The Case of Kinnegal's Banshee
Disclaimer: I do not own The A Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A Team.
Chapter 21 The Only One
May God grant you many years to live,
For sure He must be knowing
The earth has angels all too few
And heaven is overflowing.
Irish blessing
oooooo
Murdock was the first person B. A. saw when he entered the pub. The pilot sat at a trestle table nursing a mug of beer and looking sullenly at the worn wood in front of him.
Daniela sat across from him, her arms crossed in front of her on the table. She was nibbling at her lower lip and anxiously peeking at Murdock. B. A. sensed he had walked in on an intense argument between them. No way did he want to get in the middle of that.
Hannibal greeted him from behind the bar where he was wiping washed glasses. "Glad you could make it. Did you bring everything, Sergeant?"
B. A. placed his load on a nearby table and nodded to the Colonel. "Packed some help case we have unwanted company."
Behind him, Mrs. Baracus gasped when she got her first look at Murdock.
The Captain lifted his eyes from his drink and gave them a crooked half-smile. Even from the distance B. A. was from him, the pilot's face looked like he had lost a battle with a blender on its lowest setting. The multiple facial lacerations caused B. A. to suck in his breath.
"Man, what happened! Who done that to ya?" The Sergeant strode over to the table and glared down at Murdock's pensive face. "Brendan didn' come back, did he? I'll cream 'im." He smacked one hand into the other for emphasis.
"This? Cellar wall attacked me. You should see my arms. Looks worse 'n it is." He dismissed it with a slight wave of his hand. "So 'less you're gonna beat on the wall ..." He chuckled.
"Well, long as you're still breathin', that's what matters." B. A. clapped a hand on Murdock's shoulder, not seeing the grimace the action produced. "I'm gonna go see if Hannibal needs me for anythin'."
Mrs. Baracus took her son's place beside the table. Examining the cuts closer, she fussed over the deeper ones closest to his eyes, shaking her head in alarm.
Murdock grasped her hand and patted it. "I'm okay. Really, I am."
Dani took a deep breath and burst out with a tearful response. "He could have been killed. I dug half inch long pieces of glass and cement out of his skin." He glanced at her without smiling, then took a gulp of his beer.
Mrs. B. frowned, discerning the tension between the couple. "Well, it's a good thing you had someone here who knew how to take care of you." Mrs. B. hugged the pilot from the side and smiled at Dani. "I hope he wasn't a difficult patient."
Murdock drained his beer mug. "I'm okay, Momma. No need to fret over this." He pushed the bench back and stood to give her a proper hug. "Just glad Scooter gotcha here safe."
Dani got to her feet and accepted a hug from Mrs. B. Murdock made eye contact with her, silently warning her not to worry the older woman any more with discussion of his injuries. The nurse nodded in understanding and sat down with her at the table to talk.
Picking up the empty beer mug, Murdock strolled over to the bar where Face, Hannibal and B. A. were talking quietly among themselves.
Hannibal gave him a grim smile as he straddled a stool to join in the conversation.
"As I see it, we have no choice, gentlemen. We have the goods the Mob wants. None of us will be safe until the photos and key are sent to the FBI and the task force investigating mob-related crimes here in Chicago." The Colonel paused to flick ash from his cigar into an ashtray.
"And the sooner the better. When the Chicago cops begin trying to muscle their way into an apartment without a search warrant and without probable cause, you know someone's anxious about the photos leaking out. They must think we found what they're looking for. But they're not positive. Otherwise Brendan wouldn't have set off those plastic explosives tonight." Face ran a hand through his hair and glanced at B. A. "Good thing your mother knows her rights under the law."
"Momma knows a lot 'bout the law since we been on the run. Things she shouldn't have to know." B. A. scowled down at the mug of milk Keelin had poured for him and drained it in one long series of swallows.
After several moments of quiet thought, Murdock spoke. "None of you can go mail any packages. Womenfolk shouldn't be put in danger like that. For you guys, it'd be like puttin' a gigantic flashin' neon sign on ya that says 'Arrest me.' I'm not wanted by the military or the police. Only one can do it is me." Murdock gestured to Keelin to refill the mug and stared at Hannibal, waiting for his agreement.
"You do know that anyone who brings that evidence to the post office will have an even bigger target put on him by the Mob, don't you, Captain?" The Colonel leveled his steely gaze on Murdock.
"Remember where I live, Colonel? What's the chances of them gettin' to me in there? Best security in the world 'gainst that sort of trouble." He shrugged. "Besides, once the stuff is sent, Dani's got nothin' to look for, does she? 'N' she'll be off the hook."
"But Murdock, buddy, the Mob doesn't forget, and unless you plan on living the rest of your life in the psychiatric ward of the V. A. hospital . . . " Face grabbed the pilot's arm as he began to raise the beer mug. B. A. gave him a worried glance before staring down at the bar counter.
"Yeah, well, the real world is vastly overrated, ya know?" He gave them a crooked grin which faded as soon as he glanced across the room at Daniela with Mrs. Baracus. Raising the mug, he toasted each of them and drank deeply.