Generations II

By

Cynthia

            Michael Tyler was putting his uniform on when David walked through the door.  He gave him a look as David began pulling his uniform out of his closet.

            “I don’t want to hear it”, David told him.

            “I didn’t say a word”, Michael said with a little smile.

            “Yeah, I can hear it though.  You’re sayin’ that the next time you make us late, that I can’t say a thing about it because I’m makin’ us late today.”

            “Davey, I would never say anything like that to you”, Michael told him as he put his holster on.

            “Liar.  I can’t wait till the end of shift tonight.”

            “Evelyn, huh?”

            “Yep.  She is fantastic, Michael.  You need to get one of those chicks out of that little black book of yours and hook up with us.”

            “Last time I did that, you guys acted like my date and I weren’t even there.  No thanks. Besides, I’ve got stuff to do tonight after duty.”

            “What’s that”, David asked when he walked into the living room with Michael.

            “I wanna keep up with you, golden boy”, Michael told him.  “I’m not gonna let you outrank me.  I’ve been checkin’ into taking some night classes.”

            “Hey, that’s great”, David told him.  “Starsky will be…”

            “Slow down, Davey.  Just because Starsky is my old man don’t start thinkin’ I’m following in his footsteps or anything like that.”

            “Ha!  You already are”, David said with a smart look.

            Michael shook his head at his best friend.  Since he had learned less than a month ago that Starsky was his father, life had become almost difficult for him.  While he liked the idea of having a father while having a life without one, there were times it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.  They both had spent some time together as much as their jobs allowed, but they still continued to have a stormy relationship at times. 

            Michael chalked it up to them being too much alike for the reason of them not seeing eye to eye.  Each of them felt like they were right and the other was wrong.  One had one way of doing things that was better than the other.  To top it all off, they had an insatiable need to compete with each other which drove David and his dad, Hutch, crazy.

            When the two of them arrived they ran into Hutch in the hallway and he gave them a look. 

            “You two are late.  The briefing has already started.”

            Both men sighed and walked into the briefing room.  It was already filled with officers and Michael and David managed to find seats together in the middle of the room.

            “Well, Tyler and Hutchinson”, Starsky said with a smile.  “We’re all so pleased you both decided to grace us with your presence.”

            David looked over at Michael and gave him an apologetic look.

            “The police officers in this room already know their assignments and since the two of you weren’t here for yours, I gave them to Henley and Johansen.  You two are now reassigned to the records department pulling all the records in the last three years involving drug busts.”

            “That’s easy”, Michael told him.  “We’ll use the computers.”

            “I don’t think so”, Starsky told him with a grin.  “I’m looking for certain items in the officer’s notes that only pulling each record hand by hand will accomplish.”

            “That’ll take a week”, Michael argued.

            “Nope”, Starsky said shaking his head.  “You have three days.”

            Michael was about to argue with him when he felt David give him a hard kick in the shin.

            “Any problems”, Starsky asked.

            “No, sir”, Michael said with a black look over at David.

            “Good.  Everyone knows his or her assignments.  Hit the streets.  That is except for Tyler and Hutchinson.  Up front, please.”

            Michael and David looked at each other before walking to the front.

            “You guys have to understand, this is an IA investigation and those records are essential.  Now, it’s not meant as a punishment.  If you both had been here, you would’ve been chasing down leads in your patrol car.  Who made the other one late”, Starsky asked.

            Michael stepped forward before David had a chance to even move.

            “I was”, Michael told him.  He looked over at David and gave him a warning look.

            Starsky sighed and looked at Michael.

            “You’ve got traffic duty for a week.”

            “What about David?  He’s my partner.”

            “Your partner will be fine without you for one week”, Starsky told him.

            “No way!”

            “Michael, you want to go for two weeks”, Starsky said with a raised voice.

            “Mikey, it’s only a week, man.”

            Michael took a deep breath and relaxed a bit.

            “Fine”, Michael told him before walking off. 

            David turned around and followed him into the hallway.  He pulled Michael up short and looked at him.

            “What was that all about, Michael?”

            “What are you talking about?”

            “Why’d you take the fall for me?”

            “Hell, Davey, he expects it from me, not from you.  I would rather get wrote up than you.”

            “Next time, I take the fall”, David told him.  “Deal?”

            “Deal.”

            “Let’s at least get to the records department on time”, David told him.

            Starsky was fuming by the time he got to his office.  He slammed the door shut behind him and began angrily pulling the files he needed from the filing cabinet.  He never heard the door open behind him.  When he finished he slammed the cabinet shut.

            “Break it and you bought it.”

            Starsky turned around and saw Hutch standing in the doorway.

            “What’s up”, Starsky asked.

            “I was about to ask you the same thing”, Hutch told him.

            “Hutch, Michael was the reason him and David were late.  That’s the third time in three weeks.”

            “So as their superior officer on this case, what did you do”, Hutch asked.

            “I put Michael on traffic duty for a week”, Starsky said as he sat down at his desk.

            “I can’t imagine that went over too well with either of them.”

            “Your son, took it fine.  Mine.  Well, that’s a whole new story.”

            “Starsk, you can’t expect to resolve the problems with you and Michael overnight.  It takes time.”

            “I know that, Hutch.  Maybe I’m pushing him too hard”, Starsky said with a sigh.

            “I don’t think so.  I think you want him to live up to his full potential.  I’d hate to think you’re doing all of this so he’ll live up to your reputation”, Hutch said with a smirk.

            “Funny”, Starsky said with a shake of his head.

            “I’m stopping off at Huggy’s after work.  Wanna join me?”
            “No.  I think I’m going to try and talk to Michael later.  Try and smooth things over.”

            “That’s the spirit, Starsk.”

            Hutch grinned at him and left the room leaving Starsky to wonder how he was going to talk to Michael.

            Michael was hurrying from the precinct to make it on time to register for a class when he ran into Starsky.  David’s girl had picked him up so Michael wouldn’t have to take the extra route to drop David off at the apartment.

            “I wanted to talk to you about earlier today”, Starsky told him.

            “Hey, that’s okay.  Don’t worry about it”, Michael told him.

            “You got pretty pissed at me and I probably would have if the positions had been reversed.”

            Michael gave Starsky and angry look.

            “I said no sweat”, he told him. 

            Starsky stared as Michael walked past him.  He watched Michael hopped into his car and sped off.  He shook his head.  Starsky had to admit he really liked that car.  It had a great motor in it and he wondered how hard it would be to get Michael to race that car with his.  He kept the Torino in excellent condition and it ran as good if not better than what it had in the old days.  It seemed to be the only thing they could probably agree on these days.

            David held Evelyn tightly in his arms as he kissed her.  She felt warm and soft against him.  He wanted to take it to the next level and he didn’t want to push her.  He felt something sharp against his neck and collapsed on the floor of her apartment.

            That night, Michael was going over the schedule and looking through the books for his classes.  He had made the impulsive decision to take three classes and he hoped he wasn’t taking on more than he could handle.  He heard a knock at the door and when he opened the door, he was surprised to find Hutch there.

            “David’s out with Evelyn”, Michael told him.

            “I figured he was still gone.  I wanted to talk to you.”

            “Sure.”

            Michael held open the door and walked into the living room.  As Hutch closed the door behind him, Michael grabbed up the books and took them to his room.

            “Beer”, Michael asked.

            “Sure.”

            Michael went and retrieved two beers out of the fridge.  He gave one to Hutch and sat down in the chair while Hutch sat on the couch.

            “I wanted to talk to you about Starsky.”

            Michael sighed and took a long drink of his beer.

            “Relax, Michael.  I’m not going to read you the riot act.”

            “What’s this about, then?”

            “I’m trying to figure out why you two seem to butt heads so often.”

            “David thinks it’s because we’re so much alike.”

            “What about you”, Hutch asked as he took a drink from his beer.

            “I think so.”

            “There’s something else, isn’t there.”

            Michael took a drink from his beer and looked over at Hutch.

            “Listen, Hutch.  I know you mean well and you want to see me and him get along.”

            “Are you trying to tell me this is none of my business”, Hutch carefully asked.

            “No.  I think you’ll run to my old man quicker than a whore to her pimp.”

            Hutch almost laughed at the crude comparison.

            “Tell me you wouldn’t”, Michael said with a grin.  When Hutch didn’t say anything Michael nodded.

            “Damn, you and David are so much alike”, Michael said with a laugh.  “You both are dyin’ for us to get along but I’m not sure if that will really happen.  If David weren’t my partner, I would ask for a transfer so damn quick it’d make your head spin.  Hutch, the only reason I’m stayin’ and not killing myself to get out of Metro is because this is where David wants to be.”

            “I’m sure he’d appreciate you’re sacrifice”, Hutch said dryly.

            “It’s no sacrifice, Hutch.  David told me that you understood the kind of relationship we have.”

