Slight of Mind, ch 7
A Phone Call Away

Mac's Voice-over:
For every quiet and lonely cabin, whether it be nestled in a green valley or perched high on an unforgiving mountain, there has to be local trading post. I hiked out of Starkoss's fortress of solitude to find such a place; Bachman's Grocery, about four and a half miles off the county road. The building looked so much like Ellard's store at Widow's Canyon that I had to take a long second look to make sure it wasn't exactly the same! There was even a gregarious, graying old gentleman chatting away on the telephone inside.

It reminded me of something I had once heard; 'When you are at home in your heart, you can never be truly lost'. These days I'm not sure if I'm at home in my heart or just desperate for some normalcy.

I'll take what I can get.

Bachman's going to let me use his phone. I hope he doesn't mind the long-distance call.

⌂

"Well, Mac—this time I have good news and bad news," Pete's voice came over the phone line somewhat distantly; the telephone at the trading post had only a single party line, grainy and full of static. "It's the John Kelly case. One of his people has turned state's evidence against him, and the DA has connected Kelly with the manufacture and dealing of dangerous street drugs, as well as extortion, assault and maybe murder. The police have broken his operation wide open."

"That's the good news, I take it," asked Mac.

"Yes. The bad news is that even though they sprang a good trap and rounded up the majority of Kelly's people, John Kelly himself seems to have escaped the net and disappeared. It appears that someone warned him. I'm conducting an investigation to see if the security leak came from Phoenix personnel."

Mac sighed, pressing his aching forehead against the cool glass of the phone booth. "Are Catherine Kelly and John Jr. are still safe?"

"Presumably, they are. For the moment."

"What do you mean 'for the moment', Pete?" Mac asked quickly.

"The DA is having trouble finding witnesses. With Kelly on the loose, most people are unwilling to talk. According to what they've uncovered, Catherine Kelly witnessed John Kelly ordering a contract on a local businessman who refused to pay his 'neighborhood association fees'. That man was later found to have been killed—execution-style—and his business and family home were burned to the ground. When she found out about it, she took her son and vanished."

"No wonder," Mac breathed, "the guy's a monster."

"Yeah, and the DA want to put him down. They want to bring in Mrs. Kelly and her son."

"What for? Wives can't be forced to testify against their husbands."

"Mac, the DA wants this conviction so bad, he's willing to take the risk that she can be persuaded."

"They don't seem to mind taking risks with other people's lives," Mac said bitterly.

"Well, they do need to get Kelly off the streets… the man is a cold-blooded killer. He may not do the dirty work himself, but he's not above seeing it done. Look, Mac, I know you don't want to bring them in—and you shouldn't try. I don't know how I let you talk me into allowing you to go in the first place! Are you still having headaches?"

"They're… um… tapering off a bit," Mac said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Right." Pete's voice sounded unconvinced. "Will you get back here and let Doc Beatty take care of you?"

"Pete, we both know she can't help me. I need to get hold of Brooks and Sonne. They are the ones responsible for doing this to me. If there is a cure to this—whatever they've done to me—then they know what it is. But first I want to make sure that Mrs. Kelly and her son are really safe. I'm going to try to find them."

"You said you knew where they are," Pete said uncertainly.

"Maybe. I don't think this new talent of mine is that reliable. But I do have a friend who might be able to help me… and I think that's all I should say on this line. Half the eastern seaboard could be listening in right now."

"Alright… thanks, Mac. You have the support of the Foundation behind you. Just call for anything you need."

"Thanks, Pete. You'll be hearing from me."

⌂

Mac's Voice-over:
I had to hand it to Catherine Kelly; she knew how to find a good hiding place. I chartered a small airplane and flew out that day. Commercial and private air-travel was commonplace where I was going, so I wasn't worried about seeming out-of-place… but I was very extra-careful to keep a look-out for anyone who could be trying to follow me.

Starkoss had given some very sound advice concerning my 'talents'—how to block out unwanted voices, how to control the electrical build-up when it occurred. He warned me about placing too much faith in precognition, as such things can be misinterpreted, and he encouraged me to trust the instincts that I had possessed all my life. These, he said, were much more reliable than any chemically-reinforced suggestions.

That was his theory; that I'd been hit with this drug—a drug that some mad Russian scientist had cooked up. How Brooks or Sonne had gotten their hands was not too far-fetched to imagine… lots of old files had unlocked and secret documents had been traded around after the Cold War had warmed up and the old walls had come down in Eastern Europe. For the right amount of money—or the correct level of intrigue—a person could obtain anything.

On the corner of a vast landing field, a lonely single-engine airplane landed delicately on the tarmac. It made a wide turn and taxied lazily toward the hangers, where a flight crew received the small white bird. It was very early in the morning.

The pilot unfolded his long frame from the tiny cockpit and stretched himself to relieve the cramps in his legs from the long hours of flight. He picked up his travel bag and began the long walk to the parking area, where a rental car waited for him. Tossing the bag in the passenger seat, he climbed in behind the wheel, buckled his seatbelt, and reached up to adjust his rear-view mirror.

A woman was sitting in the back seat of the car; she had been crouched down so that he could not see her. She sprang up and placed the cold steel of a pistol against the skin behind his right ear. "Surprise, MacGyver."

"Dr. Brooks," Mac said with a wry smile, "I guess I should have seen this coming, huh?"