Chapter Twenty
We turned into the abandoned parking lot. The truck rattled along the broken-up pavement. As I peered around the desolate surroundings, my eyes caught the infamous, coal black Mercedes almost hidden on the other side of the boarded-up convenient store. All I could see was the front bumper and part of the hood. Maddox eased the truck to a stop next to it, then killed the engine.
“Oh God, I think I’m going to puke,” I murmured.
Maddox gave me a tight smile. “It’s all going to work out. You’ll see.”
I hoped rather than believed him. Terrance, the taller of the two henchmen, stepped out of the Mercedes. “I guess we’re on,” Maddox said, opening his door. With shaking hands, my sweaty palms slid on the door handle. It took two tries before I was able to get it open. My shaking legs barely supported me when I hopped down. Maddox waited for me at the front of the truck. He slipped his equally sweaty palm into mine and led me over to where Terrence stood.
“Glad to see you two made it on time. Mr. Jensen appreciates your punctuality,” he said.
“And just where is Jensen?” Maddox asked.
“He’s at the location with Mr. Montgomery.”
“Location?” I repeated.
“The trade-off doesn’t happen here.”
I exchanged a look with Maddox. “So where does it happen?”
“You’ll find out. First, I need you two to get into the backseat.”
At that moment, a man I’d never seen before got out of the Mercedes’ passenger side. With his towering height and bulging muscles, he had to be the bouncer of the outfit. He lumbered towards us. The sight of something in his hands caused me to gasp.
Blindfolds and rope.
Maddox followed my gaze. His body tensed before he glared over at Terrance. “That’s bullshit! No one said anything about blindfolding or tying us up.”
“I’m sorry. But Jensen has insisted—for your protection as well as his own. We’ll get you in the car before you have to put them on. But first, I’m afraid we’re going to have to search you.” He gave me a tight smile. “Ladies first.”
When I didn’t budge, Maddox squeezed my hand reassuringly. He’d anticipated this much, but not the rest. Now that it came right down to it, the idea of being frisked not only creeped me out, but terrified me as well. Terrance yanked my arm, tearing me away from Maddox. I yelped as he pushed me forward against the brick wall, forcing my arms above my head. His hands swept to my still wet hair, raking his fingers through it to jerk it off my neck. “I-Is this really n-necessary?” I asked.
“I’m afraid so. Strict orders there are to be no weapons or no communication devices,” he replied, sweeping his hands down the sides of my body. As they swept over my abdomen, I sucked in a breath, hoping and praying he wouldn’t go any further up and discover the phone lodged in my bra. Finally, he moved down to my waist. I cringed when his fingers dipped inside the waistband of my jeans before digging into my back pockets.
I glanced over my shoulder at Maddox. His fists clenched at his side, and I knew he had to fight himself not to break Terrance’s neck. “She’s clean, a*shole!” he snapped.
Terrance ignored him and felt down each of my jeans legs. “Shoes off,” he demanded. I hurriedly kicked out of my sneakers. Once he was satisfied there was nothing in them or my socks, he nodded and turned to Maddox. “All right, now you.”
The bouncer then took me by the shoulders and shoved me towards the car. His manhandling didn’t sit well with Maddox because the next thing I knew he had pushed away from Terrance and rushed over to me. “I swear to God if you touch her like that one more time, I’ll break your neck,” he snarled.
With a contemptuous snort, the bouncer stood toe to toe with Maddox before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling an enormous gun out. “Shut your mouth.”
Maddox’s vein throbbed in his head, and I feared he was going to lose it. Quickly, I swept my hands to his face, forcing him to look at me. “I’m fine,” I assured him.
His expression was tortured, but he gave a brief nod. The bouncer sneered at Maddox before slipping an arm around my waist and jerking me away.
Terrance cleared his throat. “Easy Julius. Remember what Jensen said about hurting them.”
At Terrance’s words, Julius eased his grip on me. “Get in,” he commanded.
I eyed the rope in his hands nervously. “Y-You’re not going to t-tie me up?”
“Nah, I think we’ll leave those for lover boy.”
I scrambled through the door and slid across the seat. When I reached back for the seatbelt, he shook his head. “Floorboard.”
I glanced down and swallowed hard. This was all a nightmare. I knelt behind the driver’s side seat. Leaning over, Julius took one of the blindfolds and covered my eyes. Darkness enveloped me, and I couldn’t stop trembling. A prickly panic needled my skin, and I struggled to breathe. Stay calm, Lane. Everything is going to fine. Maddox is here, the GBI are on their way, and everything is fine. But no matter how hard I tried reassuring myself, it didn’t help.
