XV
"Murdock go round the back, we'll take them by surprise." Face ordered, pulling out his gun as did BA and Murdock.
The pilot nodded as he got his orders and made his way to the rear of the building.
Face gave him a few moments to get there before he signaled and on his command, they opened the door and both entered.
Stockwell's body was slumped on the floor, blood oozing from a wound Face couldn't quite detect.
He couldn't see if the man was still breathing.
Hannibal was in the room, gun still in hand.
Relieved that Hannibal was unharmed, Face put his gun away and moved over to him. "Are you okay?"
Hannibal nodded as he fiddled with his gun.
"Well, what happened?" Face asked, looking at Stockwell's body on the ground.
The Colonel reloaded his gun and looked at Face. "Nothing. I'm just doing what I've gotta do."
There was silence in the room as the three men exchanged glances.
"What... what have you got to do?" Face asked, confused.
"Face, you know as well as I do that things started to go wrong when we started working for Stockwell. Since then it's got worse and worse. Then I realised that you were all missing the way things used to be and I knew I had to get us back there. We're finished here."
"We're leaving?" BA asked.
"Yeah. Back to the old days. It'll be how it should have been all along. The three of us on the run, Murdock in the VA. The MP's after us." Hannibal chuckled to himself. "I wonder what goon they'll have chasing after us this time."
BA looked at Face, waiting for him to do something, say something that would explain everything.
When it didn't come and he saw the same confused look in Face's eyes, he knew this was real.
"I'll just finish up here and we can get going." Hannibal said, aiming the gun at Stockwell's head. "At least he won't move try to move out the way this time."
"Hannibal, no!" Face said.
The shot fired out, silencing everything else.
But it wasn't from Hannibal's gun.
Face saw Hannibal drop the gun as he clutched his arm.
He saw Murdock at the door, his gun pointing at Hannibal.
BA moved quickly and kicked the gun away from Hannibal, before BA grabbed him from behind, holding Hannibal's arms tightly, immobilising the man.
Face and Murdock moved in, ready to help.
"I need to tie him up." BA said. Face looked around him and saw the tie that Stockwell wore. He quickly undid the knot and tied Hannibal's hands securely behind his back.
Once he was tied up, BA pushed him onto the couch and the three of them looked at one another.
"We need to call an ambulance." Face said, as he made his way to the phone.
"Already done." Murdock said. He turned away and headed back outside quickly.
Face watched Murdock go and looked to BA who wore the same confused expression. "Watch him" he said as he nodded at Hannibal.
He followed Murdock outside, where he saw why Murdock had called an ambulance.
Frankie was unconscious on the floor, a pool of blood had formed underneath him. Murdock jacket covered the body.
"Oh God..." Face muttered. "Is he?"
"He's still got a pulse." Murdock said. He removed his shirt and bent down at Frankie's side, using the shirt as a bandage.
"I'm gonna go see to Stockwell. You'll be okay out here?"
Murdock nodded and continued tending to Frankie's wounds.
Face went back inside.
Back to where he'd lost one of the most important people in his life.
He found the wound on Stockwell's side. It wouldn't have caused unconsciousness, but he noticed a bad cut in his head. He must have struck himself when he avoided the bullet.
Face removed his shirt and and after ripping a strip off, he held a bandage to the General's wound.
As he held it there, he looked over at Hannibal.
BA was still towering over him, his gun pointing at the man.
Face ripped another strip off the shirt and came over to Hannibal. He felt apprehensive as he approached and hoped that it didn't show. He tied it tightly around the bullet wound in Hannibal's upper arm and then stepped back.
"BA, go see if Murdock needs any help with Frankie." Face said, drawing out his gun so he could guard Hannibal.
"Right." BA said and quickly made his way outside.
Once BA was outside, Hannibal looked at Face.
He wore a look on complete confusion.
He'd seen the same look on Murdock's face years ago, during his darkest days in the POW camp.
The difference was, Murdock had given them all the signs. He went down a slope and they could do nothing but watch his descent into the darkness, but they knew and were aware.
Hannibal had jumped off the cliff. There was no warning. He was right where Murdock had been but he'd got there so much quicker.
"Face."
The Lieutenant had his eyes on Hannibal, but his mind had wandered far away. "What?"
"Murdock shot me."
"Yeah, I know."
"When I asked him to go back to the VA, I didn't mean he had to act crazy again. At least he didn't have to shoot me." Hannibal said. "He always was a good actor though, don't you think?"
"That's what you asked him? You really wanted him back in the VA?" Face asked.
"It's what you wanted. You and the others. All you kept saying is how things weren't like they used to be. And you were all so unhappy. I had to change that. I had to make it right again."
"What about Jessica?"
"What about her?" Hannibal asked.
"Did you have anything to do with her? Did you kill her?"
"She slipped."
"Well what about her back? You wrote that message on her, didn't you?" Face said, anger rising.
"It was part of the plan, Face. Once the cops found it, they'd be after us again. But then you had to go call Murdock and screwed everything up."
Face couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"What about Erica?"
"I couldn't let Murdock stay with her. He'd never have gone back to the VA while she was carrying his baby."
Face looked at his Colonel.
He wished this was the worse dream he'd ever had and that he would wake any moment.
Before he could say anything else, a group of men came into the room. Face recognised some of them as Ables.
Face stood up and watched the men. Some of them were obviously well trained in the medical field and checked Stockwell's condition.
"There's another man outside." Face said.
One of the Able's gave the order and a group of them went outside.
Moments later Murdock and BA returned.
Face noticed the strain on their faces and wondered if he looked as bad. Not that it mattered.
Nothing did right now.
"How's the General's condition?" Carla asked as she entered the room.
The three men looked round to her, watching what happened around them numbly.
One of the Ables said something, the word stable filtered through but none of the team listened to much else.
Face sat down. He felt weak and sick.
He looked up and the other two, tried to assess how they were coping.
BA kept still almost like he were afraid to move too much. Murdock being the almost exact opposite of BA couldn't keep still, even though he didn't really move from where he stood, he was in motion constantly.
"Move them out as soon as possible." Carla said to one of the Ables as she moved across to the team. "General Stockwell and Frankie Santana will be taken to a private medical facility where they will receive medical treatment."
"What about Hannibal?" Face asked.
"That's up to you, Lieutenant. The General has contingency plans for all situations. In this case, Colonel Smith will be offered excellent medical care with some of this country's finest doctors. But whatever happens, you still work for the General. You're not forced to stay here if you don't wish too, but if you go, the Colonel goes with you and a full report will be given to the police. Everything included." She looked at Murdock when she said that.
"It's your decision."
Face noticed he was suddenly the center of attention, as not only Carla stood waiting, but Murdock and BA also looked to him for leadership.
"We need to discuss this privately." He said.
"By all means. I'll be here when you decide." Carla folded her arms across her chest and watched as Face lead the other two into the nearest room out of earshot.
TBC.
Author's Note: Please, please if anyone is going to review this can you not mention who the killer is. Otherwise I'm gonna have to take them off, don't want to ruin the surprise.
Thanks.