Chapter Two: Deadly Serious

Graham Lloyd had never possessed much patience, nor did he like it when his plans didn’t work out. Wilson and Hanks had been entrusted with tracking down Rachel Starsky in New York and bringing her to Los Angeles…of course that plan had changed once they’d discovered her niece instead. Although convinced that Rachel would have been a far more useful bargaining chip Lloyd had realised that he didn’t have the time to wait for Mrs Starsky to return, or for his men to find her in Florida. After that slight hiccup everything had seemed to be progressing in his advantage. The girl had been flown via a chartered plane into Los Angeles and booked into a hotel with Hanks and Wilson under an assumed name…however despite the fact she had been heavily sedated, or at least supposed to have been, she had managed to escape out of the hotel into the city. With Wilson and Hanks unable to provide any answers to her current whereabouts Lloyd had done as he always did when plans went wrong - eliminated the weakest link.

‘That’s for screwing up again,’ Lloyd muttered as he continued to point the now-smoking gun at the lifeless form of Hanks at his feet. ‘And you,’ he said dangerously turning to Wilson who had blanched to a deathly pale, ‘you better not screw up anymore.’

Wilson visibly relaxed as Lloyd lowered the gun after a few tense seconds. He and Hanks had absolutely no clue where Anna Ryan had disappeared to after she had evaded them at the hotel. All he knew now was that this game Lloyd was about to start playing with Starsky was getting far deadlier than he had imagined when he‘d agreed to the job. He glanced at Hanks on the floor and took a steadying breath.

Lloyd catching the look continued, ‘let that serve as a reminder for you next time you think you’re going to make a mistake. Now tell me everything you can about this girl.’

‘She’s Starsky’s cousin,’ Wilson replied, an obvious shake in his voice. ‘Her mother is Rachel Starsky’s sister.’

‘Are she and Starsky close?’ Lloyd asked pointedly.

‘She’s family,’ Wilson retorted with an grimace. ‘Starsky would do anything for his family.’

‘Well he better hide her quick,’ Lloyd replied with a chilling smile. ‘Now are you sure she heard nothing of the plan?’

‘She was drugged the whole time,’ Wilson stated. ‘Even still we didn’t discuss it much in front of her.’

‘So she has no idea of Nick Starsky’s involvement?’ Lloyd asked running his hand through his bedraggled hair.

‘As far as we…I,’ he corrected himself as he once again caught sight of Hanks. ‘As far as I know she has no knowledge of it.’

‘Good,’ Lloyd smirked. ‘I wouldn’t want Detective Starsky to go chasing after his brother just yet. Now I want you to go over to Starsky’s place and keep watch. This girl is bound to turn up at some point. In fact this little escape act may have served a purpose…at least Starsky will know that he’s caught in something serious.’

With that he turned and left Wilson in the room alone with only a body for company.

‘Something deadly,’ Wilson muttered glancing one last time at Hanks before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

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‘Is this some kind of joke?’ the cab driver asked stopping Starsky in his tracks.

‘What do you mean?’ Starsky asked turning to face the driver with great difficulty. He still wasn’t used to the crutches he had been ordered to use.

‘What do I mean?!’ the driver cried out exasperatedly. ‘I mean where’s the fare?’

‘I just paid you,’ Starsky replied giving the man a strange look. What kind of whacko is this?‘Look man,’ the man replied. ‘I don’t know where you’re from. But in Bay City, notes from the Bank of Monopoly ain’t legal tender.’

‘Huh?’ Starsky in confusion before realisation slowly dawned. ‘Oh!’ After Hutch’s departure Starsky had managed to sit still for all of thirty seconds before his curious nature overcame him and he’d called himself a cab to follow Hutch to where he’d suspected he’d gone - the precinct. On the way out he had grabbed a couple of Monopoly notes from the game board and stuffed them in his pocket. They’d come in useful later when he and Hutch continued their game. He was going to get Boardwalk one way or another.

