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 43 Recaptured

Sand and grit flew at Amy's face as she tried to figure out what was happening.

All she knew for certain was that Murdock was no longer at her side.

"Murdock? Where are you?" She attempted to shout over the rushing wind and fading thumping sound of a chopper engine. At least, she thought it was a helicopter. She wasn't sure she could trust her mind to tell her the truth about what was going on around her.

Her eyelids burned from the flying debris and the sun overhead. She could barely open her eyes to slits. When she did, she saw two blurry shadows moving past her.

"Wake him up. Here. Pour this over his head."

The voice seemed vaguely familiar to her. Or was this the mysterious Cazador Murdock had used in his story?

From somewhere came the sound of liquid splashing. Someone spluttered and gasped.

"Captain Murdock. Nice to see you again, too."

A pause.

"What? You're not happy to see me?" The tone had a sneering quality to it.

"Now that you're awake, you're coming with me. Where's your radio and ear buds? In there? Pass that bag to me."

There was a sound of something heavy being dropped on the ground. Moments later the voice commanded, "Get him in the chopper. I've got all he needs to take with him."

Two pairs of feet scuffled along the ground past her, one person kicking up a lot more dirt than the other. Whoever it was, he struggled against the movement toward the aircraft.

"No! No! Don' do what he says." That was Murdock, his rasping tone desperate and pleading. "Ya gotta help Amy. She's gonna die if ya don't 'n' he knows it."

The footsteps stopped a yard away from her. "She looks really bad, mister. I'm gonna put him in the chopper and come back for the young woman."

"No, you aren't. Do what I say or you won't be flying out of here. Get him in that chopper and tie his hands behind him, then fasten him in securely so he doesn't escape. " Amy squinted and saw the sun glint off a metal object in the speaker's hand.

"Amy!" Murdock choked out her name as the man holding him upright forced him toward the helicopter.

"I can't do anything for her or he's gonna shoot me. Please, don't do anything that gets me killed." The tone of the chopper pilot was both apologetic and panicked.

"No . . . don' do this . . . don' . . . " Murdock's voice faded as the other man half-dragged him to the waiting chopper. In a surge of strength he called out her name one last time. "Amy!"

More footsteps approached her and stopped. "If your friends get here in time for you, you can tell them not to follow us."

"My . . . friends?" she managed to croak.

"Yes, his and your friends. They were lucky at that motel that Captain Murdock didn't blow their brains out. The next time they might not be so lucky. He's mine. He will do whatever I tell him to. Tell them that."

He dropped Murdock's bag a yard away from her, temporarily out of her reach. "There's water in there. Your friends probably won't get here for another twenty minutes so I would ration what you have left." He began to move past her, then smiled down at her. "Oh, and give my regards to Doctor Stafford. I no longer have use for his services but tell him thanks for the technology and for retrieving Murdock from L. A. for me."

Seconds later the helicopter rotor blades began to rotate faster. Amy dragged herself toward Murdock's bag and dug through the contents to find the pilot's Browning. Rolling onto her back, she tried to raise her arms enough to aim at the chopper but then dropped the gun to her side. Her eyesight was too blurry to see anything but the gleam of the sun on metal and glass.

Even if I manage to hit something, there's a small chance I might either hurt or kill Murdock or make the chopper crash.

She closed her eyes and prayed Hannibal, Face and B. A. would arrive soon.

oooooo

Hannibal paused and watched as the chopper in the sky dipped down and landed far ahead of them. "I have to assume Jackson found them. If we don't hurry, he'll have Murdock and Amy on that bird and we won't know where he's taken them."

Face pushed on past the doctor and Hannibal. "Pick up the pace then. He doesn't need Amy for any reason except possibly to persuade Murdock to do what he wants."

"He doesn't need her for that either," Stafford mumbled as he sidestepped a beach ball-sized boulder. Face didn't hear him. The Colonel did.

Hannibal eyed him but said nothing. All Stafford's statement meant was that Jackson might leave Amy in the desert heat once he had Murdock.

That's bad enough. We have to find her quickly and get back to the van as soon as we can to try to trace that chopper.

The pilot was a fighter. He wouldn't go with the Colonel willingly if he was still in his right mind. But from all indications, Murdock was not in his right mind.

He would never have tried to kill us if he wasn't being coerced in some way to do it. Could mind control make Murdock do what he doesn't want to?

Hannibal had seen hypnotists in action but the worst thing they ever did was to make people under their control cluck like chickens. Not try to kill anyone.

They hastened along in silence, sweat dripping from their faces and making their clothes stick to their bodies.

"Hannibal!" B. A. shouted and pointed ahead to where the chopper was lifting off the ground. They were still too far away to see exactly who was in the cockpit or passengers' seats. It rose in the air and took a direct flight away from the trail and westward toward Hurricane.

"We've got to assume Jackson and Murdock are on that chopper." Hannibal said it with a sick feeling in his stomach. He stopped where he was, shielding his eyes against the sun and watching the chopper until it was a dot in the sky.

"So what should we do, Hannibal? Get back to the van and try checking every helicopter service in the area?" Face slowed down and let the Colonel and doctor catch up to him.

"No, because Amy won't be on that chopper. Right, doc?" Hannibal stopped and gave the medical man a look that demanded a straight answer.

"What do you mean?" Face frowned at both men. "Jackson wouldn't leave someone to die in this heat, would he?"

Stafford took the pack of cigarettes from his pocket and removed one. Sticking it between his lips, he took care to light it and inhale before speaking. "If Jackson has the Captain again, he won't need to use the girl's safety as a bribe. Jackson has methods at his disposal to get what he wants. By now, Captain Murdock is going to do what the Colonel says with very little thought and no remorse."

