Dangerous Liaisons

Dangerous ************************

More little events, my fair friend, but only scenes, not actions, so arm yourself with patience.

--- Les Liaisons Dangereuse, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

************************

'Maddy? Maddy Burns?'

'Who wants to know?'

'I'm Lieutenant Ken Hutchinson. I'm running the Missing Women Task Force.'

'Good for you. I've got work to do.'

'So I see. I won't take much of your time.'

'That's what they all say.'

'I promise. Please? I need to speak with you.'

'Just a minute. Let me tell my boss. It's almost my break time.'

Maddy disappeared behind the counter, and through the door that led to the kitchen of the restaurant. It was a greasy spoon, if Hutch had ever seen one. But it did indeed look as if Maddy Burns was trying to go straight, unless she was hooking on the side to make ends meet. More power to her, thought Hutch.

Maddy came back out into the empty restaurant, pulling off her apron. 'Come on,' she said. They left the restaurant. 'You can buy me a decent cup of coffee,' she added, when they were standing in the street. 'We use old coffee grinds we find in dumpsters.' She smirked, but Hutch half believed her.

'I'm sorry to have bothered you at work,' he said, when they were sitting in a clean coffee shop.

'Eh. Don't worry about it. Nothing interesting ever happens there. Guys beatin' on their old ladies. Guys picking up young girls. Guys picking up young boys. Guys sellin' coke. Same old story.'

'Yeah? What about guys looking for their missing sisters, and then disappearing themselves?'

'I dunno about that,' said Maddy.

'You know nothing about it?' asked Hutch. 'What I hear is, you told a guy something about a party in a trailer, out in a canyon, and he went to the cops, and the cops ignored his story, so he went looking for the trailer on his own, and hasn't been seen since.'

'Is that what you hear? Well, it isn't my fault. This guy comes to me, asks about the party, and I give him all I know, which ain't shit. That's the last I see of him. It's not my fault he disappeared.'

'No,' said Hutch. 'It's not your fault. No one's saying it is your fault. But why don't you tell me what you told him, so I can go looking for the guy. Maybe I'll find him.'

'Maybe,' said Maddy Burns. 'Maybe you'll find him. Maybe you'll disappear yourself.'

'Let me worry about that. I'm a big tough cop. I've got backup.'

'Yeah,' said Maddy. 'You a big tough cop. You made of iron. You bullet proof.'

'No,' said Hutch. 'Not bullet proof.'

'You look a bit pale. What's wrong?'

'Nothing. Just tell me what you know about the trailer in the canyon.'

'Okay, man. Look. This guy drives up. I was hooking full time then. Now I only do it when I'm broke. I'm trying to quit, full time, but it's tough, you know?'

'I know,' said Hutch.

'As I say, this guy drives up, calls me over to his car.'

'What kind of car?'

'How the fuck do I know? I'm not into cars. Black. Small. Clean. Really clean. I remember that. Like it'd just been through the car wash. He asks me if I'd like to go to a party, out in the canyons. I wasn't sure. A party? He says, there'll be other girls there. Lots of free drinks and stuff. How many guys, I wonder. Lots of guys, he says, but other girls too. I won't be the only girl. No guys ganging up on me. Good money. I say, okay. We drive out there. It was okay at first. There were other girls. The guys were okay. I do it with one guy. Then another. We go into a trailer. It was weird. Women's purses. Women's shoes. Like a rummage sale, or something. After we left the trailer, the party got ugly.'

'I heard about that,' said Hutch. 'Ugly how?'

'The guys weren't as nice. I mean, I'm a pro, you know? I'm used to guys thinking I'm meat, most of them. But I don't like being treated like shit. Right out in public. Being pushed around. Shoved around. A guy tried to pull off my bra. I got mad, and walked off. It was a long walk. Walked a long time. Then, a car went by, and I hitched a ride, back to the city.'

'No one tried to stop you from leaving?'

'No. So, I didn't think much of it, except for all the purses and things. They were weird. When that guy came asking about his sister....'

'Charlie Patterson.'

'Was that his name? Okay. When Charlie Patterson asked about his sister, I told him I remembered some of the purses. What they looked like. One was made of pony skin. It had initials on it. A.P. Charlie freaked. Said that was his sister's purse.'

'Shit! That wasn't in Perkins' notes. Charlie must have mentioned it. Why didn't Perkins write that down?'

