Synchronization in Chaos Read online

  Mac nodded. "Sandburg is his mother's last name."

  Nathan shook his head. "Small world. Ellison's an army buddy of one of our partners. They rescued him from some militiamen last year."

  "Vin?" Mac smiled. "I remember Blair telling me about him and his team. Wait, Larabee." Mac started to chuckle. "Blair mentioned Vin's boss being another tough guy like Jim. He said it was a good thing the two decided to like each other, or it would have been World War III."

  Nathan started laughing, too. "I haven't met Ellison; Josiah and I were in Denver while the others were in Cascade. But that certainly sounds like Chris."

  Josiah mentally shook the cobwebs from his head and returned to the matter at hand. "Do you think your son and his partner could give us some information on Kincaid?"

  "Gladly." MacGyver reached for his phone, then paused. "Nathan, what was the name of the prosecutor connected to the trucking firm?"

  "William Sikes. He's a federal--"

  "Prosecutor who was in charge of the Kincaid trial," Mac finished for him. He grabbed the phone and punched in numbers.

  Ellison's Explorer, western slope

  As Jim followed Wilmington's truck, he quietly commented, "Now there's a classic truck. A 1957 GMC pickup."

  "At least it looks better than your so-called 'classic'," Blair absently commented.

  Jim glanced at his partner, realizing his heart wasn't in the banter. "Do I want to know what's going on in that head of yours, Chief?"

  Blair gave him a sly smile. "Just debating on the odds of Vin being a sentinel."

  "He's not," Jim stated firmly.

  "Jiiiim," Blair practically whined. "How do you know?"

  "Because I've known Slick for years, and I don't 'feel' him like Alex or Marston."

  "Okay."

  Jim gave his partner another glance. That was too easy. Somehow, he had a feeling this discussion wasn't over yet.

  Which Blair soon confirmed with his next sentence. "Still, JD was pretty impressed with his sight, and sentinel vision would be a definite plus for a sharpshooter."

  "Not all sharpshooters are sentinels," Jim pointed out.

  "No, but it sounds like Vin's the cream of the crop. What if he's like your brother, and just has one or two heightened senses?"

  Jim shrugged. "I guess he could."

  Blair nodded to himself. "That would make him a carrier. Maybe that's why the two of you were drawn to each other in the Army as mentor and student."

  "He was assigned to me."

  "Yeah, but were you, an officer, just as close to all your other non-coms?"

  Jim clenched his jaw a moment. "Not really."

  "See?"

  Jim rolled his eyes. "Slick's my friend, Sandburg, and has always been a good kid. Not everything is related to my sentinel abilities."

  Blair sighed. He knew he had to abandon the idea for the moment. After a minute of silence, he quietly asked, "Why do you think Sam warned me to stay alert? He's the one being chased."

  Jim stared out the windshield a moment. "I don't know. Obviously, he's mixed up in Standish's case, so maybe he's run into one of our old perps."

  "But why would any of them connect Sam with me? We don't look alike and have different last names."

  Jim shrugged. "We'll have to ask him." He nodded at Wilmington's truck, which was turning into a park.

  Buck gratefully gave Ezra a bear hug, totally surprising the younger, smaller man. JD bounced in place next to them, waiting to shake the undercover agent's hand. Buck pulled back and shook his head. "Man, you really had me going, Ez. What the hell happened?"

  As Ezra launched into his story, Vin watched Blair burst out of the Explorer. The Cascade detective greeted his taller brother with as big a hug as Buck had given Ezra, except Sam returned the gesture with ease.

  Jim returned Vin's nod as he walked over to join his partner. "You okay, Sam?" he asked, studying the younger man.

  "Yeah, I'm fine."

  "But weren't you--" Jim began.

  "What's this?" Blair interrupted as he stepped back and shoved his hand into Sam's jacket pocket. He frowned at his brother as he yanked out a gun.

  Sam shrugged nonchalantly. "Standish's backup piece."

  "What?" Blair sniffed the end. "You fired this!"

  Sam rolled his eyes. "They were firing at me first, Indy."

  "Yeah, but have you ever fired a gun before?" Blair asked, eyes stern.

  "Yes," Sam answered shortly.

  The argument caught the ATF agents' attention. "Your brother is actually an outstanding shot," Ezra commented.

