We’re In This
Together
By
StargateSG1971
E-mail
Author: StargateSG1971@aol.com
Summary:
Mac goes in to rescue Pete and ends up needing to be rescued himself.
Category:
Torture, Violence, Anguish, Hurt, Comfort, and Friendship
Warnings:
Moments of extreme physical and mental anguish
Rating:
R
Disclaimer:
MacGyver and its characters belong to Paramount Pictures and all the powers
that be, not me. No copyright infringement intended. This story is written for
fan entertainment only and no money has exchanged hands. The story is the
property of the author and may not be posted anywhere without the authors
consent.
Authors
Comments: Told from multiple POV’s
Special
Thanks To: Edna Phillips (Mrs Stargate/MacGyver Obsessed) for putting up with
my constant MacGyver/Jack O’Neill/RDA drooling and for being a great friend !!
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I heard the phone
ringing in the distance and thought about ignoring it. Whoever was on the other end was very
persistent; eventually I rolled over and answered it.
“Hello”
“Mac its Nikki”
“What’s up? Are you
ok?”
“Yeah, I’m
fine. Its Pete”
My groggy mind
cleared instantly at the mention of his name.
He’d been missing for the last couple of days. There’d been no word from him, and that wasn’t like Pete.
“What about Pete,
have you spoken to him?”
“No I haven’t. Mac, I think you should come in, straight
away!”
“I’ll be right
there. What’s going on?”
“We’ve found his
car, it looks like it’s been run off the road.
There’s no sign of him, but there’s blood on the steering column. The driver’s door was pulled off its hinges,
and there are tracks in the mud to indicate he was dragged up the
embankment. Mac, there’s some tire
tracks too. I think Greg Peters has
him?”
The mere mention of
Greg sent shivers down my spine. The
man was a sadist; there was no other word to describe him. He’d stop at nothing to get what he
wanted. I knew it, and so did
Nikki.
“Why’d you say
that?”
“There was a lighter
on the ground. We dusted it for prints
and they match Jake Samuels. Isn’t that
Greg’s right hand man?”
My heart hit the
ground and I felt physically sick at the thought of Pete in the hands of this
crazed man. Murdoc was bad enough, but
this guy was worse. He took
pleasure-inflicting pain on anyone.
“MAC!?”
Nikki startled me that much; I jumped and
almost dropped the receiver.
“I’m coming now, get all the information
you’ve got together. I want to see it as soon as I get there”
“Ok”
“Bye”
“Bye”
With that I hung up, quickly got dressed,
and jumped into my jeep. There was
hardly any traffic on the road so I made good timing, within 20 minutes I’d
arrived at The Phoenix Foundation.
I walked into Pete’s office to find his
desk littered with pictures and papers.
I started sifting through them, but it didn’t look like there was much
to go on. I saw a file labelled “Jake
Samuels” and picked it up, just before I sat down on one of the nearby
chairs.
I opened the file to reveal the police
report with an up-to-date picture of Jake clipped to it. Its not like I could forget what the guy
looked like. I think his face and
Greg’s for that matter; will be imprinted in my mind for the rest of my
life. Shaking away bad memories I
focused on the present and scanned through the report. It didn’t say much really but it did give a
current address; or at least the last address listed by his probation
officer. I decided to check it
out. I scribbled a quick note for Nikki
and set off.
The sun was just starting to rise as I
parked up opposite his apartment block.
I turned the engine off and waited.
Nearly 4 hours passed and there was still no
sign of Jake. I was beginning to think
he’d moved on, just as I saw him leaving the building. He walked over to a silver colored pick-up and jumped in. I couldn’t quite make out the license plate
because other vehicles shielded it; all I could see was the last 3 digits. I made a note of them and started my engine.
I let him get a reasonable distance ahead
before I pulled out and followed him.
He stopped at a gas station to fill up and I noticed a phone booth, I
decided to call Nikki.
“Hello”
“Nikki it’s me, Mac”
“Where are you?”
“Ah…I’m not sure. I’m following Jake at the moment; he’s just
pulled into Sumner’s Gas Station. Can
you try and trace his plate for me? I couldn’t read it very well; all I got was 156”
“Why bother if you’ve already found him?”
“There was no mention of a vehicle in the
police report so it must be registered to someone else, could be Greg. I know I’m clutching but it’s got to be
worth a shot, no harm in checking”
“Ok but that’s not much to go on, how am I
supposed to do that?”
“It’s a silver pick-up with a blue and
white flame down the side panel, looks to me like a specialised paint job, so
you should be able to trace the artist.
It’s the only lead we’ve got…. he’s leaving. I gotta go!”
With that I hung up and got back in my
jeep. Like before I waited for him to
get a reasonable distance before I pulled out and followed. He drove back to his apartment, got out of
the vehicle, and went inside.
I threw my keys on the side and smiled. He didn’t know I’d been watching out for
him, waiting for him to turn up, I don’t suppose he even realised that I’d
dropped the lighter on purpose. Smiling
to myself, I picked up the phone and dialled.
It wasn’t long before it was answered.
“Hello”
“He’s here”
“What!?”
“There’s a certain someone parked outside
my apartment, want to try and guess who?”
I could visualize the smile on Greg’s
face.
“MacGyver?”
“Got it in one. Want me to lead him to, oh I don’t know, warehouse 7?”
“Yeah, sounds good, but give me some time
to get something set up”
“Ok.
How about 10.00 tonight?”
“Perfect.
I’ll see you then, bye”
“Bye”
I put the receiver down,
walked over to the window and pulled the drapes back slightly; he was still
there.
“Tonight MacGyver, tonight”
I let the drapes drop, walked over to the
couch, and crashed out in front of the TV.
After putting down the phone I walked into
the other room and looked at the bound man lying on his side, on the
floor. It had been hard resisting the
urge to hurt him. My only consolation
had been to put a hood over his head, gag him, tie his hands behind his back
and put metal cuffs around his ankles limiting his movements. But the waiting was over, and before long,
the games would begin.
“Well Pete, looks like you’re gonna be having some
company soon”
I leaned over and removed the hood
covering his head; eyes full of hatred met me.
“What’s the matter, aren’t you enjoying my
company? You know the fun hasn’t even
started yet, wait till MacGyver arrives”
His eyes widened at
the sound of his friends name. I watched him make a couple of feeble attempts
to try and get up, before I bent over and slammed him back down. I pulled out a small flick knife from my
back pocket and placed the blade against his neck, then removed the gag from
his mouth.
“Don’t even think about it Pete. This is my time, do you
understand!? You will tell me
what I need to know, believe me. What
I did to MacGyver last time will be like a walk in the park compared to what I
have in mind this time round. Do you
remember what I did to him the last time we met?”
“How could I forget, you nearly killed him”
“The plan was to kill him, only he
found a clever little way out. This
time they’ll be NO way out, this time he won’t be able to go anywhere,
I’ll make sure of that.”
“Mac has nothing to do with this, leave
him out of it”
“I don’t think so
Pete. Besides, he’s already invited
himself, only he doesn’t know it yet”
“I don’t know anything, you’re wasting
your time”
“You know the access code for the vault at
The Phoenix Foundation. Don’t try and
deny it Pete I’ve had someone working on the inside for months. There are only 2 security passes in
existence and you’re the only one who can change the entry code, no-one else
has the authority. I have all the aces
Pete. I have you and your security
pass, all I need now, is the code”
Pete looked stunned; he never said a word.
“You will give me the code Pete, but not
too soon, not before I have my fun. I
won’t let you”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I ran the blunt edge
of the blade across his throat, and then dragged it down his neck, turning the
blade to the sharp edge along the way. I felt his body tense as the blade finally
punctured his skin. The blood trickled
down the blade and glistened in the dim light, as I pulled it away, I turned
and smiled at him saying:
“You’ll see”
I left the room leaving Pete alone with
his thoughts.
What did he mean by
‘having fun, when MacGyver arrives’?
What was he going to do to him?
Who was the corrupt agent? What
did he want out of the vault? My mind
was whirling in all directions when I heard the door being flung open. I hunched over and looked towards the
opening. I saw one of Greg’s men
walking towards me. When he got close
enough he bent down, grabbed me by my shoulders, and pulled me up onto my
knees.
“We’re gonna take a little ride, have a
change of scenery, and wait for your friend”
“Where are you taking me?”
He laughed.
