Wish You Were Here: Part Three
"I thought you said this plane had new engines?!" MacGyver's voice was accusatory through the tinny headphones. He glared at Jack, who turned his attention hurriedly to an imaginary bird outside the scratched windscreen.
The plane coughed and spluttered again, lurching slightly as the wind caught one of the skids.
"Hey, I'm on a budget here, Kemosabe! The engines were new to me, I never said they hadn't been previously enjoyed by another careful owner!" He patted the console tenderly and made kissing noises to the little plane. "Don't listen to bad Uncle Angus – he's just sore because he had to help with the flight checks and do a tiny bit of maintenance. Really tiny. Almost not there..."
MacGyver shot Jack a murderous glare, unfolded his map and leaned forward in his seat. He fished Penny's postcard out of his pocket and looked out of the window, orienting the map and card with the view far below. The tiny bit of maintenance had been closer to a major overhaul and had involved a lot of tinkering, a bent coat hanger, half a pint of dish soap and the eventual removal of a banana peel and a half-melted, plastic Stormtrooper from inside the engine. No wonder it hadn't been running well. Now they were running out of daylight, Mac had dish soap in his hair and the cockpit smelled unpleasantly of hot fruit.
The plane gave a shudder and Jack fought to keep it on track. The turbulence had been bad all the way out here and he wasn't looking forward to landing in the water. There were hundreds of hidden rocks just below the surface and Jack could see the waves breaking against Hawaii's rocky shores below.
He glanced back to check that their gear was still stowed securely and caught MacGyver staring at him. He raised his eyebrows at Jack, and Jack returned a grin with a lot more confidence than he felt. Sending a silent prayer out to the Protector of Pilots Everywhere, Jack turned the floatplane and started his descent.
MacGyver listened to the dial tone burring in his ear. He turned and shaded his eyes, staring out to Jack's plane, now safely landed and bobbing on its mooring line near two old men dangling fishing poles into the water. Jack and another man in overalls were talking and Jack seemed to be getting pretty animated. MacGyver hoped the cans at their feet held gas – they'd been running on fumes when they landed. The phone clicked and a familiar voice greeted him.
"Yeah, Pete, it's me. We've got to Hawaii and... No, no real trouble, only the usual Dalton kind. Yeah, something like that. Did you get anything on East Rock Island for us? Uh-huh... Is that normal? I see." MacGyver turned to see Jack approaching, looking hot and bothered. "Pete? I gotta go, thanks for finding out for us. Tonight, I think. Yeah, we'll be careful." MacGyver hung up and looked down at Jack, who looked ready to explode. "What, Jack?!"
Jack grabbed him by the sleeve, hustling him away down the dock towards the plane. As they passed the fishermen, MacGyver suddenly stopped, pulled his arm away from Jack and yelled, "What do you mean, do I have any cash? Why don't YOU pay for the gas?!"
MacGyver set his Swiss Army knife down on the map and card to stop them blowing away and held a ten dollar bill up to the light. He turned it this way and that, felt the paper and ran his thumb gently across the raised ink. He looked across at Jack.
"OK, Jack. I forgive you. The gas guy was right, it is a forgery, but it's a good one. I might have missed it too. Where did you get it from?"
Jack shrugged, pocketing the counterfeit note with a sigh.
"I did a passenger run a few weeks ago out to Molokai. Not your average job, all the way out here, but the money was good and, even better, it was cash. I think this is one of the bills from that run. The gas guy only spotted it because he's seen a load of these recently, reckons someone on one of the islands is printing them." He sighed and shook his head ruefully. "Just my luck. Even the money I earn honestly turns out to be crooked."
MacGyver stared at the water between his bare feet. He frowned and swirled the water with his toes, thinking hard.
"You know, this kind of ties in with something Pete told me. He said there's been a lot of trouble with counterfeiting recently. Maybe that's what Penny meant when she wrote about lots of paper targets." He slid the card out from under the knife and read it again before passing it to Jack. He stood up, pushing his hair out of his eyes. "He also said that Penny's 'East Rock Island' is owned outright by an eccentric millionaire who's been on the edge of some very nasty dealings. They've never been able to pin anything on him, but he's definitely up to something." He looked out to sea, watching the sun disappearing slowly behind the waves. "Better get ready, Jack. It's going to be a long night."
The little plane puttered quietly through the night. Below them Jack could see moonlight sparkling on the wave tops. They passed the last large island and angled eastwards, East Rock Island just visible as a black smudge on the horizon. Jack could hear MacGyver sorting out his gear in the back, stowing everything safely and pulling on dark trousers and a long sleeved shirt. Presently MacGyver swung into the seat next to him, his eyes startlingly white against the camouflage paint smeared on his face. He nodded to Jack and they cut the engines, gliding quietly down to land with barely a splash on the calm surface. They waited while the tide washed them closer to the jagged coastline and then Jack eased the anchor over the side. He nodded to MacGyver and gave him a thumbs up. MacGyver settled his waterproof bag across his shoulders, slipped into the water and swam towards the shore. A last bobbing of blond in the black and he was gone.
The tide carried MacGyver pretty well and he wasn't out of breath when he waded out and ran across the beach. He ducked out of sight behind a rock and unrolled his bag, pulling out dry sneakers. He studied the sheer cliff face as he knotted the laces. Up close it suddenly looked much, much higher than it had from Jack's plane... Shaking his head and willing himself not to look down, MacGyver set his sneaker toe into a crevice and began to climb.
There was a nasty moment halfway up when his foot slipped and he heard a rock bouncing down and down and down before it splashed into the water. He hung by his fingertips for a moment, his heart hammering and his eyes squeezed shut. It had taken all his courage to unclench his hand and reach up again for the next hold. How he hated heights... Goodness only knew how he was going to get him and Penny down again, there was no chance they could climb down the way he'd come up.
MacGyver rolled over the top of the cliff, his heart pounding. He carried on rolling towards a boulder, crouching behind it. He waited until his breathing calmed and his hands stopped shaking.
MacGyver popped his head cautiously around the boulder and squinted at the house. He hadn't heard dogs barking, but he could see two men walking along the side of the house and another two rounding the opposite corner. At the corner window, he saw a woman's shadow pass in front of the drapes... Penny! Keeping low, he made a run for the house.
MacGyver flattened himself against the side of the house, trying to breathe silently. He crouched under the window and listened. He could hear Penny's voice from within, pleading with someone. An angry, male voice replied and MacGyver heard the scrape of a chair and the sharp crack of a slap. Penny cried out and MacGyver's fists clenched in the darkness. He heard a door slam deeper inside the house and then only quiet sobbing. MacGyver listened for a while longer and then tapped on the glass. The sobbing stopped. He tapped again and the drapes parted, Penny looking out into the garden beyond.
"I'm down here!" Mac glanced fearfully around, aware that the guards could return at any moment. "Look DOWN!"
Penny's eyes widened when she saw him, her expression quickly turning from amazement to horror. Mac half turned to follow her gaze, but a strong hand grabbed his hair and he gasped as his arm was bent agonisingly up behind his back. He wriggled and kicked until the second guard cocked a fist in his direction, threatening to knock him out. MacGyver flinched, shook his head and quit struggling, allowing himself to be led away.
Penny watched him go, silent tears running down her face.