Somewhere in the Pacific
A luxury pleasure craft is in the middle of nowhere. Whereas one would expect its passengers to be lounging decadently on deck drinks in hand, instead its boards are seeing a heated battle between Riley and an unknown assailant.
Despite their size difference, Riley is holding her own, blow by blow. It is only when she tries to reach for something that her attacker gets the better of her, sweeping her legs from under her. Gaining the advantage, he quickly scoops her up to throw her overboard. Riley, not giving up the fight, clutches on to his shirt at the last moment.
Both Riley and her attacker fall into the water…
Skee Ball Arcade, 24 Hours Earlier
The air is charged between Mac and Riley. Mac narrows his eyes and sets his jaw, 'You're going down, Davis. You know that, don't you?'
Riley is unfazed by the taunt and wears a game face of her own, 'You wish, MacGyver. I think you might have lost some brain cells after all in the hyperbaric chamber if you think that you have a shot at beating me.'
'Even if I did, you're still going to be taken to school,' Mac boasts with a fair amount of swagger.
'Are you going to chit chat all day or are we going to play?' Riley inquires with one raised eyebrow.
At her retort, Mac smirks and sets the air hockey puck in motion. Riley expertly defends and the game heats up. After much more sassy repartee and even more points piling up on Riley's side, Mac admits defeat.
'Ok, ok….I'm done. I know when I'm beat,' he concedes with a smile. Riley grins from ear to ear, 'Yes!' Mac's eyes are shining as he watches Riley do her little victory dance. 'Come on, Loser buys the pizza,' Riley tilts her head to towards the table.
'You know, I think we should stick to Skee Ball. I don't know if my ego can stand losing to you at multiple arcade games,' he muses as he walks away from the scene of his latest crushing defeat.
'Oh, but you do it so well,' Riley says sweetly, eyes still sparkling. Mac chuckles and is about to deliver a snappy comeback of his own when both of their phones go off. They check their phones and then look at each other resignedly.
'Looks like that pizza is gonna have to wait,' Mac says with a sigh.
Phoenix War Room
Riley enters the war room and sees that Russ is animatedly trying to sell Mac and Bozer on something. Riley slides up to Mac's side and gives him a questioning look. 'Russ wants us to have a guys-night-out,' he explains. Riley raises her eyebrows and nods knowingly.
'It's more than that, Angus,' Russ interjects, 'it's a pub crawl, an established practice to build rapport between men who may not necessarily interact naturally on their own.'
'So we're talking male bonding, not guys on the prowl?' Bozer seeks to clarify. Russ nods exasperatedly at him, 'Yes, it is definitely not a contest to see how much game we may with the ladies.' Bozer shrugs 'Then I'm in. Leanna won't mind me having a few beers with the boys.'
Pleased, Russ turns to Mac, 'And you Angus?' Mac chuckles to himself, 'Sure, why not?' Russ is almost giddy, 'Wonderful! I'll take care of all the details.'
'Now that we have Russ's social life in an upswing, how about we talk about, I don't know, the mission,' Matty quips.
Everyone snaps to attention. With everyone now hanging on her every word, Matty explains that their client, Pierre Rodin, the CEO of ZoncTac Enterprises, suspects that someone is trying to sabotage his company's upcoming merger with Hanz Corp, another high tech firm.
'He wants the Phoenix Foundation to check into several incidents whose timing is very convenient for stakeholders that oppose the merger,' Matty outlines.
'Bozer, the forensic accounting team is at your disposal. Use your investigative skills to check into all the suspicious activity. Find out who's behind it, quietly. Rodin and ZoncTac want to keep this under the radar,' Matty instructs. 'Your team is waiting for you in the lab,' Matty dismisses him, and Bozer doesn't miss his cue to leave.
Mac realizes that he and Riley are not part of the game plan for this assignment. 'If it is only Bozer on this mission, then why'd you call us in?' Mac ask curiously.
'Well Goldilocks, it's been some time since you and Riley spent some serious time in the training pit. I think you've recuperated enough from your experience with the nano-tech. It's time to get you two back into fighting shape. Use the down time to do just that,' Matty orders.
'Yes, ma'am,' Mac and Riley say in unison.
Phoenix Training Pit
Mac and Riley circle each other on the mat, neither making the first move, but each for different reasons. Riley seems to be in another time, another place, and not enjoying the recollection. Mac is hesitant because he sees that Riley is obviously working through something.
'It's ok, Riles, I get it. You're still feeling guilty for attacking me when we were under the control of the nano-trackers,' Mac sees that his theory is correct by the stricken look that suddenly appears on Riley's face.
Mac gives her a small smile, 'I didn't break then, and I'm not going to break now,' he reassures her. 'Besides, now that those little rascals are gone, I doubt that you could even land two punches on me,' he teasingly throws down the gauntlet. Mac's trick to snap her out of her head works, and Riley immediately takes up the challenge.
'Oh, now it's on, MacGyver!' Riley playfully boasts. Mac grins and Riley makes the first advance. The two proceed to battle in impassioned abandon, each enjoying the physical release of the combat and the close proximity it allows to the other.
