Chapter 6 – The Reason Behind the Robberies
The dark, man who had tried to rob the bank and succeeded in killing Hannibal, finally shows up at the rendezvous point. He has waited several days. One, because he knows the cops are looking for him and two, because he is a little afraid of Mr. Thompson.
Alexander Thompson is the man behind the robberies. He is a solid, good-looking man, dark hair and mustache, but his eyes are hard. Dark and foreboding, they seem to look right through a man when he fixes his eyes on him. He needs the money to finance his plan, and Roberto has messed with his money, and that is bad. This plan involves liberating money from several rich men from the Los Angeles area. These men all have children attending a very exclusive private college and he knows they will pay dearly to keep their children from harm, and not just the kids. If all goes well, a big chunk of L.A. could go, too. Heh, heh he chuckles to himself. It is going to be really big, and the ten million they are going to ask for will set him up for a long time. His comrades don't realize just how many of them will not be sharing the wealth. So what they don't know won't hurt them, right? Not now, anyway.
"So Roberto, you have finally decided to show your face here again. It has taken you several days to come back. Why?"
"Hey Mr. Thompson, I wanted to come earlier, but I knew the cops would be looking for me and I didn't want to bring them back here to you, you know?" The look on Thompson's face tells Roberto to stop talking, now!
"Oh, I see, and why would they be looking for you so diligently? Is it because you have screwed up everything?" The last of the question ends in a decibel that shakes the lights in the cheap warehouse. He continues, "You not only kill a man, but you look right at the camera, so the police, and everyone in L.A. who watches the 10:00 news, has now seen your face!"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Thompson, it won't happen again, I swear." He is now pleading.
"You are right. It won't." Thompson nods his head at two of his other men, and they grab Roberto on either side, and walk him out, kicking and screaming for mercy the whole way.
"Okay, now how far has this set us back?" He turns to his second in command, Gary Waters.
"Well, we really need that last fifty thousand to finish off this deal, but we can try another bank in Pasadena tomorrow. It is out of the area we have been hitting, and I don't think the cops will be watching that far out. Plus we scouted it two weeks ago and I think it will bring in what we need."
"Okay. Get Artie and Simon to make that hit. They are more experienced and I know they can pull it off."
"Yes sir, I know they are ready to go. They just needed your okay.
"I don't want any more problems! Do you understand? The timing on this is critical. We need to meet the sellers in three days. Their ship will be docking at five in the afternoon and by nine o'clock that night, I want the plutonium in hand. Now, do we need to discuss anything else that might interfere with this plan?"
"No sir. Everything is all arranged. We've been practicing the timing on the operation and everything is going as planned. We won't miss Roberto. He was an extra man anyway."
"Good, because I don't want to start working with a new man. Not this close to the plan. It is imperative we pull this off without any more problems. You know exactly what I mean. You and I will be the only ones splitting the money when this is all over, and these guys won't have any ties to me. So we'll be very rich, very soon."
The body of Roberto is found in the alley behind a cheap dive. They don't even try to hide his identity, because they want the cops to quit looking so hard for him, which might lead them to Mr. Thompson. That would be a mistake for them, also, and they don't want to end up like their "friend" here.
The medical examiner's office is called out and they take in hand Hannibal's killer. They also take any evidence at the scene that may lead them to catching his conspirators, because they suspect Roberto Martinez is not working alone. Detective Johnson has been put in charge of this whole mess and he wants to know everything he can about the men behind the robberies. He wants the robberies stopped before someone else gets hurt, or killed. But what's behind these robberies? Why are they hitting so many local banks? They really are pushing their luck, because he has plain clothes officers in each and every bank for a fifteen mile radius, to catch the next guy who tries to rob one.
Johnson has also been toying with another idea. He needs help! That's for sure. He has tried everything to get a lead on this bunch of crooks to no avail. Now that he has the body of the murderer of John Smith, he intends to meet with the remaining members of the A-Team, and see if they can help. Yes, he finally put two and two together and knows that John Smith was the notorious leader of the A-Team. He knows his captain, and the police commissioner, will not like it, so he plans on doing this without their knowledge. He doesn't care if it costs him his job! He has got to get to the bottom of this crime spree. He feels that it is going somewhere beyond robbing banks, but he hasn't been able to figure it out yet. Maybe some fresh eyes, and minds, of people who were really good at this a few years back, will help him get some answers. Besides, he owes them the tape of the robbery, and the chance to see for themselves just how their leader died.
He runs a check and gets the location of Templeton Peck's apartment. He will start there, because that other guy, Baracus, scares him a little bit. As he is driving to Face's apartment, he gets a call.
"Det. Johnson? This is Adams out here in Pasadena. I think we ran across a robbery that has the same flavor to it that you have down there."
"Really? One man early in the day, gets about fifty thou.?"
"Yep, that's about how it went. Do you think they are going to start hitting banks all over the L.A. basin now?"
"I don't know. My gut tells me this is all a part of something bigger. Can you send me over a copy of the report and any video footage you got?"
"Sure, will do. I'll keep a patrol around the banks up here for a while. Hopefully this was a one-time deal, but only time will tell."
"Thanks Adams, keep me informed."
"Okay, bye."
This has put a new twist on things. What's going on? I have got to get these guys to help me. We have to stop this before it gets any further out of control.