“Like I’m gonna tell you that”
He picked up the hood off the floor and
was about to put it over my head when Greg appeared by the door.
“Don’t forget to gag him Terry”
“Oh yeah”
He dropped the hood, looked around the
room and walked behind me, re-appearing with a roll of duck tape. After a couple of
attempts he managed to tear apiece off, and placed it over my mouth. Grabbing my shoulders, he lifted me off my knees.
I got to my feet and staggered
slightly. He steadied me before bending
down and picking the hood up. It was
pulled over my head and I was plunged into darkness.
“Move”
He tugged at my arm pulling me hard, in
what I could only imagine was the direction of the door. I only moved a couple of inches before I
came crashing down. The metal cuffs
around my ankles stopping my movement any further. I landed hard on the floor and heard Terry laughing.
“Oh yeah, I forgot about them”
I heard, and then
felt him, removing the metal cuffs. I
was yanked up onto my feet and pushed from behind. I stumbled forwards and thought I was going to fall again, but
someone caught me.
“Be careful Terry, we don’t want to injure
him, not just yet anyway”
It was Greg, I could tell by the
voice. I suddenly had a sharp pain in
my neck; it felt like I’d just been stabbed with a needle. Again I was pulled forwards. I could smell oil in the air as I was taken
around the twists and turns in the building.
I could feel my legs getting heavier, and started dragging my feet.
“Come on Thornton, move it!”
I was trying, but each step was becoming
harder. I stumbled and staggered along
before finally dropping to my knees. Terry
pulled me to my feet and supported me as I became weaker and weaker, until
eventually I couldn’t walk at all, then he just dragged me along. It was a weird feeling, all my senses were
working perfectly; I just couldn’t support myself, and now the rest of my body
was starting to become numb too.
I listened to all the sounds around me,
hoping to try and hear something that might give me a clue as to where I was. I
could hear a pneumatic drill, a hydraulic lifting ramp and the sound of
vehicles. I came to the conclusion that
I was in a garage of some kind. I heard
a door opening and could tell we were outside by the sound of the rain. We stopped and Terry lowered me to the
ground. Now unable to move at all, I
lay there motionless. I heard the sound
of keys jangling and then a whooshing noise.
I was trying to figure out what it was, when I heard the crunch of
approaching footsteps.
“When you get there, tie him to a chair in
the center of the room. Take off the hood,
but leave the gag on. I want him to see
MacGyver coming”
“Ok.
What’d you give him anyway? I had to carry him most of the way”
“A muscle relaxant which causes temporary
paralysis, it’ll wear off in a few hours”
“Oh.
Can you give me a hand putting him in the van?”
“Sure”
“Thanks”
I looked at my watch it was nearly 9.15pm. He hadn’t moved for hours. I’d called Nikki a couple of times but so far she’d got zilch. Ten minutes later I saw him leaving the building, he got into his pick-up and headed south. I followed at a reasonable distance until we entered an industrial area. He parked up next to a black Ford by one of the warehouses; I made a mental note of the license plate number and drove by slowly, trying to avoid altering him to my presence. I pulled up on the side of the road and scribbled the information down, before turning around and heading back in the direction I’d just come from.
I hid the jeep
down one of the side alleys we’d passed minutes earlier. It was a bit of a hike back to the warehouse
but I thought it was the safest option.
It took me about 20 minutes to get back there. It seemed abandoned now, both vehicles had gone, the building
looked deserted. I decided to take a
look inside and see if I could find any clues that might lead me to Pete.
I walked around
the building to find the easiest, quickest and safest way inside. I decided to try a side door in the dimly
lit area, to avoid anyone seeing me.
There was a small padlock securing it so I took out my Swiss Army Knife and
fiddled with the lock using one of the blades.
After some gentle persuasion I heard the gears of the lock moving as the
mechanism was released. I removed the
lock, pulled the door back, and entered the warehouse.
I was looking in
all directions and never noticed the pressure plate on the floor until I’d
stepped on it. Before I had a chance to
react, the once open doorway was obstructed by metal bars that had dropped
nicely into place, ensuring that the only direction I was left with, was
through the door in front of me. I
surmised that Jake had seen me following him, and had got Greg to set a
trap. I looked
around the room; there wasn’t much in it.
There was a desk and chair, plus a few other items that littered the
floor, a bucket of sand, rubber tubing, a gearbox and some wheel bearings. A couple of brooms leant against the wall underneath a blackboard, there
was a box of chalk and I noticed some glass on the floor. I looked up to see
that one of the windows had been smashed, it was too small to get out of, and
my only option, was the door in front of me.
I grabbed hold
of the handle and turned it slowly. The
door was unlocked. I opened it
cautiously and sneaked a peak inside.
It was another more or less empty room.
There were a couple of paint aerosols left lying on the floor just
inside the doorway, and something in the right hand corner of the room, but I
couldn’t quite make out what it was. I
pulled the door back fully; a clock dropped from the ceiling and hung in the center of the
room. Suddenly in the right hand
corner, a TV switched itself on and a recorded message played; it was from
Greg.
“Hello
MacGyver. I’ve got Pete to play with
this time round, I don’t need you you’re expendable. You’ll have noticed by now, a clock suspended in the middle of
the room. Once this message has played
it’ll start counting down on a timer.
If you look closely you’ll see that there’s C4 strapped to the TV, with
a line running into the clock. It works
off the timer, once it hits 12.00 its bye, bye MacGyver. There is no way out this time!”
The TV switched
itself off and I watched the fingers of the clock move as the timer started
counting down. It’d been set for 6
minutes. I stepped into the room making
sure this time there wasn’t a pressure plate on the floor. I noticed the glow of a red beam on my pants
just as I heard the sound of gunshots.
I jumped to the left but one of the bullets clipped me on my right
shoulder. I landed hard on the ground
and winded myself.
I rolled over
and got up. Then I walked over to the
paint aerosols and picked them up. Man
I hoped there was something left in them apart from air. Turning towards the clock again I pressed
down on the button, tiny paint particles filled the
air. I took a few
steps forward before the spray revealed another set of lasers; luckily I was
close enough to get a reasonable view of the clock.
Just as Greg had said, the TV was
hooked up to the clock, and there was enough C4 on it to do some real damage in
such a small area. It really wasn’t a
good idea to be around when it blew. I
noticed another line coming from it and traced its path along the floor, up the
wall, and into a panel at the back of the room. I wasn’t 100% sure but it looked like it was operating the
lasers, so once the timer was deactivated, the lasers would be too. I moved to the right to try and see behind
the clock, to ascertain if pressing the button really would stop the timer and
deactivate the bomb. It was difficult
to see, I needed to get closer.
I took a look
around to see what the lasers might activate if I disrupted the beam. I could see a set of 6 arrows neatly lined
up on the right, and left hand side of the room, pointed in my direction. I suppose I could take the chance and hope
they’d miss me, but there were so many I didn’t think that was an option. I decided to go back into the other room and
try another plan, if, that was at all possible. I dropped one of the aerosols on the floor at
my feet, turned on the spot and ran to the doorway knowing now, that it was
safe to do so.
When I got
there I pressed down on the button of the aerosol and discovered that there was
enough of a gap to wriggle underneath the lasers. I got down on the floor and pushed myself slowly under the beam,
occasionally pressing the button of the aerosol to check my distance from
it. Once I knew I was clear I got up,
put the aerosol on the floor and grabbed a handful of wheel bearings, shoving
them into my pants pocket. I took one of the brooms leaning against the wall, the rubber
tubing, and a box of chalk, and then pushed them along the floor into the other
room. I picked the aerosol
up, lay down on the floor and started spraying near the bottom of the doorway
to get the height of the beam. Again I
pushed myself slowly under it.
Once I was
clear of the beam I got up and grabbed the broom. I ran across the room making sure I stopped when I got near the
aerosol I’d dropped earlier. I looked
at the timer and 4 minutes had already passed, I was running out of time. I pressed down on the button and waved the
aerosol around so I could establish where I could safely put an object between
the beams. It was difficult to tell and
I really didn’t think it was a good idea to guess. I noticed that the beams stopped at shoulder
height; obviously Greg didn’t feel it necessary to put them any higher because
I wouldn’t be able to climb over them, even if I wanted to. I put the aerosol down next to the other one and used both hands to keep
the broom steady as I raised it past my shoulder height, and attempted to lower
it downwards towards the button on the clock.
