A/N: Only one more chapter to go! Always I don't own MacGyver!
Jack marched Marie and Mel into the SRO's tiny office, which had only one entrance. There was barely room for the two suspects, much less Jack or Riley. Leaving the two ladies to stew in their own juices he glanced up and down the hallway to see if he could spot Officer Coltrane. Riley left to grab her stuff from the computer lab, and to see if she could spot where Dawn had gone. Jack had turned to walk into the teacher's lounge when he was hit from behind. Falling into the door he brought up his leg to kick back into his attacker. The attacker let go of Jack and stumbled backward. Jack turned around and wasn't surprised to find that it was Officer Coltrane.
Jack smiled at the bent-over man, "I would have thought you would be in better shape. It would be embarrassing to have a janitor take you down."
Coltrane growled, "You ain't no regular janitor, I bet you're like FBI or sumthin."
Jack shrugged, 'Or something. So you ready to give up, or do I have to do this the hard way. I'll tell you the truth I hope it's the hard way, I haven't gotten to punch anybody lately. So I'm spoiling for a good fight." Coltrane swung on Jack. "Guess, it'll be the hard way." With a sigh, he grabbed the man, kneed him again, and when Coltrane instinctively curled up Jack delivered an uppercut that put him flat out on his back.
Shaking the sting of the hit out of his hand he hit the broadcast button on his comms. "I have Officer Coltrane in custody. Mac, why don't you start a sweep of the building for Reaves?" While he waited on an answer Jack went through Coltrane's duty belt and helped himself to the gun and extra clips, he couldn't find the handcuffs, but he did have flex cuffs, so Jack slapped a pair on his unconscious friend.
When Mac didn't answer Jack tried again. "Mac, do you copy me?" Still nothing. "Hey Bozer, have you seen Mac?" Jack then dragged Coltrane into the nurse's empty office and hoisted him into her chair. The guy needed to lay off the doughnuts Jack thought. Finding some medical tape he secured his prisoner a bit better.
"Just a second Jack." Bozer seemed distracted, but he was probably trying to update Matty and keep an eye on the videos. "The last time I have him on video he was heading into the gym. You might want to check the gym lobby, I'm not sure, but it kind of looks like someone's foot is on the floor."
Riley made it back to Jack by then, "Hey Rils, you keep an eye on these three, I'm going to see if I can find Mac." He didn't wait for an answer; instead, he took off out the front door at a sprint. He could see a figure lying in the gym lobby as he approached, but it didn't look to be Mac. He quickly unlocked the front door and looked around. Nick the gym teacher was unconscious on the floor, but besides for that nothing looked out of place. As Jack looked around trying to figure out what happened Bozer came back over the comms, "I think Reaves has Mac. I rewound the footage from the gym lobby, I'm sending it to your phones." Jack's phone pinged with an incoming message. He pulled up the file and watched it.
In the picture he could see Nick lunging after somebody, and then him getting hit, with what looked to be Mac's fists. He watches as Nick fell down and then didn't get up. Then just at the edge of the frame blonde hair appeared on the floor, and then was gone. A few minutes later he sees someone who could be Reaves carrying Mac out, well Jack can't see the person's face, but he would know that blonde hair anywhere, putting him in her trunk, then taking off. Back on the comms, Jack asked Bozer, "Is there any way to trace where she is going?"
"I don't think so man, not unless we issue a BOLO and get lucky." Bozer sighed. "I'm sure Mac's gonna be ok." He sounded like he was reassuring himself just as much as he was trying to reassure Jack.
Jack felt the needed to do something, so he snatched up a jump rope, and hogtied Nick. He then headed back to the office intending to beat some information out of the corrupt cop.
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Mac gradually woke up with his head throbbing. He could feel his hands bound behind him. The chair he was sitting in was padded; it felt like one of the team chairs from the Lawrence Gym. The more he woke up, the more he was convinced that it was indeed one of the school's chairs. He tried to pull his hands around and heard the jingle of metal, and cold metal bit into his wrists, so he figured that he was handcuffed. Now to figure out where he was. He gradually opened his eyes, after blinking a few times to bring his surroundings into focus Mac saw that he was sitting in the middle of what looked like an old barn. There was still hay in the loft and decrepit horse stalls along the left side- wall. He could make out a figure outside the barn pacing on the phone. Mac figured that it was Dawn Reaves since that was the last face he remembered seeing after being taken down by a taser, again. He wished the bad guys would quick tasering him in the neck. Was there a sign on his neck that said place taser here? He tried not to shiver in the cold dampness of the open barn.
