Chapter Twenty-One
With Dad’s hands tied behind him, I could only throw my arms around his chest. Squeezing him tight, I didn’t fight the tears that pricked my eyes.
He leaned his head down to kiss my cheek. “Thank God you’re all right. I’ve been so worried, sweetheart,” he murmured, his voice cracking.
“I feel the same way.”
Trying to ease the tension, he mused, “My daughter, the treasure hunter.”
Even at his joke, I couldn’t fight the sobs escaping from my lips. “I’m so, so sorry.”
Dad gave me a ghost of a smile. “It’s okay.”
And then our brief reunion shattered with Jensen creeping up behind me. I stiffened when I felt his breath on my neck. “I do hate to interrupt such a touching scene, but I believe we have some business to attend.”
I knew he wanted me to follow him, but I refused to budge. I remained rooted to the floor with my arms around Dad. “Miss Montgomery, please cooperate,” Jensen said. He pried me off of Dad and led me over to a ratty couch that was set up where an animal-feeding trough used to be. Maddox stood by the couch, rocking anxiously back and forth on his heels. I knew he was thinking the same thing I was. Where the hell were Agent Montrose and the GBI?
I glanced over my shoulder to see Terrance grab Dad. “Want us to take him back in the stall?” he asked.
Jensen shook his head. “Just keep an eye on him. If everything is in order, he won’t be here too much longer.” He motioned for me to have a seat, but I remained standing. His jaw clenched in disapproval, but he didn’t force me. “I assume since Julius swept your truck clean and didn’t find the gold, it is somewhere on you?”
“Yes,” I murmured.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you trying to play games with me, Miss Montgomery?”
“No.”
“Mrs. Sinclair wanted to play games with me about the map. You saw how that ended for her.” He pulled a pistol out of his jacket pocket. “Be a smart girl and give me the gold.”
I momentarily hesitated before my trembling hand went to the zipper on my purse. Jensen smiled at my compliance. “I know what you’re thinking. It isn’t fair that you’ve gone to this much trouble to get the gold and now you have to give it up. But it really isn’t yours. It really belongs to my family.”
“No, it was Pretty Fawn’s gold. If it belongs to anyone, it’s her ancestors.”
Jensen narrowed his eyes. “Now you listen here. My great, great-grandfather, Arch, was Avery Jensen’s brother. After Avery was killed, Arch spent most of his life searching for the map and the gold—it drove him batshit crazy. Right before my grandfather died, he found out the map had been hidden in a painting—a painting done by the grandson of Notley, Pretty’s Fawn’s brother. He made me swear on his deathbed to find the painting no matter what it took.”
When he hungrily reached for my purse, I stepped back. I tried to think of some way to keep him talking and to give Agent Montrose and the GBI a little more time. I chewed on my lip for a minute before blurting, “But why now? Why didn’t you try for the treasure years ago?”
Jensen growled in frustration. “Well, if you must know you nosy little bitch, it was because I had better things to do with my time than go on a damn wild-goose chase for treasure that might not even exist and had driven my family insane. But after landing myself in prison for the second time, I happened to be bored out of my mind one night. I started thumbing through an art magazine that some schmuck had donated. And what do I see? The very painting my family has been salivating for.”
I gasped. “You saw where it was going to be sold at the auction in North Carolina? The one that Maudie went to.”
“Aren’t we perceptive? Fortunately, my parole date happened to coincide with the auction,” Jensen mused.
“But why didn’t you just steal it from the auction house?”
Jensen rolled his eyes. “Oh please, those places are almost as heavily armed and guarded as a Brink’s Armored Truck. It made sense that if I didn’t get to buy the painting then I would just persuade the next owner to let me buy it…or take it.” At what must’ve been my expression of disgust, Jensen chuckled. “You see, Miss Montgomery, I had a lot of time in prison to think about how to take the treasure. I also met some very important people who were to help me take it—for a cut of the treasure of course.” He motioned around the room at Parker and Terrence. “It’s my key to disappearing off the grid and not ever having to worry about going back to prison. There’s got to be at least a million dollars in there, if not more, and it’s going to be mine.”
Once again, he reached for my purse, but before he could take it, Julius burst through the door. “We got company!”
My relieved gaze spun over to Maddox. A smile flashed on his face before he mouthed, “Agent Montrose.” I gave a slight bob of my head before surveying the room to make sure no one suspected us. Thankfully, they were all riveted by Julius’s towering form framed in the doorway.
“What do you mean?” Jensen asked.
“Someone’s out there in the woods.”
The electricity in the air shifted, sending the already nerve-wracking tension into massive overdrive. Jensen whirled around. The fury burning in his eyes and his expression of rage caused me to cower and inch away from him. But he didn’t let me get away. Instead, he grabbed my shoulders and jerked me against him. His fingers dug in my skin so hard I knew I would be bruised later. “Someone has been a very bad girl.”