Even standing on tiptoes the broom handle was too short, there was no
way I was going to be able to use that to press the button. I raised it over my head and took a few
steps back, away from the lasers. I
looked at the clock, there was only 90 seconds left.
I ran back
towards the door and grabbed the rubber tubing. I tied one end around the broom handle and stretched it to get some tension,
before tying the other end on the handle lower down. I stole a quick glance at the timer, 60 seconds. I grabbed the box of chalk, turned, and ran
back to where the aerosols were.
Kneeling down I put my newly made catapult behind me and opened the box
of chalk. I emptied its contents on the
floor next to me, and took one of the wheel bearings out of my pocket. I watched the chalk sticks disappear into a
mound of dust as I smashed down on them using the steel ball as a hammer. Another quick peak
revealed 35 seconds left.
With no time
left to wonder what pressing the button would do, I raised my left knee, leant
back on my right and picked up the catapult. I used to be
a pretty good shot as a kid; I hoped I hadn’t lost my touch. I emptied my pocket of the wheel bearings, and put them close to my
knee, on the floor. Picking up a
handful of chalk dust I threw it towards the clock. As the dust descended downwards it revealed the location of the
laser beams. I placed one of the wheel
bearings inside the rubber tubing, pulled back, took a quick aim, fired, and
missed. I tried again before the dust
settled too much, and missed. I looked
at the timer, 15 seconds left.
Taking a deep
breath I grabbed another handful of chalk dust and threw it at the clock. When the laser beams were revealed, I took a
more steady aim and fired. It seemed to
go in slow motion. I watched the second’s countdown as the ball traveled towards the
button…8,7,6,5,4..…Clink. It made contact and the clock stopped on 3
seconds. I breathed a heavy sigh of
relief and sank down momentarily onto my knees. That was close Mac; that was way too close.
I grabbed one
of the aerosols, pressed the button and sprayed ahead of me. There was no sign of any lasers but just to
make sure, I threw what was left of the chalk dust in front of me. No red beams appeared, they must have been
deactivated, just like I thought they would.
I walked towards the clock.
As I got closer
I noticed that the wire running from the clock wasn’t connected to the C4 at
all. From a distance it looked as if it
was, but at close range, I could see it wasn’t. This was just one of Greg’s sick little games, he was obviously
on to me and wanted me to know it. I noticed a fire door near the back of the room; at least I could
get out of the building.
Before leaving I checked the room to see if
there were any clues, finding none, I left.
As I walked out of the fire door I noticed something on the ground,
bending down I picked up a crumpled piece of paper. I couldn’t see what was written on it clearly, it was too
dark. I noticed a warehouse lower down
with a light above its entrance and walked towards it.
As I got closer to the light I straightened the
paper as best I could. The words were
that faded it was difficult to read; all I could make was “Thornton 10”. I assumed it was something Greg must have
dropped, it was obviously related to Pete in some way but I had no idea what it
meant. I started to walk back to my
jeep. Walking past the warehouses I
noticed that they all had a number on them.
I stopped and wondered whether 10 on the note, meant warehouse 10. It was worth checking out so I tried to
locate it.
Within 15 minutes I’d found warehouse 10. There was no sign of activity, but tire
tracks around the entrance showed that someone had been there recently. I looked around the building and found a
small window at the rear, looking inside I saw a figure in the center of the
room; it was Pete.
It was a trap; it had to be. I considered calling Nikki for help but was
afraid they’d move Pete and we wouldn’t be able to find him. I took another look inside; I couldn’t see
anyone else in the room, I had to take the chance. I ran my fingers around the window frame checking for wires,
finding none; I took out my Swiss Army Knife and attempted to break the seal
securing the window. The putty came
away easily and before long I gently eased the single pane of glass out of the
window frame, and leant it against the side of the building. I climbed through the frame, ran over to
Pete, then knelt down
next to him and started cutting the ropes that were binding him. He became agitated and shifted the
chair. I realized I’d forgotten to
remove his gag and turned towards him, only to be faced with the barrel of a
Colt 357.
“Hello
MacGyver”
I lifted my
eyes to see Greg looking down at me.
“I see you
found the note. I knew you’d work it
out”
He nodded his
head and I was gruffly pulled to my feet, before being dragged across the room,
and flung face first against the wall.
I felt the barrel of a gun pressing into my spine as my feet were kicked
further apart, and I assumed the arrest position against the wall. While frisking me they found my Swiss Army
Knife and I was quickly relieved of it.
I was pushed harder into the wall and my right arm was forced into an
unnatural position behind my back, then I was pulled backwards and taken to
Greg. He watched me approaching and I
could see a glint of pleasure in his eyes.
I knew that look, I’d seen it before, and it wasn’t a good sign. I stood before him, and he prodded me in my
right shoulder where the bullet had grazed me earlier.
“Not fast
enough eh?”
“Apparently
not”
“I was telling Pete earlier how much I was
looking forward to your arrival. I need
to find out the entry code to the vault at The Phoenix Foundation, and you’re
going to help me.”
“I don’t know
the entry code and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you”
“Oh no
MacGyver, don’t misunderstand me. I
don’t want YOU to tell me anything.
Its all down to Pete, your just a pawn in this game”
He took a step backwards and the guy restraining me;
grabbed my other arm and pulled it behind my back. Both arms were pulled taut and locked into a position that left
me totally defenceless. Greg took
something out of his pocket and slid it over his fingers. I saw the metal glint in the light and
noticed it was a knuckle-duster; I swallowed hard knowing what was coming
next. He noticed my reaction and
smirked, then hit me repeatedly in the stomach until my legs started to give
way, he looked to the guy restraining me.
“Let him go Tanner”
I sank to the floor as he released me, and then curled up
into a ball to try and ease the pain.
Greg kicked me in the spine. My
back arched with the pain and I rolled onto my side.
“Get up”
I needed more
time to recover so I didn’t move. He
came over to me and using his foot, pushed my shoulder back so that I ended up in
a lying position, then he raised his foot and smashed it down hard against my
ribcage.
“I said, GET
UP!”
I sucked up the
pain and slowly stood up. He stepped
towards me fists clenched and eyes full of hate. Just then a door swung open and Jake walked in carrying a car
battery, closely followed by someone else carrying a bucket. They walked over to a desk on the far side
of the room. Greg stopped dead in his
tracks, smiled at me, and then walked over to Jake and his friend. He signalled
to Tanner to cover us, and I found myself once more face to face with the
barrel of a gun.
I approached
Jake and Terry, noticing immediately that the insulation gloves weren’t inside
the bucket.
“Where are the
gloves?”
Jake and Terry
exchanged a puzzled look.
“Maybe we left
them in the van, I’ll go check”
Terry spun on
his heel and left at a speed.
“Any problems
Jake?”
“Nope. Where’d you want me to set it up?”
I pointed above
Pete’s head.
“There, you can
use that beam”
I noticed both
Pete and MacGyver looked to where I’d pointed; I bet their minds were working
overtime. Jake smiled at me and nodded
in the direction of MacGyver.
“Looks like you
started without me”
I grinned.
“Yeah, you know
me, I couldn’t wait any longer”
Terry returned with the gloves and waved them around with a
huge smirk all over his face. He walked
over to the desk and dropped them on top of it, then looked at me and I pointed
to the beam. He understood what I
meant, and dragged the desk into the center of the room. After that he took the jumper cables and
chain out of the bucket and placed them next to the car battery on the desk,
before going into a side room with the bucket.
Meanwhile Jake was moving Pete to the right. I stole a glance at MacGyver and noticed he was starting to look
concerned. Terry returned with the
bucket and placed it on the floor next the desk, and Jake came to stand next to
me.
“I want a piece of him too”
“I know, don’t worry, you’ll get
your chance”
“When?”
“Now”
“You’re kidding!?”
“No I’m not. I’ll have my fun tomorrow”
I walked over to the other side of
the room, grabbed a chair and sat down.
“Well, what are you waiting for?”
Jake smiled and
walked over to MacGyver. Tanner left to
collect some documents from Jake’s apartment and Terry grabbed another chair
and sat down next to me.
I watched the
activity in front of me with apprehension.
There was a car battery, a bucket, and a beam. To me, it was all adding up to electrocution. Jake walked over to
Greg and whispered something, I couldn’t hear what it was but I saw Jake smile,
and the next thing I knew he was walking towards me. He grabbed my
arm and led me to the center of the room until I was standing directly
under the beam, then he stepped back.
