Chapter 3: Long shot

The next day, a meeting was set up for Face to meet Samantha Bancroft. It was in mutual agreement with Hannibal and the team that he would meet with Samantha on his own. Hannibal (and Stockwell) couldn't risk the possibility of them all walking into a trap. Besides, Face would be discretely accompanied by Ables 8 and 9, who would be keeping an eye on the situation. His liaison with Samantha would take place the following day, as she would be flying in from a secret location, where she had been living since being put on the Witness Protection Program.

"You will be careful, won't you Facey?" fretted a worried Murdock. "We can't rule out the possibility that Luciano could be behind all this."

"Don't worry, Murdock," replied Face. "Luciano had his chance of revenge and failed. I don't suppose anyone else is going to be worried about a vendetta that took place over thirty years' ago now."

Murdock wasn't so sure. There were a number of things that he had reservations about. The necklace for one. If Samantha had been the drug addict that Luciano claimed she was, what was she still doing with the necklace? It was a very rare and valuable piece of jewellery. Surely she would have sold it so she could feed her habit?

Or maybe Stockwell did know more than he was letting on. He had already used Face to set Luciano up over AJ's Diary. And then there was Luciano himself. Murdock didn't trust that dirty rat, even if he was behind bars.

As Face would be gone for a few days, the rest of the team found themselves with further free time on their hands. Murdock knew he had to take this opportunity to discover as much as he could about "Samantha Bancroft". Finding an opportunity to speak with Hannibal on his own, he informed him of his plan.

"Colonel, Sir?" he ventured solemnly.

"Yes, Captain?" answered Hannibal, recognising the official – and serious - tone in Murdock's approach.

"There's someone I need to go and see," said Murdock. "I was wondering if you could square it with Stockwell for me."

"Is this anything to do with Samantha Bancroft?" enquired Hannibal.

Murdock chewed on his lip as he nodded his head tentatively.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" pressed Hannibal further.

"Maybe," said Murdock, twisting his cap nervously in his hands. "But I need to find out a few things for myself first. I'll probably only be away for a couple of days."

"OK, Murdock," concurred Hannibal. "I'll speak to Stockwell."

"Oh, and I'll need a small charter plane," said Murdock, looking a bit sheepish at the extra request. "I need to get to Florida as quickly as possible."

"Florida!" repeated Hannibal, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "Isn't that where Ellen Bancroft lives?"

Murdock nodded again, realising there was no reason to try and hide the truth now that Hannibal was on to him!

"Isn't that a bit risky?" asked Hannibal. "What makes you think she'll even see you."

"Well, I've already spoken to her on the phone," said Murdock. "Face still has her number. She's agreed to see me. If I go now, I can see what I can find out before Face has his meeting tomorrow. But don't tell Face I'm going to see Ellen, Hannibal. I don't want him to worry. Just tell him I've got a shift at the Turkey Farm, or something!"

Hannibal pondered over the pilot's request for a few seconds. Although he would have liked Murdock to confide in him a little more, he totally trusted and respected his decision to want to do this on his own first. And if he had Face's back over something, then the Colonel would just have to wait until Murdock needed his help.

"OK, Captain," he said. "Leave it with me. But if you get into any trouble – or you think Face might be trouble - I want to know about it!"

"Yes, Sir!" replied Murdock, giving Hannibal a firm salute.

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Murdock left for Florida that afternoon, arriving late into the evening. He had made arrangements to meet up with Ellen the next day. He was still tired after his five hour flight from Washington, but nevertheless, he was keen to get on with his investigations. Arriving early at her house the next morning, he waited rather impatiently for her to get the children off to school and clear up after breakfast. Her husband had already left for work.

Ellen had welcomed him warmly into her home. Although her and Face had left their relationship on a rather indifferent and formal note, she was concerned about her half-brother, and was eager to help in any way she could.

"I hope this hasn't been a wasted journey for you, Murdock," she said, busily washing up the last of the breakfast things in the sink. "I really don't know if I'm going to be of much help."

"Well you mentioned on the phone that after AJ's death, some of his possessions had come back to you," said Murdock, grabbing a tea-towel to help dry up the dishes. "I'm hoping that maybe something might spring out at me!"

"That's right," said Ellen. "But I haven't had a chance to look through any of it. I guess I'm not too keen to delve into my father's past now."

"Yes, I understand," said Murdock. "I know this must be hard for you, Ellen, having to drag up your father's past again. I don't really know what I'm looking for, of if I will find it, but I just have to try."

"Why don't you believe that this woman is Samantha Bancroft?" asked Ellen.

"Well let's just say I have reasons to believe that she died back in 1955 – probably sometime after she left Face at the Orphanage," replied Murdock. "So if she is his momma, then I wanna make sure I don't put my big size 10s in it and mess it up for Face!"

"Why would somebody lie about it?" said Ellen. "I mean, you said all the facts and figures in the file Stockwell gave Templeton added up."

"I want to believe it is the truth," replied Murdock. "But there is a lot of people out there who have a grudge against the A-Team or could make a real nice profit out of handing us in. They could be using Face to do this."

"There's something else you're not telling me, Murdock," said Ellen, frowning with concern as she gave the sink a final wipe round.

Murdock sighed as he neatly replaced the wet tea-towel over the radiator. He hadn't told Ellen the whole truth about Luciano and what he had had told him. And he didn't want to frighten her unnecessarily, by telling her what had happened between Luciano and Face.

It had been a big shock to her when she had found out her father had been associated with the Mafia and that her half-brother was a fugitive on the run. Having been through a kidnap ordeal herself, Murdock knew that she still lived in fear that someone would come after her or her family. She had been Mrs Jackson for several years now, but in the world of the Mafia, she would always be known as Ellen Bancroft.

"I just need you to trust me on this, kimosabe," asserted Murdock. "Face won't thank me if I get you involved too much in this. But don't worry, this has got nothing to do with you or your family."

"I appreciate you keeping me out of this, but that's not what is worrying me," said Ellen, rather indignantly. "If Templeton is in danger, then of course I will do everything I can to help."

"I, know, thank-you," said Murdock, smiling politely at her. He didn't want to get into a personal conversation with Ellen about Face. It seemed to him that her concern for his buddy was rather a bit late in coming. The pilot had been angry when he had learned that she had basically shunned their relationship. But then she had her reasons and Face had accepted her decision. It was between them and he wasn't going to judge her for it now.

"I've got AJ's possessions in the attic room," said Ellen, quickly steering the conversation back on course, as she picked up on Murdock's awkwardness. "It's this way," she added, as she dried her hands on the towel on the way out of the kitchen.