            “I do.”

            “Then lets leave it alone”, Michael said casually.  “Nothing you can say or do will change how things stand between me and Starsky.”

            “Michael, Starsky is your dad.  That’s how he feels about you.”

            “I’m not against the idea of having a father, Hutch.  Putting that label on someone I barely know is a different story.”

            “You know”, Hutch said.  “It’s kind of hard for anyone to get past those sarcastic remarks and sly grins you give whenever someone tries to get close to you.”

            Michael was silent as he took a long drink from his beer.

            “You’ve got a wall built around you so damn thick and high, that the only person you’ve let even get close to you is my son.”

            “David’s just one of those few and far between I will ever trust”, Michael told him.

            “What the hell happened to you, Michael”, Hutch asked.

            Michael’s eyes glittered with dark blue ice at Hutch.  He finished off his beer and stood up.

            “I need to get some sleep”, Michael told him.  “You can let yourself out.”

            Hutch watched as Michael walked into his bedroom and closed the door.  Hutch finished off his beer and set it in the kitchen before leaving.

            Hutch showed up at the bar and saw Starsky sitting in a booth talking with Huggy.  He motioned for a beer and walked over to the table.

            “Where have you been”, Starsky asked him.

            “I stopped off over at David and Michael’s.”

            “Didn’t David have some date with a hot little number”, Huggy asked.

            “Yeah, I went to talk with Michael.”

            “So what’s Mr. Gloom and Doom doing tonight”, Huggy asked with a slow smile.

            “I don’t know”, Hutch answered.

            Starsky gave Hutch a look. 

            “Oh, man.  I’ve told that girl about wetting down the drinks.”

            Huggy left and Starsky continued to stare at his partner.  Neither spoke as Hutch’s beer was brought over.

            “From the look in your eyes, you paid a visit to my son to try and smooth things over with his old man.”

            Hutch gave Starsky a weak smile and took a drink of his beer.

            “Hutch, you should no better than that by now.  Michael doesn’t want to make things right.  You said so yourself that he wasn’t ready and that I shouldn’t push.”

            “I thought maybe coming from me, it might be different, Starsk.”

            “It wasn’t.”

            “Nope.  Starsk, Michael told me tonight under no certain terms the only person he trusts is David.  No one else.”

            “Well, given the life he’s had it’s no wonder.”

            “I’m thinking that there’s more to it than what anyone else knows.  Including David.”

            “Hutch, I can see in your eyes what you’re thinking and you can count me out.  The last time I stuck my nose in his business, I damn near got my ass kicked by him.”

            “Starsk, you won.”

            Neither man was about to forget the brawl that had occurred between Michael and Starsky in this very bar.  Michael had been able to manage to get the drop on Starsky a few times, but Starsky had walked away while Michael lay on the floor.  It was then that both Starsky and Michael learned about their connection with each other.  It had been a painful truth that was sometimes still difficult to swallow.

            “Hutch, I know you want to see things right between us and I hope it’ll happen.  I’d love to have one of those father/son things you have with David.  But it’s not going to happen anytime soon.”

            Hutch sighed and wished Starsky was wrong but he knew he wasn’t.

            David rolled over on his back and groaned.  He opened his eyes slowly and he didn’t know where he was.  He knew he was on a bed and when he tried to get up a hand pushed him back down.  He still felt weak from whatever he had been given.

            “Wakey, wakey”, a graveled voice told him.

            David lifted his head and when his vision cleared up he found himself looking at an old man sitting in a wheelchair.  Just to his left was Evelyn along with three other men in the room.

            “Evelyn”, David whispered.  “Get me out of here.”

            “No, she won’t”, the old man told him.  “You see, I helped raise this little lady and she begged to help me take care of you.  Fact of the matter is that she is my granddaughter.”

            “Who are you”, David asked.

            “You don’t know me”, he said with a laugh.  “I’m hurt.  I can’t believe your old man didn’t tell you the story of the life and times of Ben Forest.”

            “Who the hell are you, old man”, David said with a raised voice.

            “I would have thought it would have made great dinner conversation”, he said with a laugh.  “Let’s just say, your old man and I had one thing in common and that was a certain bitch that I can only hope is dead.  Hard to say since she’s still in the witness protection program.’

            “What do you want from me”, David asked.

            “I’ve managed to open up shop with no one knowing about it.  Kept my little operation quiet.  While it’s not as big as before, I am making a nice little living and my granddaughter has been such a tremendous help with distribution and supplies.  You’re old man works in IA now.  Imagine my surprise when I found out about that.  And it works out perfectly”, Forest said with a smile.

            “You see kid, I know you know certain information and I want it.  I found out that you have been yanking files in the records department.  I need to know exactly what he’s looking for and guess what, sonny.  You’re going to give it to me.”

            “Fuck you”, David spat out.

            “Kids today”, Forest grinned.  “No respect for their elders.”

            Forest motioned towards his men and two of them walked over to hold David down.  He kicked at them while they tied him down.  David yelled until he was punched on the side of the head.  He squirmed as he felt a tight band around his forearm.

            “Kid, your daddy sure loved this stuff and I think it’s like father, like son.”

            David had no idea of what the old man was talking about and it was all that rolled around in his head as he felt the warmth of the injection travel through his body.  He floated and when he looked down, he saw his Dad.  Like father, like son, he whispered.  He then saw Michael and he waved to him.

            Michael woke up early and he looked at his clock and groaned.  He hated waking up too early and he pushed himself out of bed.  He walked over to David’s room and he was surprised to see his bed unmade.  Michael almost smiled.  David must’ve really gotten some last night for him not to come home at all.  Michael figured he’d better give the guy a call.  They couldn’t afford another incident of showing up to work late.

            He found Evelyn’s number and called it.  Michael had a strange look on his face when it came up disconnected.  He then dialed David’s cell phone and got no answer.  His third call to the precinct came up empty also.  It was then Michael started worrying.  He knew that he had to find him and at the same time if it was something totally lame, he still needed to cover for him.

            Michael went to put his uniform on.  The first thing he planned to do was take a quick drive over to Evelyn’s place.  On his way out the door, he grabbed David’s uniform and gun.

            Starsky sat over his desk going over the files that had been pulled from the previous day by Michael and David.  It was a tedious effort. He had to hand it to them.  They knew exactly what he was looking for and he appreciated it.  Starsky made a mental note to say something to Michael the next time he saw him.

            Hutch walked into the office and leaned against the doorframe.

            “What?”

            “They’re late again”, Hutch told him.

            “You’re kidding?  That’s the second day in a row!”

            “I called the apartment and there’s no answer.”

            Starsky had an angry look on his face as he picked up the phone to dial Michael’s cell phone. 

            Michael kicked the tire on his car in frustration.  There was no one at Evelyn’s place and he could only hope David was okay.  His cell phone rang and he picked it up.  He looked at the caller ID and cursed loudly.  Michael took a couple of deep breaths before answering it.

            “Yeah.”

            “I hope you’re on your way in”, Starsky said.

            “Sure, I’m getting into my car now”, Michael told him.

            “I want you in my office as soon as you get here”, Starsky told him before hanging up the phone.

            Michael slapped the cell phone shut and tossed it in his car.  This chick better be worth it, Michael thought as he got into the car.  But something was nagging at him and he wasn’t sure what it was.

            David still lay on the bed.  He had no idea of the conception of time and space.  He could hear laughing in the distance, but he could only see Michael.  Michael would tell him like father, like son.  He would change into his father.  It kept going and kept going as he floated.

            Michael walked into the precinct taking deep breaths.  He had to keep covering for David at least until he knew exactly what was going on.  He wasn’t about to throw his best friend to the wolves otherwise.  He stopped at his father’s door, took a deep breath and walked inside.

            “Two days”, Starsky said as Michael walked over to stand in front of him.  “I think that’s some kind of record.”

            “Where’s David”, Hutch asked.

            “He wasn’t feeling too good”, Michael told him.  “I guess he had too much fun last night.”

            “No one answered the phone”, Hutch told him.

            “I turned the ringer off on the phone and his cell phone.  I figured he could use the sleep.”

            “I’ll stop over there and see how he’s doing”, Hutch told him.

            “He’ll be fine, Hutch.  I told him I’d come by at lunch and check up on him.”

            “Well, just the same”, Hutch said.

            “Hutch, David gets pretty moody when you mother him you know”, Michael said with a smile.

            “I guess you’re right”, Hutch told him.  “Just let him know I’ll call him later.”

            “Sure”, Michael said as he left the room.

            Michael looked over at Starsky who had a look he didn’t recognize in his eyes.

            “You sure are doing a hell of a job covering for David”, Starsky told him.

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about”, Michael responded.

            “Michael, you can’t snowball the master.  Just remember this, if you’re lying to Hutch about David, you and I are going round and round.”

