“I saw him, too,” Travis said.
Kellie nodded as though that would make this twist any easier to accept. “Where are we going?”
“I’ve got a couple ideas about that, but first, we need to get off this hill. The main road down is blocked and apparently guarded. Where does the high road go, Charlie?”
“There are a few more cabins up there. After that, the road turns into a wagon trail. Normally, with four-wheel drive, you could get over the top, down the other side and eventually back to I-90, but with this rain and the mud—no way. It’d be the Donner party all over again.”
MacGyver glanced toward Travis as his friend scowled.Yeah…looks like we’re on the same page.“We’ll have to hoof it into town then, cross country. Charlie, got any maps around here?”
“I think there were a couple forest service maps here somewhere.” Charlie mumbled to himself as he crossed to the counter and jerked open drawer after drawer until he latched onto a red and yellow envelope and waved it in the air. “Might be old, but it ought to get us to town.”
He unfolded the map, and MacGyver helped him spread it on the tabletop. Charlie studied it for a minute and pointed to a spot east of the lake and south of town. “We’re here. It’s maybe a mile west to the water. It’ll be steep and rough terrain the first half mile, but there are homes along here, and a drive that winds around the lake.” He moved his finger toward the city proper. “There’s a golf course to the north. Should be lots of people, phone service, cabs—whatever we need.”
MacGyver followed the route Charlie had traced. “Palazzi probably has someone watching the cabin, so we’ll have to move fast once we start. Straight west toward the lake. If we can rent or hire a boat to take us to the west shore, we might lose them. If not, we’ll beg or borrow a car and head north. In case we get separated, we need a place to rendezvous. Any ideas?”
“We’ve got company.” Marshal Dahl, watching the front of the cabin from one of the windows, turned partway to confirm his announcement with a nod of his head.
His statement, delivered with no apparent sense of urgency, took a few beats to sink in. When it did, MacGyver surged to his feet and hurried toward the window. This was exactly what he’d been hoping to avoid—making a stand here, out-gunned and out-maneuvered. Hell, all Palazzi had to do was set the cabin on fire, cover the exits and pick off Kellie’s protection detail one by one.
MacGyver peered around the wall into the front yard.What the hell?
Travis joined him, a perplexed grin twisting his mouth. “Well, well. The prodigal returns.”
Blake Sorenson approached the cabin, waving a white T-shirt on a broken tree branch over his head.
“Who is it?” Kellie still stood beside Charlie at the table.
MacGyver pushed away from the wall. “It’s Blake, under a white flag. Stay inside until I find out what he wants.” He turned to Travis. “Watch my back, Bro.”
“I’m gonna be right beside you, man. The marshal and Kellie can cover us.”
MacGyver didn’t argue. It wouldn’t change Travis’s mind. Besides, the expression on Blake’s face when he got a look at Travis’s bloody clothes and bandaged arm would be telling. He and Travis strode toward the door, and Kellie took his place at the window.
She touched his arm as they passed. “Be careful.”
He grinned, hoping to ease the worry crinkling her forehead. “Always am, Champ.”
MacGyver and Travis pushed through the door together and spread out in front of the porch, guns drawn. “That’s close enough, Sorenson,” MacGyver growled.
Blake stopped and lowered the T-shirt. He briefly inspected MacGyver, then moved on to Travis, where he lingered a bit longer. MacGyver couldn’t read his old friend, but he’d never seen Blake so stoic before. Laughing, cutting up or razzing someone—that was the Blake he knew. What was his game?
He dropped the branch, raised his hands and locked them behind his head. “I’m not armed, MacGyver. Search me so we can talk inside.”
MacGyver stayed where he was while Travis stepped forward. He shoved his gun in his belt and patted Blake down. “He’s clean.”
MacGyver lowered his weapon. “Give me one reason why I should let you in and listen to anything you have to say.”
A fleeting smile passed over Blake’s features as he lowered his hands. “I come bearing gifts. The first one is under that stand of saplings across the road.”
“Yeah? Did you deliver a bomb for your buddy, Palazzi?” MacGyver scowled.
“I’m disappointed.” Blake scraped a hand down his face and had the good sense to look remorseful. “After all we’ve been through together, I thought you’d at least give me a chance to explain.”
“So…explain. What did Palazzi offer you that trumped ourfriendship?” MacGyver sneered on the final word.
“Palazzi doesn’t have anything I want. Funny thing happened on the way to the airport though. I ran into him and his men on the road. And, when I sayran into him, I mean I had to talk fast to keep from becoming a casualty in your little war. Those men who peppered our tail feathers at Perkins Field must have made some inquiries. Palazzi knows more about me than my own mother, including you saving my worthless hide after my chopper went down. Convincing him you and I had a falling out over the girl was easy. Earning his trust was tougher. I had to go along with last night’s ambush.” Blake shifted his focus to Travis. “Glad to see no one was seriously hurt.”
A cold smile crossed Travis’s face. “Now you’re here to assure us you’re really on our side? You expect us to buy that?”