They managed to get through the night without somebody trying to kill them; and, though they knew they wouldn't receive any word from Brutus until 11 that morning, they were relieved to find that none of them had received any more envelopes stuffed under their doors. Early that morning B.A. left the hotel to make sure nothing had happened to his van during the night, and the others followed him, deciding they'd better make sure Brutus never had a chance to ambush any one of them. They went around to the alley two blocks behind the hotel where they'd left it to avoid drawing any attention to themselves and found it was still there and B.A. inspected it to make sure nothing was missing or had been tampered with.
"If nothing else," Face told the others, "I checked the radio stations and the news channels, and apparently nothing else happened last night when we weren't looking, at least this guy doesn't set his sights on multiple targets at a time."
"That's a minor consolation," Hannibal replied, "No doubt with the fire power he's using he could take out a dozen people at a time. Well, B.A., what's the verdict?"
"Nothing wrong here," he concluded as he slammed the hood down.
"Great, let's get back to the hotel," Face said. Even though they were supposed to get their next message from Brutus in the lobby, Face was suddenly a bit apprehensive about being out in the wide open; especially with a bunch of high rise buildings in the surrounding area that a trained assassin could be peering out of any one of a thousand windows just waiting to shoot them.
The city was starting to come to life and the streets were full of traffic and the sidewalks were full of pedestrians heading every which way. Some kid on roller skates came upon Murdock and hit him as he went by, screaming, 'tag, you're it!' and did it with enough force that Murdock spun around like a top and fell down. He rolled around trying to get up but didn't get anywhere; Face grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to his feet as Murdock said, "Which way did he go, Face? Which way did he go? I'll pulverize him, I'll…"
"Shut up, fool," B.A. told him, "You always doing something crazy."
"Somebody get the number of that driver," Murdock said, "There's laws against driving on the sidewalk you know."
They returned to the hotel and stayed in the lobby and waited for 11 o' clock to arrive. During that time, Murdock folded pieces of the hotel's stationary into airplanes and guided them through the air as he supplied the sound effects for the various aircrafts. B.A. looked at him and rolled his eyes but didn't say anything; Face watched the clock on the wall and Hannibal watched the hotel's revolving door.
At 11 exactly, they saw a young blonde woman coming in with an envelope in her hand; it didn't take long for them to realize that this was by no means Jean Rhodes, and while they all had agreed to take Brutus' warning with much gravity and not try to interfere, they couldn't help but wonder who she was and how she was involved in this whole mess.
The woman came up to the four of them and held the envelope out to Hannibal and said only, "I was told to give this to you."
Hannibal bit down on his cigar and didn't take his eyes off of her as he reached out and took the envelope, "Thank you."
The woman turned and headed back out the revolving door and Hannibal tore the seal on the envelope and took out another letter.
"What's it say?" Murdock asked.
"It says," Hannibal answered as he read it, "You're getting closer but still not at the finish line. All charades come to an end once and for all, tomorrow night at 11 o' clock in the alley on Rotgut Street."
"Uh oh," Face suddenly sounded sick as he told Hannibal, "That's the next spot on the map. That's where the next murder's supposed to occur."
"We might've guessed as much," Hannibal told him, "No matter, he wants us to meet, we'll be there waiting for him."
"This guy Brutus must be a weatherman," Hannibal said as he held his arm over his eyes to see through the pouring down rain, "How does he always know to get us out in the middle of an abandoned alley during a rainstorm?"
He climbed into the van alongside the others and tried to see out into the night; but all was pitch black and they didn't turn on their headlights incase it would draw in any unwanted attention.
"What time is it?" Face asked.
"It's," Murdock looked at his bare wrist, "10:47."
"He's right," Hannibal confirmed as he checked his own watch.
"I hope this guy shows up this time," Face said, "And I hope we find Jean Rhodes, alive. Missing for six months though, the odds aren't good of that, are they?"
"In that much time, anything's possible," Hannibal said.
"One thing I noticed," Face said, "In all the notes we've gotten from Brutus, he never says anything about her. That can't be a good sign."
They didn't know what they would be facing when Brutus showed up but they were taking no chances; they had the van stocked with machine guns and hundreds of rounds of ammo, and all within easy reach from where they sat. If Face turned out to be right and this was the spot where Brutus planned to commit his next murder, they weren't going to give him the satisfaction of an easy job well done; where his other victims had failed, they were going to fight back and be the ones to bury him.
