The team sat in a back booth in a quiet diner, not far from the hotel they planned to hit first. Murdock smiled as he sipped his coffee. This felt a little bit like a strange dream. BA was once again devoid of gold and disguising his Mohawk with a knit cap. Face followed his example, wearing Murdock's baseball cap again and a pair of glasses from back in their storeroom. Hannibal had his usual casual look going. None of them looked out of place in the diner.

Murdock by contrast sat there in a tailor-made suit, looking in his opinion like a businessman making a shady deal. Face had insisted on keeping the suit at the storage unit, telling Murdock he wasn't letting him wear it to hang around in the VA rec room.

The suit was only part of it though. A haircut, buffed nails and a shave by a barber with hands steadier than a bomb disposal expert's added the finishing touches. His face felt like the proverbial baby's bottom.

The fake Rolex he'd bought from Face's source peeked out from the cuff of his snowy white shirt. The shirt that had cost more than the entire outfit he'd changed out of to put this one on.

He liked it. It was certainly a lot of work getting dressed up like this. He didn't think he could do it every day, like Face. However, the women seemed to like it. He'd garnered many admiring glances once he completed his transformation.

Only the wedding band he wore put them off a little. He turned the ring around on his finger a couple of times. Strange to wear that. Would he ever wear one for real and not as part of a disguise?

"Oh man!"

BA's quiet exclamation made Murdock look at him and then turn to follow BA's gaze. Amy had just walked in. She looked as out of place as Murdock, and she attracted plenty of attention as she walked to the team's table.

She has it exactly right, Murdock thought. Just slightly trashy. Her high-heeled shoes made little clacking noises as she walked carefully across the linoleum floor, a look of concentration on her face, as if walking a tightrope.

The red dress she wore, although clingy, had a high, demure neckline, but was short enough to show off her legs. Always her best feature, Murdock thought. He didn't look at her legs for long though. Like the rest of the team, he looked at her hair.

Her blonde hair.

Amy reached the table and Face jumped up to let her sit down, which she did with a sigh of relief.

"These shoes are killing me!" She slipped one off and massaged her foot. Murdock expected Face to offer to do that for her, but Face seemed too busy staring at her hair to flirt. Eventually he shook himself and grabbed a stool to sit down at the end of the table.

"You - um - had your hair bleached," Face said.

"Does it look okay?" Amy asked, fluffing it up. It had been restyled too, with soft layers and flicks. "I thought blonde was the way to go." She sighed. "I kind of wish I hadn't cut it now. Long would have worked better."

"You could have got a wig," Hannibal said, as hypnotised by the new blonde Amy as the rest of them.

"I tried a couple, but they just looked too fake."

"Bleaching it is kind of... permanent," Face said.

"It will grow out." She looked around at them. "Guys, don't look like that, I just dyed my hair. Women do that all the time just for the fun of it!" She laughed, but the laugh didn't convince Murdock. This wasn't for fun and this wasn't just any time. Some Hollywood hairdresser could have enhanced her natural colour to go with her new look, but Murdock knew this wasn't about hair colour.

"You look great, Amy," Murdock said, since nobody else had said it yet, and this might be a disguise, but she surely wanted to hear those words. He winked. "Can I take you to spend the night in a hotel room with me?"

"Thank you, Murdock." She grinned. "I'd be delighted."

"Okay," Hannibal said. "Murdock, you've got your wire on. BA, you got Amy's there."

BA handed Amy the wire. It had a small power pack and she frowned at it. "Where should I wear it? It will show up under this dress."

They studied her for a moment, until she blushed.

"Your bra," Hannibal said. Amy blushed some more.

"Yeah, put the wire around underneath," BA said "And the power pack can... um, go in the, you know, um, the middle. Between." When Murdock started to laugh, BA glared. "Shut up, fool!"

"Okay," Amy said, nodding. "Excuse me." She slid out of the booth and headed for the bathroom.

The four of them watched her go, and then caught each other's eyes. Murdock raised his eyebrows.

