Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
MacGyver kept Addison at his side as he made his way toward another blue Conex. With every container they opened without finding Ellory and Yana, his confidence took a hit.
But there were cops and current and former SEALs all over the shipyard. At least twenty men he didn’t know had shown up, along with his own circle of friends, and more were apparently on their way. If Yana and Ellory were here, they’d find them.
It was the if that had MacGyver feeling antsy and a little worried.
The men had fanned out, covering as much ground as they could. The only sound in the night was the squeaking of hinges as containers were opened and closed. The lights in the yard had been turned on in the area they were searching, making it seem more like day than night. But even with the enhanced brightness, the search was slow-going.
He and Addison were working mostly in silence. What was there to say? He couldn’t give her false hope, and they both knew the clock was ticking. The longer it took to find them, the more worried they both were that they were too late. That the container had already been loaded onto a ship and was even now chugging its way across the ocean.
There was also the matter of the man who’d taken them. They had no way of knowing if he was still on the premises. For that reason, no one called out for the girls. On one hand, they wanted Ellory and Yana to know that people were looking for them. On the other, they couldn’t afford to alert Brady’s associate. If there was any chance at all that he still had access to their girls, he might hurt them…end things right here and now.
It was impossible to know what was the right thing to do in this situation.
They were opening what seemed like the hundredth container when there was the sound of a commotion behind them. Turning, MacGyver saw about four men running toward something. No, some one .
Two someones.
He was moving even before he thought about what his feet were doing.
He’d recognize Ellory and Yana anywhere.
“Mom!” Ellory yelled.
“Ricky!” Yana called out at the same time.
MacGyver had no idea how he covered so much ground so fast, but before he knew it, he had one of his daughters in his arms. He went to his knees, and Yana threw herself at him, sobbing so hard he could feel her little body hitching against his own as she held him with all the strength she had.
Addison was right there at his side, with Ellory in her embrace.
MacGyver had never felt like this before. The relief was overwhelming. Tears sprang to his eyes. He’d come so close to losing part of his family. He needed to talk to the girls. Get their stories. Figure out what happened so it would never happen again. Yes, he’d heard Vogel’s side of the situation, but he had no doubt that the man had downplayed the events.
“Are you all right?” he asked, pulling back and putting his hands on Yana’s cheeks, running his gaze up and down her body, checking for injuries, for anything that looked out of place. Her hair was in disarray, she was dirty, there was a small scrape on her face, and she had a stuffed bear in her arms that MacGyver had never seen before…but otherwise, she looked remarkably whole.
“I am okay,” Yana said clearly. “Ellory here. She help. Safe.”
He interpreted his daughter’s words easily. She was learning English so quickly…Tears sprang to his eyes again. “Ellory?” he asked, looking over at the preteen and his wife. “Are you good?”
“Yeah.”
“Not hurt?” MacGyver clarified.
“No. I think I scraped my side getting out of the container, but otherwise I’m okay. Scared and so glad to see you and Mom, but okay.”
MacGyver held out an arm, and both Ellory and Addison leaned into him. The four of them knelt there on the ground and held each other. Thanking their lucky stars that they were together again.
Ellory lifted her head and looked at MacGyver. “He was here just a few minutes ago, still looking for us. Black shirt, jeans. He has brown hair and it’s cut real short. He’s not too tall. And not fat but…thick.”
Once again, MacGyver was amazed by Ellory. She had every right to be hysterical, and yet she was doing her best to help catch the guy who’d sold them.
“On it,” Kevlar said from behind MacGyver. He turned to the dozen or so men who were standing around and ordered, “Fan out. Find him. No one leaves this yard without being questioned.”
Immediately, the SEALs who’d come to find the girls disappeared behind Conexes, looking for the man Ellory described. Everyone except for MacGyver’s team. They were all surrounding the family. Protecting them.
Ellory stepped back from her mom, and Yana pulled away from MacGyver to hug her, holding on to her sister just as tightly as she had to him. The girls had been through something that had obviously strengthened the bond between them.
Looking around at MacGyver’s teammates, Ellory gave them a small smile. “You’re all here. Wait, where’s Artem and Borysko? Did he take them?! It was Brady!” she blurted, looking at her mom in a panic.
“Shhhh, we know. Your brothers are safe. Wolf is back at the house with them, along with Remi, Wren, Josie, Maggie, and a few others. And Brady’s in custody. He admitted what happened.”
“ His story about what happened,” MacGyver interrupted. “Can you tell us your side?”
“I was called out of class. He told me that you were both hurt, that you were dying , and he was there to pick me up and bring me to you. I asked him to pick up Yana too, because I know that’s what you always did, Mom, and I had no idea how long I’d be at the hospital and I didn’t want her to be left at school. Then he brought us here instead of the hospital, took my phone, and he hurt Yana to make me get out of his car. Then he and the other guy locked us in the container. He said he sold my organs! That my heart was going to go to some girl overseas.”
