Chapter Nine
I sat frozen in my place on the couch. I could barely blink let alone process his words. I kept hearing them over and over in my mind. Maudie is alive. Maudie is alive. Maudie is ALIVE!
But in a coma.
After Neely said something else, Maddox replied in an anguished voice, “We thought the worst—that she was…dead.”
She continued to talk a mile a minute. Bits and pieces of their conversation floated over to me. “Was life-flighted to Erlanger Trauma Center. Twenty-four hour police protection outside her bed. In ICU. Is expected to pull through. May have a long road of recovery ahead. We’re listed as her next of kin. Have to make all the decisions about her medical care.” And then finally a very adamant, “Get your ass here now!”
“I really want to. But I can’t,” Maddox replied.
“Excuse me?” Neely screeched before launching into a tirade I couldn’t make out.
Maddox closed his eyes and let her rant and rave for minute or so. Finally, he shouted, “Would you please just shut up and let me explain?” Suddenly, it was dead quiet on her end. “I can’t come to the hospital right now. Lane and I are…well, we’re doing something for Maudie.” He cut his eyes over to me, and I nodded. He then proceeded to tell her everything that had happened and what we were planning on doing the next day.
“You’re serious?” Neely asked.
“Yes, I am.”
“Let me talk to Lane.”
Maddox hesitated before handing the phone over to me. Visions of teenage Neely doing my hair, experimenting with make-up, and dancing with me to the Backstreet Boys filled my mind. I’d idolized her as the big sister I’d never had when I was growing up. Maddox loved to be a typical aggravating boy, aka a jerk, but she’d always been so sweet.
“Hi,” I said.
“Is my brother telling the truth?” she demanded.
“Uh, yeah, he is.”
Neely sighed. “I would have thought you of all people would have talked him out of all this craziness. You two should be at the local police station or here at the hospital, not treasure hunting.”
“You’re right, but we had to do this for—”
“Maudie. Yeah, I know.”
“Trust me, I know it sounds stupid and selfish and ridiculous, but I promise the minute we find the treasure, we’ll come to the hospital.”
“All right then. Put my brother on the speakerphone.”
“Okay,” I replied, before pressing the button.
“Maddox? Are you listening to me?” Neely asked.
“Yeah.”
“Regardless of how stupid and irresponsible I think this little quest is, I want you to promise if at any time this gets dangerous again, you’ll stop. I don’t want to imagine any more gun battles or car chases, okay?”
“Okay,” he grumbled.
“I’m totally serious. I’ve already had to deal with you getting hurt once. I can’t do it again—especially with Maudie in the shape she is. You’re all I have, little brother.”
Maddox’s face softened. “I promise I’ll stay safe.”
“And you’ll keep Lane safe, too?”
“Yeah, I’ll try.” He glanced over at me and winked. “She’s actually not as helpless as she used to be.”
“Ha, ha,” I muttered.
“Okay, fine. Lane, have you talked to your parents yet?”
“Yeah…but I haven’t exactly told them what happened. They’re in Charleston on Dad’s book tour.”
“Don’t you think they’d want to know?”
I fought the urge to say, Well, duh, of course they would, but when they find out, they’ll go ballistic. There won’t be a chance in hell I’ll still get to hunt for the gold! Instead, I replied, “Yes.”
“Listen, I’ve gotta go. I’m supposed to get an update from the doctors.”
“I really hate that you’re by yourself, sis,” Maddox said, affectionately. “Well...Justin is here with me now.”
Maddox scowled slightly. “Yeah, that’s good. I guess.”
“All right. Be safe, and I’ll talk to you soon. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Maddox hung up, and I couldn’t help but ask, “Who is Justin?”
He wrinkled his nose disgustedly. “He’s the douchebag that Neely’s been dating the last year or so.” He shifted on the couch—his jaw clenching and unclenching. “I mean, he’s not really that bad a guy. He’s a teacher and a coach, and he’s crazy about her. He’s not like the other tools she’s dated.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
He shrugged. “I dunno. I guess, it’s just the idea of her getting serious about anyone.”
“Spoken like a true commitment phobe,” I murmured.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I think we both know you don’t do the relationship scene, so you don’t want your sister to do it either.”
“That’s so not true.”