  "His range scores are as high as yours, Chief," Jim added, feeling a bit sorry for the youngest MacGyver.

  Blair blinked, then turned to his partner. "Range? When did you take him to a firing range?"

  "While you and Dad were busy going over Dad's dig notes last fall." Sam met his brother's glare evenly as Blair turned back to him.

  "He'd already purchased the gun; I was just making sure he knew how to handle it," Jim pointed out.

  Eyes wide, Blair's head bounced back and forth between his partner and his brother. "Since when does Sam own a gun?"

  "Hey, I'm not the one with the phobia. Nor were you on my assignment down South six months ago." Sam took a deep breath, trying to hold his temper.

  Blair's gaze turned worried. He had suspected his brother hadn't told him or Mac everything about that particular trip. "You don't need a gun; you need a new editor."

  Sam shrugged. "That, too."

  Turning back to his partner, Blair asked snidely, "And WHY am I only hearing about this now?"

  "Oh, I don't know," Jim replied sarcastically. "Because we thought you might overreact?"

  Blair sighed as he heard the chuckles from the listening ATF team, silently admitting they had been right. "Does Dad know about this?"

  "Are you insane? Mr. Phobia would kill me." Sam gently rubbed his forehead. "Dad still tenses up every time he remembers you're packing. I'm not adding to it."

  "Sam, why did you tell Blair to watch his back?" Jim asked, deciding it was time to change the subject.

  "Oh, those militia guys somehow have me mistaken for Blair." Sam met Blair's eyes worriedly. "They were ranting about how you and Jim 'participated in that injustice against our brother'. I'm guessing they meant the Kincaid trial."

  Worriedly, both Jim and Blair nodded. "Damn it, aren't we ever going to be rid of that jerk, Jim?"

  "Not yet, apparently."

  Sam looked at the older men questioningly. "They said you and some guy named Dexter Fillmore were going to pay. Who's Fillmore?"

  Blair's brow wrinkled. "Don't know, but the name sounds familiar."

  Jim dropped his head and slowly shook it. "It ought to sound familiar. Though considering how sick you were, I'm not surprised you don't remember." With both brothers staring at him, Jim quietly explained, "'Dexter Fillmore' was the alias Mac used to help me get you out of Kincaid's compound."

  Sam's eyes grew wide. "Oh, man!"

  "Just when I thought this couldn't get any worse," Blair moaned.

  "Now just a minute," Chris finally interrupted, tired of being out of the loop. "Who the hell is 'Mac'?"

  "Our father, MacGyver," Blair explained bleakly.

  "MacGyver?" Chris and Buck exclaimed together. Then Chris continued, "Not the same MacGyver who's the bomb expert from the Phoenix Foundation?"

  The brothers and Jim nodded together. Then a light dawned in Sam's mind. "You mean, you're the guys Dad's working with in Denver?"

  "That's right," Chris replied, his mind racing while trying to sort out the situation.

  "WHAT?" Buck stared at his boss and long-time friend. "You mean, Nate's working with THE MacGyver?"

  "The MacGyver?" Chris repeated, confused. From the wounded puppy dog look, Chris would have thought Buck had been left out of a meeting with John Elway, Denver's Hall of Fame quarterback.

  "Hell, Chris, he's a legend." Buck waved his arms. "I can't believe I miss
ed the chance to work with MacGyver."

  "Legend?" Blair asked, trading stunned looks with Sam. "I knew Mac was good, but..."

  Jim chuckled. "From what the Colonel's colleagues have told me, your Dad's pretty famous for his patched-together bombs and rescuing Americans stranded behind the Iron Curtain."

  "Really?" Blair's eyes were wide as he absorbed the new information. He was learning all sorts of fun facts about his family on this trip.

  "Well, until we figure this all out, we should go back to our base," Chris recommended.

  Jim nodded. If the militias were mixing up Sam and Blair, the situation had the potential of getting worse.

  Retrieving the gun from Blair, Sam walked back to Ezra. "Thanks for the loan."

  "Thank you for covering my backside," Ezra replied warmly.

  "Yeah," JD added. "There's not a lot of people out there who would just jump in and help federal agents."

  Behind them, Vin had walked over to shake Jim's hand. "Good to see you both in one piece. Sandburg's brother was worried."

