Til Death

Macgyver pulled the Nomad into the driveway and blew out a breath. It had taken twice as long as usual to drive back from Chicago. He and Joanna had agreed to grab a quick lunch at his place before checking in at Challengers. As they made their way up the front walk, they could hear a television blaring away. Jo cast Mac a questioning glance.

"Gotta be comin' from Charlie's," he told her. "I've noticed he's getting a little hard of hearing but won't admit it."

When they got to the front door, MacGyver put his key in the lock and the knob turned easily...a little too easily. Turning toward a wide-eyed Joanna, he put a finger to his lips with one hand and used the other to gently push her behind him. He allowed the door to swing silently open only to discover that the ruckus they heard was coming from his own TV. He visually scanned the open space, stopping when he saw a brown-haired head resting on the arm of his couch, a tattered aviator's cap balanced on top. He took a few cautious steps into the room, Jo following behind.

"Jaaack?"

The only response was a loud snore.

"Jack!" MacGyver barked.

The startled form on the couch jerked awake. "Oh, hiya, Mac!"

"What are you doin' here, Jack?" MacGyver asked as he prowled toward his friend.

"You stayed at my place when you came to L.A. so I thought I'd let you return the favor."

"How did you get in?"

"You're landlord, Charlie, let me in. Said he remembered me from the last time I was here."

"Well, you are kinda hard to forget," Mac muttered. "Now tell me, what are you really doin' here?"

Jack rose from the couch and made a show of straightening the wrinkled shirt under his bomber jacket as he approached his best friend.

"Normally, I would attempt to amuse you with a pithy reply," he said loftily. "But this is too important, so I'm gonna give it to ya straight. Mac, I'm gettin' married!"

"Hold on. Say that again," Mac demanded studying his friend carefully.

"I'm getting married. For real. Look," Jack pointed to his left eye, "No twitching."

"Congratulations!" MacGyver exclaimed, embracing Jack. "Who is she? When's the the big day?"

"Her name is Nanette Dubois," Jack answered, grinning broadly. "And the wedding is Saturday. I came here because I wanted to ask you in person to be my best man."

Mac's head began to spin with questions. "Whoa, wait a minute. Don't you think that's awful quick? I mean, what do you know about her? How did you two meet?"

"About a month ago her brother, Frank, hired me to fly him down to Mexico and then put me on retainer. He inherited his father's import/export business and started giving me steady business. Nanette came along on one of our flights and the rest, my good man, is history."

"What, exactly, does Frank import and export?" MacGyver asked, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"Don't know, don't care. Jack just fly plane, Kemosabe! And gets paid quite handsomely for doing so, I might add."

"And what about you and Nanette?"

"What can I say, Mac m'boy? It was love at first sight!"

"So you're getting married this Saturday to a woman you've only known for a month?! C'mon Jack, think about this!"

"There's nothing to think about! When it's right, it's right. You're just upset because out of the two future bridegrooms in this house you're not getting married first!"

"What?! That's ridiculous!" Mac shot back. "Besides, Joanna and I have our reasons."

"Well, so do I!" Jack parried. "I'm not gettin' any younger, Mac. This might be my last chance to settle down and start populating the world with little Jack Juniors. So will ya do it, Mac? Will ya be my best man?"

MacGyver pinched the bridge of his nose knowing that somehow, some way, he was going to regret his answer. "I'd be honored to."

"I knew I could count on you!" Jack exclaimed with a gleeful smile. "I figure I'll fly us all out to Vegas on Friday and-"

"You're getting married in Las Vegas?" Mac interrupted.

"Sure," Jack shrugged. "Frank is part owner of one of the big hotels out there and keeps a block of luxury suites reserved."

"Are you gonna have an Elvis impersonator perform the ceremony?" Joanna asked.

"The King is so cliche, mademoiselle! Those of us with more discriminating taste much prefer to be joined in wedlock by Wayne Newton."

