Safe House

Chapter 1

'Zebra three, zebra three, see the man named Huggy Bear at the Pits', the voice came loud and clear over the radio in Hutch's brown LTD. Starsky reached for the microphone with his left hand, the right being busy with the hamburger he was demolishing for his belated lunch.

'This is zebra three, lovely person, we are responding, and have a wonderful day' he replaced the receiver looking pleased with himself.

The blond at his side cast a sideways glance at his partner, raising a quizzical eyebrow. 'Starsk, have you been sniffing lighter fluid again? Its late in the day and we're both bushed. Why so full of it?'

The curly haired man ignored the jibe. 'It's a lovely day, the sun is shining and the birds are singing and life is good. Don't ya feel it Hutch? The saps rising! And I got this new pen. It even writes underwater' he lifted the silver coloured pen up to that it twinkled in the light.

'Starsk, the birds in Bay City cough, they don't sing. And it may have escaped your notice, but those big black things in the sky are thunder clouds, buddy. It's gonna bucket down in the next half hour! An' unless you're thinking of diving off the end of the pier in the next dy or so, what good is a pen that writes underwater?'

'Yeah, well' the brunette smiled, his indomitable spirit a constant source of admiration to his partner. 'Got a hot date with Becky tonight, so everything is rosy. I can even write out the cheque for the restaurant with my new pen'. He finished the last mouthful of hamburger and tossed the wrapper into the back of the car with the last month's rubbish.

The two detectives were coming to the end of another long hot shift. The temperature had been steadily rising all day and the air was getting heavy and thick. It hadn't helped them when they had chased that flake half way across town in the car, then the last mile or so on foot, before they'd finally cornered him in the park. As Starsky had snicked the handcuffs on him, Hutch had trotted back to the car and driven it over to pick up his partner and his captive to deliver them to the Metro. The prospect of a couple of hours of paper work loomed, so any distraction in the form of Huggys and cool beer seemed like a winner at the precise moment.

As Hutch turned the car down a side street and pulled up outside the bar their friend and informant Huggy Bear owned and ran, both looked over at the dingy doorway and the gaudy sign above it.

'Wonder what's rattled Huggy's cage today', Hutch asked conversationally. 'We only saw him last night an' everything was fine with him then'.

His partner was ready to go, never one for prevarication. 'Won't know till we ask'.

The detectives got out and walked towards the door, not bothering to lock the vehicle. As Starsky was fond of saying, anyone who was desperate enough to steel the brown rust bucket deserved to keep it. He knew Merle would fix Hutch up with something way better, but it had become a bit of a feud between the two men. The more Starsky pushed, the more Hutch dug in his heals and refused to part with the dented, ugly vehicle.

They pushed the door to the bar open and walked into its dark, cool interior, the smell of stale beer assailing their nostrils, the wooden floor slightly sticky beneath their feet. At the end of the bar, wiping a glass, they saw the tall lanky figure of Huggy Bear, the proprietor, dressed colourfully as ever in yellow dungarees, a blue shirt open at the neck to reveal a yellow cravat and a yellow cap on his head.

'Hey! What it is, my man' he greeted them, his smile showing a perfect set of white teeth.

'Hey Hug' said Starsky. 'We got a call that you wanted to see us? He tripped over a barstool on his way over to the other side of the bar, his sneakers sticking to the floor. 'Ya know we got no control of the environmental health folks!'

'Oh ha ha, you cut me to the quick with your incisive humour' Huggy clutched his hand to his chest. He looked around him, checking no one was within earshot 'Thing is, there's a guy upstairs I think ya ought to meet. He may be of certain help to the wonderful people of the Bay City PD, if ya know what I mean?'

The two detectives looked at each other. 'Well now you've peeked our interest. Better not be another weasel looking for a janitors job at the Metro. The last guy ripped off the coffee fund before he skipped state!' Hutch took the lead and followed the dark skinned man through the door at the side of the bar and up the stairs to the small room there.