            “Maybe I’ll win this time”, Michael told him with hard eyes.

            “You can hope”, Starsky told him.  “Get out of here and get to work.”

            Michael walked out of the room wondering if Starsky was going to check the story had given to Hutch out.  Michael spent two hours working in the records room.  He was able to find out through the grapevine that Hutch and Starsky had some meeting downtown with some city council members.  It was the opportunity he needed.  He knew they would be tied up for a while. 

            Michael left and headed to his car.  He spun out of the parking lot and drove back to his place.  When he walked inside he could feel his frustration growing and his unease.  David hadn’t even been there.  Michael thought quickly as he grabbed the key from the top of door.  He was glad him and David had never given a key to the apartment to either Hutch or Starsky.  The reasoning was to avoid unexpected surprises in case they had company.

            Michael walked into David’s room and fixed the bed with a large lump in the middle.  He knew how lame it was, but it was all he could think of.  After making sure the front door was locked he walked back into David’s room.  The door could only be locked from the inside.  He locked it and climbed out to the fire escape outside of David’s window.  Michael made it to his car and headed to Evelyn’s.

            On the way to her place, Michael turned on his scanner.  He had thought it was stupid idea at the time, but he was thankful he had spent the money for one.  When he arrived, there was still no one there.  Michael sat on the hood of his car and he knew something was wrong.  It was a cold reality settling on him and all he could think of was finding David.  Talking to Starsky or Hutch never entered his mind even once as he got into his car and sped off.

            It was late in the afternoon when Starsky and Hutch made it back to the precinct.  They hated these meetings and they always seemed to drag on.  Starsky walked into his office and the files on his desk had not changed.  He had expected much more when he got back.  He walked to the records room and he didn’t see Michael anywhere.

            “Minnie”, Starsky said.  “Where’s Michael?”

            “He blew out of here about 10:30 this morning.”

            “Did he say where he was going?”

            “No.”

            “Minnie, get a couple of people in IA in here to help with that case.”

            “Sure, Starsky.”

            Starsky turned around and walked into Hutch’s office.

            “Michael flew the coop right after we left this morning”, Starsky told him angrily.

            “What?”

            “Yeah.  My son, the cop decided to play hooky and I would bet you anything that he talked David into it.  Hell, Hutch.  They’re probably at the beach with some girls having a great time.”

            “Starsk, don’t you think you’re blowing this thing out of proportion?”

            “No, I don’t.  Michael’s been playing both of us and he’s pulled David into it.”

            “I don’t know, Starsk.  David’s never lied to me about anything.  I can’t see him going along with this.  To be honest, I don’t see Michael pulling a stunt like this.”

            “Hutch, I know how much you like Michael.  But he gave us a song and dance this morning.  I knew it when he was bustin’ a gut to keep you from talking to David.  Hell, he probably knew that David would crumble after you talked to him.  He knew we’d know something was up if they both called in sick.”

            Starsky sat in a chair across from Hutch.

            “I gotta admit, Hutch.  Michael certainly covered his bases.”

            “Do you want to go look for them”, Hutch asked.

            “It won’t do any good.  If I didn’t think it was so juvenile, I’d go over there and wait for ‘em to show up.”

            “Starsk, we can’t treat ‘em like teenagers.”

            “They’re sure as hell acting like teenagers.”

            Hutch sighed and looked over at his partner.  It sure was a lot of work to go to just to get a day off, Hutch thought to himself.

            Ben Forest moved his wheelchair closer to the bed.  He smiled and looked over at his granddaughter.

            “Damn, he sure does like that horse, don’t he”, he laughed.

            “How much longer”, she asked.

            “Give it another twenty four hours and he’ll talk.”

            She smiled as she watched as another syringe was brought to the bed.

            Michael checked his watch and sighed.  It was almost the end of the day.  He had checked every hospital, clinic and the city morgues.  He had gone back to Evelyn’s twice with no luck. 

            “Okay, Davey.  This is beyond a girl now”, Michael muttered under his breath. 

            He knew that Starsky and Hutch would be getting off of work and he could only hope he could stay one step ahead of them long enough to find out where David was.  Michael had this bad feeling in the pit of his stomach and he knew that he had to find David first.  He headed back to the apartment and plastered a note on the front door hoping to throw them off his trail for a while.

            Hutch and Starsky headed straight for the apartment.  When they reached the door, Hutch tore the note off the front door.  He looked over at Starsky.

            “If David was sick, he would call me, Starsky.”

            “Let’s head to the doctor’s office”, Starsky told him.

            Both men left worried about David.

            Michael had canvassed the entire neighborhood.  He questioned every snitch he had.  He had made quite a list of contacts during his time on the street since he had been working around here.  Michael looked at his watch and it had been over four hours since he left the note on the door.  He had gotten four calls from Hutch and Starsky both for the last two hours.  He kept the phone on, but didn’t answer their calls. 

            It was when the call came over the scanner that he gripped the steering wheel tightly. 

            “Shit!”

            An APB had been put out on David, himself and his car.  The only thing Michael could think of at that point was a buddy of his on the south side.  He headed over there and parked in the garage and borrowed his Celica.  Michael was thankful the guy promised to keep the car hidden.

            Starsky and Hutch rattled their snitches with nothing happening.  They drove to Huggy’s and ran inside.  Hutch pulled Huggy aside and asked him about David and Michael.

            “A certain cop who shall remain nameless”, Huggy said as he looked at Starsky, “has been shaking down his wide variety of snitches in search of a certain young Viking who has been unaccounted for since yesterday afternoon.”

            “Are you sure”, Hutch asked.

            “It didn’t take long for this news to pass through the grapevine”, Huggy told them.

            “Keep on it, Huggy”, Starsky told him.

            Huggy walked away and Starsky hit the bar with his fist.

            “Goddamn him!  Michael knew something happened to David and he didn’t say a damn word”, Starsky whispered angrily.

            “Don’t worry, Starsk.  I’ve got first dibs.  Meanwhile, we’ve got to keep looking for them.”

            “You’d think something would give with the APB.  Michael’s car isn’t that easy to miss.”

            “Well, Michael certainly kept us on a wild goose chase”, Hutch said as he clenched his fist.

            “We could’ve covered a hell of a lot more ground if he’d said something”, Starsky told him angrily.

            “Starsk, I’ll kick Michael’s ass when I find him, but you also remember what I told you.  The only person he trusts in this world is David.  He probably thought that if he could cover long enough for David that he’d get him and everything would be fine.  Now, he knows it’s too late to do that.  He’s probably as desperate as we are to find him.”

            “Hutch, don’t even go there!  Michael violated procedure and just about half a dozen regulations by not reporting this.  If he had, we might have David back by now!”

            “Listen to yourself, Starsk!  What do you think you did when you found me!  You didn’t tell…”

            “That was different and you know it”, Starsky replied with an angry look.  “There is no comparison here.”

            Hutch sighed and both men headed back out on the street.

            The next afternoon, Michael sat in his car at McDonald’s.  He rubbed his eyes as the girl handed him a large cup of coffee.  He paid for it and headed out of the parking lot.  Michael looked over at his cell phone.  No more calls had come in and he knew that by now Starsky and Hutch both knew what was going on.  Huggy probably already told them that he was out looking for David.  He hadn’t slept since the night before and he hadn’t eaten.  Michael knew if he even took a bite, his exhaustion would overcome him.  He wasn’t about to sleep a wink until he had David back.

            David was practically crying for a fix now.  He had already spilled his guts about what Forest wanted to know.  He crawled on the floor over to the syringe they had thrown on the floor.  He cried as he shot himself up and he cried for his Dad.  He screamed out Michael’s name as he felt the familiar warmth he had come to love.  David looked around the room and the old man was sitting in his wheelchair laughing at him.  He knew he would never escape that laugh for as long as he lived.  David could barely remember hearing them.  But he heard that same distinctive gravely voice telling them to dump him where the world would find him.  He fell back on the floor and he felt hands pulling at him.

            It was early evening and Michael was still in the Celica driving around.  He double-checked with his snitches.  He wanted to call the hospitals and he knew Starsky and Hutch were already doing that.  Michael knew if they found David, he would hear it over the scanner.  Every indication he had was that David had not been found by anyone.  His cell phone rang and he reached over to pick it up.  He looked at the caller ID and answered the familiar number.

            “Yeah.”

            “You still gonna give me that hundred bucks”, she asked.

            “If you got what I want”, he told the hooker.

            “Well, your boy is sitting here crying like a baby.”

            Michael clenched the steering wheel tightly.

            “Your regular route”, he asked.

            “Yeah, honey.”

            “Get him in the empty apartment building on 5^th.  I’m on my way.  Trixie, if you’re lyin’ to me…”

            “Yeah, I know.  Just get me the damn money.”

