Chapter Three
The hooch, which had been recently vacated, stank of jungle rotten feet. Face sighed; he had scammed far better places in the past, but time hadn't been on his side. Plus, nurse…ah…uh…was it Cindy or Candy? Damn that one pesky vowel. Well, whatever her name was, she didn't seem to mind the smell.
Dark, delicately curved lashes batted playfully across her vibrant green eyes—sending a shiver of anticipation sparking through him. The atmosphere might have been lacking, but all that really mattered was that they were alone.
Courtesy of his talents and connections, the scent of a posh Parisian lavender shampoo lingered in her auburn hair; he leaned closer, taking in more of her sweet aroma. The simple fragrance mingled with the warmth radiating from her made him want to whimper. Instead, he offered her his best, most dazzling smile.
Yeah, Colonel Smith was probably going to string him up for being AWOL for so long, but for now…
"Oh Temp," she squealed, slightly pushing him back to take another bite of her sundae. "You shouldn't have gone to so much trouble. I can't believe you got us ice cream!"
With effort, he held his cringe in. Why was it that she was gorgeous beyond all reason but had a voice like Olive Oyl? And how did she manage to make every single syllable a decibel louder than the last? This had to be a cruel cosmic joke. Maybe it was some sort of karma for all the lousy stunts he pulled on the nuns when he was a kid.
A contented sigh escaped from her, causing Face to flinch. Nervously, he watched her mouth, waiting for the inevitably horrendous moment when she would again speak.
"This is so good!" She raised a gooey spoonful of semi-melted ice cream up to his face. "Temp, are you sure you don't want some?"
Holding his seemingly genuine smile in place had turned into an excruciating task. Good God, how much ice cream could the woman eat? More importantly, why had he thought she'd make a nice last hurrah before Hannibal tracked him down? Sure the body was nice, but there was only crazy under the hood.
"No, I'm fine, thanks," he answered softly, as he eyed her carefully, reevaluating his desire.
Upon hearing his polite decline, she hastily crammed the spoonful of liquidy dessert into her mouth—smacking, slurping and groaning as she savored the sugary treat.
Face couldn't help himself— his suave demeanor faltered. He grimaced as a thin trail of dark syrup slowly dribbled down her chin, unsure if her overall sexiness outweighed the grotesqueness of her etiquette any longer.
"So good…" She whispered, revealing heavily chocolate-coated teeth.
He gagged a little, but, luckily, she was still so engrossed in her dessert that she failed to notice.
"You know," She twirled her spoon before sinking it into the bowl for another helping. "Matt never does anything this nice for me. Well, at least he never did."
Damn. She was back to talking about her ex. Face reached into his pocket and pulled out a crisp, clean handkerchief. Seeing as he had no time left to rustle up a new date, there was no way in hell he was giving up on this gal yet. However, before he tried to make his move, he had to get her cleaned up.
"You've just got a little something…" He reached out and gently dabbed her face with the cloth, but, finding the sticky mess difficult to remove, he soon started scrubbing.
As she giggled and fidgeted in his grasp, he glanced down, eyeing the buttons on her blouse—not one was undone. Well, he could solve that little problem.
"Hey." He stopped wiping her face; his tone was carefully controlled, serious. "You know you're too good for your old boyfriend, Max, right?"
"Matt," she corrected, and then, brow creasing, her eyes met his. "Do you really think so?" The words came out in a breathless whisper, laced with hope and longing.
Face let the thinness hint of a smile grace his face; sometimes, the key to a successful seduction was in creating the proper distraction. Staring deep into her eyes, he slowly maneuvered the spoon from her hand and set it, along with her bowl, aside.
"I do." He answered—his voice soft as he pressed closer to her; she was so entranced by his gaze that she still had yet to perceive the subtle change.
Then, as if on cue, her breathing fell into synch with his. Slowly wrapping his arms around her, Face watched in subdued excitement as all the elements of passion fell into place.
Lust filled eyes stared up at him, pleading for his touch. Her finely curved jaw clenched and then slowly relaxed—her lips parting ever so slightly. Chests pressed close, he could feel the rapid beating of her heart and knew she could feel his.
A tiny tremble ran through her body as she hesitantly began to lean forward, slowly drawing her lips closer to his. Closing his eyes, he tilted his head and leaned down, eager to close the gap between them.
Then, just as he felt the first warm flush of her lips as they brushed up against his, the hooch door crashed open—followed immediately by a child's voice shouting, "Moo-Dog! Moo-Dog!"
For a split second, he couldn't tell which had startled him more, the unexpected arrival of the gangly Vietnamese boy or the fact that the nurse was screaming shrilly into his ear. In the end, he figured it was a combination of the two.
After Cindy, or Candy or whoever she was had calmed down, she awkwardly scooted away from Face and offered the new arrival a tentative smile.
"What does he want?" she asked through clenched teeth—as if the kid wouldn't notice she'd spoken since her mouth hadn't opened. Ok, so maybe the gal was a little dense.