  "We were worried, too." Jim shook his friend's hand warmly. "Thanks for rescuing him. Sam's a good kid."

  Before Vin could reply, gunfire echoed off the mountains.

  "Damn!" Blair exclaimed, ducking behind the Explorer. Jim and Vin joined him.

  "Can anyone tell where it's coming from?" Chris shouted from his position behind his Ram.

  "One group to the east," Vin shouted back.

  "Another to the west behind that round rock," Jim added, realizing they were in a cross-fire.

  "Let's get out of here!" Chris ordered.

  Sam, who was pinned down between Ezra and JD, gauged the distance between Larabee's truck and their dubious shelter behind the trash cans. JD took off at Chris' signal. He stayed low to the ground, zigzagging around a picnic table's slight protection before crawling into the Ram. Ezra then indicated for Sam to follow him. Taking a deep breath, Sam dashed out as fast as he could while bent over. He copied JD's movements, flinching when a bullet pinged against the metal table. Once inside the truck, he watched through the open door as Ezra fired a few shots, then worked his own way to the truck.

  On the other side of the clearing, Vin crawled into the Explorer with Blair and Jim. "Anyone see Buck?" the agent asked worriedly.

  "He'd went to use the radio, I think," Blair reported.

  Jim poked his head above the steering wheel. "He's pinned down by those rocks near his truck."

  Blair risked a glance, then winced in sympathy. "His classic's taking a beating."

  "Damn." Vin cautiously glanced back at the Dodge. He caught a flash of Ezra's white jacket before it disappeared into the truck. Three more heads were barely visible inside. The gunfire was especially thick between the two vehicles, with Buck's 'Lady' in between. Vin winced as he watched Chris' radio antenna snap from a bullet. "Chris won't be able to reach him."

  "We can." Jim swiftly started the engine. "Hang on and get ready to grab him."

  Blair immediately braced himself against the door frame. Vin, caught unaware, fell across the back seat as the Explorer shot forward into a sharp turn. However, by the time Jim raced the SUV past the red truck, Vin was ready. He whipped the door open, grabbed Buck's outstretched arm, and yanked his friend inside.

  "Thank you," Buck gasped, shivering.

  Blair poked his head between the seats, noticing the blood on the agent's leg. "You okay?"

  "Yeah, just a graze. Those bullets are thicker than mosquitoes in a swamp."

  "Now what?" Blair asked his partner.

  "We're getting out of here," Jim declared. He could see a beat-up truck bouncing out of cover behind them, men with rifles and shotguns aimed at them.

  "What about the others?" Buck asked.

  "They're all in Chris' truck." Vin popped his head up long enough to catch sight of the Dodge. "Looks like Chris is heading out the other way."

  "We can't follow," Jim replied as he turned onto a 4X4 trail. "We're cut off."

  Blair glanced back, worried about Sam. "Damn."

  Buck sighed. "We'll have to catch up with them later." Then all of them winced as another hail of bullets pinged behind them.

  Denver, CO

  Barely restraining himself from slamming the phone down, MacGyver silently rubbed his eyes.

  "Still no answer?" Nathan asked sympathetically.

  Mac shook his head. "Not from any of the phones. I keep reminding myself that the microwave signal's weak from the cabin, but the satellite phone I keep there ought to work."

  "Maybe they're all outdoors?"

  "It's dark."

  "Well, it still might be nice. Can see a lot of stars up there."

  "Nah, Blair gets cold. Sam gets hungry. Jim would be tired after the trip. By now, at least one of them would be inside."

  "Doesn't necessarily means there's anything wrong," Josiah softly injected.

  Mac managed to give him a smirk. "Yeah, but you don't know my sons. If there's trouble, they're in the middle of it."

  "Sounds like a few boys I know," Josiah chuckled, glancing at Nathan. "But just because we can't find this Kincaid guy, doesn't mean..."

  Team 3's leader poked his head through the door. "Sanchez!" Josiah walked over to the door to talk to the fellow agent.

  Nathan quietly watched MacGyver sink into a chair. The agent could almost see the wheels spinning under the gray and blond hair, in spite of the worried face. Then both men looked up when they heard Josiah swear.

  "What's up?" Nathan asked.