“Take your
jacket and shirt off”
I licked my
lips nervously, and swallowed.
“Now MacGyver!”
Realising at
this point I had no option, I shrugged off my jacket and shirt; then dropped
them on the floor. Jake grabbed my wrists, tied my hands in front of me; and then
yanked them above my head. The chain was wrapped around the beam and
I was hoisted off my feet. I hung there
waiting for the torture to begin.
He picked up
the gloves and slowly pulled them on, before hooking up 2 of the jumper cable
clips to the battery. Then he walked
over to the bucket, and with gloved hands pulled out a sponge, sodden in
water. He attached it to one of the clips
and then did the same with the other, before strolling over to me, grinning from
ear to ear.
The sponges
made contact with my stomach and sent a jolt of electricity surging through my
body. My back arched and I screamed out
in pain as I jerked violently. He
dragged the sponges up and across my chest, pushing them harder into my body,
before he stopped and walked back to the bucket. He returned with sponges dripping with water, walked behind me
and shocked me again. I thrashed about,
writhing in agony, praying for the pain to stop, it didn’t. The sponges were
dragged around my neck; I screwed my eyes shut and bit down hard on my lip,
whimpering as the pain increased. Suddenly it stopped. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Jake
standing by the bucket. Greg was
walking towards us.
“Don’t shock
him again, I need to do something”
Jake looked up
at Greg with an annoyed expression on his face.
“What?”
“This”
Standing in
front of me Greg withdrew a Colt 357 from his back pocket and armed the
weapon. Pointing it at my chest, he
turned to Pete.
“LOOK AT MACGYVER…. NOW!!!”
I saw Pete lift
his head and look in my direction.
“The next time
you turn away. I’ll kill him. Do you understand!?”
I looked
towards Pete and could see fear in his eyes.
My heart was thumping that hard I only just heard Greg’s warning. I nodded my head and he backed off. God I nearly got Mac killed, wasn’t it bad
enough he was being tortured. Think
Pete. Don’t make any more stupid
mistakes, its Mac’s life we’re talking about here. I was ashamed of myself for turning away. Mac needed me to be
strong; he needed me to be there for him.
I’d let him down when he needed me the most, I knew it, and now, so did
he.
I made eye contact with him and tried to convey how sorry I
was. I thought I saw understanding in
his eyes but maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part. We broke eye contact when Greg spoke.
“You can carry on now”
Jake smiled at Greg.
“Thanks”
I watched Jake
pull the sodden sponges from the bucket and walk towards Mac. I could tell he was cringing at the thought
of what was going to happen next. Again
Jake walked around the back of him, only this time he pressed the sponges hard
into his kidneys. Mac hollered out in
pain, the sound of it sending shivers down my spine. I watched his body
thrashing about, pulling violently against the chains suspending him. Oh god, when was this going to stop? I shifted on the chair making a noise, and
Jake turned to look at me. He backed
away from Mac and walked towards me.
Tauntingly he whispered into my ear.
“Have you
noticed his breathing Pete? I don’t think he can take much more”
I looked over
at Mac and could tell that Jake wasn’t lying.
I watched him gasping for breath and the thought that they might kill
him, petrified me. How far would they
go? I heard Jake laughing as he walked
back to the bucket. He dowsed the
sponges with water and went back to Mac.
He pressed the sponges onto his kidneys and Macs body went into a spasm,
it wasn’t long before he passed out. I
watched them lower him from the beam and dump his body on the floor. Jake kicked him, there was no response; it
felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. He looked up at me.
“Looks like
he’s had enough, for now”
I wanted to
kill him. I’ve never felt like that before,
but after seeing what he did to Mac first hand, I’d have no hesitation if the
opportunity presented itself. I noticed
the others were leaving the room at the same moment Jake did.
“I’ll see you
later Pete, lets hope MacGyver lasts a bit longer next time”
With that, he
turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. The last words
ringing in my ears ‘next time’…. what did they have in mind for him then? It didn’t bear thinking about.
Mac should have
called in by now, what was he playing at?
I paced up and down Pete’s office like a cat on hot bricks. I was fed up of waiting around; I decided to
check out a couple of leads I’d got on the paint job. I grabbed the piece of paper with the addresses on, and headed
down to my car.
It wasn’t long
before I was on my way. The first
address was about 10 minutes away in a rough part of town. I pulled up outside the paint shop and
noticed a group of youths, one of which I recognised from The Challengers
club. I approached him.
“Hi Breeze”
He turned to
look at me.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Nikki a
friend of MacGyver’s. I saw a picture
of you and him together that’s how I recognised you”
“Ok. What’s up?
Is Mac all right?”
“He’s
fine. I’m trying to trace a silver pick-up
for him. It’s got a blue and white
flame down the side panel, there’s a chance the paint job might have been done
here. Do you think that’s possible?”
“Maybe. If Spud’s done it, it’ll have his trade-mark
on it”
“What’s that?”
“On one end of the flame in black paint; he
puts a small picture of a dragon”
“Does he do
that on all his work?”
“Yeah”
“Thanks. I’ll tell Mac you helped out”
He smiled.
“Ok…tell him it’s been a while since he came
round too”
“I will”
I left Breeze
and entered Jojo’s Paint Shop. I
described the artwork to the owner and he said nobody had requested that particular
design. I showed him
my ID and asked for a print out of recently painted vehicles, stating the
customer’s address and the vehicle license plate number. He printed off a list, passed it to me, and
I left. I decided to go back to The Phoenix
Foundation and see if Mac had phoned in.
I woke up and
found myself lying on the floor. I
shivered as I felt the chill of the air on my bare skin. Rolling onto my side I looked around for my
clothes. I saw my shirt on the floor
and stretched out to grab it, dragging it along the ground towards me as I
pushed myself into a sitting position.
With shaking hands I put my shirt on, taking longer than normal to
perform such a simple task.
I looked around
the room and could see Pete tied to a chair.
I pushed myself to my feet and staggered slightly as I found my
footing. Finally, after falling over a
couple of times I arrived at Pete’s side.
I prodded him, and his eyes shot open immediately. He looked relieved to see me. I smiled and touched his shoulder.
“It’s ok
Pete. We’re going to get out of here”
Just then the
door was flung open, it was Greg and Jake.
“Get away from
him MacGyver”
I stepped away
from Pete and stood as still as my body would allow. Greg walked up to me and mockingly said.
“Its my turn
this time”
I was dragged
to the center of the room and under the beam. Greg didn’t ask me to take my shirt off; he
removed it for me before binding my hands in front of me and yanking them above
my head. The chain was wrapped around
the beam and I was once again hoisted off my feet. I had the distinct feeling of déjà vu.
I watched him
open his backpack, take something out and lay it on the floor next to him. I couldn’t make out what it was, I was just
glad that he wasn’t going to electrocute me again. Jake sat on the same chair that Greg had used
earlier; ready to view whatever they had in mind for me. I hung there for what seemed like hours until Greg stood up and walked
towards me. As he neared me I could see
what he was carrying, it was a whip.
He came closer,
unravelling it as he walked. Then he
flicked it into the air at the side of me, snapping it to attention as he
pulled it abruptly downwards. I felt
the knot in my stomach tighten at the thought of what was coming. He walked around me like a panther waiting
to pounce on his pray. I heard the crack
of the whip before I felt it and tried to prepare myself for the blow, but it
was difficult because I couldn’t see where it was coming from. It struck my back with a force and I stifled
the moan that wanted to escape my lips.
Almost instantly I received another blow, and pained seared across my
back. He struck again and again, each
time the pain increased as he struck with more force.
The lashes were getting harder I could tell, not only by the noise but by the effect they were having on Mac’s back. No longer where the welts just marring it, now they were starting to tear into his skin. After a few more lashes, blood started to flow down his back as Greg changed direction, slashing him welt on top of welt.
For some reason
he didn’t scream out in pain like he had with Jake. Instead, he grunted, deeper and harder as the pain became more
intense, but not once, did he cry out in pain.
Greg stood in front of him.
