The Hospital Nurse Affair
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 Explosion
They were fifteen minutes away from the self storage building lot when B. A. drew attention to blips on the tracker screen.
"Scalatini's on the move," B. A. muttered.
Hannibal focused his attention on the screen and cursed under his breath. "We must have passed them. You're going to have to turn around, B. A. They're headed toward the lot."
The Colonel clamped the cigar tighter in his mouth. That Scalatini located the address Murdock had decoded earlier meant that the pilot had been captured and forced to disclose the information. Hannibal hoped he was still alive but knew there was an equal likelihood he was not.
"Hope Murdock's alright, Hannibal. Scalatini's part of the Mob, and the Mob don't play by our rules."
The Colonel nodded and stared grimly at the road ahead. He didn't want to think about what Mob heirs like Scalatini did to get information from reluctant sources.
The fifteen minutes spent in backtracking seemed to take an eternity. When B. A. finally reached the storage business address, he drove by slowly.
"All I see's Murdock's girlfriend and one of Scalatini's thugs." B. A. drew up behind Face's Corvette and parked.
"Where's Scalatini, Face?" Hannibal left the van and stood glancing back at the black sedan.
"I saw Scalatini, my buddy from Daniela's apartment and Murdock leave the car. They dragged Murdock toward the back of the lot. He looked like hell, like his strength was just about gone. It was just a few minutes ago." Face didn't try to mask his concern for Murdock's welfare.
"What's the plan, Hannibal?" B. A. was already clenching his fists.
At that moment the ground trembled from an explosion in the storage lot. A ball of flame flared up and just as quickly died down. While smoke rose in clouds from the site, Face, B. A. and Hannibal raced down the sidewalk toward the entrance to the lot.
The girl in the sedan bolted from the vehicle and met them. Sly gunned the motor of the Maserati and sped from the lot, tires spitting gravel.
Daniela didn't say a word but followed the men in their frantic rush. The site of the fiery blast was easy to locate. The roof of the metal storage building was peeled back on either side. The entire front wall was missing.
Near the gnarled remains of the building was Tony's body, bloodied, clothes partially melted onto bare skin, but alive and writhing in pain. Eddie Scalatini was nowhere to be seen.
The door had been blown twenty feet away. A body lay underneath the twisted metal, an arm and a leg the only visible parts.
B. A. gripped the edge of the jagged metal and lifted it. He cast it away from the body as though it were a plastic toy. Kneeling, B. A. placed one hand on the painted tiger on the back of the jacket and bowed his head. "You better be alive, you crazy fool. You gotta be."
The figure, clothed in a leather jacket, torn khaki pants and black high top sneakers, lay sprawled stomach down in the dirt. A navy blue baseball cap rested two feet away. Murdock's eyes were closed, his breathing undetectable.