Terrence must’ve finished with Maddox because I heard his voice close to the driver’s side door. “Julius, you’ll stay in the back with them. Parker will drive you to the location, and I’ll follow you in their truck.”
“Whatever you say,” Julius replied.
Just as I thought I might start hyperventilating, Maddox dropped down beside me. Julius nudged us to lie down, so we would be better hidden. After I stretched out my legs and Maddox lay across me, a thick blanket dropped over us, making it even harder to breathe.
Somehow in the emotional and physical darkness, Maddox’s voice hummed in my ear. “It’s all going to be all right. I love you, and we’ll get through this.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered.
His lips met mine in a reassuring kiss. We jolted apart when the car lunged back in reverse. Our bodies shook and vibrated with the car while it rambled along the broken-up pavement. When we rolled to a stop, Maddox’s chin knocked into my forehead. “Ouch,” I gasped.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
I tried to reach my hand up to rub it, but the car lurched forward onto the highway, throwing us against each other again. At the rate we were going, we would be black and blue by the time we reached Jensen’s hideout. We’d probably traveled for a few minutes when the pressure from Maddox lying on me caused my legs to go to sleep. I tried shifting them but ended up kneeing Maddox in the groin. Hard.
He groaned in agony and pulled away.
“Oh, jeez, I’m so, so sorry,” I said.
Julius kicked us. “Pipe down!”
“You try getting nailed in the balls and see how quiet you are,” Maddox growled.
While Parker snickered in the front seat, Julius’s boot heel nudged into us again. “Shut the f*ck up before I gag you.”
Maddox muttered a string of obscenities under his breath before maneuvering his legs to the side to where he wouldn’t be in danger of me kicking him again. He heaved a frustrated sigh.
“Are you okay?” I whispered.
“I’m tied up and blindfolded, I’ve been harassed by armed a*sholes, and I just had my balls rearranged. Oh yeah, I’m peachy,” he hissed in reply.
Even though he couldn’t see me, I narrowed my eyes at him. “I can’t believe you’re being sarcastic at a time like this.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sorry that I’m not living up to your heroic expectations, princess.”
I started to lay into him with a smartass response when we turned off the highway and onto a gravel road. Once again, Maddox and I were thrown against each other as we bumped and jostled on the uneven terrain. The thought that we were getting closer to Jensen caused me to shudder. Maddox must’ve sensed my uneasiness because he nuzzled his cheek against my forehead. All my aggravated feelings evaporated with the warmth of his breath on my face. “Sorry for being an a*shole,” he murmured.
“No, I’m sorry, too.”
He chuckled. “You’re just a ball-buster in more ways than one, Lane.”
I giggled, silently thanking him for momentarily trying to ease the tension and make me forget I was blindfolded and being held at gunpoint.
We rolled to a stop, and Terrance killed the car engine. “It’s all going to be over soon, and we’ll look back at all this and laugh,” Maddox assured me in a whisper.
I nodded in reply while silently praying Agent Montrose lived up to his word of being fast. From above me, I heard the back door open. The car rocked to and fro under the strain of Julius rolling out. A few seconds passed before the blanket was ripped off of us. “All right, up and at em, lover-boy,” Julius said.
He dragged Maddox off me. Julius must’ve then thrown Maddox out of the car because the next thing I heard was a body scuffling on the ground and Maddox cursing. I rose out of the floorboard and tried pulling myself on the seat, but Julius’s meaty hand wrapped around my arm and dragged me out. Still unable to see, I lost my footing and collapsed to the ground, right on top of Maddox.
“Dammit.”
“Sorry.” I rolled away from him and staggered to my feet.
Hands gripped my shoulders, and then Julius unceremoniously ripped my blindfold away. The intense noon sunlight burned my eyes, and I snapped my lids shut until they could adjust. After a few seconds, they fluttered opened. My gaze flickered around my surroundings, desperately trying to take in everything at once. I glanced over at Maddox. He shook his head as if to say, “Where the hell are we?”
With all the turns we’d made, we were definitely off some rural road. High grass grew all around, and a rustic barn sat in the center of an overgrown field. Past the barn, I could see where there had once been an old farmhouse because two crumbling rock chimneys still stood.
Nudging our backs, Julius urged us forward through the grass towards the barn. Once we got to the door, he knocked. “Come in,” a voice called from inside.
We stepped over the barn entrance, and Julius quickly shut the door. Movement came from a stall to my left. Suddenly, Jensen stepped out. Without a word to us, he turned back and jerked someone forward.
“Dad!” I cried, breaking free of Terrance.