A sudden throbbing took up residence in MacGyver's temple.

"Look, Jack, Jo and I just got back from Chicago and we need to check in at Challengers. We'll talk more when I get back."

"No problemo! Can you imagine it, Mac? Me, Jack Dalton, finally gettin' hitched. Who'da thunk it?!"

MacGyver and Joanna walked through the entrance to Challengers to find the closest thing to chaos he had seen since beginning this venture. Geena and Rosie scurried about trying to keep some semblance of control, looking contrite when they came to stand in front of him.

"What's going on?!" he snapped.

"Cynthia's home sick with bronchitis," Rosie explained.

"And a bunch of volunteers backed out at the last minute," Geena offered. "With the cold weather and the schools still closed for Spring Break, we have more kids here then expected."

"Why didn't you call me?!"

"We didn't want to ruin your visit with your friend and his wife," Rosie replied innocently.

"We thought we could handle it," Geena added.

Before he could say something he'd regret, Mac grabbed Joanna by the wrist and strode toward his office, not stopping until he flopped into the chair behind his desk, head in his hands.

"What am I supposed to do now?" he moaned. "I can't leave Challengers to go running off to Vegas, but Jack would never forgive me if I missed his wedding." He slowly became aware of Jo's soft hand soothingly rubbing his tense forearm and he allowed his muscles to relax slightly.

"You still have a whole day before you have to leave," Joanna said calmly. "Why not have Jack help out here tomorrow and then I'll stay behind while you go help your best friend get married."

"You sure about that?" he asked, his heart overflowing with love for the woman in front of him.

"Absolutely."

"You're terrific. You know that?" he asked huskily before grasping her wrist, more gently this time, and placing a tender kiss in the palm of her hand.

XXXXX

Early Friday afternoon, Jack brought his Cessna to a stop outside a hangar at the North Las Vegas Airport. The small but well-appointed airfield was a favorite of wealthy businessmen unwilling to deal with the congestion of the more centrally located McCarren International. As MacGyver followed Jack down the steps of the plane, he noticed a black, stretch limousine with tinted windows parked nearby.

"Our ride awaits!" the pilot proclaimed with a large smile, gesturing toward the vehicle.

"Wait, you mean that's for us?!" Mac asked incredulously.

"You bet! Courtesy of my soon-to-be brother-in-law!" Jack slapped MacGyver on the shoulder and guided him toward the car.

Once settled in the buttery leather backseat of the luxury vehicle, Jack pulled out a beer from the mini-fridge and handed Mac a bottle of high-end purified watered. MacGyver automatically took the offered drink but left it untouched, more concerned with the lead ball growing in the pit of his stomach. Over the last couple days, Jack had talked incessantly about Nanette but had still managed to say very little about her. A whirlwind courtship with a woman who's brother provided Jack with steady business, luxury hotel suites, and limos all added up to something that smelled a bit fishy to MacGyver, and he hated himself for the question he was about to ask.

"Jack, I wanna ask you something, but I need you to promise you won't get mad at me. I'm only asking because I care about you."

"Okay, I won't get mad at you," Jack shrugged, taking another swig of beer. "C'mon, out with it!"

Mac took a deep breath to steel himself. "Are you marrying Nanette for her brother's money?"

Jack lowered his beer bottle and turned to MacGyver, his face somber. "How could you think that about me?" he asked. "You're my best friend."

"Exactly! I'm your best friend. I know you Jack. Always looking for the next great business venture and here it is handed to you on a silver platter along with shiny cars and fancy hotel suites."

"I guess I understand how you could think that," Jack sighed. "I guess I have a rather colorful track record, but I'm tellin' you, this is different. I really love Nanette. And she loves me. I don't care about her brother's fancy hotels or limousines and neither does she!"

"I'm sorry Jack, but I had to ask. I just want you to be happy."

"I know that, Mac. And thanks for watchin' out for me. But I promise you, this time it's all good."