The kid's sly grin slid from Face to the woman; his gaze lingering momentarily on her cleavage—which had been exposed when Face's nimble fingers had ever-so-stealthily undone three buttons on her top during their embrace; she probably hadn't even realized it yet.
After a brief blush brightened the kid's cheeks, he turned his attention back to Face. "Moo-dog say go-go," he stated, clearly expecting to be understood.
Face frowned. What the hell was that supposed to…uh….ah...wait…damn. This had to be Murdock's signal. Man, the guy sure knew how to ruin a good time.
"Yeah, I got it, thanks." Face smiled, trying to wave the boy off, but the kid was having nothing of it.
"Moo-dog say go!"
Shit. The colonel must've been on the move if he had found Murdock already.
"I've got to go…" He closed his eyes, deciding which name to pick, but in the end, he chose the safest route. "…honey." Then, hopefully, he added. "Maybe I can get a rain-check?"
She smiled. "Maybe."
"Moo-dog say…"
"Go," Face laughed, "yeah, I know." He stood, suddenly really regretting he didn't know the nurse's name. "I'll be seeing you then…" Ah hell, why not go for it; he had a fifty-fifty chance. "…Cindy."
Her expression darkened. "Cheryl," she replied, inviting gaze gone.
Damn— that was too bad. Writing this date off as a complete failure, he gave her one final wave before marching out of the hooch. There was no use wasting words here; it was obvious he wasn't going to have a lick of luck with her anymore. Plus, he had a hospital to get to and a colonel to con.
He chose the least visible route to the infirmary; it would've been a shame to run into Colonel Smith and Murdock. However, a couple of sergeants did managed to stop him, eager to find out if he had obtained certain items for them yet—which he hadn't. Thankfully, the conversations ended abruptly when they learned he didn't have the goods.
By the time he reached his destination, he half expected to find the colonel and the captain already there, waiting for him; fortunately, they were not.
Strolling into the medical hooch, he gave the nurse on duty a warm smile. She had a pudgy, pleasant face and a little more girth in her midsection than he usually went for, but, with her curly hair up in pigtails, she was still kind of 'girl next door' pretty.
"Hi darling," he cooed, watching her smile shyly back at him. "Did you bring me a book like I asked for—something a hard-ass colonel would've never read?"
She scurried across the room, retrieved an item and then timidly returned. Dark eyes nervously set on Face, she handed the book over.
"Little Women?" He chuckled. Well, Smith probably hadn't read that. "It's perfect, thanks." He looked over, taking in the giddy tension straining her expression.
Seeing him staring, she blushed and looked blankly down at her feet. "I…I think you should read to Private O'Donnell." Her voice was as smooth as silk—he could've listened to her talk all day.
"O'Donnell's willing to play along?" He asked, wondering what he'd have to get the man for his cooperation.
A tender smile reached her ruby lips. "He's heavily sedated. He won't wake up."
Dear lord, Face actually considered marrying the woman on the spot. She'd just made his life so much easier.
"You're a peach!" He glanced around. "Which bed is he in…uh…ah…"
"My name is Cindy," she answered, still smiling. "And he's right over there."
Face spun away quickly, to conceal his surprise. Cindy? What were the odds of that? Her soft sigh sounded behind him as he stepped away—moving toward O'Donnell. As soon as he sat at the wounded man's bedside, he heard the door to the hooch open. That had to be Smith and Murdock.
Positioning himself with his back to the door, Face took in a deep, even breath. The last forty-eight hours had all worked up to this. Slowly exhaling, he opened the book and began to quietly read aloud.
He could hear the muted footsteps of the men as they drew closer, and it took everything in him not to spin around. Without really focusing on the words, he read in a vacantly chipper voice—it was a book about women…how heavy could the topics really be?
"Lieutenant Peck." There was a slight hint of disgust in the way Smith said his name.
"Oh…" Face glanced up and gave a weak smile. "I didn't see you come in, sir."
Murdock stood behind Smith, his tall frame hunched—brown eyes seemingly already imploring Face for forgiveness.
The colonel frowned. "Yeah…like hell you didn't. Where've you been?"
Ok, it was time to give the performance of his life. "I've been here the whole time. I know I should have checked in but…"
"Cut the crap, lieutenant, I know you haven't been here the whole time."
Mouth open, Face gaped at the colonel; he had expected this, but he had to play his part. "I-I…well…you can even ask Cindy." He pointed at the nurse, but found her nervously shifting around in the far corner; she wasn't going to be any help—not against an irate lieutenant-colonel.
"Now tell me…" Smith said, a slight smirk sliding onto his face. "…why did you just read that page with so much delight? I, myself, always thought it was the unhappiest part of the book—with the death and all."
Holy hell—Smith had read Little Women? That he hadn't expected.
"But…" Smith continued. "I guess that's not important right now. What is important is that I found you…with the help of your friend, Captain Murdock. It seems you two met back in Da Nang?"
