Chapter 6: Out of the frying pan into the fire!
The Mayflower Hotel was a small but fairly luxurious hotel. Murdock drove around the parking bay and it wasn't long before he spotted the Pontiac. He pulled up in the space opposite it and switched off the engine. He unpinned his name tag and took a few moments to work out what he was going to do next. He called Hannibal to let him know he was at the hotel and gave him the registration number of the Pontiac, in the hope that Hannibal could find out any information from it.
Switching the engine back on, he took a quick look around him to make sure there was nobody around and then proceeded to reverse back into the front of the Pontiac. He closed his eyes briefly as he heard the sound of metal fusing together and then drove back into his parking space again.
Scribbling down the registration number on a piece of paper, he got out of the car and took a few seconds to admire his handy-work. He rubbed his hands together in glee at the fairly noticeable dent in the front of the Pontiac.
He went to Reception and hoped the usual scam of pretending to be a concerned citizen who had just reversed into a guest's car, would get him in the door – or at least draw the perpetrator out of the room. He was pleased to see that the Receptionist was a pretty young lady, whom he could work his school boy charms on!
"Excuse me, Miss?" he said, throwing her his most alluring smile. "I seemed to have reversed my car into a very expensive looking Pontiac in the parking bay. I have the registration number here and would be most grateful if you could inform the guest of my little mishap. Or better still, if you could give me the room number, I could make the apologies myself?"
"I'm afraid it's company policy not to give out guest information," replied the lady. "But I could ring the guest in question and relay your message?"
"That would be marvellous!" gushed Murdock.
The lady typed the registration number into the computer and after a couple of seconds the name of the guest flashed up on the screen. She rang the room number extension and Murdock emitted a low sigh of relief as the guest answered the phone. After a brief exchange, she put the phone down. Judging by the pink flush that had just spread across her cheeks, Murdock assumed that the guest hadn't been too pleased to hear the news!
"You may go up and sort out the details with Mr Kendrick," she said. "But be warned – he isn't in the best of moods after hearing the news! It's room 135 on the first floor."
Murdock expressed his thanks and winked at the young lady, making her blush even more! He made his way to the stairs and bounded up them two at a time as he made his way to Room 135. The door had been left slightly ajar and he was just about to knock politely when he heard voices coming from inside.
He froze to the spot, as he recognised with a sudden chill to the bone, who one the voices belonged to. It was a voice which took him right back to the PoW camp in Vietnam. It was a voice that made him feel angry, scared and confused all at the same time.
It was the voice of Lieutenant Tommy "the Angel" Anderson. A man who had given his fellow camp mates up for bait to keep on the right side of the evil Commandant, General Chow, who ruled the camp with his own brand of torture and torment.
Murdock assumed the other voice must belong to Joanne Bancroft. He listened intently to their conversation for a few seconds.
"I want out!" insisted the woman. "I've done what you asked me to do. How long do I have to stay here for?"
"Well now we've got Lieutenant Peck you can take the money and go," replied Angel. "But we don't want anyone to know you're Samantha's sister, so don't get any ideas about blabbing your mouth off to anyone."
Blinded by a sense of intense fury, Murdock came bursting through the door. The voices stopped abruptly at the sudden intrusion. In a few short paces, Murdock crossed the room and floored Angel with one single punch to his face. Angel fell backwards on to the floor, whilst Joanne looked on in horrified silence. Murdock jumped forward and bent down to grab Angel by his shirt, but stopped short as Tommy produced a pistol from his shoulder holster. At the same time, two enormous beefcakes came running out of one of the adjoining rooms.
"Back off, Captain!" he warned, as he pointed the pistol straight at Murdock. "Especially if you wanna see Peck again!"
Murdock stepped back and was immediately restrained by the two goons. He scowled furiously at Tommy. For the first time he noticed that Tommy's natural fair hair was now jet-black and that he was sporting a beard and moustache. No doubt a rouse to cover up his real identity.
"My, you've come up in the world, Angel – or should I say Mr Kendrick!" sneered the Pilot, as Tommy picked himself up from the floor. "Posing as a federal marshal! Whose dirty work are you making a profit from now!"
"I guess you're about to find out!" spluttered back Angel, wiping away the blood from his split lip with the back of his hand.
"Last time we saw ya, you and your dad were going down for that dodgy heroin wrap at the Bakery!" frowned Murdock. "What you doing back in polite society again, apart from polluting the air!"
"A man with my connections and know-how doesn't go down that easy!" sneered back Angel. "You should know that, Captain!"
"You turned state's evidence against ya own father, didn't ya!" guessed Murdock with repulsion in his voice. "I thought the law of silence of omertà was supposed to mean something in your line of work. Mind you, honour never was your strong point, was it?"
"You think my father wouldn't have done the same thing?" barked back Angel. "We all do what we have to do to survive. I had information that both the Feds and the CID were interested in – and I'm not just talking about my father's business. I co-operated with them at my trial and in return they keep me safe."
"And you just get to do what you've always done," said Murdock. "A perfect example of how a protected ex-mobster would return to what he knows best – crime!"
"Yeah!" drawled Angel. "I guess crime really does pay! But it hasn't all been sunshine and roses you know. I've had to infiltrate many a dangerous operation to keep my side of the bargain."
