THE MULE KICKS BACK
Part Nine:
A Farewell from the Flames
"Wait a minute!" Face looked confused. "But they kept kidnapping me and ….." he began. "I went through all that for nothing?" he shook his head in disgust, staring at the beautiful woman before him, his eyes bright with their intense blue and one big dollop of betrayal!
"You took advantage of me!" he hissed, his voice icy calm.
Rosa held his gaze unbowed by his obvious hurt. "And haven't you done the same to a thousand others, Templeton, with your scams and cons? Please don't come all sanctimonious on me now – you knew you were playing with fire; isn't that part of the fun, surely? Don't be a cry-baby on me just 'cause somebody got the better of you on this occasion!"
"She's got a point, Face," Hannibal said gently.
"Cry-baby? Me?" Peck shook his head bravely, pushing away his anger and frustration, forcing a smile. He had spent a lifetime dispensing with the unimportances and adapting to the new situations that life threw at him and he wasn't going to give up that strategy now. So Rosa had used him – he had survived and lived to fight another day! "You got the wrong guy, Rosa! I'm always happy to help a damsel in distress no matter what the danger to my own person. I just like it better if she's honest enough to take me into her confidence so I at least know what's going on." He licked his lips teasingly. "Anyway, the way I figure it; you owe me, Rosa, and I can think of a deal of ways you could pay me back!"
Rosa tossed her head and giggled. "That a promise?" she said flirtatiously, her eyes holding his in a smouldering look.
Peck's smile was simply stunning. "You bet!" he beamed.
The electricity that cracked between the pair at that moment was so intense that the rest of the Team felt its power.
"Faceman ain't never gonna change!" BA muttered.
Murdock leaned over and slightly touched Peck's shoulder. He withdrew his hand immediately with a stifled scream and turned to thrust his hand into a nearby tumbler of water and let out a hissing sound. "Hot!" he agreed.
Hannibal chuckled. "Can we get back to business now, you two love birds, take a cold shower or something!" he beamed at Rosa and Face.
"Maybe later," she smiled but almost instantly the humour was gone from her face as she turned back to the Colonel. "You were the decoy, Temp," she continued. "And a fine one you made too – you took all the heat; they believed they were putting their precious chip in your head and by taking it out again."
Peck nodded. "Which is why they were so pissed at me last night."
"I'm afraid I put you in the firing line, again!" Rosa agreed.
Face puffed out his chest and smiled nonchalantly. "No problem; all in the line of duty!" she said bravely.
Hannibal cleared his throat nosily and held his pose until every eye in the place was on him. He began slowly but pronounced every single word clearly. "If Face was the decoy, I want to know which one of us was the mule!" He eyes fastened challengingly on the young woman before him.
"What?" Face gasped.
Rosa smiled tightly, accepting the challenge she saw in the Colonel's eyes. "Why would you think it was one of you, Colonel?" she asked.
Hannibal rolled his eyes. "You're here aren't you? I know that my Lieutenant has a magnetic personality, but since you used him so ruthlessly when it suited you before, I cannot believe you suddenly got worried about him and came back to save him from Grondyke and his goons – hardly your style! And this cosy little meeting, interesting though it is, has got to have a purpose."
"Hannibal, that's a very cynical attitude," Face whined.
"Cynical but realistic, isn't it, Rosa? Admit it; you would have been miles from here already if something wasn't holding you back."
Rosa pouted. "You tell me, what that might be, Colonel," she snapped back, fighting to retain cool. "You seem to have all the answers."
"Perhaps the real chip?" Hannibal suggested.
Rosa's beautiful smile froze on to her features and she started at the Colonel for long moments. Finally she let out a long sigh. "It is true."
Face let out a groan of disappointment. "I don't believe it!" he muttered. "I never see it coming!"
"I am sorry," Rosa said although she looked far from subdued as she sent Peck a glance saturated in desire rather than conciliation. Then she turned to Murdock who was still thinking about bowls of potato chips. "Where did you get that hand injury?" she asked.
"Me?" Murdock looked down at the grubby bandage on his hand and squirmed uncomfortably on the bed. "You mean I got the chips in me? The goddamn satellites can track HM Murdock?"
"I knew I wasn't the ass here!" Face pronounced smugly.
