Follow the Tiger

by Cindy Combs

  Next to Mac was the second smartest man Jim knew. Blair, too, was thinking hard and worrying. While Blair was rarely quiet, Jim took it as a good sign. His partner had been too scared for his brother to think straight earlier. Since an unthinking Blair was an extremely vulnerable Blair, Jim was glad he was back on track. Now the sentinel could almost see the wheels spinning in his partner's head, pondering Jim's suspicions about the tiger. Jim hoped that his guide would finally see what Jim had been suspecting for quite a while.

  Speaking of the tiger, Jim glanced at the silent deputy driving the jeep. Nighthawk had been just as quiet and worried as the father and son in the back seat. Piecing together the bits of information, Jim figured that 'Cory' was the same age as the deputy and probably recovering from more than just an injured knee. It fit with the sense of vulnerability Jim had felt off the tiger. That worried him almost as much as wondering how badly Sam was hurt. It was hard enough dealing with the senses without adding injuries and a madman on top of it. He wanted more information, yet Jim didn't want to break Nighthawk's concentration by asking questions. The younger man needed to keep his mind on the treacherous roads.

  Jim closed his eyes a moment. He was exhausted and hurting, he knew Blair was running on fumes, and he could only guess how Sam must be feeling. While the list of injuries didn't sound too bad, the sentinel in Jim needed to check Sam out for himself. For that matter, the sentinel would feel much better once Sam, the tiger, and Mac were safely on their way down the mountain, preferably with Blair. Jim wanted to do some Murdoc hunting, but didn't want to worry about the others while he did it. However, while staying with an injured Sam might get Mac out of the way, he suspected his partner was not going to be so easy to convince. After nearly losing Sam, both Jim and Blair were ready to rid themselves of MacGyver's nightmare.

  Toby turned onto a smaller, muddy track. Jim glanced around. "Private drive?"

  "Yeah. It only leads to Bill's cabin."

  Blair sat up. "Then we're almost there?"

  "Yep."

  "Then you need to be careful." Mac, too, sat forward. "Murdoc loves traps."

  Toby frowned. "Do you really think he'd be here?"

  "Better to be prepared," Mac answered tersely.

  Agreeing with the statement, Jim began extending his senses. With the rain, scent was out of the question. So the sentinel used his eyes and ears to hunt for any surprises. Ahead, he could see the trees open into a small clearing. A wooden cabin sat in the middle, an old Ford truck parked off to the left side. Then Jim squinted, leaning forward for a better view. "Stop here."

  "What?" Toby asked, confused.

  "Stop!"

  Toby slammed on the brakes, causing the jeep to skid a little in the mud. Blair undid his seatbelt and pulled himself into the space between the front seats. He squeezed his partner's shoulder. "Jim?"

  "Something's wrong." Jim tightened his sight, focusing on the cabin. "Looks like there's been a fire on the porch."

  "What?" Toby, too, tried to peer through the rain.

  "Murdoc," Mac growled, popping open the jeep door.

  "Mac, wait!" Jim warned, clicking off his own seatbelt as he opened the door. As Mac started to walk towards the cabin, Jim spotted the brown lines strung across the drive. "MAC!" Jim ran. Just as Mac's leg pulled the string, Jim yanked him backwards. They both fell to the ground as the truck near the cabin exploded, sending a fireball into the rainy night sky.

  Toby and Blair scrambled out of the Jeep. Shielding his eyes, Toby shouted, "What the Hell?"

  "Murdoc," Blair called back grimly as he dashed over to his father and partner. "Dad? Jim?"

  "I'm okay," Jim replied, rolling off of Mac. Blair gave him a hand up.

  "And I'm just plain stupid." Mac attempted to brush the dirt off his face, but only managing to add more mud. He accepted Jim's hand. "Thanks, Jim. I should've known better."

  "Why blow up Bill's truck?" Toby asked, bewildered.

  "It's Murdoc's way of announcing he was here," Mac explained.

  Toby's face grew graver. "What about Cory?"

  Blair looked up at his partner. "Jim?"

  "There are lines strung up all over the yard," Jim reported. "We're going to need lights to find and disable them all."

  "The cabin?" Blair asked softly, his voice infused with worry.

  Jim tilted his head. He swallowed hard. "No heartbeats."

