Mac stared out the window of the jet, as though focusing on the countryside passing by below could somehow get them where they were going faster.
He'd been doing pretty well mentally until the latest video arrived. For all Murdoc and Walsh's claims of Jack being a bargaining chip, it appeared they thought Dead or Alivé was how Mac and his father would be willing to bargain.
The video showed a filthy little cell of a room, with an even filthier cot in one corner. First, a short clip showed Jack Dalton being injected with something and collapsing onto the grubby bedding. Murdoc gleefully followed the clip with a text about the contents of the syringe.
The longer clip that came next was a tight shot of Jack, drenched in sweat, curled into a ball, clutching his chest, breathing in shallow gasping hitches, and moaning softly. His skin was the color of day-old oatmeal. While any number of body system issues could cause that, Mac was pretty sure he knew which one of Jack's was on the verge of failure. He appeared as though every muscle in his body was tensed, and Mac had to assume that included his heart.
KX7 hit the heart hardest, though it looked as though whatever iteration of it Walsh was on didn't also drive victims into a rage, as previous video had shown.
Mac couldn't stop clenching and unclenching his fists, even thought it hurt the hand he'd had the IV placed in for surgery. He had gotten the urge to pace, but Steve had cleared his throat and suggested Mac save his energy and strength for when they landed.
Rather than argue, Mac just sat back down across from Riley. She clicked away incessantly trying to track where the signal the latest communication had come from so they could scope out resources in advance. All the video had done to Riley was increase her determination to decrypt the origins of the calls.
As though she felt his eyes on her, Ri looked up at Mac, eyes tight with worry. "Do you think it's because his heart got damaged in China?"
Mac frowned. "What? What do you mean?"
"You saw him. It's like he's having some weird slow heart attack. And … I was just thinking…When you guys helped me … when Jack did his 'I think I'm invincible so I'll just be a power cable' thing…"
"I remember. I was glad as hell Jack didn't have a freaking heart attack then."
"But do you think it could've damaged it and that's why he's not going full Hulk Smash on the KX7?"
Mac's brow creased more deeply. "I … Christ, I hope not." He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "But I guess even if that's true, we should be glad. He's not burning out like a rocket the way all those guys in the experiment videos did."
Mac's father joined them, sitting in the nearest available seat.
"Dalton's heart is fine," James said confidently.
"As far as we know," Riley snapped in an accusatory tone.
"Well, given the medical resources at the Phoenix's disposal, we know pretty far. You don't think we just sent him home without follow up after all that, do you?"
Mac frowned. "He told us he missed out on beers by the fire because he went to check on Ri's mom and they argued so he went for a drive to cool off."
"I yelled at him about it, too. Because Matty definitely ordered him to Medical."
James nodded. "And that's most certainly where he spent the evening."
"Big jerk!" Riley huffed. "He told us he blew that off and I was so worried about him!"
Mac managed a slight grin. "After the way he gave medical staff from the flight home the slip when we got back, I figured he genuinely weaseled out of any other medical care at the office, too."
"Yes, well, Dalton isn't nearly as good at that as his partner."
Mac had an immediate indignant reply on his lips, but his father continued. "Nor is he nearly as reckless with his health as he'd like you to believe when he's showing you younger folks his Delta persona." James rolled his eyes and Mac was struck by catching the ghost of his own expression there. "Besides, you don't think maybe he says things like that to get a reaction out of you so he can needle you about it when you do the same thing?"
His father was almost smiling and when Mac rolled his eyes, it was almost involuntary. "I don't do that!"
"Sure you don't, Mac." Steve called from his position at one of the tables.
Riley snorted, looking more relaxed with this new information about Jack. "Mac is definitely better than all the rest of us at giving anyone in scrubs or who likes to give orders in general the slip."
With everyone piling on, Mac felt his face heat just a little. "One of us spent the morning doing the opposite of giving anyone the slip." He gestured at Steve and Elliot. "And I talked those two into coming along, by the way."
"For Jack," Riley said at exactly the same moment Mac's dad said, "For Dalton."
Elliot piped up from another nearby table. "Mac knows better than that. Don't you, buddy?"
"Of course he does," Steve agreed with a slight edge.
Mac held up his hands in a placating gesture. "I didn't say anything to the contrary. In fact, I'm glad you guys have my six. I definitely feel like a guy who lost a knife fight on purpose and I'm very interested in not bleeding to death." He gave Riley and his father a haughty eyebrow raise. "I'll own that I might occasionally be stubborn, but I'm not stupid."
"No one can argue that," James said with a hint of pride that Mac couldn't help feeling a little pleased by.
Riley's computer beeped so she was momentarily distracted from either actively worrying about Jack or teasing Mac. After a moment of looking at her laptop, she swore. "I still can't get a location!"
"We'll just have to see how this unfolds when they contact us after we land," James said levelly.
They all fell silent.
Mac chewed his lip. He was really starting to feel like Hell and it made thinking more difficult.
"I'll figure something out," he assured Riley. Then he closed his eyes and shut out the noise of everyone continuing to talk so his mind could work the problem without distraction.
0-0-0
They sat on the tarmac for almost an hour before the call came. At that point Mac ignored Elliot and Steve's assertion that he should be resting as much as possible and paced the length of the jet. He still hadn't come up with a solution, and the team couldn't just physically follow them or the bad guys might get wise depending on how tight the surveillance on them was.
And now they were faced with him and his father being expected to take a cab into the center of the city and wait for pickup. He wasn't anywhere near panic, but he was pretty much at peak worried and frustrated. Because currently none of them had come up with a way to keep in touch with their immediate backup and therefore the Phoenix without putting themselves and Jack in more danger. And Mac was determined KX7 was not leaving wherever Murdoc and Walsh were currently hiding out. This had to end here.