11 o' clock came and nobody showed up, then it was midnight, then 1 o' clock in the morning; the storm continued and the rain beat down on the van like hailstones but nobody ever came to the alley. At sometime during the night the four men had fallen asleep, and the next morning they were suddenly and rudely awakened by somebody banging on the window. Hannibal sat up and saw that there was a young Chinese woman with long black hair, wearing a dark blue dress, pounding on the window. He opened the window and said, "Yeah?"
"You no park here," she said in broken English and pointed to the entrance, "Move the van."
"What?" he asked.
"Tow-way zone, you no park here."
"Tow-away zone?" B.A. repeated, "There weren't any signs when we came in last night."
"Yes," the woman said, "Over there, move van."
"Where's this sign?" Hannibal asked as he opened the door, "Show me."
"This way," the girl said.
They followed her to the end of the alley and saw the sign that clearly said: NO PARKING, TOW AWAY ZONE.
"You see tow-way zone, you move the truck, have nice day," the girl said as she turned and walked away.
"That sign wasn't there last night," B.A. told Hannibal.
Hannibal felt like he'd suddenly walked into quicksand, "Wait a minute…" Suddenly something about this whole mess was starting to seem a little too familiar.
They heard someone come up from behind and all turned to see that the Chinese girl had quickly removed her black wig, blue dress, false teeth and makeup and was now wearing a white T-shirt, ratty blue overalls, black boots a size too large, and had short red hair and a smile of crooked teeth as she came up to Hannibal and said, "Asking someone to wait a minute, that's not right, that's a 50 yard penalty and you go back to the start. Do not pass go, do not collect $200."
Murdock's eyes bugged out as he pointed at her and said, "You're the Saint!"
She slightly nodded and replied, "Not for quite a while but you're correct."
"Jean Rhodes," Face couldn't believe it. She looked slightly different from the picture her parents had given her; she'd lost some weight and looked like she hadn't bathed in a few days, but she certainly didn't look the worse for wear.
"And you're the infamous A-Team that everybody talks so much about," she said.
"Well that's half the job done," Hannibal said as he reached over and grabbed her by the arm, "Now, Miss Rhodes if you'll just come this way…"
"Get your hand off me you dirty old man," she said as she pulled away, her demeanor suddenly changed from humorous to deadly serious, "I don't know where you've been."
"Miss Rhodes, you don't understand, your parents hired us to bring you back to them."
"I had figured as much, Smith…I also know how you guys work. Words gets around in the underground," Jean glared at him as she explained, "My parents are nice folks but I happen to know they can't afford your rates, so you better take the money back to them and you offer them your sincerest apologies but tell them you couldn't find me."
"Well now we couldn't do that," Hannibal told her, "Because we already have."
She shook her head, "You didn't find me, Smith, I found you, and you better get out of here, and fast if you know what's good for you."
"What's good for us?" Face repeated.
"I wouldn't worry about our welfare," Hannibal told her, "We've been in this business a long time. If it's Brutus you're trying to hide from, we'll fix his wagon and send him back to the pioneering days."
"What do you know about Brutus?" she asked them.
"We know he's killed a lot of people," Face said.
She nodded slightly and only said, "You have no idea."
"Did he kidnap you?" Face asked.
"Not exactly," she said.
"But you know where he is," B.A. said.
She nodded.
"Where?" Hannibal asked.
She pointed up the street and said with a nod of her head, "Follow me."
They walked behind her and saw where she was leading them to; a dead end part of town where half the houses were black and in ruins from fires long since past, and the rest were all abandoned and looked ready for the wrecker's ball. It was obvious nobody lived on this block, and it was a safe bet traffic very rarely ever came through here. Jean walked them up the street to a house in the middle and said, "In here."
"Brutus lives here?" Hannibal asked as he looked at the shabby two-story house with loose boards and broken windows.
Jean turned around and looked at him as she emphasized, "Nobody's lived here for years, come on."
They went around to the back where she showed them her way of entry, climbing up on an old crate and climbing in through a broken window.
"Must be for people who don't know the secret password," Murdock said.
"Shut up fool," B.A. told him, "And get climbing."