XXXXX

Twenty-four hours later, MacGyver stood at the front of a small but famous Las Vegas wedding chapel wearing a dark suit and banded collar shirt. Jack stood next to him in a powder blue tuxedo with matching ruffled shirt and bow tie wearing a grin that had been plastered on his face since they left the hotel.

"You got the ring?" Jack whispered through clenched teeth without losing his smile.

"Yes, I've got the ring," Mac assured him, but surreptitiously checked his pocket, just to make sure.

The only other person in the room was the bride's brother, Frank DuBois, who sat in the front pew looking bored when he wasn't impatiently glancing at his watch as if he had an important appointment to get to. MacGyver sighed, finding it strange and a bit unsettling that no other family members or friends were in attendance. To the best of his knowledge, Nanette didn't even have a maid of honor.

Mac's mind wandered back to dinner the night before where Jack introduced him to the DuBois siblings. Frank had been uptight and silent the entire evening. Mac wished he could say the same for Nanette. Jack's bride was a tall, buxom blonde who giggled easily and chattered constantly about nothing of consequence. MacGyver had smiled and nodded in all the right places, which only encouraged her. Jack, on the other, couldn't tear his eyes away from his beloved bride and was loathe to interrupt her. Later that night, alone in his room, Mac hated to admit, even to himself, how disappointed he was in Jack's choice of a mate. Granted, Jack had enjoyed the charms of a wide array of women in the past, but MacGyver had always assumed that if his friend were to give up his bachelorhood it would be for someone like Joanna. Someone who would be a calm, steadying force in the face of Jack's flights of fancy. A yin for Jack's yang. Perhaps he didn't know his long-time friend as well as he thought.

Loud organ music piped in through speakers in the ceiling and the appearance of 'Wayne Newton' pulled Mac's thoughts back to the present. Moments later, Nanette appeared in the doorway and began her walk up the aisle. Her dress was little more than a long, silky negligee. In lieu of a veil, a rhinestone tiara sat perched upon her bushy blonde head.

"You're really sure about this?" MacGyver whispered to Jack who simply nodded, apparently unable to pull his gaze from the woman in front of him.

Mac bit back a sigh, his eyes settling on the bouquet of flowers Nanette held. He couldn't help wondering what kind of flowers Joanna would choose for their wedding. Roses, though traditionally romantic, were rather common. Would she prefer something more unique like wildflowers or lilies? His stomach did a little flip as he suddenly realized he didn't even know what Jo's favorite flower was. In that case, what was her favorite ice cream flavor? Vanilla. He was sure it was vanilla. Or maybe chocolate. Did she even like ice cream? He couldn't recall ever seeing her eat it. But she had to, right? Not that it mattered. He knew her. Her heart, her soul. Everything else was trivial...wasn't it? A sharp jab to his ribs broke his revery. His eyes refocused to see everyone looking at him.

"The ring. Now!" Jack whispered urgently.

Mac dug in his pocket and quickly produced the requested piece of jewelry, but the questions he had been pondering hung in his brain like a smoky fog. Once the vows had been said and the proper papers signed, the small wedding party adjourned to Frank's penthouse where he had arranged for a private gourmet meal to be served. While the newlyweds exchanged kisses and whispered sweet-nothings, allowing their food to grow cold, MacGyver tried to strike up a casual conversation with DuBois to no avail. The businessman had just swallowed his last bite of creme brulee when he excused himself on the pretense of being late for a meeting. Painfully aware that his best friend was firmly caught in the throes of wedded bliss, Mac muttered his excuses as well and returned to his own suite a floor below. A bone-deep uneasiness had him reaching for the telephone, dialing a number he new better than his own. He waited impatiently as he listened to it ring, smiling slightly as he imagined Joanna hurriedly delving into the bowels of her purse to capture her cell phone and answer his call.

"Hello?" she breathlessly came on the line.