            Michael hung up the phone and did a U-turn in the middle of the street.  He lay on the accelerator and in just a matter of seconds he could hear the siren behind him. 

            “Goddamn!”

            Michael pulled the car over and pulled his badge out.  The officer came over and looked at it.

            “Hey, there’s an APB out on you”, he told him. 

            “I know.  I’m on my way to hook up with Starsky and Hutch right now.  They’re expecting me.”

            “Okay.  I’ll call the APB off on you.”

            “No!”

            “What?”

            “You know they’re IA, don’t you?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Well, it’s a part of an operation, pal.  Mum’s the word.”

            “Okay”, the officer said. 

            Michael breathed a sigh of relief as he walked away.  It was the first moment he could recall of being that thankful of carrying a badge. 

            Starsky and Hutch were still driving the streets looking for David and Michael.  Neither man were aware of the close call the officer had with Michael.

            Michael found the building and pulled up next to it.  He jumped from his car and ran inside.  He wasn’t prepared for the sight he found.  Michael felt dizzy for a moment.  David lay on the floor in a fetal position.  He was a mess and he didn’t look like himself.  Michael knelt down next to David.

            “Davey”, Michael whispered.  “It’s Mikey.”

            Michael could feel the tears burning his eyes as he touched his face.  Michael knew what he was seeing and he felt his stomach turn.  Someone had done this to him.  He turned around and saw Trixie waiting for her money.  He pulled the cash out from his pocket and slapped it in her hand.  He yanked on her arm and gave her a deadly stare.

            “I swear, Trixie, if you as so much breathe a word about this to anyone, you’ll never work these streets again.  I’ll have you locked up so damn fast, you won’t see daylight till you’re hittin’ up johns at an old folks home.”

            Trixie huffed at him and stormed off.  Michael bent over David and helped him up.

            “Come on, Davey.  I’m gonna take care of you, buddy”, Michael told him.

            “Mikey, is that you”, David cried.

            “Yeah, it’s me, bro.”

            “I tried to get you to come”, David told him.

            “It’s okay.  I’m here.  We’ve got to get out of here, man.”

            Michael managed to get Davey in the car and he drove to the only place he could think of.  He only hoped he wasn’t making a mistake by going there.  He pulled the car up to the alley and he ran inside.  He saw Huggy and ran over to him.  Before Huggy could get a word out, Michael grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him to the alley.  Huggy walked over to the car and when he saw David he held on to the car for support.  If a black man could turn white, Huggy came as close to as he ever would in his life.

            Michael turned Huggy around and grabbed him by the shirt.  He leaned real close and Huggy could see the deadly seriousness in his eyes.

            “Huggy, I’m bringing David here to help him.  You are to keep your mouth shut!  You hear me!  You don’t tell Starsky and you most certainly don’t tell Hutch.  If you even breathe a word to anyone, I’ll take David out of here and I’ll take care of him myself!  I don’t want his old man to see this.  You swear to me right now or I walk!”

            Huggy had no words.  He knew Michael would carry out his threats.  Of that he had no doubt.  He knew he was violating Starsky and Hutch’s trust by the decision he was about to make, but he couldn’t risk Michael taking David away. He slowly nodded and helped get David inside.

            Huggy never imagined in his wildest dreams that he would bring Hutch’s kid to the same exact room that Starsky had brought Hutch.  He helped put David on bed and watched as Michael pulled him close and held him.  He wished he could smile as he watched Michael with David.  Michael loved David the way Starsky loved Hutch.

            “I’m gonna pick up some stuff”, Huggy told him.

            “Huggy!”

            “I’ve done this before”, Huggy told him.  If you had any idea kid, Huggy thought to himself.  “You’re gonna need some supplies to help him kick this thing.”

            Michael nodded as Huggy left. 

            “It hurts, Mikey”, David cried.  “Oh, god, it hurts.”

            “I know, Davey.  You gotta hold on.  We’re gonna beat this together.  Me and thee, just like you always say.”

            “Where’s my Dad?”

            “Do you want me to get your old man, Davey?  I’ll get him.”

            “No.  He can’t see me like this.”

            Michael held his hand tightly as David convulsed in pain.  He screamed out at the agony he felt and Michael prayed he could take the pain away.  Huggy had only been gone a short time when he returned with a large sack.

            “What’s all that”, Michael asked him.

            “Candy, Juice and lot’s of coffee.  He’ll need the candy and juice, but you look like you cold use some coffee.”

            “Yeah, I could.”

            “Michael, let me sit up with him for a while.  You need some sleep man.”

            “No.  I’m staying up with David.”

            “This is going to take a while, Michael.  He’s got some hard time ahead of him.  You’ve been up a while.  You haven’t even seen the worst of it, yet.”

            Michael didn’t say anything as he held tightly to David.

            “How long since you slept”, Huggy asked him.  When Michael didn’t answer, Huggy stopped.  “I’m going out on a very long limb.  How long?”

            Michael sighed knowing that he was right.

            “Day before yesterday”, Michael said with a sigh.

            “Jesus, Michael.  Let me sit up with him for a while and you go get some sleep.”

            “No way, Hug.  I’m not leavin’.”

            “Take the chair and get some shut-eye.”

            Michael could see his reasoning and nodded.  He got out of the bed and David grabbed his hand.

            “I’m not going anywhere, David”, Michael told him.  “I’m just kickin’ back in the chair for a bit.  Okay?”

            David nodded and Michael sat in the chair.  Huggy came over to him.

            “Let me tell you something”, Huggy said.  “I always thought you were no good for David.  You seemed to do everything on the fly and you have a little bit too much street smarts for your own good.  I want you to know, Michael, after this, I know how much you care about David and I’ve got your back.  All you gotta do is ask.”

            Michael was a surprised to say the least.  He had earned Huggy’s respect and it was something he figured would never happen.  He knew how close Huggy was to Starsky and Hutch.  Michael also knew the risk Huggy was taking by helping him and David and not saying anything to the guys.

            “Thanks, Huggy.  I don’t know what to say.”

            “Get some sleep, man.”

            Michael nodded and lay back in the chair.  Just before he closed his eyes, he watched as Huggy went to David. 

            Michael figured he had only slept a couple of hours when a loud noise woke him up.  He opened his eyes and sat up.  David wasn’t on the bed.  Michael stood up and watched as the bathroom door flung open.  Huggy was helping David back to the bed.  Michael could see that David had been sick in the bathroom.  Suddenly David shoved Huggy onto the bed and ran for the door.  Michael ran over and jumped in front of David before he could get to the door.

            “I wanna out of here, Mikey”, David told him.

            “No way.  You’re not going out that door.”

            David had an agonizing look on his face.  He got angry and slammed his fist against the door just past Michael’s head.  Michael could see the tears coming to David’s face and he pulled him close.  If Huggy hadn’t of seen it with his own two eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it.  Michael pulled David over to the bed and got him on it.  He watched as David fell into a fitful sleep.  David was mumbling and moving about.  The words were jumbled and made little sense to Michael.  He looked over at Huggy who had a shocked look on his face when one word escaped David’s lips.

            “Huggy”, Michael asked.  Michael walked over to him.

            “What’s he saying?  He said Forest.”

            Michael looked back to the bed when he heard David mumble ‘like father, like son’ and then mumbling how sorry he was for telling.

            “Jesus”, Huggy whispered.  “Oh, god.  This can’t be happening again.”

            “Huggy”, Michael said louder.  “What the hell is going on?”

            Huggy looked to the bed and back at Michael.  He walked over to the chair and sat down in it.  Michael walked over to him.

            “I know who did it”, Huggy told him.

            “Who”, Michael breathed with steel in his voice.

            “Before either of you boys were born, Hutch got mixed up with this girl.  It was back in the day when both your daddy’s ran the streets.  They had quite the reputation.  This girl was runnin’ from a real bad dude.  Hutch helped her out and hid her away from him.  Well, the piece of trash caught up with him.  He grabbed him and him and his goons beat the hell out of Hutch to find out where he stashed her.”

            “What else, Huggy”, Michael asked.  He knew he wasn’t going to like where this story was going.

            “Hutch wouldn’t talk.  I guess they figure there was only one way to make him do it”, Huggy said with a sigh.

            Michael kneeled down and looked at Huggy.

            “Are you saying they juiced Hutch?”

            Huggy nodded and looked over at Michael.

            “Yeah.  Starsky got him over here and this is the room where he went cold turkey.”

            “Jesus”, Michael breathed.  He looked over at David who was in a fitful sleep.  “Talk about repeating history.  What about this Forest he keeps saying, Huggy?  I know you know something about that.”

            “Ben Forest.  He’s the dude that did Hutch.”

            “Shit!  Did Hutch tell anybody?”

            “Hell no!  There’s probably four people in this damn world that even knows.  Five now”, he said looking at Michael.