They were on their way out the hatch, armed only with pocket knives and Mac's bottle of Tylenol, when it hit him. He spun. "Ri, remember when we had to track Maria's K-9 Cody?"
"How could I forget? Grand theft auto, another from scratch satellite, taking over a radio station. Doesn't get much more memorable than that."
"Do you think you could do it again?"
"I'm not sure I could build the scanner you made…"
Elliot pulled out a notebook. "If you give me a brief diagram I'm sure I could reconstruct it."
"What are you thinking, Angus?" James asked.
"That we get our cab to make a pit stop at the closest vet's office and get ourselves chipped. Then these guys can scan for the RFID frequencies and Riley can use the code she built last time to find us. We'll get the vet to call these guys with the info."
"That's rather brilliant, Angus." James grinned. "And frankly Matty and I have wanted to find a way to LoJack you for years."
"Very funny." He looked at the rest of the team. "Do you think you can pull this off?"
"Where there's a will, there's a way," Steve said with reasonable confidence.
"Better get going or you won't be able to explain your later than expected arrival with traffic," Elliot said. "And I know this is a critical mission for a lot of reasons, but seriously, try not to exert yourself any more than you have to. You know the risks."
Mac nodded and turned to follow his father down the steps as Riley moved to contact Matty to fill her in on the plan. "Hey, Mac," she called.
"Yeah?"
"Please be careful. We'll get to you as soon as we can."
Something about how she said it, how she looked at him gave him a pleasant, inexplicable feeling of warmth. "I will. You, too."
0-0-0
"You sure you want to do this, Angus?" James asked. "You already look like you should be home in bed, and you probably should be. It's not exactly pleasant and I'm not sure I like the idea of putting your body through anything else today."
"It's the only thing I can think of. And it's not like it's a big thing. The chip is pretty much a grain of rice size-wise. Lots of companies use them for in house economies for people anyway."
"We do already have my chip for the team to scan for. It's another avenue for infection and—"
"Dad, I appreciate your concern, but they might separate us. We have no idea how this is going down." He took a deep breath. "Just get it over with, yeah?"
"You're right, as usual, I'm afraid. You're sure you don't want the lidocaine?"
"I don't want numb fingers. I'm going to need my hands. And hiding it under the bandage from my IV means the bump won't get noticed when they search us. Just like with the pressure wrap on your arm makes it look like you had chemo."
"Alright, but maybe you should sit—"
"Dad, quit stalling or give me the syringe and I'll do it myself. The decision has been made and we need to get back on the road."
James actually chuckled as he used an alcohol swab on his son's hand. "Sometimes you are very much your mother's son. That tone … I can almost hear her voice."
Mac looked away, both not wanting to watch the large bore needle pierce his skin, and probably even more, not wanting to talk about his mom at the moment.
He'd known it would hurt, but he was actually surprised by how much. He squeezed his eyes shut and brought his other fist down hard on the counter. It was over in less than five seconds but it felt like it took about a year. It took at least another minute and getting light headed to remember he needed to breathe. "Okay, yeah. Unpleasant is a good word for that," he said thinly. He put on a fresh bandage while his father spoke to the vet. He looked around the treatment area and picked up a small bottle off the shelf and slipped it into his pocket.
His hand was still burning when they got to the sidewalk. But he was at least pretty sure the plan would work to get the team and the rest of Phoenix to them as soon as possible.
"You really alright, Angus? You're very pale."
"Well, of course he's pale, Mr. MacGyver. The poor boy just had surgery."
They both froze and turned slowly.
"Murdoc," Mac said as evenly as he could manage with his skin crawling and his mind racing that they'd been caught at this. "I thought we were meeting at Centro Histórico."
Murdoc's black eyes narrowed. "We would have if you hadn't made an unauthorized stop. What are you doing here of all places, Boy Wonder."
Mac's jaw clenched. "I'm 30 years old. If everyone could stop referring to me like a child, especially when aiming a pistol at me through their pocket I'd really appreciate it."
"Stalling will get you nowhere, young Angus."
Mac was suddenly grateful he'd pocketed the bottle. He pulled it out and showed Murdoc the label. "Viscous lidocaine. My throat is killing me."
"From a vet?"
"This place was on the way," James said, giving Mac a subtle nod of approval for having come up with a cover for their real plan so effortlessly. "We hadn't seen any medical clinics and we left our phones on the jet just as you asked so it's not as though we could search for one. And Angus insisted he'd only stop if it wouldn't make us late for the meetup. But you want him to be able to focus, I'm sure."
Murdoc stared holes in both of them for a long minute, and Mac had to resist the urge to squirm. The expression was so much like it had been in that warehouse basement.
Mac snapped, "Jack doesn't have time for you to play games and if he dies, you get nothing from me."
Finally, Murdoc gestured toward a large black SUV. "Let's do be on our way, by all means."
0-0-0
"I've had them on satellite outside a vet on Calle Fray. Then there was a blip on the feed, but the cab is still there. They might have been picked up."
"Shit," Riley breathed. "Do you think they got caught?"
Before Matty could answer, the cabin phone rang. Elliot picked it up. "Hola? … Sí." He listened for a moment scribbling on his pad of paper. "Usted está seguro? … Bueno. Gracias." Elliot hung up the phone. "Vet gave me the RFID codes and said our friends were intercepted right outside by some spooky looking dude in a long black coat that was way too heavy for the day."
"Murdoc," Riley growled.
"Seems likely. The guy didn't see what kind of vehicle they got in."
"Alright," Matty said with a crisp nod. "I've secured you an AM radio station. Get that scanner finished and get your asses in gear. Start at that vet.
"We're on it Matty," Riley said firmly. She ended the call. "Okay," she said, assuming an air of command. "Let's go get our guys back."