Ellory’s eyes filled with tears as she leaned into Addison. Yana’s arms were still around her sister, trying to offer her support.
“Why would he do that?” she asked quietly. “I thought he wanted to get to know me.”
“I don’t know, sweetheart,” Addison said. “Some people are just…”
As she searched for the right word, MacGyver finished for her. “Evil. Some people are just evil, El. Vogel is more interested in money than anything else. It has nothing to do with you, sweetheart. If he could get money out of his own mother, I’m sure he would’ve tried.”
The preteen took a deep breath then nodded. She wiped her face with her shoulder and stood up straighter. “He said he was going to blame me . That he could do something with my phone to make it look like I texted him and asked him to pick me up. That it was my idea to say you guys had been in an accident. But I didn’t! I wouldn’t .”
“We know, El. We have a guy looking at your phone records, he’ll be able to prove that the texts were fake and the timestamps were manipulated,” MacGyver soothed. He stood and picked up Yana, wanting her in his arms.
She held out the bear she was holding. “Beary!”
MacGyver smiled. “He’s very cute.”
“Song. Lights!”
“It plays ‘Jingle Bells’ and has flashing lights,” Ellory said. “There were boxes of them in the container we were in. I found them, and we used them for light to see what else we could find.”
MacGyver had never been so proud of anyone in his life. “And? What else did you find?”
“Well, no cell phones to call for help, but there were these ridiculous little tool sets. With these tiny hammers and screwdrivers in them? I saw that the bottom of the container was rusted out, so we used the tools to make the hole as big as we could. Then when the Conex was lifted, we dropped out the bottom and ran.”
Ellory turned toward his teammates, who were listening intently even as they watched for anyone who might spring out from behind one of the containers to attack the girls. They had no indication that would happen, but no one was taking any chances.
“Smiley?” she asked.
“Yeah?” the gruff-looking SEAL said.
“Is your name really Jude? Jude Stark?”
He frowned in confusion. Even MacGyver wondered where in the world the question had come from.
“Yes. Why? How did you know that?”
“Your friend told me.”
“My friend? What friend?” Smiley asked.
It was Ellory’s turn to look confused. “The girl. Um…she told me her name, but I forget it now. She was here. She found me and Yana hiding. Said she’d lead the bad guy away and for us to run here, toward where everyone was searching for us.”
As far as MacGyver knew, other than Addison, there weren’t any women who’d come to search. He supposed it wasn’t outside the possibility that there was a woman who’d arrived after everyone had split up, but he wasn’t aware of any.
“Bree,” Yana said suddenly.
“That’s it!” Ellory said with a smile. “Good job, Yana. She said her name was Bree, and you were her friend. She made some noise and got the guy to chase after her. That’s when we ran back here to you guys.”
“Are you sure that was her name?” Smiley asked, clearly stunned.
Now MacGyver was confused. They all knew about the woman from Vegas, the one Smiley had been searching for desperately. The one who’d been sold along with Josie. But his teammate hadn’t been able to find any sign of her. How could she be in Riverton? Let alone here, at this shipyard, while they were looking for Ellory and Yana? It seemed like too much of a coincidence.
Smiley anxiously glanced around the shipyard.
“Go,” Preacher said.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes,” Kevlar answered for all of them. “If that was your Bree, you have to go.”
“Not to mention, if she led the perp away from the girls, she’s put herself in danger,” Safe added. “Now that we’ve found Ellory and Yana, a couple of us can go with you. See if we can find her.”
“No. We don’t know where this guy is, or if he’s got help. Stay here and make sure the girls remain safe. If Bree’s still here, I’ll find her.” Smiley quickly turned away and ran toward the direction the girls had come from.
Almost as soon as he was gone, there was shouting from the opposite direction. From the entrance to the shipyard.
“Come on. Let’s get you guys somewhere safer,” Flash said, gesturing toward the command center that had been hastily set up.
Addison maneuvered them so that Ellory was between her and MacGyver. He put his arm around his stepdaughter’s shoulders as he held Yana and walked toward where people were congregating.
They arrived at the same time as two former SEALs. They had a man restrained between them. He looked exactly as Ellory had described. He was cursing at the men holding him, shouting at them to let go, claiming he was just a dockworker trying to do his job. He threatened to call the police and have them all arrested for trespassing.
“Is that him?” Kevlar asked Ellory.
She nodded, her eyes huge in her face as she stared at the man with fear.
