MacGyver reached the one-lane strip of pavement leading back to the highway as the Mustang cleared the crowd and picked up speed. He stopped in the center of the road, between the exit and the Mustang, and held up his hands, a silent plea for her to stop. There was more at stake than her simply driving away in their car.
If she gets by me, she’ll be facing Palazzi alone the next time he catches up with her.
MacGyver was in no mood to consider why that left him so incredibly angry, but his jaw was clenched tightly enough to grind his teeth together. He had to talk her down.
The lane was narrow, with sloped gravel shoulders on both sides. The only way she could pass was if she ran over him. He winced. It was entirely possible she might not hesitate. He sure as hell wasn’t going to talk her out of it with his charming personality.
He checked along the path he’d followed, looking for Travis. His friend had been intercepted by two burly truck drivers who apparently hadn’t wanted him to catch up to the girl in the Mustang. Good Samaritans, though they might be, hassling Travis was never a good idea. He appeared to be doing his best to maintain the status quo, using his hands in the traditional calm-down motion while glancing worriedly toward the Mustang every few seconds. MacGyver didn’t doubt Travis could handle the two men on his own. The only unknown was how badly they’d be bleeding when he was done. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that, but MacGyver couldn’t go to his aid. He had his hands full at the moment.
Kellie braked as she approached, stopping about three car lengths away. She shifted out of gear and gunned the engine menacingly when he made a move toward her. The driver-side window opened, and she poked her blonde head out as she regally waved him out of her way.
As angry as he was, the move made him chuckle, but he schooled his expression into calm indifference and took a slow step toward the car. “Kellie? What are you doing, darlin’? Don’t you think we should talk before you do something rash?” He raised his voice so she could hear over the low grumbling of the Mustang’s engine.
Bystanders heard him also and stopped to watch the show. Even the two truckers with Travis closed their mouths and tuned in.
She stuck her head out again. “Get out of my way, MacGyver. Please try to understand. I have to get away from you before you get hurt because of me. I couldn’t live with that.”
Huh! Kellie was concerned for his welfare? She hadn’t said she didn’t trust him or she didn’t need his help. Maybe it was a stretch, but that didn’t sound like the words of a woman who would mow him down and drive away without a backward glance.
MacGyver pointed at the vehicle. “So…this is how you repay us for helping you out back there? Steal our car and leave us stranded?”
“I’ll leave the car in the first town north of here that has a bus stop. I promise. Please get out of the way. I don’t want to hurt you.”
MacGyver had reduced the distance between them to a little over a car’s length when she shifted into drive and the car eased forward. He stopped, arms outstretched to the side. “I don’t believe you, Kellie. That’s not the kind of person you are.” He dropped his arms. “Either way, I’m not moving. You know why?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Kellie said.
“Maybe not, but I’m not going to let that SOB hurt you again. You said it yourself—he won’t stop. Whatever he wants from you and your stepdad, he’s not about to let it go.” MacGyver started moving forward again and lowered his voice. “I can help you. Let me.”
“Don’t come any closer.” Kellie’s voice held uncertainty.
A satisfied smile tugged at his lips. He was getting to her…but he’d thought that before and been wrong.
Before he could say any more, the car lurched forward, and he caught a glimpse of her face with that same oh-shit expression she’d worn after she’d gotten a look at the three bikers in Wally’s Tavern. As the Mustang surged toward him, he braced to jump out of the way.
At the last second, she slammed on the brakes, and the car slid to a stop not four inches from his kneecaps. MacGyver let out the breath he’d sucked in and heard the transmission slide into neutral. She stared wide-eyed through the windshield, her mouth moving with words he couldn’t hear.
Her hands braced at ten and two, she straightened. Was she waiting for him to make the first move? Wariness shadowed her eyes as though she expected him to lay into her with disparaging words…and maybe even fists. The idea that someone might have treated her that way in the past made him sick and so goddamned mad he couldn’t see straight.
