Chapter 6

Taylor arrived at the cell in under three minutes.

"Do you want your lawyer?"

"No," BA said. He glanced at the open door. He didn't want to talk in front of others. He stayed sitting on his bunk and stayed silent. Eventually she closed the door, came over and sat beside him.

"You don't know what you're asking me to do." BA said, quietly.

"I know exactly what I'm asking." Her voice was quiet, almost gentle. "I'm asking you to frag him."

BA glanced at her. He supposed she'd investigated lots of those cases in the war. When men killed their officer, to keep him from getting them killed, usually. Sacrificed him for the good of the whole unit.

"He never deserved that. I met plenty of officers did deserve it. He was never one of 'em."

"Until now?"

"No!" BA was emphatic, shaking his head. "I know you're trying' to make me think us being wanted is all his fault, but it ain't. If I... if I do this it's 'cause of Face and..." he bit his lip. "My Mama. For her too, 'cause I don't want her visiting me in jail for the next thirty years."

"I understand."

He sat in silence for a long time. She waited.

"I want the guarantees in writing. And I want to be able to send them to my lawyer. So you can't deny 'em later."

"Of course." She stood up. "I'll put the arrangements in place right away. And then, Sergeant, we'll talk about how we bring him in."

She left. BA lay down on his bunk and stared up at the ceiling. Face would never forgive him. Murdock never would. Would Hannibal?

BA knew for sure he would never forgive himself.

~~~~

"The copy has been sent to his lawyer?"

"Yes, ma'am, and he's got his own copy."

"Good. He's on his way here now?"

"Yes, ma'am."

They had moved Baracus to a more secure location, while the guarantees were formalised. There wasn't nearly enough security here for Taylor's liking, not to hold a Green Beret.

The paperwork had taken a couple of days, but it was done. Now they were ready to get the information from Baracus and get the capture of the rest of the team set up. Benson sighed happily. They may have missed leave on Thanksgiving but it looked like being a heck of a Christmas holiday. For everyone except Colonel Smith of course.

The door to the office opened. Benson looked up frowning, wondering who was barging into the Colonel's office without knocking.

"Hello, Taylor."

Benson's mouth dropped open in shock, Taylor jumped to her feet.

"Lynch?"

~~~~

BA looked up as he heard raised voices. The truck had stopped part way to Taylor's office. Outside the truck the lieutenant in charge of the transport seemed to be arguing with someone.

The back door of the vehicle was open. Darkness outside. BA glanced across at the corporal sitting opposite him, who was also frowning. The corporal caught BA's gaze and gave him a shrug. Some officer nonsense.

Then the door opened fully and the Lieutenant appeared, carrying a sheet of paper. Several MPs were behind him. BA didn't recognise any of them as Taylor's men.

"I need a signature." The Lieutenant was saying. "He's in Colonel Taylor's custody and I'm not handing him over to you till someone signs for him..."

The choice he'd made before he had agonised over for hours. This choice BA made in the space between heartbeats.

~~~~

"This is totally unacceptable!" Taylor snapped, reading the paper Lynch had handed to her.

"General Hall doesn't think so." Lynch was so puffed up with triumph that he was almost floating away.

Benson fought the urge to put his head in his hands and moan. He'd heard Lynch had been spending his days at the Pentagon lobbying to get his job back, but never in a million years had he imagined Lynch would actually be successful. How? How had he done it? Friends in high places? Or did he have pictures of the Secretary of Defence with a hooker?

"We are on the verge of closing this case," Taylor said. "If you think I'm going to let you march back in here and take credit for..."

"Closing the case? By letting two thirds of the team go free?" Lynch snorted in disgust. "I might have known a woman would go soft over Peck, but Baracus? Were you sorry for his mother or something?"

The Colonel's phone rang. She ignored it, still glaring at Lynch's smug face. Benson leant over and picked it up. Couldn't summon up more than a desultory, "Yeah?" Then he gasped and straightened up, staring. "What?"

The two colonels turned to look at him. Benson looked back at Taylor.

"Baracus has escaped."

~~~~

In a dark and stinking alleyway BA worked on the lock of the back door of an auto repair shop. He had nothing to pick the padlock, but the hasp was rusted and within a few minutes he had worked the screws holding it to the door loose and the door opened. BA slipped inside.

He had no idea what was happening, just that he was about to be handed over to men who weren't Taylor's people. He knew right off that the Colonel's plan had slipped a cog someplace. He wasn't sticking around to find out how exactly. He'd burst from the truck like a cannonball. Fighting, gun shots and he was running, running blindly into Chicago back streets, deep into alley ways.

He looked around, looking for something to get the shackles off his wrists. That was the first priority. Then he needed clothes, needed to get rid of the fatigues he wore. His description was doubtless being read out over the radios of every cop in the city right this minute.

Fearful of attracting attention outside he didn't switch on the main light, but found a desk lamp and turned that on. That gave him enough light to search and after a few minutes a pair of bolt cutters left his hands free.

A pair of overalls, greasy, but big enough, took care of the clothing problem for now. As he put them on he took an envelope out of the pocket of his fatigues. He opened the envelope and looked at the documents inside. Immunity from prosecution for himself and Lieutenant Templeton Peck, in exchange for his assistance in the apprehension of Colonel John Smith. Suddenly just touching this paper made his hands feel dirty. He balled it up and tossed it into a nearby trash can.

Right. Clothes sorted. Now he needed money, and transport back to LA. He hoped there was some money here, though it sickened him to think he was burgling the place.

He went to search for a cash box and almost tripped over some cardboard boxes on the floor. They were open and BA could see they held car and motorcycle parts. He frowned, not new parts though, used ones. He glanced across the workshop floor at the cars and bikes there. Looking closer he could see that most of them were partly dismantled, and not very gently either. BA scowled.

A chop shop. Suddenly he had no qualms about stealing from here. Ripping off cars and stripping them for parts was definitely on BA's list of crimes that should be punishable by death.

He noticed a shape under a tarp. Looked like a motorbike, maybe intact. BA went over and pulled off the tarp. He couldn't hold in a gasp at what he revealed.

Well that solved his transport problem.

~~~~

"Ten minutes! Ten minutes you've been back on the case and you've already lost a prisoner! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"My men will soon recapture him..." Lynch said, sounding unconcerned, still too smug.

"That's what you said five years ago, you fool!"

"You can't talk to me like that!"

"I just did." Taylor packed items into her briefcase, slapping them in and then slammed the case shut. She picked her hat and jacket off the coat stand. As she buttoned her jacket and adjusted her hat she spoke again.

"Colonel Lynch, there are dead flies on that windowsill that have more chance of catching the A-Team than you." She turned to Benson. "If you want to get out of here call me tomorrow, Captain." She picked up her case and marched out, slamming the door so hard the room shook.

Lynch huffed a bit. Then he smirked. "PMS, eh?"

Benson didn't answer, just looked at him with disdain. Lynch didn't seem to notice the look. He went around the desk and sat down with a sigh of pleasure. After a while he looked at some papers on the desk, picked one up.

"Major Ray Brenner. Captain HM Murdock... what's this?" He smirked again. "A list of her dates?"

"Known associates of the A-Team, sir," Benson said coldly. "If the plan with Baracus didn't work out then she thought they might be good leads..."

"Murdock? Isn't he the one in the VA psych ward?"

"Yes, if you remember he was their..."

"Ridiculous! Why would they stay in contact with a lunatic?"