Chapter Twenty-Two
On the way back to the Sheriff’s Department, I sat wedged between Dad and Maddox. Agent Greenburg had offered me the passenger seat in the SUV, but I wasn’t ready to be separated from Dad or Maddox, and the feeling was mutual for them as well. Dad kept his arm around me while Maddox held one of my hands. I was a total Lane sandwich between the men in my life. My purse filled with Pretty Fawn’s gold rested on my lap. Even now that everything was over, I still didn’t want to let it out of my sight for an instant.
We crested the hill above the Sheriff’s department, and I gasped. TV news vans packed the parking lot—their tower antenna’s stretching into the sky. Leaning over Maddox, I pressed my face against the window. All the local Atlanta stations were there along with some from far away as Chattanooga.
Agent Greenburg could barely get into the parking lot much less ease into a parking space. He honked his horn in frustration, but it didn’t do much good. Reporters and cameramen lunged at us. Even with the windows rolled up, they peppered rapid-fire questions while flashbulbs blinded me.
“Holy shit!” Maddox exclaimed, taking in the chaos.
“All this hoopla is for us?” I asked.
Dad chuckled good-naturedly. “Hey, it isn’t every day you get kidnapped and held for ransom while your daughter and her boyfriend hunt for buried gold.”
Maddox laughed while I blushed at Dad using the word ‘boyfriend’ to describe Maddox. “I guess you’re right,” I said.
“You folks hold on, and I’ll get the door,” Agent Greenburg said. He flung himself out into the throng. “All right everybody, back-up right now. These people have had a harrowing experience and deserve some rest. I know that we’re planning a press conference for later today, so you’ll get all your questions answered. But for now, please just let them get inside.”
He might as well have yelled, “Stampede!” because the reporters totally ignored him. Instead, they pushed and elbowed their way towards us.
“Is it a true an agent was shot?”
Agent Greenburg grimaced. “Yes, he’s been taken to a local hospital only as a precaution. We’re all thankful his Kevlar saved him.”
The reporters asked more questions about the GBI takedown and Jensen. I tried cowering behind Maddox and Dad, but a female reporter’s dark eyes honed in on me. “Lane, is it true that after you witnessed the attempted murder of Maudie Sinclair, you were then forced on the run by Jensen and his men?”
My tongue felt cemented to the roof of my mouth, and heat rushed into my cheeks under the camera’s intense scrutiny. “Um, well, yeah.” I surveyed the reporters who salivated for more of the story. “It was so scary. He tried to kill us several times—Maddox was even wounded.”
That one statement sent the reporters diving at Maddox. He widened his eyes at me. “Sorry,” I called over the roar.
“How bad were you hurt?” a tall man asked.
“Where were you shot?” the persistent female reporter demanded.
Maddox eyed the microphones thrust into his face. “The left bicep. And really it was nothing—just a little scratch. I mean, I’ve been in the Army, so it takes a lot to take me down.” The reporters laughed, and Maddox gave them a genuine smile.
Just when I thought I was safe, another reporter asked, “Lane, how did you feel when you found out your dad was being held hostage, and that if you didn’t find the gold, he could die?”
“Devastated,” I replied, my voice choking off. Dad reached over to put his arm around my shoulder. I glanced up at him, tears filling my eyes. “It was unbearable to think of him being hurt or killed over something that was my fault. Rescuing him was the only thing that kept me sane—although I did kinda lose it a few times.” I wiped my eyes and then met Maddox’s gaze. With a smile, I added, “And Maddox gave me the strength to get through it all.”
A chorus of “aww’s!” rang over the crowd. “So, Maddox and Lane, this is a true ‘happily ever after’ type ending then?” someone asked.
Maddox grinned. “I don’t know about all that fairy tale kinda stuff. The way I see it, I got to do a heroic rescue while putting some bad guys away, and I got to track down hidden treasure.” He turned to me and winked. “But most importantly, I got the girl.”
