CHAPTER FIVE
Danny sat in his room going through newspapers on the Internet, making notes. He was gleaning every single bit of information he could get on the A-Team. Like Michael his thirst for knowledge of his father's life before he'd been born had been awakened. He wondered briefly if Mike would go and see General Stockwell. He hoped that his friend would have the sense to realise that nothing good could come of it.
The door to his bedroom slammed open and suddenly he found himself being pinned to the wall. 'You told him where Stockwell was didn't you? What were you thinking?' Murdock all but screamed into his face.
Taken completely by surprise Danny had no idea how to react. He just stared dumbly at Murdock unable to say a word. Even though his godfather's words were angry his eyes belied the fact that he was deeply worried.
Face appeared in the doorway. 'What's going on? Murdock! Put him down!'
Murdock let Daniel go and turned on Face. 'Did you know about this? Do you know what he's done?'
Face looked at him. 'Hey just calm down ok. What do you think Danny's done?'
'I don't think that he's done anything Face! I know he has! He told Mike where he could find Stockwell and now Mike's gone to talk to him.' Murdock's eyes flashed.
'I.he wanted to know. I didn't think it would matter that much.'
Murdock shook his head. 'You know what kind of state he's been in.how could you.' He stopped and his features softened. 'I'm sorry kid, didn't mean to scare ya. I.it's difficult for me to explain to you why this is such a bad idea.'
Face put his hands on his hips, he was thinking deeply. 'There could still be time.'
Murdock looked at him. 'Of course there isn't time Face, if we stop him now he'll only talk to him later when we're not around to stop him.'
'Then explain it to him, explain to us!' Danny said exasperated. 'Who the hell is Stockwell anyway?'
'Let's just stop Mike now and worry about telling him later.' Face said. 'I'll call Hannibal and BA.'
Murdock nodded and turned back to Danny. 'Now that address you got, you still got that?'
'I got it. How'd you know anyway?'
'Got it out of Em. He told her and Nicky where he was going. Emily never could lie to me.'
Danny nodded and picked up his coat.
'Hey what you doing?' Murdock asked.
His godson flashed him a grin identical to Face's. 'Coming with you.'
'Oh no you don't kid; I don't want anyone else there.'
Danny grinned again. 'Without me you've got no address and without an address you've got no hope of finding him. Dad's not as quick as he used to be no matter what he says. I'm your link to Mikey right now. Accept it, I'm coming with you.'
Murdock looked at him and shook his head. 'Jeez kid and I thought your Dad was bad. I guess this means that we can expect Brandon and Johnny to be with us too.'
'And me.' Maria's voice said from the doorway. 'I'm going too.'
'No way.' Face declared appearing behind his daughter. 'You're staying right here Maria.'
'But.'
'No buts young lady. You stay here.'
Danny smirked at his sister but when Face wasn't looking he gave her a sympathetic look. He understood.
Murdock nodded in agreement. 'Yeah Maria, no sense in getting you involved, besides there's not enough room in the van.'
'That's crap!' She declared ignoring the look from her father which said that he was less than impressed with her language. 'There's plenty of room for me, Em and Nicky to come along as well.'
'Well you're not.' Face insisted.
'No!' Murdock said. 'And I'm counting on you to calm Nick down for me and to keep Emily out the way of all this.'
Maria's eyes flashed with anger as she stared at her best friend's father. Finally she backed down. 'Ok but only for Em and Nicky. Cos someone has to watch out for them. And if you change your mind the offer still stands.'
'We won't.' Murdock told her grimly. He headed for the door. 'Ready Danny?'
*** BA pulled up in the van and Face and Murdock jumped in, taking their usual seats. Behind them Brandon and Johnny pulled up in Brandon's van, an exact replica of BA's. He saw Danny get in and noticed Maria standing there with a wistful look on her face. Obviously wanting to be part of the excitement.
As Danny got in Murdock caught a glimpse of Emily and Nicky sitting in the back seats of the van. He gritted his teeth and got out the van and headed over to them.
'Hey where you goin' man?' BA asked confused.
Murdock walked over to the van and grabbed hold of the door as Nicky was about to shut it. 'What do you think you're doing?' His eyes shifted from his son to his daughter.
