Chapter 5

SOMEWHERE IN LOS ANGELES

…NEAR THE OCEAN, GOING BY THE SMELL

MacGyver finally freed one of the paperclips from his twisted shirt sleeve. It had taken a bit longer to get one free than he'd counted on, given the way they'd arranged his arms. Adam was busy watching his phone, so Mac didn't need to worry too much about being caught working on the zip ties holding his wrists.

Zip ties are a common means of restraint since they're quickly and easily deployed. But, this also means that they can be quickly and easily escaped…usually. The ratchet mechanism on zip ties can be foiled if you have something small and rigid to lever it off the plastic strip. Almost any of the tools on my Swiss Army knife would do the trick, but it's on the other side of L.A. at the moment, so a tried and true paperclip will have to do.

The door to the room opened. Mac looked up to see Ian Page walking through it. Great.

Adam stood quickly and moved to greet Ian. The embraced warmly. "Jesus, it's good to see you, brother. I was starting to think you weren't going to make it."

"All under control man," Ian replied smoothly.

"You look good, Ian. For a fugitive, I mean," Adam said, grinning at the other man fondly.

"Takes more than a trumped up arrest warrant to keep me down, you know that," Ian said confidently.

"What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going back," Ian said quietly. "I won't see you for a while. Listen, you had better get going. The others are outside, they're going to get you home safely."

Mac watched as Adam glanced in his direction.

"Yeah. Uh, I have to ask, why did you need us to grab MacGyver?"

Ian followed his gaze. "Just some…unfinished business."

Adam seemed uncertain. "Do you…need any help?"

"Nah," Ian turned back to him, presenting a friendly face. "I got it. Thank you so much."

Adam appeared reluctant, but eventually relented. "It's good to see you, Ian. It's been too long."

"Take care of yourself, buddy," Ian said, clapping him on the arm as he moved to leave. "Say hello to Becca and the kids for me."

Looking like he wanted to say more, Adam hesitated, then simply nodded before moving to leave.

The door closed, and Page watched it for a long moment before turning. He seemed pleased with himself. He moved closer and stood there for a moment, staring, before leaning down and yanking the tape off of Mac's mouth.

Mac glared up at him, waiting for him to speak. When he didn't Mac, nodded toward the door. "I gather he doesn't know what you really do for a living."

Ian shook his head. "He wouldn't understand. Underneath all that anger toward the Army, he's still a good man. Not at all like you or me."

"I don't think I can be a fair judge of your friend's character, given the circumstances."

"I'd choose my next words carefully, Angus, if I were you," Page said ruefully, stepping over to the table and opening the satchel. At that moment, Mac remembered seeing it before. It was the bag that he had brought with him into the room in Tunisia. Ian rummaged through the bag for a few seconds before removing a small pouch. "They will be used against you."

"I'm just saying that his loyalty is admirable," Mac clarified with forced civility. "But, it's misplaced."

Ian chuckled. "Adam testified at my court-martial, and both my appeals. He pleaded with the court to dismiss the charges. He didn't believe any of it. Still doesn't. He's a good friend. I don't get to see him enough in my line of work."

MacGyver changed the subject. "All the airports and border crossings will be closed. You can't get out of the country."

"I'm sure your friends have already seen to that," Ian agreed. "Fortunately, I have other plans."

Mac considered the words, and their surroundings. Then it clicked. He wouldn't have to use the roads or the airways from here. "A boat."

Ian grinned at him. "So smart. Our ride will be here in…less than two hours, if my math is correct. Leaves us a little time."

That wasn't something Mac wanted to think about. He continued working on the first zip tie. There seemed to be a catch in the plastic that was keeping him from getting enough leverage on the ratchet.

Page walked toward him, carrying a shiny stainless steel scalpel. "You wanted the truth from me, Angus, well, here it is. I came back for you. I know, totally out of the blue, right? Thing is…this past year, I just couldn't get you out of my head."

MAC MAC MAC

THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION

Riley slammed her laptop closed. "Damn it!"

All the searches ended in the same area, on the western side of the city. MacInerney and his pals knew how to evade surveillance, at least well enough to get out of being followed beyond a certain point. She'd narrowed the search area, but it was still half of Los Angeles, far too large to even begin.

The FBI and LAPD had airships performing grid searches, but the SUV could be long gone already, and they didn't even have a solid direction to follow.

All she could think about was Mac's face, the last moment she saw him as he turned to cover her escape from the house. Always the hero. She shouldn't have left him. She knew better—

"Breathe."

