Search Me(61)

“Who’s there? Jensen?” Maddox called, his voice echoing through the cave. I raised my head and peered into the dark.

An image formed in my mind just as Maddox exclaimed, “Jesus West! What the hell are you doing? You could have killed us, not to mention yourself! Opening fire in a cave? They nixed that shit in Basic!”

West stepped into the lantern light. The shadows played off his face and highlighted his shrapnel scars, making him appear menacing. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes. “I’m cutting in on the treasure. What the hell does it look like I’m doing?”

Chapter Eighteen

Maddox and I exchanged a worried glance. “How did you know about the treasure?” Maddox demanded.

With a wicked grin, West pointed the gun at me. “I knew last night you two were awfully serious about that dumb book. Then after Lane got tequila tipsy, she totally blabbed that you guys were hunting for hidden gold.”

My eyes widened. “I did?” Everything that had happened between those four shots of tequila and passing out was a total blur. Shit, shit, SHIT! What had I been thinking?

“Oh yeah, you did. At first, I thought you were shitting me. But I decided last night after you two went to sleep, that I’d snag Lane’s clothes out of the dryer and bring them upstairs. That gave me an excuse to sneak into your room in case one of you woke up. Thankfully, you didn’t. So, I read your notes.” He laughed and shook his head at me. “I couldn’t believe you’d been telling the truth. I knew then I had to follow you to get in on the treasure.”

“Look dude, we just can’t cut you in—” Maddox began.

“Oh hell yes you can. With that gold, I’m gonna get out of workin’ for my old man and actually do what I want for a change.”

“But you don’t understand. Armed men are holding my dad hostage until we bring this gold to them!” I cried.

“Yeah, well, that’s too freakin’ bad. The way I see it, there’s one armed man standing in front of you right now that you should be worried about.” He waved his gun at me for good measure.

Desperation rose in my voice. “But they’ll kill him. They really will. They already tried to kill Maudie, and they won’t hesitate to do it again.”

West shrugged. “Sorry sweetie, but I’ve seen men blown to pieces right in front of me—one more dead guy isn’t going to matter much to me. We’ve all got our own problems, ya know? Any hope I had of getting out from under my old man and out of Calhoun got shot to hell the day that bomb went off. So your little sob story does nothing for me.” He held out his bag. “Start dividing up the gold. I figure you guys can have half, and I can have half.”

I glanced over at Maddox. He dropped his gaze briefly down to the brick-sized rock he still held in his hands from clearing away the hole. Then he looked back to me. Immediately I got his meaning. I gave a slight nod of my head in agreement.

Then everything around me shuddered to a standstill. My arm reached for West’s bag in slow motion while Maddox threw the rock as hard as he could. When it smashed against West’s hand, a crack echoed throughout the cave. I momentarily cringed at the thought of all his broken bones.

West screamed before doubling over in pain, sending his gun flying behind him.

“Let’s go!” Maddox shouted, grabbing me by the arm. As we rounded the corner, I glanced over my shoulder to see West still clutching his hurt hand that was now bleeding. I knew it would only be a matter of seconds before he started fumbling for his gun to come after us.

“Are you sure we aren’t running straight into a dead end?” I asked, my voice echoing through the cave.

“No, it has to come out somewhere. And wherever it is has to be better than back there with West.”

With the dim light of the flashlight, I could barely see what was right in front of me let alone what was farther ahead. The air started to get damper, and our feet sloshed through the wet ground. It was at that moment I started to get a bad feeling we were too close to the waterfalls.

We turned the corner and were immediately blinded by sunlight and a thundering noise. Our shoes skidded to a stop just before the cave edge. I peered over to see where the rapids of the falls flowed into a stream. It had to be at least a sixteen foot drop.

Maddox grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me to him. “Okay, we don’t have much of a choice here. We’ve gotta jump,” he called over the roar of the water.

My eyes widened. “Are you insane?”

“What other choice do we have? The only other way out is a dead-end with West taking the gold!”

When he took a step closer to the edge, I shook my head wildly in fear. “But what about Pretty Fawn? If I remember the legend correctly, the whole cliff jumping didn’t end up too well for her.”

“She couldn’t swim. We’ll be able to make it to the shore.” He held his hand out to me. “Here give me your purse. The gold will weigh you down too much.”

Dumbly, I pulled the strap over my head and handed it to Maddox. Instantly, I felt lighter. He tossed it over his neck to fit across his shoulders. “Okay. Let’s do it.” At my continued hesitation, he smiled. “Trust me.”

At the sound of footsteps, I realized I didn’t have any more time to debate my options. I turned back to see West’s shadow bobbing closer. His voice echoed through the cave toward us. “All right, I’m through playing f**king games! Give me the bag with all the gold or I start shooting!”