MacGyver darted a glance at Travis. “You left the keys in the car? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Don’t blame me. You said you had this.” Travis looked as though he might choke for a moment before he burst out in uncontrolled laughter.
“Shit!” MacGyver searched for the exit, then sprinted across the grassy pet area with Travis on his heels.
As Kellie straightened the wheels and the car shifted into drive, the engine revved and the car lurched forward. Her silhouette barely visible through the darkened windshield, she maneuvered carefully around the vehicles and pedestrians.
MacGyver reached the one-lane strip of pavement leading back to the highway as the Mustang cleared the crowd and picked up speed. He stopped in the center of the road, between the exit and the Mustang, and held up his hands, a silent plea for her to stop. There was more at stake than her simply driving away in their car.
If she gets by me, she’ll be facing Palazzi alone the next time he catches up with her.
MacGyver was in no mood to consider why that left him so incredibly angry, but his jaw was clenched tightly enough to grind his teeth together. He had to talk her down.
The lane was narrow, with sloped gravel shoulders on both sides. The only way she could pass was if she ran over him. He winced. It was entirely possible she might not hesitate. He sure as hell wasn’t going to talk her out of it with his charming personality.
He checked along the path he’d followed, looking for Travis. His friend had been intercepted by two burly truck drivers who apparently hadn’t wanted him to catch up to the girl in the Mustang. Good Samaritans, though they might be, hassling Travis was never a good idea. He appeared to be doing his best to maintain the status quo, using his hands in the traditional calm-down motion while glancing worriedly toward the Mustang every few seconds. MacGyver didn’t doubt Travis could handle the two men on his own. The only unknown was how badly they’d be bleeding when he was done. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that, but MacGyver couldn’t go to his aid. He had his hands full at the moment.
Kellie braked as she approached, stopping about three car lengths away. She shifted out of gear and gunned the engine menacingly when he made a move toward her. The driver-side window opened, and she poked her blonde head out as she regally waved him out of her way.
As angry as he was, the move made him chuckle, but he schooled his expression into calm indifference and took a slow step toward the car. “Kellie? What are you doing, darlin’? Don’t you think we should talk before you do something rash?” He raised his voice so she could hear over the low grumbling of the Mustang’s engine.
Bystanders heard him also and stopped to watch the show. Even the two truckers with Travis closed their mouths and tuned in.
She stuck her head out again. “Get out of my way, MacGyver. Please try to understand. I have to get away from you before you get hurt because of me. I couldn’t live with that.”
Huh!Kellie was concerned forhiswelfare? She hadn’t said she didn’t trust him or she didn’t need his help. Maybe it was a stretch, but that didn’t sound like the words of a woman who would mow him down and drive away without a backward glance.
MacGyver pointed at the vehicle. “So…this is how you repay us for helping you out back there? Steal our car and leave us stranded?”
“I’ll leave the car in the first town north of here that has a bus stop. I promise. Please get out of the way. I don’t want to hurt you.”
MacGyver had reduced the distance between them to a little over a car’s length when she shifted into drive and the car eased forward. He stopped, arms outstretched to the side. “I don’t believe you, Kellie. That’s not the kind of person you are.” He dropped his arms. “Either way, I’m not moving. You know why?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Kellie said.
“Maybe not, but I’m not going to let that SOB hurt you again. You said it yourself—he won’t stop. Whatever he wants from you and your stepdad, he’s not about to let it go.” MacGyver started moving forward again and lowered his voice. “I can help you. Let me.”
“Don’t come any closer.” Kellie’s voice held uncertainty.
A satisfied smile tugged at his lips. He was getting to her…but he’d thought that before and been wrong.
Before he could say any more, the car lurched forward, and he caught a glimpse of her face with that sameoh-shitexpression she’d worn after she’d gotten a look at the three bikers in Wally’s Tavern. As the Mustang surged toward him, he braced to jump out of the way.
At the last second, she slammed on the brakes, and the car slid to a stop not four inches from his kneecaps. MacGyver let out the breath he’d sucked in and heard the transmission slide into neutral. She stared wide-eyed through the windshield, her mouth moving with words he couldn’t hear.
Her hands braced at ten and two, she straightened. Was she waiting for him to make the first move? Wariness shadowed her eyes as though she expected him to lay into her with disparaging words…and maybe even fists. The idea that someone might have treated her that way in the past made him sick and so goddamned mad he couldn’t see straight.
He gave himself a moment to swallow his anger. Confronting her while the need still blazed within him to choke the life from any asshole who’d ever hurt her was the wrong move. She’d probably think his rage was directed at her.
Glancing toward Travis, MacGyver laughed softly as the drivers returned to their rigs. Apparently they’d bought his suggestion that Kellie was trying to steal the car and no longer cared what became of the thief.
Moving alongside the driver’s door, MacGyver rested one hand on the window casing and waited. Tense and on edge, she avoided looking at him, staring straight ahead. After standing there a few seconds, he tugged the handle and swung the door open, reaching across her to cut the engine. “Everything’s all right, Kellie.”
Her head turned, and her angry eyes nailed him. “Are you fucking nuts? Do you have a death wish or something? Who in their right mind stands in front of a moving car?” Kellie’s voice rose higher with each question.
MacGyver took a step backward as the pissed-off blonde scrambled from the car and advanced on him. “Easy, Kellie. I knew you wouldn’t hit me.”
“You don’t know anything! And you don’t know me! I could be a serial killer, for all you know—a serial killer with big fat feet that get caught between the brake and the gas pedal.” Kellie jammed her index finger into his chest with enough strength to make him wince. “I could have killed you—you big stupid idiot!”