Chapter 14

Luck seemed to be on his side for once. Though it took him a while to get the trunk open nobody came into the garage in the mean time. He pulled himself in, closed the trunk and waited for the owner to come. He didn't have to wait long until someone entered the car and it started moving.

"You feeling better now Tim?"

"Yeah dad, still hurts but not as bad."

"See I told you, once the arm is in a plaster it won't hurt as much. Now let's get to your mother, she'll be worried sick by now."

Face listened and was somehow consoled that he had ended up in the car of a caring father. He drifted off as the car moved on. When he came around again the car had stopped moving and he felt cold. He opened the trunk a little and found he was in a garage. He didn't have the energy to get out of the trunk. All he did was to sit up and look around. There was no way he would get out of the garage without making a hell lot of noise. It had those big metal gates. He drifted back in and wrapped his arms around himself. He was hurting worse than before, he was cold, hungry, thirsty and so dizzy. Face felt truly alone. He pulled the trunk close again. His Last thought before he drifted off again was that they eventually had to take the car to town and he could then escape.

"Colonel, we have a problem," Murdock said into the payphone receiver.

"What are you talking about?"

"I got tired of waiting around and I decided to check on Face myself, but when I got closer I noticed a couple of military vehicles outside."

Hannibal almost dropped the phone. "Oh God…no."

"It gets worse."

"Worse?"

"He's gone."

"Gone?" Hannibal did drop the phone this time.

Murdock could hear B.A. yell in the background, 'what's goin' on, man?' Seconds later the gruff voice said into the receiver, "start talkin' fool. You got Hannibal all freaked out."

"He's gone," Murdock repeated.

"Gone?"

"Geez…what is this...a recording?" Murdock sighed. "He's gone…as in missing."

"Oh man…Hannibal thought…we thought…he was…you know…"

This time it was Murdock who almost dropped the phone. "No…oh Lord…no!"

Hannibal got back on the phone. "Sorry, captain…I guess we're all just a bit jumpy and running on too little sleep. Tell me what you know."

"Not much. I went inside and did a little eavesdropping. Seems he was there one minute and gone the next without a trace."

"Damn…where could the kid be?"

"I'm not wanted, I'll go back and see if I can find him or get information."

Murdock dressed up as a janitor and went back into the hospital to get information. He got lucky fast overhearing a higher ranking soldier that seemed to be in charge arguing with the doctor that had been called back to the hospital.

"We searched every corner, he's not in the hospital."

"He can't have gone out, actually he can't have gone …as in walking…anywhere, not in his state. He had no business waking up so early. His vitals were terrible and his heart hammering like something. Add the stress of an escape and he would have died for sure. As it was I wouldn't have made any bet but for him to escape out of the hospital, no way."

"And I tell you he's not here."

"Then maybe someone helped him."

"And who should have done that? Nobody was seen coming in and we checked the video showing the entrance to the deep garage, no car came in either. We don't have anymore entrances. Besides the policeman said he just went to pee for maybe a minute. He must be in the house, search again."

Murdock found it logic that Face couldn't have moved away on his own, he decided to join in the search and started to clean all the floors and open every cabinet. He could swear he had wandered every room, he had even checked the small morgue but to no avail. It was getting to ten in the night and the few people still around kept throwing him odd looks. He had to leave the place and return to the house, even though he didn't want to.

BA and Hannibal had been hoping for a sign from Face but nothing. They took shifts staying in front of the house so they could hear the phone inside as well as the one in the van, and searching the surroundings of the hospital but staying far enough to not run into the police. Now however it was dark and they still had no clue as to Face's whereabouts.

"What do we do colonel?"

"We join BA in the house and hope and pray. I've been whacking my brains, who could have taken the kid?"

"You think someone kidnapped him?"

"After what you overheard and what I saw I don't think he could have managed to walk out of there. Besides, if he could he would have contacted us by now."

"Maybe one of our former clients recognized him and took him so he would not get taken in by the police."

"Maybe." 'Not likely.' Hannibal thought. The person would have contacted them. But he didn't want to take Murdock's hope away. They joined BA and tried to rest, but nobody was able to close an eye.

"Where am I?" Face thought when he next awoke inside the trunk of the now moving vehicle. He was finding it hard to breathe as the morning sun must have been heating up the car. 'It couldn't have heated up in the garage meaning it has been moving for some time. And the way it's getting hot in here the sun is quite high already. How could I sleep through that?'