“Which part? The one about Neely or yourself?”
“I do relationships.”
“Oh really? You certainly weren’t interested in doing one with me.” I blurted before I could stop myself.
“Yeah, well you were different,” he replied.
“Fine then. Name the last girl you dated for over a month.” Maddox’s brows furrowed as silence hung heavy in the room. “Okay, I’ll go easy on you. Name a girl you went out with for at least two weeks?”
“It’s not a fair question since I’ve been away from home the last few years,” he argued.
“All right then. What about high school?”
He turned to glower at me. “Fine. You’re right. I don’t do relationships. Happy now?”
“Not really.”
“And why’s that?”
“Everyone should have someone special in his or her life.”
“Oh, don’t worry. There’s been lots of special someone’s over the years,” he said, wagging his brows.
I rolled my eyes. “That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”
He grinned. “Is this conversation making you uncomfortable?”
“Probably about as uncomfortable as you are with anything emotional,” I countered.
“Touché, princess.” He rose up off the couch and glanced at his watch. “Damn. It’s almost eleven.”
Warily, I stared past him to the bedroom and the infamous mirror on the ceiling. “Um, just exactly how are we handling the sleeping arrangements? I mean, should I go sleep in the guest room?”
“No, I think we need to sleep out here. We should be close to the doors just in case we need to get the hell out of Dodge.”
“Sounds good to me.”
He leaned over and took his pistol out of his bag. He checked the chamber before laying it down on the coffee table. When he caught me eyeing it, he said, “That’s for you.”
“Seriously?”
“I’ll keep mine under the pillow.”
I motioned to the oversized throw pillow with its out-of-control lace and beading. “There’s something kinda odd about keeping a gun under that.”
He snickered. “Tell me about it.”
“I guess you’ll take the couch?”
“Duh, I am taller than you.”
“Fine. I can sleep here,” I said, sinking down on the loveseat.
After Maddox plopped down on the couch, he plumped up the pillow a few times before turning on his side. Unfortunately he came face to face with my feet. He grimaced as he surveyed some of the calluses and blisters. “Jesus, ever hear of a pedicure?”
“For your information, those are caused by toe shoes. Every ballet dancer has really crappy looking feet.”
“Don’t they have something you can put on them? I mean, even in the Army, they teach us about jungle rot and trench foot.”
“Yes, there are exercises we can do and putting tape on them helps. But sometimes they still look like that.”
“It must hurt like hell to dance.”
I shrugged. “Using Orajel to numb them while you’re dancing really helps to cut the pain.”
“Dude, I can’t imagine twirling around like that on my freakin’ toes for hours on end.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t imagine you twirling period.”
Maddox chuckled. “Nope. Me neither.” He nudged my foot playfully. “You know, I went to one of your performances once.”
I rose up on my elbows to stare at him. “You did?”
“Yeah.”
“But when? Which one?” I blurted.
“The Nutcracker when I was home on leave this past year.”
I shook my head. “I can’t believe it. You always hated ballet. You used to say you’d only ever watch it if you were drunk or comatose.”
A sly grin slunk across his face. “Trust me, I still hate it. But I had some time to kill, and each and every time I talked to Maudie, she bragged to me about the important role you’d scored playing this fairy—”
“The Rose Fairy,” I interrupted.
“Whatever. Anyway, I thought I was going to die during the first act. I probably checked my phone and email a thousand times. And then you came out.” He shook his head. “I was mesmerized.”
My heart jumped into my throat. “You were?”
“I couldn’t imagine how you did all that on your toes and shit. I about freaked out when those pansies in tights started throwing you around.”
I gigged. “They’re called lifts, not throwing. And trust me, they’re not pansies. You should see the muscle tone they have.”
Maddox wrinkled his nose. “I was too distracted by the way their tights highlighted their…you know, …” he motioned toward to his crotch, “packages.”
“Did you just admit to staring at a dude’s package?” I asked with a laugh.
He elbowed my legs. “Watch it.”
“Well, I’m really flattered and honored that you risked boredom to come and see me.”
“No, I’m really glad I did. I’d never seen you like that before. So graceful and confident…not to mention so incredibly beautiful.”
Heat rose in my face. “It’s the combination of the costumes, makeup and lighting. It can make anyone beautiful.”