He suddenly wrenched his right arm upward, obviously surprising the man holding it, allowing him time to pivot and slam his fist into the crotch of the guy on his other side. Unprepared, the former SEAL let go. It all happened in a matter of seconds.
Instead of making a run for freedom, the asshole came straight at Ellory.
The look on his face was pure evil. Fury. Resentment.
MacGyver had put Yana down the moment the man yanked his arm free, lunging in front of Ellory and his family. He had no weapons but that didn’t matter. He’d always stand between his family and any kind of danger.
The SEALs who’d restrained him recovered immediately and sprang forward, but the man had desperation on his side. As he ran toward them, he pulled a gun and aimed.
Pandemonium broke out all around them. The man didn’t say anything, all his attention on Ellory, who MacGyver prayed was sufficiently out of gunshot range behind him.
He managed to get off one shot before he was literally tackled by half a dozen men, disappearing under a pile of bodies. MacGyver recognized Dude and Abe, two of Wolf’s former teammates, as well as Flash and Blink. The other men who’d taken down the kidnapper, MacGyver didn’t know, beyond the fact they were SEAL brothers.
Quickly turning, he held out his arms to further protect his family and urge them backward, away from the altercation.
Addison inhaled sharply. “You’re bleeding!” she exclaimed.
“Ricky, your arm!” Ellory shouted at the same time.
Yana’s lip quivered as she stared at the blood.
Looking down, MacGyver saw blood oozing from under his shirt sleeve. He flexed his biceps and winced, but he could move his arm and the blood wasn’t pumping out rhythmically, indicating a major artery was severed. He was good. His main concern at the moment was getting his girls away from the asshole who’d dared point a fucking weapon at them.
“I’m fine. It’s just a graze. We need to move away. Come on, back up.”
But his girls weren’t having it. Addison stepped into his space and put her hand over the wound on his upper arm, pressing hard. Ellory put a hand over her mom’s, and Yana grabbed his other hand, holding onto it tightly as she stared up at him.
“I’m fine, I promise,” he said, feeling overwhelmed with emotion.
“You were shot ,” Addison whispered.
“He was trying to shoot me,” Ellory said, her voice trembling, “and you stepped right in front of us. Like you weren’t concerned at all that he was pointing a gun at you!”
Somehow, MacGyver managed to maneuver his family backward, away from the pile of bodies behind him. Did he want to be involved in beating the shit out of the man who dared threaten his family? Yes. But he needed to reassure his girls more.
He got them to move at least thirty more feet away from the man who’d tried to kill one or all of them, then he sat on the ground. Yana immediately crawled into his lap, while his wife and stepdaughter did their best to give him first-aid. They lifted his sleeve and insisted on pouring a bottle of water over the wound that Preacher had given to Ellory earlier.
MacGyver was vaguely aware that the man who was obviously the mastermind behind Ellory’s kidnapping was now lying motionless on the ground, SEALs standing guard around him. He had no idea if he was dead or not, but for the moment, he didn’t care.
It took another hour for things at the shipyard to calm down.
The paramedics arrived, the man’s body was covered with a sheet—which answered the question about whether he was alive or dead—and MacGyver’s arm was taken care of. He refused transport to the hospital after seeing for himself that the bullet had merely taken a chunk of flesh out of his arm. He’d definitely suffered worse while on missions.
Ellory had been questioned by the police and was going to have to go in the next day for a more extensive statement. Tex was working on getting data off her phone to send to the detectives, and they would be getting the videos from the schools to review as well. And Addison had already demanded meetings with the principals, vice principals, and resource officers at both schools to make sure someone was held accountable for what had happened.
The men who’d been holding on to the kidnapper—whose identity was as of yet unknown—apologized profusely for letting down their guard, and after personally thanking each and every person who’d shown up to search for the girls, MacGyver and his family were finally on their way home.
Artem and Borysko were overcome with emotion at seeing their sisters safe and sound, as were the other women and Wolf. It took another hour and a half for things to calm down at the house, and when all the kids decided to sleep together in the girls’ room, neither MacGyver nor Addison protested.
Everyone was feeling a little off-kilter. It would take a while for things to go back to normal, but MacGyver could only be relieved that everyone was home. Safely.
Addison clung to him a little harder when they finally settled into their bed. They’d left their door open in case any of the kids woke up frightened in the night.
After a few long moments, she looked up at him. MacGyver expected her to tell him she loved him. Maybe how relieved she was that they’d found Ellory and Yana. What he didn’t expect was the look of anger on her face or the way she was glaring at him.
“What?” he asked, his brow furrowing.
“If you ever do that again, I’ll shoot you myself,” she honest-to-God growled.
“Do what?” MacGyver asked, honestly confused.
“Put yourself in the direct line of fire of a freaking bullet!” she hissed. “I mean it, don’t do that shit. You could’ve died !”