“You know
MacGyver I think I should have tried a different method, you know my style with
this one; after all we went through this last time. There is one difference this time though, I’m not just going to
concentrate on your back, there are other parts of your body just as amenable
and I have a little surprise for the end”
With that he
flicked the whip sharply towards Mac’s face, he pulled back but it caught him
just above his right eyebrow, blood trickled down his face. I watched him flick his wrist and saw the
whip travel upwards towards Mac’s neck, again he pulled back but it caught him
on his already injured shoulder, he screwed his eyes tight and groaned with the
pain. Greg took a few steps backwards
and started moving the whip rapidly in a continuous motion towards Macs chest and
stomach. The end of the whip constantly
nipped at him, causing tiny cuts and lacerations to appear on the front of his
body.
Bored with the
new approach Greg walked behind him again and pulled back on the whip, then
smashed it hard across his back. Mac
jerked at the impact and let out a small moan.
He pounded the whip deep into his back a
couple of times, before he walked over to the chains. Mac was lowered so that he was standing on tiptoes, and Greg
momentarily left the room.
He returned
carrying a plate with a mound of something on top of it. I saw Mac take a big gulp and my stomach
knotted when the realisation of what he had in mind struck me. Walking towards Mac he smirked.
“What’s that
old saying? Oh yeah, rub salt into the
wound, that’s it. I think that’s
appropriate here, don’t you?”
Mac glared at
him as he put the plate down and grabbed a handful of salt. He walked around
him pressing his forefinger covered with salt into numerous cuts and
lacerations on his body, before finally stopping in front of him. He grabbed hold of Macs chin and moved his
head to the side, eyeing up the wound above his eyebrow. Letting him go, he dipped his hand into the
salt he was holding. I saw Macs jaw
tightened in anticipation of what was coming next. He flinched and groaned deeply, as the salt was rubbed hard into
the cut.
Greg didn’t
look too pleased that Mac wasn’t shouting out in pain. He spun on his heel and stormed back to the
desk. Grabbing the plate, he walked
behind Mac then turned to me and shouted.
“This is it Pete,
time for your boy to take another break”
With that he
placed the plate on the floor and grabbed two handfuls of salt. He stood up and slapped his hands down hard
onto Macs back, dragging them in a downward direction, pressing the salt deeper
and deeper into the wounds. Mac shouted
out in pain, no longer able to keep it inside.
“Aaarrggggghhhhhh”
Satisfied
momentarily Greg stepped back and smiled.
He then grabbed two more handfuls of salt and
repeated the process, only this time in an upward direction. Macs body lifted with the motion, his arms pulling on the chains trying
to get away from the pain. Groans
turned into howls as the salt penetrated the wounds. Greg bent down again and grabbed what was left of the salt, while
Mac hung there, now no longer able to support himself, whimpering. Greg looked over Mac’s back deciding what to
do with the remnants of the salt, he prodded at one of the welts opening the
wound wider, causing the blood to flow more freely and Mac to groan through
gritted teeth. He slapped his hand
right on top of the open welt and pushed the salt deep into the open
wound. Mac screamed, writhing in agony
before he was overcome with the pain and passed out. Greg dragged his blooded and salted hands across his shirt and smiled. With a contented look on his face he walked
over to Jake.
I don’t know
which was worse, electrocution or this, both were barbaric and I wondered how
much more Mac could take. The man had
suffered enough, when was it going to end?
When was Greg going to start asking question? I was reminded of his earlier words ‘not
before I have my fun’ I suppose
this was what he meant. Mac was his
fun, torturing him was just a game. Mac
always said that Greg was sick in the head, now I realised why.
Greg and Jake
walked over to Mac and took the restraints off him; he fell in a crumpled heap
on the floor. Smiling they left the
room. I tried to shuffle the chair
across towards him; it was all I could do.
It was difficult and was taking a long time but at least I was moving
and getting closer to him. I had to stop for a few minutes to catch my
breath. I looked down at Mac’s beaten
body and wanted to cry. He didn’t deserve this it was my fault. He’d come here
to find me, to save me. Why didn’t he
get backup? He’d have been ok then,
he’d have been safe. I swallowed the sob building up in my throat and tried to
move closer to him. I wanted to be
there for him when he woke up, I didn’t want him to alone. I was a few feet away from him when the door
opened and Terry walked in.
“What are you
doing over there Thornton?”
I looked over
to him and my heart dropped. He walked
behind me, pushed the chair onto two legs and dragged me back across the room,
into more or less the same place I’d started from. Leaning over he said.
“Maybe I should
stay and keep an eye on you two. It
doesn’t look like we can trust you on your own”
He pulled back
and strolled over to the chair Jake had been sitting in and sat down.
I arrived back
at The Phoenix Foundation and there was still no word from Mac. Something was wrong I had a bad feeling
about it. There was no way that Mac
wouldn’t have checked in by now, not when Pete was missing, unless he
couldn’t. The thought scared the life
out of me. First Pete and now Mac. I dialled the police and gave them the
license plate number for Mac’s jeep. I made up some cover story stressing how
urgent it was that I found the vehicle, and they said they’d get right on it.
I sat down and
thumbed my way through the print out I’d just been given and found
nothing. I decided to check the other
address out. I couldn’t sit idly by,
finding the car could be a way to finding my friends. I left word that if the police called I wanted to be informed
immediately, and headed off to Paulie’s Paint Shop. When I got there I found an abandoned building, it looked like
nobody had been there for quite a while.
I returned to my car, downhearted.
I decided to see
if Mac was parked up in front of Jake’s so I drove to the nearest phone booth
and called Helen for the address. She
told me Mac still hadn’t called. He’d
made no contact for almost 14 hours; I was getting worried.
I arrived at the
apartment block and found nothing. No
pick-up. No MacGyver. I turned the key in the ignition and was
about to drive off when I noticed a pick-up approaching from the north. I watched it pull up opposite me; and
hitting me right bang in the face, was a blue and white flame down the side
panel. I let the man enter the
building; it wasn’t Jake. Once he was
out of sight I leisurely crossed the road and strolled around the vehicle as if
I was admiring it. I noticed at the
edge of the flame a small dragon and thought of what Breeze had told me
earlier. I walked back to my car and
called Helen for back up. Jason arrived
quickly and I told him to stake the apartment out. I described the man I’d seen earlier and pointed to the
pick-up. I told him if he or anyone
else got into it, to follow them and see where they went. He nodded his understanding and I left to go
and pay another visit to, Jojo’s Paint Shop.
I opened my
eyes and pulled my hand towards my head.
The movement sent jolts of pain across my back and I was reminded of my
last encounter with Greg. I moaned and
lowered my arm back down, breathing heavily to bite back the pain. I heard footsteps running and coming to an
abrupt stop.
“HEY GUYS. HE’S
AWAKE!”
I didn’t
recognise the voice so it wasn’t Greg or Jake. It didn’t take a genius to work
out whom he meant by guys. I lifted my head and looked towards the doorway to see who it was;
it was Terry. I stole a glance around
the room and saw Pete still tied to the chair.
He looked worried; I guess I look a mess. I saw a shadow on the floor, looked up and saw two familiar faces
peering down at me. Jake shouted to
Terry.
“Clear the desk surface”
“Ok”
I didn’t have a clue as to what they had in
mind for me next. At least the beam
didn’t seem as interesting to them anymore, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad this
time round. Who am I kidding; this is
Greg and Jake we’re talking about. I
was yanked to my feet and man handled over to the desk. Terry was still clearing the top of it when
we got there.
“When you’ve done that, fetch those 4 belts
hanging up in the other room”
“Which room Jake?”
“The one Tanner likes so much”
Terry grinned.
“Oh that one, no prob”
I got the impression I was going to be tied
down on the desk. I was right. When Terry finished they hauled me up and
slammed my back down on top of it. I
bit down hard on my lip to avoid groaning, and tasted the blood in my mouth. Terry came back with the belts and I was
spread-eagled on top of the desk; each arm and leg was pulled taut as the belts
were wrapped around them and then securely tied into place, around the legs of
the desk.
Jake left the room and Greg bent over me.
“The games nearly over MacGyver”
I smiled up at him and said with a hint of
sarcasm in my voice.
“I could do with a rest”
I saw Jake coming back into the room carrying
a sack and gloves. He passed the gloves
to Greg and put the sack down very carefully before stepping back. Greg pulled the gloves on, and opened the
sack, cautiously. It revealed a
snake. It was probably about 25 or 26
inches with 3 defining colors running along its sleek body. In sequence the colors were black, yellow,
red. I knew this snake, think Mac, what
was it. As Greg stood up holding it
gingerly in his hands he turned to me.