            “Would he tell David?”

            “No way, Michael.  Hutch still holds that whole deal over his own head.”

            “Ben Forest did this, Huggy.”

            “He was pushin’ 50 when he got Hutch hooked.”

            “It could be him or someone that was in his organization.”

            Huggy sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. 

            “I’m gonna get us some more coffee”, Huggy told him.

            Michael nodded and walked back to the bed.  He sat on it next to David.  David was sleeping but thrashing around. 

            “I’ll get ‘em for you, Davey.  I swear”, Michael whispered.

            Starsky and Hutch walked into the precinct tired and angry.  They had used every resource available with no results.  It was like David and Michael had disappeared.  They were headed to Hutch’s office when Minnie hollered at Starsky.  Starsky turned around to see her while, Hutch stood in the hallway. 

            “Hey, Hutch.”

            “Jennings”, was all Hutch would say to the uniformed officer.

            “Did Tyler ever catch up to you?”

            “What?  You saw him?”

            “Yeah.  He said he was hooking up with you and Starsky.”

            “When?”

            “Last night sometime.  He did a U-turn on Cleveland and was burning rubber until I pulled him over.”

            “Why didn’t you radio?  He had an APB out on him.”

            “He said it was some operation with IA, Hutch.  I had no reason to doubt him.”

            Hutch nodded and looked at him.

            “What’s he driving?”

            “Red Celica.”

            “Thanks.”

            Hutch walked over to Starsky who was looking over Minnie’s shoulder at a computer screen.  She was pointing at the screen at the different files.

            “So they’ve disappeared”, Starsky asked.

            “Yep.  Someone knows what we’ve been doing”, she told him.  “They’re trying to cover their tracks.”

            “Okay, Minnie.  See if you can correspond the missing files with the records over at the property warehouse.”

            “Sure, Starsky.”

            “Whoever is messing with these files is probably the same person who also has access to the evidence from previous arrests.  It shouldn’t take long to find a connection.”

            Starsky walked over to Hutch.

            “What”, Starsky asked.

            “Jennings had a run in with Michael.”

            “Where?”

            “Over on Cleveland.  Michael was in a big hurry, Starsk.”

            “Let’s go see Huggy.  If Michael found David, Huggy might know something.”

            Both men left the police station with a sense of purpose.

            Starsky pulled the Torino in front of Huggy’s and as he got out, something caught his eye.  He walked to the alley and saw a red Celica sitting quietly.  He clenched his fists and motioned for Hutch.  Hutch saw the car and took a deep breath.  Him and Starsky walked inside and saw Huggy with a pot of coffee.  Huggy stopped what he was doing as Hutch walked around the bar and stood in front of him.

            “Where is he”, Hutch asked.

            Huggy could see the cold anger in Hutch’s eyes and he knew there was nothing to say.  He looked up the stairs and Hutch didn’t say another word as he bounded up the stairs with Starsky close behind.  Huggy sat the coffee down and slumped in the chair.

            Michael was wiping David’s forehead with a wet towel when the door burst open.  He jumped up when he saw Hutch standing in the doorway.  Starsky stood directly behind him.  Hutch looked at his son cringing on the bed.  He slowly walked over to him and Michael took two steps back. 

            Hutch fell to his knees and touched David’s hair.

            “My son”, he whispered.  Hutch gently gathered David in his arms and with tears in his eyes looked to the heavens.

            “My son”, he cried out as he held him tightly.

            Michael could only stare and watch the painful scene.  Hutch brushed back David’s hair and kissed him on the forehead.  He slowly rose and looked at Starsky.

            “Starsk”, Hutch whispered.

            Starsky walked over to David and while he was tending to him, Hutch walked over to Michael and grabbed him by the shirt.  He threw him against the wall and Michael let him.

            “Why, Michael?  This is my son!  My son!  You lied to me about my son when he needed me!”

            Michael kept his silence.  He could see the violence that was threatening to erupt from him.  What could he say to him?  Hutch released him and took a step back. 

            “Get out of my sight”, Hutch spat at him.

            Michael looked over at David who was holding tightly to the pillow in his arm.  He watched as Hutch walked over to David with Starsky.  Michael dropped the towel on the floor and headed out the door.  He went downstairs and walked behind the bar.  Michael pulled a bottle from behind the bar and opened it up.

            “Put it on my tab, Huggy”, Michael told him as he pulled out a shot glass.

            “Might want to pour me one of those”, Huggy told him.

            Michael pulled out a second glass and poured the whiskey into both glasses.  They each picked up their glasses and looked at each other.  They both downed the shots at the same time and slammed them on the bar.

            “I’m sorry, Huggy”, Michael told him.  “I shouldn’t have put you in the position I did.  You and those guys are tight and I ruined it.”

            “Don’t kick yourself in the ass, kid”, Huggy told him.  “I played my part in it.  I didn’t want Hutch to see David like that.  We’ll get past it.  I doubt they’ll kick me out of their lives over this.”

            “They’ll do everything they can to keep me from David, now.  Hell, I probably won’t have a job after all this goes down.”

            “Michael, give ‘em a chance to cool down.”

            Michael shook his head and walked towards the door.

            “Where ya’ goin’”, Huggy called out.

            “I’m taking out the ones who did this to David, Huggy.  They’ll never touch another cop when I’m through with ‘em.”

            Huggy was silent as Michael headed out the door with a sense of purpose.

            Starsky came down the stairs and looked over at Huggy was wiping the bar down.  It had been almost an hour since Michael had left.  Starsky walked behind the bar and pulled out the coffee pot.  Huggy was silent as Starsky poured to very large cups of coffee.  Huggy walked over to him.

            “Starsky”, Huggy whispered.  “Don’t put all the blame on Michael on this.”

            “Where should I put it, Huggy?  Michael had no right to keep Hutch from David.”

            “Me.  David’s been here for a while now.”

            “I never thought I would ever see you go along with Michael on something like this, Hug.”

            “It wasn’t that long ago you did the same damn thing for Hutch”, Huggy told him.

            Starsky looked at Huggy with an angry look.

            “How can you say that to me, Huggy!  This is nothing like it was with Hutch!  That boy up there is Hutch’s son!”

            “If you were Michael, would you have wanted Hutch to see his son like that”, Huggy asked quietly.

            Starsky sighed and put his hands on the bar.

            “No.  It killed Hutch to see David.  He hasn’t been like this since his wife died.”

            Starsky took a long breath and shook the images from his mind.

            “Where did Michael go?”

            “I’m not sure, Starsky.  I do know one thing.”

            “What’s that?”

            “He knows who did this to David and he’s going after them.”

            “Shit!  I’m going up to talk to Hutch and then I’ll go look for Michael.”

            “Starsky, Michael really loves David.  He would do anything for him and I mean anything.”

            Starsky nodded and took the coffee up the stairs.

            Michael was finally able to get his car back.  He sped over to the precinct and he headed to the records department.  He found Minnie sitting at the computer.

            “Minnie, I need a favor”, he told her.

            “Anything for you, sexy.”

            Michael smiled at her.

            “I need a make on Ben Forest.”

            “That piece of slime!  Michael, what are you doing?”

            “Please, Minnie.”

            “You’ve got those same eyes Starsky has when he wants something from me.”

            Michael was silent as she turned around and pulled up his record.

            “I don’t have much”, She told him.  “He was released in 1996.  I guess he had a stroke and they turned him out because they felt he wasn’t a threat anymore.”

            “Any addresses?”

            “Yeah, I’ve got a home address.”

            “Let me have it.”

            Minnie wrote the address down on a post-it and handed it to him.  Michael was leaving when he stopped and turned back to Minnie.

            “What about Evelyn Richards”, he asked her.

            After a few minutes of waiting Minnie looked up at him.

            “She’s clean.  No priors.”

            “Can you find an address?”

            “Sure.  I’ll run a license check.”

            After a few minutes she read off the address.  Michael almost cursed loudly.  It was the same as the place he had been at while looking for David. 

            “Minnie, can you find anything about Ben Forest’s relatives?”

            “I think so.  Give me a minute.”

            Michael waited patiently as she worked to access more records.  He had no idea of how she was going to find what he needed.  Minnie’s access to information was legendary.

            “Okay, he has a daughter who is living in Florida.  Divorced.”

            “Did she have any kids?”

            “Let me pull up vital statistics.”

            After just a brief moment of waiting, Minnie looked up at him.

            “Evelyn Richards”, she told him.

            “Minnie, I need something else.  That address on her license is bogus.”

            “I’ve got an idea”, Minnie said.

            After waiting another few minutes, she looked up at Michael and smiled.

            “Two telephone listings for Evelyn Richards.  One listed and the other unlisted.”

            She wrote the second address and handed it to Michael.

            “I love ya’, Minnie”, Michael said as he gave her a peck on the cheek.  He hurried away and Minnie had a smile on her face as she watched him.

