Chapter 5
Melody cleaned up happily. Every once and awhile she would stop and look at her ring. For once, everything was going right for her. She was going to have a family. One who loved her and wouldn't abandon her. She got the sheets together to take to the laundry mat. She got ready to go and headed out the door. The laundry mat was within walking distance so she started walking.
It took her about two hours to finish and she headed back home. When she got home the door was unlocked. She figured she forgot to lock it, and she walked in. As soon as she did, she was grabbed and her mouth was covered with a handkerchief. She dropped the laundry and tried to fight but began to get dizzy. She blacked out.
When she woke up she was lying on a cot in a cage that reminded her of a small jail cell. All that was in it was the cot, a sink, and a toilet. In the room with the cage was a desk with a computer and phone on it and a web cam pointed at the cage. She looked around for an escape route and saw only the door by the desk. She sat up on the cot and got dizzy. Whatever was on that handkerchief was still messing with her head.
"Are you awake?" A man came thru the door and locked it behind him.
"Where am I? Why am I here?" Melody asked, near tears.
"Calm down. There's no need to be upset."
Melody could tell he was insincere. He had an evil essence about him. She sat up slowly and looked at him. He was the ugliest man she had ever seen. He had scars covering his face. He sat a brown bag by the cell.
"Eat. That's all you're getting today." He sneered.
Melody got up slowly and grabbed the bag. Inside were a sandwich and a juice box. She ate tentatively.
"Now keep quiet while I use the phone." He said to her as he dialed a number.
Melody could only hear one side of the conversation, but she tried to figure out what was going on.
"I would like to speak to MacGyver please. Thank you." He said. There was a pause, then he spoke again. "MacGyver, hi there. Do you happen to recognize my voice? (pause) Oh come now. You don't recognize your old friend Murdoc? (pause) What I want, is you dead. (pause) I wouldn't hang up if I were you. (pause) Because I have something of yours." He turned to Melody and held up the phone. "Say hello to your boyfriend."
"MacGyver! Help me! I'm scared!" Melody yelled.
"That's enough" he said putting the phone back up to his ear. "So, did I get your attention? (pause) Good. (pause) My demands are this...your life for hers. (pause) Think it over and I'll call you back later. Meanwhile, why don't you log on to a website of mine. It's Enjoy!" He hung up.
He went to the computer and started working.
"Smile for the camera" he said pointing to the web cam.
Melody figured it out. She was on the internet.
MacGyver hung up the phone and turned to Pete.
"I need access to the internet, now. Murdock has Melody."
Pete let MacGyver use his office and computer. MacGyver logged on to the site and saw Melody sitting on a bed. She was crying and holding her stomach. MacGyver got tears in his eyes. Pete set up a tracking system to trace the next phone call from Murdock. Mac never took his eyes off of the screen. An hour later, Murdock called MacGyver again.
"Like my little website?" Murdock asked. "I made it just for you."
"What do you want me to do?" MacGuver asked.
"Don't bother tracing this phone call, I want you to come see me. I'm at an old sherriff's office in an abandoned town." He gave MacGyver the specific directions. "See you in an hour, alone." He hung up.
MacGyver, against Pete's wishes, decided to go there alone. He did take his cell phone with him and Pete arranged for police to be nearby the address. MacGyver looked at the computer one last time and left.
Melody turned to Murdoc.
"What's going to happen when MacGyver gets here?" she asked.
"You're both going to die," he replied coldly.
Murdock pulled something from a drawer in the desk. It was a bomb with a timer.
"I'll be gone when the bomb goes off, but you two won't."
Melody started crying harder. Pete watched but since there was no sound, he had no idea what was said. Melody cried until she almost started to hyperventilate. Murdock left, leaving the bomb on the desk. Melody suddenly felt a weird sensation and realized she was sitting in water. She looked at the camera with a scared look on her face. She was in labor. She grabbed her stomach in pain. Pete saw her reaction and made a guess that she was in labor. He called MacGyver. MacGyver was on the road when he answered the phone.
"MacGyver, she's in labor."
"I have to get her to the hospital. If Murdock hurts her..."
"You'll make it in time. Hold on. She's mouthing something. I can't figure it out."
"Get Susan, she's hard of hearing and reads lips all the time."
"Okay, hold on."
Pete got Susan and she read Melody's lips and told MacGyver as she figured it out.
"She's saying, 'Don't come. There's a bomb in the room. There's only 5 minutes left. Stay away.' She keeps repeating the same thing." Susan told MacGyver.
She handed the phone back to Pete.
"What are you going to do MacGyver?" Pete asked.
"I'll figure that out when I get there." He hung up.
When MacGyver got to the abandoned town, he passed a van speeding out. He looked at his watch. Two minutes left. He had no time to chase the van. He parked and ran into the building. He first saw Melody in the cage, then noticed the bomb. He ran to Melody.
"Where are the keys?" he asked.
"I don't know. Check the desk." She said while having a contraction.
He opened all the drawers and found the keys. There was one minute left. He fumbled for the right key to fit the lock. Finally it worked. He grabbed Melody and carried her out the door while the last twenty seconds clicked away. He put her in the jeep and drove away. He wasn't a block away when the bomb went off.
"Something's wrong" Melody panted. "The baby isn't coming out."
"We're going to the hospital."
"There's no time."
MacGyver called Pete and asked for an ambulance and fire truck. Pete asked what Murdock left in and MacGyver described it. Melody screamed. MacGyver hung up and picked up Melody. He laid her on the ground and prepared to deliver the baby. He looked and noticed he couldn't see the baby's head. Something was wrong.
"Don't push, just breath. We have to wait for the ambulance."
Melody screamed again. MacGyver tried to change her focus away from the pain. He was scared he could lose her. After what seemed like a life time, the ambulance and fire truck arrived. As the fire fighters put out the fire, the paramedics put Melody in the ambulance. They rushed to the hospital as MacGyver followed in his jeep.
Later at the hospital, a doctor came out to the waiting room to talk to MacGyver. Mac was there with Pete.
"How is she?" MacGyver asked.
"She's resting. She lost a lot of blood, but she should be fine. We're just keeping her over night to make sure."
"And the baby?"
"I'm sorry. There were complications. I'm sorry."
MacGyver nodded. He could deal with the baby's death as long as Melody was okay. The doctor let him go see Melody. She was laying in bed, staring out the window. She couldn't believe she was robbed of a family again. She should have known her happiness wouldn't last.
"Melody?" MacGyver asked softly as he approached her bed.
"It was a girl. I named her Harmony Lee. I always wanted a girl named Harmony."
Mac sat next to the bed and held her hand.
"We can make it through this, like we have everything else." MacGyver said encouragingly. "I love you"
Melody looked at MacGyver.
"You do? You still want to marry me?"
"Of course. That hasn't changed at all. As long as you still love me."
"I do. I love you, too."
