Alias Baby Face
Mike jumped out of his seat and hurried to the door as soon as he heard the car pull up. Micky got out of the car slowly and started to stretch, almost as if he'd been asleep. Mike couldn't take it anymore. "Mikcy!!" Micky jumped and frowned at Mike. "Micky, c'mere! C'mere!!" He waved urgently, bouncing on his toes.
Micky smiled, but it didn't look like his usual, chipper grin. Instead of coming inside, he reached toward his pocket. Just then, Davy and Peter ran up beside Mike, crowding the doorway. "Micky!" Davy snapped. "Come in here! It's not safe out there!"
Micky frowned again, then smiled brightly and walked jauntily to the door. "What's the matter guys?" he asked. As soon as he reached the door, Mike grabbed him and pulled him into the house. Peter shut the door and locked it. Micky looked confused, and struggled to get free.
"Cool it, man," Mike said. "We gotta hide you!"
"Why?!" Micky asked, still struggling.
"It's Baby Face," Peter said.
"What?" Micky said, suddenly standing very still.
"The chief called today and said Baby Face escaped from prison again," Davy explained. "He said Baby Face might be looking for you, since you helped get him put away again."
"He... I wasn't the only one who helped him," Micky said.
"Yeah, but you're the one who talked to him in prison, and you're the one he'll recognize the most!" Mike tugged Micky's shirt. "C'mon, Mick. You gotta hide!" They hustled him upstairs spent a few minutes looking for a decent hiding space. Finally they settled on hiding him under his own bed. "That'll have to do for now," Mike said.
"What kind of hiding place is this?" Micky asked. "Don't you think Baby Face is smart enough to find someone hiding under a bed?"
"You know, he's got a point," Davy said.
"We could hide him in the big trunk downstairs," Peter suggested.
"Naw, Pete, I don't think that'd be comfortable."
"What about-"
"Hey!" Mike jumped. Micky had crawled back out from under the bed and was glaring at them all. His face brightened again when he had their attention. "Listen guys," he said. "This is crazy. If Baby Face was gonna come after me, he would have done it already, right?"
"Well, I... I guess..."
"Exactly. So we've got nothing to worry about!"
"I don't know, Micky," Peter said. "He's awfully mean."
"Yeah," Mike said. "He's a vicious, sneaky, rotten, mean-type-"
"I get it!" Micky snapped. "What are you guys trying to do, scare me to death?"
"Oh, well, I'm sorry," Mike said.
"Sheesh! Look guys, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I ain't gonna... I... I can't hide under a bed for weeks. Let's make a deal. I'll lay low for a few days. I'll just stay in the house, and if anybody comes around you can tell them I'm sick or something. Then, when everything settles down, I'll come out of hiding. Sound good?"
"All right, babe," Mike said. "Sounds like a good idea to me."
"Great." Micky sat on the bed and started to bite his nails.
"Don't worry, Micky," Peter said, patting him on the shoulder. "We won't let anything happen to you."
"You're a real pal," Micky said.
"Come on, guys," Mike said. "We should let Micky get some rest. He's been out all day." They all nodded their agreement, said goodnight, and trooped out. A thought occurred to Mike, and he turned back and poked his head in the door. Micky was facing away from the door, apparently looking at something on the bed "Hey, Micky?"
"Huh? What??" He turned around, looking a little guilty, and hiding something behind his back.
"What's that?"
"Uh... it's a surprise. For everybody."
"Oh!" Mike smiled. "Okay, I won't peek. I was just wonderin' what took you so long to get home. I thought you were just going to walk around and look at the shops for a while."
"Oh. Um... I, uh... I just got carried away, I guess. You know. Trying to find just the right thing."
"Yeah, I know," Mike said, smiling. "Well, get some rest, okay? You look beat."
"Thanks, man. I think I, uh... I did too much walking."
Mike nodded, gave Micky a reassuring smile and left him alone. He headed downstairs, already trying to figure out how they were going to pay the bills when their drummer couldn't leave the house.
Baby Face listened for the sound of footsteps to retreat down the stairs. When there didn't seem to be any more interruptions imminent, he went back to checking his weapon. It was a clunky six-shooter - not his weapon of choice, but beggars couldn't be choosers. He'd started out with only five bullets - lost one on the prison bus driver, and one on Dolenz. Three left. Well. That was one for each of the boys downstairs. He knew that the tall one, and the blonde one had been at the pickup, but he'd never seen the little one before. It didn't matter. If he got in the way, Baby Face would take care of him.
Now all that remained was to figure out how to carry out his revenge. He couldn't do it inside the house. Too risky. It was three against one, and even with a gun, success wasn't guaranteed. Besides, even if he succeeded, he'd have to find a place nearby to hide the bodies. He wasn't familiar enough with the area to risk it. No, he had to get them alone, and away from the city. But how, when they were sure it was too dangerous for him to leave the house?
Baby Face slid his gun under his pillow and lay back, trying to relax. No need to worry about details right now. He had it made! Dolenz was taken care of and his friends didn't suspect a thing. They were so busy protecting him from himself and worrying over him that they hadn't noticed any slips yet. All he really had to do was figure out their names, and continue to act bouncy and happy all the time. He could probably excuse any noticeable slip-ups by putting it down to nervousness about his "dangerous" situation. For the next several days, at least, he was set. After that, all he had to do was maintain their trust long enough to get them alone with him. Then, one by one, he would take care of business.