Search Me (27 page)

I can’t describe what it felt like to take that jump off the solid rock into thin air. My legs flailed desperately to connect with something. We began freefalling, the air rushing up at us as the water grew closer. Our clothes and hair whipped and rippled against us, but all the way down, Maddox kept hold of my hand. We only broke apart when we plunged into the water.

I plummeted down through the murky depths of the river. When my legs skidded along the bottom, I opened my eyes and searched above me for light, desperate to reach the surface and Maddox. I started frantically kicking my legs and pumping my arms, forcing myself upward. The closer I got to the light, the further away it seemed. My lungs burned and ached for oxygen. Silently, I thanked God that Maddox had taken the gold, or I think I would have continued sinking.

When I finally broke the surface, I gulped in air, wheezing and sputtering. The raging rapids pitched and tossed me back and forth, dunking my head under and causing me to swallow water. Once I got my head up again, I kicked with all my strength to stay afloat. “Maddox!” I shouted, scanning the water for him. I craned my neck, searching frantically for a sight of him. I couldn’t find him and a wave of fear crashed over me. Finally his head bobbed up a few feet ahead of me. My heart restarted as happiness surged through me.

The rapids began to calm and flow smoothly. Maddox swam up beside me. “Are you okay?”

“I think so.”

“You got the gold?”

He patted the purse at his side. “Still got it.” He grinned. “I told you to trust me, didn’t I?”

“You did.”

Maddox grabbed me in a bear hug and whirled me around in the water. “I can’t fucking believe we just jumped off that cliff.”

“Me either,” I cried, before dissolving into hysterical laughter. “And we’re actually alive.”

“I never doubted we’d make it for a second.”

“Ha! Easy for you to say, Mr. I-used-to-jump-out-of-planes-in-the-Army.”

He gave an indignant snort. “Uh, no, that’s a totally different ballgame, smartass. I had a little something called a parachute then. We were freefalling out into nothing.”

I cocked my head at him, drinking in how cute he was when he was mad. Instead of arguing with him, the out-of-whack endorphins pumping through my system wanted one thing.

Him.

Skin on skin with his lips on mine. I didn’t even stop to question it. I grabbed his wet shirt and jerked him to me. “Considering this was the third time we’ve almost died in the last forty-eight hours, can’t you give a girl a little victory lip-lock?”

A slow grin slunk on his face. “Ooh, Princess, I think I like what walking on the wild side does to you.” I gripped his shirt tighter and leaned into him. He brought his hands to cup my face, and then the warmth of his mouth was on mine. We kissed for a few blissful moments that made cliff jumping worthwhile. “Damn. You taste good,” he murmured against my lips.

I groaned. “We gotta go. Dad…Jensen,” I argued, but I still remained pressed to him.

But then we both came to our senses and pulled away. He shook his head. “Mentioning Jensen was a definite mood killer.”

My stomach tightened into knots at the thought of Dad. “What’s the plan? Do we see where the stream comes out at?”

“No, if I know West, he’s not going to give up so easy. He’s going to be waiting for us downstream. We have to backtrack to get back to the truck.”

“Whatever you say.”

Maddox started swimming against the current. He made it look a lot easier than it really was. I may have been able to keep up with him on land, but with soaked clothes and the strong water, it was hard. My arms and legs flapped and flailed to keep from being swept away, and my breaths came in frustrated pants from all the exertion. Thankfully, we didn’t have to go too far to get to the shoreline. Maddox climbed onto a rock, and then reached back to help me. When I went to step up, my shoe slipped on the slick moss, and Maddox had to jerk me onto the rock. I banged into him, and he almost lost his footing.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked.

“No, I’m fine.”

“I was afraid I ripped your arm out of the socket or something.”

I laughed. “I’m not that fragile, thank you very much.”

Maddox cuffed my neck playfully. “Yeah, yeah.”

