Still don’t trust the guy.
“Where’s Kellie?” Jeremy stared back at him with an equal amount of suspicion.
MacGyver’s first instinct was to ignore the man’s question. It wasn’t any of his business. The marshal had lost any federal rights he’d had when he pulled a gun on them, using his creds only as a last resort.
On the other hand, MacGyver wanted answers from him, and starting off with distrust on both sides was counterproductive. “She needed some time to clear her head. You dropped quite a bombshell on her. Can’t say I agree with the way you broke the news about her sister, and pulling a gun on Kellie could easily have gotten you killed.”
“I had my reasons, but I didn’t mean her any harm—or you, for that matter.”
Charlie stalked to the open refrigerator, grabbed three bottles of Bud Light and motioned toward the table, partially set with six places. “Let’s get to those reasons, Marshal.”
MacGyver stifled a grin as he pulled out a chair and sat. He accepted the beer Charlie placed in front of him, twisted the cap and lifted the longneck to his lips, staring over it at Jeremy, who hadn’t moved. The guy had balls—he’d give him that. Even with an empty holster, his confidence never wavered. MacGyver pointed to the chair across from him until, with a frown, Jeremy joined them at the table.
“My daughter disappeared a year ago while working for that scum, Tony Palazzi.” Charlie hissed the name. “How is it only you know where she is?”
Jeremy took a swallow from his beer and set it on the table, heaving a resigned sigh. “What I’m about to tell you must remain confidential. Not because the US Marshal’s Office says so, but because if Palazzi finds out where Anna is, she won’t be alive for long.”
MacGyver exchanged a glance with Charlie, then swept his attention back to Jeremy. “Witness protection?”
Jeremy nodded. “Anna witnessed a murder while working at Tony’s club. John Farino, a young cop, stumbled into something way above his pay grade one night in the parking lot. Left a wife and two-year-old twin boys. Anna was just getting off work, and she walked right into the middle of it.” Jeremy jerked a hand through his hair.
“She waslucky. Palazzilikedher.” The sarcasm in the marshal’s words was unmistakable. “Instead of killing her and making her body disappear along with Farino’s, he took her upstairs. Kept her for seventeen days, chained like a dog. Fed her once a day—scraps from the tables downstairs. She was blindfolded, drugged and repeatedly raped.”
Shit!The bile rose in MacGyver’s throat as every muscle, bone and fiber in his body hungered for justice. Thank Christ Kellie wasn’t here. Charlie’s jaw was set in resolute silence, but his fists clenched and he sat forward, forearms on the table. MacGyver had seen that look before. Charlie would kill Palazzi with his bare hands if he were here.Yeah, and I’d back him up.
Noise no longer came from the cooking area. Travis and Blake stood unmoving, arms braced on the counter, the same looks on their faces as Charlie’s. They were all in agreement—even Jeremy, apparently.
The marshal’s hand shook as he reached for his beer, then set it down without taking a drink. “If anyone deserved the oblivion of Stockholm syndrome, Anna did.” He shook his head and laughed. “She’s so goddamned strong, it puts me to shame. And smart. She convinced him he’d brainwashed her into thinking he was her only salvation. Pretended to believe his bullshit. That he loved her and didn’twantto hurt her—that he was doing it so he could eventually set her free. The thought of what she must have done to convince him makes me sick…but it worked.
“He started giving her more freedom. After a while, he let her go outside and walk down the street as long as he was with her. He got cocky. Started making mistakes. The first chance she got, she ran. When she reached California, she went to the cops. As soon as they heard Tony Palazzi’s name, they called us.”
MacGyver leaned forward. “I know cops don’t like cops getting killed, but Las Vegas isn’t federal jurisdiction.”
“Palazzi was already on our radar for a murder two months before the cop—one where the victim, a known gun runner, ended up in California in a burned-out car. Anna not only worked at the club during that time, she’d been in Palazzi’s penthouse and could identify many of his associates. Witness protection was the only way to guarantee her safety.”
“If you’ve got him on this other murder, why isn’t he off the street?” Charlie’s low voice came off more like a growl.
“We don’t have enough evidence for an indictment yet…but we’re not giving up.”
“Okay, let’s cut to the chase. Why did you just happen to go to work for Palazzi at the same time he coerced Kellie into marrying him?” MacGyver didn’t put much stock in coincidences so the marshal’s answer better be good.
Jeremy frowned. “Anna read all the news from Vegas she could find. She saw Kellie’s picture in the paper and learned she was going to marry Palazzi.” Jeremy’s index finger tapped the side of his head. “I told you she was smart. She knew her sister wouldnevermarry him. Hell, she’d gotten so many lectures from Kellie on staying away from him, Anna knew Kellie wouldn’t even stand in the same room with the man.
“Anna begged and badgered me until I agreed to go to Vegas and check it out. But not unless she agreed to stay with my uncle, Congressman Norwell, where she’d have built-in security twenty-four/seven.”
“Fuck!”Travis threw his hands in the air.
MacGyver scowled. “So…I take it the congressman’sdaughterwasn’t really worried about her missing boyfriend. Mind telling me why the hell wearehere?”
“That’s where it all gets a little sketchy. The plan was to get Kellie out of the Dominion as close to the time of the wedding as possible so Palazzi would be otherwise occupied. I needed someone I could trust to hand her off to so he would follow me. My uncle’s good friend, Senator Harding, suggested your new security company. Said you were the best around. I understand one of your partners is the senator’s son.”
“I told you word of mouth was the best advertisement,” Travis said.
MacGyver ignored him. “Why not have one of your own catch the pass?” He probably had at least two hundred marshals and deputy marshals in Las Vegas alone he could have chosen from. Why outsource?
Jeremy shrugged. “I wasn’t exactly on the clock. It was more of a favor for a friend.”
“Are you shittin’ me? The feds don’t have your back on this?” Blake slapped his hand on the counter and laughed. “That’s one hell of a plan!”