‘Dude!’ the cabby’s voice broke Starsky from his thoughts. ‘The meter’s still runnin’’

‘Terrific,’ Starsky mumbled as he exchanged some dollar bills for the play-money.

‘Thanks,’ the driver said rolling his eyes and speeding away.

‘This night just gets better and better,’ Starsky grumbled as he hobbled up the steps into the precinct.

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‘This night just gets better and better,’ Hutch muttered as he massaged the bridge of his nose, closing the door to the office behind him.

‘Well?’ Dobey asked the younger man.

‘She won’t say a word until she sees Starsky,’ Hutch replied dropping into a chair next to the Captain. ‘It’s as if she won’t trust anyone.’

‘But do you know who she is?’ Agent Rice interjected.

‘No,’ Hutch replied shaking his head slowly. ‘All I will say is that that girl is related to Starsky in some way.’

‘How do you know that if she’s refusing to talk?’ Rice asked in puzzlement.

‘It’s the eyes,’ Hutch replied seriously.

‘What?’ Rice asked in more confusion. ‘Captain Dobey, what’s he…’ He was cut off as Dobey raised his hand to silence him.

‘He just knows,’ Dobey stated firmly and the matter was closed…for now. ‘Well someone better call Starsky.’

‘You rang?’ a voice came from next to them causing all three men to jump.

‘Starsky?!’ cried Hutch in shock. This shock was immediately overwhelmed by concern as he jumped from his seat to allow Starsky to take his place. ‘You know you’re not supposed to be over-doing things.’

‘Relax mom,’ Starsky replied jokingly, but the breathlessness of his tone showed clearly how much even the smallest exertion was hurting him. ‘What’s goin on anyway? Who’s this guy?’ he asked jerking a thumb at Rice.

‘This guy is Agent Rice of the FBI,’ the agent replied staring at Starsky cooly.

‘The Feds?’ Starsky asked in surprise. ‘What’s this all about?’

The other three men were saved from answering when a sudden yell of ‘Dave!’ came from the room behind them.

‘What the…?’ Starsky asked rising to his feet and making to open the door.

‘Starsk,’ Hutch began trying to restrain his friend. ‘Let me explain first.’

But Starsky just shrugged off his friend and opened the door. What he saw there almost caused him to sink to the floor in shock. Anna, his younger cousin, was sitting cross-legged on the floor staring up at him with pain and tears filling her blue eyes. His normally impeccably turned-out cousin was bruised and visibly shocked. He couldn’t stop the tears welling up in his own eyes as he took in the sight before him.

‘Anna,’ he whispered after an eternity.

The minute he heard the name Hutch understood. This was Starsky’s cousin. But, thought Hutch, she’s at college on the other side of the country. How did she end up in L.A? How did she…All further thoughts were cut off as Anna, seeing she had succeeded in finding Starsky, finally gave into shock and exhaustion. Hutch caught her just before she hit the ground.

‘What’s happening?’ Starsky asked quietly, still having not moved from the doorway.I don’t know buddy, Hutch replied in their unspoken communication. ‘I honestly don’t know,’ he whispered out loud as he carefully lifted Anna into his arms.

Chapter Four: Family

The first thing that hit Anna as she opened her eyes was not the fact that her cousin was asleep in a chair next to her, nor the fact that she was obviously in a hospital. What did hit her was a wave of pain that caused her to inhale sharply. Unfortunately for Anna and her heavily bruised ribs this action did nothing to relieve the pain, it merely increased it to an almost unbearable level. ‘What in the world…?’ Anna thought as she attempted to get herself into a sitting position, trying to ignore the fact that every bone in her body ached with tiredness. ‘How did I get here? The last thing I remember is…Dave.’Starsky awoke with a start and was greeted with the sight of Anna trying to sit up, her eyes full of pain and confusion.

