Part Two
"You know there's nothing I can act on here, right?" Kate Murphy sounded harassed. She balanced her coffee mug on a pile of LAPD files and reached for a pen. "No. I need at least the licence plate of the van and a description of the gangers. You know that, Mac." She scribbled a note on a pad. "I can have a car swing by there a little more often, but more than that and I have to answer to the Chief." She listened again, shaking her head and waving away a junior detective who tried to add another file to her crowded desk.
"The Chief says, 'Now'." The junior detective shrugged apologetically as Kate rolled her eyes.
"Mac, I gotta go." Kate listened again and her eyes widened. "No! Absolutely not! You can't just go chasing after… No. OK." She looked at the receiver in disbelief. "That is hands down the dumbest smart guy I know!" She hurried away to her meeting, shooing the junior detective in front and hoping MacGyver wasn't about to land himself – and a lot of homeless people – in a heap of trouble.
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"I didn't think she'd be able to help." MacGyver sighed and put down the phone. "We don't have enough evidence, do we?" Doc looked worried and MacGyver gave him a reassuring smile.
"No problem. We just go about finding the kidnappers another way." He picked up the receiver again. "I don't suppose you have any spray bottles round here, do you?"
Maybe some plant sprayers left over from the Community Garden project." Doc got up from the desk. "You want me to go look?"
"Please." MacGyver dialled a number and listened to the phone ring. "Billy? That you? I know, right? Been a while." He listened, nodded and smiled. "Good to hear you too. Listen, are you busy? I got a favour to ask you. Well, really it's a favour I need from Frog…"
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"And you reckon this'll work?" Leonard sniffed at the spray bottle, wrinkling his nose. "It doesn't smell that strong to me." MacGyver nodded, wondering how likely it was that Leonard would be able to smell anything over himself.
"Frog there will be able to track that scent for miles." MacGyver indicated the bulldog, collapsed in a wrinkled heap at Billy Colton's feet. Frog sat up, hearing his name, and Billy patted his head.
"He's right. Frog here, he can track anything. Best nose in the business, right Boy?" Billy scratched behind Frog's ears and the dog leaned into his touch.
"What business are you in?" Leonard looked at Billy, unable to decide whether he was looking at one of the good guys, or just a different kind of ganger.
"Uh… Retrievals." MacGyver cut in before Billy could answer. Finding out that Billy was a bounty hunter might spook Leonard, and he didn't want that. "Relax, Leonard. Billy's a friend."
"What are you using, anyway?" Billy picked up a plant sprayer and sniffed, careful not to get any on himself.
"Aniseed. Shake it up in water and bingo – instant scent trail for Frog to follow." MacGyver picked up two of the sprayers and put them into a bag. "Want to give me a hand here?"
"Let me see if I have this right." Billy picked up two of the sprayers, handing them to MacGyver. "We go down to Leonard's bridge, tool up the street army with these-" he held up a sprayer as though aiming a gun and cracked off an imaginary shot. "Lie in wait disguised as street people and hope the kidnappers show up. I miss anything?"
"That's about the size of it." MacGyver zipped the bag shut.
"What if they don't show?" Billy folded his arms.
"We do it all again tomorrow." MacGyver smiled.
"Your plan stinks." Billy shook his head in disgust.
"That's the idea!" MacGyver sniffed his fingers, where the aniseed lingered.
"Unbelievable." Billy picked up the armful of old clothes that would be his disguise and whistled to Frog. "I'll see you later, guys."
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Night came early under the bridge. Outside the evening sun still shone, though the warmth of the day had gone, but under the bridge it was dark enough that the oil drum fire provided much needed light. The heat it gave off was welcome too.
Billy looked around at the faces in the firelight. MacGyver, dressed in his 'Grazer' disguise, could pass for one of them, but Billy felt out of place in his borrowed clothes. Frog had picked up on his discomfort and sat pressed against his leg. No-one had tried to stroke him. In this world, dogs were almost always unfriendly and treated with caution.
Two of the group remembered 'Grazer' from before, having lived under the bridge and in the area for years. The rest of the group had been keen to take part in the plan and now each person had a plant sprayer hidden in a pocket or bag. MacGyver thanked them for their help and the group dispersed to their assigned places, to watch and wait.
Leonard stayed with MacGyver and Billy, warming his gloved hands at the fire.
"I want them to come back, so we can find Jose." Leonard shifted and sighed. He'd spent every spare minute looking for the van and asking anyone who would talk to him about the kidnappings. "But what if this doesn't work? What then?"
