Aw shit! Not exactly what he’d had in mind, but sometimes a person just had to punt. Travis would have heard the shots fired. He wouldn’t be far away, which meant any minute he might come busting through the door. It was time to even the odds.
“Get down!” MacGyver yelled the warning to no one in particular. Hopefully, the men, women and children crouching around the edges of the room would figure out there was about to be lead flying through the air and hug the damn floor.
MacGyver peered from behind the pillar again. Palazzi hadn’t moved, still holding the young girl in front of him. Obviously terrified, she sobbed quietly, her unswerving attention dialed in on her mother and father, who’d risen and stepped away from the bank of chairs. They held each other, clearly afraid to move any closer, waiting to see what the man would do who held their daughter’s life in his hands.
Four of Palazzi’s men remained where they’d been, watching the doors, but now they appeared to be enjoying the show, wide grins on smug faces. Number five had a handful of napkins, brushing impatiently at the coffee that had stained his pants when the security guard upset the cart. Number six was the only gunman who concentrated on the spot where MacGyver had taken cover. He advanced steadily.
One at a time. Experience had drilled it into him during MacGyver’s years as a SEAL—focus on one target at a time, take them out and move on to the next.
When the gunman was about fifteen feet away, MacGyver stepped from behind the pillar. Visibly surprised, the man stopped and glanced around, probably for his wing man. Too bad the others were currently focused on their boss. As the realization that he was alone dawned on his expressive face, the man tensed and swung his weapon in an arc toward MacGyver.
MacGyver had a clear shot and fired. The gunman dropped to his knees and then toppled sideways, a dark red stain creeping down the front of his shirt. The gunshot reverberated through the building. Screams and sobs erupted anew. Palazzi’s men jerked toward the sound, clearly caught off guard, paused and scattered long enough for MacGyver to dive behind another pillar. Bullets ricocheted off the concrete above his head.
Observing the corners and edges of the room, he assessed his next move. There were maybe a dozen friendlies in the small terminal, including the girl, her parents and the brunette behind the ticket counter. Most were sheltering in place, close to the floor. MacGyver peered around the edge of the pillar. Palazzi had turned toward him, still holding the girl as a shield.
Two of the gunmen were apparently trying to flank MacGyver from opposite sides, creeping along the walls. In thirty seconds or so, they’d have a clear line of fire. He took aim at the closest one and squeezed the trigger. Switching sides, he fired again. Both men went down.
That left Palazzi, with a gun to the teen’s head, and three men, armed and spooked enough to open fire at anything that moved. Travis would, no doubt, be busting through the back door, drawing fire from every direction. The girl and any number of innocent bystanders were bound to get hurt if MacGyver didn’t take steps to end this. He wasn’t foolish enough to believe Palazzi would let him live, but if he could be convinced to trade his hostage for MacGyver and let her step away, Travis would have the clear shot he needed.
MacGyver leaned his head back against the column and closed his eyes. The memory of Kellie’s face as he turned away, leaving her at the chopper, haunted him. He should have never left without telling her how he felt. Suddenly, he needed her to know he was in love with her.
Damn it! The shock of admitting it to himself sent a pang of longing straight to his heart. If he never came back, would she be sad or indifferent? Jeremy would take care of both her and Charlie—see that they got settled somewhere. MacGyver was thankful for that.
“You—behind the pillar. You can’t hide forever. Throw the gun out first and step out where I can see you. If I count to five before I see your hands in the air, this lovely young lady is going to die. Do you really want to let that happen?” The callousness of Palazzi’s threat made it clear he didn’t care either way. “One…two…”
The girl whimpered, clearly scared to death, and gut-wrenching sobs tore from her mother’s throat.
“Please…don’t hurt her. She’s a child. Let her go and take me.” Her father begged, as any father would, and MacGyver’s heart ached for him.