  "Damn." Mac lifted his face to the sky, letting the rain mingle with the despair welling up in his eyes.

  "Wait a minute." Jim and Blair turned to look at Nighthawk. The deputy's eyes were drilling into Jim. "You can see brown strings in the yard in the dark, and know there are no heartbeats in the cabin?"

  "Ah," Jim uttered.

  Toby held up his hand. "I'll hold all the questions except one until later. Can you see into the shed off to the right of the cabin?"

  Jim concentrated on the out building. "What about it?"

  "Bill keeps an old Harley there. Can you tell if anyone's been inside?"

  Jim frowned. "The door's ajar." He focused harder, barely aware of Blair laying a hand on his arm. "It's open in the back, and I think there's one tread mark going out."

  Toby released a deep breath. "Then they've escaped."

  "But we don't know when that mark was made," Blair pointed out.

  "Bill's been stationed in Germany for the past six months. He took time off for Cory six weeks ago, but he went straight back from D.C. Cory's been in no shape to take it out for fun, and my family's been too busy this summer to do more than make sure nobody's broken into the place. Plus Bill keeps it under a tarp, so unless you know where it is, you won't spot it. If that bike's left the shed, it had to be recently and Cory must have taken it. And Cory isn't the type to leave your brother behind if he could help it. So I'm guessing they both made it out."

  Blair and Mac exchanged glances. They might not know for sure, but it was good enough for now. "Now what?" Blair asked.

  Toby continued to stare into the darkness behind the cabin. "I think I know where Cory would head. But if what you say about the yard is true, we can't follow them."

  Mac thought a moment. "I can probably get us to the cabin, but I'm going to need a lot of light and it's going to take some time."

  "Would the Jeep headlights help?" Blair asked.

  "And I've got a heavy duty flashlight in the Jeep," Toby added.

  "It's a start," Mac replied. As the group trotted to the jeep, Toby looked at Jim. "How can you do all that?"

  As Jim ducked his head behind the jeep to avoid the question, Blair piped up, "He eats lots of carrots."

  Toby shot him a look as he leaned into the Jeep for his light. "I might have spent my entire life out here, but that doesn't make me an idiot." He handed the flashlight to Mac, then turned back to Jim. "Seriously, if you were standing on that porch, could you see a squirrel on that gate behind us?"

  Blair blinked at the deputy as Jim nodded. "Cory do that recently?" Jim asked.

  Toby looked down at the ground. "Just tell me how you do it."

  "It's something I was born with."

  Toby shook his head and looked up. "Then that can't be it."

  "Yes, it can." Jim laid a hand on Toby's shoulder. "Cory's recently been able to see great distances?"

  Blair, finally catching on, added, "And hear things he shouldn't be able to hear?"

  Toby looked back and forth, then finally nodded.

  "What about his other senses?" Blair asked eagerly. "Taste? Smell? Touch?"

  "He mentioned something about smell. I don't know about the others. But it's only happened in the past six weeks."

  "Could be he repressed them until recently. Maybe he needed them when he was hurt." Blair draped an arm over Nighthawk's shoulder. "Let's get the Jeep set up for my Dad and we'll talk."

  Two hours later

  They had nearly reached the porch. When they had first shone the Jeep's headlights on the yard, Blair could have sworn he was looking at a compl
ex spider web. It was easy to see why Jim didn't suggest they try to cross without disarming them. Frustration and impatience clawed at his gut, forced to go slow when his entire being wanted to race to the cabin. If he felt that way, he could only imagine how his father felt. Yet Mac was calmly disabling Murdoc's tricks, his voice and manner reassuring to the younger men. It was only when Blair looked into his eyes that he could see his father's turmoil.

  Taking the Swiss army knife his father had handed him, Blair spared a glance at Nighthawk. He was holding his huge flashlight so they could see. While most of their time had been focused on the traps, Blair had been able to ask Toby a few questions. It sounded like his friend had recently been in a bad situation in Colombia. Now Cory couldn't remember what had happened and was struggling with enhanced senses. From what he had seen with Jim, he suspected that a sentinel who went into 'primal' mode had very little memory of what happened later. What if Cory's senses had awakened so that he could escape? The memory loss might not be entirely due to a head injury. The tiny bit of Blair not wrapped up in Sam and traps was excited. He had always wondered if he could have kept Jim's senses online if he had met him right after his return from Peru. Could they help Cory stay online and gain control? Was Jim right about Cory being the sentinel Sam was to guide? Blair had a ton of questions, but he'd wait until they knew for certain Sam and Cory had escaped.

