CHAPTER TWENTY ONE


Three angry men sat in the van outside the house at The Meadows. They were silent, seething inside at how everything had gone wrong.

Murdock stared out the window. He was angry, yes, angrier than he had been since first hearing about this whole nightmare. But, in all that anger, was also fear. For his friend. Fear that this killer had taken his Face away forever. That they were too late, that even if they could capture him, they would never have Face back again. And yet, Carla's wound had not been fatal. Had not even been potentially fatal. And Hannibal and he had both been easy targets, but the shot had gone in front of them. Those shots had been deliberately off. They had to have been. And so amidst the anger and the fear there was also a small shred of hope. Just a small shred...

BA was so angry he couldn't move. He just didn't know who to be angry at. Face? He would be if he didn't realize they weren't dealing with Face any more. Face was as good as gone. So Stockwell? Definitely Stockwell for starting this whole nightmare. And giving that gun to Carla. It was easy to see what they had in mind. And what about Hannibal? Joining forces with Stockwell. He shoulda known better. He shoulda...Hell, they all shoulda...

Hannibal had not taken out a cigar. He would have bitten the damn thing in half if he had. He had assured Stockwell that Carla would be safe. Now, not only had she been shot, but he had found the Beretta in her purse. Which meant that Stockwell and Carla had had their own little plan for Face. And Face...Face had shot from nowhere, not giving anyone a fighting chance. No warning, no challenge, nothing, just shooting.

But he didn't kill anyone.

'Damn it, Face. I don't even know who you are...'


*****

He was tired. He had been running in high gear for so long; how much longer he could keep going he wasn't sure. He needed to finish this up. He had them where he wanted them now, he was sure. Confused, edgy, possibly scared. He wouldn't wait any longer. It was time to finish the Job. Finish Stockwell. Finish his cronies, the ones that helped set up the whole overseas thing. He had the documentation he needed, to be mailed before he left for the last job. Once that hit the various news organizations around the world, Stockwell's little friends would be so busy covering their asses they wouldn't have time to interfere with world events for a long, long time. Maybe never. They would be political history, powerless bobble heads. He could live with that.

But Stockwell was another matter. Stockwell had no public persona. He was a power and a force unto himself. He would be dangerous for a long time to come, regardless of what happened to his friends. So he had to go. And once that was done, he would have only one last enemy to deal with. And that would be the easiest of all.


*****

The team was staying at The Meadows. None of them were sure if it were really by choice. Stockwell had insisted they could do more good staying there and waiting for Peck to attack than trying once again to locate him outside. There was a certain logic to it. The problem being, of course, that there was no guarantee this way that Face would come out of it alive.

They thought at first it was just a rumble of remote thunder. Then the electricity went out. A few seconds later the generator kicked in. Hannibal looked at the others. It was time.

Stockwell knew it also. Immediately there was a quiet beeping noise throughout the house. Ables starting moving quickly, some heading for the main office area, some moving to the outside. Hannibal nodded at the other two men. Murdock and BA headed for the outside, Hannibal for Stockwell's office. If they could, they would try to take Face down first, before the Ables could. At least they would be shooting to disable; Stockwell's men had their own orders.


*****

The few seconds between his detonating the radio controlled explosive on the power pole up the road and the generator kicking in had allowed him to slip past the stalled cameras. Now time was on his side. It was only an hour past sunset. He had all night. Hell, he had all week if he so chose.

The house itself was surrounded by brilliantly lit security lights. He saw The Mechanic almost immediately. Then The Pilot, at the opposite corner of the house. Nothing of The Colonel; he was probably inside with Stockwell. A flash of regret. He didn't like the idea of dying with them hating him this much. He could put a stop to things right now. He could just step out of the darkness, handing himself over without a fight, and let himself be killed then and there. They might forgive him then. But that would leave Stockwell to continue doing the horrible things he did. He couldn't do that.

He finished his survey of the house. A few of the Ables had come so close to him he thought he would have to take them, but they moved on. Not stupid - they just didn't know what to look for. He saw The Mechanic looking in his direction a few times. Too many times. What had he seen that he shouldn't have? But the man did nothing; he was only suspicious.

He moved back from the house. He was watching for a particular Able. One that was a little too far from the other searchers, a little too involved in watching the ground in front of him instead of his surroundings, a little too green for this kind of assignment. He found a relatively secluded area, just out of sight of the main door where The Mechanic was. He was taking no chances with that one.

It took hours, but the activity that had been so frenzied was beginning to taper off. With no sign of any intruder, people started relaxing, thinking perhaps it really was just a run of the mill power outage. He, on the other hand, became more diligent. This was when he would most likely find his Able.

Sure enough, before too long, there was one, off to his right. A little too close to the house yet, but heading in the right direction. He moved slowly, quietly. They continued to converge on each other until the Able suddenly looked up, suspicious. It was too late, of course.


*****

BA carefully avoided looking too often in a certain direction. He wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to take any chances on an Able noticing. He saw one Able, a little too close to that area. But he was obviously new at this, intent on watching the ground right in front of him instead of looking around. Not a problem then. BA unobtrusively signaled Murdock, and drifted into the house.

Going to Stockwell's office, he knocked on the door and motioned for Hannibal to step outside.

"If there's anything to say, Baracus, say it here," Stockwell demanded.

