If you haven't watched season four episode eighteen, The Duke of Whispering Pines, you should probably do so before reading this story. Warning: There are some spoilers, but, probably after the first chapter or two, I plan on veering away from the original story line. This is one of those 'what if' kind of pieces. Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own the A-team.

*Special Thanks to StriderX for some good advice.

Chapter One

The orchestra of crickets eased Murdock's frustration a little. How did those little buggies know Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major? Now that was talent.

The captain sighed, his delight in the musical savants of the insect world fading. A night such as this shouldn't have been so miserable, but, with BA and himself locked in jail, what else could it be? Plus, of all things, he was stuck wearing a suit.

Lacing his fingers behind his head, Murdock frowned up at the dark ceiling. At least BA let him have the top bunk.

Still, he couldn't puzzle out what had gone wrong. The con should've worked. After all, he'd borrowed one of Face's best. For Murdock, it all boiled down to one vague conclusion. There was just something hinky about the town of Whispering Pines. Ok, it wasn't the best sleuthing he'd ever done, but it was a start.

The soft scraping of the jailhouse door being jimmied broke his concentration. Leaning forward, he heard BA stir in the bottom bunk.

Sitting up, the sergeant cast a worried glance across the room. "We got visitors."

The way Murdock saw it, they were either about to be rescued or they were in for a world of hurt, because there were only two types of people that would be sneaking into the jail in the dead of night. He was really hoping the culprits were gonna be Face and Hannibal. It had been a couple of hours since he'd used his one phone call to talk with the Colonel, so it was possible.

Murdock squinted as the lights clicked on. Rifles slung over their shoulders, three men sauntered into the jailhouse. Darn, this really wasn't looking like a rescue.

A quick assessment of the denim clad men told the captain all he really needed to know. The man who looked to be the youngest of the three was in charge. Some bigwig must have been the kid's dad— that was the only way the little weasel would've been put in charge of anything. For clarity, or amusement, it was hard to say which, Murdock decided to mentally refer to him as Levi. The other two were obviously his henchmen. They earned themselves the nicknames Tweedledee, for the one with the hat, and Tweedledum, for the plump, mustached one.

Looking very satisfied with himself, Levi leaned back and grinned through the bars at BA and Murdock. "Well, lookie who we got here. This must be the Jason Duke fan club."

After wiping his nose with his handkerchief, being sure to stay in his nasally businessman voice, Murdock spoke. "You fellas wouldn't happen to be deputies, would you?"

Levi laughed, a little harder than was necessary. "That's a good one."

Glancing down, Murdock muttered, "I thought so." He was getting a really bad feeling about this.

"I tell you what…" Levi said as Tweedledum retrieved the jailor's keys hanging on the far wall. "You boys have done your time, been here long enough."

Murdock sat up as Tweedledum walked over and unlocked the cell door. Ok, if they played this real cool they might just get out of there in one piece, but the captain didn't much care for that mischievous gleam in Levi's eyes.

"We like it here. In fact, we're looking forward to breakfast in the morning," Murdock said as he slid down from his bunk and stood next to BA.

Tweedledum swung the door open.

Watching with anticipation, Levi smiled. "Yeah, well you can catch breakfast in another town, that is, if you cooperate."

BA stepped out of the cell first, meeting with a quick jab to the gut from the butt of Tweedledee's rifle. Doubling over, the sergeant gave only the slightest of gasps. Murdock fought back the urge to leap forward and attack. The odds were stacked too high against them. Instead, he remained placid as Tweedledum stormed forward, grabbed him by his tie and pulled him out of the cell.

Leaning down toward BA, Levi asked, "Now, uh, what do you know about Jason Duke?"

Murdock held his anger in check, still playing his part. "Boy, this fella's made a lot of friends in this town." He flinched as Tweedledum raised a gun to his chest. Yeah, humor apparently wasn't what these guys wanted.

Gaze focused on BA, Levi's voice turned cold. "I'm talking to ya, dipstick."

That was all it took to push the big guy over the edge. Anxiously, Murdock watched BA tackle Levi and pin him to the wall. Any possibility of them being allowed to leave suddenly evaporated.

Tweedledee quickly set into action, aiming his rifle at BA. "Hold it!"

Barrel pressed to his throat, BA let go of Levi. Still being held by his tie, Murdock swallowed down the lump of dread building in his throat. This really wasn't going to end well.

Glaring at BA, Levi was panting from the altercation. "Let's see how much he remembers with a noose around his skinny friend's neck."

Murdock glanced at BA, not liking the fear seeping into the big guy's face. They would get out of this, right? They always did. Still, he couldn't help but wonder…when had the crickets gone silent?