  From the corner of his eye, he saw Jim pause in wrapping string around his arm. The sentinel lifted his head to stare down the driveway. "We've got company."

  "Which way?" Blair asked as he handed the Swiss army knife back to his father.

  "The main road."

  "Probably my backup," Toby replied, glancing at his watch while keeping the flashlight steady.

  Jim nodded. "I'm hearing several vehicles."

  "I need to meet them."

  "Hand me the flashlight," Blair requested.

  Toby handed over the light, then walked back to his jeep, Jim trailing behind him.

  Mac snipped the last wire, disarming the device. "That one's done."

  Blair sighed. "Man, how did he put in so many so fast?"

  Mac sat up and stretched his shoulders. "Murdoc knew what he wanted to do and where everything is. We're working in the dark in more ways than one."

  With a sigh, Blair ran his hand through his hair. "This is ridiculous."

  "We're just about there."

  Blair studied his father a moment. Mac's face looked haggard. "How are you holding up?"

  Mac rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "Tired, but I'd do this all night to get to Sam."

  "I hear that." Blair glanced upward. "Looks like the weather's breaking."

  "First thing to go our way since we split up this morning."

  Blair twisted around to look at the arriving party. "Jim's bringing some people in."

  Mac turned to see Craig Bannister slowly following Jim to their position. "Craig?"

  "Hi, MacGyver." Craig leaned over to shake his old friend's hand. "You okay?"

  "I'm hanging. But what on earth are you doing here?"

  Craig sighed as he looked at the cabin. "Cory Buchanan's one of mine."

  "What?" Blair exchanged glances with Jim. Toby had never said what organization Cory worked for. "DXS?" Craig confirmed with a nod.

  Mac frowned a moment. "Not someone I know?"

  Craig gave him a wan smile. "Remember me telling you about the young teen who hacked into Fort xXX?"

  "The one who cracked one of the highest security systems in the country just to leave a message for his father?"

  "That's Cory. He had an assignment go real bad a couple of months ago, and he's here recovering. I wanted to check up on him. I certainly didn't expect this."

  "I'm sorry, Craig."

  Craig waved away Mac's apology. "Not your fault. Besides, I was able to give Cory a head's up, so he should have been at least somewhat prepared for Murdoc to pull something."

  Mac nodded, feeling slightly better. "Let me finish this last one, and we can check the cabin."

  Twenty minutes later, Mac cleared the porch area. Sheriff Johnson, Dave and Toby Nighthawk had joined them. Throughout the yard, other deputies were cautiously scanning the area, looking for more booby traps.

  "Now, everyone keep their eyes peeled," Mac cautioned as he checked the steps. "I don't know how many more Murdoc set up."

  As they climbed the steps, Dave shook his head at the burnt planks and broken windows. "I hope they're okay."

  "Me, too," Toby replied. "Especially since I figure Cory should be the one to tell Bill about this."

  Dave cracked a smile in spite of himself. "Yeah, Bill does tend to yell less at the kid. And he's not going to be happy about his truck."

  Mac stopped at the door. A white envelope was taped to the door with the word 'MacGyver' scrawled across. Blair softly asked, "What's that?"

  "One of Murdoc's little notes," Jim growled as MacGyver pulled down the envelope and opened it. With Jim and Blair looking over his shoulders, Mac read the note.

  The wily predator will often target

  The old, the young and the sick.

  A wounded Junior MacGyver

  May be the one I can put on a stick.

  Murdoc

  Blair felt his gut tighten as he squeezed Mac's arm. He had heard about Murdoc's notes, but he now understood why they upset his father so much. He really wanted to lay his hands on Murdoc himself. His fear for Sam increased tenfold.

  Jim squeezed Mac's other shoulder. "Let's check out the cabin."

  As they spread throughout the cabin, Blair stopped by the tipped over sofa. He knelt down to pick up a soggy hiking boot. His gut tightened another notch as he recognized it. "Here's Sam's boots."

