CHAPTER 4
Ray put his foot down hard on the pedal and they set off to catch up with the others. Their tracks were easy for Fraser to follow and they soon came to a tree lined drive that lead up to a huge mansion house. "I guess this is Anderson's place," suggested Ray.
"I believe you're right Ray," nodded Fraser. "The tracks lead off around to the side. I suggest we proceed with caution."
"Thanks Benny, I hadn't thought of that," smirked Ray.
Fraser opened his mouth to speak again, but then paused. He thought for a moment and then spoke. "You were being sarcastic again, I hope Ray?"
"Yeah Benny," Ray laughed. He drove slowly around to the side of the house and found BA's van parked outside a large outbuilding, but there was no sign of the occupants, nor of the other car. Ray drove around to the back of the outbuilding and was relieved to see a large door open with Janelle and Jenny Kraeley stood at either side of it. The two women smiled and beaconed for Ray to drive in through the door. "At least the girls are OK," said Ray, as he began to drive into the outbuilding.
Fraser looked about uncomfortably. "Ray," he began and Ray was suddenly concerned by the nervousness in his voice, "I think this may be a..." but before he had a chance to finish his sentence, the door to the outbuilding was slammed shut behind them and two armed men appeared, one tall and slim while the other was stockier with dark curly hair, together with Alfie Anderson who was also brandishing a weapon.
"You were going to say 'trap' weren't you Benny," Ray sighed.
"I'm sorry, I should have warned you earlier," Fraser said, apologetically, "but I was distracted by the relief at discovering that the Kraeley sisters are still alive."
Ray managed half a smile at the thought that his partner was distracted by two beautiful girls. "So you Canadians are like regular human beings after all," he said.
"Yes Ray," replied a puzzled Fraser.
The doors of the Riv were pulled open by the two armed men and Fraser and Ray were forcibly dragged from the car. The men quickly discovered Ray's gun and snatched it from him, hurling it back towards the Riv and it struck the side of the car with a clatter. "Watch the paintwork," shouted Ray, earning him a punch in the face from the taller man. The shorter man picked up Ray's gun and put it in his pocket. Then Ray and Fraser were marched across the room to join the others who were all tied up with their hands behind their backs. Fraser quickly assessed the situation. It appeared that there had been a fist fight at some stage as the shorter man had bruising around his jaw and BA had a small cut to the side of his head. Hannibal seemed remarkably calm under the circumstances.
"So I got me some cops too," Anderson grinned, wickedly. "I thought I'd paid Ramsay enough to stay out of it, but I guess I didn't count on you two interfering." He looked Fraser up and down. "What the hell kind of cop are you anyway?"
"RCMP," replied Fraser, as he and Ray were shoved to the ground and tied together.
Anderson looked puzzled. "He's Canadian," added Ray, by way of explanation. They dress smart like that all the time up there. Maybe you two clowns should take some style tips from the Canucks?" Ray was rewarded for his sarcasm by another punch in the face, this time from the man with the curly hair.
"He has a point," Face chipped in, "you look like a couple of winos." At this, the taller man kicked Face in the stomach and Face doubled over with the pain.
"Enough!" shouted Anderson. "I didn't realise I'd hired a couple of Neanderthals. Where are my other men?" he asked.
"Oh they're a little tied up at the moment," Ray replied grinning. He'd always wanted an opportunity to use that line. He braced himself for another punch, but fortunately it never came.
"As are we," noted Fraser. Ray scowled. He didn't need reminding.
"Hey sleazeball," Hannibal called out. "Are you planning on leaving us here like this? I was kinda hoping we could continue where we left off this morning. Seems only fair that we shoot up your place now."
"Shut up," Anderson leaned over and got his face up close to Hannibal's. "I haven't decided what to do with you yet. I can't kill the girls until they sign over the warehouse to me, so maybe I'll give you a while to persuade them to do just that." Anderson turned to Jenny and tried to kiss her. Jenny spat in his face. Anderson reached out his hand and grabbed the woman angrily by the throat but Fraser threw himself sideways, knocking her from the man's grasp, taking Ray with him as he moved of course, as their hands were tied together. Anderson stood up.