Palazzi ignored him. “Three…four…”
MacGyver steeled himself for what he had to do. There was no guarantee Palazzi would leave anyone alive, but MacGyver had to give him what he wanted. Bending down, he laid the gun on the floor and gave it a shove. He straightened, swept the hood of his sweatshirt back and hooked his dark glasses on the neck of his T-shirt. Lacing his fingers on top of his head, he stepped from cover, just as he caught the back door cracking open from the corner of his eye, letting in a sliver of light from the parking area. Everyone inside was focused on MacGyver, and no one else seemed to notice.
Travis. He wouldn’t fire unless he had a clean shot, and he wouldn’t have one as long as Palazzi controlled the girl. “Let her go. She’s just a kid.” MacGyver had to raise his voice on the last part to make sure he was heard over the rumble of a truck outside the front entrance.
Recognition flashed in Palazzi’s eyes. “Well, look who it is. Kellie’s new husband. Iverson, isn’t it? You’ve caused me a lot of trouble. Why would I listen to you?” He wrapped his fist in the girl’s long hair and hauled her up against him. She shrieked in obvious pain and terror.
MacGyver shut out everything else around him, focused on her and smiled. “Look at me, sweetheart. That’s right. What’s your name?”
“Lexi.” She zeroed in on him as though he offered salvation. Hopefully, she wasn’t wrong.
“Okay, Lexi. That’s a cool name. How old are you?”
“Fourteen…and a half.” A sob rocked her, but she watched his every move.
“Enough! This isn’t a fucking reunion.”
MacGyver tried to calm her panic for a couple more beats before he raised his eyes to look at Palazzi. “It’s simple. You let her and the rest of these people go because you’ve got me.” MacGyver lowered his hands slowly. “I know where Kellie and Anna are, but if you hurt one hair on Lexi’s head, I’ll die with that secret, and you can rot in jail.” He was bluffing. No one knew where Anna was except Jeremy, and, by now, the marshal would have Kellie somewhere safe too.
“Tell me where they are and the girl can go.” Palazzi glanced toward the front door in obvious annoyance as the truck revved its engine again.
“That’s not the way it works. You first.”
The three hired guns next to Palazzi shifted nervously. He seemed to consider the offer, his scowl deepening as the silence returned. Abruptly, he shoved Lexi away. “Okay, we’ll try it your way. Where are they?”
Suddenly, the truck’s engine roared as though someone had floored the gas pedal and held it down. The next instant, the double glass doors at the entrance shattered, and at least 40,000 pounds of diesel powered eighteen-wheeler rammed through the front of the building.
Palazzi and his men scrambled out of its way. MacGyver caught a glimpse of Travis, easing through the back doorway, a semi-automatic pistol in each hand. Was there someone with him?
Lexi, clearly not expecting the hasty shove or the crash and flying glass, stumbled, tried to regain her balance, and tripped over her own feet. MacGyver dashed forward and caught her around the waist in time to keep her from falling. Once he had ahold of her, he swung her around and shoved her to the floor, his large body dropping over hers, shielding her.
“Everybody down!” Travis’s warning came half a second before bullets started flying both directions over MacGyver’s head.
A searing pain bit him in the side, but he didn’t move, determined to protect Lexi. No way was a kid taking a bullet in this crossfire as long as he was still kicking.
Time stood still. The gunfire increa
sed to a fever pitch, then slowed and finally stopped altogether. He looked up as Travis knelt beside him. “MacGyver, you’re hit.”
No shit. Somehow he managed to roll off Lexi, and she struggled to her feet. Her eyes widened as she stared at the blood staining one side of his shirt. He tried to reassure her with a smile, but he winced as a sharp pain in his ribcage knifed through him.
Blake’s grinning face appeared beside Travis. What the hell is he doing here? He should be with Kellie, making sure she’s safe. Blake turned Lexi toward the two people who dashed toward her, calling her name. Her parents smothered her with hugs, then led her from the bloody scene. She mouthed “thank you” as they dragged her away.