That room held unpleasant memories for Hutch. It was the room he had been more or less held captive in for two days as he came down from his forced heroin addiction. Starsky and Huggy had been there the whole time. Huggy made copious flasks of strong black coffee whilst his partner sat with him on the bed and hugged him, stroked his back as his stomach contracted with cramps and soothed his forehead as the shivers and sweats kept him awake and hurting. As the hours wore on, he had been able to think of nothing else than the sweet rush the drug would give him and had become violent towards his friend. But all the time Starsky had taken the verbal and physical abuse and eventually had watched as Hutch had subsided into a fitful sleep. He shuddered slightly then roughly pushed the unpleasant memories to the back of his mind. That was in the past, this was the here and now. The three men entered the room and saw its occupant hunched in the small green armchair.

The tall dark curly haired man looked up as they entered, eyes darting from one cop to the other, desperation and fright showing in his eyes as though the whole world was out to get him. Huggy put out a placatory hand towards the stranger. 'Jack, these are the two guys I told you about. They're the ones you really need to speak to if ya wanna do what ya say ya wanna do. Detective Sergeant Starsky, Detective sergeant Hutchinson, this is Jack Ramsey'.

The stranger glanced at the two detectives, weighing up whether he should trust them or not. He quickly assessed the six foot, athletically built handsome brunette and the equally handsome and athletic, though marginally taller blond. He licked his lips nervously as he started to pace the small room and although the air conditioning was full on, sweat patches showed on his shirt, under the arms and in a vee down his spine. Finally, he seemed to reach a decision and turned back to Huggy. 'You sure on this?'

'Man, they're as straight as an arrow. If ya have to trust anyone, it's these two. They'll see you right man, but ya have to be straight with 'em OK?'

Ramsey nodded and took a deep breath. He sat back down on an upright chair at the back of the room, his shoulders hunched and his head looking downwards towards the floor. He was the picture of defeat and dejection. Finally he seemed to come to a decision. 'OK, well the thing is I've done a bit of a number on a guy in Bilbao, Spain. He's a big mover on the dirt scene an' there was a deal goin' down for a fair bit of doe'.

'Heroin? How much is a fair bit?' Hutch interrupted

'Five mill, give or take. Heroin, Coke, LSD, you name it', the stranger responded, shrugging his shoulders dismissively.

Hutch looked over to his partner and gave a low whistle. 'Five million US? Yeah, I think I'd call that a fair bit. Go on'.

'Have ya heard of a guy called Xavier Ramirez? He's the ring master in Spain, but he's heavy into the business stateside. I was the bagman, bringin' the stuff over to Bay City to cut an' distribute. Once I'd got the dosh I was supposed to convert it to pesetas and wire the money back to him. But I didn't quite get it back. And now he's got a contract out on me'.

The two detectives listened attentively. Starsky asked 'I can see why he may be a bit mad at ya. So, what you want us to do?'

The stranger shifted uncomfortably in his seat, picking at the hem of his tee shirt. 'He's got four men out lookin' for me an' I really don't want them to find me, ya know? If you can give me protection, I'll give you the low down on Ramirez an' his team an' I promise I'll testify at trial'. The frightened eyes looked pleadingly at the two detectives. 'But ya gotta help. I've been on the run for four days now an' I don't know how much longer I can keep goin' Are you in?'

The partners paused, weighing up their options. Obviously to turn their backs on the guy would mean certain death – which would get them involved all over again anyway. So why not cut out the middle man and just get on with it now. That way, they could nail the ringmaster, and the low lives he dealt with in the area, and bag one for the narcotics guys. You never know when you may need to call in the favour.

Silently agreeing, they looked over to Huggy, who had been standing at the back of the room, trying to look inconspicuous.

'Can you keep him here till we get chance to talk to Dobey, Hug?'

The black man gave a heavy theatrical sigh. 'To hide a face, ya can use my place'.

As they went out the door, Starsky shot back ' Coz he's got weed and he's a man in need' and exited as Huggy grimaced in disgust.

On their way back down to the car, both were quiet. They got back into the heap and sat a while. 'What do you think?' Hutch asked, fiddling with the frayed leather of the steering wheel.

'We gotta play this one cute. This Ramirez is obviously dangerous. Let's see what we got on him, before we decide anything, OK' the brunette said cautiously. 'If we got form on him, I say we run with it. If he's some two-bit player in Europe, we leave it to Interpol and get that creep up there away from Huggy's as fast as'.

Hutch nodded his agreement and started the engine and after a couple of coughs, the car lumbered into motion and they headed back to the Metro for a talk with Records, and their Captain.