Chapter 1

The London high street was usually noisy as Terry McCann was helping his cousin Melissa Kennedy deliver the latest issue of Girl's Talk Weekly as a way to show their gratitude for her placing a lost-and-found advert. Melissa checked her stack of papers in her cosuin's car and asked "You got it, Terry?"

"Yeah, Mel." said Terry as he got into the car waiting impatiently to Arthur Daley's lock up and then he reached into his pocket and produced a small shiny tin. Its surface glinted off the rising sun.

"What's that?" Melissa asked.

The small tin had a seal on it, and 'Daley Industries Makeup' written across its front.

"A token of Arfur's appreciation." replied Terry as he handed it to Melissa.

Melissa put her hands on her hips smiling at Terry and said "Just what are you trying to say?"

Terry smiled foolishly at his cousin and said "Aha! Nothing!"

Terry drove off and Melissa went into her house. Clouds were gathering and the morning mist was disappearing.

"Who was that?" asked Melissa's husband Jack. Melissa craned her neck back to see him behind her in the kitchen. She giggled as she felt Jack moving one end of his white scarf down her back.

Melissa grabbed the scarf when it moved down past her pink blouse and said "Someone's in a good mood!" She walked over to the table and placed the tin down.

Melissa closed the window by the sink cutting off the stream of cool air into the room.

"How couldn't I be?" asked Jack. He picked up a magazine on the table. "What's this?"

Various white dresses spread across the center page showing a lovely Victorian bride holding flowers. "It's a tin, Jack. I think it says 'makeup' on the front, could you check for me?"

Jack laughed. He wouldn't be getting any info from her so he decided to change the subject. "You? Need Makeup? Not in my world," He kissed her. "It couldn't be for any of you cousin Terry's girlfriends."

He looked out the window. "When are you going to that lock up?" Jack asked.

"Why?" asked Melissa.

"Looks like it's going to rain tonight. I can feel it." said Jack.

"Pretty soon. Speaking of which, what're you going to do with Arthur tonight?" asked Melissa.

"I might go to the Winchester Club. It's Buy One, Get One Free night." said Jack.

Melissa rinsed her teacup out in the sink and said "Come on, Arthur Daley's not so bad when he's drinking."

"Heh. Tell that to Dave," said Jack. "He's still angry that Arfur ain't paid for the picture frame he threw at the dartboard last week."

The two turned toward a voice outside. Melissa checked the clock. It couldn't be. Arthur arriving before noon?

"Is something wrong, Arthur?" Melissa asked as she answered the door.

A started Arthur Daley stepped into the house and said "No, why?"

"Well, it's only 11:30am and you should be here at noon..." Melissa began.

"What's wrong with arriving early?" asked Arthur. "Besides, I 'eard Terry came by earlier."

Melissa was watching Arthur and asked Jack "Do you think people can change?"

"What do you mean?" asked Jack.

Melissa looked outside to the front yard and said "Well, Terry. I think 'e's... Different."

The gas stove came to life. "You got that right!" Arthur said.

"Maybe he can change, I don't know... You just take it easy tonight, Melissa." said Jack.

"So, you two 'ave anything planned?" asked Arthur.

"We're both going to be busy tonight." said Melissa. That was just the line Arthur needed to hear.

A grin spread across Arthur's face and he nudged Jack in the ribs and said "Is that why you two were so quiet this morning?"

Melissa started to blush. She quickly hid the magazine under a chair. Arthur didn't need any more fuel.

Jack punched Arthur in the arm and said "For your information, Melissa's having a party tonight and I'm going to the Winchester with Terry. That's all."

"Don't worry. I've got a surprise for you soon and it starts with 'T' and ryhmes with 'Jerry'." A few seconds passed before Arthur rushed out of the house.

"Wait, Arthur." Melissa said. She picked up the tin and handed it to him.

"What's this?" Arthur asked. Melissa leaned in and whispered to him. Arthur's smile widened.

"I told Terry go give this to you, Melissa!" Arthur said before leaving the house.

"What did you say to him?" asked Jack turning off the stove.

