Chapter Text
Captain Carl Crane glanced surreptitiously at Colonel Decker. The Colonel was sitting at his desk frowning, hands folded on his desk. He had been sitting like that ever since he had arrived at the office that morning. Crane was getting a little worried, frankly.
The phone on his desk rang, interrupting the captain's thoughts. He picked up the receiver.
"Captain Crane speaking," he said crisply.
He listened with increasing eagerness as the man on the other end of the phone spoke. The man was a part of their network of informants that they had been cultivating. The purpose of the network was to track and better understand the A-Team's movements. Over time, they should be able to predict where the A-Team would go so they could trap them. They had started to see some success starting with identifying the priest who had regular contact with Templeton Peck. Only the week prior, they had very nearly gotten Peck. Now, it sounded like the network was paying off again.
"Yes, yes, I got that," responded Crane as he took down the information,"You have been more than helpful. Thank you very much."
He hung up and turned a wide smile to his commanding officer.
"Sir," he announced, "we've just got another lead on Peck. Apparently, he's just shown up at the church again."
Colonel Decker just raised his eyes to meet Crane's.
"Oh?" he said with a surprising lack of enthusiasm.
Crane paused and then asked, "Sir, are you all right?"
Decker glowered at him before answering, "I'm fine. What did the informant have to say?"
Crane swallowed and then shared the details. Colonel Decker grunted acknowledgement before returning to his contemplation of his clasped hands. Crane waited expectantly. The Colonel didn't move. Crane shuffled his feet, unsure of what he should be doing. Finally, Colonel Decker turned to look at him and raised his eyebrow.
"So, Captain, what would you like to do?" he asked.
"Uh, me, sir?"
"Yes, Captain, you. What would you like to do?"
Crane licked his lips wondering if this was some kind of test. So far, Decker had not been one of those commanders who were prone to testing their subordinates, But still...
He decided to take the chance.
"I would like to pursue this lead, sir," he stated firmly.
The Colonel nodded and waved his hand towards the door.
"Fine, go ahead," he responded and returned to frowning at his hands.
****
Two hours later, Crane returned, dispirited, to the office. He found that Decker had at least started some paperwork because his desk was covered in neat piles of paper. The Colonel was frowning at a report while scribbling on a pad of paper.
He didn't look up as Crane walked in, but said, "Fake alarm?"
"Yes, sir," responded Crane feeling irritated at the lack of interest from the other man.
"He's been turned," responded Decker matter-of-factly.
"What?" exclaimed Crowne in dismay, "How do you know?"
"It wouldn't have been difficult for Peck to figure out who blabbed on him last week, and he's no idiot."
"Oh! So, you think Peck threatened him, sir?"
"Unlikely, Crane. If I had to, I'd put my money on the priest. There's nothing like a pointed sermon or a strongly worded suggestion in the confessional to make a man see the error of his ways," responded Decker with the first hint of a smile before he continued, "You won't get anything more out of that congregation. You can cross it off the network list."
He finally straightened up and patted a pile of papers as he said, "But, I've got another job for you. Take a look at these files. They're old records of shipments and shipping requests from the Vietnam war. See if you can find any patterns."
Puzzled, Crane took the pile of paper Decker held out to him, "Uh, sir, what do these have to do with the A-Team?"
"I'm not sure, yet, Crane, but I have a hunch. Or, rather, I received a hunch. Take a look and let me know what you find."