'We're coming too.' Nicky answered him evenly, meeting his eyes with a look that suggested he was all too willing to put up a fight.
'I see.' Murdock said. 'Get out of the van, both of you.' He kept his voice perfectly calm and steady as if nothing was wrong in the least.
'No.' His son's eyes flashed angrily. 'I'm coming too, Mike is in trouble, and I want to help. So does Em.'
'Who said Mike was in trouble Nick?'
'Oh come on.' Nicky's tone was exasperated. 'Don't play that game with me; you wouldn't be rushing off like this if you didn't think he was in some kind of trouble.'
'I see, so tell me Nick, if I think Mike is in trouble why in the world would I let my other two children go with me? Why would I put the rest of my family in danger?'
'Dad.we just want to help. Maybe we can talk to him.' Emily said trying to smooth things over, the last thing that was needed right now was for an argument to start up.
Murdock turned to her, his face grim. 'No young lady, what you and your brother can do is to get out of the van and stay right here where it's safe.'
Emily looked at him for a long moment, holding his gaze. She was perfectly aware that he wasn't mad at her or Nicky. He was deeply worried for Michael and he clearly thought that things could get very, very bad. She reached out and laid a hand on Nick's arm. Her brother looked at her in disbelief.
'You've got to be kidding me. No way. You just have to do everything he says don't you?' He was angry, nearly shaking.
'Nick.' She said softly. 'He's right. There's not a lot we can do, we need to stay here with Mom.'
Nick shook his head but got out the van. 'Jeez, one of these days you're gonna realise that I'm not a kid anymore Dad. I can take care of myself.'
His father reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. 'I know that already Nick but I'm not prepared to put anymore of my family at risk, the fact that one of you is in this situation is bad enough, I can't let anything happen to the rest of you. You're far too important to me.'
Emily swallowed hard and nodded. Nick sighed deeply. 'Ok.' He said. 'Ok, we'll stay but just.can you tell us what's going on?'
Murdock shook his head. 'No time Muchacho, later I promise.'
Nick nodded and stepped back onto the sidewalk with Maria. Murdock turned and ran back to the van. He jumped back in and BA drove off.
***
Michael arrived at the address that Danny had given him. He stared at the non-descript building in front of him. There was nothing that would have made him stop and stare at it on a normal day. It was a normal, whitewashed brick building.
Michael went to the door and raised his hand to press the buzzer. He hesitated for a moment, here was a choice. The choice to go ahead and ring that bell, to carry on looking for the knowledge he so badly wanted.or the choice to go back. Go back home to his family and just forget about Hunt Stockwell and that his father had been part of the A-Team.
Michael swallowed, if he went home he'd be sure to be in trouble with his father and besides, he knew that he'd never be able to forget it, it would gnaw away at him getting worse day by day. He had to know, he just had to. He had to face facts, his father was never going to fully open up to him, if he wanted to know anything then this was his only choice.
Michael pressed the buzzer.
*** Nicky waited all of three seconds after BA's van had turned the corner before he ran to the garage and threw open the door. 'Keys Maria!' He yelled.
'Nick! What are you doing?' Emily asked, already halfway sure of what her brother had in mind. He'd never been one to listen to his father.
'Going to find Mike. What else?'
'But Dad said..'
'Dad can go to hell, I'm going after them. I know how to drive so if you don't want to come then fine, you're better off out of the way anyhow.'
Maria looked from one to the other, a doubtful expression on her face. 'Nick, your dad was pretty adamant that we don't get involved in this. I think that maybe he's right.'
Nick snorted. 'Come on Maria.where's that Peck sense of adventure you keep telling me about? Huh? They took Danny with them, your twin brother and they left you behind. Now that's gotta burn.'
'They need Danny, Nicky. Just think about this, we could get in trouble.'
Nick's eyes gleamed. 'Good, trouble's what I like best. Come on guys, you just gonna let them all go off and leave us here? Are ya?'
Maria opened her mouth and then her expression changed. 'No way.'
'Em?' Nick asked, knowing he had Maria on his side now.
