Retribution

Chapter 3

Goniff was the next one downstairs, yawning and rubbing at one eye. He spotted Chief sitting in the far chair. The man did not look happy.

"What's up, Chiefy?" asked the pickpocket chirply

"No change in Terry. And we have the screws back," said Chief around the match between his lips.

"Screws! Wot for?" objected the Englishman.

"Warden says they're protectin' us, not keepin' us here."

"Warden called?" They weren't expecting a call until morning.

"I called him," said Chief. "Let him know about the screws."

Goniff shrugged and sat down at the game table.

Collins came around the corner by the dining room. "Anything?"

Chief looked at him. "No change in Terry. And we got guards again."

"For wot?" asked the non-com. "You blokes haven't done anything."

"To guard the Mansion says the Warden."

Collins shrugged. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No," said Goniff , "and I'm starvin'."

Chief sighed and stood up. "I'll get Casino up."

"I'll serve up some of what's in that pot on the hob," said Collins, thankful to be doing something.

Goniff looked at his watch when the other two men left the room. Something struck him and he went into Garrison's office and shut the door. Taking the desk chair, he picked up the phone and dialed a number from memory. Kit answered with a frazzled voice.

"Hey, Kit," said Goniff.

"Goniff?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah, it's me. I thought I better tell you Terry won't be comin' in for a long time," he broached uneasily.

"Why?" asked Kit. "She on a mission? She usually calls me first."

"No, no mission," replied the Cockney. "Some skanky blokes broke into the Mansion while we was on the last mission. They beat her up real bad. We found 'er this mornin'. She's hurt bad, Kit. She i'n't conscious. She's at the hospital in London. They say she's got a skull fracture."

"Oh my God!" said the redhead. "Okay, keep me informed. Is there anything we can do?"

"I don't think so," he replied. "But could you tell Meg for me? I don't want to be callin' over to Schaeffer's office."

"Yes, I'll let Meg know. Goniff? Thanks for calling and telling me."

"Well we kind of forgot you needed to know in the rush an' all."

"Any idea who did it?" asked Kit.

"No. The Sgt./Major didn't see 'em before they 'it 'im and tied 'im up. About all we really know is they were British and Cockney."

"I swear that's half of England," said Kit in disgust. "Okay, keep me informed and if you need anything, call me."

"Thanks, Love," said the pickpocket.

He hung up and left the office as Chief and Casino were coming down the stairs. He told them who he had called.

"Didn't think to call her," said Casino. "Guess she'd need to know."

They went around to the dining room following the aroma of the stew the safecracker had started earlier. Dinner was a quiet affair, each man wrapped in his own thoughts. When they were through and had pushed their chairs back, the Sgt./Major began to clear the table.

"Aw forget that right now," said Casino. He stood up and looked at the other three men. "Come on. We got work to do," he said.

"What work?" asked Chief with distrust.

"We gotta debrief," said Casino. He looked at the non-com. "You too."

"Me?" asked the man in confusion.

"You too."

"Casino, what are you doing?" asked Chief irritated.

"Just come on," said Casino, pushing around the table and headed for the common room.

The four men went into Garrison's office. Three of the men stood in some confusion, watching Casino rummaging through the drawers of Garrison's desk. He came up with a pad of paper and a pencil.

Casino turned and shook his head. Were they all idiots today?

"Sit down!" he barked. "We ain't doin' this standin' up."

Somewhat dubiously Chief and Goniff took their usual seat at the conference table. Collins took Terry's seat. Casino walked up to his side and slapped the paper and pencils in front of the Sgt./Major.

"Take notes."

"Take notes of what?" the non-com asked, clearly confused.

"Of what we come up with! Jeez!"

Casino went to the head of the table, pushed Garrison's chair back and leaned on outstretched arms, eyes sweeping around the three men.

"Okay, it's like this," he began, "we know the Warden and Actor are gonna be tied up with Terry. That leaves us."

"Leaves us wot?" asked Goniff, plainly not following where the safecracker was going.

"Leaves us to find out who nailed her and him." Casino nodded at Collins.

"Find them?" exclaimed the Sgt./Major. "How? I never saw them."

"And what are we gonna do with 'em if we do find 'em?" Chief knew what he'd like to do with them.

"Guess that depends on how much of a fight they put up."

"'Ere now," objected Collins weakly. Frankly, he didn't want to object. "Do you have a plan?"

Casino gave a shrug. "Not yet. So, we make a list of what we do know, for starters."

Collins smiled and licked the tip of his pencil in anticipation. "They were British. And they were Cockney."

"Write that down," instructed Casino, pointing at the paper in front of the non-com. "How many you figure there were?"

"Three, maybe four," Collins wrote quickly.

"One of 'em's hurt," said Chief.

"That's right," added Goniff, brightly. "Terry nailed one o' them with the fire poker."

"What all did they take?" asked Casino.

Chief grinned. "Got that."

He stood and went to retrieve some papers off the Lieutenant's desk. The other men watched him in surprise. He handed the papers to Casino.

"Didn't have anything better to do while you were gone." A thought brought a grin to Chief's face. "And one of them liked the April centerfold."

Casino gave a sick look. "Aw naw. They didn't . . ." He had been too tired to even glance at the magazine in the bathroom.

Chief nodded.

Casino look at the list in his hand. It said what was missing, but there was no description of the items to really identify them."

"What's wrong?" asked Collins.

"We need a better description of the stuff."

