Page 111 of Protecting Addison
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 wereshot,” 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 agunat 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 atbothschools 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. Whathedidn’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’vedied!”
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 isnosituation 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.”