"Now that's what I call money well spent."

"Her hair..." Face said. "That's, well, that's..." He trailed off. It seemed to have him rattled Murdock thought. He knows it too. He knows it's a message.

+-+-+

Murdock and Amy walked into the hotel lobby arm in arm. As they walked up to the desk Murdock made a show of checking his watch to ensure the Rolex was noticed. Just after ten thirty.

He smiled at the woman desk clerk. But not too friendly, a smile, not too nice, trying to come across as someone used to bossing the little people around.

"I'd like a room for tonight."

"Yes sir," the desk clerk glanced at the two of them and started tapping at a computer terminal.

"Marvin," Amy said, making him turn to her. "Can we get some champagne?"

"Of course, honey." He put his arm around her waist now and pulled her closer. "We'll celebrate you getting that part."

"Oh, Marvin, that's all thanks to you! How can I ever thank you?"

"I'm sure we'll figure something out," Murdock teased and Amy giggled.

"A bottle of your finest champagne," Murdock said as the clerk handed him the room key.

"Certainly, sir, I'll have it sent up at once."

He nodded his thanks at her and they turned away towards the elevators. Amy wobbled on heels higher than she usually wore, but Murdock kept hold of her waist. Added to the picture, he thought, made her look like she might be tipsy.

In the elevator he let her go and they grinned at each other.

"'A bottle of your finest champagne?'" Amy quoted. "You watch a lot of movies don't you?"

"Oh that's rich, coming from Miss 'How can I ever thank you?'"

Amy giggled and Murdock took her hand. "We made an impression that's the main thing. You okay?"

Amy nodded. "So far. I'm sort of scared and excited all at once. Maybe one day I'll get used to that."

"If you keep hanging around with us you will."

The elevator reached their floor and they found the room quickly, went inside. Murdock took off his jacket, remembered his shoulder holster and put it back on.

"Amy." He nodded at her small purse. She opened it, extracted a walkie-talkie and handed it to him. "Thanks." He flicked the transmit switch. "Hannibal, you receiving, over?"

"Loud and clear. And your mikes are coming in fine too, Marvin. We're in position."

"Okay. Check in with you later. Out."

He put the walkie in a drawer of the nightstand, resting on top of the ubiquitous Gideon Bible.

"Once the champagne has been delivered we'll get comfy," he told Amy. "If we're forced to stay in a luxury hotel room we might as well make the most of it." When she raised her eyebrows, he said. "Hey, it's me talking, not Face." He grinned. Face had probably just called him a rude name. "I just mean raid the mini bar and steal the little soaps."

He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Amy who had taken her shoes off and started pacing. "After the waiter leaves the champagne you can go to sleep if you like."

"What? You really think I can go to sleep? What if something happens?"

"I'll wake you up. Besides..." He shrugged. "What do you think the chances are we've found the right place on our first try?"

She stopped pacing and frowned at him. "Yeah, that would be a bit... Well, lucky."

"And even Hannibal isn't that lucky. If he were then he wouldn't have that scar on his chin. Did you ever hear the story of how he got that? No? Well, if you're still awake at 3 a.m. I'll tell you."

"Murdock --"

A knock at the door interrupted her and she stared. Murdock tensed as he heard the shout of "Room Service." His hand moved instinctively towards his pistol, but he controlled himself and spoke to Amy.

"Relax. Tell you what, sit on the bed and look seductive."

"Look what?"

He strode to the door, glanced through the peephole and then opened the door to let in a waiter carrying an ice bucket and two glasses.

"Champagne, sir," the waiter said, taking the bucket to a table. Murdock studied the waiter carefully, long enough to know his face well. A young man, maybe twenty-five, quite good looking, dark haired, dark eyed, maybe Hispanic, or partly so. Probably another wannabe actor.

"I hope it's properly chilled," Murdock said, still looking the man over and now assessing if he could take him in a fight. No problem.

"Of course, sir. Shall I open it for you?"