Furiously, I shook my head. “No, I didn’t do anything. I swear. You have our phones and GPS.”
He tore his wild eyes off of mine and dipped his gaze to my chest that was flush against him. The expression on his face told me he knew my secret. Thrusting his hand inside my shirt, he snatched out the phone. “Tsk, tsk, I don’t like being lied to Miss Montgomery.”
“But I—”
Jensen silenced me by sending a stinging slap across my face. Both Dad and Maddox lunged forward, but Terrance and Julius knocked them to the ground. Maddox scrambled to get back up with his hands tied, but Julius cocked his gun at him. Defeated, Maddox ducked his head. “All right, all right.”
Jensen turned his wrath momentarily on his men. “Didn’t I tell you two to search them completely?”
“Yeah,” Terrance and Julius replied in unison.
“Then how is it possible that the bitch had a phone on her? A phone that brought the f*cking Feds to our doorstep.” Neither one of them responded. “Answer me!” Jensen shouted.
“What did you want us to do? Have her strip?” Terrance protested.
“I wanted her to come here clean—no devices. And now you two have totally screwed that up.”
Julius opened his mouth to say something when the distinctive sound of a bullhorn echoed through the barn. “All right, this is Agent Montrose of the GBI. Everyone should vacate the premises immediately. Lay down your weapons, and come out with your hands on your head.”
“Shit!” Terrance exclaimed.
“Want me to hit the outer perimeter detonators?” Parker asked.
“Don’t tell me, you’re a hacker and an explosives expert, too?” Maddox muttered.
“My time in the Army served me well,” Parker replied.
Maddox shook his head. “Dude, you’re a serious disgrace to the armed forces. I just want you to know that.”
“Shut up!” Parker snarled, training his gun on Maddox.
Jensen raked his fingers through his hair. “Give me a minute or two on the explosives. We need to give them a little more of a distraction first.”
Agent Montrose’s voice came over the bullhorn again. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be. Come to the door, lay your weapons down, and let Mr. Diaz and the Montgomery’s go.”
“You’re coming with me,” Jensen growled. Spinning me around, he wrapped one arm around my neck and then positioned his gun against my temple. “You even breathe wrong, and I’ll blow your head off. Got it?”
The intense pressure of his arm against my throat barely allowed me to breathe, let alone speak. I managed to weakly croak, “Yes.”
While Jensen fumbled with the doorknob, my gaze flickered to the floor. Maddox and Dad stared back at me with ashen expressions. Both appeared to want nothing more than to break free of Julius and Terrance to rescue me.
Like a true coward, Jensen pushed me outside first to where I would be a shield against the rifles trained on the barn. My gaze spun around the clearing, searching for the GBI agents or Sheriff’s department deputies. I honed in on Agent Montrose with his bullhorn in hand. But he was the only one visible—I had to assume all the others were carefully concealed. His eyes widened at the sight of a now deepening hostage situation.
“Now you listen to me. You and your men better back off!” Jensen shouted.
Agent Montrose shook his head. “Don’t be stupid. We’ve got the whole property surrounded. Don’t make things worse by trying to run or hurting her.”
“No, don’t you make things worse by not taking me seriously. You and your men better lay your weapons down, or I’ll give my men the command to shoot them all.”
Seconds ticked by, and I was overwhelmed at how surreal the experience was—like I was standing outside myself watching the scene play out. How many times had I seen something similar on TV or in the movies? Of course, I don’t think they’d ever adequately captured the victim’s terror not only at being held hostage, but at the thoughts of how peeing their pants from fear would add to their humiliation.
All at once the sound of busting glass and splintering wood blasted from the back of the barn. Voices screamed, “Freeze! Drop your weapons!”
Any relief I might’ve felt was short lived. The ground all around the clearing exploded. I wanted to cover my ears, but Jensen had too tight a hold on me. Dirt and branches went flying through the air. A few seconds went by before the other side went up as well. Shouts of confusion filled the air as the agents tried to regroup.
“Ready for the big finish?” Jensen asked into my ear. He then momentarily eased up on my chokehold to fire a round at Montrose.
When it pierced his chest, I screamed, sending Jensen’s arm back around my neck. The world shuddered to a stop as Montrose collapsed onto the grass. I barely had time to process what happened when more agents came tromping through the woods, through the screen of smoke and burning grass. Thankfully, their rifles were trained on Jensen.
Gunfire rang out behind me. All I could think of was Dad and Maddox…had they been shot in the crossfire…were they hurt or…dead? Jensen started to drag me towards one side of the clearing. I knew I had to get to Maddox and Dad, but most importantly, I had to get away from Jensen. A thought flashed before me of how easily I’d incapacitated Maddox earlier with my absentminded groin kick.
