I disclaim

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Til The End Ch.21

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Mac's Dujo

The dujo was quiet for a Monday morning usually they would be recruits working out on the mat grunting and groaning in pain, but the only person in the room was the owner. Mac's demeanor was anything but usual as she sat at her desk humming was sounded like 'In The Middle Of The Night' by Billy Joel.

The sight was almost funny, an ex-mercenary sitting at her desk with a silly grin, humming off key. As she walked further into the room she almost felt bad about what she was about to do, but she ignored the feeling and came on with her mission. Arriving at the desk, and amazed that Mac still hadn't noticed her, she sat down in the chair and glared at the woman. "I'm mad at you."

Hearing a voice confirm it's anger, Mac looked up from her reading and surveyed the women in front of her. She had thought that after getting Gabriella back, and not having to lie anymore that Chloe would still; be locked in familial bliss back at the Salem Inn with her husband and daughter. " I'm getting that."

"That's all you have to say." Chloe raised an eyebrow, and watched the woman with fury and hurt.

"Actually, I'm wondering why you're upset." Mac pushed her chair back, and propped her feet up on her desk, noting the emotions on her face and trying to place origin of the emotions. "Not to sound conceded, but I did kinda of save Salem and most of its residents from yet another DiMera plot, and I'm starting to feel a little hurt here." She begins turning her head and looking around the room." Because, I'm looking and I don't see my parade." 

"DiMera plots go down every other day, though I must admit, you seem more aware of them, then other people." Chloe loses the look of fury remembering that Mac likes dealing with fury, and refuses to play her game. " I have some questions for you."

"Well, I ain't going nowhere, so shot." Seeing her eyes narrow Mac jumps to clarify." I mean figuratively, I'm kinda tired of being shot at, not as young as I use to be you know."  

"How did you know about the hit?"

"Chloe, Chloe, Chloe." Mac stands and shakes her head at her friend's naiveté even after all this time. " I've been doing this for a while now, and I know when I being shadowed."

Chloe's brow scrunches in confusion at her statement." Shadowed?"

Mac moves to sit on the edge of the desk." After this two morons tried to shake me down for money, I went to launch with the three amigos, but you know this cause you set it up."

Chloe lowers her head trying not to make eye contact with Mac as she answers. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Mac raises a hand and snickers at Chloe horrible lie. "Save it, I haven't forgotten about my birthday party." The last words were said with disgust. " Anyway, while they set me up, I noticed this guy sitting across from us that had come in after us."

Flashback Brady Pub

Hope steps in front of the fleeing woman. "It's not about you, it's about Chloe."

Mac grimaces knowing that once again they found a weakness. Turning she gestures for Jennifer to move over on the bench, as she notices a man sitting across from them with his head resting in the menu. It was that way he held the menu that caught Mac's attention.

The menu was not even an inch from his face, which meant that he either forgot his glasses or he was hiding. When a waitress came by to take his order he lowered the menu for a moment. Looking closely Mac saw that he had no marks on his face indicating that he ever work glasses, and catching a small glint she realized that he was wearing a gold chain around his neck.

Mac remembered the last gold chain man met, she looks closer at the man, while pretending to listen to Greta and Hope's guilt trip abut Chloe, nodding occasionally, she tries to focus for a second so they think she's paying attention.

" So Chloe's got a break from recording, and is coming into to town, apparently Gabriella is almost speaking in completes sentences." Mac nods again as Hope continues but takes another quick glance at the man, and notes his clothes.

He is obviously trying to fit in this crowd because he's wearing a simple button down shirt and jeans, but were everyone else in the pub wearing the a similar outfit has sneakers and sweat socks on he's wearing black snake skin dress shoes, and black dress socks. The shirt while very similar to the one Shawn was wearing, was silk an opened at the top two buttons, letting some chest hair show, and his jean looked brand new.

Putting everything together, Mac had only one conclusion the man was a wise guy, and he was following her. Mac hears Hope ask her a question and automatically answers. "Yeah." She watches the looks of amazement come over her companion's faces.

"So you come to the dinner for Chloe this Saturday?"

"What?" Mac hadn't really been paying attention, and she now regretted it.

"You said, you would come to the dinner this Saturday for Chloe at Tuscany." Greta repeated the statement with a happy confidence laced in her voice; she had known that coming to the pub would throw Mac off her game.

Mac grimaced and nodding. "Fine."

"So, it's all set you will meet us there seven o'clock, Saturday at Tuscany," Greta narrowed her eyes at Mac, as she squirmed and fidgeted with the watch on her arm.

"Yes, so stop glaring at me."

A ringing cell phone tops the Greta's retort. Jennifer reaches into her bag, takes out her cell phone, and answers the call.

"Hello Jen Deveraux."

"CHLOE." She turns back to the group and mouths 'it's Chloe'. Mac watches the happiness and Jen's face and almost feel s good about going to the dinner party, until she remembers what's going on in Chloe's life.

"No, really Jen." Mac doesn't have many hobbies, but picking on Jennifer is her favorite, she can't help it the girl is just an easy target.

"Chloe says stop picking on me." Sticking her tongue out she turned back to listen to her sister. " What's up, where are you?"

"YOU'RE HERE NOW." Jennifer's eyes widen at she listens to Chloe.

Mac leans over the tabling and motions for Hope and Greta to do the same, when they do she whispers. "Do you think Chloe's here?"