At one point Mac has Riley restrained in a headlock. As she struggles to get free, he smiles, clearly enjoying the upper hand, and smirks, 'Is that the best you got, Davis?' His taunting is just the incentive Riley needs. She quickly maneuvers out of the hold and flips him onto his back, pinning him to the ground with her body.
'What were you saying, Angus?' she asks with a wicked expression, breathing heavily. Whatever breath Mac was trying to recover after being taken down so hard is lost again when he sees Riley's face. He simply stares at her for a moment before giving her a half smile, 'Nice move…'
At Mac's concession, Riley lets down her guard. In that instant, Mac effortlessly flips her over and now their positions are reversed, 'See, Riles…I can give as good as I get,' Mac says with a seductive glint in his eyes. Riley's breathing hitches as she stares into Mac's hypnotic gaze, instinctively knowing that he is not simply talking about sparring.
Mac and Riley are so focused on each other that they fail to notice when Parker enters the room.
'Uh, MacGyver, Riley….Matty wants to send you in to help Bozer. She says to hit the showers and meet her in the War Room in 10,' Parker says awkwardly, knowing that she's interrupting something.
Neither Mac nor Riley can look away from the other. Several seconds past before Mac stands and helps Riley to her feet, neither of them saying a word. Both are thinking that ten minutes is nowhere near enough time for the cold shower to have the much needed cooling effect on their bodies.
Phoenix War Room
'Glad to see both of you are already warmed up,' Matty sarcastically remarks as Mac and Riley arrive. Mac thinks to himself that she has no idea how 'warmed up' he really is, but then he remembers that it's Matty, and that she probably does. His face takes on a slightly embarrassed tinge as he picks up a paperclip.
Matty pays no attention to either of them as she starts to explain their new assignments. 'Bozer's found evidence indicating that all of the so-called incidents are more sinister than we originally thought.'
Mac and Riley glance at each other, their attention now fully caught. 'What evidence?' Mac asks.
Matty pulls up various crime scene photos on the big screen, 'Turn out that all of those accidental deaths weren't accidents at all. Bozer found the paper trail that confirms they were paid hits. And now he and his team have discovered there is another hit ordered. This time the target is none other than Pierre Rodin himself.' Matty throws Rodin's picture onto the screen as well.
'Rodin has been notified of the threat but he insists on keeping it business as usual. Which in this case means that he is going to be spending the next three days at his company's sales kickoff aboard the Catalina Wanderer, a pint-size cruise ship designed for corporate events and charters. He'll be joined by over 200 of his regional sales associates, including a new batch of new hires,' Matty informs them.
Matty hits her tablet again and the pictures of two men take center stage on the screen. 'Meet Ramon Martinez and Alan Johns. We've cleared all of the other sales associates except these two new sales recruits. Our working theory is that one of them is the killer, sneaking in as a new sales associate to get near Rodin. We're still digging into them but nothing yet.'
'Riley, you'll be playing the part of Brittany Woodley, Pierre's girlfriend,' Matty tells Riley, pulling up fake dossiers on the screen. Riley scans her fake bio quickly, 'Part-time Yoga Instructor, full-time gold digger. Got it.' Mac smirks at her. Matty hides her own smile as she continues, 'Your job is to stick close to Pierre, straight-up protection detail. Since he's known as a bit of a playboy, no one will question why you're glued to his side.' Riley nods.
Matty turns to Mac, 'Blondie, you'll be Todd Foster, recent ZoncTac sales hire.' Mac looks at his cover story, 'Long history of moving up the sales leaderboard. Typical ambitious sales guy coming up.'
Matty ignores his interruption, 'You're tasked with finding out which one of our boys, Martinez or Johns, is our hitter. We've arranged to have all three of you in the same orientation group.'
Mac nods and places the paperclip he shaped into a boat onto the table. 'Aye, aye,' he murmurs.
'The ship leaves in an hour, so get your gear and hop to it. Russ is already in as the Concierge, and he and Bozer will meet you on board. Good luck,' Matty says as Mac and Riley leave.
On the Cruise Ship
Mac strolls beer in hand into the ship's poolside bar, casually looking to bump into Martinez and Johns. Johns is nowhere to be seen but Martinez is sitting at a high-top table near the pool lounge area. Mac saunters over to join him.
'Martinez, right? I'm Foster. Mind if I join you?' Mac eases into a chair, not bothering to wait for Martinez's answer. Martinez sizes up him, and thinking he's no threat, nods, 'Sure.'
Mac gives him a cocky grin, 'Nice gig that we landed, huh? I've been to some wild sales kick-offs but this one…' Mac shakes his head, 'is off the charts!' Martinez smiles in agreement but says nothing. Mac continues to carry the conversation, 'I heard that Rodin works hard, but I never expected that he would be so into playing hard too.'
At this remark, Mac finally gets Martinez talking.
'Oh Rodin likes a good time, that's for sure. I also heard the boss man is also quite the player. Apparently the ladies are lining up to fall at his feet,' he shares with Mac, buddy-to-buddy like. 'His current piece is quite the looker. Check her out,' Martinez nods his head towards the pool area. Mac turns just in time to see Riley rise out of the water like a sultry water nymph.