‘Hey there sunshine,’ Starsky said rushing to her side and gently lowering her back onto the pillows. ‘You shouldn’t be trying to move so quickly just yet.’

‘Dave,’ Anna replied quietly with a cracked whisper. ‘You haven’t called me ‘sunshine’ in about ten years. Are you ill?’

‘Me? Well you can’t be too badly off if you can joke about it,’ Starsky replied with a small laugh, but his eyes were full of relief. ‘I’ll go get the doctor.’

Starsky practically threw himself into the hallway of Memorial and almost ended up in a heap on the floor when he tripped over a leg that was protruding off one of the plastic chairs outside Anna’s room.

‘What in the name of…’ Starsky began to yell as he steadied himself, clutching his still-painful leg.

‘Woah, easy partner,’ Hutch said as he instinctively reached out to grab his wobbling partner by the elbow.

‘Hutch!’ Starsky yelled at his partner. ‘What are you doin’? Tryin to break my neck?’

‘I almost succeeded,’ Hutch replied with a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Starsky was about to throw back some smart comment but stopped himself as he realised what this meant. Hutch had spent the whole night outside Anna’s room knowing that Starsky had wanted him nearby without either of them actually verbally broaching the topic.

‘Thanks Hutch,’ Starsky replied in what sounded like a sarcastic reply to Hutch’s comment, yet both knewt he true meaning lying underneath the offhand response. ‘Now would you do be favour? Get your Viking butt down to the nurses’ station and get them to page that doctor.’

‘Is Anna awake?’ Hutch asked looking as relieved as Starsky felt.

‘Yeah,’ Starsky replied. ‘And she’s probably gonna kill me for taking so long to get back so I better.’

‘Yeah, go,’ Hutch replied nodding. ‘I’ll have the doctor paged and then I’ll come join you.’

‘Kay,’ Starsky replied turning back the way he came. ‘The we’ll find out what this is all about.’Please don’t let this hurt him any more than it has already, Hutch prayed silently as he headed down the corridor. He didn’t consciously know where that thought had come from yet he had a funny feeling that this incident was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

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‘Would you like some water?’ Starsky asked Anna as he returned to the chair in which he’d kept his overnight vigil.

‘That’d be great,’ Anna replied with a small smile, before turning serious. ‘About what happened…’

‘You just forget about that for now,’ Starsky replied handing her a cup. ‘We’ll discuss that when Hutch gets here after you’ve seen the doctor.’

‘I think I need to apologise to your partner,’ Anna replied gratefully taking the liquid. ‘I was rather uncooperative yesterday…’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Starsky replied with a grin. ‘He’s got me as a partner. Me and You both inherited the stubborn, childish nature from my Mom’s side of the family.’

‘Yeah I guess so,’ Anna replied with a genuine smile which made her appear much more alert.

‘Speaking of family,’ Starsky continued taking the now empty cup from his cousin. ‘I tried getting hold of your parents. I couldn’t reach them.’

‘How unsurprising,’ Anna replied as a dark shadow crossed her brow taking with it all traces of the smile. ‘I have no idea where they are. Somewhere in Europe I think.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Starsky replied slowly in confusion. ‘You were always such as a close family.’

‘Well some things change,’ Anna replied rubbing her hand across her forehead quickly.

All further discussion of the matter was halted as Hutch and Dr ‘Ste’ returned at that moment.

‘I thought you said he wasn’t here,’ Dr ‘Ste’ said turning to Hutch whilst pointing at Starsky.

‘Yeah well I lied,’ Hutch replied. ‘Besides it’s Anna you’re here for, not Starsky.’

‘Well I’d rather you both waited outside while I examine Miss Ryan,’ Dr ‘Ste’ said matter of factly.

Starsky looked ready to grab the doctor again so Hutch intervened quickly. ‘Come on Starsk,’ he said quietly leading his friend to the door. ‘You wouldn’t like us standing here if you were Anna would you?’

‘I guess not,’ Starsky replied resignedly exiting the room with Hutch in close pursuit.

