Damn—she’s cold.Wet from head to toe, she’d never warm up if he didn’t get her out of that dress.
Before MacGyver could decide how to handle that problem, the connecting door between his room and the next swung open, and Travis barged in as though he belonged there.
The big man slumped into one of the two armchairs that sat before the gas fireplace. “Tell me we got something from today besides a drunk woman in a bride’s dress.”
MacGyver turned the fireplace on and settled in the other chair. He scraped his hands over his stubble-covered face and shook his head. An hour or so with the runaway bride had gotten his adrenaline pumping and made him feel alive in a way he hadn’t since his fiancée dumped him while he was deployed. By the time Shelby’s Dear John letter had caught up with him in Bethesda last spring, she’d already married someone else.
He’d wised up since then. He was no longer the chump who believed in soulmates and love everlasting. Yet, the woman in the wedding gown had all but rocked his world with one glance from her incredible green eyes. Without a doubt, she’d captured his attention. And just because long-term was off the table didn’t mean short and sweet wasn’t open for discussion.
Yeah…but they’d barely exchanged a dozen words, and it was obvious she didn’t trust him. Yet, his need to rescue her had overshadowed everything, including the reason he’d been in that bar.
One scowl from Travis and it all came flooding back.
“The PI was a no show, and the place he chose to meet is a roach-infested dive.” MacGyver hadn’t been thrilled when the congressman told them he’d been working with a local PI, and so far this guy, Larry Burnett, had done nothing to change his opinion. MacGyver didn’t blame Travis for being frustrated. Unfortunately, an unreliable PI clearly wasn’t the only thing bothering him, and MacGyver had a pretty good idea what was going on in his friend’s head.
“Look, I’m sorry I let something come between me and the job, but I couldn’t take off and leave her and not only because of the congressman’s damn text. There were three bikers inside, drunk and looking for trouble. They latched on to her the minute she walked in. Intimidated her into shooting tequila. It didn’t take long for her to get shit-faced.”
MacGyver fidgeted under Travis’s scrutiny. “She should never have been in a place like that, but I couldn’t walk away. It was getting ugly, and her day could have ended a whole lot worse.” It didn’t matter what his friend thought. MacGyver had done the right thing. He braced his elbows on the arms of the chair. “You wouldn’t have either.”
Travis stared at him for a moment, his perusal shifting to the bed, and the irritation that had marred his expression slowly faded. “Did the congressman happen to say what we’re supposed to do with her? Or why?”
“Just to stay under the radar until he contacts us.”
“So, what now? It’s not every day a hot girl, all decked out in a wedding dress, lands in your lap. Maybe it’s a sign.”
It was obvious Travis was trying to keep a straight face…and sucked at it. MacGyver flipped him off and issued a mirthless laugh.
Travis had been with him when his SEAL unit returned to the States from a disastrous mission in Afghanistan that had left two of his buddies in the brutal hands of ISIS. One of them had been tortured and murdered two weeks before the Army launched a rescue operation that brought Luke home seriously wounded, but alive.
As if that hadn’t been enough to deal with, the letter his fiancée had sent, breaking off their engagement, arrived the same week. Emotionally, MacGyver had hit rock bottom, and without Travis and a couple other members of his SEAL unit, it was likely he’d still be there.
Even so, he retained his deep distrust of anything resembling commitment, and he didn’t intend to give anyone the keys to his heart ever again.
He caught himself just in time and shook off the dark mood the memories of that period still evoked. “We need to find the PI—this Burnett guy—even if we have to place a call to the congressman for some VIP pressure. Maybe we can ask him what he had in mind for the girl.”
Avoiding Travis’s previous comment and redirecting the conversation wasn’t something new to MacGyver. Travis fell for it every time.
“Something must have gone wrong. Burnett seemed like a professional when I spoke with him. Let’s give him some time to check in before we contact the congressman.” Travis dropped his head back against the chair and rubbed his eyes. “Hey, we should hit the Strip tonight. Have a little fun—some dinner.” He stopped and snapped his fingers. “Oh, forgot. You’ve got your hands full with the mystery woman.” He snickered and jerked his thumb toward the bed. “Seriously, Bro, does she have ID?”
Damn!MacGyver reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out the small purse he’d totally spaced. She’d practically forced it on him in the bathroom when she thought it would pay for the drinks the bikers had set in front of her. Upending the bag, he dumped the contents on the coffee table in front of him.
A credit card, a driver’s license, a picture of someone who looked a lot like her and a couple of twenty dollar bills. She was traveling light. MacGyver picked up the license and studied the photo. Those damn green eyes, even two dimensional, made it hard to look away. “Kellie—with an i-e—Greyson. Twenty-six. Lives at 815 NW Ashley Drive.” He tossed the card onto the tabletop and reached for the picture. “If I had to guess, I’d say the girl in this photo is related—a sister maybe, or a cousin.”
Travis leaned forward and picked up the license. “Wait a minute. Kellie Greyson? I know that name. I read about her in the paper. Hang on. I’ll be right back.” Travis jogged toward his room. Barely a minute passed before he returned, theLas Vegas Sunopen in his hands.
“Well, well. Your lady has friends in low places.” Travis dropped the paper in MacGyver’s lap.
“The fairy tale wedding of Kellie Greyson and…Tony Palazzi?” MacGyver read the headline on the society page out loud, then turned to stare at Travis. “You’vegotto be kidding. Any chance there’s more than one Tony Palazzi?”
“Keep reading.”
MacGyver skimmed the article. “The wedding was supposed to be today at five. She didn’t make it. She walked into Wally’s at quarter after. It says here the groom is a real estate mogul. Really? I guess that’s one way to legitimize himself.” MacGyver folded the paper and swiveled to study the girl on the bed. “She’sengaged to that criminal? I don’t buy it.”
Tony and his uncle, Rico Palazzi, had been in the national news more than once, so the name was well known, even in California, where PTS Security was currently headquartered. The local DA had tried like hell to indict them both on sales of illegal weapons, but apparently, Tony had the best legal services money could buy. Rumor had it he was a power-hungry, wannabe mobster who’d gotten where he was over the dead bodies of other Vegas businessmen.
Knowing and proving were worlds apart, however.
Kellie Greyson had planned to marry that creep? No. Hell no. MacGyver couldn’t believe it. He’d pegged her as a person of high moral standards, maybe a little naïve, to whom family was important. There was something else about her that he couldn’t quite figure out. Strength of character…or self-confidence. She definitely didn’t strike him as the kind of woman who’d turn a blind eye to murder.