Dad cleared his throat. “Yeah, just remember she’s my little girl, too.”
The reporters chuckled heartily, especially when I flushed red. “Stephen, did your ordeal give you any ideas for your next novel?”
With a toothy grin, Dad replied, “Yes, actually it did. The minute I get home I’m pretty sure I’ll be in front of the laptop for a long, long time.”
Agent Greenburg then held up his hand. “That’s enough questions for now. You guys can stick around for the press conference later on.” He motioned for some sheriff’s deputies who had come out of the office. They escorted us inside and into a break room that had couches and chairs. “We’ll bring in some fresh coffee and some sodas for you guys. Just have a seat and make yourselves comfortable,” Agent Greenburg said.
I flopped down on one of the leather couches. My body felt like a rung-out ragdoll. Any remaining adrenaline I had got depleted with the rush of reporters.
“Damn, that was intense. I’m seriously in a sweat.” Maddox fanned his shirt before quickly doing a smell check of his armpits. When he caught my expression, he laughed. “Can’t meet my adoring public smelling like a stinky beast now, can I?”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re going to let this go to your head and start signing autographs?”
“Just be glad we were official before all the screaming fan-girls try to get a piece of me,” he replied, with a wink.
“You are impossible,” I muttered.
Raised voices in the hallway interrupted us. The door swung open and my hysterical mom burst in. Everything about her, from her wrinkled clothes to her disheveled hair, screamed that she’d been in freak-out mode for a long time. Her tear stained face lit up at the sight of us. “Oh, thank God! You’re both all right!”
She threw her arms around both Dad and me, alternating between kissing our faces. When she finally stopped to catch her breath, Dad asked, “How did you get here?”
“The GBI was nice enough to send a helicopter for me. There was no way I could wait for a commercial flight or drive.” Tears spilled down her cheeks, but she didn’t bother wiping them away. “I didn’t feel like I could breathe until I saw you two were all right.”
I glanced over Mom’s shoulder at Maddox. He was staring down at his hands. My heart ached for him that he wasn’t having a reunion like this. Neely would be all over him, but she was with Maudie. But Mom, being the intense nurturer that she is, saved the day by reaching over and throwing her arms around Maddox’s neck. “Thank God you’re all right, too. I can never thank you enough for taking care of our sweet Lane. You’re a guardian angel, plain and simple.” She pulled away to kiss his cheek, and he blushed.
“I think he’s a little more than a guardian angel for Lane,” Dad said, an amused smile on his face.
Mom appeared momentarily puzzled before her eyes widened when she got Dad’s meaning. “Oh, well, we might have to discuss this a little.”
“Mom!” I protested at the same time Maddox blurted, “What, am I not good enough to date Lane?”
“Oh honey, it’s nothing like that. It’s just she’s not yet twenty, and you’re twenty four.”
“No, I’m twenty. Today is my birthday, remember?”
Dad cleared his throat. “And I was twenty-two and you were eighteen. What’s your point?” The mischievous glint in his eyes brought a smile to Mom’s face, and she wagged a finger at him. Normally, it would have been enough to make me gag, but after all we’d been through, I could let them be a little flirty.
Thankfully they were interrupted by the sound of a phone going off. Maddox sat straighter in his seat at the sound of the ring tone. “Hey, that’s mine.”
Officer Greenburg pulled a phone out of his coat pocket. “Yes, we found this on one of Jensen’s men.”
Maddox jerked it from Greenburg’s hands and then grimaced at the ID. “Oh shit, it’s Neely. She’s probably caught the news and is ready to ream me a new one.”
He hesitated answering it, so I smacked his arm. “Hurry up. She’s just going to freak out more if you don’t take her call.”
Maddox grumbled, but then brought the phone to his ear. “Okay, I know you’re pissed, but—” He sucked in a breath and then glanced up at us. A wide grin spread across his face. “Maudie’s awake?”