CHAPTER 3

"This is very serious, Mr. Smith," stated the doctor. "We should call the police straight away."

"That won't be such a good idea," Hannibal said wondering whether or not he could trust this doctor and nurse, but they seemed to be genuinely concerned about his 'son'.

"Why not?" The nurse asked.

"Well, it's a long story," Hannibal started, "but basically we're wanted by the military. Your patient is not really my son, but he is a member of my team. We all know the man that kidnapped him. He is plain crazy and wants to get back at us for boycotting his latest mission."

"But what are you going to do if we can't call the police?" The doctor asked all worried.

"We're going to get him back ourselves. Me and my team that is, but I expect that we might need some medical help for him once we get him out."

"Yes, sure. No problem. As soon as you found him, contact me or bring him in. And uh … good luck."

Hannibal quickly left the hospital and started to dial B.A.'s number as soon as he was in the car. He explained to him what had happened and told him to meet him at his place. He would spring Murdock first. Hannibal decided to call Murdock first and the latter was so upset that he managed to get himself out before Hannibal even arrived at the premises. They drove back to Hannibal's place full speed and met up with B.A. Hannibal checked his mailbox only to discover an envelope. He opened it up while entering the house and discovered a DVD and a piece of paper with some random words written on it.

Hannibal inserted the DVD in the DVD player and the team held its breath. The first image they saw was that of Face tied to a chair with his dress shirt unbuttoned. The guys could clearly see the black and blue bruising on his chest and abdomen from the previous fight. The camera panned to Dougie Kyle who was now standing beside Face and he started to talk into the camera. He told the team that he would send them DVD's of Face every day and that they would also find some clues as to where to find him in the envelope. He gave them a week and threatened to kill Face if the team wouldn't find him by then. Like the true soldier he was, Face didn't even blink or look scared at all upon hearing these threats. He tried to stay as calm as he could knowing fully well that what was to come wouldn't be good.

"Well. I've got nothing else for you," said Dougie smiling evilly. "Let the fun begin."

He turned around and started to hit Face in the face first. Being tight to the chair he could do nothing to prevent this from happening. Within a matter of minutes he had a split lip and blood was seeping from his nose onto the collar of his light blue shirt. Dougie now started to pound hard on his chest and abdomen which was already bruised. Face closed his eyes and willed the pain to go away. Each punch left a burning sensation to his already beaten and battered ribs. He tried very hard to breathe through the pain which wasn't at all easy. And Kyle kept on going.

Hannibal's knuckled were starting to turn white.

"He ain't getting away with this, Hannibal. I'm gonna get him for hurtin' on Face."

Hannibal kept his eyes trained on his second-in-command still being beaten to a pulp. Face was still being the brave soldier and this enraged Kyle even more.

"He ain't gonna last much longer."

"Pass out, Facey. Just pass out."

A couple more punches to his ribs and abdomen and Face indeed passed out in pain. His head limply lolled to the side. Kyle viciously grabbed him by his hair and pulled his head back up to check whether he was actually out.

"Well, it seems pretty boy didn't last that long," Kyle sneered. "But he did act like a tough soldier. This time that is. You better start checking those clues and go look for him. The clock is ticking. If you haven't found him by tomorrow, there will be a new DVD. I'm looking forward to playing this game with you, Colonel Smith."

"Get that envelope will you, Murdock," Hannibal said doing his best to compose himself. "We need to get Face out of there as fast as we can."

Murdock emptied the contents of the envelope on the table and the team gathered around to look at the clues.

"Man, Hannibal. These are just words. We ain't gonna find much with them."

"We have to at least try, big guy. He's holding Face. We have to get him out of there. You saw what he did to him. What else will he be doing to him?"

"I rather not think about that, Murdock. We need to try and think the way that slime ball thinks. We all know he's crazy, but he's not too smart."