Mac sighed; it was not like this was his first time getting kidnapped, so he might as well get started on rescuing himself. He had taken to placing paperclips all over his person including his arm sleeves, and the back of his pants. But his over shirt had been taken off, and he was having a hard time getting to the one on his pants because the back of the seat was padded. He almost had it when Dawn walked back into the barn so he stilled his movements. She looked furious, her face was red and her fists were clenched. Mac figured that if he could distract her then all that needed to be done was stand up and bring the chair down on her head, then he could have all the time he needed to pick the lock on the handcuffs. But that plan was thwarted when the first thing she did when she noticed he was awake was to punch him in the temple again. Dang, she can punch was his last cognoscente thought before he went to that grey area where you weren't quite awake, but not quite unconscious either. Mac could feel her bind his feet, and then he got another hit sending him deeper into that grey area.
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Jack quickly made it back to where they were holding everybody. Riley was pacing the hallway. Jack frowned at her, "Why aren't you on your laptop bibbity-booping something to make it show us where Mac's at?"
Riley rolled her eyes, "If I could don't you think I would be doing it right now?" She looked ready to snap.
Jack felt bad as soon as it had left his mouth. He opened his arms for a hug, which Riley quickly walked into, "Sorry" he murmured into her hair.
Stepping back she nodded, "I understand, it's driving me crazy, too. Maybe we can get Officer Dumbass in there to tell us where Reaves might be."
"If he doesn't he's gonna wish he hadn't been born." Jack was ready to do some hitting to get his boy back. "Have you heard anything from our other guests?" He nodded his head indicating the aforementioned Officer's office.
Riley shook her head, "Every once in a while I'll hear a murmur or some sniffles, but that's about it."
Jack nodded, he figured that they were only pawns being used by Dawn Reaves and her cronies, but he had been wrong before. He stepped into the nurse's office to start his interrogation, but was hindered by the fact that the one getting interrogated was unconscious. Jack slapped his cheeks a few times trying to walk him up, but nothing happened. Growling he was impatient with the lack of progress. "Riley, see if you can't get him awake, and I'm going to go talk to our other friends. Introduce them to the real Jack Dalton." He didn't wait for Riley to give him the go- ahead. He strode into the cramped office holding the two terrified ladies. Mel had tear tracks running down her face, and Marie looked miserable. He wanted to feel sorry for them, but just couldn't, not with Mac missing.
He found a folding chair and turned it around so that he could straddle it looking at the two ladies. "So your Mrs. Reaves has taken a very good friend of mine. I want to know where she's at." He was straight forward and didn't beat around the bush, he also put a commanding tone to his question. Both the ladies started talking at the same time. Jack held up his hand, and they both stopped. "One at a time please."
Mel started, "Look we don't know anything."
Jack cut her off with a look, "Lady, I didn't ask what you knew; I asked where Mac was at."
Marie gasped, "Mac? Pre-K Mac? He's the one that got kidnapped?" Jack just nodded his head. Marie started babbling, "I swear, we don't know! We didn't even want to do this!" She once more dissolved into tears.
Mel put an arm over the younger lady, who leaned into her embrace. "Since being a sub pays jack squat, we got the bright idea to see if we could copy money on the brand new super copier, imagine our surprise when it worked." She laughed a hollow laugh and shook her head. "After the first test was successful we tweaked it so that it worked better. Then we would only make a couple of twenties, and make change whenever we subbed and had to take up money, and only at school." She stopped and took a breath. "Then Mrs. Reaves caught us. We thought we were dead meat, but she decided to blackmail us instead."
Marie wiped her face free of her tears and took up the narrative. "Where we had been printing a couple of twenties here and there, she wanted us to do a massive amount. She would never tell us why, but I think that she is working with the like the mafia or a cartel or something like that." She stopped for a second and shook her head as silent tears coursed down her face.. "We tried to quit, but she said that she would press charges, and Mel would never see her family again. I told her I wasn't scared of the law, so she threatened our families' lives. We didn't want to risk them, so we just went along with it." Marie stopped and looked down at her hands. "We're very sorry, and if I knew where Mac was I'd tell you in a heartbeat, he's so nice and the kids just love him." She snorted a laugh roughly swiping the tears off her cheek, "I think they like him better than me, and I've been with them off and on through the whole year."