"What'd you want me to do? Say what kinda flowers were on each one?" asked Chief defensively.

"Well . . . yeah. It woulda helped."

"Let me see those," said Collins.

Not knowing what else to do, Casino handed the papers to Goniff, who in turn passed them to the Sgt./Major. They all watched Collins study each sheet. A smile came to the non-com's face.

"This is a big help," he said. Looking up at the men, he continued, "One of me jobs was to make an inventory of everything, so the Army would know how much to compensate the owners for at the end of the war." He couldn't resist adding, "Seeing as you ruddy blokes have such a penchant for breaking things." As Casino opened his mouth to object, Collins said smugly, "and I have pictures."

"Okay," said Casino. "That's your job. Make a list with really good descriptions." He turned his attention to Goniff. "How many copies do we need?"

"For wot?" asked the pickpocket.

Casino rolled his eyes in exasperation. How did the Warden do this? Even Chief was looking at him silently.

"Remember when Beautiful got himself in trouble? We went to the pop shops. So, we do it again."

Goniff finally got the idea. "Maybe six or seven."

Collins gave the safecracker a questioning look.

"Better make it nine or ten," said Casino.

Chief leaned back in his chair and rested one leg atop the table. The matchstick was rolling back and forth between his lips. "Ain't gonna find her car in a pawn shop," he predicted.

"That's where you and I come in," said Casino. "Feel like payin' a visit to Actor's friend, Paul?"

A slow grin spread across the Indian's face. "When are we doin' this?"

"Tomorrow morning," said Casino. He looked at the Sgt./Major. "You gonna be all right here by yourself? Don't figure it would do your head any good bouncing back and forth between here and London."

Unsure who was supposed to be watching whom, Collins had to agree his head would not like the jolting any more than it had on the way here from Archbury. "Somebody needs to be here," he said. "That's me job. I'll be fine. Just you keep me informed of wot you find out. I have an interest in this too."

"Not to worry, Mate," assured Goniff. "We'll let you know."

GGG

It wasn't an early start in the morning. Relieved to be doing something soon, they all slept a little later than usual. Except for the Sgt./Major. He was up making the requested copies of the list describing the missing items. He was in Garrison's office when the phone rang and took the message from the Lieutenant. He didn't mention what the men were planning, but the Lieutenant seemed to assume they were coming to London.

Chief was down first. He decided to forego his usual morning run, what with the guards all over the place. Wandering back toward the kitchen, he paused, surprised to find the table set for breakfast. Before he could venture into the kitchen, Goniff bounced up behind him, followed by a slower Casino.

"Gettin' fancy for breakfast, isn't he?" asked the safecracker.

The swinging door to the kitchen opened and Collins came through, arms laden with plates of food. The three cons stared. Plates of ham, fried potatoes and a bowl of scrambled eggs were placed on the table.

"Coffee's coming, Lads," said Collins.

The men took their seats, dubiously looking at the food while the non-com went back for the coffee pot.

"That's more food than even Terry gives us," remarked Chief.

Collins returned and walked around the table pouring coffee into each man's cup. They could tell by the aroma it was the real thing, not ersatz. To their further surprise, the skinny Englishman took a seat with them.

"Uh, it somebody's birthday or something?" asked Casino.

"No," replied Collins, taking a piece of ham from the plate. "I assume you lads will be busy today, so I thought I'd see you off with a good breakfast."

Head injury, thought Casino. Gotta be the head injury. He stabbed a piece of ham with his fork and scooped potatoes onto his plate, passing them to Chief. Goniff spooned a healthy amount of non-powdered scrambled eggs on his plate and passed that to the safecracker.

"The Leftenant called," said Collins, between bites of food. "No change in Miss Terry. He must be thinking you'd be coming to London. He said to tell you to bring clothes for him and Actor."

Goniff laughed. "Bet they're getting funny looks, what with them wearin' parts of Kraut uniforms."

"The nurses oughta be used to us by now," said Chief, enjoying the real eggs.

"Yeah, well you know Beautiful. He's gotta look pretty for the ladies." Casino looked at Collins. "We'll take 'em some clean clothes."

GGGGG

Beautiful was looking anything but beautiful. The elegant Italian had a couple days growth of beard he was trying to shave off in the men's room. One of the nurses had given him and the Lieutenant razors and soap. The eyes that stared back at him in the mirror were still slightly bloodshot from little sleep. He looked unkempt and felt unkempt. They had been offered use of the doctors' shower room, but the thought of putting a clean body back in the dirty clothes he had on made Actor postpone that little luxury.

Garrison was apparently of the same mind because he walked into the bathroom and up to the sink beside Actor's. The blond man leaned forward and studied himself in the mirror before turning on the taps and splashing water on his face. He reached for the soap and the other razor and began scraping the bristles from his face.

Actor looked pointedly between himself and the Lieutenant in the mirror. "And who is watching Teresa?"

"A nurse is giving her a bath." Craig lathered up his blond bristled face. "So how soon do you estimate they'll be here?" He asked companionably.

Actor shaved a path up his throat and rinsed the razor under the warm water. "I would give them another hour," he replied, making another swipe up his throat. "I hope they remember to bring us fresh clothing."

"If they don't, we're taking theirs."

Actor stopped and laughed, looking at the man who would not ordinarily say something like that. Twinkling blue hazel eyes turned his way, above a grin, before Garrison went back to shaving. There had to be some levity in them or the situation with Terry would drag their moods even lower.

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