He gave himself a moment to swallow his anger. Confronting her while the need still blazed within him to choke the life from any asshole who’d ever hurt her was the wrong move. She’d probably think his rage was directed at her.
Glancing toward Travis, MacGyver laughed softly as the drivers returned to their rigs. Apparently they’d bought his suggestion that Kellie was trying to steal the car and no longer cared what became of the thief.
Moving alongside the driver’s door, MacGyver rested one hand on the window casing and waited. Tense and on edge, she avoided looking at him, staring straight ahead. After standing there a few seconds, he tugged the handle and swung the door open, reaching across her to cut the engine. “Everything’s all right, Kellie.”
Her head turned, and her angry eyes nailed him. “Are you fucking nuts? Do you have a death wish or something? Who in their right mind stands in front of a moving car?” Kellie’s voice rose higher with each question.
MacGyver took a step backward as the pissed-off blonde scrambled from the car and advanced on him. “Easy, Kellie. I knew you wouldn’t hit me.”
“You don’t know anything! And you don’t know me! I could be a serial killer, for all you know—a serial killer with big fat feet that get caught between the brake and the gas pedal.” Kellie jammed her index finger into his chest with enough strength to make him wince. “I could have killed you—you big stupid idiot!”
MacGyver didn’t bother to disguise his grin, but he backed another step to distance himself from her finger. He wasn’t prepared for the huge-ass tear that welled over the rim of her eye and rolled down her cheek. “Aw hell, Kellie. Please don’t cry.”
She stopped abruptly, slamming her hands on her hips. “I don’t cry—ever. And especially for someone who doesn’t know enough to get the hell out of my way!” Kellie’s chin trembled as she stared him down.
MacGyver’s heart wrenched. Being upset to the point of tears obviously wasn’t even close to normal for Kellie. Her face an angry shade of red, she crossed her arms over her chest and her lashes closed halfway, effectively hiding her emotions. Yeah, she was damned mad, but he’d bet a month’s pay her temper hid something more vulnerable.
He stepped toward her and didn’t stop when she raised her eyes and glowered a warning. Didn’t stop until he pulled her in tight and held her while she hid her face against him and, for a few seconds anyway, she seemed to appreciate his closeness. As he’d suspected from the first time he’d seen her, she was simply desperate. That was okay. He could work with desperate.
“It’s all right, Kellie.” He reassured her, his hands rubbing circles over her back as she leaned into him.
After a few minutes, she raised her head. “God, I’m such a complete dork. My foot slipped off the brake, hit the gas and then got stuck. Seriously, why do they put those pedals so close together? And you—standing in the middle of the road, thinking I had a choice as to whether I ran over you or not!” Kellie slapped her hands against his chest. “Don’t do that again!”
MacGyver didn’t dare laugh, so he gave her a stern frown. “I couldn’t just let you drive out of here.”
She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, and a slight tremor rocked her as her remarkable green eyes lifted to his. “I wouldn’t blame you for being mad. It’s just…the way Tony looked at you. He’ll kill you if he catches us t
ogether again. You and Travis—you don’t deserve to get caught in the middle of this. You’ve been so nice—except for the whole naked-in-your-bed thing.” She actually rolled her eyes.
MacGyver couldn’t hold his laughter back any longer. She was talking so fast, she probably didn’t realize what she’d said. He drew his fingers over her lips to silence her. “First—I’m not mad. I might have been…a little…in the beginning, but it’s kind of nice knowing you’re worried for me.” Though he hadn’t meant to say that, he was surprised to realize it was the truth. “And second—I say we don’t let Palazzi catch us. Okay?”
She studied him for a moment. Apparently satisfied, she nodded, her wariness slipping marginally for the first time since they’d met.
“That’s my girl.” He offered his hand, which she accepted. “There’s one other thing.” He was probably pushing his luck, but he might not get another chance to outline what he expected from her while she was still feeling guilty. “We need to have a talk later, after we stop for the day. You have to level with me. If you can’t do that, we might as well part company right here. What’s really going on with you and Tony? If I don’t know what we’re up against, I won’t be much help to you. I’m talking full disclosure.”