Jack nodded, he could tell they were telling the truth, that they had just got caught up in something far bigger than them. "Ok…."
Riley poked her head in, "Our friend just woke up." She then disappeared again.
Jack got up, "Sit tight ladies." And he was out the door,
Coltrane was looking groggy but awake when Jack walked in. This time he chose to stand and make Coltrane look up at him.
"Where is Reaves at?" Jack asked right off the bat.
Coltrane let out an ugly laugh, "Like I would tell you."
Jack leaned in invading his personal space, "Oh, you will tell me or you will be in for a world of hurt."
Coltrane shook his head, "You in over your head, boy." He said it with such venom. "You don't know who you're messing with."
"There, there little girl," Jack said placatingly.
Coltrane enraged tried to get up, but just flopped like a fish instead, which amused Jack to no end. He was about to ask another question when he saw Marie try to sneak by. Jack motioned to Riley to keep going on the interrogation, and he slipped out to see where Marie was slinking off to. He hoped she wasn't running, his gut was telling him she wasn't, but if she wasn't running then what was she up to? He followed her to Sena's room where she slipped in the back door. He went to the next classroom down remembering that the two rooms were joined at the back, so he would be able to hear what they said.
Creeping as close to the classroom as he dared he crouched by the classroom bathroom and listened. "So I need a favor," Marie asked hesitantly
"Shoot." Was the reply she got.
"So some stuff has gone down, and I need to be able to find Mrs. Reaves. She's involved in some shady stuff, that's about all I can tell you right now." There was silence for a while before the reply came.
"Are you sure you can't tell me what's going on?"
Marie sighed, "Not right now, it's huge and the police are involved."
Jack could hear the creak of Sena's chair, and a sigh then "All right. So she probably won't be at any of her usual spots." There was another period of silence. "I think I remember an old barn out on her uncle's property that she said she liked to go shooting at. If I was tryin to get away from people that's where I would head."
"Thanks, Sena! Could you give me some directions?"
Jack could hear the rustling of paper, then "Thanks Sena, you might just have literally saved someone's life tonight." Then Jack heard the door close so Jack hurried to catch Marie before she got too far.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jack demanded grabbing her attention.
Marie let out a shriek that drew Sena's attention. Sena stuck her head out of her door, looking at the two quizzically.
"Sorry, Jack here just scared me." Marie gave a tepid smile. Sena nodded and closed her door. Turning to Jack Marie held up the paper with the directions on it. "I may have found out where Mrs. Reaves is holding Mac at."
Jack attempted to take the paper Marie was holding up. "I'll take that."
Marie snatched it out of his grasp. "No! I started the mess, plus I know the roads much better than you do. You'll need that especially in this weather." The rain had lightened up some but was still coming down pretty hard.
Jack debated for a few seconds, "Fine you can come with, but you better give amazing directions, and you will not get in the way! Do you understand?"
Marie nodded her head vigorously. Jack tapped his comms, "I might have a lead on Mac. Marie is coming with me to check it out. We'll be in contact via comms. Riley, keep at Coltrane and let me know if you get anything I can use." Both Riley and Bozer replied that they understood.
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Mac's head was beginning to finally clear again. The left side of his face was throbbing in time with his heartbeat, and his eye was starting to swell shut, but if that's all the damage he came out of this with then he would be a happy camper. Blinking a few times to try to clear his vision, he could make out Dawn on the phone again out in the rain. As if sensing him watching her she turned around, dropped the phone from her ear, and stalked back into the barn where he was being held. Anger was still radiating from every pore.