Suddenly, Kellie was leaning over him. I must be hallucinating. But it didn’t matter if it wasn’t really her. Seeing her face, imaginary or not, was balm to his battle-weary soul. He latched onto her hand and tried to form the words he needed her to hear. Instead, a groan rumbled around in his chest.
Her cool hand swept his brow. “Stay with me, MacGyver. An ambulance is on the way. You’re going to be fine.”
An ambulance? Am I wounded that bad? As long as he didn’t move, the pain was bearable, which was probably a gift, judging by the amount of blood he could see. “Did we get Palazzi?” He forced the words out with the last of his strength.
She leaned closer to hear his whisper and then nodded. “He’s dead. A couple of his men are still standing. The US Marshals arrested them. Faced with federal prison, they’ve already started volunteering information on Tony’s uncle and the heavy hitters in his organization.”
Though his vision was blurry, MacGyver could see the place was crawling with law enforcement officers, cordoning off the area for their investigation and interviewing the folks whose travel plans had been irrevocably changed.
Travis appeared next to him again, looking full of himself. “Hey, Bro. These people think we’re heroes. I tried to set ’em straight, but they weren’t having it. So, hell, I figured I might as well give out a few business cards in case any of them need our private security services again. Word of mouth, man—it’s the way to go.” Travis grinned.
Okay, that hurt! Note to self—no laughing.
Kellie said something to Travis, and then she pulled her hand from MacGyver’s. He tried to snatch it back, but he was too slow, and the sudden movement reminded him why that wasn’t a good idea.
“Kellie makes one hell of a truck driver, doesn’t she?” Travis laughed, and MacGyver was having trouble following the conversation. Travis must have realized his confusion. “She talked Blake into bringing her and giving us a hand.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “The truck that took out the front of the building—that was Kellie. A diversion that got Blake and me through the back door.” He winked at Kellie. “If you ever need a job, come and see me.”
MacGyver wanted so badly to trace the slope of her cheek, committing to memory every sweet inch of translucent skin. Wisps of her satiny blonde hair had escaped from the trucker’s cap she wore, and those emerald green eyes gave the impression she could see right through him. She’d walked into the war zone without a care for herself. Part of him couldn’t help being pissed off she’d put herself in danger, but a bigger part was so damn proud of her.
He opened his mouth to form three words. I love you. She needed to know that, regardless of what she decided to do next. When no sound came from his parched lips, he frowned in frustration. He had to make her understand. I love you!
Kellie smiled sadly. “The ambulance is here. They’ll take good care of you.”
Was she crying? Don’t cry.
Paramedics pushed her aside. Even though he tried to keep her in sight through the screen of bodies, she slipped away…and so did he.
* * * *
He woke with men in blue scrubs surrounding him, poking and prodding his side. MacGyver groaned, pain spiraling to a crescendo.
“Do you remember what happened to you?” someone asked.
No.
“What’s the date?”
It’s—I don’t know.
“Get the surgeon on the floor, stat.” The voice was laced with concern. A pretty nurse jabbed a needle in his thigh, and almost immediately the agony lessened, as did the time he could hold his eyes open.
The next thing he knew, he was being wheeled down a long corridor on a gurney. Travis walked beside him, one hand on his arm. MacGyver could see it, but he couldn’t feel anything, His foggy vision swept each person they passed, looking for the one face he needed to see—though why he was so sure Kellie would be there wasn’t clear. Only that he needed her to be there.
When they finally stopped, two burly men in scrubs lifted him from the gurney to the table as though he weighed nothing. The room swam around him as someone looked down from behind. “Count backward from ten.”
Nine…
Chapter Twenty-two
Blake jerked his head from the engine compartment of his Piper Cub, a half-assed grin slowly forming as he reached for a grease rag and wiped his hands. “Well, you’ve got brass—I’ll give you that. I didn’t think you’d come.”
Kellie ducked under the nose of the plane, taking in Blake’s scruffy appearance. At least a week’s worth of whiskers covered his chin. He had serious bedhead, strands of black hair sticking up every which way. Combined with the grease-monkey jeans and tattered nowhere-near-white T-shirt, he was a total mess.
