Part Four
Kate glanced in her mirror and pulled out into the traffic. In the back seat, MacGyver watched Seeley checking his gun and frowned.
"Seeley, these are kids. You heard Einstein, the only gun they have is the glue cannon."
Which has killed one kid already." Seeley twisted round in his seat to glare at MacGyver. "What is it with you and guns, anyway? You were a soldier, you know the score."
"I was in bomb disposal." Mac glared back. "I served my country by stopping people from getting killed, not by adding to the body count!"
"Can it, the pair of you." Kate's voice cut across the argument. "We're here." She stopped the car and turned to face both men. "Save it for after we arrest Jethro and get the weapon. After that you can fight about guns as much as you want, but you do not do it during my operation! Are we clear?" She waited until they both nodded. "OK. You two are on retrieval, you leave Jethro to us. Go in the South door and up to apartment 3B, southwest corner." She turned to Seeley. "You do not fire unless fired upon, understand? And you," She turned to MacGyver, "I'm not happy about you going in unarmed, but I don't have time to argue about it. So you stay out of trouble, you hear?" With a final warning glance, she opened the car door and went to join the group of officers outside the building.
MacGyver and Seeley waked round the building to the south door. The building was dirty ad neglected, with rubbish piled up in the hallway and the dank smell of old urine strong on the concrete stairs. They climbed the stairs in silence, watching the corridors and doorways for movement. The quiet unnerved Seeley, so different from the cheerful buzz of people going about their business that he'd grown used to in his own apartment block. Beside him, MacGyver padded silently up the stairs, his sneakers making no sound.
A movement caught his attention and he turned to see a young woman pull a toddler back into an apartment. Her face was pale and worried, and she didn't meet Seeley's gaze, retreating inside and shutting her door. Seeley turned again at the quiet sound of a footstep, but the corridor was empty.
They paused at the edge of the third floor stairwell. MacGyver glanced round the corner, then motioned Seeley to follow him. They flattened themselves against the wall outside 3B's door and Seeley drew his gun, ignoring MacGyver's angry stare. MacGyver turned the door handle, finding it locked. Seeley gestured for him to move, miming kicking the door, but MacGyver shook his head. He pulled a paper clip out of his pocket and slid the toothpick out of his penknife. Kneeling in front of the door, he poked both into the lock and bent close, listening. Seeley bit back a curse and turned to scan the corridor, gun in hand. Surely they didn't have time for this...
The lock clicked open and MacGyver smiled. He tapped Seeley on the shoulder and eased open the door. The smell of cigarettes and nail polish rolled out of the apartment. Somewhere inside, a television was tuned to a game show. They crept down the narrow hallway, past a bedroom and a bathroom to a yellow-lit living room beyond. Seeley peered through the half open door, seeing a pair of gangers slumped on a stained couch. Against the couch leaned a machine, which he recognised from Kate's description as the glue cannon. He turned to tell MacGyver he'd found it, but the hallway behind him was empty. His free hand balled into a fist, frustration whitening his knuckles. Why could the man not follow standard operating procedures?! With a glance at the gangers, he slipped past the door and into the kitchen beyond.
MacGyver crouched down on the kitchen floor, counting canisters. He looked up as Seeley came in and nodded as Seeley whispered that he's found the cannon.
"Did it have a harness? Like a backpack?" Seeley nodded, then his face fell as MacGyver held up another, identical harness. MacGyver frowned. "I guess they have more than one!"
Seeley mouthed a silent curse, then spun round as he heard movement, gun raised. A blowsy teenager slouched in, blowing on her freshly painted nails. She stopped, mouth open.
"HEY! What are you doing here? LONNIE!" She yelled over her shoulder and picked up the nearest object, throwing it at Seeley as hard as she could, "LONNIE!"
Seeley ducked the thrown mug and grabbed the girl, wrapping his free arm around her shoulders and dragging her into the room. Behind her, the ganger skidded in through the doorway. MacGyver grabbed a rusty fire extinguisher off the wall and sprayed it at the ganger. The water drove him back, but the stream spluttered and failed, and the ganger lunged forwards, swinging a wild punch at MacGyver's head. MacGyver dodged and stepped forward, slamming the fire extinguisher into the ganger's forehead. The ganger reeled back, hitting his head on the doorframe and slumping down to the floor.
"LONNIE!" The girl shrieked and fought against Seeley's hold, kicking at his shins and digging her elbows in. Seeley grimaced and hung on, clamping his hand around the girl's mouth as her struggles loosened his grip. The girl grabbed his hand and sank her teeth into his thumb. Seeley yelled and let go, bringing the gun butt down on the side of her head. Her eyes rolled up and she went limp. MacGyver started to protest, but Seeley cut him off.
"What? I didn't shoot her!" Seeley dropped her next to her boyfriend and looked up at MacGyver, shaking his bleeding hand.
"Come on." MacGyver stooped to scoop up the canisters. "Let's get out of here."
"Right." Seeley ducked into the living room and picked up the glue cannon, threading his arm through one strap.
MacGyver opened the door and checked the corridor, tightened his grip on the glue canisters and stepped aside to let Seeley past. Just as they reached the stairwell, a shot echoed through the building.
MacGyver and Seeley exchanged a grim glance and turned around, running back down dank corridors towards the sound of yelling and gunfire.
Unnoticed, a small figure slipped in through the apartment door. A moment later, it slipped out again, the pockets of its oversized jacket bulging.
.
.
"Put down the weapon and raise your hands above your head!" Kate's voice echoed in the concrete corridor. "We have you surrounded!" Jethro spun, trying to work out which direction the voice was coming from. His finger tightened on the trigger as he listened for movement. The only sound was the crunch of hardened glue underneath his boots, the blast having missed its target. He knew he was surrounded, knew there was no way out and that made him even more reckless than usual.