            “Just like his old man”, she said with blush.

            Michael was almost out the door when he stopped.  He turned around and headed to Starsky’s office.  Michael opened the door halfway expecting him to be there.  He walked into the empty office and closed it behind him.  Michael walked over to the desk and something caught his eye.  He pushed the mess of papers aside and he found a photo.  He picked it up and stared at it.  He swallowed the emotion he felt inside as he looked at it.  It had been taken when the four of them had went to the park.  Michael had wanted to get out when he had recovered and they went to play touch football.  It was a picture of him and Starsky sitting on the grass.  Michael had been laughing at something Starsky had told him.  Starsky was sitting next to him with a large smile on his face.  Michael set the picture down on the desk.

            He pulled his badge out and looked at it.  He looked back at the photo.

            “I’m sorry, Dad”, he whispered.

            Michael set the badge down next to the photo.

            Hutch walked inside the room and looked over at David who was sleeping.  They had been there for almost four hours already and after some trying moments, David seemed to be improving.  He carried the tray of soup over to the small table next to the bed.  David sat up and looked at Hutch.

            “I didn’t mean to wake you”, Hutch told him.

            “It’s okay.”

            “How are you feeling?”

            “Like I just went fifteen rounds with Tyson and I lost.”

            “I brought you some soup.”

            “I’ll need a minute before I can take anything.”

            “It’s okay, David.  Take you’re time.”

            “You know it was Forest who did this, don’t you?”

            “Yeah.  Huggy told me.”

            “Dad, Forest kept saying things to me that I don’t understand.”

            Hutch nodded and took David’s hand in his.

            “I never wanted to tell you this”, Hutch told him.  “I guess I should.”

            Hutch told the story of what had happened to him and David almost cried at the new information.  David remained silent as he held his Dad’s hand.

            “I’m sorry, Dad.”

            “It’s okay, David.  I guess Forest won’t be satisfied until he gets any type of revenge against me that he can.”

            “How have you handled this since he did this to you”, David asked.

            “I just tried to put it behind me and move on”, Hutch told him.

            “How can you do that?”

            “It was hard, David.  For a while it was.  You will, too.”

            David jumped up from the bed and walked over to the window.  He turned around and looked at his dad.

            “I’ll carry this with me for the rest of my life, Dad.”

            “I know you’ll never forget it, David.  You have to get pass it.”

            “You don’t understand!  I’m a drug addict”, he yelled.

            “No”, Hutch yelled back.  “You’re not!”

            “Why!  Just because it was forced on me!  You know what happened towards the end, Dad!  Do you?”

            Hutch turned away not wanting to hear it from his son.  David walked over and stood in front of him.

            “They threw the last needle on the floor and told me if I wanted it, I had to go get it myself.  I crawled to that damn thing!”

            “No”, Hutch yelled.  “They made you!”

            “I would have done anything for another fix and you know what I’m talking about!”

            Hutch clasped his hands around David’s neck and forced him to look at him.

            “It wasn’t your fault, David.  It wasn’t!”

            David pushed his hands away and looked at his father.

            “I know it wasn’t my fault, but it doesn’t change the facts.  I’ll be a drug addict for the rest of my life just like you.”

            “Damn you, David!  You think I haven’t carried this around with me?  You think I got up the next day and went on about my business like it was nothing.  I’ve worked very hard at putting what happened to me in the past.”

            “Maybe you shouldn’t have”, David told him quietly.  “I know what you’re going to do when this is all said and done.  You’ll bury what happened to me, just like you buried what happened to you.  There was no IA investigation or hospitalizations.  Starsky brought you here to kick it and then it was covered up.”

            “It was my career, David.  If anyone had found out, then I would have lost everything!”

            “Not with me, Dad.”

            “Do you have any idea of what you’re saying?”

            “I know exactly what I’m saying.  When I’m well enough, I want to go to the doctor and get checked out.  I’ve got to make sure those needles weren’t dirty and then I want to check into a treatment facility for a few weeks.”

            “Jesus, David.  This is your career we’re talking about here.  If this gets out…”

            “Michael will be there.  If no one else wants to partner with me, he will.”

            “No!  Michael is out!”

            “What?”

            “If it weren’t for Michael, I would have found you a lot sooner.  He lied to me and kept you away from me.”

            “Jesus, Dad!  Michael saved my life!  He did what I would have wanted him to do.”

            “To hide you away!”

            “He knew what it would do to you if you saw me like that.  Michael would give his own life for mine.  Dad, I know you’ll never understand why Michael did what he did, but I do and I know why he did it.  As far as he’s concerned he doesn’t have anyone in this world except for me.”

            “Starsky is…”

            “I know”, David said cutting him off.  “But Michael just doesn’t want to make that step just yet.  With the way those two have gone at it, I don’t expect it to happen anytime soon.”

            Hutch walked over and sat on the bed and put his hands in his face.

            “God, what a mess we’ve all made of our lives”, he said with a sigh.

            Michael on his couch with his gun in his hand.  He opened the chamber and spun it around.  As soon as it stopped, he put a bullet in it.  He spun it around again and when it stopped, he put another bullet in the chamber.  Michael let all the facts sink in about what had happened with David.  Somehow everything was beginning to make sense.  He just had to figure out how to go about it to take down Forest and that deceitful bitch of a granddaughter.  Michael could feel a cold anger in his chest as he thought about what they had done to Davey.  He would be a cop when he took them down and he felt a cold satisfaction of putting the handcuffs on them.  He almost smiled at the thought of them spending the remainders of their lives in a cold cement cell.  Killing them was too good for them and David wouldn’t want him to take blind revenge.

            The knocking at the door brought him back to reality.  Michael took the gun and the bullets and stuffed them under the cushion of the couch.  He opened the door and he found himself looking at Starsky.

            Michael sighed and walked away leaving Starsky at the door.  He walked to the fridge and pulled a beer out.  He had to take it easy, Michael thought to himself.  He wanted to keep his head straight when he was ready to leave.

            “Michael”, Starsky began.  “I think I understand why you hid David away.”

            “Do you?  You’re not going to read me the riot act about keeping him away from his old man?”

            Starsky sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets.

            “No, I’m not.  I still think you should have said something, but I don’t want to get into that.”

            “Why are you here”, Michael asked before taking a drink from his beer.

            “I thought we needed to talk.”

            “Listen, almost since the day we met, we’ve been at each other like a couple of pit bulls.  It’s not getting any better no matter what we do.”

            Michael took a deep breath before he said anything else.

            “I think we should just forget about this whole thing.”

            “What?”

            “I know you care a lot about Hutch just like I care about David.  They’re getting caught in the middle of our war and if we keep this up, it’ll just make things worse.”

            “Michael, I’m not ready to walk away from this thing with us.”

            “Well, I am”, Michael yelled.  Michael took a drink from his beer and took a deep breath.  “It’s over, Starsky.  I think you and I both know that this isn’t going to work.”

            “I’ll admit we’ve had our problems, Michael.  We can make this work”, Starsky told him earnestly.

            “I know you want it to.  Hell, I wanted it to.”

            Michael shook his head and finished off his beer.

            “Sorry, man”, Michael told him and he walked into his bedroom.

            Starsky felt like he had been kicked in the gut as he watched Michael walk into his room.  He stood there for a moment not moving.  He didn’t know what else to do.  He slowly turned around and walked out of the apartment and closed the door.  Starsky stood in the hallway and he leaned against the wall.  He could feel the tears on his face and he hit the wall in his fist.  He wiped the tears away and headed down the stairs.

            Michael sat on his bed with his head in his hands.  He cried.  For the first time he could ever remember in his young life, he cried.

            It was late that afternoon when Hutch brought David back to the apartment.  David was still feeling pretty shaky and he sat on the couch while his Dad talked on the phone with Starsky.

            “Starsky’s busy checking into some things at the precinct”, Hutch told him.

            David nodded at his Dad.  The wall of silence was still up between them as a result of the decision David had made regarding what had happened.  Hutch tried to talk him out of it, but he soon realized it was pointless.  Hutch sighed and sat in the chair trying to read a book.

            Michael sat in his car and saw Evelyn walking into a house.  Michael wondered if this was the place where they held Davey.  He knew it would be pointless right now to even do anything.  Any evidence to David being there would already be gone.  He had to catch them all at the same place including old man Forest.  Michael made his decision and got out of the car. 

            He walked to the door and knocked on it.  When Evelyn opened the door, she tried to close it on him.  He easily pushed the door aside and walked in.

            “What do you want”, she asked him.

            “Relax, baby”, he told her with his cold smile.  “I want some of what you gave my partner.”

            Michael pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and held it out for her to see.  He could see the mistrust in her eyes and Michael knew he had to pull off the performance of a lifetime on this gig.