'Impressive, told ya,' Martinez boasts when he sees Mac staring open-mouthed at her. 'With playthings like that, I'm surprised Rodin gets any work done,' Martinez wisecracks.
Riley walks the short distance to her lounge chair, oblivious to all the male attention she is attracting, and casually smooths the water out of her hair before pinning it up quickly to the top of her head. She drops down to her chair, and she is not even settled yet when a bartender brings her a drink. After thanking him, she plops on her shades and takes a sip of her cocktail.
Mac is incapable of coherent thought. It is only when Martinez asks him if he wants a refill that the spell is broken. 'Uh, yeah, sure,' Mac replies, still a little distracted.
As Martinez scampers off to get them new cold ones, Mac looks back at Riley. He can't help but smile when he sees her. The smile is lost however when Pierre approaches Riley and greets her with a quick kiss on the lips before sitting on the lounge chair next to hers. His mood worsens even more when he sees Pierre start to caress Riley's leg.
After what seems like forever to Mac, Riley finally places her hand on Pierre's cheek and says something to him, causing him to stop his wanton attention to her leg and sit back into his own chair. Only then does Mac's temperature cools.
Martinez returns with their beers and they keep to the small talk for the next half hour, with Mac getting no closer to determining if he is the hitter or just another run-of-the-mill sales guy. When Martinez decides it's time to get ready for the opening banquet and leaves, Russ uses the opportunity to check in with Mac.
'Seems like the two of you are hitting it off, no pun intended,' Russ keeps his concierge smile intact as he hands Mac a key card. 'Martinez's cabin. You should have no problem now checking into what he's hiding in his closet,' he comments like he would about the weather.
'Great. Any sign of Johns?' Mac casually asks.
'None so far. I think he is holed up in his cabin but I plan on giving him a welcome call prior to dinner to confirm. Will let you know,' and with that Russ leaves, passing Riley and Pierre as they make their way back to their suite. As their path crosses Mac's perch in the bar, Riley catches his eye and throws him a cheeky wink.
Mac smiles to himself before draining his beer and leaving the bar himself.
The cocktail hour is in full swing when Mac arrives, appropriately attired in a slick black on black ensemble. He quickly sees his new best friend Martinez by the martini bar and heads over.
'Hey Foster,' Martinez greets him, 'hope you brought a towel,' he smirks. Mac gives him a confused look. 'You're going to need it,' he says pointing to the entranceway.
Riley walks in on Pierre's arm, in a slinky red, backless dress, curls piled high on her head. Mac is once again caught off guard by the sight of her, and if it weren't for the fact that he had seen Riley in similar outfits many times before, he would indeed be drooling and in need of a towel. He stares at her hungrily as she walks across the room.
Martinez stares at her as well, 'I thought the bikini was going to kill me but that dress…' he sighs. He shares a 'some guys have all the luck' look with Mac and the two of them continue to bond over multiple dry martinis.
Mac keeps a close eye on Martinez throughout dinner and into the dancing part of the evening, hoping that the copious amounts of alcohol he was drinking and the party atmosphere would loosen his tongue. A few hours in, Mac is thinking that Martinez is a bust and he hopes that Russ is having better luck with Johns. Just when he is about to excuse himself to make a trip to search his assignment's cabin, Martinez is again making a fuzz about Pierre and Riley. This time it's their trip around the dance floor that's got his attention.
'Why is Rodin still here?' he shakes his head unbelievingly. 'If I had her as my honey, there's no way we'd still be on the dance floor, or have her in that dress, for that matter,' he suggests crudely.
Mac has to stamp down his disgust for the guy and continue to play his role. He shrugs his shoulders, taking a sip of his drink, purposely not looking at the couple in question, 'Maybe Rodin is one of those guys who likes to show off that he's got what no one else has.'
Martinez thinks about it, 'Yeah, that could be it. The way he has his hands all over her screams – she's mine, hands off. What I wouldn't give to show him that we are just as good as him.'
At that comment, Mac takes a look at Riley and Pierre dancing, something he was avoiding at all costs. Now with it front and center in his line of sight, his mouth goes dry as he sees Pierre caressing the length of Riley's bare back with one hand and pulling her closer to him with the other. Despite knowing the truth about them, Mac inwardly seethes with jealousy.
Martinez is so focused on the couple he doesn't catch Mac's reaction. The music ends, and thankfully for Mac's blood pressure, Riley and Pierre split apart, and even better in Mac's mind, Pierre heads across the room solo. Riley heads in the opposite direction to the bar.
'Well, now's your chance,' Mac flippantly says, 'no one's going near her, go ask her to dance.' Martinez rolls his eyes at him, 'I may be drunk but I'm not bold enough to go after the boss man's woman.' It's Mac's turn to roll his eyes, 'It's just a dance – what harm can come from that?'
Martinez chuckles, 'Man, if you think that, you must have a big pair on you.' Mac doesn't back down. Seeing that, Martinez's face breaks into a sly grin, 'Ok, you first. You go ask that sweet thing to dance. I've got a c-note that says you'll chicken out.'