"Stay away from her," said Fraser, looking Anderson directly in the eye.
Anderson laughed. "I see they still haven't lost the art of chivalry up in Canada," he said. Then his face returned to a more menacing look. "You tell these dumb Americans that I want their warehouse and I can be very very persuasive," he said as he ran his hands through a terrified Janelle's hair.
"Don't you touch my sister!" screamed Jenny.
"Oh I do like my girls feisty," replied a sneering Anderson. "I'm almost hoping your friends here can't persuade you to sell up, I'm looking forward to persuading both of you myself." With that, he left the building, closely followed by his two men.
As soon as they heard the door lock behind them, Fraser spoke. "Is everyone alright?" he asked. "Ray, I can't see your face, are you alright?"
"I'm fine Benny," replied Ray with a sigh, although he could almost feel his eye socket swelling. "What happened?" he asked.
"We were ambushed," replied Face, clearly annoyed. "Couldn't do a thing about it."
"I thought the best thing was to let them take us, then maybe we can find out what's going on," explained Hannibal.
"Wait a minute," said BA angrily. "You LET 'em take us?"
"Yeah," laughed Hannibal. "Great idea, huh?" he grinned. Face and Murdock looked at each other and groaned.
BA shook his head, before muttering under his breath, "He's on the jazz again."
Ray shook his head. Hannibal seemed crazier than Murdock. "What are you doing Benny?" he asked, as Fraser began wriggling around, pulling his arms in circular motions.
"I believe I can free one hand," explained Fraser and with one final tug, he did exactly that. He was quickly able to free his other hand and untie Ray. Together, they worked to free the others. Fraser helped Jenny to her feet and the grateful woman threw her arms around him. Fraser's throat felt suddenly dry and he ran a finger around the collar of his tunic. "If you'll excuse me, I must liberate Diefenbaker from Ray's vehicle," he said quietly and slipping out of Jenny's clutches, he half ran to the Riv and let Dief out from his hiding place.
Face noticed the reaction with some amusement. "Don't worry ladies," he said, putting his arms around the shoulders of both women, "we're all going to be OK. We just need to wait for Hannibal to come up with a plan for getting us out of here." He glanced at his commanding officer as he spoke, hoping that Hannibal would come up with a sensible plan this time, although he knew it would most likely be a crazy plan as usual.
Fraser turned his attention to Ray. He peered closely at his partner's eye, rummaging in his pocket for something. "Ray, I think you're going to have a rather nasty black eye in no time at all," he said. He handed Ray a small container, unscrewing the lid as he did so. "You may wish to apply some of this. It will reduce the swelling and ease the discomfort."
Ray took the pot from Fraser and stared at it for a moment before taking a sniff. "Jeez Fraser!" he exclaimed. "This stuff stinks, what the hell is it?"
"That's really not important at this juncture," replied Fraser, flatly, aware that some of the natural ingredients were particularly pungent. "It's an Inuit remedy. It is very effective."
Ray looked at his friend with his nose still reeling from the stench. He sighed. He wasn't in the mood for arguing and if this stuff really worked then he'd be grateful for its effects. He stuck a finger into the gunge and applied it liberally to the side of his face.
"Security's pretty tight," noted Face, who had been trying the windows with Murdock. "Anderson doesn't want us getting out of here in a hurry."
BA growled in agreement. He had been busy trying to get the door open, but even with all of his strength, it wouldn't budge.
Fraser spoke to BA. "Sergeant, you may like to apply some of this to that cut on your face." Fraser offered BA a taller jar containing another Inuit concoction. BA sneered at him. "It will aid the healing process and prevent infection." BA still didn't say anything.
"C'mon BA," ordered Hannibal, in an authoritative voice, "I need you fit."
Murdock moved to stand beside Fraser. "If you like, I can apply the ointment," he offered, or rather Constable Handy Left made the offer.
BA turned to Hannibal. "His hand's talkin' again Hannibal," he moaned. "You'd better tell 'im to stop his craziness before I cause 'im some real bad pain!"
"BA," Hannibal said in a low warning tone.