Emily eyed the garage and then her brother. She thought of what her father would say if she disobeyed him, how disappointed he'd be and then she thought of Mike and the trouble that he could be in and the adventures that could be happening to her family and friends without her. 'I'm right with you.'
Nicky's coffee coloured brown eyes shone. 'Good. So, shall I drive?'
'No way.my 'vette, I drive.'
'Aww jeez Maria, just once. C'mon.you know you wanna let me drive.' He put on a pleading look.
Maria shook her head. 'No. My car, no one drives it but me.'
'You sound like BA.' Nick grumbled crossly.
'Can we just go already?' Maria asked him, steadily losing patience. 'We leave it much longer and we won't be able to catch them up.'
Nick eyed her suspiciously. 'You mean to say that you don't know the address that Danny gave Mike?'
'Of course I know the address, I keep an eye on most of Danny's e-mails same way as he keeps an eye on most of mine.'
Emily shook her head. 'You two are unbelievable.' She got in the car, Nick took the passenger seat and Maria got in on the drivers side.
'Ok baby, let's go.' Maria said.
Emily frowned. 'Are you talking to your car Maria?'
Maria looked at her in the rear-view mirror. 'No.' She said unconvincingly.
'Does it matter? Dad has invisible dog, Maria talks to her 'vette. Is it really an issue right now?' Nick argued, he was starting to feel something strange happening to him like... all the Twinkies he could eat and Woody Woodpecker cartoons all day long. He groped for a word with which to describe it and came up with one that he heard his Dad use often in relation to Hannibal. Jazz.
Maria stepped on the gas and the car shot forward. Emily grabbed for her seatbelt and clung on for dear life.
'No.' She said. 'The issue is whether Maria's gonna kill us with her driving.'
***
Brandon drove without saying a word, every now and then he'd grip the steering wheel tightly and his eyes would narrow. Johnny shot a look at him, he knew from the signs that Brandon was angry and as usual trying to hide it. Someone was going to be very unlucky if anything happened to Mike.
Johnny looked in the side mirror. 'We're being followed Brandon.' He said, he turned a little to glance at Danny. 'Looks like your sister's Corvette back there Danny.'
'Damn. Nick persuaded her to come with us.'
'Want me to call Murdock?' Johnny asked.
Danny thought for a moment. 'No, don't bother. It's fine, just so long as she keeps out of sight of BA's van. Murdock's got eagle eyes, she could end up spotted.'
Johnny nodded and picked up the car phone, he dialled a number. Brandon shot him a look. 'Maria.' Johnny said into the phone. 'If you're going to tag along for the ride, I'd keep a little further back. We spotted you easily; don't want our parents doing the same. Ok, we'll meet you there.' He put the phone down. 'She's going to take another route, keep out of sight. She seems to know the address Danny.'
'Yeah. She monitors my e-mails.'
'And you let her do it?' Brandon asked, shaking his head, sometimes he really didn't get the twins.
'No I let her think that I don't know. Believe me if I didn't want her reading them then she wouldn't, it comes in handy sometimes. Besides I read hers.' He shrugged and gave a grin that was a duplicate of his father's.
*** Murdock gripped the back of BA's seat, his knuckles were almost white. 'I can't believe he's doing this. This is the kind of behaviour I'd expect from Nicky or even Johnny.'
Face looked at him. 'He'll be fine Murdock; we'll stop him before he gets to Stockwell.'
'We'd better.'
BA growled deep in his throat at the mention of Stockwell.
'Easy BA.' Hannibal said. 'We don't know for sure he went there.'
'Of course he went there!' Murdock almost shouted. He paused. 'Sorry, didn't mean to yell. But the way he's been acting, he went to see Stockwell I know it.'
Face muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'like father like son', Murdock glared at him.
'You know what Stockwell's like, what if he decides that Mikey's a liability? He doesn't know that Mikey doesn't know anything.'
'Uh.' Face was about to say something but thought better of it.
'I don't want my son anywhere near that creep. What is it with Mike? He gets kidnapped before he's even born and now he goes looking, actually goes looking for Stockwell. That kid is not mine!'
Hannibal tried to suppress a smile but didn't succeed.