She calmly set her cell phone on one of the stalls and picked up a large Bowie style knife. Unbidden Mac's brain supplied the origins of the Bowie knife, it was crafted by James Black for Jim Bowie who made it famous during…"
Dawn interrupted Mac's internal monologue, "Do you know the trouble that you and your FBI or TBI or whatever BI friends have gotten me into?" She punched him in the face to emphasize her point and then continued her rant. "When I first started teaching the kids used to respect me, call me Mrs. Reaves, and behave, but now." She stopped her pacing in front of Mac and squatted down in front of him. "Do you know what I do all day? I handle problem kids! I take phone calls from parents who are whining that little Suzy didn't get the attention she deserves. I have to stand there and help kids who have pissed their pants change, every day! Every Single Day! Who pees their pants every day? It's like these kids now just don't care!" She repeated herself yelling it this time, "Every day!" She stood up and resumed her pacing. Mac's head hurt enough, so he didn't even try to keep up with her strides.
"So." She enunciated and then did a little flip of the knife. "I made a new friend, a very connected new friend. One who happened to be in bed with a cartel." She stopped, giggled, and said, "And well me! Then I stumbled upon two imbeciles trying to counterfeit money. Then it hit me!" As she talked she was gesturing wildly. Mac figured that she was so deep into her 'evil monologue' as Jack would call it, that she wouldn't notice him trying to get his paperclip.
"I could blackmail the idiots, clean the cartel's money, and finally save enough to get away from this hellhole, and that cheating bastard!" She whipped around looking at Mac who held still, "You wouldn't cheat on your wife would you?"
She didn't say anything else, obviously waiting for an answer. "No?" The answer came out like a question.
She nodded, "Good. So where was I?" She paced for a few more seconds, "Oh yeah, I almost had enough saved when you pesky kids showed up." Mac had to stifle a laugh; Jack would love being called a kid.
She slowly walked back to Mac and stood still in front of him. "So I enacted plan B, sell the feds to the cartel." That sent a cold stab of fear through Mac. She grinned, Seeming to be able to read Mac's expressions. "The Merida cartel only seemed to be interested in one person, you!" Mac tried not to let his relief show, he knew they were more or less off the playing field, and wouldn't be able to pay the 4 million dollar bounty they had placed on his head.
"But" she continued, "They have seemed to have run into a snag or something, I'm waiting on a call back for verification. In the meantime, they said I could be…" She paused trying to think of the right word. "Creative." With that, the large knife sliced down and was plunged in Mac's right thigh.
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Jack led Marie to his SUV. He got into the driver's seat, while Marie rode shotgun. Jack was worried about his boy; he didn't know how much violence Reaves was capable of. And the missions where Mac had come out less than ok, kept circling through his head. He realized that Marie was talking to him in a quiet voice.
"Speak up." He roughly barked out.
"Sorry, I don't know how to express how freaking sorry I am. I…"
Jack cut her off. "Then do something about it, give me the freaking directions, and let me rescue my best friend and we'll be square. Capeesh?"
"Yeah, I understand, you'll want to take the next right up here. It's kinda twisty, and a gravel road so you might want to slow down. "
Jack growled in his throat, not wanting to waste any time getting to Mac. Marie commented, "Yeah, I know it sucks, but would you rather we wreck, and have to be rescued too?"
Dang, it! Jack hated it when other people made sense, so when he turned onto the road he slowed his speed.
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Mac bit his lip hard not to let out a scream of pain. If he thought it hurt going it, it hurt twice as much coming out. He went limp in his bonds, blackness threatening to overtake him, but he battled it back scared of what might happen to him if he was unconscious. He could see Dawn's lips moving but had no clue what they lunatic was saying as he was using all of his body's resources just staying upright and awake.
He started hearing this shrill chirping sound and thought that the little birdies Jack always talked about had finally arrived to start circling his head. But when Dawn crossed to her cell phone, his foggy brain told him that it was just the cell phone. He took as a deep breath as he could, to calm down his racing heart. He studied the wound, but all he could process was the pain and bleeding. He knew he was panicking, and nothing good ever came from panic. The voice of his training officer Pena came to him, "Identify what can kill you now, and what can kill you later." Ok, using that reasoning, Dawn could kill him now, and the stab wound could kill him later. Stuffing the pain in a box, he turned his attention to Dawn, who was on her phone again pacing in the rain. Judging from her glares at him and her furious pace, she was not happy. He would even say she was enraged. She came stomping back into the barn, dripping wet, and as furious as he had seen her. She chunked the phone on the floor and got right up in his face.
"What did you do!" She practically screamed at him. Hitting him again, "What did you do?" She started her pacing in front of him again, and he slowly blinked his eyes, well his eye, the left one was swollen shut now, with the repeated blows. Finally getting her into focus he decided to channel his inner Jack Dalton.