This next part wasn't going to be pleasant. Dread bubbled in Face's stomach as he glanced over at Murdock. The captain looked miserable and Face was about to make it even worse. He hoped the man would forgive him later.
Peck slowly got to his feet, his gaze still fixed on Murdock. "I can't believe you told him we knew each other! Isn't that exactly what I told you not to do? All you had to do was point him in my direction, how could you mess that up?"
"Aw man…" Murdock's voice was soft, lacking the anger Face would have expected from anyone else. "You didn't tell me it was forty-eight hours you was gone for Face…"
"It was the nickname, wasn't it?" Face whined; damn, it was hard watching the hurt in Murdock's expression, but this would all be worth it in the end. "He heard you call me by it, didn't he? I told you…"
"You knew Williams' was short, didn't you?" Hannibal said, cutting Face off. "And you somehow managed to get your friend assigned to our team for this next mission—hoping that he'd impress me and I'd keep him on as our pilot. But you didn't want me to know why or how the captain got here, so Murdock wasn't supposed to let it slip that you two knew each other, right?"
"I didn't think you'd give him a chance if you knew we were friends," Face answered sullenly, and judging by the look Smith gave him, his assumption had been correct.
There was a long moment of silence. Smith's gaze kept creeping from Face to Murdock and then back again.
"Peck," Smith said slowly. "I want a full account of where you've been for the last forty-eight hours."
Peck blinked. "Um…right now?"
"No," Smith snipped, "I want it next Thursday—of course I want it right now!"
Clenching his jaw, Face glared at Smith before turning his gaze to Murdock.
The pilot's large brown eyes were pleading for him to cooperate with the colonel; Face could see it and he was sure Smith could see it as well. Gradually, Face relaxed and gave the captain a feeble smile—which the man quickly returned. Everything was going according to plan. Still, it was too bad he couldn't have let Murdock in on the real con, but the performance wouldn't have been nearly as good if he had.
Finally, with a sigh, Face turned his attention back to Smith. "I had to do a lot of leg work to get Murdock assigned to us—that ate up most of the first twenty-four hours. Then…" He paused, making sure his hesitation was noted by the colonel before he continued. "I scavenged up a few supplies and made friends with those marines from C-company."
"The guys that want to maul BA?" The confusion on Smith's face was absolutely priceless.
"Well, after BA knocked their lieutenant unconscious about ten seconds after we got to Phan Rang, I can't say I blame them much…but I've made nice with them. With enough booze, cigarettes and girly magazines, their anger has subsided. BA is no longer a walking dead-man."
Though he obviously tried to hide it, a slight smirk edged onto the colonel's face. "Anything else you'd like to fess up to?"
Face grinned. "I had a date, but I'd rather not go into details—if you know what I mean." He immediately regretted the last comment as he spied Cindy dejectedly staring at him from across the room; she quickly turned away, busying herself with a patient.
"Did you really think that I was going to buy that you stayed here for the last forty-eight?" Smith asked, and, startled out of his thoughts of Cindy, Face glanced up at the colonel.
"Yeah, I did," Face lied. "I had a lot on my plate. I guess I didn't think this through very well." Hopefully the colonel would believe that—Face had only been with the team for two missions, so he didn't yet have the best read on the CO yet.
Smith seemed to be contemplating his response. His gaze was again shifting from Face to Murdock.
Colonel Smith wasn't stupid; Face knew that at least. This guy needed a little extra finesse to be conned.
Generally, Face would've never shared any details of his wheeling and dealing with a CO, and Smith had to have known that—he had to have recognized the huge leap Face had taken, and the colonel had to be wondering why he had. The only difference this time was Murdock.
From the start, Face had known Murdock would slip; he had known the captain would use his nickname and that the colonel would quickly catch on. He never doubted that Smith would piece together the fact that Face had maneuvered Murdock onto the team.
Being AWOL was all part of the plan. He had to push the boundaries and hope he hadn't gone too far; there was always a chance that Smith would just give up and report him, but he was willing to bet that wouldn't happen. Plus, getting Baracus out of hot water was a nice way to buffer Smith's anger. If the con worked, Smith would assume that Murdock had softened Face up, and that would be all the more reason to keep the pilot around in the future.
Smith eyed Face carefully. "We have a meeting with Morrison at seventeen hundred hours, but I'm sure Captain Murdock already informed you of that."
"Yes, sir." Face replied, still uncertain of his fate.
"I don't want you pulling any more crap behind my back. Come and talk with me first, understand?"
Obediently, Face nodded. "Yes, sir."
Hannibal's gaze swept across both men. "You're dismissed."
Face turned to leave, but then paused; he couldn't go—not without knowing for sure if his plan had worked. "Uh…Colonel Smith?"
"Call me Hannibal, all my men do. I'll see you and Murdock at seventeen hundred." Smith replied. "Oh, and, Face, don't be late."