"It'll work." Billy added some more wood to the fire. "My man here, he comes up with some of the craziest plans I have ever heard, but his kind of crazy is the kind that works." He grinned at Leonard. "Even impressed my Momma, and believe me, that ain't easy to do!" Leonard nodded, returning the grin with a tiny smile. Then his head snapped around as he heard a vehicle slow down and come to a halt.
The homeless woman on lookout stood up and shook out her blanket, their prearranged signal.
"Ok, here we go." MacGyver stood up and Billy stood with him, leaving Frog's lead in Leonard's hand. "Keep them busy long enough for the others to tag them and the van with aniseed, OK? No knockout punches, at least not right away."
"Right." Billy felt adrenaline fizz in his stomach. "Just an ordinary night, playing decoy for a bunch of kidnappers. Probably armed and dangerous." He took a deep breath and glanced at MacGyver. "And me with no gun. You take me to all the best parties, Mac!" Around him, Billy could hear the rustle of the homeless readying their improvised scent markers.
"Time to look like a victim, Billy." MacGyver nodded to him and then turned, shuffling across the open space towards the van, muttering to himself. He seemed to shrink, making himself look small and vulnerable. Billy took another deep breath and followed him, pretending to be drunk. He staggered out, weaving his way towards the end of the bridge and the van full of kidnappers.
"They'll do." The ganger hefted his baseball bat and opened the van door.
"No junkies. You heard the man." A second ganger jumped down. "And no-one who's sick."
"What's that about?" The first ganger pulled on leather gloves and glanced at his partner.
"Not our problem, is it?" the second ganger checked his pockets for zip ties. "Come on."
MacGyver shuffled over to a pile of boxes, pretending to rummage through them. The homeless man hiding behind them brandished his sprayer and nodded. MacGyver waited until he heard the gangers' footsteps right behind him before he turned around.
"Hey! What do you guys want? This is my patch!" He faked a backwards stagger, so that the gangers had to turn around to face him. Behind them, the homeless man rose silently up and sprayed the back of the first ganger's leather jacket. The other ganger swung the bat, aiming for MacGyver's head.
"Hey! Penalty for high sticking!" MacGyver dodged under the bat and scooted backwards, leading the pair away from the heap of boxes. He pulled off his scarf, winding it around his hands. "Two minutes in the sin bin for you, pal!" He caught the second blow with the scarf, twisting it around the bat. He pulled hard, yanking the ganger off balance and tumbling him into Billy, who had crept quietly up behind them. The ganger threw his elbow backwards, hitting Billy in the face. Billy stumbled backwards, yelling.
"Billy!" MacGyver was distracted just long enough for the first ganger to drive a fist into his gut, doubling him up. MacGyver dropped to his knees, winded, and the ganger turned to help his partner.
MacGyver lunged, grabbing the ganger's ankle and tripping him up. The ganger crashed into a pile of garbage bags and a homeless girl popped up from behind them, sprayed the ganger's jeans and disappeared at a run.
Billy wiped blood from his nose and roared with anger. He charged the ganger, tackling him and dumping him on his back behind the oil drum fire. A hand in a tattered glove reached out from behind a stack of firewood and sprayed the fallen ganger's long ponytail.
MacGyver looked up, seeing Leonard and another man spraying the last of their aniseed onto the van's wheels and bumpers. Leonard gave him a thumbs-up, grabbed his friend's sleeve and scuttled away to hide.
"Scatter!" MacGyver yelled. The homeless army erupted out of their hiding places, dropped their sprayers and ran, each taking a different route back to the Santa Luisa mission. Behind them, the gangers swore. Blaming each other and kicking at the garbage, they got back into the van and drove away.
MacGyver and Billy ran a short distance and ducked into an alley. Billy took Frog's lead from Leonard, waiting there for them, and clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks, man. Now go!" Leonard looked surprised at the contact, gave Billy a tentative smile and raced away.
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"Right, Frog." MacGyver bent down to the dog and sprayed a little aniseed on the ground in front of him. "Time to go to work. Can you follow it?" Frog panted up at him, but made no move to smell the aniseed. "Smell it, Frog!" Frog sighed and scratched with his back foot. MacGyver shook his head and turned to Billy. "Little help here?"
"Watch and learn, Mac." Billy bent down to Frog, taking his wrinkly face in both hands. "Frog, if you follow this trail –" He tapped the aniseed with his fingers, "- I will give you some chicken. Chicken, Frog! All you can eat!" Frog's ears pricked up and he licked his lips. He dropped his snout to the scent, then pattered out of the alley. Billy followed, letting the leash hang loose.
Frog stopped, nose quivering. He gave a loud bark and set off, almost pulling Billy over.
"Got it! Come on!" Billy ran after him, with MacGyver a pace behind.
"Don't let go of that leash!" MacGyver shed his long, flapping 'Grazer' coat and ran.