Mac smirks at him, 'You're on.'
Leaving a surprised Martinez, Mac approaches Riley at the bar and stands close behind her, 'would you care to dance, Ms. Woodley?' he asks over her shoulder. Riley slowly turns around to meet Mac's gaze, 'I would love to, mister….?'
'Foster,' he offers smoothly, 'but please, call me Todd. Shall we?' Mac leads Riley to the dance floor, his hand lightly on the small of her back. Once there, he pulls her into his arms and they immediately fall into sync with each other.
Riley is the first one to speak. 'Are you sure we should be seen like this?' she says keeping a polite expression on her face, a small feat given that her heart is going a mile a minute due to Mac's hand on her back.
'Martinez bet me that I wouldn't have the nerve to ask you to dance and I wanted to talk to you, so two birds, one stone,' Mac replies nonchalantly, also trying to keep his body under control after feeling Riley's silky skin on his fingertips. 'So far, Martinez seems like a somewhat slimy sales guy – no warning bells yet', he continues with a fake smile.
Riley pretends to laugh, 'What's our next move?'
Mac sees that Martinez is watching their dance. 'He can barely take his eyes off you, so how about you buy me some time to check out his cabin?' Mac breathes into her ear. Riley nods and smiles, 'you got it. Happy hunting.'
At the end of the song, Mac thanks Riley for the dance and they go their separate ways, Mac to Martinez's cabin and Riley to the man himself.
Mac uses the key card Russ gave him to enter Martinez's cabin. He quickly and quietly searches the small space, not finding anything to arouse suspicion. Other than an obsession with diving, given the dive charts present, Martinez seems to be in the clear. Mac discreetly leaves the cabin and heads back the party.
As he expected, Riley is still chatting up Martinez and a few of the other sales guys who gathered up enough liquid courage to approach her. Seeing Mac re-enter the room, as if on cue, she bids them goodnight and returns to Pierre's side.
Before he can re-join Martinez, Russ cuts him off. 'Did you find anything?' he inquiries quietly.
'No, the cabin was clean. Nothing to suggest that he is our hitman,' he comments. Russ wears a disappointed look, 'That's unfortunate since he's our guy.' Mac looks sharply at him, 'Johns?'
'Out of commission. Poor bloke has the worst case of sea sickness that I've ever seen, and additional background came back on him. Appears he changed his name and moved out-of-state to avoid alimony payments. He's in the clear,' he explains.
Mac begins, 'So….'
'Martinez is our killer,' Russ concludes as both he and Mac look over at the assassin-for-hire.
The next morning, Mac, Russ, and Bozer are standing outside Pierre's suite, waiting to be let in. Moments later Pierre ushers them in wearing nothing more than a loosely tied bathrobe. The Phoenix gentlemen warily walk in, all casting sideways glances at the extremely tousled bed. Pierre notices but ignores the looks.
'Riley is just getting cleaned up. She'll be out in a moment,' Pierre smiles congenially.
While Russ checks out the lavishness of the suite, Bozer looks over at Mac, who he can see is struggling not to take a swing at the guy. Luckily, Riley walks in at that moment to his, and Mac's, relief.
'Hey guys, what's the latest?' Riley innocently asks, looking at each one in turn. She ends with Mac, and instantly sees that something is bothering him. 'Did something go down with Martinez?' she asks Mac.
'No, he had a quiet evening in his cabin after leaving the party. Unlike others,' he responds tightly. Riley looks confused at his words and his tone.
Bozer cuts in before the situation becomes too tense. 'What Mac means is that we heard from Matty,' Bozer sends Mac a warning look to behave. 'Appears our techs found the original hit contract on the Dark Web. Turns out the contract must be completed by 6:00pm today,' he explains.
Russ takes charge of the conversation, 'Which means we need to keep you on ice for the next ten hours.'
'What does that mean, keep me on ice? Are you saying that I should stay in my room for all that time?' Pierre incredulously asks.
Mac finds his voice again, 'No, best bet would be to get you off the boat.' Pierre challenges him on that plan, 'Surely I would be safe here?' Mac looks at him derisively, 'I can think of 24 ways to kill you in this room alone.' And Bozer is sure that Mac has already visualized each and every one of those ways given the look on his face.
'Ok, so what do you suggest Mac?' Riley calmly asks. He looks at her for a moment and then takes a deep breath, 'We send you two on a private day cruise. We can monitor you remotely, and when Martinez breaks cover to go after you, we can corner him without endangering the lives of any others.'
At the thought of having alone time with Riley, Pierre perks up. 'Sounds like a good plan to me!' he agrees readily, smiling broadly.
Russ looks warily between Mac, Pierre, and Riley, 'Now that's settled, let's get moving. Riley, I'll have a cabin cruiser ready for you in 30. Meet me at the port side tender station.'
'Will do,' Riley confirms. 'See you then,' she says as she opens the door to not-so-subtly let them out. Her colleagues file out, two of them eager to do so, one much less.
While Bozer is securing a tracking device on Pierre, Mac takes the opportunity to speak to Riley alone.