"Nothing... Just something to help things along. " Melissa said moving in to give Jack another kiss.

"What're you up to, Melissa?" asked Jack.

"He doesn't know what Terry's got planned for tomorrow." replied Melissa.

"Do I want to know?" asked Jack.

Melissa rubbed her nose against Jack's and said "You won't be here tonight..." She enunciated the first word as she broke off the gaze and nudged him toward the living room. Melissa looked at the table and then looked at Arthur's Ford Cortina driving away. What a night it would be indeed.

Meanwhile at Arthur's Lock up, there were other plans being hatched. A large factory in one corner of the property sent out smoke in a steady stream. It was a new factory that Arthur had purchased and it was his newest money making scheme. Terry was showing four men around the factory that day as the workers preparing the second batch of Daley Industries makeup.

The midday sun streamed in through the factory windows onto a large machine marked 'cosmetics'.

"Put it in!" Terry tried to shout above the whirr of the machine and the worker shoved a large bag into it's top.

"Take it out!" another worker yelled as his mate pulled a lever squeezing the bag's contents into the machine.

Water started to swish around inside mixing the contents together.

"Rawhide!" another worker shouted watching the dials on the machine come to life.

"You know I don't like that word!" The man in the baseball cap yelled pointing at the worker who said "Rawhide".

The worker motioned the others over to him and said "That material doesn't look right..."

The eldest man, who appered to be the leader, fanned his face to try shooing away the large clouds of dust that belched from the machine every time they started it up and said "It doesn't smell right either!"

"It's normally got a pink color to it and this isn't pink," said the man with brown hair as he took a handful and sniffed at it. "It's grainy too."

The man wiped his hand on a nearby towel.

"Don't worry about it. It's probably just a new recipe! I'm going to tell Arthur." said Terry as he hopped down walking by the large 'Daley Industries' placard on the wall.

Chapter 2

Terry could barely contain himself. His friend Lucie Jones was coming over. From that first time he saw her step off the train, he had fallen for her. They had been steady for a while and he had seen how happy she was with him. Nothing could go wrong tonight, absolutely nothing.

"Is she here yet?" Terry asked his cleaner Joanna as he arrived back at his flat.

"Mr Daley should be back with her any minute." said Joanna in a Brooklyn accent. Terry was never one to grasp the concept of tidiness.

"Yahoo!" yelled Terry jumping in the air. "You'll see! Tonight's gonna be a special night!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" asked Joanna. "You could've gotten busted earlier this week."

"How do you know that?" asked Terry.

"Officer Chisholm said he caught you speedin' and tried to arrest you but that Jones guy caught some kids jumpin' up and down on Chisolm's car." said Joanna.

"A bloke's gotta 'ave 'is priorities, Joanna," said Terry. "And besides, I was about to-"

"Terry? Terry? We're back!" Terry's ears immediately honed in on the small bit of chatter Arthur and Lucie were having downstairs. He could only make out snippets; 'sure?' and 'surprise' but he felt better already.

"Well, it looks like your guest has arrived." said Joanna turing her head out of the room but Terry held her back with a hand on her shoulder.

"You sure I look alright?" asked Terry. Joanna laughed and took Terry's hand off.

"Stop worrying. It's not like you're getting married!" Joanna chuckled. When she didn't hear Terry laughing, her laughter died away replaced by a look of surprise.

"You're-"

Joanna left as Terry fell down the stairs. Three seconds later, he felt the touch of a girl helping him up.

"Are you alright, Terry?" the sweet voice asked. Terry opened his eyes to see Lucie in front of him with a worried look on her face.

"Why can't you two talk here?" asked Arthur as he winked at both Lucie and Terry.

Terry returned the comment with a look. "I swear to gawd, Arfur..."

"We need somewhere more private." said Lucie as she took Terry into his room.

"It's good to see you, Lucie!" said Terry throwing his arms as far around Lucie as he could. She returned his embrace.

"Hey, Terry," said Lucie. "I've got something for you."