She ran an appraising glance over him and laughed. “It’s nice to see you, too, Blake. You didn’t have to get all fancied up for my visit.”
“Smart ass.” He smiled and turned back to the maze of wires, hoses and metal parts he’d been working on. “Hand me that hammer over there, would you?”
“Are you going to beat the plane into submission?” Kellie retrieved the tool from the concrete floor beneath the aircraft and handed it to him. “Coming was my idea, remember?” And a hard-won victory. It’d taken nearly ten days of telephone calls to convince Blake she needed to see his brother—talk to him, face-to-face. After he’d finally agreed, there was no way she’d have backed out. Seeing Christian was the last item on her redemption list. To finally face her demons. Once she’d apologized, whether he accepted it or not, she could move on.
“And probably not the best one you’ve ever had. I thought you’d at least bring MacGyver with you.”
Kellie blanched, a pang of longing stalling her breath. She cleared her throat. “We didn’t exactly part on the best of terms.” A sharp pain jabbed her heart as memories of the last time she’d seen him, wounded at the airport, escaped from the compartment she’d forced them into. She hadn’t expected him to welcome her with open arms, considering his opinion of her. But the scowl that had darkened his eyes when Travis explained her role in the fight that should have been hers anyway had told her everything she’d needed to know.
Blake stopped, one hand outstretched, apparently to tap the camshaft with the hammer, and turned his disbelieving eyes on her. “You haven’t seen him since we left Spokane? Are you shittin’ me?” He pulled his arm back and tossed the hammer on a metal cart that held several other tools near his right hand. “I don’t care what the two of you argued about back there—the guy’s crazy about you. He went through hell to find you after the ambush at the golf course. That guy that took you—Martin? MacGyver wanted to kill him three more times for daring to touch you.” He dropped his hands onto his hips. “Does he know where you are?”
Kellie shrugged. “I’ve been on the move lately. Like I told you on the phone, I had a lot to think through. Besides, MacGyver wasn’t looking for a relationship, and I got that from the horse’s mouth.” Kellie crossed her arms and glared back.
“Yeah? Well, here’s my advice to you. Judge a man by his actions, not his words. Hell, half the time we don’t have a clue what we’re saying. You have been listening to the news, right?”
> “I heard about the indictments for Tony’s uncle and the rest of his thugs, if that’s what you mean. The three of you are heroes.”
Blake dismissed her praise with an abrupt wave of his arm. “MacGyver and Travis are the heroes—not me, and they proved it on any number of missions long before Palazzi became an issue. MacGyver took care of business so you and Charlie could go home. So you could see Anna again. Don’t you get it?” Blake threw his hands in the air.
“I get it, all right? He cares about me. I care about him too. But there’s more to it than that.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
This was it—the conversation she wasn’t looking forward to. “I overheard you, at the cabin, talking to MacGyver about what I did to your brother.”
“Aw, hell.” Blake whirled, took two steps and spun back around. “Sweetheart, there are a whole truckload of things I’ve done that I’m sorry for, but none more than the way I misjudged you. I thought we had an understanding, but I forgot how women love to talk about things. I should have said it plain out—I’m sorry. Okay?”
“It took me awhile to see through your grizzly-bear routine, but when you had to leave me in the hands of Tony’s men at the golf course—the look on your face—I knew you didn’t hate me as much as you wanted me to believe. It was because of you I was finally able to forgive myself.” She stuck her jaw out and looked him in the eyes. “But you’re the only one who forgave me. All of my friends—men, women and Marines—turned their backs. I figured if everyone thought I was a traitor to the United States military, then I must be. I stopped defending myself and let them…and you…put me in a box, but when MacGyver agreed with you—with everyone—” Kellie’s voice cracked as her chin began to tremble, and she turned away rather than humiliate herself any further.
Honor Among SEALs Page 26
