4 months later.

Captain Harold C. Dobey, County Sheriff Ahiga Samara, County Coroner Luyu Samara, Detective Sergeant Ken Hutchinson, Detective Sergeant Dave Starsky and a prisoner by the name of Willard Thompson Ackabee stood on a mountainside in the dry heat of July. The mountain was called Tehachapi Peak. The group stood sheltered by maple and fir trees, the the cops from the city in black suits, Samara in his uniform, Luyu in a black skirt and top. A gravestone had been placed on a site that had once held a cabin.

Per a judicial order the cabin had been bulldozed, the property given to police auction. The land was purchased by a private party. The proceeds went to a family in San Francisco. The family of a rape victim. Luyu had delivered it personally, explaining where it came from. Explaining who had purchased the cabin. Explaining why the past had risen again to greet them.

The gravestone had been purchased by Captain Dobey. The inscription read, "Officer Tommy K. Ackabee. Beloved Son."

The prisoner, while bound by handcuffs, was permitted to approach the gravestone and place a single rose on its crest. Captain Dobey crossed himself and whispered a quiet prayer.

The mountain around them, alive with the business of summer, answered the solemnity of the group with the exuberance of life in motion and after a moment, Ackabee turned from the grave site and nodded to the two officers. Starsky and Hutch walked the man to a waiting prison transport, helped him into the back, then shut the doors. Hutch signaled to the driver and the transport pulled out of the drive, and started down the mountain.

The two men watched the transport pull away, then were joined by Luyu who slid between them, her left hand slipping into Hutch's, her right grabbing Starsky's. Both men looked to her, each aware of the significance of the shared moment. Each grateful that she had chosen to attend.

Behind them, Dobey and Samara had drifted into conversation, studying the site that would soon hold more gravestones, a marker and be bordered by a stone wall. Not as a monument, but a graveyard. The only graveyard that would be owned by the California Institute of Corrections in Kern County.

"So, tell me something…" Starsky said, slipping his arm down around Luyu's waist in the same moment that Hutch put his arm around Luyu's shoulders. "What does Tehachapi mean anyway?"

"Hard climb." Luyu said.

"Really?" Hutch asked, surprised.

"Hard climb?" Starsky asked, enunciating the words.

"Yeah." Luyu said, smiling. "Hard climb."

"That's it? I was expecting 'great mountain' or 'place where ground touches sky'."

"Home of the gods?" Hutch teased.

"Sure...anything but 'hard climb'."

"It's fitting." Luyu said grinning. "Both of you spent over a month on this mountain, searching. You know how hard it is. Why should my people have called it something other than what it is?"

"She's got a point, Starsk."

"Yeah...you didn't hear what Hutch called the place."

"Starsk…"

Luyu's eyes sparkled and she looked to the blonde cop. "What did you call our mountain, Sergeant Hutchinson?"

Hutch smiled and shook his head. "I...it...it doesn't matter. It was-"

Starsky grinned and leaned in close to Luyu's ear. A second later she gasped, her face reflecting genuine shock. She covered her mouth with her hand and choked on a laugh.

Hutch fought a smile, his face flushing red, and walked staring at the ground.

"Wow…" Luyu said finally, then was guided into the Torino from the driver's side. Starsky followed her into the car, giving his partner a disapproving shake of the head and starting the engine. They waited until Hutch had circled the car, and slid into the passenger side.

Luyu stared at Hutch then struggled not to laugh as she said, "Witch's Mound?"

"Well…" Hutch tried to defend himself, then met the shaking head of his partner and cleared his throat. "So, what should we do for lunch?

The End