"It was a good thing we were able to get adjoining rooms in this place," Face said to Hannibal when they returned to their rooms that night, "Makes it a lot easier to go back and forth in the night without risking running into somebody out in the hall, or getting half the hotel up."
"Yeah, but I've got to watch the door," Murdock pointed to the one separating their rooms, "Otherwise Billy might get out and come in here again."
"Shut up, fool," B.A. told him, "There ain't no dog."
"B.A. that's no way to talk about Billy," Murdock all but got in his face, "What did that little dog ever do to you?"
"Nothing compared to what I'll do to you."
Murdock felt B.A.'s hands on his throat and for once he broke away and jumped halfway across the room, and wound up seeking refuge behind Jean, because he knew B.A. wouldn't do anything to her just to get through to him.
"Come out from behind there, you crazy fool," B.A. told him.
"Not until you calm down, B.A." Murdock replied, trying to talk some sense into him.
"I'll calm down after I kill you," he said as he took a step closer to Murdock.
Jean took the offensive and she stood on her toes to get in B.A.'s face, though came up a little short, and she said to him, "Oh why don't you shut up!" And suddenly the room had become quiet enough to hear a pin drop; Hannibal and Face looked at the sight before them in shock, nobody ever talked to B.A. that way, and they especially never got away with it. But Jean stood her ground and pointed to Murdock and said, "Ever since I've joined this traveling circus, all this guy's done is try to be helpful and all you do is try to wring his neck, what did he ever do to you?"
"You don't want to know," B.A. replied. But for the moment the fight was over and B.A. backed stepped away from them.
"You're serious," Face said as he came up to Jean, trying to change the subject, "You can actually see Murdock's dog, Billy?"
"I got eyes, don't I?" she replied, "And they work."
"Yeah but Billy's…" Face tried to think how to put it, "I mean, what kind of dog is he?"
She looked surprised, "You don't know?"
Face shook his head.
"Well he's in the next room, go see for yourself," she told him.
"There ain't no dog," B.A. replied.
She and Face turned to him and she said, "Oh no? I know what I saw and that in there is a dog, as sure as I'm standing here."
Face inched over to Hannibal and said, "I just had a scary thought…suppose Murdock's actually the sane one and it's the rest of us that's crazy?"
Hannibal didn't respond and instead he walked over to Jean and asked to see the picture of Grant again and told her that he and B.A. were going to go down to the lobby for a while and keep an eye out incase their guest of honor was arriving later that night, and he made it clear the others were to remain in the room until they got back. On his way out, Hannibal leaned over towards Face and said into his ear, "Remember, whatever you and Murdock do, don't let her out of your sight."
"What was all that you said about B.A. being her bodyguard?" Face whispered, "Why doesn't he stay here with her?"
"Because if there's any trouble that will call for a bodyguard we'll find that out on the ground floor first," Hannibal said, "Plenty of time to get back up here."
"Right." He knew that there was more to Hannibal's mind than he was willing to let on but he didn't say anything so as to avoid arousing suspicion in their reluctant client.
On the way down to the lobby, Hannibal told B.A. that the real plan was for one of them to stay in the lobby and watch the doors, and the other was going to 'step outside for some air' and keep watch from the outside, to make sure nobody got out who wasn't supposed to, and that nobody came in with reinforcements that shouldn't be there.
"Maybe I'm starting to get a bit paranoid," Hannibal told him, "But I'm starting to consider the idea that Grant knows we're here and he might be bringing a few friends with him. If that's the case, at least we'll have a chance to get the guns out of the van," he gestured to around the corner.
"Right, but Hannibal," B.A. replied, "Do you think it was a good idea leaving Face and that crazy fool up there to watch her?"
"Well you said yourself you don't think she'll try to kill us," Hannibal reminded him.
B.A. shook his head, "That's not what worries me…if she tries to escape again, exactly how're those two fools going to be able to stop her?"