"Please, and pour, thanks." Murdock resisted the urge to watch the waiter. If this was the killer, supposing they had got lucky, then it would be no good if Murdock's eyeballing put him off slipping the drug into the wine. Instead, he turned to see Amy had sat on the bed and did indeed look quite seductive, her long legs stretched out, crossed at the ankles, her shoes back on.

Murdock had always been a leg man, something Face scoffed at on the principle that he already had legs. Nevertheless, even Face admitted that Amy had a fine set of pins. Murdock let those distract him to keep from looking at the waiter.

A small nod from Amy made him turn back to see the waiter had poured the champagne.

"Thanks," Murdock said and reached into his pocket for his wallet. A tip. He had to tip the man and that felt quite strange suddenly. If this plan worked, if not tonight then one of the nights to come, he would give a tip to a murderer. Should he be careful not to be too generous though? Could a generous tip persuade a murderer not to make them his victims after all?

He extracted five dollars. It might be too much. He should have asked Face or Hannibal's advice on that, made a mental note to remember to do that tomorrow.

"Thank you, sir, goodnight."

The waiter left and Amy sighed and flopped down on the bed on her back.

"Well," Murdock said, slipping off his jacket again. "The pieces are in place. Now we wait."

Amy slid off the bed. "Well if you don't mind, I'm going to wait wearing one of the hotel bathrobes, because this dress is not comfortable."

"Mind?" Murdock winked at her as he sat down on the bed. "A young lady offers to take her dress off, I'm not organising any protest marches."

She rolled her eyes and went into the bathroom. Murdock took off his shoes, then loosened his tie and top button and started a search of the room. After opening a couple of closet drawers, he found the mini fridge and grabbed some cans of soda and packs of peanuts and jellybeans. He ignored the alcohol, needing his wits about him. No doubt, Hannibal would rag on him for the expense, since they'd already spent so much money today. But if he expected Murdock and Amy to sit here and watch while a bottle of fine champagne went warm and flat, then they needed some compensation.

He flopped onto the bed with their miniature feast and arranged the pillows to get comfortable. If anything did happen it wouldn't be for a couple of hours at least, he guessed. Stretching across the bed, he retrieved the walkie-talkie from the drawer and left it open so the others could speak to him.

Amy came out of the bathroom, a moment later, wearing one of the fluffy hotel bathrobes. She carried the dress and shoes to the wardrobe.

"Hey, chica, grab some of that paper and a couple of pens." He nodded over at a table with some hotel stationery on it.

"What's this for?" Amy said, joining him on the bed with the paper and pens.

"Well we have to do something to pass the time. How about tic tac toe?"

A voice came out of the air, or rather, over the radio. Face.

"Murdock, you're in a hotel room with a beautiful woman and you want to play tic tac toe? Have I taught you nothing?"

Amy giggled and Hannibal's voice broke in. "Don't even think about it."

"Never crossed my mind, Colonel."

"Oh really?" Amy said, sounding slighted.

"Right, I seem to be between a rock and a hard place here," Murdock said. "Maybe we could read the Bible instead?"

"Not again." Amy sighed. "Can't we put on the TV?"

"Better not." Hannibal's voice sounded again. "If he shows up sooner than expected and hears the TV, it might put him off."

"And," Face said, "he'll wonder what kind of weirdo takes a pretty girl to a hotel room and then watches The Late, Late Show."

"Ignore them, Amy," Murdock said. "We'll just talk."

"With the rest of the team listening in?"

Murdock shrugged. "They'll probably fall asleep soon."

The walkie-talkie crackled again and BA's voice came through this time.

"Coming up there and pounding you would keep me awake."

Grinning, but ignoring the threat, Murdock stretched his arm out to flick off the light, yawned, and then lowered the arm again, around Amy's shoulders, making her smile.

"Perfected that move years ago, eh?"

"Nah, Face taught it to me. But I told him he's not my type."

As Amy laughed, Face said, "What's that? What's he saying?"

"Nothing, Face. Relax."

"Relax? Are you trying to be funny?"