He felt far worse than before, laying curled up in the trunk on the hard surface was not making things any better, and he had the mother of all headaches. 'Must be from dehydration. I feel like a prune already.'

He wanted nothing more than to get out of the car and find his friends, and a bottle of water, but the car was moving on at a steady speed. After what seemed like hours but was probably less than even one the speed changed and the road got more bumpy, much to Face's dismay. He was close to passing out when the car finally stopped. The driver left the car and locked the door. Face waited for a while and when he didn't hear a sound he thought he could risk opening the trunk. He pushed but it wouldn't bugde.

'Damn, he has locked it and there's no way to open it from the inside.' The trunk was heating up fast now that the car was standing and he had to do something. He pushed against the backseat, trying to turn the upper part over and climb into the car but he was too weak to do much. He tried and tried and when he was just about to give up and accept his faith one of the hinges of the seat gave out. This gave him new energy. It was far easier to break the second one now that he could push the seat from the loose side. Finally it gave out and he collapsed back in his trunk. He needed a moment to collect himself and then climbed into the main part of the car.

It was parked at a large parking space at the back of what appeared to be a large company. More important there was a small river close and some tall grass and bushes. Face saw the water and wanted to run over. He soon had to notice though, that crawling was the only way to go, and very slow crawling at that. He opened one of the doors and was just about to leave the car when he saw something shiny. The car had a phone!

Murdock had gone back to the hospital in the morning and found the police and military had given up their search. Nobody had heard or seen anything. Face had just vanished. Getting to eleven Murdock returned to the others.

"We gotta do something."

"Any idea is welcome BA."

"I just gotta do something, I can't just sit around." BA got up and angrily turned the coffee table over. "It's after all my fault he was in the darn hospital."

"BA, calm down."

"I don't want to be calm, this is all rubbish. I want to…"

"Shh….quiet, the van."

Murdock had heard the phone ringing and all three men were out of the door with lightening speed.

'Damn, pick it already.'

"Face?"

"Han'bal. Military is around, gotta hide, are you okay?"

"Face, where are you? How are you?"

"What happened?"

"I'm asking you. Nothing happened to us, we're looking for you."

"Nothing happened?"

"No, now where are you?"

"Don't know, in a car, large parking space, a big company, don't know which one. There's a small river."

"I need more information Face, where is it, what's the name of the company."

"Don't know, nothing written there. Car moved for a while, don't know how long and don't know which way. There's water."

"Face, I need you to find out the name of the company."

"Can't, need water."

"Which phone are you using, is there a number?"

"No, car phone, gotta go, need water."

"Face, no, don't hang up, tell me more, describe the place."

"Lot's of cars, big parking space at the back of the company, huge company with tall chimney. Think driver works here. Gotta go now, water."

"Okay kid, you get your water, we'll find you, promised."

Face dropped the phone but then remembered to not leave more traces than necessary. He placed it on in the correct way and then tried to push the seat in a position that the damage wasn't too obvious. Then he crawled out, closed the door and crawled over to the river. He eagerly drunk some of the water and then lay back behind the bushes.

'None of them is hurt, they are not in trouble, they simply left me alone.'

"You heard the kid, get the map and see where he could be."

They found several places that fit the description. Unfortunately the immediate area they were in had a lot of rivers and a lot of bigger companies. Face could be anywhere but since he thought the driver of the car he was in was working at the place they found the possibility of him working in one of the companies close was bigger than working further away. They spend hours checking out places but nothing really fit. Either the parking lot was in front and not at the back, or the name of the company was hard to miss from any location of the parking space, or the whole company was on leave, or closed down or there was a fence between the parking lot and the river.

"Maybe we should check them out anyway, Face was quite sick, maybe we have passed the place he is."

"Captain, calm down, this is Face we're talking about. Even half dead he can give you an exact description of what he sees, he's trained." Hannibal wanted to calm Murdock but he himself was boiling on the inside. Why did this area have to have so many companies and rivers. They were headed for the last place. BA rounded the corner to the parking lot moments later and it seemed to fit, parking lot at the back, small river without fence, lot's of cars, no name of the place visible from there…but no chimney.

"What now Hannibal?"

"Take out the map, check the possible places further away from here."