Cry Wolf 4: Higher Ground

Chapter 2: Choices

Once they arrived at Wolf's place, Ben was still pretty unhappy. They grabbed the box of files out of the car and went inside; Jackie noticed how sad Ben was and decided to ask Wolf about it.

"What's wrong with Ben?" asked Jackie as she kissed Wolf,

Wolf looked at Ben as he walked in and sat on the couch.

"Jane was pretty pissed at him for taking this new case. We didn't have a choice," explained Wolf, "She told him to get out."

Wolf noticed Ben's shoulder; it was bleeding, blood was seeping through his shirt.

"Ben, you've burst your stitches," noted Wolf as he walked over to Ben,

Jackie walked off to get the first aid kit. Ben looked at his shoulder then at Wolf.

"I'm fine; stress usually causes my wounds to bleed a little," replied Ben as he applied pressure.

Wolf moved Ben's hand and had a closer look at the wound.

"Ben, hold still," asked Wolf politely, "Not meaning to poke at business that isn't mine but Jane had a point, your shoulder has never properly healed before which may be why it causes you so much trouble."

"Wrong shoulder," stated Ben.

Ben stared at him then a case file caught his eye; he picked it up and looked through it.

"Wolf," gasped Ben, "The triple homicide...Wife, husband and sixteen year old boy."

Wolf sighed and looked at the Ben.

"A serial killer cold enough to kill kids," added Wolf.

"This case is giving me the creeps already," sighed Ben as he continued to look through the case file.
Wolf fished his cell phone out of his pocket,
"I'll call the others; this case will need everyone," said Wolf.

By nightfall they had all made themselves comfortable in Wolf's living room, turning it into a case room with post-it notes, piles of case files and empty pizza boxes. The whole squad was on this one; Jacobi, Bryan, Seeley and Ben and Wolf.

They weren't getting far with the case; there were no consistencies with anything except the signature key ring and M.O. The victims ranged from middle aged to fairly young couples. Forensics still couldn't tell how the victims were killed or what weapon what used and of course the FBI had no suspects.

------

Several hours later after everyone had gone home, Ben lied on the couch staring at the roof. Being a cop was in the Starsky gene and Ben knew that at least one of his boys will eventually grow up to be one. Something Jane probably didn't want.

22 years ago....

Ben sat in the passenger seat of his dad's patrol truck. His dad, Eric Starsky sat in the driver seat. They were driving along the freeway to the 13th Precinct.

"Ben your mother called today, she wants you to re-consider going back to the UK. She and your brother both miss you," explained Eric.

Ben sighed then looked at him,

"Dad, I'm not going back there," snapped Ben.

"I know it's been tough on you and EJ since your mother and I broke up but, this job was presented to me and she chose not to come with me," added Eric.

A call came over the radio from dispatch; high speed pursuit not far from where they were. Eric stepped on the accelerator and Ben put the lights and sirens on.

They flew down the freeway zipping in between traffic and at some points going into oncoming traffic. They had the car in sight, coming around the bend closing in on the suspect. A semi veered over the oncoming lanes and headed right for Ben and Eric. Eric bashed the horn to warn the driver but it wasn't working; the truck kept driving toward them.

"Hang on Ben!" yelled Eric as he slammed on the brakes and turned the wheel slightly; the patrol truck wasn't slowing down.

The semi jack-knifed and rolled onto its side. Eric noticed his patrol truck beginning to fishtail; just as he thought they'd clear the truck the left side of the front end caught the back end of the trailer. Ben watched Eric crash through the windscreen as the patrol truck slammed hard into the rear of the truck at 120 miles an hour. The patrol truck flipped forward and landed hard on the front end before flipping onto the roof then flipping side ways a few times before coming to arrest on the roof 50 feet from the initial crash sight....

Ben began to regain consciousness to a flashlight being shun in his eyes by a paramedic. Once his vision cleared he discovered that he was upside down.

"Wha...what happened," moaned Ben as he tried to move only to find that he was still buckled in the truck.

"Take it easy you were in a crash, can you tell me your name?" asked the paramedic.

"Star...Starsky, Ben Starsky," moaned Ben in pain, "Dad...where's dad?"

"Ben was there anyone in the car with you?" asked the paramedic as he checked Ben's pulse in his neck.
Ben was about to speak but lost consciousness....

Ben sat up fast again; his heart rate was erratic and he was dripping with sweat. He noticed a light on in the kitchen so he went in to grab a glass of water. He walked in to find Jackie pouring a glass of milk.

"Jack, you're up early, it's 4 in the morning," noted Ben as he wiped the sweat from his face.

Jackie turned to see Ben; she could immediately tell something was wrong.

"I'm always up early," she replied quietly, "Stop me if I'm out of line but why do you do this to yourself; the long hours, large case loads and you barely give your body time to heal before you start a new case?"

Ben sighed and stared at the glass of milk on the table.

"As much as I loved my dad it's something I got from him, and I hate it. Dad always loved the job over us; he left me, my mom and my brother in the UK to move here and work with the LAPD. I moved here to join him when I was eighteen and a few months later he and I were in a car accident. He went through the front windscreen and our patrol truck crushed him as it rolled. Of course it wasn't an accident, Marcus Jenkins had cut the brakes and we collided with a semi at 120 miles an hour," replied Ben.

Jackie looked at him,

"Ben...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to open up old wounds," said Jackie sadly.

Ben smiled a bit.

"It's fine; I'm glad you brought it up, it made me realize that I can't help the way I am. I'm turning forty in a few weeks yet still to this day I enjoy every case Wolf and I do," explained Ben, "But when I look at it the other way, I've cheated death a lot over the years and very soon my luck will run out... I don't want to leave Jane alone with the kids and I don't want my boys to be without a father. I lost mine at eighteen so I know what it's like to have no dad."

Jackie poured a hot coffee for him then sat down.

"Ben... Take advice from someone who's been on the other side. Three years before Wolf was partnered with you he was a bit like you, always worked and work always came first. One night before he left the house I told him not to go to work that night. I had one of those bad feelings but Wolf insisted on going. About 5 hours later I get a call from the local hospital telling me that Wolf had been shot. It wasn't until I got down to the hospital that they told me how serious it was. He'd been shot in the head and was in a coma," explained Jackie, "I'll talk to Jane tomorrow to help straighten this mess out."

Wolf came into the kitchen still half asleep; Ben smiled at him,

"What? My ears were burning," moaned Wolf as he rubbed his head a bit.