“Do you recognize it MacGyver?”
I shook my head.
“It’s a Coral Snake and it’s highly
poisonous. It may take several hours
for the venom to enter the bloodstream, but when it does, its fast, very
fast”
Once he said that it all came back to me. I’d read an article about one once. Its venom is neurotoxic and attacks the
nervous system. Treatment is best
started within 2 hours to give the patient a better chance of recovery. I shuddered as I recalled that its teeth are
so short, most of them bite the toes or fingers of their victim, and that it
chews the skin a while before it injects its venom.
This was it, the final stage. I turned my head to the right and looked at
Pete. We both knew that if he didn’t
give the code I’d die, just like we both knew, he couldn’t.
“Jake”
I nearly jumped out of my skin when Greg
spoke.
“Yeah?”
“Take MacGyver’s sneakers and socks off”
I felt Jake tugging at my laces and before I
knew it, I was bare-footed. I heaved a big
sigh and closed my eyes momentarily, when I opened them Greg had gone. I craned my neck to see where he was and saw
him at the other end of the desk, at my feet.
He placed the snake down and it started sliding its sleek body along the
desk surface. It neared my feet and
unwittingly, I tensed up. I felt the
skin of it touch my toes and waited for it to bite me; it didn’t, instead it
moved higher up my leg. I let out the breath
I never knew I was holding and sank back down onto the desk. It crept up my body, wrapping itself around
my leg in a circular motion for what seemed like hours. Continuing its ascent up the left hand side
of my body until it got to my stomach, then it decided to change direction. It glided along my chest, up and towards my
face. I could hear my heart thumping in
my chest as it got nearer. I’ve never
been very keen on snakes, but now I think I hate them. I lay as still as possible, keeping my hands
in a tight fist, hoping that it’d lose interest and go to sleep; Greg had other
plans.
“This is taking too long. I think we need to
speed things up a bit”
I turned to look at him and noticed he’d taken
a cigarette out and lit it. The smoke
billowed into the air as he took a drag on it.
After a couple of puffs he lowered it towards the desk. The cigarette made contact with the sole of
my right foot and I jerked, but kept my hands in a tight ball. The snake suddenly stopped. Greg pushed the cigarette into my foot
again, harder this time but I was more prepared so only my right leg
moved. It was enough to make the snake
change direction and it started to slide towards my right shoulder.
“Greg, did you say it bites the fingers?”
“Yeah, why?”
“MacGyver's put his hands into a fist, don’t
worry I’ll sort that out now”
He walked until he was standing right above
me, then he lowered himself down. I tried to see what he was doing, but he was
behind me; it was impossible. Greg
burnt my foot again, distracting me.
The next thing I felt was intense pain as I was hit in both ears at the
same time. The force of the blow caused
my body to hunch forwards and both hands flung uncontrollably open. As I tried to compose myself I felt
something touching the fingertips on my right hand. I looked across and saw it was the snake. I flailed my hand about trying to push it
away but it was too late, it had already dug its teeth in and was hanging on
for grim life. I dropped my head back
on the desk and closed my eyes in defeat. I heard Greg and Jake congratulating
them selves just before another voice came into the room.
“Greg”
“What?”
“The buyers here”
I opened my eyes to watch the scene unfold in
front of me.
“What do you mean the buyers here, they’re not
supposed to arrive until 6.00?”
“Well they’re here, what do you want me to
tell them? They’re asking for you.”
Greg looked frantic. He rushed around the room, trying to think what to do. I laughed to myself watching my tormentor in
such a state, totally out of control and unsure of himself, something I hadn’t
seen much in Greg. He bawled his orders
out.
“Jake go to the room at the back, remove the
light bulb and check there’s nothing in there, and I mean NOTHING. If you see a nail, a tire, a piece of wood,
heck even a stick of chewing gum, anything, get it out of the
room”
He turned to leave but stopped dead in his
tracks when Greg shouted.
“WAIT!”
He turned his head.
“What?”
“There are no windows, right?”
“No windows, but the door has a small glass
panel in it”
“How small?”
“About 10 inches square”
“That should be ok as long as someone monitors
the door”
“I’ll do that”
“Ok then, GO!”
Jake disappeared out of the room and Greg
walked up to Terry. He pointed to Pete
and then to me giving his instructions, Terry nodded every now and again
confirming his words. Jake re-appeared
at the doorway and Greg looked up.
“Is the room empty?”
“Yeah”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded. Terry looked at Greg and sprang
into action. He ran over to Pete and
started to untie him. Jake came towards
me while talking to Greg.
“I take it we’re moving them into the back
room”
“Yeah”
Jake nodded towards Pete and Terry.
“Is it a good idea to untie him, why don’t you
just drag the chair into there?”
“Already thought of that. I’d make too much noise, we don’t want the
buyer to know they’re here”
“Oh”
Jake stopped near the desk and Greg continued
to walk to the doorway, he shouted over his shoulder.
“I’ll stall them the best I can, but get them
out of here as quickly as possible”
Jake and Terry answered him in unison.
“Ok”
Jake walked over to the sack, picked it up and
came and stood next to my right hand.
I’m not sure how he did it, but somehow he managed to get the snake to
release its grip on me, and shoved it back inside the sack. Then he tied a knot in the top of it and
headed towards a side room. As he
passed Terry I heard him tell him to take us into the back room, and that he’d
be there as soon as he’d disposed of the snake. Terry nodded his agreement and told him he wouldn’t leave the
door unattended, he’d wait until he returned.
I watched Terry remove Pete’s gag and cut what
was left of the ropes restraining him, then pull him up and across the room
until he stood beside me. I noticed he
was wobbly on his feet, looking up at him I gave a small smile. Terry cut the belts binding me and I was
told to get off the desk. I tried to
push myself up but didn’t have much luck.
Pete curled his arm under my neck and gently pulled me into a sitting
position. He then draped one of my arms
over his shoulder and pulled me to my feet, supporting me around the waist at
the same time. I leant heavily on him
and we staggered into the other room.
Pushed from behind, we fell forwards.
I crashed down on top of Mac and he groaned.
“Sorry Mac”
I got off him off him as quickly as
possible. Although the light bulb had
been removed, there was enough light streaming in through the small glass pane
in the door to be able to see quite well in the room. I looked down and saw Mac’s shivering form on the floor. I removed my sweater and shirt, and then put
my sweater back on. Before I attempted
to put the shirt on Mac I took at look at him. Deep lacerations covered his back, dirt from the floor rubbing
into his now tender skin.
“Pete”
Kneeling to the side of him, I gently grabbed
his shoulders and pulled his body towards me, so that he was supported in my
arms.
“Its ok Mac, I’m here”
I could see the pain in his eyes, each movement
made him cringe.
“You should have tried to make a run for it”
“And leave you? Never. We’re in this
together, don’t forget that Mac!”
Before answering me he took a deep gulp of
air. He scrunched his eyes up until the
pain subsided, then slowly opened them and looked up at me.
“I’m going to die Pete. I read an article on that snake, it said…”
“I don’t care what it said, you’re NOT
going to die. We’ll find a way out of
this”
“How?”
“I’m thinking. You know that’s usually your department so it could take a while”
He
laughed and clutched his body.
“Don’t make me laugh Pete, it hurts too much”
“Sorry.
Mac I need to take a look at you, ok?”
He took a deep breath and nodded for me to go
ahead. I lowered him gently onto his
back on the floor, and he grinded his teeth together to control the pain. I grabbed hold of my shirt and dangled it
above him.
“You know Pete I think it’s a bit too big for
me”
He chuckled to himself and I grinned down at
him.
“I thought it hurt you to laugh”
“It does, but I couldn’t resist that one”
His stomach wasn’t too bad; there were cuts
and lacerations but nothing serious. I
touched his ribs and he squirmed, I pulled my arm back quickly.
“Sorry”
“I think I might have a cracked rib or
something”
“It might have been helpful if you’d mentioned
that before”
Mac turned to me with an apologetic look on
his face. I realized what I’d said, and
my face flushed with embarrassment.
“Sorry about that. I was just annoyed because I’d hurt you. It was my fault. I didn’t mean to take it
out on you. You’ve been through enough
without me having a go at you too”
He lifted his hand and gently touched my arm.
