CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

August 30, 1978

Jessica was still twenty yards from the front of the giant corrugated tin building when a door opened and man stepped out. Although he didn't flash a weapon, she knew he was armed and plenty dangerous. Gathering her determination and silencing her fears, she approached with a confident stride and shoulders pushed back. She didn't have to pretend, or think about how she was supposed to act. Face had assured her they would expect her to be scared, and she was.

"Can I help you?" the tall, well-built man demanded. He was probably twice her weight and size, with hard eyes and scruff on his cheeks and chin. The sight of him would have been intimidating enough if she'd met him in a grocery store, so much more so when she was practically taking her life in her hands.

"I'm Paulie Verdeaux' ex-wife," she called back, a bit shakily, before holding up the briefcase. "I have money."

From the back seat of the car, parked a safe distance away, Face was watching her. In a van on the other side of the street, Murdock was listening. Inside the warehouse were two Green Berets who would do damn near anything to protect her, on principle alone. Knowing all of this, she stopped and waited to be summoned closer, barely keeping her hands from shaking as the man talked quietly into a two-way radio.

Finally, he stepped back and gestured for her to come. With steps as sure as she could manage, she walked forward, heels clicking on the asphalt parking lot. She almost jumped as the door shut hard behind her, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim light after the bright sunlight outside.

There were boxes stacked on pallets all around, presumably for the legitimate business use of the warehouse, and a small card table just to the left of the door where two men sat with pistols lying in their laps. She swallowed hard and avoided their gaze, squinting into the darkness to look for any sign of Hannibal. Most of the warehouse looked pretty full. It was only this front area, and an office made of plywood sheets off to the left, that appeared suitable for people.

The briefcase was ripped from her hand so suddenly, she gasped. The man who'd answered the door, 250 pounds of pure muscle, opened it, and slammed it closed again. "What is this, a joke?" he snapped at her.

"It's all I have," she cried, glad she didn't have to lie. She wasn't sure she could've come up with a lie if she'd had to. In that moment, truth and fear tumbled out of her mouth.

"Tie her up," Roy ordered. "Maybe Paulie will be a little more cooperative if we let him know we got her."

Her thoughts raced as they wretched her arms behind her and lashed her wrists together tightly. All of those lines she was supposed to remember flew right out the window as the fear took over. She could be killed. There was no assurance that either Hannibal or BA were still alive and these men were big enough and had enough weapons to shoot her backup outside, then rape and kill her just for the hell of it. Shaking with fear as she was grabbed by the arm and shoved roughly past the boxes, she struggled to think. Face had tried to prepare her for this, she remembered. He'd been expecting this and it hadn't shaken his calm in the slightest. Things were still going according to plan. There was no reason to be afraid. She just had to think, had to remember what she was supposed to say.

"You don't want to do this!" she recited, struggling to remain calm. She couldn't quite manage to keep the edge of fear out of her voice, but at least the words were clear.

"Shut up!" her escort growled, jerking her arm so roughly he damn near dislocated it. Suddenly reminded of her frailty, and the fact that these men were carrying real guns, not toys, her lines escaped again. They could really kill her, right here and now. But as they rounded the corner of the pallets, her eyes came to rest on Hannibal and BA. Hannibal was covered in blood from a wound on the side of his head that was still oozing. But they were both very much alive and alert, staring back at her silently. The relief she felt at simply knowing she wasn't alone brought the words back in a rush.

"Listen, these... these two men you have in here, they're very important!" she rushed, not sure if that was precisely what she was supposed to say. Her fear-fogged mind only remembered bits and pieces of the story.

"What?" The unfamiliar voice stopped the man who was guiding her dead in his tracks. She tried looking over her shoulder, but didn't have a chance before her escort spun her around roughly to face a short, heavy man in jeans and a button-down shirt. She nearly fell over as she tried to regain her balance.

"What about them?" he demanded, skirting around the boxes and approaching her with the steady gait of a man used to being in charge.

"They're..." She swallowed hard, forcing her mind to stop racing, to remember her lines. "The Army sent me in here to find out if they're still alive," she said as steadily as she could manage. "And if I don't report back, they're going to come looking for me." God, she hoped that was right! She remembered the phone call, the images in her mind of the military police dragging all of them off in handcuffs. The Army was definitely on their way. She just couldn't remember why.

"The Army?" Roy cried. "What the hell does the army want with them?"

"I don't know," Jessica said, shaking her head enthusiastically. Her heart was beating in her ears, palms sweating. "But they will be here. They..." She forgot again, but considering she only just remembered how to breathe, it wasn't her biggest problem. "They know who you are! And... and they'll shoot you if that's what it takes to get these guys back alive. And me."