Riley jumped, startled by Matty's voice coming from directly behind her. She turned, finding her boss just inches behind her. "Matty…."

"You did the right thing," Matty said quietly. "And Mac did what he always does. There was no other option."

"One of these days," Riley replied solemnly. "What Mac does is going to get him killed."

Matty gave her a small smile. "It's what we do."

Mac's words in Germany drifted back to her, unbidden. Here's something I never told anybody: when we're on a mission, and I'm about to do something really stupid, I imagine it all going wrong, and I see myself die, every time.

Most of the time, Riley would be right there with him, risking her life too. It was hard when she wasn't. She sighed. "I don't know what else to do, Matty. I've hit a dead end tracking the SUV. Mac had his phone with him, but they either took out the battery or destroyed it, so there's no way to activate it…."

"Perhaps this will help," Russ Taylor said, breezing into the lab. He carried a small device in his hand. "Our forensics team found this hidden in the wheel well of Mac's truck."

"Is that a GPS beacon?" Matty asked, looking it over.

"It is indeed," Russ replied. "But the question is, how did it get there? Mac's truck was parked on the premises all day yesterday, and between the guards at the gate and the security system, no one could have planted it while it was here."

"It had to be placed after we left yesterday," Riley concluded.

"Where did you two go after leaving the Phoenix?" Matty asked.

"Uh," Riley tried to remember. The previous evening felt like it had been days before. "We stopped for gas, but I stayed in the car, and Mac paid at the pump…then we…stopped to get dinner at this Chinese place he likes. The little old lady there speaks Mandarin and he always likes to impress her by ordering in her dialect. We both went inside."

Russ smiled and shook his head.

"That's probably where the device was placed," Matty said. "Any chance you can backtrack who it was talking to, or where it was sending?"

That was a good idea. Riley took the transmitter and hooked in into her terminal. "Maybe, so long as this thing hasn't been wiped." She typed a few commands into her laptop. "Well, the receiver ID was blocked, but…someone tested it a few times. Once in…Montana, I'm guessing where they got it…and then again…two days ago here in L.A."

"Where?" Russ asked.

Riley put the location information on the big screen, and a map. "Looks like an abandoned surf shop off the PCH. It's not more than ten miles from here."

Matty looked at Russ, who nodded and pulled out his phone. "Desi, get the TAC team, we're moving out!"

MAC MAC MAC

SOMEWHERE IN LOS ANGELES

…AT THE WORLD'S WORST REUNION

Ian crouched in front of MacGyver, miming with the scalpel as if he intended to dissect him. "I mean it, Angus. You've been on my mind since we met in Tunisia. You're the one who got away…and worse, I was so close to breaking you."

Mac said nothing, keeping a wary eye on the shiny blade.

"Oh, don't deny it. Please, don't."

Looking up at him, Mac shook his head. In his mind, he was already reliving his experience in that Tunisian bunker. He couldn't keep his voice from shaking. "You were never going to get anything out of me. I didn't have the answers you wanted."

"Oh, no, no," Ian shook his head. He jumped to his feet and slid gracefully behind the post, placing his right hand on Mac's shoulder and pressing the scalpel lightly against the flesh of his neck with the other. The blade was so close that Mac could feel it, just millimeters away. He froze against the post, even stopping his work with the paperclip lest Ian see it. He palmed the metal clip and sent a quiet plea to the universe at large that Page didn't look down.

Ian, for his part, seemed too caught up in his monologue to notice anything. He whispered in Mac's ear. "You don't understand. I didn't get to finish my work. I had you on the ropes. I saw it in your eyes right before you passed out that last time. Didn't I?" When Mac didn't answer, Ian pressed the blade even closer, resting the cool metal against his carotid artery. "Didn't I?"

Mac pressed his eyes closed, and was surprised to find that the memories of Tunisia were melting into memories of Riley. She was the only thing he could think of that mattered in that moment…and if things didn't end well, he knew that she was the only thing that ever would.

"I hate leaving things unfinished," Ian continued, seemingly oblivious to the terror that was gripping his prisoner. "That's why I was hoping to find Miss Davis tonight, too. She is the one who interrupted us last time, after all. But, I guess she'll just have to wait."

Somehow, Mac summoned the courage to speak, despite the scalpel slowly scraping his skin with each breath. "Is that…is that why you did all this? Just to finish me off?"