“Its ok Pete, don’t beat yourself up over it”
I gave him a small smile and took a look at
his right shoulder; there was pretty deep gash on it. After that I looked at
the cut above his eyebrow, it looked nasty, might even leave a scar.
“I’m going to look at your back now, ready?”
“Ok”
Mac took a deep breath and I rolled him onto
his side, making sure I supported him at the same time. His back was a mess. Some of the welts were just marks of where
the whip had made its impact and others showed the damage that had been
inflicted on him. There was one wound
that stood out more than any of the others.
It was red and inflamed round the edge of the cut, the sure sign that
infection was starting to set in.
“Ready to try and put my shirt on?”
He grinned up at me.
“Yeah”
I helped him into a sitting position and he
slid one arm into the sleeve. I pulled
the shirt round his body, and then helped him with the other one. We stopped a couple of times for Mac to
catch his breath when the pain struck him by surprise. I hated seeing him like this. I moved behind him and knelt down so that I
was in a sitting position on my feet, then I carefully pulled Mac backwards
into my body where I could give him the support he needed. We sat in silence; both deep in thought,
both scared of what the future held.
I quickly drove back to Jojo’s Paint
Shop. He’d lied to me! This time I wasn’t going to be fobbed
off. I entered the building and looked
for the man I’d spoken to earlier, surprisingly enough; he’d left. Well that wasn’t going to stop me. I looked around and found a door leading
into a room, which judging by its appearance; must be where all the specialized
paintwork was done. I snooped around,
lifting this and that, but couldn’t really find anything of significance. Just as I was about to leave a young man
came into the room. He looked shocked
to see me. I thought I’d try a
different technique.
“Hello.
Are you Spud?”
“Yeah.
Can I help you?
He dragged his hand across his shirt as if to ensure
it was clean and then offered it to me.
I smiled and nodded at him. He
got the hint and let his hand fall to his side.
“A friend of mine had a blue and white flame
painted onto the side panels of his silver pick-up recently. He told me you’d done it. It’s a very nice job; my nephew is looking
for something similar. I was wondering
if you could help”
He shifted on his feet nervously before
replying.
“Ah…..I don’t think that’s my work, maybe you
should ask somewhere else”
“No it’s definitely yours. It even has the little dragon you paint on
as a trade mark”
He seemed to settle down a bit when I said
that.
“Oh yeah, well, it must be mine then. What sorta thing is your nephew after?”
“I’m not really sure but I know he loved what
you did with the pick-up. Have you got
any photos of it during the different stages?”
It was a long shot, but I know sometimes
artists do that sort of thing.
“Yeah I have, they’re in here”
He walked over to one of the metal cupboards
in the room and pulled a door open.
Reaching inside he pulled out a file labeled 8C3156, the plate number
instantly grabbed my attention, the same 3 digits on the end that MacGyver had
mentioned. I followed him to a small desk in the corner of the room.
He plunked himself down and opened the
folder. While he was prattling on about
his photos, and what was done at each stage, I was scanning the form looking
for who the pick-up was registered to.
I threw the odd oh, ah and yes in now again, just to keep the young man
thinking I was listening. I nearly
shouted out a cheer when I found the information I needed. I looked around and noticed a can of soda on
the desk. I leant over and told him how
much I liked a particular picture and accidentally spilt the drink. Spud jumped up in the air and ran across the
room. I quickly grabbed the folder and
photos off the desk. Retrieving the
page I needed I stuffed it into my pocket, and then removed the paper clip
which was holding all the pages together in the file. He returned with a
handful of tissues. I smiled at him and
waved the file around.
“Thought I’d rescue these for you”
As I spoke the pages in the file flew out,
some landed on the floor, others on the desk.
I bent down to retrieve them, smiling sweetly at him as I spoke.
“Oh I’m so sorry. I’m such a klutz. I bet
you’ll be glad to see the back of me”
He looked up at me and smiled.
“No I don’t, its just one of those things”
I passed him the empty folder.
“That’s so nice of you to say. I think I’d better go before I cause any
more damage. Could I have one of those
photos to show my nephew or would you prefer me to bring him here?”
He rummaged through the photos scattered on
the floor and handed me the one I’d pointed at. I took it from him thanking him profusely, and left.
I don’t know how long we’d been in that room
but it seemed like hours. I could feel
the heat radiating from Mac’s body, the infection was getting worse, or was it
the venom? I didn’t know what the
symptoms were and I’d cut Mac off in mid-sentence when he started to tell me
earlier. I looked down at him; his eyes
were closed. I panicked and shook him,
wildly.
“MAC”
His head flopped from side to side, and then I
heard a small groan emitted from his lips.
I sighed in relief. Being
gentler this time I shook him again. He
wearily opened his eyes and attempted to focus on me.
“What are the symptoms of the venom?”
“Can’t remember, too tired”
“Mac, what are they?”
“Want to sleep”
“MAC, TELL ME”
“Nausea…drowsiness…vomiting…breathing
difficulties…paralysis sometimes”
I listened to him reel them off. The word ‘drowsiness’ repeating itself, over
and over in my mind. Was the venom
starting to affect him? Did he have any
other symptoms? I pulled him tight
against me.
“Pete”
“Yeah”
“Thanks”
“For what?”
“For not letting me die alone”
“You’re not dead yet Mac, don’t talk like
that!”
“I feel sick Pete. I feel really sick”
I smoothed out the crumpled up page and
scanned once more for the information I needed. There it was three quarters of the way down. The vehicle was registered to warehouse 10
in the industrial area down town. At
last something solid to go on. I arranged
for a search warrant to be drawn up and sat back in the chair, placing my hands
over my face. There was a knock on the
door so I pushed myself into an upright sitting position, and let my hands drop
to my sides.
“I followed the guy in the pick-up, he ended
up here”
Jason dropped a piece of paper onto my
desk.
“Any news on Pete and Mac?”
“No, not yet”
We were interrupted when the phone rang. I went to answer it and Jason decided to
leave, he gave a quick wave of his hand and left.
“Hello”
“Nikki its Helen. The police have found Mac’s jeep”
“Any sign of Mac?”
“No.
They dropped a full report off, I’ll bring it to you now”
“Thanks”
I looked down at the piece of paper Jason had
just given me. I wasn’t that surprised
to discover it was the same address I’d just found the pick-up registered
to. There was a knock on the door. I looked up; it was Helen. She came inside and handed me the police
report. I smiled at her, waving the
piece of paper round.
“I think we’ve got something”
Her eyes lit up and for the first time in 3
days I saw her smile. She turned to
leave; I picked up the police report and flicked through the pages. They’d found his jeep down town not too far
away from the industrial area that Jason had just been to. Was that a coincidence? I don’t think so. I turned another page and found a piece of paper with Mac’s
writing on it; it looked like a license plate number. I scanned through the rest of the report looking for any
information the police may have pulled up on the plate. I found the relevant page and couldn’t
believe what I saw. It was a black
ford, registered to warehouse 10. I decided
to forget the warrant and go straight in, it must be where they were
holding Pete and Mac. I picked up the
phone and called a few guys explaining what I’d found, they agreed to give me
some backup and we set off to warehouse 10.
The door of the room flung open and Jake
walked in. He looked at Mac and smiled,
before turning round and shouting to Greg.
“I think we better speed this up a bit”
Greg and Terry appeared at the door, both
smirked when they saw the condition of Mac.
A gun was pointed at me and I was told to stand up. Seeing it was impossible with Mac leaning on
me, Terry came over and pulled him off. He half pulled, half dragged Mac into
the room with the beam and plunked him down onto a chair. Jake and I followed closely behind them, and
I was led to a chair opposite Mac and told to sit down. My arms were pulled behind my back and bound
by the wrists, and then they tied my ankles to the legs of the chair.
Terry left Mac unrestrained and left the
room. He returned with a bucket of
water and threw it over him. The water
must have been freezing cold because it woke Mac up with a start. He tried to focus his eyes while looking
around the room. His arms were tied
behind his back and his ankles tied to the legs of the chair. Terry left the room and Greg entered,
closing the door behind. He came and
stood in front of me.
“Tell me the entry code or MacGyver dies, it’s
as simple as that. You can see that the
snakebite is taking its effects on him, at the moment there’s still time to
save him. Give me the code”
“Don’t tell him Pete”
Jake stormed across the room and slugged Mac
in his stomach.