"Hey, it's me. Did I catch you at a bad time?

"No," she replied, her voice stronger. "I was just getting ready to leave Challengers."

MacGyver glanced at his watch and noted the time difference. "You're putting in a long day," he stated.

She chuckled and his heart warmed. "Actually, Geena and I were talking and we lost track of time. How was the wedding?"

"Fine," he replied flatly.

"Just 'fine'?"

"Well, you kinda had to be there," he explained.

"What about Nanette? What's she like?"

"She's...interesting."

"'Interesting' as in I kinda had to be there?"

"That's one way to put it."

"Mac, is everything okay?"

He hesitated. He could say everything was fine, but then Joanna would know something was definitely wrong. "I just have a weird feeling about this whole thing," he confessed. "I think I'm gonna hang around and check out a couple things tomorrow. I'll catch a later flight."

"Alright."

"You're not gonna argue about this?" he asked cautiously.

"Would it do any good?"

"Nope."

"Then just promise to be careful."

"Always am."

XXXXX

MacGyver had just finished getting dressed the next morning when there was a frantic pounding on his hotel door.

"Hold your horses, I'm coming," he muttered, emerging from the bathroom. He opened the door to find Jack, eyes wide and fearful, clutching a black briefcase to his chest.

"You gotta help me, Mac," he said as he barreled into the room and took a seat on the foot of the bed, still holding the briefcase tight.

MacGyver closed the door slowly and ran his fingers through his hair. He had been with his friend only twelve hours earlier and assumed said friend had spent the remaining time cozied up to his new wife in the honeymoon suite. What kind of trouble had Jack managed to get himself into...and how?

"Alright, Jack. Just relax and tell me what happened."

"I think I know what Frank DuBois is importing-and-or-exporting," he replied in an exaggerated whisper. "Nanette was in the shower this morning when a courier dropped this off for her." He glanced down at the case he was holding. "I put it on the desk but it, um, slid off and fell open." His left eye twitched furiously but he ignored it. "Take a look at this!"

Jack laid the briefcase next to him on the bed and slowly opened it to reveal dozens of what appeared to be flawlessly cut diamonds sparkling against the black velvet lining.

"So Frank's in the jewelry business," Mac stated matter-of-factly, moving closer to examine the gems and the case. "Though you would think he would find a more secure way to transport them."

Jack's jaw dropped as he gaped at his friend. "So you think they're legit?" he asked in disbelief.

"Sure. Why not?" Mac shrugged.

"Why not?! I'll tell you why not! In my past experience a load of loose diamonds in a briefcase usually led to smuggling or payoffs or…"

"Frank was right about you, Dalton," a cold female voice interrupted. "I'm very disappointed in you."

Jack and MacGyver both turned toward the doorway where Nanette stood wearing a black jumpsuit. Her blonde hair was slicked back into a tight bun and she held a small but deadly handgun.

"Now put your hands up and step away from the diamonds," she commanded.

"Pooky Bear, what is this? What's going on?" Jack asked beseechingly.

Mac sighed inwardly and secretly hoped that the woman would refuse to explain herself. The less they knew, the better their chances of getting out of this alive. Nanette appeared to consider the question and then she began talking.

"I suppose you deserve to know, since you're both eventually going to die anyway. Frank isn't my brother, he's my business partner."

"Business partner?" Jack parroted. "You mean, there's no dead father? No inheritance?"

"Hardly," she spat. "Up until a few months ago, we ran this nice little operation where we delivered stolen jewels to arms dealers who then used them to buy guns for rebels in Central America. Of course, Frank and I were paid quite nicely for our services. Unfortunately, our trusted pilot suffered a most horrific demise and that's when I had Frank hire you. I thought you were just dumb enough to keep your nose out of our business, and I was right...for a while. Frank started getting nervous. Said he thought you were catching on to our scheme."

"I wasn't! Honest! I'm dumb, just like you said! Ask Mac, he'll tell ya!"

