EIGHT

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor did I create, any of the A-team characters (main or support) nor do I own, nor did I create, any of the episodes. That credit is due to Stephen J. Cannell and his associates. Any familiar catch phrases or settings also belong to the Cannell team.

Spoiler Alert: References characters, locations, plot, and revelations from Season 3 Episode 11 "The Bells of St. Mary's". including but not limited to St. Mary's School, Angels Guardians, Sr. Catherine, Billy Rey King, Charlotte King, The Bells, Dave Luna, Ryack, and Zeke Westerland.

Timothy, Miss Chambers, Coach Boggs, Sr. Ruth, Sr. Paulette, Mr. Scott, and Ms Westerman, Wallace Westerman are my OCs as are any of the assorted students at St. Mary's.

Author's Notes: This takes place in my "A-team World" which I set up in my story "Chronicles of a Colonel". The Team has received not just pardons but full exoneration. They are free men and have established a private security company called A-team Security Co. After all who are better trained to chase thugs than these guys.

The seed for this story was planted by Peppe1951 who requested a story about the Team and their security company.

Summary: A revealing peak into the Bad Guys.

Return to St. Mary's: A Case Close to Their Hearts: by LAGC

Chapter Seven: The Bad Guys Reveal All

"Hey Brenda, lookey here. Look what I've got." chirped Wallace as he stormed into a swanky apartment in a hip area of LA.

Brenda Westerman glared menacingly up from the document she was reading. Still seated at her marble topped desk she hissed, "What are you doing here, Wally. You know the deal! We aren't to be seen together. Especially NOT here!"

Scott-Ryack joined them from the hall, "This dolt can't follow even the simplest instructions. I keep telling you that."

"Oh stop harping on me both of you. I have good news. And I figured this was safer than a phone call. Plus I'm in my uniform so you can always tell your snotty neighbors I was here to deliver a piece of furniture or something."

Brenda sighed and with a mix of annoyance and boredom asked, "Fine, what the hell did you want to show me?"

Wallace triumphantly waved his wallet at them. "See I've got my wallet back and it wasn't with that stupid gun after all. And you two have been all over me about loosing the two things together. Don't you feel stupid now."

"Where'd ya find it?" asked Scott.

"Some goody goody returned it to me today. Said he found it on a sidewalk downtown. So it was no where near that stupid school. So relax about the gun now too."

"We can't relax about the gun you idiot! Your fingerprints are on it! I cant believe you were careless enough to drop it to begin with!" bellowed Scott

"Well that wasn't exactly my fault. My arm went numb after I slammed through that door and plowed over that nosy nun. I still can't move my arm right." whined Wallace.

"Shut up BOTH of you." Brenda ordered as she approached her brother and snatched the wallet, "Where did this Good Samaritan say he found it, again?"

"Just on a sidewalk downtown?"

"That's vague. You didn't ask for more detail?"

"No! Hey what ya tearing through it for? Everything is there. He didn't steal nothin'. HEY you're ripping it!"

Brenda slapped away Wallace's hands. And produced a small chip from the tattered faux leather. "Oh you sorry jackass! Its a freakin' tracker device. That wasn't a good doobie that was one of the guys who chased you after you failed to destroy the concession stand."

"Now they have this location!" exclaimed Scott

"Well how was I suppose to know?" Wallace whined plaintively .

"Did you tell him anything?"demanded Brenda

"Off course not. I threw him out ASAP!" Wally declared.

"THREW him OUT?" Brenda screeched. "He got into your house?"

"Only for a minute. He had a sneezing fit and dropped the wallet so he dove after it to pick it up." Wally explained defensively. "He was only in the room for like sixty seconds."

"What could he have seen in such little time." inquired Scott.

"Too much. I'd bet my life on that." Brenda pouted as she crushed the tracker under her stiletto heel.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Face returned from the office to say that, under the guise of finalizing details for the auction, he put a call into Charlotte and was waiting for her to call back.

"Well we just lost the wallet tracker, Hannibal." BA reported.

"Aw. That didn't last long. Did it give us anything?" Hannibal replied flatly

"An address in LA: 1005 El Nina Blvd."

"Hmm, isn't exactly Beverly Hills but I wouldn't mind a loft in that zip code." said Face.

"I wonder why Wally Boy is there." stated a curious Murdock.

"Based on what I saw today. My guess would be that he ran off to see his dear sister. Seems like her sort of address." Hannibal slyly answered.

"You of course realize that by destroying our tracker she's let us know that she's on to us." warned Faceman cynically.

"Yep. That just ups her anxiety and adds to our excitement." Hannibal quipped as he lit his cigar. The other three men rolled their eyes or groaned.

