“What made you think Palazzi would follow you?” The hitch at the corner of the marshal’s mouth gave MacGyver the answer. “You stole the fucking money, didn’t you?”
“I stole it and hid it because I needed a diversion. Then I called a friend of mine from the DOJ, told him where to find the cash and asked him to keep it quiet as long as he could. I was ready to tell Kellie everything and get her out of there. My uncle was set to contact you and tell you where to pick her up. Something made her jump and run before I could get to her. Damn it!” Jeremy raked a hand through his hair.
“Yeah, that something was overhearing Palazzi say he planned to kill her. She took off. Called Charlie and told him to disappear. What I don’t get is why you lied to Travis and me. Or why you tried to kidnap Kellie when we got here instead of telling her who you were.” MacGyver stared him down and waited.
“I can see now that was a mistake, but I was trying to stay below both Palazzi’s and the Justice Department’s radar. The less you knew until you had to, the better. Then you took off with Kellie and wouldn’t reply to my uncle’s texts. I had to protect Anna, and that meant getting Kellie away from you, without giving up any information that might endanger either one of them. You wouldn’t be the first men swayed by the thought of a nice payoff for delivering her to Palazzi.” Jeremy leaned back, grabbed his beer and took a long swallow.
MacGyver studied him over the rim of his bottle as he brought it to his mouth. As much as it still angered him that the marshal had tried to take Kellie at gunpoint from her family’s cabin, he could see Jeremy’s point. He’d made the best of a bad situation, and MacGyver couldn’t fault him for being careful.
“Wait a minute. How in the hell did you know Kellie would stumble into the right bar? One where the only man in Vegas you trusted to help her was waiting?” Travis shook his head, clearly skeptical.
“The congressman had already arranged for you to be at Wally’s Tavern. Originally, I planned to bring her there myself, tell you as much as I needed to in order to gain your cooperation and have you keep her out of sight until my uncle or I contacted you. After she took off, getting Kellie there was a crapshoot, and, frankly, I wasn’t sure it would work. I had five seconds to pass her a note and convince her I was a friend. At the time, I don’t think she was into making new friends.” He glanced at MacGyver. “Do you believe in miracles?”
MacGyver sat back. He’d seen some weird shit since he became a SEAL. Miracles happened for damn sure, but sometimes you had to make your own. “I don’t know whether I’d call it a miracle, but this isn’t our first mission held together with a Band-Aid and a prayer.”
After hearing Marshal Dahl’s story, MacGyver took a few minutes to officially introduce Charlie, gave Travis an update and grabbed his handgun, cell phone and a jacket for Kellie.
Travis forced a container full of the chili he’d been cooking into MacGyver’s hands at the last minute. “Kellie’s probably hungry by now. Take your time coming back. If this storm lets loose, the roads will be a bitch.”
MacGyver studied his friend until he turned toward the table and his unfinished meal.What the hell?Had Travis given him the go-ahead to spend some uninterrupted time with Kellie? Did he know how badly MacGyver wanted just that? Not that it made a difference with Kellie’s stepdad looking on, a concerned frown creasing his forehead.
“That’s right.” Charlie nodded his agreement. “If I know my daughter, she probably hasn’t eaten since she ran out on her wedding. She won’t want to stop now either, but maybe she’ll listen to you.”
Aw, hell. Obviously, the old man didn’t have a clue how far MacGyver’s thoughts were from food. “I’ll see what I can do, Charlie.” Damned if he didn’t feel like a heel.
Blake had been quiet the last thirty minutes or so. MacGyver had intended to get to the bottom of his problem with Kellie but gave up on the idea after hearing the howl of the wind and seeing the darkness that had covered the forest while they’d been talking.
As MacGyver left Charlie’s cabin to retrieve Kellie, the storm that had been brewing all evening unleashed its fury, dropping rain by the bucketful. Lightning crisscrossed the sky, followed by cataclysmic thunder that made him flinch with every deafening crash. Water ran across the sloping roadbed in sheets.
Flooding might be an issue at lower levels if this kept up. Lightning streaking toward the ground every few seconds brought with it the danger of forest fires if the rain stopped. They were screwed either way.
Those worries disappeared as he rounded the last corner and his headlights lit up the house. Anxiety twisted his stomach as he parked in front of the pitch black vacation home where he’d left Kellie two hours ago. Why hadn’t she turned on any lights? Had she gotten tired of waiting on him and decided to walk back? Slid off into a gully somewhere? Or worse—had Palazzi found her, unarmed and unprotected?
That would be damn near impossible. There was no way the Vegas mobster could have tracked them here, but that didn’t change the fact—MacGyver had been gone too long.
Grabbing his weapon and cell phone, he jumped from the vehicle, stopping for a moment to listen. In a heartbeat, he was drenched. He shook the water from his face and made his way quickly to the bottom of the stairs leading upward. Lightning danced across the sky, illuminating the yard and side of the house. When thunder began its roll toward crescendo, he took the steps at a jog.
His back against the wall beside the door, he again stopped and listened. No sounds came from within. Only the wind, the rain and creaking of tree trunks filled the silence. He tried the door. Unlocked.Seriously?Someone needed to have a talk with the woman about basic safety procedures. Turning the knob, he waited for a lull in the storm’s wrath before he pulled the door open and slipped inside.
He stood still, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the inky blackness. A flash of lightning outside the large picture window straight ahead lit up the room. To his right, a movement, gone before he could pinpoint the source. The room went dark again. Suddenly, something hit the back of his legs, and he went down, ass smacking the wooden floor hard. The gun slid out of his reach. He tucked his arm against his body and rolled away from his attacker, onto his knees, then his feet.
MacGyver saw—or maybe felt the fist zeroing in on the left side of his head and ducked. The blow swished empty air as he lunged forward, clamping arms around the shadow’s torso, and they both slammed into the wall. Breath whooshed from his adversary, who continued to thrash against the weight of MacGyver’s body. The scent of honeysuckle and spring rain permeated his senses.
Jesus!“Kellie?”
She stopped fighting. A choking sound came from her throat as she struggled to draw air into her lungs.
MacGyver stepped back, hands still gripping her waist to steady her. “What the hell was that? I told you I’d be back. Damn, Kellie. Are you all right?” He could have so easily hurt her—broken her back or cracked her skull. Cold sweat chilled his overheated skin.
“Peachy.” Her one stuttering word filled him with relief.
When he was sure she was really all right and standing on her own, he hurried to the door and flipped the light switch. Recessed bulbs turned dark into daylight.
“No! Turn it off!” She whispered…like they hadn’t just made enough noise to rival the rumbling thunder.
Confused, he stopped, one hand still hovering near the switch. When she signaled vehemently for him to cut the lights, he plunged the room back into darkness. “Okay, okay! Now tell me what the hell’s going on.”
Kellie’s silhouette glided toward the window, and she hugged the edge of the wall as she carefully peered through the glass.