"Don't forget, B.A, she's on uncharted territory now, this isn't her own private spider's lair strung out with booby traps like the last time when we were back in New York. She couldn't possibly have anything planned out this time."
And yet somehow that didn't make B.A. feel any better about their current situation.
Face and Murdock tried to think of ways to keep their guest occupied so she didn't get curious as to their constant attention, and Murdock also realized it would be a good idea to make sure no matter what else happened, that she didn't open her bag and find out right away that the Hydromorphone pills were missing. Whether or not she was actually taking them at the current time, Murdock was sure she'd notice they were gone.
"So, Miss Rhodes," Face said, trying to think of some way to start a conversation, "Have you thought about when you finally do go home, what you're going to tell your parents? I mean you've been gone for six months now, they're going to wonder where you've been all this time."
"I suppose so," she replied from where she lay draped over the arms of a chair, "I hadn't really given much thought to what my story for them will be."
"Well I'm sure when they see you, they'll probably be so thrilled to have you back they probably won't care much anyway," Face said, "I guess they would."
"Maybe," she said, sounding as if she wasn't too convinced and also like she didn't much care anyway.
"Well, I wouldn't know," Face said, not wanting to get into his past but deciding anything that could keep the conversation rolling was worth drudging up the past, "I was an orphan."
"You were?" Jean looked at him, "I'm sorry to hear that. Of course, it could've been for the best. Everybody ought to have good parents but a lot of people don't. 10 years ago the numbers were astronomical, 2 million kids had their parents beating them up, and 2 thousand of them wound up in the morgue. And today the numbers are even higher than that. So I guess it depends on if you think a bad parent is worse than no parent."
Neither man was quite sure how to read into that one but it left them both with a feeling that she knew of what she spoke and was doing it with some experience under her belt.
"Did your parents hit you?" Murdock asked.
"No," she answered, "They were never like that. The truth of the matter is I would like very much to see them again but I doubt that will ever happen, even once Grant and Saunders are dead."
"Why's that?" Face asked.
"Imagine having a kid," she said, "Imagine spending 21 years watching them grow up, starting to venture out into the world…and then picture them responsible for the brutal murders of 20 people. Even if I do get out of this alive, I doubt they would want to see me again if they ever would find out what I've done, and it's bound to come out somewhere. It wouldn't do me any good to explain to them about Jean and the others. No court would care why I did it, all that would matter to them is that I did it, I killed all those men…and I'll tell you the truth, I didn't enjoy it but I didn't hate it or myself for doing it either. Some people do deserve to die, the problem is deciding who is and why."
Face cleared his throat and got up, "I could use a drink, how about you, Murdock?"
"Sure."
"And you, Miss Rhodes?" Face asked, "Do you drink?"
"Not much," she answered as she glared at him as if she knew something, "To do what I've done you have to stay sober at all times, but yeah, I'll have a drink, doesn't matter what."
Both men knew approaching the subject of mixing alcohol with any medication would be a fatal move so they overlooked the question entirely and just helped themselves to the contents of the room's mini-bar. They looked over at Jean who remained sprawled over the arms of the chair and she looked drawn tight as a drum and ready to snap at a moment's notice; it would seem that relaxing was an impossibility for her, despite the extreme change of surroundings. They supposed it was possible that after the last few months of her life, it would be impossible for her to ever let her guard down and relax again. She'd spent all this time hiding from the world and never being able to trust anybody, and they knew too well how old habits were hard to kill even once the war was over.
"It's going to be a long night," Face murmured to Murdock.
"Uh-huh," he nodded.
It had started out long and slow and awkward the three of them trying to talk to one another and come up with something to pass the time with. When neither man had known just what to get from the bar for Jean that they were sure wouldn't interfere too much with any pills she might be taking, she got up and helped herself to a small bottle of gin, one of rum, and one of bourbon.
"I thought you said you didn't drink much," Face noted.
She held up the tiny bottles from the mini fridge and replied, "How many of these do you think it takes to get drunk off of?"
"It's a good point, Facey," Murdock said.
