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With a smile sweeping over his surprisingly boyish features, he released her. Kellie pulled the blanket into a more respectable position and tried to keep it there as she stepped away. She glanced around, taking visual inventory of the room, before looking to him questioningly. “Do you mind if I get dressed first? Where are my clothes?”
MacGyver grimaced and pointed to a pile of nearly-white fabric on the floor halfway between the bed and the bathroom door. “Besides a small purse and a cell phone, that’s what you were wearing when we met.”
“You’re kidding. Is that a—?”
“A wedding dress? It was before you threw up on it.”
A wedding gown? Why would I…
In a flash, she remembered. The coerced wedding plan. The conversation she’d overheard between Tony and his uncle. Running from the hotel…andPop!She’d called and warned him to leave town. Had he gone?
A gasp escaped as the memories dropped her in the midst of a life she’d blessedly forgotten for a brief time. Her reproachful glare darted back to MacGyver. “Where’s my phone?”
He motioned toward the coffee table where Travis had left the carafe. “I turned it off.” He followed her and brushed against her arm as she reached for the device.
She pressed the on button and, while waiting for the home screen to appear, Kellie glanced again at the tabletop. “You went through my stuff?” The glaring evidence of the invasion of her privacy was scattered beside her upturned clutch. “What were you looking for?”
MacGyver stepped toward the table and picked up her driver’s license. Gripping it between two fingers, he held it in front of him. “Sit down and call your stepfather, Kellie. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
How did he know who she was planning to call? Did he work for Tony? Her thoughts tumbling over each other, she sat, only so she wouldn’t collapse. She hadn’t risked her life to escape from Tony to be bullied by one of his thugs. Funny how that term didn’t seem to fit MacGyver at all.
Quickly, she dialed Pop’s number. It went straight to voice mail, and she ended the call without leaving a message. Worry ate away at her already tumultuous stomach, while common sense said Pop had probably turned his cell off.
MacGyver held his hand out for the phone, and Kellie reluctantly placed it on his palm. It wasn’t like she had anyone else she could call for help. He turned it off again and laid the device on the table, pulled the adjacent chair closer to hers and sat.
“You work for Tony?” She didn’t expect an answer. What other explanation could there be?
“Your former fiancé? No.” MacGyver shook his head as he studied her. “What did you remember just now? The bar—Wally’s Tavern?”
He could have read about her impending wedding in the newspaper—recognized her. But if he didn’t work for Tony, how had he known about Pop?
MacGyver still watched her expectantly. Her best option was probably sticking as closely to the truth as possible. She’d tell him anything he wanted to hear to get out of this room and find her stepfather—anything except where she was going. Kellie would die before she gave up Pop’s location.
“I decided marriage wasn’t for me. I ran out on the wedding. Tony—let’s just say he wasn’t pleased. He and some of his men followed me. I needed to get off the street. That’s why I stepped inside that bar.” She had no way of knowing how much information MacGyver already had, but common sense told her not to mention Jerry’s note or the real reason she’d followed his instructions.Anna.
Hold on. Wally’s Tavern was where she’d seen MacGyver before. She rubbed her temples slowly as she tried to capture the memory. An instant later, she focused on his face. “Youfollowed me into the bathroom.” She’d been too ill to be afraid even then. Or maybe it was something in his intense blue eyes that convinced her he was trying to help. Of course, it was entirely possible she’d been too drunk to be a good judge of his character.
“Travis and I got you out of there. Those bikers you were drinking with were bad news.”
“And now you’re planning to take me back to Tony? See if he’s offering a reward?” Kellie clamped her mouth closed and squared her jaw. She wouldn’t go without one hell of a fight, and she was through confiding in him. He didn’t need to know about Anna’s disappearance or how easily Tony had thwarted her plan to find her sister. Why had she mentioned a reward? If she was worth five million to Tony, it was quite possible he’d pay handsomely to get her back. No need to give this guy any ideas.
He shrugged and crossed one leg over his knee, the picture of self-assurance. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
It wasn’t like he’d given her any reason to believe otherwise. Trusting no one was far better than relying on someone who wasn’t trustworthy. “Am I wrong?”
“It just so happens you are. Look. I know you’re in trouble. You were supposed to marry Tony Palazzi yesterday. Instead, you ended up in a bar, drinking with some pretty undesirable company. That tells me you’d rather face just about anything than be found by him.”
She laughed, a poor attempt to unravel his theory, but he’d spoken the truth. She owed him and his friend for helping her out, even though she only remembered bits and pieces of the rescue Travis had referred to.
MacGyver’s blue eyes searched her face, and then he leaned his head against the wall again. “You need help avoiding Palazzi and, somehow, running out on him has endangered your stepdad as well. I want to help you.”
Kellie considered his words for a moment. She wanted to believe him, but she didn’t dare. “Why? What’s in it for you?”
“Is it so hard to accept that I want to help because it’s the right thing to do?”
Yes, because people like that only exist in fairy tales.She averted her eyes so he wouldn’t detect the skepticism she was sure lingered there. “Let’s pretend for a moment that I believe you. Tony is powerful and ruthless. He has unlimited resources and manpower, and he won’t stop with just threats. You don’t know what you’re getting into. If you stand in his way, he won’t hesitate to kill you, either.”
“I’ve had some experience with men who want to kill me. Palazzi is dangerous—yeah—but significantly more civilized than they were. If he wants you, he’ll have to go through me…and Travis. Even a low-life like Palazzi will think twice before picking a fight with two former Navy SEALs.”