“Are you going to give me the code, or does
MacGyver die?”
He stepped to the side so that I was looking
directly at Mac.
“Don’t Pete.
No matter what they do, don’t give them the code”
Jake pulled his arm back as if to strike Mac
again and Greg stopped him. He turned
to me.
“I’ll ask you one more time. What is the
code?”
I sat there in silence. Mac nodded his head and smiled. Greg looked at Jake and I could tell he
wasn’t happy. Oh god; I hope I wasn’t
doing the wrong thing. I hope Mac knew
this man well enough to know how far to push him.
Greg stood in front of Mac and Jake at the
side. I wasn’t sure what was going to
happen next, and by the look of Mac neither did he. Jake grabbed his mouth and forced it open, and then Greg pushed
the barrel of his gun into it. He
turned to me.
“You have till the count of 3 to tell me the
entry code….1,2”
He armed the weapon, looked at me and put his
finger on the trigger. I could tell he
was going to press it. I couldn’t stand it any longer; I shouted the code out
at the top of my voice.
“6820FGXPI579”
At the same time the door burst open and
gunshots were fired in all directions.
Distracted momentarily I turned back and saw Mac’s chair falling backwards
and hit the floor. He didn’t move; I
went numb. I pulled frantically at the
ropes binding me, not caring if I made myself a target; I had to get to Mac. I
yanked my arms as hard as I could to try and break to bond. I could feel the rope burning my wrists,
tearing into my flesh with each tug. I
could tell they were bleeding; the ropes were becoming sloppy. I noticed someone touching him, checking his
vitals. I looked up; it was Nikki.
“Nikki!?”
“He’s ok Pete”
“Greg shot him. I saw him fall”
“He didn’t shoot him”
“I saw him”
Nikki walked over and knelt down next to me,
she touched my arm.
“You saw him fall Pete, just fall. He hasn’t been shot, trust me”
“But he’s not moving”
“He’s unconscious. He must have hit his head on the floor when he fell”
I looked at Nikki through tear stained eyes.
“Its ok.
He’s going to be alright, you’re going to be alright”
I suddenly realized they didn’t
know about the snakebite.
“He was bitten by a snake”
The medic attending Mac heard me and turned
his head.
“What was the name of it?”
“Coral”
“Any idea how long ago the venom was
administered?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“I don’t know. He became drowsy and felt sick about an hour ago, he said they were
some of the symptoms”
“They are and we need to react fast if it’s
been that long. We need to get him to
the ICU now!”
He yelled to a couple of the other medics and
within what seemed like seconds, Mac was whisked away on a gurney. Nikki fumbled with the ropes binding me, her
hands slipping due to the blood. She
stood up and asked someone else to try instead, then walked towards the center
of the room. She saw the remnants of
the belts on the desk; the whip flung idly on the floor covered in blood, her
body sagged. I felt my arms fall free
and I got up and walked over to her.
She heard me approach and turned to me.
“It was a trap. They wanted him all along”
“Yeah, and I was the bait. They wanted the code for the vault, but it
was a secondary issue. Greg wanted to
hurt Mac, he wanted to kill him”
We looked at each other and in silence walked
out of the building, and then got into her car. She drove like a madwoman to the hospital. When we got there we rushed to the ICU and
were told he was in surgery. A nurse
pointed to some seats, and told us she’d let us know the minute he came
out. Minutes turned into hours as we
sat and waited. Doctors and nurses
filtered past us, but nobody had any news on Mac. Eventually a nurse came and told us to follow her. She led us into one of the side rooms. I was taken aback by what I saw. There were leads going into his body in numerous
places and he was hooked up to a heart-monitor, it scared me to see him like
that, I needed to know he was going to be ok.
I turned to the nurse.
“How is he?”
“He’s stable at the moment”
“He’s going to be all right though isn’t he?”
“It’s going to take time, he’s been through a
lot”
I looked down at his pale, still form on the bed
and felt like I was suffocating. I
needed some air; I had to get out, I left the room. I heard Nikki apologizing
to the nurse for my sharp exit, she told her it was ok, she understood. I decided to try and find a doctor, one
that’d tell me what I needed to know.
Initially nobody wanted to tell me anything;
they said I wasn’t family. After I explained the situation one of the doctors
took pity on me and led me into a side room.
I asked if Mac’s life was in any immediate danger and was told that he’d
received the anti-venom for the snakebite, and was responding well to it. He said if the medic who brought him in
hadn’t reacted with such haste, and made sure everyone was aware what the
problem was, it could have been a very different story. I silently thanked that medic for his quick
reactions.
He didn’t go into great detail about Mac’s
injuries, but told me enough for me to understand what was going on. A few of the lacerations on his back had
required sutures and become infected, treatment had started, but he was very
concerned over one cut in particular, and as a result would be keeping a close
eye on it. He had a couple of cracked
ribs that they’d strapped up for support and there was some bruising on his
kidneys, which they were just starting to administer treatment on. The cut above his eyebrow had required
sutures and there was a possibility it could leave a scar. It turned out that most of his other
injuries were minor in comparison, and nothing to worry about.
I asked about the heart-monitor and IV’s
they’d hooked up to him, and he explained why and what functions they had. The heart-monitor was a precaution incase
there were any adverse effects with the venom, and they were just setting up the
catheter to remove the excess fluids from his kidneys. They’d set up some IV’s to get the treatment
into his system quicker; there was one with the anti-biotics to fight the
infection, one with sedatives to help him relax and one with fluids to help with
the de-hydration.
I thanked the doctor for his help and got up
to leave. He told me to try, not to
worry. That Mac was in the best place
and his staff were very good at what they did.
I smiled at him and shook his hand.
I returned to the side room they’d put Mac in, and Nikki looked up.
“Feeling better?”
I smiled at her.
“Yeah, sorry about that”
“It’s ok Pete, I understand. The nurse said he’s responding well”
“That’s what
the doctor said”
She looked
towards him.
“That was close
Pete”
I sat down on a
chair, the opposite side of the bed to Nikki and looked at Mac.
“I know”
A nurse came
into the room to check on Mac and noticed my wrists. I told her I was all right but she insisted on tending to them,
eventually I relented and went with her.
Before I opened my eyes I knew I was in a hospital, I could
tell by the smell and the sounds. I
moved my hand cautiously along the cover of the bed, and felt someone grab hold
of it. I tensed up, instantly. Whoever it was let go of my hand
immediately. I opened my eyes and saw
Pete; it must have been him. I tried to speak, but couldn’t, my throat was
raw.
“Want a drink?”
I nodded and Pete poured a glass of water. He found a straw, put it inside the glass
and helped me drink. I gulped at the
water.
“Sip it Mac, not too much”
He took the glass away, put it on the side, and then sat
back down on the chair. He looked like
he hadn’t slept for days; there were red rims around his eyes and he looked
totally drained.
“Thanks”
He gave me small smile.
“You had me scared there for a while. I thought I was going to lose you”
“I was pretty scared myself”
“I’m sorry Mac”
“For what?”
“Letting you down”
“You never let me down Pete, I don’t think you ever could”
“That’s nice of you to say, but I don’t deserve it”
“Why not?”
“You’re my best friend and I nearly got you……..”
“Don’t. I know what
you’re thinking and you’re wrong. The
gun wasn’t loaded”
“What?”
“When he cocked the gun I could see the chamber Pete, it
was empty”
“I thought….”
“I know; that’s what he wanted you to think. He was playing another one of his sick
games, messing with our minds”
“But it might not have been, he could have…….”
“Please Pete…don’t!
Let it go, its time to move on”
He got up and stood by the window, looking down to the
street below.
“Sometimes we take people for granted, we never tell them
how much care”
He turned to look at me.
“You know what I mean?”
I smiled at him.
“Yeah Pete, I know exactly what you mean”
“Good. I think I’ll
go home and get some sleep”
“You look like you need it”
“I couldn’t sleep before, but now I think I’ll be ok”
“Well, you know where I am if you can’t. Somehow I don’t think I’ll be going far for
a while”
He laughed and walked towards the door.
“Pete”
He turned to look at me.
“What?”
“Remember when we were in that room alone?”
“Yeah”
“You said we’re in this together. We still are
Pete, if you need me I’m here”
He smiled at me.
“Thanks Mac, same goes for me”
“I know. Bye Pete”
“Bye Mac”
--------------------------
The End