Despite all the ads and lectures that alcohol didn't make things better, it did make it easier for the three of them to get along and converse with each other and it got the ball rolling for them. After a couple of hours of mixing drinks and playing cards and talking, Face fell asleep and was sprawled out his side near the edge of one of the beds with his face buried in a pillow, but Murdock and Jean stayed up, sat on the floor and continued to talk. The room was dark by now and they half-whispered now so as not to wake him up, and now that they were without any company, the conversation got a lot more interesting. Murdock entertained their guest by telling her about all the times and all the crazy ways that Face had come to break him out of the VA. The two were seated on the floor and Jean laughed and threw her head back against the footboard of the other bed.
"Here's what I want to know," she said to him, "How do you get a Pac-Man in a hospital room?"
"I have my ways," he told her in one of his kooky voices.
"I don't get why you do it though," she said.
"Do what?" Murdock asked.
"Why do you go back to the VA?" she asked, "I mean I get they'd come looking for you, but still…"
"Well it's where I belong," he told her.
"Why do you let them think you're crazy?" Jean asked him.
"Because I am crazy," Murdock answered, practically glowing with pride of this fact, "There's no thinking about it, I am certifiably cuckoo." And as if to emphasize his point, he brought his hands up against him like a couple of short wings and cuckooed.
She laughed and shook her head, "I know better than that, Murdock. You're not crazy, so why do you make people think you are? You're the most normal person I've ever known."
"Really?" he scowled, "Boy you sure know how to hurt a guy."
She laughed again before saying to him, somberly, "Murdock, if I need help can I count on you?"
"That's why we're here," he said.
"No, I don't mean this," she said, "Sometime in the future, if I get in trouble, can I call on you for help?"
Murdock wasn't sure what was going on but he felt like the Godfather was calling on him for a favor soon, and as with the Godfather, he gave the only answer he could, "Sure, anything you need, you let us know."
"I don't know about the others," she told him, "But you I know I'll be able to count on."
Murdock couldn't help but wonder just what that was supposed to mean.
"Something I'd like to know though," he said, suddenly anxious to change the subject, "Why do you act so mean?"
"Because I am mean," she answered, "I'm not a nice person and I've never been."
"I don't think so," he replied, "See I know you better than that. You're strong, you're tough…but you're not mean, B.A.'s right, you're not a killer."
"I've killed 20 men," Jean insisted.
"That don't mean anything," Murdock told her, "You're not a stone cold killer, you said it yourself, the only reason you're doing this is for revenge for all the guys that they killed. If it wasn't for that, you never would've done any of this, would you?"
"I suppose not," she said, "But if this wasn't going on I wouldn't have been in the damn army to begin with!"
"I know," he replied, "And if there hadn't been a draft 13 years ago we wouldn't have been there either." She looked at him with a sudden realization when he said that, and he added, "We seem to have more in common than we think."
"I suppose so," Jean calmly replied.
"So let's try this again," Murdock said, "Why do you act so mean?"
"The same reason you act crazy," she told him, "And the same reason the Hungry Tiger speaks constantly of eating small babies though he knows he could never bring himself to do it, we all have our images to maintain."
Hannibal and B.A. were dead tired as they returned to their room; they'd been on the lookout for Grant and Saunders all night and never found anything to give them cause for alarm. They made their way up the stairs in semi-darkness and when they came to their room they listened for any noise from the inside and heard nothing. They were sure that everybody had just fallen asleep but just to make sure, B.A. stood by the door ready to bust in once Hannibal got it open incase anything was wrong. Hannibal threw the door open and they walked into a dark room and didn't see or hear anything. They went over to the bed and saw something that stopped them both in their tracks.
Murdock, Face and the Saint were all in the same double bed together; Murdock was curled on his side on one edge and was quietly yipping like a dog, Jean was pressed right behind him and apparently sometime in the night she had stolen his Bogey Bear away from him and was using it as a pillow, and Face had somehow gotten pushed over towards the other edge so the top half of his body was practically on the floor. Hannibal went over to Face's side of the bed and without waking him up, grabbed him and pushed him back up into bed and positioned him closer towards the middle with Jean.