"My heart bleeds for you!" said Murdock, sarcastically. "You'll get what's coming to you one day, Anderson. I only hope I'm around to see it!"
"Don't count on it, Flyboy!" laughed Angel, scornfully.
"And what about you?" scrutinised Murdock, turning his attention to Joanne, who was listening wide-eyed to Murdock's rant. "You get some sort of kick out of dobbing in your nephew for the sake of a few dollars?"
"Don't you dare judge me!" retorted Joanne. "You don't know anything about me or what I've been through the last 20 years. You think my sister was the only one who was terrorised by those mobsters? Well you're wrong. We knew Samantha had hit rock-bottom because of what AJ and those thugs had done to her. When she disappeared with Richard, they came after me and my parents, thinking we knew where they were hiding. They even killed the FBI agent who was helping us gather evidence against them. He traced Samantha to her apartment in New York, hours after the Luciano family found her dead from a heroin overdose. He was the one who raised the alarm. Shortly after that, he was found dead with his throat cut and intestines ripped out. Just as a warning to anyone who tried to get in their way. We lived in constant terror that they would still come after us. Maybe even kill us too. It wasn't until we were finally put on the Program that we felt safe again."
Joanne paused for breath, her face red and flustered.
"Why do you still have Samantha's necklace?" asked Murdock, still suspicious about Joanne's intentions.
"Samantha left a lot of personal possessions behind when AJ disappeared," said Joanne. "The necklace was one of them."
"But don't you care that you have put Face in danger?" said Murdock. "Why did you agree to do it? Surely it wasn't all just for the money?"
"When I was told that Richard had been found, I just thought it would be a chance for him to think his momma was alive and well," replied Joanne. "I didn't see any harm in it. I was told it would be easy enough to have my file adapted to fit Samantha's profile."
"Who exactly are "they"," demanded Murdock.
"Someone from the CID," responded Joanne. "They told me that Richard was on the run for crimes committed during the Vietnam war. They were offering an award for his capture – and also that of the A-Team. Darn it, Richard could even have benefitted from it. They said they would help him clear his name against the charges brought against him and the team."
"You weren't at all suspicious when you were offered money to bring him out in the open?" pressed Murdock further.
"Look, I needed the money, okay!" protested Joanne, angrily. "You think it was easy being on the Program? Do you think we ended up with respectable jobs and a nice house in the country to live in? Yeah, ok, we had protection, but we were still looking over our shoulders all the time. We were treated liked caged animals. No bank account, no passport, no birth certificate, no identity. I had to leave my friends behind and my parents had to sever their ties with the rest of the family. The pressure was too much for them in the end. They never did get over the fact that they had lost their daughter and grandson. Papa died a couple of years into the Program, and mama, a couple of years after that. They died knowing that Samantha thought we had given up on her. We eventually lost contact with her so she didn't know we were looking for her. She died thinking we had abandoned her. Do you know what that feels like? All this has ruined my life. I just thought I was owed this."
"But you had no intentions of hanging around long enough to tell Face who you really were, did you?" scowled Murdock. "You were just gonna take the money and run, without ever telling Face the truth."
Joanne scowled back without answering, but judging from the look of guilt - and fear - on her face, Murdock knew he had struck a nerve. In a way he felt sorry for her. She was as much a victim in all this as Samantha had been. He believed her story that she thought she could help Face by assisting the CID. Angel must have been working for them, posing as the Marshal in her case. But either way, this wasn't going to soften the blow for Face.
"I didn't know CID had an interior motive," said Joanne, looking genuinely worried and flustered. "I wouldn't intentionally have put Richard in trouble. You've got to believe me."
"Well, this is all very touching," mocked Angel impatiently. "But unfortunately, there is rather more pressing business to be dealt with. I am actually surprised that you have turned up here, Captain. I wouldn't have thought Colonel Smith would have been stupid enough to risk you all walking into a trap. That's why we singled out Peck. The team is far too dangerous when you are altogether. Unless of course you're working independently? Oh – don't tell me – you're the jerk who pranged the Pontiac, right?"
Murdock gave Angel an ugly scowl. They guy was playing him. He knew how the A-Team worked. Maybe he was after them all or maybe it was just Face he needed. But either way, the cocky arrogance of the weasel made him feel uneasy.
"We need to get out of here," said Angel to his henchmen. "We don't want any more unexpected guests turning up now that we've lost the element of surprise."
He gestured to one of the men to come forward.
"Take the back-up car and drive Miss Robinson to the airport," he continued. "I'm sure she's anxious to get on with her new life."
Turning towards the other goon, he pushed Murdock towards him.
"Take Flyboy here out to the van," he ordered.
"Don't forget to pack your guilty conscience!" called out Murdock to Joanne, as he was escorted out of the room by the goon.
"When you've dropped off the girl, we'll meet you back at Greenbrier's Bunker," said Angel to the man left in charge of Joanne. He nodded his head in acknowledgement of his orders as Angel left the room and followed the others down the corridor.
"Now don't try anything funny, or Little Miss Conscience won't live to enjoy her new found inheritance!" warned Angel in Murdock's ear. "You turning up has proved to be a mild irritation, Captain, but I'm sure my client will be just as delighted to see you as he was to see Lieutenant Peck. Two for the price of one, you might say!"
As he was led away, Murdock had a nasty feeling there was much more worse to come!