'He's a fool, just like you.' BA said. 'And you were always getting kidnapped.'
Murdock's eyes flashed angrily. 'I was not! You guys were the ones who got kidnapped; I was the one who rescued you. All those times Decker and Lynch got ya, who broke you out and rescued you? Who? Me that's who!'
'Actually Murdock you were kidnapped a couple of times.' Hannibal interjected
'Yeah but not nearly the amount of times you guys were.'
'Uh.Murdock, we were caught by the military not kidnapped.' Face said, eyeing his friend cautiously.
'Yeah fool. They kidnapped you just by putting a dog in front of you.'
'I thought he was hurt.he tricked me!' Murdock argued. 'And what about that time they kidnapped me to try and kill you guys? Huh? Remember that? I sacrificed myself for you guys and what thanks did I get? Nothing, not even a mention in the newspaper.' Murdock jabbed a finger at empty air to emphasise his point.
'Murdock.' Hannibal said pulling out a cigar. 'You were our secret weapon.we needed you.'
'Yeah to fly this big tub of guts about.' Murdock scowled.
'Fly! Fly!' BA jammed on the brakes. 'I die before I fly! Who put me on a plane! Who?'
'Will ya just drive!' Murdock yelled.
'Enough!' Hannibal said. 'BA, drive and we'd never put you on a plane, we know you hate to fly.' Hannibal kept his hand hidden, his fingers were crossed.
BA relaxed a little and carried on driving, not at all happy.
'Wimp.' Murdock muttered.
BA glared again and then Murdock suddenly looked round. 'You guys did that on purpose didn't you? You made me angry so I'd quit being angry with Mike so that I'd quit being angry with Stockwell so that I'd quit being angry! Well I've got news for you, I'm angry!'
'Murdock just calm down.' Face said soothingly. 'Michael's just curious, Stockwell didn't like you anyway, and he'll probably just turn him away.'
Murdock looked at him. 'You think?'
Face nodded. 'I'm sure that he'll..' Face's voice trailed off. 'No, not really.'
Murdock sighed. 'Guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens then.'
Danny sat in his room going through newspapers on the Internet, making notes. He was gleaning every single bit of information he could get on the A-Team. Like Michael his thirst for knowledge of his father's life before he'd been born had been awakened. He wondered briefly if Mike would go and see General Stockwell. He hoped that his friend would have the sense to realise that nothing good could come of it.
The door to his bedroom slammed open and suddenly he found himself being pinned to the wall. 'You told him where Stockwell was didn't you? What were you thinking?' Murdock all but screamed into his face.
Taken completely by surprise Danny had no idea how to react. He just stared dumbly at Murdock unable to say a word. Even though his godfather's words were angry his eyes belied the fact that he was deeply worried.
Face appeared in the doorway. 'What's going on? Murdock! Put him down!'
Murdock let Daniel go and turned on Face. 'Did you know about this? Do you know what he's done?'
Face looked at him. 'Hey just calm down ok. What do you think Danny's done?'
'I don't think that he's done anything Face! I know he has! He told Mike where he could find Stockwell and now Mike's gone to talk to him.' Murdock's eyes flashed.
'I.he wanted to know. I didn't think it would matter that much.'
Murdock shook his head. 'You know what kind of state he's been in.how could you.' He stopped and his features softened. 'I'm sorry kid, didn't mean to scare ya. I.it's difficult for me to explain to you why this is such a bad idea.'
Face put his hands on his hips, he was thinking deeply. 'There could still be time.'
Murdock looked at him. 'Of course there isn't time Face, if we stop him now he'll only talk to him later when we're not around to stop him.'
'Then explain it to him, explain to us!' Danny said exasperated. 'Who the hell is Stockwell anyway?'
'Let's just stop Mike now and worry about telling him later.' Face said. 'I'll call Hannibal and BA.'
Murdock nodded and turned back to Danny. 'Now that address you got, you still got that?'
'I got it. How'd you know anyway?'
'Got it out of Em. He told her and Nicky where he was going. Emily never could lie to me.'
Danny nodded and picked up his coat.
'Hey what you doing?' Murdock asked.
