I know that it has been a while. Thank you to everybody who commented and to all of you who are favoriting and following this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Mac looked at Jack, a slightly sheepish smile playing across his lips. "Jack, I'd like you to meet Elspeth Corinne MacGyver, my little sister."
The young woman cringed slightly at the sound of her full name, but offered Jack her hand. "Our mom liked authentic Scottish names," she said. "I much prefer Cory."
It took all of Jack's concentration to force his gaping mouth to close and then all of his efforts to force out the question, "Sister?".
"Perhaps this is a conversation that we can have inside," the young woman, Cory spoke up. "We are making a scene out here. She opened the door to her apartment and let Jack in. She and Mac followed.
Jack's head was spinning; of all the things he had expected, this was not one of them. How was it possible that he did not know this? He looked over at his younger partner. Mac gave him a somewhat apologetic look.
"Cory just moved here from the East Coast. I was going to bring her by and introduce her, but…," his voice trailed off.
Jack was beginning to regain his equilibrium. Why should it surprise him that Mac had secrets? They moved in a world of secrets. If this was the only one, the two of them were doing pretty well.
"I am so sorry, Jack," Cory said. "I'm afraid secrecy is a part of my job."
That's when it hit Jack. The thing that had been in the back of his mind from the moment he had seen Cory. Something so familiar that he had completely overlooked it. "You work for the CIA," he said with complete certainty, his eyes focused on her sweatshirt which bore the logo of the Central Intelligence Agency on a patch on the left side.
Cory nodded and smiled. "Yes," she said. "I'm one of their profilers. Mac knows exactly what
"One of their best profilers," Mac added, the pride evident in his voice.
"After Mac was …," she trailed off for a moment, struggling to get the words out, "…I couldn't be here when Mac was shot because I was on assignment," Jack realized that Cory was holding Mac's hand; the memory still too fresh and painful. "When Mac moved here, I requested a transfer to come and work in the local LA office; it was finally approved just two weeks ago."
Some parts of the puzzle were staring to come together for Jack. "Now that you two have brought me current, how about you give me some real details. Cory looked at her brother; Mac shrugged his shoulders lightly, "OK. Jack. You're right."
"I'll get some coffee," Cory said and headed off to the kitchen.
"I'm sorry, Jack," Mac started. He realized that he was now apologizing to yet another friend for not being honest.
Jack saw Mac's discomfiture and smiled. "S'OK kid. Its part of what we do. Now how about you talk to me?"
Mac nodded. "You know most of it. Cory was seven when our mom died and nine when Dad left. Our Grandpa raised us both for a while, but eventually Bozer's folks stepped and took both of us in."
"They really were family," Cory had come in carrying the coffee and continued the conversation. "When Mac went into the Army, they made sure that I finished college and then grad school. I was recruited by the CIA while finishing my last year at Fordham and working on my dissertation."
Mac took over the story, "With her background in Psychology and Sociology, Cory was trained as a profiler."
"When my most recent assignment ended, I asked for a transfer to LA," Cory continued. "And here I am." She looked from her brother to Jack. "For what its worth, Mac has told me all about you and I was really looking forward to meeting you….but then Mac told me that something had come up at work."
That was the entry that Mac had needed. "Yeah, Cory. About that. We need to talk."
Cory nodded, poured herself a cup of coffee and plopped into an arm chair to face the two men.
Mac took a deep breath. "You know about the Phoenix Foundation, but you don't know everything. Its not really a think tank. Its an agency….not unlike the CIA."
Cory was staring at Mac. "Are you telling me that you are a government agent?" She was not angry, but she was surprised. "My brother…the super secret spy?" Mac smiled and shrugged, but then became serious again. "I wouldn't be allowed to tell you any of this, but there is a situation." Cory remained silent, but cocked an eyebrow.
At this point Mac began to struggle with the words. How does one tell one's younger sister that somebody was sent to assassinate her brother? And worse, that this monster with no name was going after family too.