Just before Hutch closed the door behind him he heard Anna’s voice float out from the room ‘I don’t know what you’re looking quite so smug about Doctor. He’s my cousin. We share the same violent tendencies when we don’t get our own way.’

Hutch stifled a guffaw as he imagined the shocked look on the good doctor’s face before closing the door with a thoroughly satisfying ‘click’.

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‘Yes,’ Wilson nodded his head in confirmation. ‘That’s correct. I’ll let him know immediately.’

‘Let me know what?’ came Graham Lloyd’s voice as Wilson replaced the receiver.

‘Seems Mother Starsky’s just about to fly in to Bay City,’ Wilson replied.

Lloyd’s face lit up in what could only be described as a grotesque smile that reflected his manic excitement at the news he was hearing. ‘Well we better make a quick trip to the airport then.’

‘Dobey brought her,’ Wilson added.

Lloyd smug luck disappeared as quickly as it had come, yet his voice remained placid and even. ‘So he’s figured out who we were after then.’

‘It would seem that way,’ Wilson replied, slightly unnerved by Lloyd’s calm tone.

‘Well Nick did inform us that his big brother wasn’t dumb,’ Lloyd laughed at his use of the phrase ‘big brother’. Nick Starsky didn’t know the meaning of the word. He had sold his own family away without a second thought.

‘Should I have someone follow them?’ Wilson asked.

‘Why bother?’ Lloyd retorted, the smug look firmly back on his face. ‘There’s only one place she’ll be going to now…the hospital. Then Starsky will have her guarded at his apartment. For now we wait. We need to find out more about that girl. If she and Starsky are close enough we may have another player for our little game.’

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‘You’re sure about letting me stay?’ Anna asked Starsky. Dr ‘Ste’ had said she could leave as long as she was under constant watch by a close relative for a few days. Hutch was currently outside persuading Dr ‘Ste’ that Starsky was capable of being responsible.

‘Of course I am,’ Starsky replied. ‘You’ll have to share a room with my Mom but otherwise you’ll have the run of the place.’

‘Well me and Aunt Rach can pass the time discussing embarrassing stories about you. We do it by phone most weekends anyway,’ Anna replied with a grin, just as the door opened and Hutch returned.

‘Despite the fact you’ve already met, my mother would kill me if I didn’t play host properly,’ Starsky said with a grin. ‘Hutch this is Anna, my baby cousin. Anna, this is Hutch…’

‘Your baby partner,’ Anna added with a grin.

‘The one and only,’ Hutch replied with a matching grin shaking Anna’s hand warmly. He was briefly shocked once again at her eyes.

‘What?’ Anna asked giving him a smile.

‘Nothing,’ Hutch replied. ‘I was just trying to figure out how alike you are.’

‘She’s about as stubborn as me,’ Starsky answered with a grin.

‘And he’s as childish as me,’ Anna added shooting a wink at her cousin.

A knock at the door interrupted the lively banter and a young nurse entered.

‘Sorry to intrude Detective Starsky,’ she said politely, ‘but a message from Captain Dobey was left you. He wants you to meet him at the airport in an hour.’

‘My mom,’ Starsky sighed. ‘Thank you…er…Donna.’

‘No problem,’ Donna replied with a smile before leaving the trio alone again.

‘I better head off,’ Starsky said picking up his jacket. ‘I’ll come get you and then we’ll go back to my apartment and we can go through your story Anna ok?’

‘Starsk I’ll take her back to yours,’ Hutch replied. ‘There’s no point in her staying in the hospital longer than needed. I’m sure Dr ‘Ste’ will sign the release forms soon.’

‘Glad to see the back of us,’ Anna added.

‘Yeah,’ Starsky replied with a laugh. ‘What is his name anyway? Actually you know what.. I don’t care. I’m gonna go see my Mom.’

Hutch had to laugh at Starsky’s obvious excitement. ‘You do that partner.’