“Trust me, it wasn’t all that other stuff. It was just little Lane I used to push in mud piles, and she was beautiful.”
Oh God, was this really happening? Was I alone in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with Maddox, and he was telling me I was mesmerizing and beautiful? “Thanks,” I murmured.
He smiled. “You’re welcome.”
Trying to steer away from any more comments about my looks, I asked, “Why didn’t you try to find me afterward? We could have gone to dinner or something.” A look flashed in his eyes at my almost alluding to a date, so I quickly added, “My parents and I would have loved to have seen you.”
“Yeah, that would’ve been cool, but I didn’t have the time…you know, I had to catch a flight and all.”
I nodded. An awkward silence hung over us until I finally cleared my throat. “I guess we better try and get some sleep, huh?”
“Yep. Well, goodnight then.”
It was seriously unnerving that the only thing separating Maddox from me was the wrought iron coffee table. I didn’t want to lie facing Maddox, so I turned over on my side, facing the back of the loveseat. It was way too hot for blankets without any air conditioning on. After I curled my legs up, I shut my eyes, and in turn, I tried shutting out the day’s crazy events. But my mind still whirled with out-of-control thoughts. I tried taking a few deep breaths to clear my head. Once again, Maudie’s face appeared before me then Jensen and his men shooting at us. I wondered what was going on at the brewery after the fire…I wondered if my parents would find out what happened.
After what seemed like an eternity, I started envisioning myself on the stage dancing in the production of Sleeping Beauty. My dance studio was putting it on in the fall, and I had my heart set on Aurora, the lead. I’d been watching clips of past performances on YouTube. Concentrating on the plies and leaps were exactly what I needed to finally nod off.
I hadn’t been asleep long when I started to dream. At first I was lost in a choking fog, and I couldn’t find Maddox. I kept walking and walking, but I never seemed to get anywhere. Then that dream faded and was replaced by a more terrifying one. Maudie appeared before me, reaching her bloody hands out towards me. “Help me, Lane. Help me please!” she cried.
When I stepped forward, Maudie disappeared, and Jensen’s face rose in front of me. A menacing gleam flashed on his face. “Give me the treasure map. I want the gold. You don’t deserve it,” he snarled, wrapping his hands around my neck. His fingers pressed against my throat, cutting off my air.
“No! Leave me alone!” I choked, trying to pry his fingers away.
His eyes turned over to black, giving him the appearance of a demon. “I’ll hurt you. I’ll kill every person you love until I get that gold.”
I woke up screaming into the darkened room. Gasping for air, I tried to shut out the horrible images in my mind. The lantern light flicked on. “Lane, are you all right?” Maddox asked.
I was shaking so hard I couldn’t speak. At that moment, I didn’t care about him seeing me cry. Instead, I just let the hard sobs ravage my body.
“Hey, don’t cry. It was just a dream,” Maddox said.
I wrapped my arms around my waist and hugged tight, trying desperately to calm down. My frantic gaze met Maddox’s, and I could see the conflict in his. Without breaking eye contact, he started slowly scooting across the couch to me. Hesitantly, he held out his arms, and I practically dove into them. “Shh, it’s okay,” he murmured into my ear. He lifted me onto his lap, and I wrapped my arms tightly around his chest. As he rocked me back and forth, I finally stopped shaking. “That must’ve been one hell of a nightmare.”
“Yeah. It was a really bad one.” I shuddered and then buried my face in his bare chest.
“You wanna talk about it?” he asked hesitantly.
“Maudie…she—”
Maddox tensed, and I could tell he wasn’t ready to hear anything nightmarish about Maudie. Instead, he murmured, “It’s okay. I’m here, and everything’s fine.” He began rubbing my back in wide circles, making me feel so safe.
After a few minutes, I finally calmed down. I pulled away to swipe away my tears before smiling up at him. “I’m sorry for freaking out like that.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“Ugh, but it’s so embarrassing.”
“Quit beating yourself up about it.”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
“Think you can go back to sleep now?”
“Maybe…” I was sure the moment the lights were off and I was lying alone that my nightmare would continue to haunt me. “It’s just I don’t want to be alone.”