Terry felt another fluttering in his stomach. The pain from his bruises seemed to disappear. This, added to the genuine look of concern she had for him downstairs, would make his goal a piece of cake.

"You didn't have to do that..." Terry began. He worried that she had spent her summer savings on something. Both of them were secretly trying to save and buy gifts for the other.

Lucie's cheeks turned a shade of red. "Well..." This was something important.

"I want to... I want to show you something tomorrow." said Lucie as Terry's heart seemed to pulse out of control at hearing this. What a great opportunity! She had somewhere or something, special in mind that she had picked for him. What better place to give his own token of affection?

"But not tonight," Lucie said. "There's going to be a full moon tomorrow. We'll head out at dusk." She smiled and looked into his eyes. Now, more than ever, Terry wanted this night to pass by.

"You remember the first time we went to the lake?" Terry asked.

Lucie started to blush again. She stood up and walked to the door. Terry reached out and squeezed her hand. "Will you..." A shot of blood rushed to his face as he fought desperately to stem the next few words from catching up.

"What's that, Terry?" asked Lucie.

Terry's face was turning red as he asked "Will you... Take this?" He reached into his pocket for the tin.

She smiled and wrapped her arms around him again. Terry could smell the scent of lilacs in her hair.

"Glad you like it..." He said.

Lucie then leaned in, nose-to-nose with him and said "See you tomorrow, Terry."

"Lucille!" Arthur called from the living room. Terry let his fingers fall across Lucie's in a dance as she walked out of the room.

Terry took a long breath and looked at his reflection in the mirror. The red menace returned and he leapt to his bed burying his face into a pillow. Sleep overtook the anxious man soon after he realized that the sooner morning came, the sooner he could add the words 'marry me' to the end of that sentence and make his dreams complete.

There sure were a lot of screams in his dreams, Terry thought. The approaching princess clad in pink sounded an awful lot like Lucie too. Their lips met and Terry was greeted not with the smell of lilacs but of whiskey. The image of Lucie's face slowly morphed into that of Arthur.

"Terry!" yelled Lucie as Terry opened his eyes. Lucie was in front of him.

"Wake up, Terry." sobbed Lucie. Terry rubbed his eyes and tried to gather what time it was.

"Gawd, Lucie, what's wrong?" Terry said still sleepy.

"It's Arthur!" said Lucie. That got Terry's attention. A bolt of energy flowed through his body and he jumped out of bed.

"What's happened to Arfur?" asked Terry.

"He's..." More sobbing. Something had happened to Arthur and Lucie wasn't going to answer him. This couldn't be good.

"Arfur!" Terry shouted. He ran downstairs looking in the living room. Items were strewn out on the floor as if someone had run into them.

"Arfur!" He shouted again. Where was he? A loud wind came from the kitchen, where Ralph was standing. Bert ran in, and was met with a sight that took the breath from his lungs.

Arthur lay on the floor face down. His hands were sprawled to either side. The wind died down replaced by a ticking clock in the kitchen. Each tick was then replaced by the sound of his heart beating.

"Arfur!" said Terry as he went to Arthur's body and turned him over. Two very large blotches, black in color, showed on his cheeks. His eyes were closed, his mouth slightly open.

The blotches were leaking down his face and a stream came from his mouth staining his shirt as Terry yelled "NO NO NO NO ARFUR NO NO NO ARFUR-" Each syllable paused by sobbing. Terry's face sank into Arthur's limp form. He continued wailing for his boss when he felt something on his cheek. It wasn't from his tears.

Terry turned his head to see again those hideous black blotches. They were leaking down Arthur's body and had stained his face.

"Terry!" Lucie shouted. Terry felt his friend helping him onto a chair by the table.

"Look at this..." said Terry as he held the tin up. It's surface shined and the words 'Daley Industries Makeup' were scrawled on it.

Lucie took it from Terry and said "It's the tin you gave your cousin Melissa this morning." Lucie opened it to find a small yellow ticket fastened to the cap. It was a winning lottery ticket... In small writing, the ticket advised the lucky winner to pickup their prize at a lock up in Harrow.