'So, did you have time to eat breakfast or did your shower take too long? Mac tries to make it sound like a light-hearted jest, but it falls flat.
'Gee, Mac, I thought perhaps that a long hot shower might be a good idea for my aching back and nagging headache after spending the whole night on the couch monitoring ship's security. And yes, I had time to eat breakfast,' Riley strikes back. 'What's your problem anyway?' she confronts him.
Mac knows he's caught and he stalls briefly, trying to find the right words to explain his behaviour. He takes a deep breath and then lets it out slowly. 'It's just that all the sales guys were saying that Pierre is quite the player,' he says sheepishly, 'I was worried that he might try to take advantage of the situation. Of you.' Mac keeps his eyes lowered so that Riley can't see how upset he really is at the idea of Riley being with Pierre.
Riley calms down when she mistakenly attributes Mac's actions to platonic concern. 'Mac, come on, you know that I can take care of myself,' she gives him a half-smile, 'or do I need to lay you out on the mat again,' she smirks.
At the mention of their sparring match, Mac chuckles nervously at the memory.
Russ approaches them, 'Your cruiser awaits.' He tosses the keys, but before Riley can catch them, Pierre grabs them in the air.
'I'll drive,' he says cheekily, 'come along, Cherie!' Riley looks warily at them before joining Pierre in the boat.
Mac watches as Pierre and Riley speed off. 'I've got a bad feeling about this,' he says grimly.
Mac and Bozer approach Russ at his concierge station, both of them looking concerned. 'What's up, Russ,' Mac asks.
'We've got a problem. Martinez didn't sleep in his room last night. Maid service noted that his bed was untouched,' Russ explains.
'Could it be that maybe he got lucky last night?' Bozer asks hopefully.
'A professional hitman decides to do a random hook-up the night before a big hit? Not likely,' Russ dissuades Bozer's hopes.
'And I had eyes on him until he called it a night at the bar,' Mac mentions. 'He wasn't in session this morning. Lot of guys weren't. Everyone figured they were just sleeping off the effects of last night,' Mac tells them. 'I'll go check his cabin.'
Mac takes off down the corridor to Martinez's cabin. He takes a deep breath and then let's himself in with the key card. He expels his breath slowly when he sees that the cabin is indeed empty. He does a quick inventory of the cabin contents again, comparing in his head to what he found yesterday. With a disturbed look on his face, he returns to the concierge desk.
'He's gone, and his dive charts are missing,' Mac informs them.
'That's not all,' Russ chimes in, 'apparently after I called in the request for the cabin cruiser, one of the porters saw a man matching Martinez's description get on board.' He looks directly into Mac's worried stare, 'The porter didn't see him leave.'
Mac deduces what all of it means, 'He never got off. He hid below deck. He's on the boat with them.'
'Right, meet me at the tender station. We're going after them,' Russ tells them, already picking up a phone to make arrangements.
Bozer joins Mac and Russ on deck in the recently commandeered speed boat Russ arranged for them.
'Boze, is the tracker still broadcasting?' Mac asks hurriedly. Bozer checks his phone, 'Yeah, signal's still strong. Let me get it on the screen.' Bozer sets up the tracking signal onto to the radar map. 'Ok, looks like they were headed due West,' he comments. 'They've got quite a lead on us though,' he continues.
Bozer then notices that the signal is no longer moving, 'Wait, they've stopped.' He looks up worriedly at Mac and Russ.
Mac's face is set in a grim expression, 'Giving Martinez a perfect opportunity to attack them.'
'Then let's go save the day, shall we?' Russ voices optimistically.
Somewhere in the Pacific
Pierre enjoys driving the boat, peering over to Riley ever so often just to let her know he knows she's still there. After riding the waves for almost an hour, he stops the boats and lets them drift aimlessly on the water.
He turns to Riley, 'This seems like the perfect spot to relax a bit, don't you think?' he says conversationally. Riley looks around and wryly smiles at him, 'Like it differs from all the other spots with endless water no matter which direction you look?'
Pierre laughs and then sobers up. 'So tell me about the man in your life,' he jokingly demands. Riley gives him the 'I don't know what you are talking about' look. 'What man in my life?' she deflects.
'Oh, there must be someone who calls you his. How else could you have resisted my charms?' he smugly deduces. Riley laughs at his boldness.
'Sorry to have to break this to you, but I think you may be overestimating your charms. And I don't have a boyfriend,' Riley casually sets him straight.
Pierre is not so easily deterred, 'You misunderstand me. Labels, relationship statuses ….they don't really matter. What matters is if someone is in your heart,' he philosophizes. He pauses a moment and narrows his gaze on her face. 'I suspect that there is someone already in yours,' he speculates.
'Then you would be wrong,' Riley gives him a wide grin to pull off her lie. Pierre lets her keep her façade intact and tries a different tactic. 'Well then, if there is no one in your life, then I think you should reconsider me as a romantic option,' he pronounces confidently. 'I know that it could be mutually satisfying experience for the both of us,' dropping his voice as he trails his eyes up and down her body.
Riley laughs, 'Tempting, but I think I'll have to pass.'
