MacGyver shook his head. “Even if they get a conviction for murder, he’ll be up for parole in ten years. Anna will have to stay in hiding, and you’ll have to disappear too, because a man like that doesn’t forget. Is that what you want, Kellie?”
Her hands balled into fists. “So…you’re going to…what? Kill him?”
MacGyver glanced away as though a barrier had dropped between them. “Excuse me if I don’t share your horror, Kellie. Travis and me…that’s what we’ve been trained to do. We run toward a battle, not away. We get in the thick of it and stir the shit and then use the resulting chaos to gain control. When someone in the chain of command decides a despicable piece of dirt is too dangerous to let live, they send men like us. Today, that someone is me. Right or wrong, Kellie, I’m not going to let him have another shot at you.” He released her leg and shifted until he found her eyes again. “It’s time for Palazzi to pay up.”
Pride in him rose to choke her. Not because the Navy had conditioned him to kill, but because of the sacrifices he’d made in the name of freedom and country. She wanted to tell him she’d hide in a cave for the rest of her life as long as he was with her. Begging him to stay wasn’t out of the question. But, in silence, she watched him walk away as Travis fell in beside him. In thirty seconds, they’d disappeared into the forest.
* * * *
The flight was a blur. With fear needling her stomach, Kellie only wanted to be alone with her thoughts. Not even Chip’s sad eyes coaxed her back from self-recriminations. They’d landed at Spokane International. Jeremy had a dark sedan meet them at the airport, complete with two suits right out ofMen in Black.He didn’t say where he was taking them, and she didn’t ask because it no longer mattered.
Blake said his good-byes, on his way to secure a ride back to Felts Field, where he’d reclaim his airplane and fly home to Vegas. Kellie was going to miss his comic relief, and, more surprising, his comforting presence.
He gave her a hug as he shouldered his heavy bag, which would have stunned her if the world hadn’t already tipped ninety degrees on its axis. “MacGyver will be okay, you know. You two are good together. I hope it works out.”
She forced herself to smile and nod since he was being so nice. “Thanks for everything, Blake. I’m sorry…” There was too much to be sorry for. Words wouldn’t come, and she shrugged.
He patted her shoulder as though he understood. “You know where to find me if you ever need a listening ear.”
Jeremy hustled her, Pop and Chip to the waiting car, giving instructions for the driver to deliver them to a safe house for the night. “It’s all ready for you. Key’s under the flower pot. Make yourselves at home. I’ll be by later to make sure you have everything you need. We’ll figure out the plan for tomorrow.”
They leave a key outside? No fancy alarm system or bulletproof glass?So much for the realism in TV and motion pictures.
Pop shook Jeremy’s hand with a sly wink. “Thanks, Marshal. You let Anna know you’re all right now, you hear?”
Jeremy smiled, a hint of embarrassment seeping into his skin color. “Yes, sir, I will.” He glanced her way. “Take care of Kellie.”
Okay, maybe she should thank him, too. Hedidnudge her in the right direction when she’d fled Tony’s hotel. Great. One more thing to feel guilty about. Yeah, this was turning into quite a pity party. Silently, she watched Jeremy disappear inside the terminal.
She looked away, panic nipping at the edges of her mind. What was wrong with her? She should be relieved. Anna was alive and safe. The members of her family were all going to make it through this unscathed. What more could she ask?
MacGyver.
He was risking his life for a cause that wasn’t his. Worse yet, he intended to take a life—another life—in order to make hers, Anna’s and Pop’s safer. MacGyver was doing what he thought was right. She almost envied him. The two halves of her world were no longer black and white but gray instead. Lukewarm. She had one foot on each side of the fence.
For me—he’s doing all of this for me. And I have nothing to give him in return but a guilty conscience.
Was she the only one who could see how messed up this was?
Her soul had been in turmoil for so long, she’d forgotten what it was like to be free. Even if MacGyver was here beside her, the upheaval would still be pressing against her diaphragm. It hadn’t just appeared when MacGyver went off to do his macho thing. It’d been right there, inside her, for a long, long while.
The last time she’d been truly happy, aside from the magic night she’d spent with MacGyver, was before Iraq. Before her decision had caused such devastation to her and Christian Sorenson. She’d destroyed both their lives. What was it MacGyver had said?Run toward the battle, not away.
She’d been running away, as far and fast as she could go. But not anymore.
Kellie threw her arms around her stepdad just before he ducked inside the car. “I have to go, Pop. Don’t worry about me. I’ll find you when I’m done.”
As he drew away, his sad expression was eclipsed by his smile of understanding. “You do what you have to do, Kellie. Some things are worth fighting for. I’d go with you if I wasn’t an old man.”
“Ma’am, we have to leave now,” the driver said as he held the door open.
“You’re not old, Pop.” She gave him a quick kiss and backed away a few steps before turning and racing toward the terminal building.
One of the suits started to give chase but stopped when Pop growled, “Leave her be.”
Kellie left them all behind as she spotted Blake climbing into a cab at the curb. She knocked on his window just as the driver started to pull out. Blake rolled his window down.
“Can I get a ride to Felts Field with you?”