MacGyver looked at the woman innocently. "Oh yeah, Jack's dumb. Real dumb," he confirmed.

"Well, that hardly matters now, does it?" she commented sternly. "Frank wanted to neutralize you immediately, but I convinced him I could make you love me and keep our 'family secret' as it were. We weren't expecting your friend here, so we set up this little test of your loyalty and you failed. You shouldn't have opened the briefcase, Jack."

"But why the brother/sister act?" Jack asked.

"In our line of work, you can't be the same person for too long. Besides, we thought we'd look more trustworthy. You did buy it after all, hook, line, and sinker."

"So what happens now?" Mac asked as Jack stood paralyzed beside him.

"Why, we're going on our honeymoon, of course!" Nanette answered, grabbing the briefcase with her free hand. "Now, we're all going to go downstairs and out to the limo. If you attempt to escape or draw any undue attention to us, I will kill you both. Understand?"

Jack and MacGyver followed Nanette's instructions and soon the limousine arrived at the airport where they had landed two days ago. Jack's plane was on the tarmac, ready for boarding. Nanette herded the two men out of the car and towards the Cessna, gun trained on their backs

"You got a plan, right buddy?" Jack whispered.

"Not at the moment," Mac whispered back.

"Then what are we gonna do?" the pilot asked, voice rising an octave.

"We'll think of something," his friend replied nonchalantly. "In the meantime, try to keep your wife from shooting us."

After Jack executed a textbook take-off, Nanette reached over his shoulder from behind and handed him a slip of paper.

"Those are the coordinates to our destination," she explained.

"The Caymans?"

"Yes. I have a business meeting there later tonight. And if you stray from the flight plan, I'll kill your friend." Nanette moved to stand behind MacGyver who was in the co-pilot's seat and leveled her gun at the back of his head.

Mac was keenly aware of Nanette's presence and figured this was going to be a long six hours...less if she decided he was an expendable tag-along. He needed to get her talking.

"So, where's Frank?" he asked.

"He had some business in the States to attend to," she supplied succinctly.

"Just out of curiosity, how long did you think you'd get away with the marriage charade?"

"As long as it was feasible. Now shut up."

MacGyver obeyed and, staring out the window of the plane, wished that just for once he didn't have to be the one to come up with a plan because at this point, he didn't know where to begin.

Several hours later, Mac glanced over at Jack who had been unusually quiet throughout the trip. He had come up with a couple ideas on how to escape from Nanette and buy them some time once the plane landed, but he was going to need his friend's help. With their kidnapper in the cabin talking to her contact on a two-way radio, now was the time to decide on a course of action.

"Jack," MacGyver whispered just loud enough to be heard. "I think I've got a plan. All we hafta do is-"

"Not now, Mac," the pilot cut him off. "We're almost there."

"Exactly! We're gonna have to move fast!"

Nanette poked her head in the cockpit before MacGyver could say more. She now had a parachute strapped to her back and clear goggles protecting her eyes.

"Okay gentlemen, this is my stop," she declared.

"But we're still a couple miles off-shore," Jack protested.

"That's the whole idea. Now I'm going to be leaving, but don't try anything funny." She waggled a little black box with a toggle switch under their noses.

"Oh, look, she brought her own TV remote control," Jack quipped, finally breaking his silence.

"It's a detonator, Jack," MacGyver informed his friend solemnly.

"Very good," Nanette crooned. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm late for a meeting."

With that, the woman opened the rear door to the plane and disappeared from site. Mac held his breath as he waited for the plane to explode, but nothing happened.

"Maybe she was bluffing about the bomb," Jack commented as if reading MacGyver's mind. "Maybe she really does love me...at least enough to not kill me."

Before Mac could respond, the plane's control panel began to sizzle and spark.

"I'm losing control!" Jack cried. "The steering is locked! We're goin' down!"