He gave me a lopsided grin. “You’re not alone. I’ll be right over here.”
“You know what I mean. I want…I want to stay like this until I go back to sleep.” At his hesitation, I said the word I never thought I would to him. “Please.”
From his furrowed brows and tight lips, it looked like he was waging an epic battle in his mind. Just as I was about to say forget it, he gave a quick jerk of his head. He eased back on the couch and then pulled me down beside him. As he wrapped his right arm around me, I nestled my head into the crook of his shoulder.
Oh man, did it feel good being so close to him. I couldn’t help it when a sigh of contentment escaped my lips. He momentarily stiffened. I raised my head. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For everything—for keeping me safe from Jensen and then comforting me after my nightmare. I know you don’t do the emotional mushy stuff, so it makes it mean that much more.”
Maddox’s jaw tightened. “Yeah, whatever. You’re welcome, I guess.”
I knew I was making him uncomfortable, so I laid my head back down and closed my eyes.
I don’t know how long I was out. It felt like forever and at the same time like I’d just put my head down. Somewhere in that halfway point between sleep and consciousness I heard a noise. At first, I couldn’t decide if I had imagined it or if it was real. My eyelids fluttered, and I realized it had to be close to dawn with the amber light trickling through the blinds. My neck felt prickly after sleeping on the couch. Drowsily, I stretched my arms over my head, trying to decide if I needed to wake up, when I heard the noise again.
This time I sprang up and stared towards the front door. “Maddox,” I hissed. To be an alleged on-edge, sleep anywhere, Army guy, he was dead to the world and snoring loudly. I reached over and shook him. “Maddox.”
“W-Wha-?” he asked, drowsily.
“I think someone’s at the door.”
At the distinct click of a lock, Maddox was on his feet, gun in hand. “Shit!” His eyes darted around the room for another way out. “Deck,” he said, jerking his head toward the kitchen.
I grabbed my purse and started backing up, never taking my eyes off the door. But when it burst open, I froze. There were the cabin’s owners—live and in the flesh. I turned wide-eyed to Maddox who grimaced.
“That’s the last time I ever fly Delta. I can’t believe our flight got rerouted to Chattanooga, and we’re going to have to drive to Savannah,” Barbie whined.
The man seemed to be tuning out her rant. Instead, he stood in front of where the alarm keypad was, his brows furrowed in confusion. “That’s funny. I know I turned the alarm on.”
Stamping her stiletto, Barbie shouted, “Eddie, aren’t you listening to me!”
He jumped and whirled around. “Now, sugar, don’t get so riled. We can always catch a plane in Atlanta.”
She rolled her eyes. “But the thought of being stuck out here in the boonies even for twenty-four hours during the summer is so degrading. Everyone else is already on their party boats by now.”
The man didn’t even try to cajole her. Instead, his attention was drawn to where Maddox and I stood like statues in the middle of the living room. “Who the hell are you, and what the hell are you doing in my house?”
I held up my hands in mock surrender. “Look, our car broke down, and we just needed a place to stay for the night.”
“We thought no one was here for the summer,” Maddox chimed in.
“And I promise we didn’t steal anything,” I replied.
Barbie narrowed her eyes. “Those are my clothes you’re wearing.”
Red, hot embarrassment flooded my cheeks. “Well, our clothes were ruined, so we didn’t have a choice.” I desperately dug in my purse and took out two twenties from Maudie’s wad of money. “Here. This should cover the clothes and the food.”
“You ate our food too!” She whirled around to her husband. “Call the police, Eddie!”
“That won’t be necessary. We’re leaving. Now.” Maddox waved the gun at them for emphasis causing Eddie and Barbie to gasp in unison. “We don’t want any trouble.” When I remained rooted to the floor, Maddox tugged my sleeve. “Come on. Let’s go.”
I dropped the twenties on the coffee table. “Once again, I’m really sorry.” Maddox started dragging me off with his free hand. “I mean, we both are.”
With the gun trained on them, Eddie and Barbie didn’t move—I don’t think they even dared to blink or breathe. I got to the backdoor, and my shaky hands started fumbling with the doorknob until I realized it was locked. The moment it was unlocked I went flying out onto the deck.