Murdock's features curled in to a scowl of suspicion. "It's been in me all the time?"
Rosa nodded. "And I need it back."
"Say please!" Murdock retorted.
She held out her small immaculate hand and said sweetly, "Please!"
Murdock still looked unsure. "But how come it didn't show on that scanner? Face set it off like a Christmas tree but not me. I had zilch reaction."
"And you're surprised?" Face muttered cattily.
"I re-calibrated the scanner," Rosa disclosed. "I set it to pick up the duff chip in Temp's head. I knew it would buy me some more time at this end."
"You're very good at this," Face observed, wondering if he was unduly upset by her cavalier treatment of him. Aware that it was not dampening his want for her one bit, he found himself unable to reach a firm conclusion.
"When you don't have the physical strength to fight powerful men, you have to find other ways to get what you want," Rosa said modestly. "I survived two years deep undercover with those animals – I had to be good!"
"And pitiless," Hannibal added.
"And you would have done it any differently, Colonel?" she asked. "I think not!"
"But a simple request for help would not have gone unheard!" Face put in.
For the first time Rosa looked at him with real anger. "I work alone!" she snarled. "The more people who know the plan, the more there is that can go wrong. This way I have completed my mission faultlessly."
"I think we would have a different opinion on that, lady," Hannibal said. "Particularly Face. And who says we'll give you back the real chip, anyway?"
Rosa growled. "We are wasting time – I must get the chip now!"
"Murdock?" The Colonel turned to his pilot. "It's your call – do you want her to cut you and take the chip?"
"Will it hurt?" Murdock asked.
"Don't ask Face!" BA chuckled.
"I can use a local anaesthetic," Rosa offered.
Murdock sighed. "Well, it's doing no good inside of me," he started, chewing his lip. "And if these men are as bad as you say they are then they have to be stopped." He looked over at Face. "Bravest man on the planet – huh!"
Face simply threw him a smug smirk and watched as Rosa set about her work – first anaesthetising the area on the back of Murdock's hand and then lifting her scalpel. At that point Peck pulled a face and looked away.
Within minutes Rosa was re-applying a new bandage to Murdock's hand.
"Look after that," Murdock said. "It may have been only for a short time but it has been with greatness – it must be priceless!"
"It is Mr Murdock. Thank you!" Rosa slid the chip into a small plastic pouch and then placed it carefully into her handbag. "Now, I really must be going. She moved to the door. "Thank you for your help, gentlemen – I will not forget it." She hesitated before turning back to them. "I don't have to tell you that this is the end, Colonel, do I? These men will be brought to justice through the appropriate processes. The A Team's involvement in this is over!"
Hannibal rolled his eyes. "We don't like to be used!" he spat.
"I understand that, Colonel." Her eyes moved across the room and rested expectantly on Peck. "If I could have done it any other way I would have done. I do owe you guys – Temp most!" She nodded and then slipped out of the door.
"Wow, what a lady!" Murdock muttered.
"Too dangerous," BA growled.
Hannibal nodded. He turned slowly, his gaze coming to rest of Face, who was sitting motionlessly on the bed, a look of complete indecision flicking across his features. Then in a flurry of movement, the conman stood up and cleared his throat. "Excuse me a second, guys!" he muttered as he followed the dusky maiden out the door.
"Colonel?" Murdock asked.
Hannibal let out a slow sigh. "Leave him be, Murdock," he said. "He deserves an explanation at least."
Face caught up with Rosa in the parking lot as she stopped to unlock her car. "I have to ask you something," he said, drinking in her beauty anew as she turned to regard him.
"Go on then, Templeton," she encouraged him, her tongue running along her lips. "You are a lousy tango dancer – if that's what you want to know!"
"No, not that!" He began, feeling suddenly disquieted by the personal attention of this goddess before him. "Did we …. In Argentina …. Did … eh … It's all kind of hazy for me and I can't remember …." He chuckled nervously as she stepped towards him, a teasing smile playing across her mouth. He forced himself to continue. "And I think I really want to remember .. if we …."
"You want another notch on your bed post?" she asked.
"No, no!" He could smell the intoxicating perfume of her body as she moved even closer to him. He drew in a ragged breath. "I really …. You're beautiful and…. I …."
"A sight not often seen," she teased.
"What?"
