Search Me(40)

“It could be worse.”

He cocked his eyebrows. “And exactly how would that be possible?”

“Oh, I can think of a bunch of things. But the main one that comes to mind involves you flirting with Bretsky to get the translation.”

Maddox made a horrified face. “Okay, okay. You’re right.”

“We should probably find a hotel room, so we can concentrate and not be interrupted.”

“Oh the irony of our situation.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He grinned. “Most people our age don’t check into hotels to study ancient books and treasure maps.”

My face burned when I got his meaning. The next thing I knew he was shoving me into an empty office and slamming the door behind us. It was pitch black inside, and I could barely make out Maddox in front of me. “What the—”

He cupped his hand over my mouth. “Jensen’s tall thug is out in the exhibition hall,” he whispered.

Ice-cold fear crashed over me. Maddox saw I was going to be quiet and removed his hand. He leaned against the right side of the doorframe and eased his hand onto the knob. Gently, he turned it and cracked the door. We stood like marble statues as the seconds agonizingly ticked by. The sound of footsteps in the hallway caused me to freeze.

“Damn,” Maddox muttered. He turned back to me. “He’s going in Bretsky’s office.”

I shuddered. “Oh God, you don’t think he’d…” I gulped. “Hurt Paul?”

“I dunno.” He peeked out into the hall again. “I do know we have to get the hell out of here. Fast.”

He grabbed my hand and jerked me out the door. Without looking back, we started sprinting through the exhibition hall—bumping into tourists and almost mowing down a display of Cherokee bows and arrows.

“Stop that running!” someone shouted at us, but we ignored them. Just as we rounded the corner, we came face to face with Jensen’s short henchman. We all momentarily froze, staring at each other in shock. It only took a second for Maddox to sweep back into action. He jumped in front of me, shielding me from the guy.

“Don’t f**king move!” the henchman snarled as he fumbled for his pistol in the holder on his chest.

“Go Lane,” Maddox ordered pushing me forward. Without hesitating, I began to run again.

“Stop or I’ll shoot!”

When I dared peeking over my shoulder, the henchman had his gun raised and was aiming it directly at us. My heart stilled, and it felt like minutes, rather than seconds, before it restarted. Screams pierced my eardrums as everyone around us began dropping to the ground. Fear caused me to falter, sending Maddox’s body crashing into mine. Side by side now, he tried shifting his body in front of mine. With one hand on my waist, he used his other arm to grab hold of a full-size statue of a Cherokee Warrior. Grunting, he tugged with all his strength. The statue teetered before falling off its display, creating a barrier between the henchman and us.

We didn’t stop running until we reached the truck and clambered inside. Maddox dug the keys out and fired up the engine. He threw the gear into reverse and squealed tires out of the parking space, narrowly missing a Senior Citizens group. They gave us evil looks when we pealed past them. But their expressions quickly changed to horror when Jensen’s two men came rushing out of the exhibition hall with guns in hand. I cringed in anticipation of bullets flying at the truck, but instead, a police siren screeched in my ears. Park security followed by two Gordon County Sheriff’s cars came roaring passed us.

“Looks like the Calvary finally showed up,” Maddox said as he gunned the truck. We tore out of the parking lot practically on two wheels. Both of us were breathing hard and grasping at our chests. It took us a few minutes to calm down and get our breath back. Once Maddox had put enough distance between New Echota and us, he asked, “How in the hell did Jensen know where to find us?”

“Maybe he did a little research and figured out the one place in the state we could go to get the translation?”

“That’s just great.”

“I guess a hotel room is out of the question now, huh? With Jensen and his men all over the area.”

Maddox dug his phone out of his pocket. “Actually, I think I’ve got the perfect place for us to crash, and it’s only about thirty minutes from here. It’s probably the one place Jensen wouldn’t think to look for us.”

Chapter Twelve

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I exclaimed, taking in West’s Roadside Diner.

Maddox killed the engine and then glanced over at me. “What’s the problem?”

I couldn’t even speak—I was that shocked. I mean, when I heard the words, ‘roadside grill’, I expected some kind of restaurant. Instead, I got a stop on the Highway to Hell. All I could do was stare at the gleaming chrome of twenty-something motorcycles littering the front, not to mention the three eighteen wheelers parked in the side lot. “You can’t honestly expect me to go in there!”

Maddox frowned. “And why not?”

“I-It’s like a biker bar from hell or something.”

He chuckled. “Are you seriously afraid?”

Even though I hated to admit it, I bobbed my head.

“Don’t worry. Stick close to me, and you’ll be fine.”