“I’ve known Davey since he was a kid…I
didn’t think they’d assign him to my protection.”
“I know. Starsky has told me a lot about you; about everything you’ve
done for his family over the years. He even told me what you explained about
his father’s killers.”
“I didn’t tell him everything…there is something else; and
I’m going to have to tell that to the Grand Jury.”
“What is it?”
“If I’m going to tell you it is because I want Davey to have someone
to turn to when I’m not there. He’s going to be very hurt by what
I tell the Grand Jury. He loves you and he trusts you…he’s never
known whether to love me or not…or whether to trust me either.”
Hutch sat against the side of the truck and rolled his head back; he sighed.
He knew that sometime in the future there was one big ‘Me and Thee’
moment coming up; he just prayed that when it did Starsky would let him in.
“Go ahead, Mr. Durniak; tell me what I need to know.”
“I guess that when he got back from New York
the last time he told you all about the Simioni brothers and about Levovsky.”
Hutch nodded. He explained briefly to Durniak what had happened to him at the
hands of Levin/Levovsky and Simonetti/Simioni. “I thought that was all
over now.”
“No; there was one other person involved. He wasn’t there to kill Mike Starsky – because he was already dead. Starsky doesn’t know he had an uncle on his father’s side. Now he’s going to have to find out in the worst possible way.”
The truck jerked slightly and Hutch banged on the
back of the cab.
“Starsk?”
No reply…he returned to Durniak’s side and smiled weakly. “I
thought maybe he can hear us; but…”
“He can’t hear us, the cab is attached to the trailer by cables
and there’s an axel between us too.”
Hutch sat down and signaled that he was ready to hear Durniak’s story.
“Mike had a brother…Sam. Sam was a couple of years older than Mike and he ran with a crowd that even I tried to avoid. He went to Vegas right back when they were building the place…you understand what I’m telling you?”
Hutch nodded…Sam Starsky had been involved with ‘Bugsy’ Segal
and the other Mafia bosses who had created the casino capital of the world.
Not exactly glowing character references!
“Sam was their hit-man. He removed more than one fly from their ointment. He also blew with the wind…if Mike was one of the most loyal people I ever met; his brother Sam was the most fickle. Show him enough green and he was yours. You know they never did identify Segal’s killer, don’t you Hutch?”
Again Hutch nodded and he was beginning to feel a sickness in the pit of his stomach. He needed to hear this…he didn’t want to…but he knew he had to.
“Sam came back to New York – but he
disappeared to Chicago and returned to New Jersey about six months later. By
the time he came back; his brother was making his way up the ranks of the police
force.
Mike kept away from us as much as he could. He and I had an agreement…I
kept off his precinct and he didn’t say anything to his bosses about Levovsky…but
things went wrong.
He got word from Sam that he needed to see him. Mike didn’t know what
to do – he’d had no contact with his brother since he’d come
back from the war. He asked my advice and all I could do was make sure his back
was covered. I don’t really know what Sam told him…but when Mike
came to see me the next day….Hutch I’ve seen that look on Davey’s
face…a kind of lost helpless stubborn look….”
Hutch knew exactly what Durniak meant. Starsky had a way of looking up at him,
pleading and yet blocking out all hope of contact…Starsk usually went
off on his own for a day or two and since Terri, Hutch no longer tried to intrude.
“Mike was in a bad state for a while and then he found himself in a situation
that was too hot to handle. There was a state-wide APB out on Sam, and Hutch,
you’d have had to be blind not to see the resemblance between the brothers….plus
the name…Mike was in big trouble. They put pressure on him…I don’t
know if it was Internal Affairs back in those days; but the FBI got involved
and Mike had to go before a Grand Jury and answer all he knew about his brother.
You know about that – no lawyer with you and either take the fifth or….I
guess they broke him down ….
They went after Sam with all the guns blazing. Six cops were killed and three
FBI men too; before they finally got Sam. He was wounded and he swore he’d
get his revenge. He went down for life – but he already had a cancer.
The last I heard from one of my own people in Ryker’s was that just before
he died Sam had contacted Simioni and Levovsky and told them that Mike had fingered
Levovsky’s brother. That was it…from then on I knew Mike was a dead
man. I tried to warn him but he wouldn’t listen. And he paid with his
life.”
Hutch sighed again and ran a hand over his face.
“And Starsky doesn’t know this story?”
“No. I didn’t think he would ever need to…but some of the
things Sam Starsky was into had repercussions on the stuff I’m testifying
about. Hutch, I love Davey like he was my own son. I don’t want to hurt
him…but there’s no way he can be shielded from this. I’ve
protected him the best I could…I’m getting old now. I’m going
to testify to the Grand Jury – and we wouldn’t be in this truck
if there weren’t people out there who will do anything to stop me…I
promised Mike that I’d look after Davey and the others…Now I’m
handing him over to you. If anything happens to me; be there when he needs you.
And he is going to need you if I’m gone.”
The truck stopped and they heard the engine’s
noise die away as Starsky switched it off. A couple of minutes the door opened
and Starsky was standing grinning up from under his big flat cap.
“We’re here, Joe…best hotel in town…and a personal protection
service!”
The three men went up to the hotel suite and prepared to settle in until Joe
went to testify the next day.
Hutch couldn’t help feeling relieved that
in the end Durniak didn’t get to testify. He never told Starsky about
the conversation in the truck.