"If I want to talk to you, sucka, I'll talk to you. And I ain't talking to you." BA scowled. Hannibal quickly stepped outside, taking the sergeant with him. Glancing around to make sure they wouldn't be overheard, he looked at BA, eyebrows raised.

"I think he's out there, Hannibal. I could just make out some movement in the underbrush, just southeast of the house. These fools don't know it, walked right by him more'n a few times. But he's there."

"Okay, BA, think you can get close to him?"

"Uh-uh. There's no way he ain't been keepin' an eye on me and Murdock. He probably knows I'm in the house now, but I had to let you know."

"No problem. If he was going to make his move early, he'd have done it by now. No, he's got something up his sleeve. He's waiting for the right time for whatever it is." Hannibal sighed. "Okay, head back out. Let Murdock know if you can without arousing his suspicions. We don't want him to know you saw him. Try to keep an eye on things. We have to get to him before anyone else."

BA nodded and casually walked back outside. More and more of the Ables were coming back toward the house, muttering about false alarms. Good; the less of them outside the less chance of problems. It wouldn't be unduly noticed if he walked over to Murdock now.

BA caught up with Murdock. Glancing cautiously over to 'the area', he noted the green Able was out of sight. BA didn't like that. He was torn between checking it out and not wanting to draw unwanted attention. Quickly, he let the pilot in on the situation and they were about to head over toward the missing Able when he stepped out from behind a tree, eyes again intent on the ground. BA sighed. Too many of these fools wandering around.


*****

He had been taken out with a swift kick to the side of his head and quickly stripped of his clothes. Stockwell's newest Able ambled toward the house.

He moved gradually in with a group of five Ables who were on their way to the house. With so many of them around, it was not surprising they did not particularly notice someone they didn't recognize. Stockwell's overzealousness in security measures had backfired big time. He stayed with the group as they entered the house. It gave him time to look things over. Eventually he found himself in the kitchen, sipping coffee and munching doughnuts supplied for the incoming searchers. He listened carefully to various comments made about the search, security in general, and around a certain office on the first floor. He had kept moving, casually, and was glad he had, as he was able to move inconspicuously away from The Mechanic and The Pilot as they entered the kitchen.

He watched them in particular. He saw the black man glance at him, then turn and say something to the Pilot, who also glanced casually in his direction and hardly a moment later started laughing, then choking on his doughnut. During the commotion, he slipped quietly through the door.

The entry hall was nearly empty. More and more of the Ables were either going back to bed or returning to their normal duties. He saw a small alcove to one side, coats and other paraphernalia hung about in it. He sidled over and positioned himself to watch.


*****

Murdock had silently acknowledged BA's news that Face was indeed on site and close by. He had known, somehow, before BA had told him. He was also concerned about the sudden disappearing act the Able had performed. They were moving to look for him when he suddenly reappeared. Dumb kid. They made a quick and quiet look around the area Face had been, but found nothing.

"Face could have gotten into the house by now," Murdock muttered. BA nodded and they followed the last of the Ables into the building. They made a quick stop at the office, but neither Stockwell nor Hannibal was there. BA nodded toward the kitchen where the Ables were congregating.

When they entered, the room was crowded with tired and chagrined men. Most were complaining that it was a lot of bother over an electrical outage, that Stockwell was really getting paranoid any more, and other disgruntled comments. BA suddenly turned to Murdock, growling softly into his ear.

"There's that guy got 'lost' a bit ago."

Murdock glanced over where BA had indicated, and Face's eyes bored into him. Shocked, all he could think was here was Face, standing around socializing with his intended victim's bodyguards. Who could do that except his ultimate con man? It was so unbelievable that he started laughing at the outrageousness of it. And then he started choking on his own doughnut. By the time he could catch his breath, Face was gone.

"C'mon, BA, now!" he whispered. Surprised, BA followed him out of the kitchen without a word.

"What's goin' on, fool?"

"That was Face, BA! The guy that got 'lost'! Only he didn't get lost - the real Able is probably out in the woods yet. We gotta find him, we gotta find Hannibal, we gotta..."

"Hold up, man! Are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. Sure as you're standing there, BA."

"Okay, okay - we'll go see Hannibal."


*****

After BA had gone outside to find Murdock, Hannibal stepped back into the office. Stockwell, still fuming over BA's 'cheek', glared at him. He was about to start telling Hannibal how to keep his men under control when he was interrupted.

"He's here, General. Right under your men's noses. Now you do what I tell you and we may both be able to get out of this mess of yours without a lot of blood being shed. But you will do exactly what I tell you and nothing more. Understood?"

Stockwell straightened up with dignity. He didn't like being given orders, but the chagrin at his own men having missed Peck won out.

"Very well, Colonel. I'm in your hands."

"Good. You're going to be the bait. I want you to take two of your best men and go to your quarters. Put on a vest. Otherwise, you 'retire' for the night as usual. Got that? One man in the room, concealed. The other outside the door."

"You think..."

"I think a lot of things, Stockwell. Right now I want you upstairs with your men. Do as I say and you'll probably wake up in the morning."


*****

There were two Ables in front of the office door, but they stood aside as BA rumbled through. Hannibal wasn't there; Stockwell sat at the desk, bent over some paperwork.

"You seen Hannibal, Stockwell?"

"Not recently, BA." He raised his head, and Hannibal's eyes twinkled at them.

BA and Murdock looked at each other and grinned. Hannibal was on the Jazz. Now they had a battle they could win.