The guys are all sitting around in various forms of relaxing. Kelly decides to head back as soon as the service is over. That way she will miss some of the rush hour traffic. She needs to get home, back to her life and leave H.M. to do what he has to do here, without her as a distraction.
"The traffic will be lighter now, so I think I'll go ahead and head out."
"Alright, hun, but I need to stay for a while. Are you going to be okay?"
"You know I'll be fine, and the guys need you right now. I can't tell you to stay out of it, because I know you feel that you have to find out what happened to Hannibal, but please take care of yourself! I don't want to worry about you."
"I'll be fine. You know these two won't let anything happen to me, and I have to keep an eye on them too, but I'll be careful."
"Promise?"
"Promise!"
"Bye, and don't be too crazy!"
"That I can't promise." He laughs. She kisses him and leaves before he sees the emotion in her eyes.
Murdock heads back upstairs to the apartment that is fast becoming his home away from home. He flops on the couch and joins the others, just sitting there in silence. Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rings. "Maybe Kelly forgot something," Murdock states as he goes to answer the door. However, standing in the doorway is a man that he doesn't know. B.A. recognizes him and says, "Detective Johnson." It is the flat statement of fact that makes them all wonder why he is here.
"Come in." This from Face, after no one else says anything.
"I'm sorry to barge in like this. I know it has been a long day for all of you."
"It's okay, we're just sitting here. Do you have some news for us?" Face asks.
"Yes, I do, but I also have some questions for you. Today, the body of Roberto Martinez was found in a dumpster in an alleyway. I am assuming you had nothing to do with that?"
"What?" B.A. speaks for all of them, as they have no idea who Roberto Martinez is and why they would have anything to do with his death.
"He was the man who shot Colonel Smith. You're sure you know nothing about this?"
"Yeah, we're sure," Face states, anger starting to rise.
"Well, I know who you all are, the A-Team, and I needed to make sure you weren't involved in this man's death. … I believe you, and I am sure all evidence will point to someone else for this murder. I realize you probably wish you could have pulled the trigger, after what he did, but it's just as well you didn't."
"Look, buddy, we're glad the guy is dead, but we wouldn't have handled it like that."
Murdock is upset about the accusation, even though inwardly he is glad the guy is gone. One less thing he needs to do for the Colonel. Now all I have to do, Colonel, is find out the why behind the robbery. He hasn't been listening to the man for the last few seconds, but his ears perk up when he hears him offering to show them the cd of the robbery.
"I know you asked for the "tape", Mr. Baracus, but everything is digitized now, so it is on a cd. May I play it for you?"
B.A. sighs loudly, but shakes his head yes to the detective's question. Detective Johnson, puts in the cd and turns on the television. Face picks up his controller and hits the play button. They are glued to the television. As they watch the scene unfold in front of them, the looks on their faces begin to change; first-intensity, shock, anger, then last-sorrow. Murdock is the first to turn away. He has put to memory everything that he has seen on that cd and he'll carry it to his grave. The detective finally speaks out.
"Okay, I know this has been hard to watch, but I think the reason that Roberto was killed is because he looked up at the camera and we got him dead to rights. I believe that the person he's working for didn't want him to lead the police back to himself. So now what small lead we had into the robberies, has died."
Face asks, "Why are you telling us this? The guy we would have gone after is dead, so we're done here."
"I'm hoping to convince you to help me figure out just what's going on."
"What? Why do you need us? We have no tie to any of this." Face is adamant that they not buy into whatever this guy is selling. Murdock has other ideas.
"What do you have in mind for us? I mean, where do we come in?"
"Murdock, I don't think you understand this guy, he wants something from us and I don't think we should give it to him."
"Why not Face, why can't we help? It's what Hannibal would do, if he were here and you, or I, or B.A. was the one who is dead."
"The fool's right Face. Hannibal would be the first to try to figure out what's goin' on here."
"B.A., not you too? I thought you would be the one to stand up with me here and agree not to do this."
Face is becoming extremely frustrated. He turns his back and walks over to the fireplace. He is the supposed leader now, and they are ganging up on him. Okay, Hannibal, what now? Do we do this, or do I have to put my foot down and stop this nonsense? Waiting Oh great, now you're not talking. Now is when you need to help me decide what to do and how to get out of this, because I'm not sure we should be involved. So is your silence telling me to do it, or not to do it? Come on Hannibal, help me out here. You would help this guy if I were the one dead wouldn't you? Okay, if you're not going to help me, I guess I'm on my own.
Turning back to face them, "Okay, let's see what you've got." Face can only hold his ground for so long against his two friends, because as far back as they go, it has been a team effort and he can't let them down now.
Murdock claps him on the back and B.A. nods his approval. Det. Johnson has been very quiet through all this, he knows that a team like this one must come together in one accord, or it doesn't work at all. He has seen it in other teams, football, baseball, basketball, all need to be on the same page, or they pull against each other and the goal is not accomplished. He wants these guys to be on the same page, because he wants them to accomplish this goal, to solve this case.
Alright, now he will give them as much information as he can, without overstepping his bounds as a policeman. He knows his career is on the line with this, but he doesn't want it to end with these crimes unsolved anyway, so might as well go out with a bang, no matter what happens.