My mind whirled with the logistics. I couldn’t get free from Jensen enough to kick him, and there was no way I could elbow him either—I’d only get him in the gut. I would need to hit him pretty hard to take him out, and I didn’t know if I had the physical strength to do that. Then I had a light bulb moment.
A purse, heavy laden with gold, hung at my side. Slowly, I reached over and grasped it in my hand. I drew in a deep breath. This was it. Now or never time. Channeling my rage and despair, I brought the purse forward and then rammed it back into Jensen, directly in the balls.
His arm fell from my neck, and I gulped in air. Huffing and puffing, he started to hunch over. I seized the moment and whirled around, kicking him again for good measure. His gun dropped to the ground before he sank to his knees.
Scuffling and cursing echoed from the barn as the agents subdued Jensen’s men. My gaze searched the throng for Dad and Maddox. The sight of them, crouching down next to the sofa, restarted my heart, and I exhaled in relief. A groan came from behind me.
I whirled around to see Jensen struggling on the grass. I’d totally forgotten the carnal rule of never turning your back on the bad guy. His lips curled into sneer. “You bitch! I’ll kill you if it’s the last thing I do.”
Since I had depleted all my adrenaline with my attack on Jensen’s crotch, I did the girliest thing I could think of. “HELP!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. Just as Jensen got to his feet, the knights in shining armor came charging into the clearing.
Until they could get closer, I started a strange tango of wits with Jensen—I took a step to the side, and he mirrored it. If I moved backward, he moved forward. Anytime I tried the give the agents a clear shot, Jensen would block it.
“Freeze Jensen. Do not move. We will shoot you!” an agent shouted.
He gave me a maniacal grin. “Just try and get one off without taking her down instead,” he called over his shoulder.
“Move in Alpha Team for takedown!” an agent called.
“Agent down! Agent down!” came another voice.
Then a long groan came from the clearing. “I’m clear. Got it in the vest,” Agent Montrose said.
Jensen lunged at me, and I dodged out of his way. As he went careening into the barn wall, I scrambled in the dirt for his pistol.
With a shaking hand, I aimed the gun at Jensen. He eyed it and then smirked at me. “Oh, you really think you’re going to shoot me?”
“No, but they will.” I jerked my head over my shoulder at the agents. “All I have to do is step out of their way, and you’re in their line of fire.” Keeping the pistol trained on Jensen, I slowly backed away from him. “All right, he’s all yours.”
Agents sprinted forward, knocking me out of the way. I spun around, trying not to get trampled. They had Jensen spread-eagled on the ground and in handcuffs by the time I regained my balance. I heaved a sigh of relief and then leaned back against the barn. Dizziness overcame me, and my shaking knees threatened to not hold me up.
“Lane?” Maddox called from the doorway. His hands were untied, and his expression was one of pure panic while he frantically scanned the crowd.
“I’m here,” I said meekly.
He rushed over and pulled me into his arms. “You scared the shit out of me! I couldn’t see you and with that gunshot...”
I opened my mouth to protest, but his lips crushed against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him tighter to me. He released my mouth and started feathering soft kisses on my cheek—the one that Jensen had slapped earlier. “I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to you. I love you, baby.”
Tears stung my eyes. “I love you so much too.”
Someone cleared his throat behind us. Maddox jerked away from me, and I flushed at the sight of Dad standing behind us with his arms crossed over his chest. He cocked his head at us. “Would one of you like to explain what’s going on here?”
“Yes sir,” Maddox replied, sounding like he was addressing a drill sergeant rather than Dad. “I love your daughter, and I’d like your permission to date her.”
Dad grinned. “You have to learn something about timing, son. It’s overwhelming enough coming off a hostage situation. Don’t add to my stress level by asking to date Lane.”
Maddox’s brow furrowed. “Does that mean no?”
With a chuckle, Dad patted Maddox’s back. “It’s more of a ‘let me catch my breath before you pull the rug out from under me’ type answer.”
Our attention was then drawn to the GBI SUV’s tearing down the road, kicking up a cloud of dust behind them. They wheeled to a stop at the clearing, and agents and sheriff’s deputies charged out. Terrance, Parker, and Julius were led out of the barn and ushered toward the clearing. Each was loaded into a separate SUV.
“I can’t say I’m going to be too sad to see them go,” I mused.
An agent who didn’t appear much older than Maddox jogged over to us. He thrust out his hand. “I’m Agent Greenburg. If you all will follow me, we’ll head back to the Sheriff’s Department where you can be debriefed and then released.”
Dad wrapped an arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. “Come on, let’s go home.”