"Bunch of crazy fools," Hannibal heard B.A. murmur quietly.
"Well, one thing about it," Hannibal told him, "This way there's no way she can get out without them knowing. I say we let them sleep, and we'll take the other room. I don't think anybody here is going anywhere tonight."
Murdock shot up in the bed gasping for air. His eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness and he realized that it was morning and the sun was starting to come up, and he was in a room somewhere…looking around he realized it was a hotel room, and looking to his side he saw Face still asleep in the other side of the bed, turned on his side with half his face buried in the pillow. Murdock wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and he tried to figure out what was going on. He found the clock that said it was just going on six in the morning; he didn't know how long they'd been asleep and he didn't remember now what it was that had made him wake up. A nightmare of some kind but what was it? He couldn't remember seeing anything or anybody, so he supposed it was a falling dream, he'd had a few of those before in his life and they still had the same effect on him now as they always had.
Something was coming back to him, was it a dream, or a memory of being back at the VA? He didn't remember but whatever it was, he knew he wasn't going to be getting back to sleep, so he got out of bed, taking care not to wake up Face, and it was then that it hit Murdock that there had been a third person in bed with them last night. He looked over to the other bed and saw it hadn't even been slept in last night; he went to the door adjoining their room to Hannibal's and he saw Hannibal and B.A. each in one of the beds there and they were both asleep. He retreated back into his own room and quietly closed the door behind him; until he knew for certain that Jean was gone, he wouldn't wake them up, if this would prove to be a false alarm.
He stopped at the bathroom door and knocked, and when he didn't get any answer there, he went to the door leading out and pulled it open so quickly and with so much force that Jean just about fell in.
"Where have you been?" Murdock asked as he grabbed her by the sleeve and pulled her in and locked the door behind her.
"Making sure that Grant didn't check in without our knowing during the night," she explained, "And so far nothing, I'm starting to worry that he did give us the slip and is going on ahead to meet with Saunders."
With that thought in mind, it was hard for all five of them to spend that day in the hotel room, constantly checking the equipment to see if there was anything going on in the room under Grant's reservation.
"Let's assume Grant did find out about us and is getting out of Dodge," Hannibal said, "Where in Illinois would Saunders be?"
"Chicago I think," Jean answered.
"My Mama lives in Chicago," B.A. said.
"Then you'd know the way," she observed.
"That's right," he said, and turned to Hannibal and added knowingly, "No need to fly there, isn't that right, Hannibal?"
"Who said anything about flying?" Hannibal asked, feigning innocence.
Face looked at his watch and made the suggestion, "Does anybody want to get breakfast?"
"We'll order room service," Hannibal said.
"Ooh boy that sounds good," Murdock said, rubbing his hands together excitedly, "Sausage and toast and eggs and a couple gallons of hot black coffee!"
Jean made a sickened face and replied, "Bleck, not me, I hate coffee, that smell makes me sick."
"How about the eggs then?" Murdock asked.
"I hate eggs too," she told him as she buried her face behind the daily paper.
"Oh well," Murdock said, "More for me and Billy." Then a look of shock came over him and he added, "I better see how he's doing, he don't like being cooped up all night!" And with that, he took off running into the next room.
B.A. shook his head and grumbled about, "Crazy fool, ain't no dog."
"I'm starting to wonder," Face confided in his two comrades, "If there isn't, how come she can see Billy too?"
Hannibal turned to their sergeant and said, "He's got a point, B.A."
But he was not convinced. "So what? There still ain't no dog."
"Hey," Jean threw down the paper, "You think I want to see that demonic ball of hair? I hate dogs, always have, always will. I don't care if he doesn't bite, Murdock better keep that dog locked in the other room as long as we're here or I'm going to put it to sleep myself."
B.A. snorted and said, "I'd like to see that."