hutch was moved to his own private room and Starsky stayed by his side all that day and throughout the night. The oxygen had been removed in the early morning and Hutch was resting peacefully. Doctor Lancaster had been in during the early evening to check on his patient to make sure he was still unconscious, he could not risk for Hutch to awake and recognise him, let alone talk to anyone until after Simon’s transfer had taken place.
Dobey arrived at the hospital later that morning and checked on his boys. "How's he doing" he asked Starsky while standing looking down at Hutch peacefully asleep.
"Doc says he is doing fine, still keeping him sedated though. I just wish he was able to talk to us to be able to tell us something. I still have the gut feeling Simon is behind this somehow"
"We believe his cult was behind but we have no firm evidence yet. There is something you should know, Marcus is being transferred this afternoon from the county jail to a more secure unit upstate" Dobey looked at Starsky knowing what the reaction would be.
"Cap, I want in with the escort. I have to make sure nothing goes wrong. If he managed to escape God knows what will happen, look what they've done to Hutch" Starsky pleaded with Dobey to let him in with the escort.
"Starsky, we don't know for sure it was Simon’s people who did this. Why don't you just wait until Hutch is able to talk to us" Dobey tried to reason with Starsky but realised it was a losing battle. "Okay you can join in on the escort. But just watch your back that's all" Starsky smiled and looked back at Hutch who was just starting to stir.
"Back shortly Hutch, just hang in there" and with that Starsky was out the door like a bullet and running to the elevator. He only had an hour to make it out to the county jail to join the escort. With Starsky’s driving he had made it out of the busy streets and out to the county jail with 5 minutes to spare. He left his car parked in front of the prison van and walked round to see Simon being led out in chains. He went to speak to Simon, but Simon spoke first.
"Night time, you have come" Simon fixed his eyes on Starsky’s blue eyes. Starsky was motionless just starring at Simon.
"Sir, we have to get moving now" the prison guards spoke to Starsky and pushed Simon into the back of the van. Starsky blinked his eyes when Simon’s gaze left him.
"Yes, are we all ready to go" Starsky looked around and the two drivers nodded. The convoy was lead by Starsky, followed by the prison van with a black and white unit behind the van. The ride was uneventful for the first 45 minutes, the convoy quickly moving through the countryside. Suddenly Starsky slammed on the brakes at the crossroads. The van came to a screeching halt sideways almost colliding with the torino. The black and white unit behind was not so fortunate and slid into the van knocking the cars two occupants unconscious. Gun fire soon erupted. Starsky was trying to figure out what was going on, the gun fire was erupting all around him, bullets narrowly missed the torino. He reached for the radio trying to take cover as best he could inside the torino.
"Zebra Three to control, we are under attack, I repeat we are under attack" not waiting for a reply he slid out of the driver’s door and tried to get a clear shot. He noticed the two prison guards where slumped in their seats, bullet holes riddled the windscreen. The back door was blown open. Starsky knew what was going to happen next, Simon would be free and he had to put a stop to that. He tried to sprint the very short distance between the torino and the van. More gun fire rang out and Starsky dropped to the ground. Simon’s men approached him but he could not move. He tried desperately to move back to the radio, he could still hear the calls being made requesting his reply but he could not reach the car. Simon’s men had heard the radio and quickly disconnected it. They moved closer to Starsky and Starsky braced himself for the final bullet sure that they would shoot him again.
Starsky’s upper chest was burning like hell, the bullet had entered near his shoulder and he could feel the blood starting to soak his tshirt. Simon’s men pulled him to his feet. It felt like his chest was being ripped apart as the tension on the wound opened it more. Darkness claimed him as he was dragged along to the waiting vehicles. "night time you have served your purpose, now we have one more use for you" and with that Simon climbed into the van next to Starsky’s motionless body.