The sudden burst of anger from Roy was punctuated by a blow. Jessica's head snapped to the side as his fist connected with the side of her face. She gasped, stunned, head ringing as it took a moment for the pain to set in. She'd never been hit like that before in her life, and the shock of it overwhelmed even the instinctive fear.

"Hey!" BA was on his feet in a flash - impressive since his hands were tied behind his back. "Didn't no one ever teach you not to hit a lady?"

Just as fast, BA was staring down the barrel of a gun. "Siddown!" Roy yelled, pushing the pistol against his forehead. The intent was probably to knock him off balance and send him back a few steps. But BA was not easy to push around.

"I'm okay," Jessica said. There was an instinct in place for this situation, too - one she hadn't known she possessed: Diffuse the situation before the men beat each other half to death. Or, in this case, until somebody got shot. "Really," she pleaded with BA, still blinking to try and clear her vision. "It's okay. I'm fine."

BA and Roy stared each other down for a long moment. Then Roy took a step back, taking his gun with him. He grabbed onto Jessica's shoulder with a surprisingly strong grip and shoved her down. Without use of her hands, she turned to catch the fall on her shoulder - the one the man had pulled on just moments before - and winced as she hit the cement floor beside Hannibal. The man who'd been guiding her took a moment to jab the barrel of his rifle into BA's stomach - several times, until BA finally dropped to his knees. Jessica watched in horror, but didn't interfere. Finally, Roy turned and headed around the wall of boxes, accompanied by his entourage of muscled men.

August 30, 1978

Hannibal was not entirely surprised to see Jessica. Face would have to make a move soon, he knew, and she was the safest go-between. He was, however, interested to hear the rest of this story she'd been given, particularly the bit about the Army. As soon as he made sure she wasn't concussed from that blow she hadn't known how to take, he planned to ask about it.

Scrambling to sit up, she moved toward BA with a wide-eyed look of panic. Hannibal was far more concerned about her. BA knew how much he could take and when to back down. Without acknowledging BA's quiet reassurance, Hannibal asked pointedly, "You okay?"

She turned and looked at him with the same fear-filled stare. "Are you?" she stammered. "You're bleeding everywhere!"

"Scalp wounds do that," he reminded her calmly. She'd been a field nurse in Vietnam; it shouldn't have been news. "I'll be fine."

"Those are the guys from the apartment," she whispered, struggling against her bound hands. She wanted to tend to the injury, Hannibal could tell. Although it wasn't terribly painful, it had already soaked the left half of his shirt with blood and must have been quite a sight. "The ones who went after Paulie."

Hannibal nodded. "They're the ones who do Roy's dirty work," he explained, then nodded to her bound wrists. "Don't struggle. You'll make the knots tighter."

"Do they work for him?" she asked trying to calm down. "Like... does this happen a lot with him? I just... I didn't think things like this actually happened in real life."

"Well, if you want my opinion," Hannibal mused, "it seems to me he hired the biggest, baddest guys he could track down because he doesn't have it in him to actually pull a trigger for himself. But if they'd been working for him for any length of time, he would've figured out by now that they weren't particularly competent."

"Is that why they're here?" she asked, eyes widening again. "To kill you? Because Roy won't do it himself?"

"Trust me, Roy is a lot more interested in your ex than he is in us," Hannibal said confidently. "The blood won't start flowing until they bring Paulie here."

"Where's Face and Murdock?" BA demanded. "Did they find him?"

"Yes." She drew in a breath, closed her eyes to gather her thoughts, and looked back at Hannibal. "And I'm supposed to tell you Colonel Lynch is on his way."

BA's face fell. "Man, I was hoping you'd have better news than that."

Jessica stammered for a moment, in want of an explanation, but Hannibal continued without acknowledging Lynch. He could wait. "Does Paulie have the money he owes?"

Jessica laughed, without humor. "Oh, Lord no. He's just as broke as ever. But he's alive."

"Hannibal, if Lynch is comin' here, we gotta get out," BA said anxiously. "'Fore he gets here."

"No, no, it's not like that," Jessica interrupted, shaking her head and still trying to find the explanation she'd been searching for a moment ago. "Face wanted me to tell you to stay put. Oh, and I'm wearing a transmitter. If you need to tell him anything, he can hear you. He or Murdock - one of them are listening."

Hannibal listened as she explained the basics of the plan. He could fill in the blanks. A smile crept across his face as he considered just how much it sounded like something he would do in the given situation. "I'm impressed, Face," he said approvingly, in the general direction of the microphone in her jacket. "I couldn't have planned it better myself."

"That's what he's hoping," Jessica sighed.

