Search Me(55)

Jensen chuckled. “Yes, I met Parker from my days of serving a sentence for an armed robbery or two. While the authorities might call Parker a dangerous computer hacker, it is fortunate for me because he was able to find out your father’s tour schedule when we hacked into your family’s cell records. That way we had an exact location of when and where to find him.”

“Cut to the damn chase, Jensen,” Maddox snarled.

“With Parker’s help, I was able to find Mr. Montgomery to bring him back to Georgia, and I also know that you two are at West’s Roadside Bar and Grill in Calhoun.”

I exchanged a horrified look with Maddox. “If you know where we are, why even bother with the phone?”

“Because busting in on you wouldn’t serve my purpose at all. No, I get to rest easy knowing that I’ll make the demands, and you will be doing all the dirty work for me.”

“What do you want us to do?” Maddox asked.

“I think it’s safe to assume that you two have probably figured out the location of the gold. Am I right?”

Maddox tensed beside me. I could tell he didn’t want to tell Jensen anything, but what choice did we have? “Yes,” I murmured.

“Okay then. Here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to go get the gold and bring it to me. The reward for all your hard work will be that I don’t hurt either of you or Mr. Montgomery. Then I’ll take the gold, and we’ll forget that we ever had the pleasure of meeting each other. Understood?”

Maddox scowled. “Yeah, whatever.”

“See how easy this can be?” Jensen teased, an irritating smile in his voice.

“Just tell us what to do!” I cried.

“So impatient, aren’t we?” When I didn’t respond, Jensen continued, “Now the little GPS devices in your phones that helped track you down are also going to tell me just exactly where you go and what you do. I consider it my insurance policy against you pulling any funny business. Don’t try to call anyone, especially the police. Don’t make any extended stops along the route because I will know the moment you do, and we’ll have a problem. If you throw your phones away or I lose the GPS connection, then Daddy gets hurt. Bad. And I’m sure you don’t want that to happen.”

I choked on the sobs rising in my throat. “No, please, I’ll do anything. Just don’t hurt him.”

“Now, now, don’t get so upset. You’ll need your strength and all your focus on finding the treasure. Where is it you’re supposed to go?”

“Talking Rock in Pickens County,” Maddox answered.

“Parker, give me an ETA from Calhoun to Talking Rock please.” Seconds ticked by. “That should take you approximately an hour. I’ll be generous and give you an extra ten minutes this time to get your heads on straight. The moment you arrive at the location, call me on this number and check in. We’ll go from there.”

Jensen then disconnected the phone. My legs turned to rubber and could no longer hold me up. Even with Maddox’s arms around me, I collapsed onto the ground, shaking and sobbing. Maddox dropped down beside me and pulled me into his arms. I guess he realized the enormity of the situation because he didn’t even bother trying to tell me not to cry or that everything was going to be okay. He just held me tight and let me howl and scream like a crazy person.

All I could think about was my dad ending up like Maudie…or far worse. He could be killed all because of me and my ridiculous need to have an adventure. It was too much to think about, let alone to have to bear. And there were also the horrible thoughts of what might happen to Maddox and myself if we didn’t find the gold.

I finally started coming out of my breakdown. My breath came in ragged gasps while my throat felt like it had been sliced with razor blades.

Maddox’s breath was warm against my ear. “Listen, Jensen’s ransom—it doesn’t change anything. We’re still going after the gold, and we’re going to find it.”

I jerked back to stare at him. “Don’t you get it? It’s not just about us losing the treasure to him. What if he doesn’t let my dad go? What if he takes the gold and then kills us all?”

“Then we come up with a back-up plan that ensures we all get out of this alive—preferably with the gold.”

“But you heard Jensen. He’ll know if we try to call the police or anyone else.”

“From our cell-phones. That doesn’t mean we can’t call someone else.”

I shook my head furiously. “He’s tracking us like animals, Maddox. We go off the grid for one minute, and he’ll shoot my dad, just like he did Maudie.”

Maddox leapt up off the floor and started pacing back and forth. “Dammit, there’s got to be a way.”

I ground the tears from my eyes with my fists and then drew in a breath. I had to be strong and think clearly. This wasn’t about finding the treasure anymore. “Look, we don’t have time to argue about this. Jensen is timing us, remember?” I pulled myself painfully up off the floor. Without another word to Maddox, I grabbed my purse. Stomping over to the door, I unbolted the lock. When he still hadn’t moved, I threw a glance at him over my shoulder. “Are you coming or not?”

He narrowed his eyes. I could tell there were about a million things he wanted to say to me at that moment, but amazingly, he held his tongue. He snatched his bag and slung the strap over his shoulder.