‘Thanks buddy,’ Starsky said with a meaningful glance at his friend.

‘Always welcome,’ Hutch replied and Starsky nodded in understanding.

‘I’ll see you later Anna,’ Starsky said with a smile to his cousin. ‘Be nice to Hutch. He’s not that awful and I need him for a few years yet…you know to do the paperwork and stuff.’

‘Ha ha,’ Hutch said with good-natured sarcasm.

‘I’ll try,’ Anna replied with a smile She was in a great deal of pain and the terror of the past week had not left her completely, yet with her cousin and Hutch around she felt safe. ‘Hey Starsk,’ she called just as he reached the door.

‘Yeah?’ he asked stopping.

‘Thanks,’ she said sincerely.

‘Don’t be getting all soapy on me Anna Ryan,’ he replied with a smile before leaving.

Anna could feel Hutch’s gaze on her as she stared at the closed door. ‘What?’ she asked turning to him.

‘You called him Starsk,’ Hutch said with a small frown.

‘Yeah well he virtually stopped answering to Dave for anyone but his mother,’ Anna answered. ‘He became plain old Starsky when he met you.’

‘Bet the family loved that,’ Hutch replied with a small smile.

‘Well it seems to ‘suit’ him better somehow,’ Anna replied as she zipped her jacket up and took a seat next to Hutch. ‘Plus everyone in our family regards you as this great influence on my cousin. So nobody minded the fact that he changed his name…good enough for Hutch, therefore good enough for the clan.’

Hutch couldn’t stop himself blushing slightly and he nodded his head down in embarrassment.

‘Oh I’m sorry,’ Anna said clapping her hand to her mouth. ‘Me and my mouth. It’s just that you must know how much you mean to Starsky and my family…cos otherwise they wouldn’t put up with you at Christmas. You got Aunt Rachel’s seal of approval so you’re allowed.’

‘How come we’ve never met then?’ Hutch asked. ‘I mean I’ve heard about you from Starsk obviously but you’ve never been at the family gatherings that I was at.’

‘Um…’ Anna replied suddenly becoming very interested in the bandage on her wrist. ‘My mom and Aunt Rach had an argument quite a few years back. I can’t even remember what it was about, but they just don’t speak anymore. I always loved Aunt Rach and Starsk so I didn’t ever lose touch with them, always talking on the phone you know.’

‘And Nick,’ Hutch said. ‘You forgot Nick.’

‘No,’ Anna replied looking up at him again. ‘I didn’t forget him, I omitted him. Nick and I never really hit it off. I was always following his brother round, you could say I kinda hero-worshipped Starsk even though I was closer in age to Nick. But you know what I’m talking about don’t you? Aunt Rach told me that you and Nick aren’t exactly best friends. Oh no…I’m sorry! I meant to stop!’

‘It’s alright,’ Hutch said with a grin. ‘If you were any quieter I’d think you and Starsky weren’t actually related.’

Anna laughed with good humour before clutching her ribs as they decided to protest.

‘Hey hey you alright?’ Hutch asked soothingly rubbing her back.

‘I’m fine,’ Anna replied. ‘But thanks. Hey Hutch?’

‘Yeah?’ Hutch asked.

‘You will find these guys won’t you? I mean before they do anything to Aunt Rach…or Starsk.’

‘Of course we will,’ Hutch replied. ‘You should know your cousin doesn’t exactly give up easily.’

The conversation was ended abruptly as Donna entered the room. ‘Well Miss Ryan,’ she said with a smile. ‘It seems you can go.’

‘Thank you,’ Anna replied standing up from the bed.

‘Oh and one more thing,’ Donna added. ‘Thank your cousin for pinning Dr Stevenson against the wall. It’s been a long time coming.’ She flashed a conspiratorial grin at the room’s occupants before leaving.

‘It’s a shame Starsky’s not here,’ Hutch said to Anna as they left the room.

