We've come up with a lot of good solid places for this to happen. And managed to shoot them all down. I think we know why."The house in Langley was up and running. In another month, Stockwell would receive the bills for the utilities in his personal mail. If he were still alive.
As evening drew near, he didn't worry too much about the ghosts. Somehow he knew they wouldn't be around any more. That scene at Stockwell's hideaway pretty much negated any chances of that happening again. He was not happy that he hadn't considered that possibility. He hadn't realized that the team's anger about the murders would reach such heights that they would join Stockwell. He had been shaken by that, but by the time he had driven back to the house it had been put aside, along with other things he no longer allowed in his mind. Now it was simply another facet to the Job. Another consideration.
He was quite sure The Colonel would make some attempt to contact him. He would want to draw him in, not wait around for him to make the first move. The usual way of contacting each other if they couldn't telephone would be through a personal ad. They knew he would not, absolutely, answer an ad from them. Stockwell would know about the placing of ads and it was something he would make use of. There would be nothing unusual about that. They would make the ad come from Stockwell. A challenge from him, or possibly an olive branch. And if he answered it, they would be waiting instead.
And he would answer it. Just not in the way they would be expecting.
"How about the old house? Face might feel at an advantage if he already knew the place."
"No, that's the last place he'd want to go. He'd figure Stockwell would have too many tricks already in place."
"It oughta be some place public. Where he'd feel safe but couldn't make any moves hisself."
They had been going over possible places to set their trap for an hour or more. Each suggestion was met with objections of one sort or another. They were all getting frustrated. Finally Hannibal stood up.
"Okay, fellas, cards on the table. We've come up with a lot of good solid places for this to happen. And managed to shoot them all down. I think we know why."
BA and Murdock were silent. Nothing really had to be said. None of them liked what they were doing, planning a trap for Face. There was something low-down about it. Something Stockwell about it. But they didn't know what else to do. If Face wouldn't come to his friends, they had to make him come after his enemy.
"We have to think of Face as just another bad guy. I hate it; I know you do, but we can't think of him as a friend. We already made that mistake once. This is a bad guy. Period. And we have to take him down just like we would any other bad guy."
"He's a little different from our usual guys, Hannibal," Murdock said sarcastically. "Most of them aren't SF trained. And most of them don't know us like the back of their hand."
"He's not going to be looking for us, Captain. He's going to be expecting Stockwell, probably a bunch of the Ables..."
"And a trap..."
"Yes, and a trap. But a Stockwell trap. And definitely not us. We're going to catch him so far off guard he won't have time to react, and then we'll have him."
"Hannibal?"
"Yeah, BA?
"What'll we do with him, once we got him?"
Hannibal looked at his sergeant.
"Keep him safe. From Stockwell, from himself." Looking at the pilot, "Other than that, I haven't a clue..."
As he expected, the ad appeared two days later.
"LT. P.: Your future could be irrevocably changed. 4:00PM." An address followed.
Ah, Stockwell had to have given them that. He looked at the address. He was familiar with the area - small residential homes, a couple of parks, nothing much else. Very safe, neutral ground. Supposed to indicate 'Stockwell' wanted to talk. White flag time. Right.
There was no date listed, of course. They wouldn't be sure when he would see it. They would have to be set up every day to be ready. How long would they wait for him to respond? A week, maybe ten days. So he could safely make them wait five or six days before making his move. Enough time to start letting their guard down. Enough time for Stockwell to start getting impatient. Enough time to add a little pressure to the conspirators. He smiled.
He had tried to be a good friend. Now he was going to be an even better adversary.
"We need Carla."
Stockwell was taken aback. "Carla? Whatever for?"
"Emissary. This is supposed to be all your idea, remember."
"And just what would she be expected to do?"
"Just keep him talking, keep him occupied. We'll do the rest."
"She won't be..."
"No, Face has no reason to harm her."
"Very well. You'll have to talk to her, let her know the sort of things she needs to say so he won't just walk out on this."
"We'll make sure she's briefed thoroughly. The ad came out this morning so we'll need her starting today."
"How long are you going to run this little project?"
"A week, maybe ten days. If he doesn't show by then, he's not going to."
Hannibal met with Carla for almost an hour. He needed Face occupied for maybe ten to fifteen minutes. Carla was to tell him that Stockwell wanted a peaceful resolution to things. He wouldn't believe it, of course, and she had to try and convince him of their sincerity. She had to keep him going long enough for the trap to be sprung.
"I know you don't like him, Carla. You don't like any of us. But while you're talking to him, you have to make him think that you really care about resolving this. That Stockwell does."
"Don't worry about that, Colonel. I do want this resolved. For the good of the organization. The man is dangerous and needs to be stopped."
Hannibal glared at her. "Just don't let him see that, Carla. I mean it. If he thinks for one second that this is a set up rather than a 'time out', he's gone. That's why we picked you. You're a neutral, even though you work for Stockwell. You're not a threat to him. Understand? You put your animosity to one side and leave it there. Period."
"I understand perfectly, Colonel Smith." She returned his glare.
It was mid-afternoon and he was cleaning his rifle. He had gotten back from the meeting site about an hour ago. He wanted a good picture of where things were, what obstacles were present, ever mindful of a backdoor. It was do-able.
He knew that someone would be there to talk. Almost definitely not Stockwell. They wouldn't want to give him any opportunities. There would be no sign of the team. They'd be waiting to drop the net. An Able, maybe? No, they didn't have the authority to negotiate. And that's what the scenario would be. Carla. Yeah, that would make sense. Carla spoke for Stockwell. Always. They would choose Carla to keep him occupied. Keep him distracted.
Too bad, really.
Carla handed him the package. Sighing, Stockwell opened it, pulling out the little toy soldier. He stared at it for a long moment.
"Don't mention this to the others." Carla nodded. "You and I need to discuss this meeting..."