  Josiah rubbed his face, not having a clue where to start. "Well, the good news is that Chris and Vin found Ezra."

  "Which of course means there's bad news," Nathan commented worriedly.

  "Well, there might be more good news." Josiah turned to MacGyver. "Seems Ezra was helped by a young man by the name of Sam Malloy?"

  Mac chuckled as he nodded. "Yep, that's my son."

  "And?" Nathan prodded.

  "Seems Ellison and Sandburg were tracking down Malloy when they ran into Buck and JD. They all went to meet up with Larabee and his group."

  Mac nodded. It only made sense if Sam was involved, Jim and Blair would be drawn in sooner or later.

  "So what's the bad news?" Nathan asked, reading his friend's face.

  "That was two hours ago. No one's heard from any of them since."

  "Damn," Nathan muttered, looking lost.

  However, MacGyver only straightened up. "Guess we'd better go find them." He was out the door before either of the agents could blink.

  Larabee's Ram truck, western slope

  Chris slowed down to a stop behind an outcropping of rock and snow. He hadn't seen the truck following them for a while. The senior agent was praying they had lost them. Glancing around, he caught the eyes of his men. "Everyone okay?"

  JD and Ezra both gave their leader a sharp nod. JD sighed as he glanced through the back window. "I hope Buck and Vin are okay. Buck was in the middle when all those bullets started flying."

  Chris felt his shoulders tighten another notch. He was worried about his oldest friend, too. Buck had been a brother to him long before there was a Team Seven. He didn't need to be reminded that the big man had been a wide-open target. It didn't help that he'd also lost contact with Vin.

  In the front passenger's seat, Ezra watched his boss carefully. "So what should be our next course of action?"

  "Try to contact them. Are we able to get anything on the radio?"

  Ezra again picked up the receiver and started to turn the dials.

  Chris turned to look at JD. "Did Ellison and Sandburg have a radio?"

  JD shook his head. "It was an airport rental. I'd be surprised if they even have their guns with them."

  "They most certainly should have cell phones," Ezra pointed out, half an ear on the conversation.

  A quiet voice piped up, "But we're currently in another dead zone."

  All three agents turned to Malloy. Chris had almost forgotten they had him. />
  Realizing he had their attention, Sam waved his own phone. "I've been checking, and all I'm getting is 'no signal'."

  Ezra gave the younger man a reassuring smile, hoping he could see it in the dim light. He knew Malloy had to be just as worried about his brother as Chris was about Vin and Buck.

  "So what do we do now?" JD asked.

  "Head back to base. That's where Buck and Vin will head when they can." Chris sighed as he put the truck into gear. Then he paused. "Anyone know where in the hell we are?"

  There was total silence in the truck cab.

  Finally, Sam suggested, "Well, we were on the east side of 550. Maybe we just need to go west?"

  "Which way's west?" JD asked.

  Chris fought the urge to pound his head into the steering wheel. "Will someone find the damn map?"

  Ellison's Explorer, western slope

  Blair hit his head against the roof of the Explorer. "Hey! Watch it!"

  "Do you want me to watch it or lose the idiots behind us?" Jim forced through gritted teeth. He dodged another pothole, driving as fast as he dared with only parking lights illuminating the rugged snow and mud-covered road. Unfortunately, he could easily spot the bright headlights behind them, though they were further back.

  "Lose the idiots," Vin answered instead. He drew out a long flannel coat from a duffel bag. "Here we go."

  Buck sighed as Vin draped the warm garment around him. "Thanks. And thanks for the loan, Ellison."

  "Not a problem." Jim spared a glance at the agent. Sentinel sight could easily see the pale face. Wilmington's clothes had gotten soaked from lying in the snow to avoid bullets. Even with the heater going and a change into Jim's sweats, the agent was chilled and hurting.

  Blair twisted to look between the seats. "How's the leg?"

  "Stopped bleeding." Vin held on a moment as the vehicle rocked forcefully over a bump.

  "I'll be okay, Sandburg," Buck assured him. "I've had worse injuries tripping over JD's skates at our place."

  Blair sighed. Vin had said it was a bullet graze, but it had left a deep groove in the agent's leg. He was sure the hard bouncing had to be hurting him. Thankfully, Jim always brought along a first aid kit.