"COME ON!" His yell was harsh, sounding crazed and angry to Kate as she crouched behind the wall. A flicker of movement caught her eye and she saw MacGyver and Seeley creeping up behind Jethro. She glared and motioned them back, hoping Jethro wouldn't see her. MacGyver saw her gesture and ducked back into a doorway, pulling Seeley in after him. Kate nodded to the officer behind her.
"OK, on three." She signalled to the officers at the other end of the corridor, and this time Jethro saw her and raised the gun barrel, snarling.
"One!" The officer behind Jethro cocked his gun and banged on the wall beside him to attract the ganger's attention.
"Two!" Kate sprang up as Jethro whirled round.
"Three!" She broke cover at the same time as both of her officers, and Jethro yelled, spraying glue from the cannon in all directions. One officer fired, missing by inches, and Jethro rounded on him, letting loose another blast of hot glue. Kate ducked back just a moment too late to avoid the blast and was knocked back against the wall as the glue splashed onto her bullet proof vest and up across her face.
"NO!" MacGyver yelled and threw his armful of canisters along the floor as Jethro aimed the cannon, ready to blast Kate again. He took a step back, stepping on a rolling canister and losing his balance. He slipped as he pulled the trigger, glue spraying harmlessly across the ceiling, his body jerking as Seeley's bullet slammed into the back of his shoulder.
Ignoring the downed ganger, MacGyver jumped over the rolling canisters and crouched down next to Kate. The glue had almost sealed her mouth and nose, and her face was red as she fought for breath. MacGyver tried to pull the glue off, but it had already set.
"Kate, it's OK. I'll think of something, you just hang in there!" He racked his brains, trying to work out what he could use to dissolve the glue. Behind him, the officers shoved Jethro down to the floor and handcuffed him, called for an ambulance and reassured the few people who had come out of their apartments to see what was happening.
"Use this." A small hand proffered a bottle and MacGyver turned to see Einstein kneeling behind him, his face pale. He took the bottle and turned it over.
"Nail polish remover?" He frowned. "Of course!" He turned back to Kate. "Close your eyes, OK?" He poured the liquid over the glue, rubbing and scraping to free Kate's mouth and nose as the glue dissolved away. "Try not to swallow any!" Kate clawed at the glue too, pulling in a deep, wailing breath as it dissolved away from her mouth. Around the glue, her skin was red and hot. She drew another breath, and another, swearing and pulling away from MacGyver and sending Einstein scurrying into a corner. She wrenched her arm away from the wall, leaving part of her shirt sleeve behind, and let MacGyver pour the rest of the nail polish remover down her back, easing the back of her vest away from the wall.
From his corner, Einstein watched. He jumped violently as a shadow fell across him.
"How did you know?" Seeley picked up the empty bottle. "How did you know this would dissolve the glue?"
"I worked it out." Einstein shrugged, not taking his eyes off Kate. "It's got acetone in it, acetone dissolves superglue, I figured it might work." He watched the officers lead Jethro away to the ambulance, then turned to Seeley. "Am I gonna get arrested?"
"Dunno kid. Either way, you sure earned your nickname today!" Seeley looked down. "What is your real name, anyway?"
"Nuh-uh." Einstein took a step back, ready to flee. "I ain't telling you that!" He frowned as Seeley chuckled. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, kid. That was a brave thing you did there." Seeley glanced across to MacGyver, still kneeling beside Kate. "You won't take off before he gets a chance to talk to you, will you? He and I don't always see eye to eye but he's right about the Challenger's Club – it would be perfect for you."
"Yeah, maybe I'll check it out." Einstein's expression brightened and he watched MacGyver a moment longer. "Cop comes near me before he gets done though, and I'm gone!" He glanced at the remaining officer, now holstering his gun and talking on his radio, then back to MacGyver. "Why's he hate guns so much, anyway?"
"I truly don't know." Seeley followed Einstein's gaze to where MacGyver was standing up and brushing glue shards off his jeans. He watched the officer pick up the fallen canisters and take a step closer to them. He looked down at Einstein, but the boy had already disappeared. Seeley sighed, shook his head and went to join MacGyver.
"Hey." MacGyver didn't look pleased to see him, and Seeley followed his gaze to the gun in its holster.
"I had to do it, Mac. They'd have killed him for firing at Kate, you know it. This way he's alive, he stands trial and, if he's really lucky, he gets a second chance to make something of his life. Minimum casualties." Seeley watched MacGyver start to shake his head, then think again and nod.
"I guess. I just... MacGyver gestured helplessly, "I didn't want anyone to get hurt, you know?" He sighed. "Where's Einstein, anyway? He must have followed us here, but I don't see him now..."
"He took off. He was convinced he was going to get arrested, so he just disappeared. Kid's got some pretty stealthy moves, I'll give him that!" Seeley shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking towards the stairwell. "I think he may show up at your Challenger's Club, he seemed to like the idea." He waited while MacGyver caught up with him. "Can I buy you a drink? I definitely want one after today, and I'd also like to know why you hate guns as much as you do. There's a story there, right?"
"There is." MacGyver stooped to pick up the last canister, hearing the shot and seeing Jesse fall once again in his head. "Let's go and get the rest of this stuff from the apartment, and I'll tell you on the way back. I guess I do owe you an explanation." His expression was haunted and Seeley shivered despite the warmth of the evening.
"You sure?" he watched MacGyver tuck the canister under his arm and take a deep breath. MacGyver turned away, walking down the corridor.
"Yeah, I'm sure."