‘Why’s that?’ Anna asked.

‘Cos I seriously think we just found his ideal woman,’ he grinned pointing at Donna who was giving Dr ‘Ste’ a roasting.

‘Poor old Doctor Ste,’ Anna answered and the two of them laughed their way to the parking lot.

Chapter Five: The Story‘

Ma!’ Starsky cried at his mother in frustration. ‘I already told you Anna is fine. She’s with Hutch!’

‘You know very well that I won’t stop worrying until I see for myself,’ Rachel Starsky replied shaking her index finger at her eldest son‘s back as he drove. ‘Don’t even pretend you don’t know what I mean because you’re exactly the same!’

Starsky opened his mouth to reply but was cut off as he could have sworn that he heard his stone-faced Captain let out a quiet chuckle.

‘And,’ Rachel continued, ‘I still have no idea why I was whisked away from Florida in utter secrecy.’

‘That will all be explained as soon as we reach David’s apartment,’ Captain Dobey said patting her hand.

‘Which will be next year if this truck doesn’t move,’ Starsky muttered as he tried to manoeuvre the Torino past the pick-up that was crawling along in from him. ’Cap can we bust him for going to slow? He’s virtually stopped!’

‘David Michael Starsky!’ came his mother’s voice from the backseat. ‘What did I tell you about patience?’

‘Ma, come o…’ Starsky began to protest.

‘What did I say?’ Rachel asked sternly.

‘Patience is a virtue,’ Starsky replied eventually like a chastised child before diverting his full attention to the road after he caught a glimpse of Dobey’s grin in the mirror.

Finally the Torino pulled up outside Starsky’s building behind Hutch’s LTD, not a moment too soon for either of the Starskys.

‘Anna!’ Rachel cried as she caught sight of her niece as she flung open the door to her son’s apartment.

Anna, who had been sitting on the couch watching TV with Hutch, immediately jumped up and ran to embrace her aunt.

‘Oh sweetheart,’ Rachel whispered as she clung to her niece. ‘I’m so sorry about what happened. Are you alright? Let me look at you!’

Anna allowed her aunt to gently probe her bruised face and to inspect her wrists. ‘Oh my..’ Rachel breathed in concern, tears in her eyes as she pulled Anna back into another hug.

‘Aunt Rach I’m fine,’ Anna’s voice came muffled from the hug as her head was being held into Rachel’s shoulder. ‘Really it’s all going to be okay.’

Anna could tell that her aunt didn’t believe a word she said but she let up her hold anyway. For this Anna was extremely grateful. The minute her aunt’s attentions moved away from her she sank back into her seat and tried to ease her aching ribs with as much subtlety as she could.

Hutch caught a glimpse of the pain on Anna’s face before she hid it quickly behind a convincing smile. This family has been seriously working on not showing what they feel, he thought quickly before he was enveloped in an embrace from Mrs Starsky.

‘Ken!’ she exclaimed hugging him tightly. ‘It’s been too long since I saw you last.’ Hutch’s heart went out to Anna at that point - Rachel Starsky was crushing his ribs and he was a 100% fit giant compared to Anna.

‘Ma!’ Starsky whined from where’d he’d perched next to his cousin. ‘Don’t call him Ken. He sounds like a banker.’

‘Really Mrs Starsky,’ Hutch said with a smile as Rachel released him. ‘ ‘Hutch’ is fine.’

‘And what have I told you about calling me Rachel?’ she asked raising her eyebrows at him.

‘I know,’ Hutch replied with a chuckle as they all sat down. ‘But my mother would kill me if I didn’t address you as Mrs Starsky.’

‘You see that David?’ Rachel asked her son. ‘That boy listened to his mother.’

Starsky looked ready to reply but Hutch cut him off quickly. ‘Maybe now’s the time we hear Anna’s story. Mrs Starsky would like to unpack first?’

