35 Murdock's Report
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"Stay with me, Captain." Hannibal barely muttered the words as Murdock's breathing became gasps and his face contorted with pain.
If he wakes up and he thinks he's in the POW camp . . .
He quickly knelt on the floor of the van, his knees popping their protests as he did. "Stay with me. You're going to be alright." He stroked the other man's forehead. It was an awkward gesture for him to do but one he had seen Face use successfully when the pilot was delirious in the past. It seemed to settle him down like words couldn't.
The younger man swallowed twice and moaned.
The Colonel checked his pulse once again and as he did, the pilot's eyelids struggled open.
"H . . .Han . . . ni . . . " he managed before groaning again. His eyelids slid shut and he reached for the older man's sleeve.
At least he's awake. But he has to be injured worse than I can see.
"Shh. Don't talk now. We're on our way to Alturas to the emergency room." As much as the Colonel wanted to find out what Murdock knew about the crash or the men who had taken Face and Melody, he couldn't let him use all of his remaining strength to tell about it. He grasped Murdock's hand gently and returned it to rest on his stomach.
There's got to be a way of finding out what happened without draining him of his energy.
Murdock drew in a shuddering breath and weakly shook his head back and forth, then groaned with the movement. "Can't. G . . . gotta . . . g . . . go . . . "
"You ain' goin' nowhere but ta see the doc, fool." B. A. kept his head turned forward but his eyes peered up at the rear view mirror, seeking out Hannibal's face. The Colonel nodded to reassure him. B. A. still looked as if he wanted to be back there to see for himself the pilot was going to live. Hannibal rarely saw him that panic-stricken.
"He gonna die?" Scott squeaked. He had squeezed himself against the interior side panel, about as far away from Hannibal and Murdock as he could get. His gaze fixated on the pilot's blood-soaked sleeve.
"Wrong question to ask me, pal," the Colonel snapped. Especially since we don't know if you pulled the trigger that injured him.
Hannibal's steel-blue eyes flickered over the would-be stalker's face. The kid was young, too young to be involved with the likes of Frankie and whoever his boss was.
He can't be more than 20, maybe 25.
He was scared, too. The bruise B. A. left on his chin was darkening and made him look even younger and somehow vulnerable. He wrapped his arms around himself as if he was freezing.
Murdock had heard the voice. He forced his eyelids open again and frowned, his eyes searching the van for the stranger. As he did, Hannibal saw that his pupils were unevenly dilated.
Damn! I guess he did get injured in the crash. Probably a concussion.
"Wh . . . who's . . . ?" He gritted his teeth, then gave up with a small whimper, tried to raise his injured arm to his head but couldn't. "H . . . hurts too . . . m . . . much."
"I know, son, I know." Using the word 'son' with Murdock felt strange. He wasn't sure if Murdock understood how responsible he felt for what happened to him.
The pilot tried but failed to focus on Hannibal's face. A strangled sob escaped his lips. "Face . . . "
The Colonel forced his voice to be calm. He had to get some answers before he charged into Jack's hideout to find Melody and Face. "Captain, I'm going to ask you some questions. All I want you to say is yes or no. Don't try to say anything more than that. Okay?"
"B . . . but . . . Han . . . "
"No, that's an order. I want you to stay awake but I don't want you to use up your strength trying to speak. Is that clear, Captain?"
Murdock heaved a faint sigh of frustration but dipped his head slightly up and down in a nod. This time when he concentrated on Hannibal's face, his eyes were dark and solemn. Almost too solemn.
"Were you awake when the car crashed into the tree?"
"Yes." A whispered response accompanied by his eyes screwed shut as if he was seeing it all again.
"Were Melody and Face taken by someone?"
His eyelids flew open again. "Yes." The reply was edged with anguish.
"Was Face injured?"
The tone was heavy with grief. "Yes."
Of course. That would be the only way they'd be able to capture Face.
"Was Melody?"
Again the hand snaked up to grip Hannibal's sleeve. For a moment the Colonel thought the pilot was going to try to use the leverage to sit up.
"Help . . . 'em, C . . . Colonel."
Rather than agitate Murdock any more than he was, Hannibal changed his next question. Both Melody and Face were injured. That was certain. But they were both still alive.
"That's what I intend to do, Captain, but I need to know how many there were. Two?"
Murdock remained silent, his chest heaving with the memory only he could see. His gaze had become distant.
"Captain, how many? Three?" Hannibal moved so his face was only a foot from the other man's. Slowly Murdock refocused on him.
"Four," the pilot breathed out, his fingers pressing into the flesh on the Colonel's arm. "H . . . help 'em, H . . . ann'bal."