Chapter 12
Hannibal took his seat with the rest of the family standing behind. "I just hope that you will remember us when you wake up."
"You handled that perfectly, Colonel."
"I should have never left him. But h was sleeping so soundly with no apparent sign of being in a nightmare that I thought I could slip away for a few minutes."
"Hannibal, you can't blame yourself for this. You were so tired watching over your boy. You need food, too. I bet you hadn't eaten since you and Scooter went after him last night. A cup of coffee and a quick breakfast should have been okay."
"But it wasn't and if BA hadn't been outside who knows what could have happened to the kid. No the guilt is mine and I won't make this mistake again." Hannibal just couldn't let go of the guilt he was feeling for not been here when Face awoke.
"Hannibal…what's wrong?"
At Face's voice they turned to see the boy struggling to sit up.
"You know who I am?"
Face gave him a look of disbelief. "Of course, I know who you are. You were first my commander and friend and now you are my father. Why would you ask?"
"Because a few minutes ago you didn't. In fact, you didn't know any of us. You only knew Father Magill and Sister Margaret and thought that BA was Max."
"Do you remember any of this Facey?"
Face paused as he thought back and then he began to cry. "I stole that ring but I didn't want to. Are the cops going to arrest me?"
"No son, you were forced against your will to steal. Max beat you, didn't he son?"
"Yes…but I got him back by hiding the ring where he wouldn't have a clue to its location."
"Where did you hide it, kid?"
"At the orphanage in plain view. I had it all planned. I would hide the ring and then lay low for a day before enlisting but first I had to retrieve my St. Christopher Medal Father Magill had given me. Max had made me leave it so it couldn't set any alarms off by mistake. I figured that Max would be waiting for me at the safe house and I knew that his wife would be gone visiting her sister so the house would be empty. It would be a piece of cake entering and getting my medal plus a change of clothes. I was going to call Mr. Phillips and tell him where the ring could be found before I shipped out."
"Only things didn't go as planned, did they kid?"
"No like your plans sometimes goes, I got caught trying to leave by Max's wife. It seems that her sister got sick and they cancelled. She was there and delayed me long enough for Max to arrive. He took me out in the country to some shack he found and tried to beat the location of the ring out of me. He beat me so severely that I lost consciousness and when I woke he was gone so I left before he could start again. I went to the only place I felt safe…to Father Magill and Sister Margaret. His attempt to beat the truth out of me backfired…since it caused me to black out the whole experience.
"Why didn't you just tell Max where the ring was. It would have saved you a lot of pain."
"I couldn't Hannibal, Father Magill taught me that stealing was a sin and besides that it was a tradition handed down for decades in the Phillip family. The mother would hand the ring down to her oldest child. I want to prevent that from stopping."
Hannibal looked at Face with pride. "I'm proud of you, son for trying to do the right thing. I'm only sorry that you had to suffer so to do it. Do you know if Max had a buyer for the ring?"
"He did, the buyer came to Max about stealing the ring. He gave him information about where the alarms were located as well as where the safe was that held it. Max had sent me to bed the night he came but I snuck out and saw exactly who he was."
"So you could tell a police artist exactly what he looks like?"
"Yes…"
"So how do you feel kid?"
"Hungry…I could eat a horse."
"Well, I'm sure that what Mrs. B has in mind won't be a horse so why don't you get a shower and dressed while she fixes you breakfast and then we can go and retrieve the ring."
"Okay," and as Face was going in to get his shower BA, Murdock, Mrs. B and Hannibal headed downstairs. Mrs. B to fix her child his breakfast and the men to discuss what to do next.
"What are we going to do Colonel?"
"I'm going to call the Sheriff and get the ball rolling. I'm going to ask him to get in touch with the detective in charge of the case. They can meet us at the Sacred Heart Orphanage and Face can show them where he hid the ring. While we are there the kid can explain what happened and why he hid the ring. This way Face can tell them who is really responsible - Max Styles." Hannibal headed to his office to make his call.
"That should ease Facey's mind. He's scared that he's going to be charged."
"I know that is why we are all going…. he's going to need the support of his family if he's going to get through this."
"I'm going to get the van ready."
Murdock sat down for another cup of coffee to wait for Face so he would have company as he ate. He didn't have to wait long when Face appeared about ten minutes later.
"Where's Hannibal and BA?" Face asked as he took his seat next to Murdock.
"Hannibal is calling the Sheriff so he can meet us at the orphanage when you recover the ring and BA is making sure the van is ready to go."
Face was eyeing Murdock's cup of coffee hungrily. "H.M. BA isn't here, please let me have the rest of your coffee." Face pleaded as he turned his puppy dogs' eyes on him that Murdock couldn't resist and gave it to him. Unfortunately, Mrs. B was heading out with Face's breakfast at the time and saw the whole thing.
"Oh, no you don't, young man. Put that coffee cup down immediately!"
Face looked at a deer in the headlights and froze but only momentarily before want overcame reason and quickly began to swallow as much as he could before the cup was yanked away. "HM I'm surprised at you…you know it was decided that he wasn't to have any coffee until he was older."
"But Mrs. B he's been drinking coffee since I've known him and it doesn't look like it has hurt him any….and it's hard to go cold turkey. Please don't tell BA or Hannibal that he had some today."
Mrs. B relented, "I won't tell Scooter or Hannibal, but that had better be your last cup."
Face nodded to appease her even though he had not intention of actually keeping his word. She then began to put a plate of scrambled eggs, biscuits and sausage in front of the kid and watched as he dug in.
All too soon Face had finished his last bite of sausage and drunk his last swallow of milk and looked at Murdock. "What now?"