            “Yeah, I found him, Evelyn.  He’s okay.  But him and I want some more.”

            Michael took a step over to her and grabbed her arm.  He pulled her close to his body and he kissed her neck.

            “I know you’ll do this for us”, he told her.

            “I don’t have anything here”, she whispered as she leaned into him.

            Michael shoved the cash in her bra and held her with both hands.

            “I know you won’t let us down”, he whispered.  Michael ran his hand up into her hair and pulled her head back.  He looked down in her sex filled eyes.  He hated himself as he brought his mouth down on hers and plunged his tongue in her mouth.  Michael pulled her close and she wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to the bedroom.

            David tossed the remote on the couch and walked into the kitchen.  He could feel his Dad’s eyes on him as he took a carton of orange juice from the fridge.  He drank what was left in the carton.  When he tossed it in the trash, the door opened and Starsky walked into the room.  David could see something was seriously wrong.

            “Starsk”, Hutch asked.  “What is it?”

            Hutch pulled the badge out of his pocket and tossed it on the coffee table.

            “I found it on my desk”, he told them.  “It’s Michael’s.”

            David walked over to the table and picked up Michael’s badge.

            No one spoke for what seemed to be an eternity as David held the badge in his hand.

            “Starsky”, David said.  “No one else knows that Michael quit.  Don’t say anything until I talk to him.”

            Starsky sat in the chair with a sorrowful look in his eyes.

            “Please, Starsky.  Let me talk to him first.  He wouldn’t do this unless he thought he had to.”

            Starsky nodded and Hutch studied him closely.  He could see in Starsky’s eyes there was something else, but he wanted to talk to him when they were alone.

            A few hours later, Michael pulled up outside the apartment.  He clenched his teeth at seeing the SUV and the Torino parked out front.  He picked up his cell phone and pulled a ten from his pocket.  He motioned for a girl standing on the corner.

            “I’m going to make a call, and I want you to ask for David”, he told her as he held the ten in front of her.

            “Sure”, she told him.

            Michael made the call and handed the phone to her.

            “Is David there…Tell him its Candy.”

            She handed the phone back to Michael and snatched the money from his hand.

            “Can you talk”, Michael asked.

            “Candy, baby, it’s nice to hear from you”, he heard David say.

            “Well, I guess that answers that question”, Michael mumbled.

            “You sound great too, honey.”

            “Don’t enjoy this too much”, Michael ground out. 

            “Baby, I’ve missed you.”

            “Fire escape, David.  I’m coming around right now.”

            “Not tonight, honey.  I’m just not up to it”, David told him.

            Michael sighed.  He could hear the laughter in his best friend’s voice.

            “Asshole”, Michael muttered before hanging up the phone.

            David set the phone down and looked his dad and Starsky.  The phone call didn’t even seem to phase them. 

            “I’m feelin’ tired”, he told them.

            “You need some sleep, son”, Hutch told him.

            David faked a yawn and walked in his room.  He closed the door and locked it behind him. 

            Hutch looked over at Starsky who hadn’t spoken since he had announced that Michael had turned his badge in.

            “Starsk, what happened?”

            Starsky sighed and looked at Hutch.

            “Michael wants to call it quits.”

            “Why?”

            “I guess he doesn’t feel that things are working out with us.  They’re getting worse.”

            “What about you, buddy?”

            “I don’t know.  Sometimes I think they’re fine and then it all goes to hell before I even realize it.”

            “Starsky, don’t give up on him.”

            “I can’t believe I’m hearing you say that, Hutch.  After this stunt of his?”

            “Well, don’t look to me for fatherly advice.  I’m not winning any awards over here.”

            “What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “David wants to go see a doctor and then he wants to go to a treatment center for a few weeks.”

            “Maybe that’s not such a bad idea”, Starsky commented.

            “You’re kidding”, Hutch said.  “He’s got a career to think about.”

            “Hutch, times are a lot different now than they were when the same shit happened to you.  I think David’s career could survive it.”

            “Starsky, you and I are in internal affairs now.  How is this going to look?”

            Starsky suddenly busted out laughing at Hutch.  Every time he looked at his partner he kept laughing.

            “What is so damn funny”, Hutch asked angrily.

            “You are”, Starsky said as he chuckled.  “If you’re old man was alive he’d laugh right along with me.”

            “I have no idea why you find this situation so humorous.”

            “Hutch, do you realize you just said the thing you hated the most when you’re old man said it?  You’re worried about how it’s going to affect you just like he was when you decided to be a cop.  You most certainly are your father’s son.”

            “Well, look at you”, Hutch shot back.  “Michael is most certainly following in your footsteps and your father’s just as well.  Do you realize that he is a third generation cop?  Hell, even Minnie sees the resemblance between two.  I’m not just talking looks, I’m talking everything.  He even has that stupid swagger of yours.”

            “He does not.  I’ve never seen it.”

            “Maybe you haven’t seen it because you and him have been so busy competing with each other and going at it every time you’re in the same room with him.”

            “Aren’t we a pair”, Starsky said with a sigh.  “Who would have ever thought we’d be sitting here having this conversation.”

            “Face it, Starsk.  We are looking at ourselves with new eyes.”

            Starsky and Hutch could only look at each other.

            David sat on the fire escape and watched as Michael came up.  Michael sat on the lower rung and looked at David.

            “How are you, bro”, Michael asked.

            “Better.  Thanks, man.  You saved my life.”

            “You’d do it for me”, Michael told him.

            “Mikey, Starsky found your badge.  Why?”

            “Because I won’t have a job after this is over any ways.”

            “What are you up to?”

            “I’m taking Forest and that bitch Evelyn down.  I won’t let ‘em hurt another cop again.”

            “You can’t do it by yourself, Mikey.”

            “I’ll have it set up so I won’t be alone, Davey.”

            Michael looked down at his hands and back at David.

            “What is it”, David asked.

            “Evelyn.  I…uh…well, I slept with her.”

            “She’s not worth me getting pissed off about.  Don’t worry about it.”

            “So how’s Hutch taking this”, Michael asked.

            “I don’t know, Michael.  I know what happened to him and we’re not talking too much right now anyways.”

            “Why?”

            “I want to get checked out and hit a treatment center.”

            “Davey, you don’t have to do that, you know.”

            “I know I don’t.  I guess I just want to make sure I don’t take this road again.”

            “You won’t”, Michael told him.  “I’ll be there.”

            “Will you?  You turned your badge in.  What happens to us?”

            “Me and thee”, Michael told him.  “Me and thee, just like you always told me.”

            “Michael, Starsky has your badge and when this is over, get it from him.”

            “David”, Michael groaned.  “Come on, man.  You know I won’t be able to do that.”

            “I’d hate to see a man’s pride come in between what he loves to do rather than doing what he knows is right.”

            “Man, that is a low blow”, Michael told him with a small smile.

            “Yeah, it is.  I want you for my partner”, David told him.  “I’ll use whatever is at my disposal against you.”

            Michael laughed at gave David an affectionate pat on the arm.

            “So what are you going to do now”, David asked.

            “I’ve gotta meet Evelyn and that old man tonight at her place.”

            “Her apartment?”

            “No.  She’s got a house.  I think it’s where they took you.  Have you talked to your old man or Starsky about any of this?”

            “They haven’t asked.  I think they’re waiting until I’m feeling better.”

            “Starsky stuck us in those records rooms hunting for certain information in the notes of the arresting officers.  You said something about Forest opening up shop and nobody knowing he was behind it.”

            “Yeah.”

            “The thing we didn’t know is that dope was coming up missing at the property warehouse and someone is messing with the records at the precinct.”

            “Michael, I don’t think I like what you’re telling me.”

            “I don’t like it either.  Someone in the department is selling drugs from the property warehouse to Ben Forest or that damn granddaughter of his.  Someone with a lot of knowledge and a lot of access.  They’re tampering with the records to throw IA off their trail.”

            “Someone in IA”, David told him.

            Michael nodded with a look.

            “Mikey, you can’t go in there”, David told him.  “It’ll get you killed if they figure out what you’re up to.”

            “I’ll be fine, David.  I’ve just got to get them and the dope in the same place.  Once I do that, it’ll all fall like dominos.”

            David didn’t have the confidence that Michael had.

            “Maybe this one time, Michael we should talk to our dads.”

            “No.  I’ve caused a lot of problems here and I’m going to make it right if it costs me everything.”

            “Okay.  When is this meeting?”

            “Nine o’clock.”

            “If I don’t hear anything from you by 9:30, then all bets are off.  Deal.”

            Michael sighed and looked over at David.

            “Deal”, he told him.

            “I want the address, Michael.”

            Michael pulled the address from his pocket and handed it to him.

            “Me and thee, Michael.  You hear me.  You better come out of this in one piece or I’ll kick your ass.”