Jack looked at his young partner sympathetically as he continued to search for the right words. "Basically, his crazy bitch ex-girlfriend hired an assassin to kill him," Jack blurted.
Mac gave the older man a dirty look that Jack blithely ignored; this was not the time for subtlety.
"Nikki?", Cory asked, "but I thought that she was…"
"No such luck," said Jack. "She's a traitor and worse. And now she's after Mac and…," he paused, looking straight at the young woman, " his family."
"Thanks a lot Jack," Mac said sourly. Then to Cory, "But essentially, Jack is right."
"Ok," Cory said slowly; that was a lot to process. "So now what?"
To this, Mac had a ready answer. "Pack a bag. You're coming with us. We're going to Phoenix where we can keep you safe."
"Um. No." Cory said with steely finality. "I've no intention of going anywhere. I've trained too long and too hard, to be chased away by some Boogie Man."
"Cory," Mac was trying to be patient and failing. "This is not a joke. This guy kills people for a living. He's killed before." Mac had stood up and walked over to sit next to Cory.
"Were any of them trained agents," Cory countered.
"No," Mac had to concede.
"Mac," Cory said gently. "I'll be fine. I promise. I can take care of myself."
"Now that's something I can judge," Jack said in an effort to break the impasse. "Show me your weapon." Without hesitation, Cory went to her desk drawer and removed her Sig Sauer 229. She ejected the magazine , racked back the slide, put the safety on, inspected the chamber to make sure that there were no cartridges and handed the gun and the magazine to the older man. Jack took the weapon, inspected it, put the magazine back in, inspected it again and handed it back. Where's your back up. Cory went through the same process with the Walther PPK that she had purchased while in England. Jack nodded approvingly. Finally he asked, "Where's the one you use for personal protection?" Cory smiled, and went into the bedroom to retrieve the 9mm Kahr elite which she kept in her nightstand. Another inspection and Jack nodded. "OK," Jack said, with some satisfaction. "They seem to train you well at Langley."
"You should know," Cory retorted. "They trained you too."
Jack was surprised that she knew and was about to ask, but then he heard Mac chuckle quietly, "Profilers…remember?"
Jack glowered at both brother and sister. "I'm going to check the house, he growled."
Ten minutes later, he came back to the living room. "This place is about as secure as possible," he said.
"See, Mac," Cory said. "I'll be fine."
"I still don't like it," her brother said. "This guy…he's a shadow..a ghost."
"I will be careful, I promise."
"Call me every day," Mac had his hands on Cory's shoulders, his eyes boring into hers, willing her to understand the gravity of the situation.
"I will, I promise."
Mac bent down and kissed Cory's forehead like he'd been doing since she was a little girl. "Please…please..be careful," he whispered. Cory smiled and nodded. "I will. I love you Big Brother," she whispered in his ear.
It was after eleven at night by the time Mac and Jack left and Cory had work in the morning.
As much as she had tried to put up a brave face and as much as she had meant it when she told Mac that she would not be leaving her house, what Mac had told her was scary. She checked her guns again and made sure all the windows and doors were secure. It took her a while, but she finally fell asleep.
Something woke Cory up and she opened up her eyes to complete darkness. She was about to close her eyes and go back to sleep when she realized that a spot in her room was darker than the others. She lay still and looked at that point. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that it was a shadow and that it was moving toward her. She tried to reach for her gun, but an arm as strong as a metal bar pinned her to the bed. "Oh, no. I don't think so, Cory," the voice purred in a voice that, oddly, was completely unaccented.
Cory saw him raise his other arm and realized by the silhouette that he was holding a gun. Her last coherent thought was, "Oh, Mac. I'm so sorry," before the weapon made very painful contact with her skull and she stars and then darkness.
Not taking Mac and Jack up on their offer may not have been a smart move on Cory's part. Stay tuned to see what happens next. I would love your thoughts on this story. Please read and review and thank you in advance for taking the time.