MacGyver was already inspecting the damage to the plane. "They must have wired the entire electrical system with small explosive charges that she detonated when she jumped. A plane blowing up in mid-air is a lot more suspicious than one having mechanical problems and crashing into the ocean."

"Nice reasoning Mac, but I don't suppose you have any ideas on how we can survive this in that oversized brain of yours?"

MacGyver tore his attention away from the instrument panel and began looking under his seat. "I don't suppose you have an extra parachute or two lying around?"

"I keep one in the cargo hold in case of an emergency," Jack replied.

"Well I think this would qualify!" Mac called above the whine of the engines as he scrambled to the back of the quickly descending plane and opened the hatch in the floor. He made quick work of stepping into the chute and securing the harness.

"Hey, what about me?!" Jack asked, now standing next to his friend.

MacGyver moved to the open door Nanette had bailed from and turned to Jack.

"You're just gonna have to trust me on this one. Now wrap your arms around me and hang on tight!"

Mac let out a breath as Jack caught him in a tight bear hug. He turned to see the blue of the Caribbean speeding towards them, wondering how he managed to get himself into these situations.

"Here we go!" he yelled as he allowed himself to fall backward, away from the plane and literally into thin air.

After a few moments of free-fall, MacGyver reached for the ripcord and firmly pulled on it, breathing a sigh of relief when the parachute opened and jerked them upward before catching the breeze and gliding gently toward the water.

XXXXX

Late that evening, MacGyver and Jack sat listlessly in the terminal of Owen Roberts International Airport on Grand Cayman Island, both exhausted from the grueling events of the day. Mac held a ticket to take him home to Milwaukee while Jack would be heading back to Los Angeles. Thankfully, the captain of a large, private yacht had witnessed their not-so-graceful splashdown in the Caribbean Ocean earlier that afternoon and the small crew pulled them to safety. Once on board, MacGyver had radioed the proper authorities and Nanette was apprehended shortly thereafter. She was more than eager to share Frank's whereabouts in exchange for leniency, and the FBI was sure to have him in custody before midnight. Perhaps the saddest part of the entire day had been watching Jack's custom Cessna crash and explode on a tiny, uninhabited island.

"How you doin'?" Mac asked, turning to his friend who was staring blankly into the crowd milling about them.

"Terrific. Never been better," Jack grunted.

"Sorry about your plane."

Jack waved his hand as if swatting a fly. "No big deal."

"Did I hear you right?!" MacGyver asked, his eyebrows shooting up under his bangs in surprise. "All you ever wanted to do was own a business flying airplanes!"

"Yeah, well, that dream came true at least for a little while," Jack mumbled.

Mac regarding his friend more closely. "This is about Nanette," he stated, rather than asked.

"I thought she loved me, Mac. I thought I had finally found the one, like you and Joanna. Guess I really messed that up!"

"Jack, look at me," MacGyver maneuvered himself in the molded plastic chair so he faced the pilot. "You did not mess up! You made an honest mistake! If anyone's to blame it's Frank and Nanette. You trusted them. Took them at their word. That's not a bad thing!"

"C'mon, Mac! Look who you're talkin' to! It's me, Jake Dalton, king of scams and schemes and questionable business opportunities. I should have smelled this a mile away. Instead, I walked right into it!"

A disembodied voice came over the intercom to inform them that the flight to L.A. was boarding. Jack reached down and grabbed his well-worn duffel.

"You gonna be okay?" MacGyver asked, his voice laced with concern for his friend.

"Pffft! I'll be fine!" Jack declared with renewed vigor as he rose from his seat. "I wasn't meant to be tied down with a wife and kids anyway. I got some insurance money comin' to me and Dalton Air Limo Service will be up and flyin' in no time. Just promise me one thing."

"Anything, Jack."

"The next time I'm standing in a wedding chapel it's because you're finally makin' an honest woman outta Joanna!"

"You got it!" Mac smiled and embraced his friend as the final boarding call was announced.