 

"Ok, we'll be right over." Jennifer hangs up the phones and turns to the group, smiling.

"We need to go to Gram's."

"I think I'll pass, but thanks." Mac stands and throws some bills down on the table. "I have recruits to torture." Mac heads out the door not even waiting for her companions and begins walking back toward her dujo. She passes several stores in Salem place and notice the man from the dinner several paces behind her.

Mac reaches the dujo, walks through the door, and sees a guy measuring the broken window. "Hey can you make the new glass bullet proof?" At his nod she smiles. "Good, do it quickly and there's a big tip in it for you."

Mac goes to the weight room in the back, and finds the agent she's looking for." Darcy, come here me." The large man stops doing arm curls and heads over to her with a slight limp form their earlier altercation. " I got a mission for you, I need you to follow a guy watching me form outside, he's about 6'3, 220, with black hair that greased back, he wearing a red silk shirt, with expensive designer jeans, and dress shoes.

"You just want me to follow him?"

"Yeah, then call when he reaches his boss."

"Gotcha." Darcy walks out of the room, and Mac turns to the recruits, and finds the woman she recruited from the Boston Police Department, and motions her over.

"Yes, ma'am."

"I'm going to need you to do a watch the office for me, but need you to do it wearing my clothes and facing the wall, can you handle that?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good, why you head up to my flat and find some of my clothes then meet me back here."

"Yes ma'am." The recruit walked up the backstairs case, and went into Mac flat. Mac walked back into the main room of the dujo and noted that the mark and Darcy were already gone, when she heard her cell phone ring.

"Red Wolf."

"Darcy, ma'am." "Target is currently meeting someone down on the pier, right outside the 52nd street pier."

"I'm there in five, did you notice anyone watching our dujo when you left?"

"Yes, ma'am a black sedan with two men watching."

"Alright." She turns at the sound of footsteps and sees the recruit coming down the stairs dressed in jeans and a t-shirt." I'm almost there." Mac motions for her to go stand by the wall and moves to join her, flicking off the lights leaving the room dark. When lights come back on all that can be seen from the street in "Mac" sitting in her chair reading a magazine facing the wall.

52nd Street Pier

Mac spots Darcy and waves him over to her, and motions for him to use the hand signals she taught him earlier in training.

Darcy moves his hands signaling that there are two men at the pier talking.

Mac signals back that he can go, and that she will handle it. Mac moves closer and begins listening to the conversation.

"She was at the Brady Pub, about an hour." "I couldn't hear all of it, but I know she will be at Tuscany at 7 o'clock this Saturday."

"Good, did she see you?"

At the second voice Mac's hair stands on end, she knows that voice, but she hadn't heard it in four years, not since that night.

"She glanced my way, but I think she was caught up in the conversation she was having."

"You get anything else?"

"Just that they were meeting for Dinner because someone named Gabriella was almost talking in sentences now." "I think they were talking about a kid."

"Really Einstein." The sarcasm was very well hidden, and yet at the same time blatantly obvious, a trick that Patrick had perfected after years of working with Mac. " Please don't understand the conversation, merely repeat it."

  

"Sure."

"Let's go I'm meeting with someone soon."

Mac hides when she hears the footsteps but moves to a spot where she can see the men leaving. As they past she sees her worst fears confirmed.

Patrick is alive.

Flashback Over

"After that I checked the records at the hospital and found out that Colin Murphy was on the scene of the accident and "tended" to the victims." Chloe watches as Mac begins flexing her hands a sure sign that she wants to hit something. " It didn't take much to scare Colin into a confession, he is really a spineless little girl."

Chloe raises her eyebrow at the last statement." Hey…"

"Don't hey me, Gabriella would've held out for longer then he did, at one point I swear he whimpered." " After he folded I checked out the mansion and found out they were opening it up again."

"How did you know it wasn't Kristen?"

Mac eyes widen and then quickly go back to normal. "Kristen is MIA, and has been for almost a decade, I doubt Kristen is coming back."

Chloe caught the look. "But that's not how you knew it was her?"

"I had received an email from someone threatening me later that evening, when I read it I knew it Lexie." Chloe gave a look of confusion." Stefano, who is dead by the way, never warned you that he was coming, he would just arrive."

"So, you knew they were coming for you and you faked your death." "Then you found out about their kidnapping scheme and you got there first, and then I'm guessing you're the one that shot Patrick."

"You, know me so well."

"Yeah, I do, well enough to be hurt that you would try something so risky with your life." Mac begins to walk away when Chloe catches her arm and jerks her around to face her. "You're not Machiavelli anymore, you're Mackenzie you have friends and family that care about you and don't want you dead."

"Chloe, this is what I do it's what I always done."

"No, you never faked your death before." Tear were began to form in Chloe's eyes. "My mother and I cried the entire night, Craig had to drug her to get her to sleep, and Gabriella knew you weren't there, everyone was wrecked." Chloe grabbed Mac in a hug and held onto to her tightly." Don't do that again."

"I won't." Mac finally let's the guilt of her actions hits her, and just lets Chloe cry on her shoulder. "Hey, cheer up things are okay now, I'm not dead, Patrick's chips out, and you have your family." Mac steps back and lift up Chloe chin and wipes the teas off her face. "Smile darn ya smile, you know this whole world is a great world after all."

Chloe laughs as Mac sings off key. " You suck."

"Which is why you're the Diva and I'm the mercenary."