Mac's word bound him far more effectively than the cuffs holding his hands behind his back. Ignoring the yells of protest from Jack and Bozer, he willed himself to go with his kidnappers. His chest felt tight, like it was wrapped in rope, and he struggled to breathe. Foot trembling, he stepped into the Jeep and would have stumbled had it not been for the hands pushing and pulling him in. Seated in the middle of the back seat, flanked by a man on either side, his back was pressed down so that his head rested on his knees. "Stay there," one of his captors growled.

The Jeep sparked to life and spun out of the warehouse after the white panel van, which was to be used as a decoy for the incoming Phoenix team. Buckled in on the passenger side, Nikki glanced back. That was a really close call for them – too close for comfort. She had her gun in hand, in case they ran into trouble, and would only be able to relax once they were on the open road.

Mac closed his eyes. He had done without regret what he had to do to protect the people he most cared about. Now, in the undesirable situation in which he had placed himself, he felt defeated and hollow. Whatever job Nikki was going to force him to do hung like a boulder above his head, about to drop and crush him. Too exhausted to hold back his emotions, tears slipped down his face for the second time that day and soaked into his jeans. His whirling thoughts no longer made sense and were paining his head. He urgently needed to sleep and, in spite of his uncomfortable position, dozed off.

The Jeep sped silently across the country, pulling up outside a wooden cabin on the side of a lake in the early hours of the morning. The doors opened and the men got out. Mac sat up stiffly. "Out," the man on his left nodded.

The fresh mountain air was crisp, and swirls of mist rose between the pine trees. It reminded Mac of the camping trips he often went on as a boy with his grandfather. Pleasant memories and rest had made him feel stronger. Jack and Bozer would have been found by now, and Jack was probably arguing with the medical staff attending to his leg. He hoped Riley had been able to track him to this new location, even though satellite coverage didn't always show what was happening on the ground in thickly wooded areas. He had to give Nikki credit for being so sharp.

The cabin door swung open and Mac was ushered in. Half of the lounge was filled with screens and electronic equipment. The space was more impressively equipped than the War Room at Phoenix. This was possibly the permanent base of Nikki's group. There was still no sign of who she worked for, and he wondered who or what they were monitoring so intently.

A man, hunched over a laptop, pushed his chair back and stood up. He approached the new arrivals and Nikki drew him aside. Somewhere in his thirties, the heavyset man seemed to be of Mexican descent. A moustache that amply covered his top lip bristled, reminding Mac of his recent brush with the Mexican cartel. Mac guessed he was the man who had spoken to him at the warehouse and wondered if there was any link with his father's ex-partner.

He was seated at a table, one wrist now cuffed to the armrest of his chair, and given a mug of coffee. The Mexican, Nikki and one of her men pulled up seats there too.

"Hello again, Macgyver," said the Mexican. "I am glad we can count on your full support." Mac glared at him.

"Need I remind you that we have an agreement, Mac?" Nikki warned. "You need to uphold your end of the deal too." She smiled at the Mexican. "Now let's fill him in on the details."

"You remember there was a swoop in Mexico by your military and a truckload of weapons was seized?" he began.

Mac frowned. He recalled that there had been a tip-off to the CIA about the weapons, and they had wanted the Phoenix team to help intercept the truck within Mexican borders. Intel had been sketchy at most, so Matty had pulled the plug on their involvement. The bust had gone ahead under another agency and after heavy firing from both sides, two agents had lost their lives. The cartel was, no doubt, desperate to retrieve its stock.

"We know where the weapons are being stored, and we want you to help us get them back."

Mac breathed deeply. "So we are going to break into some heavily guarded base, drive out with a truck of stolen weapons and hand them back to the cartel?"

"That's right!" said the Mexican, grinning. "And we're going in today."

"How much intel do you have on security?" asked Mac.

Nikki opened a laptop and flicked to a screen showing a layout of the facility. It was not a military base, but an isolated, forested location. "The weapons are being stored in an underground room right here," she pointed at the screen. "The perimeter fencing has a radius of half a mile. It is electrified and armed with sensors that will shoot when movement is detected. There are also three drones that do regular sweeps to protect the area from above. Their firepower is enough to wipe out a vehicle. We also know that the password to the door is scrambled every 30 minutes. After three wrong tries, an alarm is triggered and military back-up arrives within two minutes. Inside the storage facility, another code is required to unlock the crates. As the weapons were brought here last week, we believe they have not yet been unpacked. If they are, they will need to be loaded onto the truck."

"What can you do to help us in?" asked Mac.

"I will trip the electricity and block the sensors. This will give you five minutes to reach the storage facility before the back-up power source kicks in, so you will need to move fast. I will give you a digital key to insert into the security system at the door to override the system and access the passwords for you."

"What about the drones? Can we take them down?"

"No," said Nikki. "That will also trigger an alarm. At exactly 12:33 there is a window period of two minutes and the area in front of the storage facility will be uncovered. You will need to wait 30 seconds before the second two-minute window kicks in. After that, there is a third window period at 12:55 and you have two minutes to drive out with the weapons." She waited a few seconds for Mac to process the info.

"This is going to be tight," he said thoughtfully, then gave a puzzled look. "If you know all of this, and have figured out a way in and out, you could do this yourselves. Why do you need me?"

"Because," said Nikki, "If things go sideways, it's your job to get my team in and out safely with the weapons. So, tell me what you need and let's gear up."


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