He then hopped off the rock and onto the shore. This time I was able to make it without his help. Once we were safely on the ground, Maddox craned his neck left then right. He appeared to be calculating what direction to go in his head. Then he decided on one. “This way!” he said before breaking into a sprint. I fell in right behind him. We raced through the heavily tree lined woods with water sloshing off of us and splattering out of our shoes. Tree branches slapped against my face, sending a stinging scrape across my cheek, not to mention taking out a clump of wet hair. But I kept on running.

Finally, we came around one side of the cave’s entrance. My heart surged when I could see our truck, but then it rattled a little in fear at what I assumed was West’s car almost directly behind it. “Wait here,” Maddox instructed.

I knew better than to argue with him, so I stayed stock-still. Hunched over, he crept along the outside of the cave’s wall. When he got to the opening, he ducked inside. Seconds ticked agonizingly by as I waited to make sure he was all right, and West hadn’t fooled us by staying put rather than chasing us.

Just as I started inching towards the cave entrance, Maddox popped out with his bag and our supplies. When he saw me, he cocked his eyebrows. “Don’t you ever listen to me?”

I threw up my hands. “You didn’t come back. I thought West might be holding a gun to you or something.”

“And if he was, were you going to bust in and rescue me?” he asked, his voice laced with humor.

I swept my hand to my hip. “Yes, smarty pants, I was. The truck with the guns is right over there. I could easily have gone and gotten one.”

“Good thinking with guns. I think I’ll use one now to give us a little insurance policy.”

I followed him over to the truck where he got out the pistol. “What are—” I started before he turned and aimed at West’s car. Two quick pops took out the front and rear tires on the left side. He glanced back at me and grinned as air whooshed out of the deflating tires and the car sunk into the grass.

I laughed. “Good thinking. He sure is going to be ticked when he sees those!”

“Yeah, and I think we need to be long gone before he has a chance to,” Maddox said, climbing up into the truck. “How are we doing on time?”

I leaned in the cab and grabbed my phone from the floorboard where Maddox had thrown it. “Ten minutes to spare.”

“I guess we better call and check in with Jensen. See what the puppet-master’s next order is.”

“But what about
our
next move?”

“You mean the plan to get your dad and us out with the gold?”

“That one.”

Maddox grimaced as he rubbed the stubble on his face. “Yeah…I’m still coming up blank at the moment on that one.”

Glancing over my shoulder, I eyed West’s sunken car and an idea popped into my head. I hurried over to the car as Maddox hissed, “Lane, get back here. You can bet he’s heard those pistol shots and is on his way here right now.”

I ignored him and tried the passenger side door. West must’ve been in a real hurry to get to us because he hadn’t bothered to lock his doors. There on the seat was the key to our plan.

West’s cell phone.

Snatching it up, I hightailed it back to the truck and hopped inside. “Okay, drive.”

Maddox threw the truck into reverse. “You took his phone?”

“We need a way to get help without Jensen knowing it, and if we stopped anywhere, he’d totally be suspect.” I waved West’s phone at him. “This is our ticket.”

Maddox stared at me in disbelief before a slow smile stretched across his face.

“Damn, I see where you’re going with this.”

I returned his smile. “Glad you’re on board.”

“So what’s the first step?”

“You call Jensen back and see where he wants us to meet him.”

Maddox nodded. Once again, Jensen answered quickly. “Yeah, we got the gold. Where do you want to meet us?”

Jensen must’ve made some kind of demand because Maddox rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He then put the phone on speaker. “He wants to make sure you haven’t run for help or something. So say hello.”

“Oh, um, I’m still here. I haven’t gone anywhere.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear that Miss Montgomery. Your father is very glad to hear that. Aren’t you?”

A muffled voice came from the background, and I lunged forward in my seat, grasping for the phone. “Daddy! Daddy, are you okay? Oh God, I love you so much, and we’re going to get you back!”

“What a touching sentiment. I do believe there are tears in my eyes along with Daddy’s,” Jensen mused.