They spend the rest of the evening trying to figure out where Face could be held, but somehow needed more info. There was nothing to do but keep on thinking and waiting for the envelope with the next set of clues to arrive. Unfortunately they also knew there would be another DVD to watch …

Face was slowly regaining consciousness. His head was pounding, his entire body hurt like hell and he was cold. He also had no clue as to where he was … What had happened? One minute, this cute nurse who couldn't stop flirting with him had offered him a pain reliever and the next minute he was alone in this cold, empty white room which he didn't recognize. It certainly wasn't the ER room anymore. The room was dimly lit and even this feeble light caused him to squint his eyes. However, he had to have a look at his surroundings. He was lying down on a thin mattress on the cold, dirty floor and tried to sit up to get a better look around. But that was easier said than done. As he tried to sit up, he was hit by waves of excruciating pain in his abdomen and he fell back hard on the mattress causing his head to hurt even more. He was breathing hard and was on the verge of passing out again. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on his breathing to will the pain away. He had noticed blood stains on his dress shirt and wondered where the blood came from. With his eyes still closed he softly touched his hurting cheek only to find that it was swollen. That explained some of the pain he felt already. He also touched his nose which was very painful to this point and also swollen. Damn I broke my nose somehow, he thought to himself. That could also explain the loss of blood.

He tried to figure out what was happening to him as it suddenly dawned on him that he saw someone familiar last night when he came to. He remembered being tied to a chair. A camera was placed in front of him. And then that familiar face. Kyle. Douglas Kyle. Chills ran down his spine. Kyle was a lunatic. He had been kidnapped by him a couple years back along with Murdock and B.A. and Hannibal had managed to get them out. Hannibal. His friends. He hoped they would come up with a plan to get him out of here. He was too weak and too hurt to even think about escaping. He closed his eyes again and let the darkness consume him.

When he woke up again a couple of hours later, he felt even more miserable. His whole body hurt. Every movement caused him to shut his eyes firmly. He needed to figure out where he was. It was of vital importance. Somehow he had to get that info to the team. He mentally tried to block out the pain and look around at his surroundings. The white room. No furniture. Cold. White brick walls. A thin mattress on the floor. A small dimly lit room. A storage room of some kind? Or what? Where was he? Focus for God's sake. Think. Pain shot through his body once again and he groaned in pain. How he wished he could go to the hospital for treatment now. Suddenly his eyes opened wide as recognition hit him. An empty, white, small, cold and dimly lit storage room with no furniture. That could only mean one thing. He was in the hospital's basement.

Thoughts raced through his head. He was the team's second-in-command, so he needed to come up with a plan. What would Hannibal do if he were in this mess? Fighting his way out of this was not an option in his weakened state due to his injuries. So only clever thinking could get him out. He vaguely remembered hearing Kyle say that he would send videotapes to the team every day. That was his only chance to get the info to them. The minute Kyle would turn on the camera he would have to engage him in some sort of conversation to get a coded message across. He had to smile at that despite the pain and the cold he felt. He could talk his way out of anything. Right? The only problem would be that he'd have to wait until Kyle was ready for his next move. Shivers ran down his spine. What would that lunatic be up to now? It couldn't be good.

The sound of a key being turned in the lock woke him up from his reverie. He winced in pain while trying to sit up and scoot closer to the wall for some sort of support of his weakened frame.

"I see you're up," Kyle said smirking. "So how do you like your stay at the Douglas Kyle Hilton so far, Peck?"

"I have some complaints. You offer a lousy service. Ever heard of room service and a mini bar? And what's with the required standards you're supposed to meet? Huh. I think you're in need of a new management."

"Very funny. You're still a wise guy with a big mouth. That's all you can do. Isn't it. Talk. Why don't you fight your way out of here, huh Peck? Oh that's right. Hand-to-hand combat is not your strong suit and you don't have your team mate to protect you now. Oh and you're injured too and probably in a hell of a lot of pain. Am I right?"

Kyle viciously and without any warning kicked him hard in the stomach. Face doubled over in pain, but refused to cry out. His vision was swimming and he tried very hard to control his breathing so he wouldn't pass out. Kyle placed a tray on the ground in front of him.

"Got you some water and some bread, Peck. I wouldn't want you to die on me just yet. You're not gonna spoil my fun."

He turned around on his heels and left Face alone. Face groaned in pain once Kyle left. He didn't dare to move a muscle for a while, afraid that he would pass out from the pain he was in. So he just sat there for a while slumped against the wall until he felt the pain gradually ebb away. He sat up very carefully and decided he needed to at least try to eat and drink and he needed to take it slow to avoid getting sick. He had to try to keep his strength until he could convey his message to his team.