"I didn't do anything." It came out weaker than he had anticipated, but it seemed to do the trick of getting her attention.
"I could have had 4 million dollars!" She emphasized the million part. "But you and your little fed friends wiped the cash out!" She got right back in his face again. "You're gonna know the pain you have caused me." With than she rammed the blade into his lower right side.
Mac couldn't hold in the pain this time and let out a scream. He screamed again when she pulled it back out. She stood there watching him bleed with his blood dripping off the knife that she casually held in her hand. The pain threatened to consume him again. The logical part of his brain was thankfully still operating and was telling him to control his breathing if he wanted to stay conscious When he more or less pulled himself together he focused his eye on Dawn. She looked a lot calmer now, like she had made a decision, and judging by the smile on her face it was one he wouldn't like.
As if reading his thoughts she started talking again, picking up right where she had left off earlier. "So they offered me a deal. If I can bring in your head on a pike, they will get me set up in Mexico, where I don't have to take care of whiny brats anymore. They didn't specify whether or not you needed to be alive or even in one piece." She looked him taking in her handy work he assumed. The left side of his face was battered, and swollen, the wound on his right thigh was sluggishly leaking blood, he didn't think she had hit anything vital with that one. But the one on his side was another matter there were all sorts of important organs, and he was worried that she may have nicked his large intestines or even his spleen. He didn't feel weak from blood loss yet. Then in his head, he chuckled, how sad was it that he knew from experience what massive blood loss felt like. Maybe he had earned that free kidney now. He realized his thoughts were drifting and struggled to bring them back. Focusing on Dawn still standing in front of him, he gave her as a defiant look as he could muster.
"Oh, hun." Then she stabbed him underneath his left clavicle. He again screamed in pain, and finally succumbed to the unconsciousness that had been hovering on the edges. He wasn't awake to see Dawn shrug, grab her phone, and place another phone call, leaving the huge knife sticking out of his shoulder.
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Jack made another right and peered out through the windshield. "Are you sure this is the right road?"
Marie looked around and consulted her map, "Yes." At least she sounded confident. "This dirt road should lead to the path that will take us to the back of the barn. So we should almost be there." They traveled only a little further when Jack spotted the overgrown path. Slowing he pulled onto it . Cresting the hill he could see a barn up ahead, so he doused the headlights. He slowly pulled as close as he dared to the structure that had seen better days. He stopped the SUV and put it into park. Turning to Marie he gave her strict orders, "You are to stay in this car until I say you can come out." He looked at her quizzically, "Do you have any medical knowledge?"
She nodded vigorously, "I completed my first responders' course back in high school." Jack sighed, it was better than nothing. Reaching back he pulled the massive first aid kit that he liked to have with him on missions, and handed her his knife. "When I say you can, go straight to Mac, and see if he needs first aid, and if he is bound, unbind him, ok?"
Marie nodded and grabbed the kit and the knife. Jack checked his borrowed gun and grabbed his own out of the glove box, his tactical flashlight, and another pair of flex cuffs he had taken off Officer Assbutt. Lastly, he tried his comms. "Bozer, do you read me?" When he got no answer he sighed and sent a brief text on his sat phone. He had just opened his door when he heard Mac's scream of pain. He wanted to run at the sound, but his tactical training overrode his helicopter parent instincts. He crouched behind the car that Reaves had driven out here and watched her walk in the opposite direction, leaving Mac unguarded. Standing up he motioned Marie to come to him, he was happy to see that she was being as quiet as he was.
"I'm going in to take her down, you go for Mac. Nod if you understand." She gave one short nod, and he was gone. He took shelter behind the chair that Mac was restrained in. Noticing that Mac's hands were handcuffed, Jack grabbed the paperclip off the back of Mac's pants, and quickly picked the lock. When Mac's hands were free, he didn't move them, which concerned Jack. He whispered hoping Mac could hear him, "Your rescue is here. Hang tight, and we'll have you out of here in two shakes." Still not getting an answer he took a brief look at his partner, it broke his heart, seeing all that blood, and was that a knife sticking out of his shoulder? But he put it where he put all other thoughts when on a mission, in a box. And as quick as an arrow he went after Dawn Reaves.
A/N 2 See you Sunday!