While a strangled cry erupted from me, Maddox snarled. “Quit fucking with her mind. Tell us where to bring you the gold or shut up.”

“Patience, Mr. Diaz. You’ve come this far. No need to lose it all right here at the finish line.”

Maddox closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. If he could have reached through the phone and throttled Jensen, he would have. “Fine. I’m listening.”

“Based on your GPS location, I want you to backtrack the way you came in to the main road. Take a right. Then go ten miles, and you’ll come to an abandoned Shell Station. Come around to the back. We’ll be waiting.”

“Okay,” Maddox murmured.

“So far, you’ve been very good to avoid ridiculous theatrics. I hope you both will continue to think clearly. I’d hate for something bad to happen this late in the game.”

Grinding the tears from my eyes, I spat, “You just hold up your end of the bargain, Jensen, and we’ll hold up ours.”

“Oh, I do so like that unexpected fire about you, Miss Montgomery. I look forward to seeing you. Remember, no police and no last minute drama.” He then hung up.

I met Maddox’s gaze and shook my head. “I changed my mind. I’m totally willing to put a bullet between Jensen’s eyes!”

He chuckled. “That’s my girl.”

“What an unimaginable bastard!”

“Ah, there’s that likeable fire of yours,” he joked, mimicking Jensen.

“
So
not funny.” Using West’s phone, I then called 411information for the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Department number. Once connected with the dispatcher, I handed the phone to Maddox. With all his training, he was the more obvious choice for spokesman. “Yeah, I have
very
vital information about the Maudie Sinclair attempted murder. And I don’t want to waste any time with a deputy. I want a GBI field agent, and I want to talk to them
now
.”

The intensity of his voice impressed me. A few seconds passed before he was transferred. Maddox flicked the speakerphone on so I could hear as well. A rich, deep voice filled the cab of the truck. “Agent Montrose speaking. I understand you have some information about one of my cases?”

Maddox drew in a deep breath. “Look, I don’t have a lot of time, so you’re going to have to work with me and trust what I’m about to say is the one hundred percent God’s honest truth, okay?”

Agent Montrose didn’t miss a beat before replying. “I’m listening.”

Maddox then proceeded to tell Agent Montrose every unbelievable detail of the map and the treasure from Jensen’s initial visit to Maudie to the warehouse fire and car chase, and then to us finding the treasure. He didn’t leave out a single detail. Okay, so he managed to leave out any embarrassing ones like last night or this morning.

“Now after all we’ve been through, I sure as hell want to get out with the gold, and I also want Jensen to end up back in a maximum security prison.” Maddox’s gaze flickered over to mine. “Most of all, I gotta get Lane and Stephen out unharmed. But I can’t do it alone. So what are you going to do to help us?”

My breath caught in my chest waiting for Agent Montrose’s response. “That’s quite an ordeal you’ve been through. I can assure you that the bureau and myself will do everything we can to ensure your safety. Carl Jensen has been on our radar for some time—he’s actually climbing up the Georgia’s Most Wanted list. I’ve already put a tracker on this phone, and I know your exact location. Give me your cell numbers that Jensen is tracking as well.” After Maddox had given the information, Agent Montrose said, “I’m dispatching both agents and deputies to the area as well as putting a swat team and chopper on stand-by.”

Maddox grinned. “You work pretty fast.”

Agent Montrose laughed. “I suppose we do. Thankfully in matters of life and death, we work extremely fast. It’s going to be important that you keep this phone on you so we can continue using the GPS. It’s a precaution just in case Jensen decides to take you to another rendezvous place.”

That thought sent a desperate feeling ricocheting through me. I didn’t want there to be a nanosecond that our whereabouts could be unknown to the GBI. It was already scary enough that we had to meet up with Jensen without them.

“Okay, we can try.”

“I’m glad to hear it. I want you guys to rest easy knowing you did the right thing by calling us. And we’re doing everything we can to help you.”