One by one they all slipped in through the window and found themselves in the house's kitchen; all except B.A. who kicked in the petrified kitchen door.
"This place is a mess," B.A. said as he took in how decayed the house's interior was. The furniture was falling apart and half covered in dust and cobwebs. Face hit the light switch on the wall and found there wasn't electricity, but for some reason the water was still turned on as the faucet still worked.
Their attention was drawn to the wall behind them, which had been decorated with a dark blue SEAL trident that was about as big as the kitchen table.
"That's his mark," Face said, and to Jean he asked, "Did he kill someone in this house?"
Jean shook her head, "No."
"Is he here?" Hannibal asked.
Jean signaled for them to be quiet and follow her, she led them through the dining room and they saw it and the living room were in about the same shape the kitchen was. On the way through, Face noticed a few ratty sheets spread over the couch like somebody had been sleeping there recently. Jean stopped in the front hall at the foot of the stairs and pointed to the next floor.
"Up there," she whispered.
Hannibal and Face went up first and had Murdock stay between the first and second floors, and B.A. stayed by Jean at the foot of the stairs to make sure nothing happened to her.
Face followed behind Hannibal and held his breath with every step he took as the stairs creaked and he feared they'd give way at any time. He couldn't believe that this house was even still standing, though he hoped it continued to stand so long as they were in it. They made it to the second floor and looked around but didn't see anyone.
"You think he's here?" Face asked.
Hannibal saw all the rooms on the second floor had their doors open except the one at the far left, he pointed to it and said, "We'll check there first."
They stopped at the door and listened; they didn't hear anything and Face grabbed the knob and turned it and in one swift move, threw the door open.
Downstairs, B.A. and Murdock heard a loud BOOM from upstairs and a shot rang out, and Murdock charged up the stairs to see what had happened; Jean broke away from B.A., and tried to get away.
"Oh no you don't," he said as he nabbed her, his hand far quicker than the human eye.
Jean spun on her heel and said, "Get off of me you walking building!" and kicked him where it hurt. B.A. fell back against the wall and let out a groan; Jean ran for the door but B.A. grabbed her by the sleeve of her shirt and jerked her back, even the oldest assault in the book couldn't keep him down for the count.
"Are you guys okay?" Murdock asked as he ran into the room and found his two comrades on the floor, "What happened?"
"Oh nothing, Murdock," Hannibal cynically replied, "Just another little explosion is all."
"When the door opened," Face explained, "It sprang a trip wire, and when it came loose, the sudden tight pressure snapped off the latch on that box over on the table that the bomb was in."
"Once again little more than just a flash and smoke," Hannibal said as he got up, "Except when it went off, another wire was sprung, causing the shotgun over on that wall to go off, aimed straight at us."
Murdock looked and saw the gun mounted on the wall, smoke still blowing out the barrel.
"Fortunately it missed us," Face added as they left the room.
Hannibal shook his head and said, "Brutus isn't here." All the same, they followed the hallway that led to the back of the house and found it led to a second set of stairs and they went down them and found themselves in a room behind the kitchen. There weren't any windows and without the lights working, it was too dark to see much of anything, but Murdock was able to make out a pair of roller skates that had been tossed in a box of old clothes and it hit him, "She was the one that knocked me down yesterday!"
"Well she certainly knows how to keep tabs on people," Face commented.
They walked out the door and back into the kitchen and didn't see B.A. or Jean anywhere.
"Where'd they go?" Face asked.
"Right here," they heard B.A. say.
They saw B.A. enter the room carrying Jean in front of him, her feet hoisted inches off the ground and he held onto her by the straps of her overalls.
"Very funny, Smith," she said dryly.
"She tried to run out when the bomb went off," B.A. explained.
Hannibal nodded and said, "Put her down, B.A., I don't think she'll try it again."
B.A. didn't seem so sure but all the same he put her on the ground and let go of her.
"You knew Brutus wasn't here," Hannibal said as he hovered over her, "Why did you bring us here?"
"I told you to go back and forget you ever saw me, but you didn't listen," she said, "You fools, you're endangering yourselves even more the longer you stay near me."
"That's okay, we're used to it," he nonchalantly said, "Now what is going on? Where is Brutus?"
"You don't get it, do you, Smith?" she asked, then pointed at herself and said, "I am Brutus."