"Templeton Peck lost for words!"
"Well, it's not every day that a lady as beautiful as you …."
Her head moved towards him and her mouth opened in welcome. He could not look away from her dazzling smile. He felt her hands run down his back and his soul shuddered with a deep wanting. And then they were kissing, tongues dancing, hands touching. It lasted forever and it lasted for only a few seconds but Face's world trembled at the power that ached between them.
She pulled away. "No, we never did," she confirmed.
He licked his lips, tasting her, unwilling to move his arms from her embrace, wanting so much more but playing the required role, he simply shrugged at her words. "That's a shame," he said.
"It is," she agreed, appearing just as unwilling as him to move away.
"May be we could …." he began.
"Duty will always come first," she said. "I have to go."
"Of course," he agreed stepping back and ignoring the tinge of regret that strained at his heart strings.
"I have to go," she repeated but he sensed the longing in her voice, caught it in the flash of her eyes and held her close once more, not wanting to let her go, not wanting to admit this was the end.
"Rosa …" he began.
The gun shot cracked through the sultry morning air and woke them both from the comfort of their complacent embrace.
"Shit!" Face spat as he threw himself to the floor behind Rosa's car. She did likewise and for long seconds they simply cowered together as further bullets rang out.
"This your car?" Face whispered.
"Rental," Rosa nodded.
"Open it and slide across to the passenger seat," he instructed her, suddenly calmly cool in the face of very real danger.
She nodded, letting out a fearful whimper before she bit her lip firmly and forced back all other noise. Face noted the blood bubbling from the wound that had cut clear across her sleeve at the top of her arm.
"You're hit!" he hissed.
She gulped and glanced down at it. "It's nothing – just a scratch!"
He took out a handkerchief and quickly fixed it around the wound, sharing her pain as she groaned softly. Then, with a brave smile, she slipped in to the car, keeping her hand low and he followed her into the driver seat.
"Where were you going?" he asked, gunning the engine and reversing out the space with a squeal of tyres and smoking rubber.
"Small airfield, south of here. There's a plane fuelled and ready to take me to Washington," she said through gritted teeth.
He nodded grimly, selecting his gear. "Nice car," he breathed as the Porsche Boxer picked up power and hurtled out of the lot to be immediately followed by the goons who had been firing at them. As they shot passed Face thought he caught a glimpse of Grondyke but he was not sure.
"Can we out run them?" Rosa asked, looking over her shoulder fearfully.
Peck nodded. "We can try. The guys will have heard the commotion so they won't be far behind his."
Bullets were still flying past them as Face threw the sports car around a corner and careered along between two storage units.
"Damn!" Rosa screamed, "Dead end!" The gates that barred their way were coming towards them at a terrifying speed.
Face executed a perfect parking brake turn and suddenly they were flying back at speed towards their attackers. "Get down!" he hissed as the windshield in front of them shattered.
Rosa screamed but Face used his elbow to knock out the glass and then resolutely peered out of the gaping hole. Behind them the sedans were turning around and as the Porsche passed the motel a black van shot out behind them from the lot.
"That's my boy!" Hannibal chuckled proudly as Face lifted his arm in salute as he roared past. "Now, let's help him out!"
BA positioned the van between the Porsche and its pursuers, slowing them down as much as he could and the powder blue sports car shot down on to the Interstate like a bullet.
Murdock and Hannibal were in the back of the van and firing out the back doors.
"This here mule is kicking back, big time!" Murdock shouted.
"Are you OK?" Face asked casting a swift but anxious gaze at Rosa who had gone very pale and was slumping in the seat beside him. She was clutching her hand bag to her chest, her hands white as parchment around the black leather.
"I'm OK," she said with a weak smile. "I always hate this type of thing!"
Face smiled as he slung around another interchange leaving a trail of burning rubber. "I thought you were a secret agent!" he teased.
"I am – how can all this shooting and squealing and macho crap be secret?" she asked.
"Good point," he agreed jovially, feeling a lot more in control than he seemed to have been since before he had first met this beautiful woman; he was enjoying himself immensely! "Where's this air field?"
She opened her eyes long enough to glimpse the landscape as it flew by and then she closed them again quickly. "Up here take a right!" she squeaked.