His godson flashed him a grin identical to Face's. 'Coming with you.'
'Oh no you don't kid; I don't want anyone else there.'
Danny grinned again. 'Without me you've got no address and without an address you've got no hope of finding him. Dad's not as quick as he used to be no matter what he says. I'm your link to Mikey right now. Accept it, I'm coming with you.'
Murdock looked at him and shook his head. 'Jeez kid and I thought your Dad was bad. I guess this means that we can expect Brandon and Johnny to be with us too.'
'And me.' Maria's voice said from the doorway. 'I'm going too.'
'No way.' Face declared appearing behind his daughter. 'You're staying right here Maria.'
'But.'
'No buts young lady. You stay here.'
Danny smirked at his sister but when Face wasn't looking he gave her a sympathetic look. He understood.
Murdock nodded in agreement. 'Yeah Maria, no sense in getting you involved, besides there's not enough room in the van.'
'That's crap!' She declared ignoring the look from her father which said that he was less than impressed with her language. 'There's plenty of room for me, Em and Nicky to come along as well.'
'Well you're not.' Face insisted.
'No!' Murdock said. 'And I'm counting on you to calm Nick down for me and to keep Emily out the way of all this.'
Maria's eyes flashed with anger as she stared at her best friend's father. Finally she backed down. 'Ok but only for Em and Nicky. Cos someone has to watch out for them. And if you change your mind the offer still stands.'
'We won't.' Murdock told her grimly. He headed for the door. 'Ready Danny?'
*** BA pulled up in the van and Face and Murdock jumped in, taking their usual seats. Behind them Brandon and Johnny pulled up in Brandon's van, an exact replica of BA's. He saw Danny get in and noticed Maria standing there with a wistful look on her face. Obviously wanting to be part of the excitement.
As Danny got in Murdock caught a glimpse of Emily and Nicky sitting in the back seats of the van. He gritted his teeth and got out the van and headed over to them.
'Hey where you goin' man?' BA asked confused.
Murdock walked over to the van and grabbed hold of the door as Nicky was about to shut it. 'What do you think you're doing?' His eyes shifted from his son to his daughter.
'We're coming too.' Nicky answered him evenly, meeting his eyes with a look that suggested he was all too willing to put up a fight.
'I see.' Murdock said. 'Get out of the van, both of you.' He kept his voice perfectly calm and steady as if nothing was wrong in the least.
'No.' His son's eyes flashed angrily. 'I'm coming too, Mike is in trouble, and I want to help. So does Em.'
'Who said Mike was in trouble Nick?'
'Oh come on.' Nicky's tone was exasperated. 'Don't play that game with me; you wouldn't be rushing off like this if you didn't think he was in some kind of trouble.'
'I see, so tell me Nick, if I think Mike is in trouble why in the world would I let my other two children go with me? Why would I put the rest of my family in danger?'
'Dad.we just want to help. Maybe we can talk to him.' Emily said trying to smooth things over, the last thing that was needed right now was for an argument to start up.
Murdock turned to her, his face grim. 'No young lady, what you and your brother can do is to get out of the van and stay right here where it's safe.'
Emily looked at him for a long moment, holding his gaze. She was perfectly aware that he wasn't mad at her or Nicky. He was deeply worried for Michael and he clearly thought that things could get very, very bad. She reached out and laid a hand on Nick's arm. Her brother looked at her in disbelief.
'You've got to be kidding me. No way. You just have to do everything he says don't you?' He was angry, nearly shaking.
'Nick.' She said softly. 'He's right. There's not a lot we can do, we need to stay here with Mom.'
Nick shook his head but got out the van. 'Jeez, one of these days you're gonna realise that I'm not a kid anymore Dad. I can take care of myself.'
His father reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. 'I know that already Nick but I'm not prepared to put anymore of my family at risk, the fact that one of you is in this situation is bad enough, I can't let anything happen to the rest of you. You're far too important to me.'
Emily swallowed hard and nodded. Nick sighed deeply. 'Ok.' He said. 'Ok, we'll stay but just.can you tell us what's going on?'
Murdock shook his head. 'No time Muchacho, later I promise.'
