“Tony’s dealers were amateurs. I went back three days in a row and won eighty-five hundred dollars before two of his security people hauled me into Tony’s office. My plan had worked. I’d gotten his attention.”
“Damn it, Kellie. You could have gotten yourself killed. Why didn’t you go to the police?” Charlie yanked his chair closer to the table, observing her as he gripped the seatback and appeared to brace himself.
MacGyver leaned back, the warmth of his hand leaving hers. “I have to agree with Charlie on this one, Champ. What did you hope to accomplish by pissing Tony off?”
“I’d already decided I’d doanythingto get close to him—earn his trust—until I either found Anna or learned what happened to her.” Heat washed over her face as MacGyver’s expression registered her meaning. Now that he understood how far she was prepared to go to find her sister—that she would have slept with the man responsible for Anna’s disappearance—she wouldn’t blame him if he wasn’t as eager to help.
She scanned both men’s faces, looking for some sign they at least sanctioned her motive. “You needn’t worry. I might be a good Blackjack player, but I’m apparently lousy at seduction. Tony wasn’t interested. He planted a small computerized device in my purse and threatened to have me charged with a felony for cheating in his casino. Then he made me an offer. I could either marry him within the week, or he’d make sure I got prison time.”
A dark cloud passed over Pop’s face, but he remained silent. She would never tell him Tony had also threatened to implicate him in the same crime. Pop already blamed himself for Anna’s problems leading up to her disappearance. Kellie wasn’t going to give him anything else he might assume guilt from.
“The wedding was supposed to be day before yesterday, but I overheard Tony talking to his uncle. He planned to kill me after the wedding, make it look like an accident and collect on a life insurance policy. That’s when I bolted and called you, Pop, and then I ran into MacGyver a few minutes later. I’m not sure why he and his friend, Travis, helped me, but I’m glad they did. I don’t think I’d be here now if they hadn’t.”
The silence was nerve-wracking when she finished speaking. Outside, the sun had vanished behind the rugged mountains, and thunderheads boiled to the northeast. Mother Nature would, no doubt, put on a show for them tonight.
Excitement and dread stirred in her stomach. “I’m sorry, Pop. You deserved the truth. I hope you can forgive me.”
Pop’s expression softened as he searched her face, and his brow puckered. “Kellie, I love you. Your mom wouldn’t like it if we let something change that. Enough said.”
Those were the exact words he’d spoken after every disciplinary action he’d ever undertaken with her or Anna. Kellie’s heart was nearly bursting with love for him.
MacGyver cleared his throat. “I guess it’s my turn. Kellie already knows most of this. I was in the bar waiting for an informant on a missing person Travis and I were hired to find—a man by the name of Jeremy Dahl.”
“But…that’s the marshal’s name.” Charlie leaned forward, and his eyebrows shot up.
“I know. Small world, right? The informant was a no-show. I was about to leave when I got a text from the man who hired us, changing the parameters of my search. He wanted me to meet a woman in a wedding dress.” MacGyver glanced toward Kellie. “I’d have left anyway—I was on my way to the door—if you hadn’t been headed for trouble from the minute you walked in. I couldn’t leave you there, drinking with those bikers.”
Pop snorted, and a grin sparkled in his eyes. “Now,that’sthe girl that used to drive her mother crazy.”
Kellie smirked, her burden lighter, knowing Pop was no longer furious with her.
“I called Travis, and we got you out of there and took you back to my hotel. By that time, you were out cold. Travis recognized your name from a newspaper article he’d read. That’s when we learned you’d missed your wedding.”
Pop started to laugh, changing to a phony cough when she darted a glance toward him.
“I’m guessing the missing person was a bullshit story, but according to our sources, Dahl had gone to work for Palazzi a few days ago and vanished the same time you and a shitload of Tony’s money disappeared.” MacGyver frowned and raked his fingers through his hair. “For a while, we…Travis thought those three events might be related.”
Kellie bristled. This was the first she’d heard of stolen money. “Yeah? DidTravisthink Jerry and I stole the money and skipped town?”
“Who the hell is Jerry?” Pop looked back and forth between them.
“Jerry is Jeremy Dahl, aka your US marshal.” MacGyver focused on Kellie. “And yes, for a few minutes, Travisdidthink you might be involved in the theft, but that was before we…before I got to know you.”
“Oh, right. You know…the marshal scared the shit out of me, showing up out of the blue. He told me you sent him to babysit until you got here. Did he take the money?” Charlie’s understandable difficulty keeping up made Kellie and MacGyver burst out laughing.
“I don’t think so, Pop, since he’s a US marshal. I didn’t send him. I think Anna may have…to help both of us.” She reached for Pop’s hand. “I almost forgot the best part. The marshal knows where Anna is. She’s alive!”
“Where? Where is she?” A sheen of tears rushed to Pop’s eyes, and his voice morphed to a growl.
Kellie exchanged a glance with MacGyver. “I don’t know. We left to come up here and make sure you were all right.”
“A couple of my friends are keeping an eye on the marshal, so I’m confident he’ll be ready to answer questions when we get back.” MacGyver checked his watch.
Pop straightened. “What are we waiting for? I don’t feel comfortable in this big, fancy house, even if it is where the marshal thinks I’m the safest. I’m missing my cabin.”
MacGyver shoved his chair back and pushed to his feet, eyeing her questioningly when she didn’t move.
Everything was happening so fast. Suddenly, reluctance to learn what horrors Anna had endured made Kellie’s palms sweat. “I need some time alone to catch my breath before I hear what Jerry has to say. Would you take Pop down with you? I’ll walk back after a bit. It’s only a mile or so.”