‘Unpacking can wait,’ Rachel replied reaching across the coffee table to grasp her youngest niece’s hand briefly. ‘Someone hurt my niece…’

Hutch nodded in response. ‘Now Anna,’ he said turning to her and gesturing to his Captain. ‘This is Captain Dobey.’

‘I know,’ Anna replied sheepishly shaking Dobey’s hand. ‘We met at the police station…I wasn’t very helpful.’

‘You had quite a shock Miss Ryan,’ Dobey replied with a smile. ‘Don’t worry. I get less co-operation from your cousin and his partner here.’

Starsky raised his eyebrows at his Captain. ‘Cap I’m not gonna dine that with a reply.’

‘Deign’ said Hutch and Anna in unison from either side of Starsky. They looked at each other quickly before laughing heartily.

‘What?’ Starsky asked looking befuddled.

‘Deign,’ repeated Hutch. ‘You’re not going to deign him with a reply.’

‘Whatever College-Boy,’ Starsky said waving his hand at his friend. ‘Now can we get this show on the road please?’

‘Of course,’ Hutch replied barely containing his grin before turning serious. ‘Now Anna what can you tell us?’

‘Not much I’m afraid,’ she replied staring at the floor. ‘I answered the door in New York and there were two men dressed in police uniform. I didn’t think anything suspicious. They introduced themselves as Officers Hanks and Wilson and wanted to speak to Aunt Rach. I told them she was out of town visiting a friend, I then very stupidly told them who I was and that I was all alone cos Nick was out of town.’

‘That’s not stupid,’ Hutch said seriously. ‘You thought you could trust the uniform…which you should be able to.’

‘What happened next?’ Starsky probed gently as he took his cousin‘s hand.

‘Well then Wilson, who was seemingly in charge, told me he’d give me his card so that I could call him and let him know when Aunt Rach would be back,’ Anna continued. ‘It just turned out that his card looked suspiciously like a gun.’

Anna felt her cousin’s hand tighten around her own and was glad for the comfort as she continued ‘I didn’t know what to do. I mean maybe I should have cried out or something but I froze…I felt the gun hit my head and next thing I knew I was waking up on a plane with the mother of all headaches.’

‘What kind of plane?’ Hutch asked seeing that Starsky looked too shocked to continue his questioning for now.

‘I was very small,’ Anna replied. ‘Like a private plane. It was too small to be a commercial flight. I’m sorry but that’s all I can really remember about the plane…they gave me some kind of sedative.’

‘Who the hell are these guys?’ Starsky cried leaping up from his seat.

‘Starsk,’ Hutch intoned softly as he lay a hand over his partner’s arm. ‘Sit back down. We’ll get these guys ok? But we can’t until we hear the whole story.’

Starsky very slowly resumed his position on the couch and once again grasped Anna’s hand as if he was afraid she would disappear any moment.

‘Anna?’ Hutch asked her gently as an indication for her to continue.

‘I really don’t remember much after that except I got a couple of injuries,’ she laughed softly, ‘they said I was smart-mouthing them. They took me from New York on Monday…and it was Friday night when I managed to escape from the hotel. ’

‘Five days,’ Hutch uttered softly. He could see the effect this was having on his partner and Rachel.

‘Yeah,’ Anna replied looking directly at him with pain filling her blue eyes. ‘I saw Hanks put some kind of tablet in my sandwich. I wasn’t think too straight at the time but I knew I shouldn’t eat that, so when they weren’t looking I hid the tablet under the pillow. Later I pretended to be asleep and I heard them go into the adjoining room. I didn’t really think much about what I was doing next, I looked quickly round the room to see if there was any clue as to where I was…on the hotel letterhead it said ‘Bay City’ so I knew I had to find my cousin. The room was on the second floor at the back of the hotel so I went straight out of the window and down the fire-escape as I figured nobody would notice me that way. I found a phone and called for your precinct. Then you know how it went from there.’