A twinge of self-reproach assaulted him. He was equally guilty of purposely omitting Jeremy Dahl’s name anywhere in his offer to help her. Travis still hoped to use Kellie to find the man they’d been hired to locate, who’d worked for Palazzi. Until yesterday, when he conveniently disappeared the same time as an undisclosed amount of Tony’s ill-gotten gain. But it wasn’t too late to come clean with her. Once they found her stepdad and reached a safe place, he’d confess his deception, in spite of Travis, and hope for the best.
Her eyes narrowed as she examined his face, her chin tilting slightly upward with a feeble smile toying around her lips.
Travis appeared beside them, breaking the spell as he leaned in and dropped a totally oblivious kiss on Kellie’s cheek. “You almost got my ass kicked. I haven’t had this much fun since…”
MacGyver missed the last part as Travis jumped behind the wheel, his words covered by the engine turning over. Kellie’s mouth kicked up on one side, and her easy laughter melted the tension. Wearing a sweet smile, she seemed to analyze MacGyver’s reaction for a couple of beats. Hopefully it signaled a fresh start and an era of mutual reliance. Yeah, that’d be good.
He walked her to the passenger door and admired the tilt of her hips as she stepped, turned and slid into the backseat of the two-door Mustang. Admiration that spread a smoldering heat to parts of his anatomy he didn’t need to hear from while he was trying to inspire confidence and trust.
He’d been out of the game for a while, but he recognized how rare it was to encounter a woman who could brighten his world merely by smiling. A welcome change from the kinds of casual hook-ups that gave him release when needed. In between, brutal workouts kept his mind on other things and made it rarely necessary.
Since he’d been around Kellie, though, even the fragrance of honeysuckle on her skin was enough to get him going. That damn kiss, in front of the police officers, had been a mistake, leaving him restless, hard and unsatisfied. And that could be a problem since nothing about hooking up with her seemed the least bit casual.
They hit Hwy 58 north and traveled for ten minutes in silence before MacGyver’s cell phone buzzed with an incoming text. He read it quietly, then turned to her. “A Navy buddy of mine has a plane fueled up and ready to go at Perkins Field. He’ll give us a ride, but I need to tell him where we’re going.”
Kellie swallowed hard, and her attention wandered to the side window. She hadn’t refused to comply with his full disclosure edict, but it was obvious giving up her stepfather’s location was exacting a price from her.
MacGyver understood better than she could possibly know. If she wasn’t one hundred percent sure she could depend on him, revealing her stepdad’s whereabouts could be the ultimate betrayal. MacGyver didn’t push her. This was a decision she had to make for herself.
Her chest rose and fell with the emotions cascading across her face. Finally, she looked his way again. “Coeur d’Alene. My family owns a cabin on the east side of the lake.”
Without a word, he dialed a number and held the phone to his ear.
“Sorenson.” His friend barked his name into MacGyver’s ear.
“It’s me. Got our travel plans.”
“Damn, buddy, it’s about time. Lay it on me.”
MacGyver smiled. Lieutenant Commander Blake Sorenson had led one hell of a SEAL team, and he was a damn good chopper pilot. They’d met on a rare joint mission, when Taliban fighters overran MacGyver’s unit’s position, and it hadn’t looked like they were going to make it out. Blake had ordered his team to leave without him, commandeered a helo and come back in to pick up stragglers.
The chopper had taken a serious hit, but Blake managed to keep it in the air until they were four miles from the take-out point. Only after setting it down in one piece had MacGyver and two other SEALs learned Blake was wounded—one of his legs mangled by shrapnel. MacGyver had carried him the last four miles. Nerves of steel, that guy. Doctors had saved his leg, but that mission, four years ago, was Blake’s last.
“Coeur d’Alene. We’re on our way to the field now. How soon before we can take off?”