"Give me that!" said Terry as he picked up the tin and read the ticket, his eyes narrowed. Terry placed the tin in his left jacket pocket and the ticket in his right.

"I'm gonna need the A-Team on this one." said Terry.

A loud sneeze came from Hannibal. He wiped his nose before realizing that his cigar was setting fire to the tissue. He threw it down and shouted. Another sneeze was building up. The air at the Hilton Hotel in London was unusually cold for this time of year. His eyes twitched, his nose wrinkled and Hannibal let loose another massive sneeze as he heard a knock on the door.

"Get in here!" said Hannibal as Terry entered.

"Are you the leader of the A-Team?" as Terry.

"Yes." said Hannibal.

I should have never listened to Arfur! thought Terry as he explained to Hannibal about Arthur's latest makeup scam but irronically, it was Terry who had convinced Arthur to start a line of cosmetics. Too much business sense, or not enough, Terry thought, had crept into that man's head.

Hannibal heard whispering. Face, Murdock and B.A were huddled together discussing something. "What're you boys babbling about?" asked Hannibal.

"Well, boss..." Face began. He tried to hide behind the other two.

"Spit it out!" Hannibal said.

"Well, there's been a problem with the machine..." said Face as Hannibal turned from Terry. He had a notion that the next few words would involve his two worst fears; lost revenue and bad news.

"What do you mean?" asked Hannibal as Terry turned to the window looking down at the small factory.

"Those tickets that Mr Daley talked about, well, there's been a mistake in the number." said Murdock.

"What's bad about that? No tickets means no lost revenue! This calls for a mission!" said Hannibal as he reached into a drawer for a small shot glass.

"No, fool," said B.A. "There've been too many tickets printed. It seems that one in five has a ticket instead of one in one hundred. That Daley dude is one crazy fool."

At this, Hannibal coughed and dropped the small glass.

"We need to find those tickets!" said Hannibal turning to Terry. "Did you give 'em to anyone lately?"

"Yeah. I gave one of 'em to my cousin Melissa!" replied Terry.

"Well then, let's go get 'em back!" said Face as the team went into B.A's truck and drove off.

"I know what you're feeling, Terry but you can't just rush into this," said Murdoch. "You don't think that they're going to welcome you in with open arms and apologize for everything, do you?"

"I'm going to have my revenge, one way or the other." Terry said.

"Let me see that tin," said Face. Terry handed it to him, and he looked it over. "You need a plan if you're going to go after anyone. First off, you need to find out where this all came from."

Terry clenched his fists squeezing the container and said "It says right on it 'Daley Industries'! Are you blind?"

"There's no reason for that, Terry," said Hannibal. "We're just as angry as you are."

"Doesn't sound like it," Terry shouted. "The bloke's my dad's age, for gawd's sake!"

"Who's that crazy fool followin' us?" asked BA as sirens form a nearby passing car were heard and he was forced to stop the van.

"Someone called the cops," said Murdoch. "I think they want to speak to us."

"Are you nuts?" Terry shouted. "That's Chisholm and he wants to talk to me!"

"Not if we explain ourselves. There's no reason to worry." Face said confidentally.

If Terry was going to make his move, then he decided it would be before they all arrived. Terry placed his hand on his chest, to feel his pulse quickening. The mere thought of sneaking away gave him a bit of energy.

"Gimme a second, boys." said Terry as he got out of the van and spoke to Chisholm.

"McCann, what the hell are you doing!" asked Chisholm. The A-Team looked up to see their new friend ltalking to a cop. Face knew that this Chisholm guy would probably try to find Terry. Another hand helping the team out wouldn't be a bad idea.

"I'll be waiting up ahead when you're done." Terry told BA. He was being left alone to deal with a man who hated Arthur and would question him as to what happened to him. Terry could see the cogs creaking in BA's head as he tried to scream at him but the van drove off. The only thing the A-Team did do, however, was get the hell away from Chisholm and fast. Terry recognized it as the old fork in the road, near the large tree that headed to Arthur's lock up.