"Now we go and find Hannibal and see what the plans of the day will be. Don't worry did, everything will be okay."
Face got up and nervously followed his big brother down to Hannibal's office. They found the Colonel still in conversation.
Hannibal finished his conversation before turning to his son and Murdock. "Are you ready to go?"
Face nodded. "I guess so."
"Where is BA?"
"Getting the van ready."
"Then let's head out. Mrs. B decided to stay; she had something she needed to do for our triumphant return.
When they arrived at the Sacred Heart Orphanage BA parked the van next to the Sheriff's vehicle. Also parked was a sliver Mercedes Benz. "I wonder who that belongs to?"
"I don't know Captain, let's go in and find out."
As Hannibal led the way he was followed by BA and Murdock with Face bringing up the rear. When they arrived at the courtyard they were surprised to find it empty. "They must be inside…let's go guys."
Unbeknownst to Hannibal Face had decided to wait for them outside in the courtyard. He had always found this area peaceful when he was a child and hope that that peace would help with him now. He sat one of the benches…waiting.
Upon entering the foyer, they were met by Father Magill who directed them to where everyone was. As soon as the Sheriff noticed the trio he motioned for them to join him.
"Mr. Smith I would like to introduce to Mrs. Frances Phillips. The ring is hers."
Hannibal held his hand out and shook her hand. "My name is John Smith, but my friends call me Hannibal. It is my son who hid your ring, but I assure you that when the ring was stolen he was forced to steal it. The one responsible is his former foster father, Max Styles who along with his brother are in custody for kidnapping and child abuse."
"Please to meet you Mr. Smith. The boy in question is your son?"
"He is now…I recently adopted him."
"And where is this boy who knows where my ring is?"
"FACE!"
When Face didn't appear Hannibal looked around and realized that he wasn't in the room. "He must have waited outside. Murdock go and get him."
Murdock headed outside to fetch his little brother…and found him running towards the doors, with his hands cuffed behind his back and being chased by a police officer and another Murdock assumed was the detective they were waiting for. He opened the door letting Face in. "Go to Hannibal…I'll delay them."
Face made an entrance as he ran to Hannibal with fear. "Hannibal, they are trying to arrest me."
"Who kid?"
"Me." The two men entered behind Murdock. "I am Detective Joseph Daniels and this is Officer Williams. I have an arrest warrant for Templeton Peck for theft of a valuable ring, the Phillip's diamond and sapphire ring. I had him in temporary custody when he attacked me and kicked the officer. I will be taking him now." He headed towards Face who was hiding behind Hannibal.
"I demand that you remove these cuffs from my son's wrists. He's not responsible for being coerced into stealing. He was beaten until he agreed. The one you should arrest is Max Styles who is in the custody of Sheriff Tom Jenkins. You can add your charges to his for kidnapping and child abuse. Besides that, the warrant is no good, my son's name is Templeton P. Smith and not Templeton Peck."
"That is just a technicality."
"Maybe but by the time you get it changed the charges will be dropped; so remove the cuffs."
Detective Daniels scowled but nodded to the officer to remove the cuffs and soon Face was rubbing his sore wrists. The cuffs had been tightened to the point of hurting. "Thanks Dad."
"Detective Daniels who pressed charges against my son?"
"Paul Phillips, the younger son of Mrs. Phillips."
"Mrs. Phillips turned to her youngest and asked, "Why did you do that Paul. I had told you that I wasn't going to press charges against this child for the theft. The Sheriff had told me the whole story and it was clear to me that this child had no choice but steal and he certainly paid a price to keep it as safe as he could."
"Mom how do we know that he was telling the truth…the whole thing could be a pack of lies to get him out of this mess. I pressed charges to get the ring back."
"Detective, tear up that warrant we will not be pressing charges!"
Face recognized the voice first and took a peek and saw that the man who pressed charges…Mrs. Phillips youngest son was also the man who had hired Max to steal the ring in the first place. "Hannibal," he whispered "that is the man who hired Max to steal the ring."
Hannibal took a quick look at the younger man and whispered back, "are you sure?"
Face nodded.
"Now that we are all here, young man will you show me where you hid my ring?"
"Yes ma'am." Face led the way out of the orphanage and back into the courtyard stopping at the statues just outside the front door. He waited until everyone was present before go to the marble Statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The statue featured Jesus with outstretched arms with His heart beams out rays of light from the center of His chest. In the folds of His robe were hiding places that no one would have noticed if they didn't look and into the right side Face pulled out a small box. He handed the box to Mrs. Phillips. "The ring is in the box."
Mrs. Phillips quickly opened the box to find the missing ring. "Oh, thank you. This ring is so important to me," and pulled Face into a hug, kissing him on the cheek.
"Way to go, kid. I'm proud of you."
"Thanks, Hannibal."
"Of all the stupid moves. Anybody could have found that ring and then it would be gone. You should have just given the ring back instead." Detective Daniels was brutal in his remarks.
"NO THEY COULDN'T. THE RING WAS SAFE!" Face exploded. "I've been hiding my marbles in this statue since I was small." He pulled several marbles out to prove to the detective. "The older boys would always steal my marbles and to prevent that I hid them there. It was the perfect place…so I knew that the ring would be safe there."
Authors Note: The idea of hiding the ring in the open came from a White Collar episode when Neal Caffrey hid an emerald ring on the finger of a woman statue.
And to the guest who asked a few chapters ago whether Hannibal would spank Face, the answer is no. Hannibal served with Face and to spank him as punishment is not how he plans on handling his discipline. He's more into using other means to take care of any disciplinary problems that his kid might get into.