Pierre good-naturedly shrugs off her rejection. 'I had to try,' he smirks. 'Can I interest you in a beer, at least?' he asks amiably. Riley gives him a friendly smile, 'That offer I can accept.'
'Two beers coming up,' Pierre says with a winning smile.
Riley is enjoying the peaceful swaying of the boat, letting her thoughts wander dangerously to a certain blonde genius that, if she is not mistaken, seemed decidedly jealous of her being with Pierre. After a brief smile at what that might mean, she physically shakes her head at the thought, thinking that if he really did have feelings for her, why hadn't he said something by now, especially after all of the time they have been spending together recently? No, she sighs, he may have thought of her that way once but these days he has her squarely in the friend zone. Riley boxes up her emotions once more and soon realizes that Pierre has not yet returned with their drinks. She gets up to go see what Pierre has gotten up to.
'Hey Pierre, how long does it take to get a couple of beers?' Riley calls out as she enters the galley. She is only a few steps in when she senses movement behind her but it is too late. When she turns around, all she sees is a flash of metal as it comes down on the back of her head.
As she blacks out, she notices Pierre lying unconscious behind the bar.
Riley and Pierre regain consciousness to the sound of something hitting the water. Though not fully lucid yet, she recognizes what is being thrown overboard by the distinctive smell: chum.
Martinez turns back to the two of them, 'Get up,' he says with his gun aimed at them, 'it's time for the two of you to have an unfortunate accident.' Pierre gets up first with Riley slowly rising behind him.
'Into the water,' Martinez gestures with his gun. At their lack of movement, he shouts, 'NOW!' Pierre hesitates a moment longer and then jumps overboard. Riley makes that she is about to follow Pierre's example when her training kicks into gear. With surprise on her side, she is able to knock the gun out of his hand and stop him from pushing her into the water. The element of surprise now gone, Martinez quickly regroups and the two of them trade blows until Riley, while attempting to reach the gun, gets her feet swept out from under her. Martinez instantly hauls her to the side and throws her overboard. Riley, sensing the inevitable, latches on to Martinez and drags him with her into the water.
After she surfaces, it is then that she notices that the three of them are not alone in the water.
Russ, Bozer, and Mac are gathered around Russ's laptop on the top deck. 'Go ahead, Matty. What have you learned?' Russ asks.
'Nothing that gives me the warm and fuzzies about this guy. He is a stone-cold killer,' Matty declares. 'From what we can track down from his recent purchases and what we found in his cabin, I think it is say to assume that he is going after Pierre while he is out on the water.'
'And Riley too,' Mac says harshly, 'there's no way he'll leave a witness.'
'Presumably so. Martinez has a reputation for getting away clean – nothing ever ties him to the crime. It's safe to assume that he'll be using the same M.O. here,' Matty tells them. She pauses a moment, 'There's something else you should know. Martinez made an exorbitant purchase of chum.'
All of them know what that means. 'He's going to let sharks do his dirty work,' Mac surmises grimly.
Russ notices that the satellite coverage has come through, 'I've found them! We've got eyes on them now' Mac looks over Russ's shoulder at the coverage. 'It looks like Martinez has made use of the chum. There are sharks closing in on their position.
Russ pans the coverage in tighter and is concerned at what he sees next. 'They're already in the water,' Russ says heavily.
Mac bolts off the top deck and disappears into the belly of the boat in search for what he needs. After pulling out a radio and various other gadgets, he begins to put together what looks like a buoy. Bozer sticks his head in to check on Mac's progress, 'Mac, you about done making whatever it is to save Riley?'
Mac finishes twisting off the top of the buoy, 'Almost, Boze.' He grabs the buoy, a controller type of device and heads topside. Bozer gets out of his way as Mac ties the buoy to one of the boat lines and then tosses it out into the water. Once it is in the water, he immediately picks up the controller and starts playing with its dials.
Bozer watches Mac curiously, 'what are you doing, Mac?'
'Finding the right frequency,' Mac murmurs, concentrating on his task, 'acoustic stimuli has been shown to ward off sharks, and since underwater sound can spread in all directions and propagate faster than anything else, it's our best chance to give Riley a safety net until we reach her.' He finds the frequency he's looking for and then raises his head to stare out into the distance. He looks back at Bozer with a taut expression, 'Let's hope this buys us the time we need to find them.'
Bozer places a reassuring hand on Mac's shoulder, 'It will.' Mac looks at him hopefully and then bounds up to Russ's position.
'How far out are we?' Mac asks anxiously.
Russ checks their position, '5 minutes. Max.'
'Hang on Riley, we're almost there,' Bozer says aloud what they are all thinking.
In Shark Infested Waters
The boat bobs innocently in the waves, oblivious to the danger its recent occupants are in.
Riley and Pierre forget about the killing machines circling them as they struggle with Martinez, trying to prevent him from getting back into the boat and leaving them to the sharks. Their assailant is obviously more experienced in water combat and it takes both Riley and Pierre to keep him off-balance and out of the boat. Unfortunately the commotion they're making only seems to be making the sharks more interested in them as they start creeping nearer and nearer to them.