Murdock removed the lid from the container and poured some of the greenish liquid onto a handkerchief he'd pulled from his pocket. Then he reached out to BA, but before he knew it, BA had sidestepped him and run across the building. Murdock/Constable Left set off in hot pursuit. The others laughed. It was a welcome amusement from the seriousness of their current predicament.
Fraser turned to Hannibal. "What is your plan?" he asked. "We appear to be trapped in this outbuilding. We can safely assume that Anderson has armed guards surrounding us in case we do attempt to escape. We are at a significant disadvantage as I assume they confiscated your weapons? Ray still has his back up gun, but that will not be a lot of use under heavy fire." He glanced towards the Kraeley sisters, who were both now being comforted by Face. He spoke again, his voice quieter now. "I assume that Anderson intends to kill us if ownership of the warehouse is not transferred to him. He also made quite clear his intentions towards to Janelle and Jenny."
Hannibal's face was as serious as Fraser had seen it so far. "Don't worry Constable," he said, "My unit and I will not let anything happen to those girls." He gave Fraser a quick salute and Fraser returned the gesture.
Suddenly they turned around as they heard a crash. Murdock had cornered BA beside a shelving unit and in his eagerness for Constable Handy Left to apply Fraser's antiseptic treatment, he'd sent BA crashing to the ground. BA ignored Murdock's outstretched hand and attempted to get to his feet without help, but as he did so his arm caught a tarpaulin that had been draped over something. A huge grin spread across the Sergeant's face as he revealed what was underneath the tarpaulin. Fraser and Ray found it very disconcerting to see the usually angry man smiling. "Look Hannibal," said BA.
Hannibal also broke into a huge grin as he realised that hidden underneath the rather tatty old sheet was a collection of welding equipment and other tools. "Nice," he said, pulling a cigar from his jacket pocket.
Face crossed to where something else was hidden beneath a tarpaulin. He dragged the sheet off and smiled as he saw what had been hidden from sight. "Hannibal, we can do something with all this too," he said, indicating a huge pile of drainpipes and smaller plumbing accessories.
"Very nice," nodded Hannibal as he bit the end off the cigar. "Now all we need is..."
He didn't get to finish his sentence as Dief began barking at a metal storage cupboard. Murdock opened the door to reveal bags of fertiliser. "This Colonel?" he said, bending down to pat Dief on the back. Hannibal began to laugh, a slightly manic laugh.
Fraser looked puzzled. "Colonel, forgive me for being a little slow on the uptake here," he began, scratching his eyebrow with his thumb, "but whilst I can see how the tools may be of use in facilitating our escape, I'm not entirely sure what you intend to do with the pipes or the fertiliser?"
Constable Left answered the question. "I believe we will use these random items to create a weapon or weapons capable of blasting our way out of here and overpowering the criminals."
"Ah," replied Fraser. He thought it most fortuitous that Anderson had locked them in this outbuilding with such a useful selection if items.
"We're gonna need somthin' to transport it on Hannibal," noted BA, picking up some old bicycle wheels that were thrown in a corner, but almost immediately discarding them.
Hannibal was still laughing as he puffed on his cigar. He looked over to where Ray's car was parked. Ray caught him looking. "No!" he exclaimed, "no way. You're not touching my baby. Not the Riv, no way! It is a thing of beauty, not a battle vehicle. Do you know how rare it is to see a 1972 Buick Riviera in Chicago?"
"Ray," began Fraser, deciding it best not to mention that he'd actually spotted two almost identical vehicles in the few weeks since he'd arrived, "it may be our only means of escape." Ray continued to protest, but Fraser added, "The alternative is that we will most likely be killed, leaving the Kraeley sisters to their fate at the hands of Anderson and his men."
Ray shuddered at that prospect. "There's no other way?" he asked, hopefully.
"Sorry Ray," said Fraser, seriously.
"Don't worry about your car Detective," smiled Face. "BA's very careful. Once we're done here he'll get your car back to pristine condition. You'll never even know there was anything welded onto it in the first place." BA picked up a selection of tools and walked over to the Riv.
"Welded onto it!" repeated Ray, suddenly slightly panic stricken.
"Ray," said Fraser calmly, holding his friend back by the shoulders. He spoke to BA now, who had already started dismantling parts of Ray's car. "What can we do to help?"