Maddox backed out the door behind me. He didn’t have to give me any commands. I knew exactly what to do. I didn’t hesitate as I pounded down the steps and sprinted down the driveway towards the main road. I don’t think I’d run as much in my life as I had in the last twenty-four hours. My already sore muscles constricted in agony from the exertion, and I had to bite my lip to keep from moaning.
It didn’t take long for Maddox to catch up with me. We’d gotten a mile down the main backwoods road when I couldn’t go anymore. “Got. To. Stop,” I huffed at Maddox, bending over on my knees.
His shoes skidded on the gravel. I was glad to see even he was winded. “Okay.”
I leaned against a tree, panting and wheezing to get my breath back. Sweat formed along my hairline and at the base of my neck before trickling down my back in salty rivers. It was barely seven in the morning, but the heat was already intense. I pulled up the corners of Barbie’s borrowed shirt and wiped my face. “I can’t believe they showed up,” I moaned.
Maddox snickered. “Talk about fate working against us with that whole plane rerouting thing.”
“Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something,” I murmured, more for myself than for him.
“Yeah, that Delta’s a shitty airline,” he replied tersely.
We stood in stony silence for a moment. I pulled my hair back in a sweat-slickened ponytail. I started to open my mouth, but Maddox held up his hand to stop me. “Lemme guess. You’re going to ask what do we do now?”
I grinned. “At least I’m consistent.”
“Yes, you are consistently irritating,” he replied, rolling his bandaged shoulder. He met my gaze and winked. “I say we hitch into town, find the nearest used-car lot, and then get whatever heap of junk our money can buy.”
My stomach rumbled. “And breakfast. Don’t forget that.”
“Okay, breakfast and a heap of junk it is.” He glanced left and right before stepping off the road and into a thicket of trees. He then bent over and started digging in his bag. He took out the pair of jeans he’d swiped from Eddie’s closet along with the polo shirt. “There’s no way in hell anyone is going to pick us up with me in these shorts.”
I laughed as I watched him stick one leg into the jeans. I glanced down at my own attire. I probably didn’t want to meet the Cherokee language expert wearing an I Got Shucked at Nooky’s T-shirt. “I guess I’ll change too.”
As I was finishing up, I caught Maddox staring at me. His eyes roamed from my head past the tighter than I usually wore shirt to the practically painted on jeans. He then gave an appreciative nod. “You wearing that just may get us a ride into town.”
“Oh, whatever.” I stuffed the shirt and pants into his bag since my purse was already bulging. We then stepped out of the woods and started ambling down the road. I swiveled my neck to gaze up and down the road. “Think there’ll be much traffic coming by?”
“Hope so.”
Hideous thoughts of murders and mayhem flashed through my mind at the thoughts of thumbing a ride. After all, Dad’s second Harrison Baylor novel dealt with a serial killer targeting hitchhikers. I swallowed nervously. “Do you really think it’s safe to hitch?”
Maddox chuckled. “There goes that imagination of yours again, Lane.” He patted his bag. “Have you forgotten we have amo on our side?”
“No, I haven’t forgotten the guns…or you allegedly being Rambo.”
“Dude, I am so Rambo.”
I surmised his muscular, tattooed form, and I couldn’t help agreeing with him. But of course, I wouldn’t let him have the satisfaction, so I merely replied, “Dream on!”
The sound of a truck rumbling down the road caught our attention. Tilting his head to one side, Maddox murmured, “Hmm, classic Chevy Cheyenne…76’, maybe 77’.”
I rolled my eyes and pushed the stray strands of hair out of my face. “Why am I not surprised you know the make and model?”
He didn’t respond. Instead, he started stroking his chin in thought. “Listen, if he pulls over, you need to really play up the sweetness. The outfit’s good if it’s a dude, but some chick is probably more likely to pick us up because you look like an innocent goodie girl.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It just means that if you look lost and pitiful, you’re less likely to look like you’re going to rob or car-jack them!”
I cocked my head at him. “Since we are lost and our situation is totally pitiful, I think I should be able to pull it off.”
At the sight of us, the pick-up started slowing down. The driver resembled your typical stereotyped mountain man—long, bushy beard, faded overalls. Basically, he could have been part of the family on Duck Dynasty. He cranked the hand-rolled window down. “You kids need a lift?”