"He's on the jazz. He's on the jazz." BA grumbled, with a stifled giggle.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Brenda threw her brother out with the stiff warning to stay away from her, Scott, and the Damon offices, unless she told him otherwise. She also ordered him to report to his regular job and go about his daily life just like things were before she had enlisted him to swipe the trophy record. She slammed her apartment door as Wallace left.

"Are you ever going to explain to me why you want that damn record so badly and why it has to be such a secret?" her husband asked.

"OK fine. I guess it makes sense that you know. Maybe, if I do, you'll finally take this as seriously as you should. Sit."

Brenda then launched into her story of deception and double crossing:

"Ok as you know my Uncle Zeke raised Wally and me after our father, his brother, died in a car crash. As the man himself always said he was a "collector" and I always thought he simply added us to his collections. Life wasn't The Waltons but my brother and I did alright as long as we stayed out of dear Uncle Zeke's path.

Several years later he acquired recording holdings. That's how Luna Records came into our picture and we had the opportunity to meet. Then that greedy fool got all possessive of that singing group the Bells and incurred the wrath of those vigilantes, the A-team. You know how that played out. Zeke and Luna have nice comfy adjoining cells right now. And we ended up married.

Well the official investigation and trial opened all sorts of worm cans. One of the secrets I figured out was that Daddy's car wreck was no accident. Zeke had arraigned it. Just like he had seen to it that our mother ran off five years earlier. He kept us in his collections to gain complete control over Daddy's assets. I realized that if Zeke knew I knew this then my life wouldn't be worth squat to him. Hence how we ended up married, it helped me hide and reinvent myself. Until I could figure out a way to punish Zeke for killing Daddy.

I kept snooping and finally figured out that Zeke had millions hidden in overseas banks. The government didn't know about these stashes. Their fancy Ivy League educated accountants never found them. All I needed was the pass codes and the accounts would be mine. My Perfect revenge.

Killing Zeke wouldn't accomplish anything. But besting him in a game of hide and sneak. Taking something from him. Breaking up his collections. Well that would destroy him. Its not even the wealth its the idea that I ripped a possession from his talons that would matter and be the ultimate payback.

Now after years scouring his files and diaries I finally figured it out. He hid the codes inside the frame holding that ridiculous record. Now do you see why I need that trophy? And why we have to be so sneaky. I'm sure my dear Uncle has buyers set to go into that auction and protect his secret. If I openly bid on it he'd know why and he'd know where to find me."

"Oh. Now it all makes sense." Scott said sipping his whiskey. "Does Wallace know any of this?'

"Of course not. You don't share this sort of information with a moron."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

(****the next day)

The morning light shone through Faces window as he spoke on his telephone. The rest of the Team werenlistening to his conversation.

"Ok thanks a lot, Charlotte. We will see you and Billy tonight. BA will pick you up at the Long Beach airport. …Yes that will be less noticeable. Keep the record in your carry-on." Face said as he hung up his phone.

Hannibal nodded approvingly.

"Their flight lands at 3pm" Face added.

"I'll have them back here before 4:30." declared BA.

The rest of the day passed in a seemingly normal way. True to his word BA returned to the school by 4:15pm. Everyone gathered in Face's office and Charlotte presented the framed album to Hannibal.

"Why would anyone want this thing so badly that they'd terrorize St. Mary's for it?" pondered Charlotte.

"Well there is a connection to Zeke Westerland, so I'd say the motivation is greed or power lust."replied Murdock.

"Well let's find out." Hannibal decreed as he took out his knife from his belt sheath. He used the blade to pry the sealed back off the frame. Once the pieces were separated he carefully peeled away the protective backing layers. Between the gold record and the felt he discovered an index card covered with handwriting. He glanced at it with a devilish grin and handed the card to Face.

"Well I'll be damned!" exclaimed the Lieutenant, "Pass codes for off shore bank accounts and safe deposit boxes."

"Niece Brenda is out to rob Uncle Zeke." explained Murdock.

"Seems you were correct with your predictions about motivation, Captain." praised Hannibal.

"Ok so now we know the score. How are we gonna make these suckers pay?" demanded BA.

"Oh we're gonna take them out to the Ball Game and serve them up some A-team peanuts and cracker-jack." declared Hannibal as he lit up his cigar.

"What exactly does THAT mean, Hannibal." asked Sister Catherine. Everyone jumped as none of them had heard her approach or seen her in the doorway.

"Come in Sister. Please shut the door and I'll explain everything." assured Hannibal as he gave up his chair to the nun

Additional Authors note:

"The Waltons"

The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain and a 1963 film of the same name, about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II,

The Waltons television show aired on the CBS television network from 1971 thru 1981 with several TV movies into the early 1990's. It was produced by Lorimar Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution in syndication.

(Info gleaned from Wikipedia)