Nick nodded and stepped back onto the sidewalk with Maria. Murdock turned and ran back to the van. He jumped back in and BA drove off.
***
Michael arrived at the address that Danny had given him. He stared at the non-descript building in front of him. There was nothing that would have made him stop and stare at it on a normal day. It was a normal, whitewashed brick building.
Michael went to the door and raised his hand to press the buzzer. He hesitated for a moment, here was a choice. The choice to go ahead and ring that bell, to carry on looking for the knowledge he so badly wanted.or the choice to go back. Go back home to his family and just forget about Hunt Stockwell and that his father had been part of the A-Team.
Michael swallowed, if he went home he'd be sure to be in trouble with his father and besides, he knew that he'd never be able to forget it, it would gnaw away at him getting worse day by day. He had to know, he just had to. He had to face facts, his father was never going to fully open up to him, if he wanted to know anything then this was his only choice.
Michael pressed the buzzer.
*** Nicky waited all of three seconds after BA's van had turned the corner before he ran to the garage and threw open the door. 'Keys Maria!' He yelled.
'Nick! What are you doing?' Emily asked, already halfway sure of what her brother had in mind. He'd never been one to listen to his father.
'Going to find Mike. What else?'
'But Dad said..'
'Dad can go to hell, I'm going after them. I know how to drive so if you don't want to come then fine, you're better off out of the way anyhow.'
Maria looked from one to the other, a doubtful expression on her face. 'Nick, your dad was pretty adamant that we don't get involved in this. I think that maybe he's right.'
Nick snorted. 'Come on Maria.where's that Peck sense of adventure you keep telling me about? Huh? They took Danny with them, your twin brother and they left you behind. Now that's gotta burn.'
'They need Danny, Nicky. Just think about this, we could get in trouble.'
Nick's eyes gleamed. 'Good, trouble's what I like best. Come on guys, you just gonna let them all go off and leave us here? Are ya?'
Maria opened her mouth and then her expression changed. 'No way.'
'Em?' Nick asked, knowing he had Maria on his side now.
Emily eyed the garage and then her brother. She thought of what her father would say if she disobeyed him, how disappointed he'd be and then she thought of Mike and the trouble that he could be in and the adventures that could be happening to her family and friends without her. 'I'm right with you.'
Nicky's coffee coloured brown eyes shone. 'Good. So, shall I drive?'
'No way.my 'vette, I drive.'
'Aww jeez Maria, just once. C'mon.you know you wanna let me drive.' He put on a pleading look.
Maria shook her head. 'No. My car, no one drives it but me.'
'You sound like BA.' Nick grumbled crossly.
'Can we just go already?' Maria asked him, steadily losing patience. 'We leave it much longer and we won't be able to catch them up.'
Nick eyed her suspiciously. 'You mean to say that you don't know the address that Danny gave Mike?'
'Of course I know the address, I keep an eye on most of Danny's e-mails same way as he keeps an eye on most of mine.'
Emily shook her head. 'You two are unbelievable.' She got in the car, Nick took the passenger seat and Maria got in on the drivers side.
'Ok baby, let's go.' Maria said.
Emily frowned. 'Are you talking to your car Maria?'
Maria looked at her in the rear-view mirror. 'No.' She said unconvincingly.
'Does it matter? Dad has invisible dog, Maria talks to her 'vette. Is it really an issue right now?' Nick argued, he was starting to feel something strange happening to him like... all the Twinkies he could eat and Woody Woodpecker cartoons all day long. He groped for a word with which to describe it and came up with one that he heard his Dad use often in relation to Hannibal. Jazz.
Maria stepped on the gas and the car shot forward. Emily grabbed for her seatbelt and clung on for dear life.
'No.' She said. 'The issue is whether Maria's gonna kill us with her driving.'
***
Brandon drove without saying a word, every now and then he'd grip the steering wheel tightly and his eyes would narrow. Johnny shot a look at him, he knew from the signs that Brandon was angry and as usual trying to hide it. Someone was going to be very unlucky if anything happened to Mike.
Johnny looked in the side mirror. 'We're being followed Brandon.' He said, he turned a little to glance at Danny. 'Looks like your sister's Corvette back there Danny.'