“Five minutes should do it.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” Blake was still laughing when he ended the call.
MacGyver glanced toward Kellie, hoping she didn’t already regret giving up her stepdad’s location. “We’re all set. He’ll be ready to go as soon as we’re on board.”
Worry again shadowed her beautiful eyes as she gave him a tight nod before she looked away.
The roar of the vehicle seemed loud in the ensuing silence. MacGyver kept an eye on the side mirror and used the quiet time to explore options as he tried to put himself in Palazzi’s position.
The man was all about power. It was there in the news articles MacGyver had read about him in the past few months. There in his strut and his blind rage. A person could never be too careful around a man like that. He was a wild card…and he wanted Kellie. What was more, he obviously believed she belonged to him—not as a soulmate, but as though she was a piece of furniture—a possession. That Palazzi wasn’t used to losing was evident in the fury that had radiated from him when MacGyver kept him from getting close to Kellie.
The possessiveness MacGyver felt for her had him worried, even as his inner caveman broke into a swagger. Damn. He had to get his head on straight. Yeah, he was attracted to her, but she wasn’t the one-night-stand type, and he was strictly a love ’em and leave ’em guy. Meanwhile, the woman was clouding his judgment. The end result of that would be his inability to protect her effectively. He should back away—ask Travis to take the lead.
Yeah, that’s a good plan.
So, why did he reject the idea before it was fully formed?
Travis left the highway when a green sign said Perkins Field, two miles. A narrow, two-lane, chip-sealed road stretched as far as MacGyver could see, until the horizon met the partly cloudy sky. A smattering of homes dotted the landscape. He saw the small airfield long before they reached the cluster of buildings. A few Quonset huts, several small hangers and a tattered windsock marked the spot.
As soon as they parked next to two other vehicles in the gravel lot, he saw Blake waving from the cockpit of the small Piper Cub idling alongside the runway, aviator sunglasses shading his eyes. Travis turned the car off, left the keys in the ignition and hopped out. MacGyver did the same, flipping the seat forward for Kellie before meeting Travis at the trunk to grab their luggage.
“MacGyver?”
“Yeah?” He’d barely heard her quiet voice, but her calm stillness as she stood at the tail end of the Mustang, staring back the way they
’d come, made him do a double-take before he turned around to follow her gaze.
Two vehicles hauled ass toward the airfield, spewing dust into the air. He nudged Travis as his friend closed the trunk. “What do you think? Coincidence?”
Travis glanced behind him. “You expecting anyone else?”
“Nope. The plane’s only a four-seater.”
Travis grinned. “Then I suggest we get our asses in them and get the hell out of here.”
MacGyver stepped toward Kellie, who hadn’t taken her eyes off the approaching cars. “Time to go.” He turned her gently toward the plane and placed his hand firmly at the small of her back, feeling her tense.
“It’s them, isn’t it? How did they find us?”
“Most likely they got lucky this time. Probably spread out after they lost the signal from your phone. Don’t worry. We’ll lose ’em for good once we’re in the air.” He jerked the aircraft door open and helped her into a seat in the back, claiming the one next to her for himself.
Travis hopped into the front seat, and Blake began moving the plane into position before the door was closed and latched. An instant later, bullets peppered the runway in front of them.
The pilot ducked as he pushed the throttle all the way forward. The plane quickly gained speed, bouncing and swaying as they rumbled down the neglected strip of pavement. “Jesus, MacGyver. You didn’t tell me you were hot cargo.”
“Hell, I didn’t think you’d know how to fly if we weren’t dodging enemy fire.”
Blake threw his head back and laughed. “That’s for damn sure, asshat.”
MacGyver gave him a thumbs-up as the plane became airborne and gained altitude under the pilot’s steady hand. He glanced toward Kellie to find her watching him, surprised by the amusement in her eyes.
“You’re all crazy.” Her smile eased the worry lines on her forehead and made him want to reach out and trace the curve of her lips.
Honor Among SEALs Page 9