"Then Amy's still ahead of us on the trail. She wouldn't have let them take Murdock if she was able to prevent it. Just like he would protect her with his life." Face swung his attention to B. A. as he returned to find out why they had stopped.

"Face's right. Amy's got guts. Only way they woulda got Murdock on that chopper is if she wasn' able to stop 'em. Same thing with th' fool. He ain' in very good shape if they got him ta get on that bird. He wouldn'ta gone 'less he was forced an' too weak ta resist." The Sergeant scanned the doctor with a large amount of distaste reflected in his scowl.

"Amy needs us." The Lieutenant's simple assessment of the situation prompted the team members to a quicker pace.

"If that woman dies because you let her go after Murdock, Face won't be the only one who'll want both you and Jackson to pay dearly." Hannibal grabbed Stafford by the elbow and pulled him along after them. The doctor barely had time to crush his cigarette underfoot.

oooooo

Murdock regained consciousness to the shock of tepid water being poured over his head. Some got into his nose and made him sputter for breath. When he opened his eyes, the first person he saw was Colonel Jackson. Someone else, likely the chopper pilot, stood behind him.

"Captain Murdock. Nice to see you again, too." If he had the strength to push himself to his feet, he would wipe that leering grin off the military man's face. He balled his hands into fists, wanting in his heart to do as much injury to Jackson as he had seen him do to others in Nam.

But he's got th' upper hand right now.

Jackson sneered as he bent down to look Murdock in the eyes. "What? You're not happy to see me? Now that you're awake, you're coming with me."

The Captain strained to see beyond the two men standing in front of him.

I gotta know what shape Amy's in.

His vision was too blurred to see clearly but it seemed as if she wasn't moving at all.

"Where's your radio and ear buds?"

Jackson's question reminded Murdock of something.

My bag. I got my gun in there. If I could jus' get to it . . .

He gave the olive drab duffel a furtive glance before glaring back at Jackson.

"In there? Pass that bag to me."

Murdock realized his mistake and quietly groaned.

The chopper pilot picked it up and dropped it on the ground at Jackson's feet. The Colonel shook his head in mock disappointment as he surveyed the contents. He reached in and took out the ear buds and radio, dangling them in the Captain's face for a second and smiling before pocketing them. Nodding to the other man, he ordered, "Get him in the chopper. I've got all he needs to take with him."

The tour pilot carefully lifted Murdock by his underarms to his feet, gripping him around the waist to keep him upright. Giving the Captain an apologetic shrug, the pilot began to move with him to the chopper.

Murdock tried to dig in his heels but couldn't get any traction against the forward movement. Dust rose from under his high top tennis shoes as he struggled.

He looked down at Amy as they passed. Wincing at the sight of her sunburned blistered skin and cracked bleeding lips, he noted a faint rapid rise and fall of her chest and realized she was alive.

Atta girl, Amy. Don' give up.

He tried to appeal to the chopper pilot, to get him to stop and give the reporter assistance. "No! No! Don' do what he says. Ya gotta help Amy. She's gonna die if ya don't 'n' he knows it."

The other man scanned the reporter's plight from where he stopped about a yard away. Glancing up at Jackson with concern in his eyes, he gripped Murdock tighter. "She looks really bad, mister. I'm gonna put him in the chopper and come back for the young woman."

Murdock's internal rejoicing was short-lived. Jackson aimed a gun at the two of them and threatened the tour pilot. "No, you aren't. Do what I say or you won't be flying out of here. Get him in that chopper and tie his hands behind him, then fasten him in securely so he doesn't escape."

Crying out Amy's name once more, Murdock felt his energy waning. The other man strong-armed him toward the chopper, muttering an apology as he did.

"I can't do anything for her or he's gonna shoot me. Please, don't do anything that gets me killed."

"No . . . don' do this . . . don' . . . " Murdock continued to plead. Just as they reached the helicopter, he gathered his strength and yelled her name again.

The chopper pilot drew out a length of rope from behind one of the seats. "Please, I hafta do this or he'll kill me. Don't make it difficult."

Murdock stared sullenly at the man for a second before complying and putting his hands behind his back.

The chopper pilot cinched the loop of rope around the Captain's wrists and tied them securely. Helping Murdock into the rear passenger's seat and fastening him in with a harness, the pilot mumbled, "Look. Soon as I get this bird back home and you two leave, I'll call the authorities to find you and get a search and rescue team out here for your friend. I can't do any more than that."

"Ya know he's jus' as likely t' kill ya once ya get us back t' th' helipad, don'tcha? I know this man. He don' play by th' rules."

The tour pilot gave him an uncertain look, then took his seat in the front.

Murdock sighed in frustration. Much as he wanted it to be different, he knew he couldn't ask an innocent civilian to risk his life.

He craned his neck to try to see what was happening between Amy and Jackson. It would be just like Jackson to kill Amy himself so there were no reasons to delay their flight.

If he shoots 'er . . .

But the military man carried the duffel bag over to Amy and placed it just out of her reach.

At least she's got th' rest o' th' water in my bag. If she can get to it.

For a minute the Colonel spoke to the reporter, then moved away from her toward the chopper. When he got there, he dug the ear buds and radio out of his pocket. Placing the listening devices in Murdock's ears and turning on the radio he smiled. "There you go. Some music to get your mind back on business."

The radio was playing The Rolling Stones' Paint It Black. He could not block out the song. Nor could he block out the underlying trigger tones that persuaded him to forget Amy and everything else except Cazador and the mission to assassinate him. He clenched his bound hands together and tore skin with his fingernails to try to focus on something else. It was impossible.

Seeing Murdock's weakening resistance, Jackson nodded, a satisfied smirk on his face. There would be no more trouble. He briskly strode to the copilot's seat and climbed in. Within seconds, the pilot got the rotor blades rotating and lifted the helicopter into the sky.