Suddenly, the sharks veer off, in the opposite direction from where Riley and Pierre started their supposed pleasure cruise. While the disappearing sharks are a relief, the struggle to stay afloat and battle Martinez at the same time is taking a heavy toll on Riley and Pierre. Martinez senses their exhaustion and takes advantage of it, finally breaking free of them and pulling himself onto the boat. Riley and Pierre make for the boat as well, but Martinez grabs the gun Riley had knocked out of his hands.
'Stay where you are,' Martinez commands. 'The sharks may be gone now but they'll be back,' he sneers, 'or you'll drown. Makes no difference to me, you're both dead either way.' Riley and Pierre both halt their efforts to get back on board and tread water, grimly looking up at Martinez.
A moment later the look on Riley's face changes as she looks past Martinez's gun and spies three approaching boats. Her bravado returns, 'I think you may want to reconsider your next move since it looks like you're the one who's dead meat.' She nods her head in the direction of the nearing boats. Martinez snaps his head back to see the unexpected party crashers. He quickly determines the gig is up and drops his gun as the first Coast Guard boat slides up and armed men have him in their gun sights.
Seconds later, Mac is reaching down to Riley, grabbing her arm and hoisting her onto the back deck of their boat. They quickly embrace before Mac releases her and leans down to pull Pierre from the water.
Bozer is immediately next to Riley, offering her a towel. 'Riley, are you ok?' he asks with worried eyes. Riley sighs and then sits down on the deck, 'I'm fine, Boze. Thanks for finding us.' Riley turns her attention to the blonde genius fishing a strange looking buoy out of the water.
'Let me guess,' she starts, already knowing the answer, 'we have you and that gizmo to thank for the sharks making a beeline away from us?'
Mac sits down next to her. 'Well, I couldn't let them take a bite out of you – I'd have to spot you points in Skee Ball and then I would never win,' he says with an impish smile. Riley softly chuckles.
Pierre struggles to sit up in the bottom of the boat, still trying to catch his breath, but he is also fascinated by the sonar device Mac built. He looks over at Mac in wonder, 'Where did you learn to build that? MIT?'
Mac smiles to himself, shrugs and smirks, 'Shark Week.'
Riley rolls her eyes and smiles at Mac's lame attempt at modesty. Mac catches her eye and gives her a half-smile before sighing and leaning back against the railing. Riley follows suit and rests her head against Mac's shoulder.
Port of Los Angeles Parking Lot
Riley is wrapped in a blanket as Matty explains that it was ZoncTac's Chairman of the Board, Tate Rivers, that was the mastermind behind the corporate sabotage and the assassinations. 'Apparently Rivers struck quite a lucrative deal to make ZoncTac vulnerable to a hostile takeover. What he hadn't counted on was Rodin having his own agenda and being overly suspicious of the accidents and industrial mishaps. That's why his name got added to the hit list.'
Mac narrows his gaze, 'What own agenda are you talking about?'
'It seems like lover boy over there had an arrangement of his own going on. He was getting pay-offs from Hanz Corp to smooth over the merger with the board. While they do not have enough to formally charge him yet, he has been kicked to the curb by the board,' Matty smirks.
Across the parking lot, Pierre finishes speaking with his security people and makes his way towards the Phoenix Team. Just shy of their huddle, he calls out to Riley, 'Mademoiselle Davis, may I have a word, if you please?'
Riley nods and walks over to him. Pierre gives her a wide smile, 'I just wanted to let you know that you were the only bright spot in this whole ordeal. And that the man who can truly call you his would be a very lucky man indeed.'
Pierre kisses Riley's hand and gives her a flirtatious glance before lowering his voice so that only she could hear, 'And if you ever change your mind about my offer…' Riley blushes and says just as softly, 'Au revoir, Pierre.' Pierre gives her a mischievous smile before turning and walking away.
Mac, having witnessed Pierre's goodbye with Riley, approaches her warily, 'He seems to be taking the fact that he is out of a job in stride.'
Riley smirks, 'Oh, I'm sure he'll figure out a way to come out on top. Guys like him always do.' She gives Mac a smile and then turns to join Matty, Russ and Bozer, with Mac right behind her.
'Well, mission accomplished Team! And just in time for us gents to have our night on the town,' Russ exclaims excitedly.
'Have fun but just remember that bar damage and bail money are not legitimate business expenses,' Matty retorts with a smile.
Mac rolls his eyes, 'Matty, that was one time only…ok, two times, but…'
'Shut it Blondie,' she deadpans. 'Just have fun and try not to blow anything up,' she smirks, and the team chuckles as they leave.
First of Many Bars…
Russ sets down three beers on the table in front of Mac and Bozer. 'To a night of fraternal festivities!' Russ toasts as they each pick up a bottle.
'To bros and beers!' adds Bozer happily. After cementing their toasts with swigs, Bozer asks Russ, 'So how many bars do you have on that list of yours, Russ?'
'Since this is our inaugural outing, I've kept the number to a reasonable 5 bars,' Russ outlines as Mac and Bozer smirk at each other, 'once you Yanks are more accustomed to the pub crawling experience, then we'll work our way up to the traditional 8.'