  Jim nodded as he looked at them. "But Sam's not here."

  Blair relaxed slightly. That was Jim's way of saying Sam was no longer in the cabin. "They got away, but Sam's running around out there without shoes." He handed the boot to Mac, who held it tightly for a moment. "Man, I hope he doesn't get frostbite."

  "It's not THAT cold, Sandburg." Jim gently cuffed Blair on the head.

  "It FEELS that cold," Blair returned.

  "This is good." They turned to see Dave examining a metal locker in the corner. Seeing he had their attention, Dave waved at the contents. "My brother, being slightly paranoid, keeps a small duffle here full of emergency supplies in case of evacuation. Though he was thinking more along the lines of flash floods or forest fires than psychos. It's not here, so Cory must have had time to grab it."

  "He probably had it ready just in case they had to leave in a hurry," Craig added.

  Jim turned to Toby. "Didn't you say you thought you knew where they might go?"

  Dave glanced at his nephew. "Are we close to where Cory 'disappeared' that one time?"

  Seeing the expressions from Sam's family, Toby explained, "Cory and I found a nice camping spot when we were teens. It's pretty hard to find, so it was our little secret. The next summer, Cory had a huge blowout with his dad and ran away." Toby sighed, remembering how upset his friend had been. "They were over at Leavenworth at the time, so he came up here. Since he knew that the adults would ship him back home, he hid out at our spot and I snuck him food. When Bill came looking for him, he figured I knew something and followed me. He talked Cory into going back home."

  Dave smiled. "None of us except Toby and Bill know where Cory had been hiding all that time. And trust me, we were looking for him." He turned serious. "You think Cory headed there now?"

  Toby nodded. "It's about the only option he had, if this Murdoc attacked them from the front."

  "Then let's check it out," Mac replied.

  Still being cautious, Toby led the group to a trail behind the cabin. Jim knelt down and examined the ground as Blair shone a flashlight. "It's mostly washed away, but I can still see a faint impression of a tire tread."

  "Then we're on the right track," Mac added.

  They had hiked half a mile whe
n they reached a point where the trail curved through a narrow pass along the river. A rockslide had flowed down the mountainside, blocking the trail. "Murdoc?" Blair asked as he shone his flashlight on a particularly large boulder.

  "Hard to tell in the dark," his father replied, "thought the timing is sure convenient."

  "We can't get through that tonight," Craig pointed out.

  Toby sighed. "There's a back way in, but it's a lot longer and I wouldn't want to take it in the dark."

  "Then we take it at first light," Mac declared.

  Dawn

  The promise of morning is now coloring the horizon. I hope today goes better than yesterday.

  I just wanted to make some fun memories with my boys and Lisa, making up for the time we lost when my sons were growing up. I never dreamed Murdoc would show up here. Now I just want to see Sam with my own eyes, confirm that he's going to be okay. Then I'm going to have to figure out a way to contain Murdoc and get him out of my life.

  Never before have I felt the need to hunt my nemesis down. Of course, all the other times he was supposed to be dead, so everyone dissuaded me from trying. But this time he nearly killed my son. Just the thought of Sam in that river last night scares me to the core. Remembering the shock and grief in Blair's face when he told me what happened doesn't help either. Murdoc put Blair and Ellison through the wringer, too. Just the fact that they both fell asleep on the ride over here screams how much last night took out of them. I have half a mind to tell Craig to drive them down the mountain while I go with the young deputy. However, I know how well that would go over. I just wish I could keep them safe.

  Then again, I may really need them on this one. From the conversations spinning around last night, I realize that Jim believes this Cory may be Sam's sentinel. The poor kid sure picked a bad time to get mixed up with my family. If he is the one, then we have a lot of work to do in the days ahead. Once I know everyone is safe.

  Sunlight was shining in his face. Blinking, Sam started to lift his arm to shield his eyes until a sharp pain reminded him why that was a bad idea. He buried his head into the sleeping bag beneath him instead. Through the headache, he slowly sorted out what had happened, which could basically be put into one word -- Murdoc. Sam sighed. He was really getting tired of the madman interrupting family outings. He hoped Blair, Jim and Dad were still okay. He knew they'd be worried about him, but he thought they knew he got out of the river. Things were still a bit fuzzy after the bridge blew up.