MacGyver relaxed, now that he knew what she was so upset about. “I’m sorry, I can’t agree to that.”
Addison came up on an elbow and glared down at him.
“There is no situation where I would not put myself between you or my children and any danger. That’s not how I’m wired, Addy. I will do whatever it takes to make sure you’re safe. That Ellory is safe. That Yana, Artem, and Borysko are safe. Yes, even if that means stepping in front of a bullet. Because I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I stood by and did nothing and any of you were hurt.”
“You think I’d be able to live with myself if you died protecting me?” Addison asked just as passionately.
MacGyver rolled until his wife was on her back beneath him. He hovered over her, careful not to put too much weight on his injured arm, willing her to understand. “You married a protector,” he told her seriously. “I’ll protect my teammates, their families, my country, and anyone else who needs it to the best of my ability. But you? And my children? I will go to the ends of the earth to make sure they have everything they need and want in their lives. I will teach my girls self-defense, my boys to stand up for the rights of anyone being discriminated against, and I will always, always , stand between danger and those I love. Besides, don’t think I didn’t see you do the exact same thing. You stepped in front of Ellory and Yana as if you were prepared to take a bullet for them. You know exactly how I feel—because you felt it too.”
Addison stared up at him, and MacGyver saw tears fill her eyes. He didn’t think she even knew she was very gently caressing the bandage over the wound on his upper arm. “I love you,” she whispered as the tears overflowed and fell down her temple into her hairline. “So much it scares me. I can’t do this without you.”
“This?”
“This parenting thing.”
“Wrong. You’ve been doing it for years with Ellory, and you didn’t miss a beat when you had three more kids added to the one you already take care of.”
“Fine. Then I can’t do the parenting-a-baby thing without you.”
MacGyver froze. “What? Are you saying…” His voice trailed off.
“No. I mean, I don’t think I’m pregnant yet, but with the way you’re taking the impregnation job so seriously, it’s only a matter of time. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to deal with an infant. I can’t do the feedings, the diapers, the crying…all of it, and work, and take care of the other four kids we have, all by myself. And I can’t have you throwing yourself in front of bullets all the time. I need you, Ricky. I love you so much it’s almost scary.”
He was both relieved and disappointed she wasn’t already pregnant. “No more bullets,” he agreed, although silently, he knew down to his soul that if they were ever again in any kind of situation like they were in today, he’d do the exact same thing.
“No more bullets,” she echoed.
MacGyver eased down and pulled his wife into his arms once more. Looking over at the clock, he saw it was almost two in the morning. The kids would be exhausted tomorrow. Crabby. Ellory had to go to the police station to make her statement. He needed to talk to Smiley—no one had seen him again after he’d learned Bree was at the shipyard, that she’d essentially saved Ellory and Yana from being recaptured. He wanted to thank Wolf and his team once more, Addison needed to spend some time with the other women, have some girl time to reassure them, and herself, that everyone was all right.
They all had a busy day tomorrow. It would be difficult, but they’d get through it…as a family.
It was hard to believe that such a short time ago, he was living a solitary life. He wouldn’t trade the chaos he now lived in for anything. Some people thought it was crazy for him to want to adopt three orphans from a war-torn country. But it had brought him the woman of his dreams, a stepdaughter, and the life he’d always dreamed of but had almost come to terms with never having.
And they were going to have a baby. Maybe not tomorrow or the next day, but eventually he’d knock up his wife. She’d grow huge with his flesh and blood, and his family would lose their minds with another grandbaby and niece or nephew to love on.
Speaking of which, it was past time for him to introduce his children to their grandparents. Addison’s parents needed to come visit as well.
When he’d gotten married, he’d been reluctant to involve either of their families in their lives because it had been a marriage of convenience. A fake marriage. But now? There was nothing fake about their love for each other.
“What are you smiling about? Why aren’t you sleeping?” Addison asked sleepily as she lifted her head to try to see his face better. “Does your arm hurt? Are you thinking too hard about what happened?”
“I’m smiling because I’ve never been happier. I’m not sleeping because I’m lying here thinking about the future. Our future. No, my arm doesn’t hurt.”
“Okay. Ricky?”
“Yeah, Addy?”
“Saying yes was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life.”
The smile on MacGyver’s face grew. “Asking you to marry me was the best decision I ever made.”
She lowered her head back to his chest and snuggled closer to him. “Love you.”
“And I love you,” MacGyver echoed.
It took quite a while for him to fall asleep. Visions of the future wouldn’t stop rolling through his brain. Their life wouldn’t be easy or calm. Chaos would be something they’d just have to get used to. But that was perfectly all right with MacGyver. With Addison by his side, they’d be able to make it through anything.