"There's four men near the door armed with AKs," BA reported quietly, cutting to the important things Face and Murdock would want to know. "Boxes all over in here. The only ones we've seen inside look like they got car parts, but who knows what else they might have."

Hannibal picked up where BA left off. "There were lines of powder - maybe coke - on the table by the door so the guards might be high. They're just temporary hired muscle. Roy doesn't seem the type to have a staff of his own. This warehouse belongs to a friend of his, but I don't think he's ever used it to hold hostages. We can get out of here without too much problem."

"You can?" Jessica asked, confused.

Nodding to BA, Hannibal turned and scooted until they were back to back, easily able to work on each other's bound wrists.

"As soon as we have a chance," he continued, "we'll move to the back of the building. There has to be another exit in a warehouse this size."

Jessica was staring in amazement as Hannibal's ropes loosened, and he pulled his arms around front, rubbing his wrists. He turned to pick apart the loosened knots on BA's wrists as he continued. "Roy is getting agitated. Out of all of them, he's the only one who really concerns me - an inexperienced crime lord with a reputation to uphold. The gambling is just a sideshow for him. The others around the table at the bar all went home pretty quick when he started talking about killing us. But he feels personally insulted, and revenge is the name of the game."

"Dunno about calling him a crime lord," BA said dryly as the ropes fell from his wrists. "He ain't very professional, or scary."

Hannibal twirled a finger to indicate Jessica should turn and let him untie the knots around her wrists. "He doesn't have a whole lot of self-control," Hannibal confirmed. "With a decent distraction, we should have no trouble moving from here to the back."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the sound of car tires on the gravel outside and a dozen or so car engines could be heard through the walls. "Who the hell is that?" Roy demanded.

Jessica's eyes widened, and she pulled on the ropes without meaning to before remembering to stay still. "Face said there'd be sirens," she whispered.

"Apparently, they didn't want to announce that they were here." Hannibal remained calm as he picked at the knots with renewed enthusiasm.

"But that was fast!" Jessica cried. "All the way from LA? They couldn't be here already!"

"Looks like Lynch was a bit heavy footed," Hannibal answered distractedly. Loosening the ropes to make sure her circulation wouldn't be cut off, he set a reassuring hand on her shoulder as he stood. "Just stay out of sight until the police come in here," he ordered. "You did well. Let us do the rest."

She smiled tightly and nodded. Even if she didn't know what to expect now, there was no time to go over it again. Without another word, Hannibal turned and motioned to BA before leading away from the entrance toward the back of the building. They'd only gone a few steps when Lynch's voice echoed in the bullhorn. "We have you surrounded, Smith! Come out with your hands up!"

The distraction was perfect. "Shit! It's the Army! And they're everywhere!"

"What do you mean it's the Army?" Roy demanded, his voice distinct in the midst of the confusion.

Hannibal and BA stayed down, winding their way through the narrow lanes between the pallets until they reached the back wall. Hannibal saw the exit immediately - a garage door with a chain pulley system. He paused for a moment, studying it. There was no telling what they'd meet out there if the building really was surrounded.

The frantic voices of the men at the front of the building echoed off of the high ceiling as Hannibal dropped to his stomach to peer under the door as BA opened it just a fraction. The noise was deafening, but brief, and to his surprise and relief, Hannibal saw Face.

"Brought you a present," the lieutenant smirked, dropping the strap of an AK-47 off of his shoulder and handing it down.

Hannibal smiled as BA pulled the door open further, then took the gun, stood back up, and fired half the clip into the ceiling. The chaos caused by the gunshot was beautiful. Guns fired, shouts of panic echoed, and Hannibal and BA stepped out into the bright sunlight outside.

"Thought he said they had this place surrounded," he said as he rose to his feet.

"They do," Face informed, almost casually. "There's a razor wire fence about fifty yards through that brush and they're all waiting on the other side of it."

"Where's Murdock?" Hannibal asked.

"He'll be back as soon as they call off the dogs." He handed BA a weapon and turned toward the overgrowth in the direction of the razor wire fence. "I say we either lay low or climb up to the roof and watch the show. Once they go in and don't find us, they'll realize what a big misunderstanding this all was."

"How does that help us?" BA demanded. "Jessica's still in there. So is all our money."

Face grinned as he ducked down into the bushes. "Yeah, I know. And they'll find that too." Face sighed wistfully. "Poor Jessica, kidnapped and held against her will by the very people who blew up her house. I think they'll be happy to make sure she and whatever restitution money is owed to her by Roy get to the proper authorities."

Hannibal chuckled. "Beautiful, Face. I love it."

"Yeah," Face replied with a self-satisfied grin. "I thought it had a certain... satisfying ring to it."