Every Thought Captive
Disclaimer: I do not own The A Team movie or television series or any of the delightful characters found on The A Team.
Chapter 2 Signs of Struggle
Face watched as six Tannini muscle men disappeared inside the office building. Several minutes later, four more armed men glanced around at their surroundings before entering the doors.
Hannibal and B. A. should be on their way to meet us. Wonder what the Colonel has planned for Tannini after this.
Four more men entered the building, something that made Face begin to wonder.
Is there some kind of convention going on in there just for armed goons? They can't all be Tannini's men.
He monitored the two tracking devices on separate screens. When the blips on the screen for the walkie talkie remained in one place and the other screen showed the person possessing the mini-camera on the move, he frowned. Amy and Murdock had separated. That couldn't possibly be good news.
In a few minutes both screens indicated the Captain and the reporter were in the same place and headed to the roof. That was even more suspicious. A helicopter hovered over the building before settling onto the helipad.
By the time Hannibal and B. A. arrived on the scene, Tannini's goons were on their way back to the car in which they had arrived. They looked as if they had nothing to report to Tannini. The other eight men were still in the building.
"So where's Amy and Murdock, Lieutenant?" Hannibal spoke around the stub of a cigar he had been smoking since leaving the storefront housing the Tannini escort service. The twinkle in his eye indicated he was still feeling "the jazz."
B. A. struggled out of the suit jacket he wore and tossed it unceremoniously over the back of the van's driver's seat. "Don' know why I had to be the client an' not you, Hannibal. You look better in a suit an' ya made me take off my gold to do it."
"Now, B. A. They would have recognized me in a moment if I had pretended to be looking for female company. Tannini already knew what I looked like and we couldn't run the risk of tipping them off early. They had never seen you." The Colonel smiled and ground out the cigar under his foot before glancing over the Lieutenant's shoulder at the twin screens.
"They almost had me hooked up wit' a young lady 'fore you came in." The Sergeant continued to grumble as he undid the tie and wrestled it off from around his neck. He stuffed it in a pocket of the suit jacket. He unbuttoned and took off the dress shirt to reveal a red long-sleeved knit shirt underneath. Removing a shoe box from the back of the van, he began to painstakingly drape each gold chain around his neck.
"I've always said Face wasn't the only lady-killer on this team." Hannibal winked at the Lieutenant as B. A. shot him a murderous glance. "So where are they? I'd like nothing better than to wrap this mission up and getting those documents sent to the right authorities should just about do it."
"They should be on their way downstairs but the tracking devices show them on the roof." Face glared at the two screens as if he could force the two blips to begin to move in the correct direction by sheer willpower. The walkie talkie blip vanished suddenly. Face stared at the screen in dismay.
"I think we've got trouble, Hannibal."
"A malfunction?" The Colonel squinted at the blank screen. The blip on the other screen moved a short distance, then stopped.
"Shouldn' be, Colonel. I checked those trackers myself." B. A. glowered at the two men, a hint of worry in his voice.
From high above they could hear the sound of the helicopter engine as it got ready to take off. Two of the armed men left the building and got into a parked black sedan with tinted windows.
"Face, stay with the van and watch those screens. B. A. and I'll go and check it out." Hannibal began to move away from the van, the black Sergeant following. The helicopter rose into the sky and adjusted its path slightly before taking off in a northeasterly direction.
The sedan's engine roared as the driver made a U-turn in the street and sped away. The other four men left the building on a run and scurried into another parked sedan. That car followed the other away from the scene.
"Colonel!" Face shouted to Hannibal, stopping him in his tracks. As the Colonel frowned back at him, he pointed toward the receding helicopter. "I think they went thataway."
"Amy or Murdock might still be in there. We'll go check out the roof and Tannini's office and get back here as quickly as we can. Keep your eyes on that screen and start plotting a course to follow that helicopter." Hannibal's smile disappeared as he gave the orders.
B. A. and Hannibal took the elevator to the floor where Tannini's office was located. The door was locked and there were no sounds coming from within.
"The stairs?" The Sergeant raised his eyebrows.
The Colonel nodded. "Check it out. See if there's any evidence of a struggle. I'll take the elevator to the roof. We'll meet back at the van in fifteen minutes."
Hannibal watched B. A. open the door to the stairway and then he punched the up button for the elevator. Getting in, he located the button for the roof and pressed it. Keeping his eye on the numbers to the floors as the car ascended to the roof, the Colonel felt uneasy. His hand wandered to the Smith and Wesson in its shoulder holster. He snapped off the safety strap and positioned his hand around the grip.
Whatever happened to Murdock and Amy, it's got nothing to do with Tannini. I'm almost certain of it. But if not him, who?
The door dinged and opened to a series of creaks and squeaks. As soon as Hannibal stepped onto the rooftop, he could see why the tracking device had malfunctioned. Scooping up and pocketing the remains of the walkie talkie, he examined the gravely surface underneath him. Four faint scuff marks from something . . . or two someones . . . being dragged to the helipad were the only other signs of trouble. But those signs were enough for the Colonel.
He took the elevator down to the ground floor and ran across to the van just as B. A. was settling himself into the driver's side. Face was in the back seat.
"Wherever they're going, it's out of the city, Hannibal." Face's voice was strained as the Colonel climbed in and shut his door.
Hannibal noted the edge to his Lieutenant's tone.
I know he's worried about Murdock. They're practically like brothers. But he's been hovering closely around Amy lately, too. If he's involved with her on more than a professional level . . .
"Gotta get movin', Colonel. Found some blood on the wall a coupla floors down. Don' know whose it is. No blood up or down from there so they mighta taken the elevator on that floor." B. A. had the engine running. He paused and glanced at the Colonel. "What about the walkie talkie?"
Hannibal pressed his lips together in a tight line before removing the smashed walkie talkie from his pocket and tossing it on the dashboard. The sight of it made the Lieutenant clench his teeth.
"Hannibal," he muttered. "Amy and Murdock . . . "
The Colonel cut off Face's sentence. "Let's go, B. A. We don't know who we're dealing with and what they want with our pilot and Amy but it can't be anything good. What's our course, Lieutenant?" He didn't want to think about the reasons behind this kidnapping and he didn't want the others to, either.
They all needed to remain focused if they were ever going to see Murdock and Amy again. Of that, he was certain.