'Who's Perkins?' asked Maddy.

'Good question,' said Hutch. 'What part of the canyons were you in, can you remember?'

'Not much,' said Maddy. 'The guy drove. It was dark. I don't remember the details. I walked back to the road, and headed downhill. A car came along. A woman in it. Nice car. She saw me, stopped, and gave me a lift.'

'What about the canyon itself? Anything unusual about it?'

'Unusual? Funny you should ask. There was a tree. Very strange shape. Look!' Maddy grabbed a napkin, and pulled a pencil from her purse. She drew a tree-like shape on it. The tree had one branch that stuck out at an odd angle. 'I asked about the tree. The guys told me they called it the Hanging Tree.'

***********************

'Hutch! Hutch, wait up.'

Hutch turned at the beloved voice. 'Starsky? What are you doing here? Deciding to come back to work here, after all?'

'Nah! Glad to be out of this place. I've got fond memories, Hutch. Want to keep it that way. Can I walk up with you, though? Been meanin' to drop by and say hello to Dobey.'

'Can you walk up with me? Starsk!' Hutch dropped his voice to a murmur. 'I miss your steps beside mine, every day. You know that.'

'I know that, Hutch. I miss walking beside you, too. But, hey! I'm walking beside you now. There's Dobey. Dobey! Look, I'm back.'

'Starsky? What took you so long? It's too quiet around here.'

'I know, Cap'n. And I'm sorry I'm not here to liven things up.'

'I'm not,' said Dobey. 'My ulcers are healing. But you look good, Starsky. Retirement agrees with you?'

'Not exactly retired, Cap'n. I'm keeping busy. I got my TV show -- and listen up, Dobey! -- you'll be proud, you'll see. And there's Hutch. Look at him. The best Lieutenant on the force.'

'Hmm. Maybe,' said Dobey.

'Wow, Hutch. That's high praise.'

Hutch laughed. Starsky was looking good. He looked happy. Rested. Cheerful.

'I should check in with the Task Force,' said Hutch. 'I'll let you catch up on old times.'

'Okay,' said Starsky. 'I'll wait for you. We can drive home together. Cooked a roast chicken for dinner.'

'Sounds good,' said Hutch. How domestic can we get, he wondered. But then we always were. What's changed?

********************

'Mmmm. There! Right there. That's it. Whoa!'

'Starsky! Will you quit with the driving directions? I don't like back seat drivers.'

Starsky howled with laughter. 'Back seat drivers?' he asked. 'Oh, Hutch. I love you driving my back seat.'

'And this is not an appropriate time to laugh,' Hutch continued. 'How would you like it if I....'

'Oh, baby. Sweet baby -- steer a little to the left. Look out for that semi up ahead. Slow down. You're driving too fast.'

'Starsky. You're insane. Did I ever tell you?'

'Many times. You know why I love the Torino?'

'No idea, and I've been driving the damned thing for weeks now.'

'Hutch. You shouldn't put down my car at a moment like this. I mean, think about it.'

'You're right, Starsk. I take it back.'

'That's my boy. It reminds me of you. No, listen. It's big and red, like your cock. It's powerful. It takes the curves real fast.'

'Like this?' asked Hutch.

'Oh, yeah. Like that,' said Starsky, and twined his legs around Hutch's shoulders.

*********************

'The Hanging Tree?' asked Starsky. 'The Hanging Tree?'

'That's what she said.'

'Could mean nothing. Could have been a joke. They did let her leave.'

'Yeah. They probably have lots of girls up there, who live to tell the tale. And then, every once in a while, there's one or two who don't.'

'The Hanging Tree,' said Starsky.

'Maybe,' said Hutch. 'I want to talk to that woman, the one who picked Maddy up in her nice car. Maybe she knows about the canyon.'

'She might remember other people going up and down that road, late at night.'

'Yeah. I want to talk to her, that's definite. But not under the aegis of the Missing Women Task Force. Don't want to tip the party guys off.'

'Why don't I run an add, for personal reasons? Put up posters. Maddy is my sister, or something.'

'Might work,' said Hutch.

'Why thank you, Lieutenant, Sir. Think I might make a detective, some day?'

'Starsky.'

'Sorry, Babe. I'm happy, Hutch. Be happy. For me?'

'I'd do anything for you, Starsky,' said Hutch. And it was true.

*** The End ***

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