'Damn. Nick persuaded her to come with us.'
'Want me to call Murdock?' Johnny asked.
Danny thought for a moment. 'No, don't bother. It's fine, just so long as she keeps out of sight of BA's van. Murdock's got eagle eyes, she could end up spotted.'
Johnny nodded and picked up the car phone, he dialled a number. Brandon shot him a look. 'Maria.' Johnny said into the phone. 'If you're going to tag along for the ride, I'd keep a little further back. We spotted you easily; don't want our parents doing the same. Ok, we'll meet you there.' He put the phone down. 'She's going to take another route, keep out of sight. She seems to know the address Danny.'
'Yeah. She monitors my e-mails.'
'And you let her do it?' Brandon asked, shaking his head, sometimes he really didn't get the twins.
'No I let her think that I don't know. Believe me if I didn't want her reading them then she wouldn't, it comes in handy sometimes. Besides I read hers.' He shrugged and gave a grin that was a duplicate of his father's.
*** Murdock gripped the back of BA's seat, his knuckles were almost white. 'I can't believe he's doing this. This is the kind of behaviour I'd expect from Nicky or even Johnny.'
Face looked at him. 'He'll be fine Murdock; we'll stop him before he gets to Stockwell.'
'We'd better.'
BA growled deep in his throat at the mention of Stockwell.
'Easy BA.' Hannibal said. 'We don't know for sure he went there.'
'Of course he went there!' Murdock almost shouted. He paused. 'Sorry, didn't mean to yell. But the way he's been acting, he went to see Stockwell I know it.'
Face muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'like father like son', Murdock glared at him.
'You know what Stockwell's like, what if he decides that Mikey's a liability? He doesn't know that Mikey doesn't know anything.'
'Uh.' Face was about to say something but thought better of it.
'I don't want my son anywhere near that creep. What is it with Mike? He gets kidnapped before he's even born and now he goes looking, actually goes looking for Stockwell. That kid is not mine!'
Hannibal tried to suppress a smile but didn't succeed.
'He's a fool, just like you.' BA said. 'And you were always getting kidnapped.'
Murdock's eyes flashed angrily. 'I was not! You guys were the ones who got kidnapped; I was the one who rescued you. All those times Decker and Lynch got ya, who broke you out and rescued you? Who? Me that's who!'
'Actually Murdock you were kidnapped a couple of times.' Hannibal interjected
'Yeah but not nearly the amount of times you guys were.'
'Uh.Murdock, we were caught by the military not kidnapped.' Face said, eyeing his friend cautiously.
'Yeah fool. They kidnapped you just by putting a dog in front of you.'
'I thought he was hurt.he tricked me!' Murdock argued. 'And what about that time they kidnapped me to try and kill you guys? Huh? Remember that? I sacrificed myself for you guys and what thanks did I get? Nothing, not even a mention in the newspaper.' Murdock jabbed a finger at empty air to emphasise his point.
'Murdock.' Hannibal said pulling out a cigar. 'You were our secret weapon.we needed you.'
'Yeah to fly this big tub of guts about.' Murdock scowled.
'Fly! Fly!' BA jammed on the brakes. 'I die before I fly! Who put me on a plane! Who?'
'Will ya just drive!' Murdock yelled.
'Enough!' Hannibal said. 'BA, drive and we'd never put you on a plane, we know you hate to fly.' Hannibal kept his hand hidden, his fingers were crossed.
BA relaxed a little and carried on driving, not at all happy.
'Wimp.' Murdock muttered.
BA glared again and then Murdock suddenly looked round. 'You guys did that on purpose didn't you? You made me angry so I'd quit being angry with Mike so that I'd quit being angry with Stockwell so that I'd quit being angry! Well I've got news for you, I'm angry!'
'Murdock just calm down.' Face said soothingly. 'Michael's just curious, Stockwell didn't like you anyway, and he'll probably just turn him away.'
Murdock looked at him. 'You think?'
Face nodded. 'I'm sure that he'll..' Face's voice trailed off. 'No, not really.'
Murdock sighed. 'Guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens then.'