            Michael gave David a small smile and a hug.  David watched his best friend going down the fire escape and he hoped it wasn’t the last time he saw him.

            Michael sat outside Evelyn’s place and looked at his watch.  It was almost time.  He pulled out his cell phone and programmed it.  As soon as he pushed the star button, the call would go out.  Hopefully the Calvary would arrive before this thing went down.  He hated the idea of getting killed before Evelyn and Forest got wind of what he was doing.

            He put the phone in his pocket and picked up the thick envelope of cash.  The money had sat in a savings account for two years.  Michael was a little surprised he would use his mother’s money for a venture such as this.  He got out of his car and headed to the house.

            David paced back and forth through the living room.  He’d go to his room, back to the living room and then to Michael’s room.  He kept looking over at the clock and when the hour struck nine, he felt his heart rate jump up.

            “David”, Hutch asked.  “What’s wrong?”

            “Oh, just feeling a little shut in, I guess.”

            Hutch gave him a look before turning back to his paper.  David looked over at Starsky who was flipping through the TV channels.  He could see from his eyes that he wasn’t really paying any attention.  Starsky’s cell phone rang and set the remote down to answer it.  After a few minutes he hung up the phone.  Hutch looked at Starsky over his paper.

            “Who was that?”

            “Minnie.  We found the mole.”

            “Who?”

            “Evans.”

            “Our Evans”, Hutch asked.

            “Yep.  Seems our boy has quite the bank account.  I guess selling dope is more profitable than I thought.”

            David could feel his heart pounding in his chest.

            “So is he talking?  I’d sure like to know who he’s selling it to.”

            “He skipped out.  We’ve got an APB out on him.”

            “Shit”, David blurted out.

            Starsky and Hutch both looked at him.

            “What’s wrong”, Hutch asked him.

            David looked at the clock and it was five after nine.  He walked over to the couch and sat down.

            “David, what’s going on”, Starsky asked.

            “I think I know where Evans went”, he told them.

            “Where”, Starsky demanded.

            “The same place Michael is.”

            “David, you had better start talking”, Starsky told him angrily.

            “Michael found Evelyn’s address.  She’s Ben Forest’s granddaughter.”

            “Goddamn”, Hutch yelled.

            “What else, David?”

            “Michael set up a buy with them.  He made plans to get them and the drugs in the same place to take them down.  I think Evans is headed over there to call the whole deal off.”

            “Jesus Christ”, Starsky bit out.

            “Where is this place”, Hutch asked.

            David pulled the address from his pocket and handed it to his dad.

            “He wanted to make things right, Dad.  Michael feels like he has screwed everything up and this was his way of making it right.”

            Hutch grabbed his jacket and him and Starsky stood. 

            “This isn’t too far away.  We’ll get over there before any uniforms show up”, Hutch told him.

            David stood up and grabbed his gun from the closet along with his jacket.

            “You’re staying here”, Hutch told him.

            “No, I’m not”, David told him.

            “David, I know you want to go, but you’re not one hundred percent”, Starsky told him.

            “If it was one of you guys, you couldn’t keep the other away.  You sure as hell aren’t keeping me away.”

            Starsky and Hutch looked at each other knowing he was right.  Hutch nodded and the three of them jumped in the Torino and sped off.

            Michael slumped in the chair from the hard hit to the side of the face.  Everything had gone so smoothly when had arrived.  The exchange was going off without a hitch and he had his hand on his cell phone in his jacket when Evans had showed up.  Evans had taken one look at him and told everyone that he was Starsky’s son.  Michael knew there was no way out.  He was just about to push the button on his cell phone when he felt arms grabbing at him.  Michael’s cell phone had fallen out of his pocket.  Evans had picked it up and thrown it across the room and when it hit the wall it had broken.  It wasn’t even ten after nine yet and Michael knew he was a dead man.  There was no way he was going to be alive by the time David told them where he was.

            One of the guys reached over and yanked Michael’s head back.  Forest slowly stood up from his wheelchair and walked over to Michael.  It was the laugh that gave him chills.

            “I get one kid, juice him up and now I get the other”, he said with a smile.  “I wanted to get you’re old man hooked but the opportunity never arose.”

            “Fuck you, old man”, Michael spat out.  He looked up at the old man and viciously spit at him.  Forest stood up and wiped the spittle from his face. 

            Michael got several hits to the stomach and three across his face.

            “You didn’t get shit”, Michael breathed.  “Look at Evans.  Think he came over here for a drink?  Hell, no.  They know who he is.”

            Michael laughed even though it still hurt.  Forest looked over at Evans and he could see the truth in his eyes.  He looked back at his granddaughter.

            She walked over to Michael and gave him a cold smile.

            “Oh, Michael”, she crooned.  “Just so you know, David’s much better in bed.”

            “What the hell did you expect?  Sloppy seconds suck.”

            Evelyn slapped Michael across the face as he laughed.  Forest laughed, too.

            “Hell, too bad we gotta waste this kid.  I like his attitude.”

            Michael was silent.

            Starsky and David took the front of the house while Hutch went to the back.  Hutch looked through the window and he could see a girl with Evans standing next to her.  He couldn’t see Michael or Forest at all.  He found the back door and sat back to wait for the time to move.

            Starsky pulled out his gun and took position on one side of the door while David took a peek through a window.  David stood back up and motioned for Starsky.  Using hand signals, he told Starsky where Michael was and how many were up front.

            Starsky stood in front of the door and looked over at David.  At his nod, Starsky kicked the door open with his foot.  He jumped inside with his gun drawn and David was at his side.  Almost at that same moment, Hutch kicked the back door in and came in through the small kitchen with his gun drawn.  The goons Forest had hired pulled their guns almost instantly and the three of them opened fired.  Evans was pinned behind a couch and David ran over to Michael and threw him to the floor, while Starsky took him out.

            As always it seemed the uniformed officers showed up almost at that moment.  Starsky ran over to Michael who lay on the floor semi-conscious.  David stood up and walked over to Evelyn.  He said nothing as she was handcuffed and taken away.  David looked over and he didn’t see his Dad.  He could see Starsky pulling Michael up to a sitting position. 

            “Damn, kid”, Starsky said.  “If you ever pull another John Wayne again, I’ll personally kick your ass myself.”

            “Think you’ll win”, Michael joked.  He looked over at David who stood not far from him.  “Thanks for being early.”

            David nodded and looked around the room.  He walked down the hallway and he heard a voice coming from the bedroom.

            “Yeah, your boy sure likes that shit.  Just like his old man.”

            David could hear that familiar laugh that almost pushed him to the edge.  He got to the bedroom and he could see his Dad holding his gun on Forest.  There was something in his eyes that David had never seen before.

            “Old man, I’m going to kill you for putting your filthy hands on my son”, Hutch whispered in a deadly tone.

            David could see the evil laughter in Forest’s eyes die at the threat his Dad had made.

            “Dad”, David said.  “He’s not worth it.  I need you out here with me.  Not jail.  Please, Dad.”

            Hutch took several deep breaths when he heard David’s voice.  He wanted the old man dead more than anything in his life, but David’s voice overrode it.  He slowly put his gun down and put it in his holster.  He reached down and suddenly pulled Forester to his feet.

            “You’re going to prison, old man”, Hutch seethed.  “This time, you’ll die there!”

            Hutch shoved him towards the uniforms that began putting handcuffs on him.  He turned back to David and pulled him close.  Hutch was almost to tears as he thought about the hell that old man had put him and his son through.

            “Davey, I don’t know about this”, Michael told him as they stood outside Starsky’s office.

            “You don’t have to do a thing”, David told him.  “No soapy scenes or anything like that.  Just do this one thing for me and I won’t ask you for anything again.”

            “Didn’t you say that when you wanted to set me up with that girl from that health food store you and your dad went to?”

            “She was pretty”, David told him.

            “Sure she was.  She’s about as smart as a golf ball, too.”

            “Michael, come on.  It won’t be as bad as you think.”

            “Fine”, Michael said with a sigh.  “But don’t expect too much.”

            David opened the door and Starsky sat behind his desk and Hutch was sitting in a chair across from him.  When Starsky saw Michael he stood up and walked over to him.

            “I know you and I will probably never get along.  I’d like to think we’ll be friends someday”, Starsky told him.

            Michael didn’t say anything as Starsky pulled his badge out.

            “If you ever think about quitting again, I want a promise from you.”

            “What’s that”, Michael asked.

            “That you’ll talk to me first.”

            Michael slowly took the badge from his hand and looked at it.

            “Yeah.  I promise”, Michael said with a smile.

            Everyone smiled and Michael stood next to Starsky.  He looked over at him.

            “Thanks.”

            It was on the tip of his tongue to say Dad, but he still didn’t quite feel ready.  Starsky smiled and patted Michael on the back.

            THE END