‘Did you hear any names or places that would help us find these men?’ Dobey asked after silence filled the room.

‘Maybe one,’ Anna replied, ‘but I can’t remember the whole name properly. I know it started with Graham…’

‘Lloyd?’ Hutch asked as he heard his partner suck in a sharp breath.

‘Yeah,’ Anna replied nodding vigorously. ‘That’s it - Graham Lloyd.’

Hutch ran his hand over his face and squeezed his eyes shut. ‘Well done Anna,’ he said quietly giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

‘Anna,’ Starsky said with a slight shake in his voice. ‘Why don’t you and Ma get settled in my room?’

‘Yeah sure,’ Anna replied taking her aunt’s hand and letting herself be led into the room with Dobey following with the luggage.

‘Lloyd,’ Starsky spat at Hutch, anger flashing in his eyes. ‘This whole thing is revenge for last week.’

‘We’ll get him Starsk,’ Hutch replied trying to sooth his partner.

‘We don’t even know where he is Hutch,’ Starsky said dejectedly.

‘We’ll find him,’ Hutch replied.

‘We have to,’ Starsky added very quietly.

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Nick Starsky looked round his apartment and let out a frustrated sigh. He was back in New York. Back in Graham Lloyd’s reach. He’d been building up his own business for the past year…a business his brother couldn’t know about. He didn’t think David ‘Perfect’ Starsky would appreciate Nick’s involvement with the East Side drug-runners…especially now that he was making a fairly decent name for himself…not as Nick Starsky of course.

‘You were making a name,’ he muttered to himself as he flopped onto his couch. Over the past few months it seemed that some of the bigger fish in the pond were taking a dislike to Nick’s success. That was until Graham Lloyd had called with the promise of help as long as Nick helped him with a little ‘project’. He’d been warned before he agreed to any involvement that Lloyd didn’t like failure. He’d theoretically traded the lives of his mother and brother as Lloyd would hold them as insurance for any job Nick messed up.

Nick, is he admitted it to himself, was terrified of Lloyd. He’d seen what had happened to those who had failed him in the past. With hindsight he realised he probably should have turned down the job offer…kidnapping hadn’t seemed like such a terrible thing at the time and Lloyd had seemed satisfied with the work…but after he’d screwed up in LA by not finding out that his brother had been on stakeout until it was almost too late Lloyd had started threatening to hurt the Starsky family. This, he knew, was not an empty threat but Nick wasn’t bothered by it. He’d felt abandoned by his family for years now…to him they were just more people out to mess up his plans. But now Lloyd was leaning harder on him - he wanted Nick to kidnap his own cousin from under the noses of his brother and his partner…not to mention the watchful eyes of his mother. Worse still Nick knew what the consequences would be if he failed.

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‘Have you spoken to your parents?’ Rachel asked as Anna helped her unpack.

‘No,’ Anna replied.

‘Didn’t Dave call them to let them know?’

‘Don’t know where they are.’

‘Anna what happened?’

‘I switched my degree,’ Anna answered simply as she put the last of her aunt’s belongings in the drawers.

‘What?’ Rachel asked looking confused.

‘You know my parents wanted me to be a doctor?’ Anna continued.

‘Yeah that’s what you’ve always wanted to be,’ Rachel replied looking confused.

‘No,’ Anna replied. ‘That’s what they wanted me to be. But I wasn’t enjoying the course…so I dropped out in Boston and switched to pre-law in LA. I got accepted and start in the fall.’

‘So that’s why you could house-sit for me?’ Rachel asked staring at her niece.

‘Yeah,’ Anna replied nodding. ‘I’m free as a bird for the next six months. Let’s just say my parents didn’t like my choice. But in the end it’s not up to them.’

‘Oh honey,’ Rachel said taking a step towards Anna, ‘I’m sure…’

She was cut off as Starsky called her from the kitchen.

‘Go,’ Anna said to her with a small smile. ‘We can talk this subject to de