"Your wish is my command," Face said. As the car careered around the corner, up a ramp and slammed through a gate, sending the startled security guard leaping away for his very life.
"Was that absolutely necessary?" Rosa moaned, all of her colour gone from her face except for a peculiar green glint.
"Oh, yes!" Peck said, as he floored the gas pedal again and they slewed around the airfield building, a Leer jet coming into view across the runway.
"That your ride, my Lady?" Face asked.
"Sure is!" The relief was evident in her voice but it was short-lived, as she saw hurtling from the other side of the field, another sudan with guns blazing from its windows.
"Where did he come from?" Rosa asked.
"Guess they were waiting for you!" Face exclaimed as again he negotiated a further seemingly impossible corner. "Don't worry, sweetheart, it'll take more than that to catch us!"
The ground between the racing car and the waiting plane was being eaten up and in no time, Peck was screeching to a halt, as he spun the car so that it stopped with Rosa only inches away from the jet's door.
"Go!" he ordered.
She threw him a longing glance. "I can't," she hesitated.
"Duty first!" he said with a wink and lightly pushed her out of the car. Strong hands reached down from the plane and pulled her, still clutching her bag frantically, up into safety as the bullets fizzed around her.
Peck gunned the engine again but as he did so the first Sudan had got so close that it was able to blow all of the Porsche's tyre in an orgy of exploded rubber. The car slid out of his control and came to a halt on the tarmac. Behind him the engines of the Leer were going to full throttle and the plane began to move but only agonisingly slowly.
Face snorted and looked about for a means of escape. The tanker which had just re-fuelled the jet was lurching slowly away back towards the safety of the buildings.
Face slipped out of the car and then, keeping low, and using it to shield him as much as he could, he threw himself across the tarmac and latched hold of the ladder on the back of the tanker. He dangled there for dangerous long seconds, holding on only by his hands and his feet dragging along the floor. He finally got a foothold, climbed up to the top of the tanker and reached for the trusted Smith & Wesson Model 19 .357 Magnum in his shoulder holster.
At that moment BA's van, closely followed by Grondyke and his goons, screeched out on to the air field.
Aware of the peril of his situation as the vehicles roared towards him, Peck got off a few shots before crawling along the top of the tanker and banging on the roof of the cab!
"Get out!" he screamed at the driver.
The driver, somewhat bewildered, opened his door, and jumped out. Face ran back along the tanker as the bullets flew around him and then he threw himself off of the end. He hit the tarmac with a dull thump and then lay still. A stray bullet finally hit the volatile fuel in the tanker and the whole thing was enveloped in a terrific explosion sending flames dancing up into the sky.
At the end of the runway and unconcerned by the carnage it left in its wake, the sleek jet lifted majestically into the air, taking with it the information that would bring down the schemes and plans of the men still fighting so desperately on the tarmac below.
BA stopped the van and the fire fight was at full force now but far off the incessant wail of police sirens could be heard slicing through the air moving steadily towards them.
"We going, Colonel?" BA asked. "Got to get out of here!"
"A little longer, BA," Hannibal said. "I want to make sure none of these scum bags get away. Murdock – go rescue our Lieutenant, will you? This'll teach him not to take pretty girls out in fast cars!"
"You think, Colonel?" Murdock asked sceptically.
"Maybe not!" Hannibal conceded.
As the others gave him covering fire, Murdock made his way to where Face was lying, still motionless.
"Faceyman! Faceyman!" Murdock knelt beside him. "You sleeping again? It's always the same these days!"
Face groaned and his eyes opened slowly.
The van pulled up beside them. "Come on, Lieutenant!" Hannibal shouted. "Up and at 'em!"
"I can't!" Face whined. "My head hurts!"
Murdock soothed him. "Yeah I know, buddy, we haven't found your brain yet but we will – we will! But now you lost the girl too!"
Slowly Face allowed himself to be helped into the van. "Come on suckers!" BA called from the driver seat. "We got company!"
Finally Face was groaning from his seat in the van. BA gunned the motor just as the squad cars spluttered on to the runway.
"You see the lady safely away, Face?" Hannibal asked, he lit his cigar as they bumped over the stones at the far side of the strip and back on to the freeway.
Face groaned and nodded weakly.
"I loved it when a plan comes together!" Hannibal beamed happily!