"Yes!" Ian cried, his voice betraying a near hysteria that was surprising. Up until now, the Doctor had seemed so measured. "I knew you understood, Angus! All that stuff we talked about, 'who hired me,' 'who wanted to know what,' I couldn't care less about any of that bullshit! I've learned that the answers don't matter. It's the power. All of my patients realize it, sooner or later. I hold their lives in my hands, and they know it. That's real power." He squeezed MacGyver's shoulder tightly. "Thank you, Angus, thank you. It takes a brilliant mind to understand a brilliant mind, and I knew you were the only one who I could talk to about this. You saw that power with your own eyes." He took a deep breath and blew it out, growing noticeably calmer. "I've never told anyone how I really felt before. That…that was helpful."

Page patted Mac's shoulder and then rose, walking back to the table. Mac released a breath he hadn't known he was holding. Sweat rolled down his temple. His heart was pounding in his chest. He opened his hand and started working the zip tie again, more frantically than before. Finally, the plastic started to loosen. He kept his eyes on his captor. "Are you going to kill me?"

Ian wagged a finger at him like an annoyed teacher. "Remember the rules, I ask, you answer. But, I do owe you a few answers, don't I? That Sidorov job you asked me about? You were right, they gave me a lot of money for that. One interview turned into three, and they were so happy that they paid me three times what I asked. I was roaming from country to country at the time, and I was finally able to settle down. I bought this beautiful place at the foot of the Andes. Huge. No one for miles in any direction. And, I built a state of the art operating theater in the basement." He favored MacGyver with a sly smile. "You know the old saying, a man's home is his castle…what's a castle without a dungeon? You're gonna like my dungeon, Angus. I can't wait to show it to you."

If Mac knew nothing else, he knew he did not want to see that. Finally, the first zip tie gave way, and he slid it off his wrists. He quickly went to work on the second. He just needed to keep Ian talking.

"I don't understand something," he said, carefully making it a statement.

Ian looked at him for a moment, then shrugged. "What the hell? I'm so happy to get you back. Ask me anything, my friend. Anything."

"How did your buddies find my house?"

"Ah, yeah, I thought you'd want to know about that." He stepped closer, tugging the neck of his prison jumpsuit down, revealing a scar just beneath his collar bone. "They didn't find you, they found me. GPS tracker. I had it put in by an associate a few years back. They followed me from the FBI to your building, wherever that is, then followed you home from there. I'm not quite sure how they managed to stay out of sight so that you didn't see them, but, my buddies are good at what they do, so…."

Mac frowned. "So, what? Your old Army pals just go around doing anything you want?"

"No, nothing like that. Sadly, I actually don't get to see them very often. I travel so much. They set up their own business after the Army ruined their lives, just like I did. But, when I called, they were more than willing to help. It's like I told you, 'bonds formed in live and death situations.' I saved their lives a dozen times over, they owed me."

"Including Adam?"

"When Adam heard about my, uh, 'imminent incarceration,' he wanted to help. Thought I was in trouble. He'd do anything for me, just like I'd do anything for him. You know how that is."

"I do, actually," Mac replied, playing along. Just keep him talking. "And the information you gave us? It was all true. We followed up on it. Why give up your former employers?"

That made Ian laugh. "It's pretty simple, really. The Merida Cartel, the Morsofians…they stiffed me on the bill. Didn't want to pay up. Always pay your doctor bills, Angus, because they always come due. The Sidorovs, well, that was different. After everything I did for them, the new boss came in and wanted the whole incident swept under the rug. Didn't want them looking weak to other syndicates, so he cleaned house. Killed everyone who was involved on either side, even sent a guy after me. Can you believe that? Ungrateful bastard. The only thing worse than not paying your doctor is trying to knock him off."

"So, this was about revenge," Mac replied.

"I'm a simple man," Ian said, making an innocent gesture with his hands. "I have a code. They betrayed me, so now they pay. It's always best to wait a few years, so they don't see it coming. Makes it so much sweeter, you know?"

Mac felt the second zip tie give way, and he slowly popped it off of his wrists. He was finally free. Ian pulled another item out of his bag. It was a syringe.

"Okay, good talk. But, it's time. This is going to keep you quiet while we get to the boat, and it needs a little while to take effect, so…."

He crouched in front of Mac again, straddling his legs, and carefully brought the sharp needle toward Mac's neck.

If I learned anything from Jack, it's that sometimes it's okay to fight dirty.

Mac brought his knee up hard, scoring a direct hit on Ian's groin. He brought his hands out from behind and batted the syringe out of the doctor's grasp, then planted his foot on Ian's torso and shoved him away as hard as he could.

TBC