'To becoming accustomed,' Mac jokingly toasts. The men laugh and enjoy more of their beer.
'So how is your plan to woo the lovely Ms. Davis coming along, Angus?' Russ asks casually. Mac turns to Bozer and gives him a 'really?' stare, to which Bozer shrugs nonchalantly.
'Uh, it's coming along just fine, thanks,' Mac comments, not really wanting to talk about it. Seeing that his drinking companions are not going to let him off the hook so easy, he grudgingly elaborates, 'We've been spending lots of time together, playing skee ball, watching movies – you know, just enjoying each other's company.'
'And how is that any different from before when you were with Desi?' Russ asks, satirically.
'Well…,' Mac has to think for a moment, 'we're more flirty now.' Bozer and Russ both look at each other and roll their eyes. 'What?' Mac responds to their not-so-subtle mocking with exasperation.
Bozer responds first, 'Have you at least told her that you have feelings for her, and I don't mean the we'll-be-BFFs-forever feelings. I mean the I-can't-stop-thinking-about-you-in-my-arms type of feelings?'
Mac looks uncomfortable, 'Not in so many words,' he pauses, thinking for a moment. 'Well, actually no. I mean, she knows that I've thought about her romantically in the past but that I didn't pursue it then because I thought she wouldn't be interested,' he continues.
'But that was about the past. Does she know how you feel now?' Bozer drives the point home.
'She must. I mean, I think she does – I hope she does,' Mac flounders a bit. 'I would assume she knows. I just buried my feelings for her so that I could move on with Desi, but they never really went away,' he reasons.
'Never assume when it comes to a lady's heart. More often than not, we assume wrong.' Russ advises.
Mac see that they have a point, 'Ok, I get what you're saying – and I will let her know how I feel when the time's right – but given that I just got out of a serious relationship with Desi a few weeks ago, I don't want her to think that I'm just looking for the next available female.'
'It's one thing to let someone know that you are not jumping from one relationship to the next but if you wait too long to declare your intentions, then you risk them thinking you're not interested at all, and then they will move on.' Russ cautions.
Mac immediately realizes that they're right and the light bulb goes off on what he has to do next. 'I gotta go,' he puts his beer on the table. 'I'll catch up with you guys later,' he says over his shoulder on his way out of the bar. Bozer and Russ share a knowing look and smile.
Riley's Apartment
Riley opens her door to see Mac in her doorway. Mac lights up when he sees her.
'Mac, what are you doing here? I thought you were doing the boys' night out thing,' Riley asks, surprised.
'I was,' he says then corrects, 'I am….I'm going to catch up with them at the next stop on the Taylor pub crawl….but this couldn't wait.' Riley looks at Mac questioningly.
Mac takes a deep breath and shuffles slightly. 'The last time I stood in this doorway, I was here because I needed to know something. Now I'm here because you need to know something,' Mac releases the breath he was holding. 'Actually you need to know a lot of things…starting with my feelings about you,' he begins.
Riley closes her eyes for a moment and then shakes her head, 'Mac….'
'Look, you don't have to say anything, I just need you to hear me out,' Mac stops Riley's objection about bringing the subject up again. Riley sees Mac is committed to saying his peace and nods silently that she will let him.
'Rose nailed it when she said I was playing it safe. I've been so focused on not losing people that I missed the bigger picture of how great we could be if we took the chance,' Mac wears a look of self-deprecation for a moment before shaking it off, 'I don't want to let the fear of something prevent me from getting what I truly want in life.'
Mac takes Riley's hands in his and gazes deeply into her eyes, 'Riley, I trust you with my life, and regardless of whether you want to hear this or not, you need to know that I also trust you with my heart.'
Riley is startled by Mac's heartfelt words and turns away, trying to process all the emotions he is arousing in her.
'I'm in love with you, Riley Davis,' Mac confesses, and Riley turns back to him with an astonished look on her face, 'and I want nothing more than to be with you.' Riley continues to stare wide-eyed at Mac.
Mac's tender expression becomes a shade more serious, 'But you have to want us too,' Mac says with resolve.
'One thing I've learned over the last two years is that I'd rather be alone than with the wrong person. And I know without a doubt that you are the right woman for me and that we are meant to be together,' Mac says with conviction. 'So I'm going to wait for you, wait until you can trust me with your heart too,' he finishes. He lets his promise hang in the air for a moment to let Riley catch up to what he is telling her.
Mac gives Riley the soft smile that makes her heart flip flop, 'And in the meantime, I'm still your Skee Ball patsy. I'm still your Die Hard marathon buddy. And I'm still your best friend.'
But Mac is not done yet. He reaches out and puts a wayward curl behind Riley's ear. As he starts to lean in, Riley catches her breath, thinking that Mac is about to kiss her. Instead, he tilts his head away from her parted lips and whispers in her ear, 'And I'm still going to keep dreaming about you.' He pulls back and stares longingly into her eyes, not hiding the passion flaming in his.
'Goodnight, Riles,' Mac says softly as he departs, leaving Riley stunned and in even more danger of losing her heart.
