Freedom's Treasure (24 page)

At full dusk Hunter started running down the line of tubes and back. He was reminded of wind sprints back in high school. He’d once run back and forth on those lines until he’d puked. His coach had slapped him on the back and told him they were finally making progress. Hunter had quit basketball shortly thereafter and taken up football instead. The coach was less psychotic.

During a short break he crouched to catch his breath and felt his phone vibrate. He quickly checked and saw a text from Elisa. Figuring it was a good luck text he put the phone away again without reading it. He sprinted back and forth for another 20 minutes. Fortunately he didn’t vomit but he felt like it was a possibility at several points.

His phone vibrated repeatedly but he was running too much to actually check it. When he did he noticed four texts. He quickly scanned through them, confused. Anna had sent him texts full of gibberish. He considered that she may be drinking - it would only be fair considering his night after all - and chuckled while imagining her agony the next day. After he read the text from his mother, however, he stopped chuckling altogether. He dropped the tubes he was helping put away, sprinted to the rowboat and rowed like he was on Crew at Harvard.

Anna fidgeted in the uncomfortable seat of Dock’s truck. It felt like a spring was digging into her butt. Fortunately it gave her an excuse to keep adjusting. Her hand remained in her pocket, her thumb scraping across the screen of her phone. She had no idea if Hunter was receiving her texts and she kept trying. She prayed he wouldn’t call her phone, thus reminding Dock it existed. If he hadn’t thought to take it away from her she certainly wasn’t going to remind him.

Her eyes darted between the road, Dock and the side view mirror. Every time she thought she’d hit Send on her phone her eyes would look for headlights following them. So far the other cars they’d seen were heading toward the park where the fireworks were still going on.

Anna pictured Hunter running back and forth with some comically large match and oblivious to the fact that her life was in danger while he lit random wicks that, in her imagination, lead to rockets that Wile Coyote would be proud of. She bit back the panicked laugh and looked back to Dock.

“You do know there’s no good end game that can possibly happen here, right?” she was stunned her voice didn’t waver.

Dock turned to he
r and in the headlights of a passing car she saw absolutely nothing in their depths. How could a man so perfect physically embody such a void of character? It stunned her.

“Whatever do you mean?” his polite tone chilled her to the bone and her fingers dug frantically back at her phone.

“No matter how you do this, the cops are going to be on your tail. You won’t be able to sell the treasure, the authorities will be watching for it. You can’t kill me, that would add murder to your charges but you can’t let me live, either, as I’m likely to tell the cops everything I know. So, ultimately, there’s no good end game here.” Anna bit her lip and prayed the psycho wouldn’t up and shoot her.

“Jesus, lady,” Dock shook his head, “does that brain of yours ever stop running? Or that mouth?” He turned back to the road. “Besides, you have no idea what my end game is.”

Anna glanced into the mirror and realized the turn they had just made. Dock was taking her back to the A-frame. With the lull in their odd conversation Anna concentrated very specifically on her typing. She desperately needed Hunter to know where they were going and she needed it to happen before she lost signal on her phone.

She ignored the burning of her stomach. Anna also ignored the urge to beg Dock to take her anywhere but to the cabin. She knew in that moment that Hunter was correct and that it had been Dock who had torn the precious building apart. Anna decided that was all the more reason she’d never let Dock get away with this.

It was full dark and there was a breeze drifting through the leaves over their heads. Dock turned off the engine and turned to face Anna. “You’re not going to give me a whole lot of trouble here, are you?”

Anna widened her eyes in exaggerated innocence. “What kind of trouble could I be?” She was following her instincts and they told her not to act scared of this man. He would feed on it and his behavior would grow more erratic. He liked fear on a woman’s face. The thought disgusted her and she vowed not to show the absolute ice cold panic that was running down her spine.

Dock stroked the end of the gun down her cheek. “I wish I’d met you first,” he whispered seductively.

Anna gulped back the metallic taste in the back of her throat. “Honey, it’s going to take a bigger gun.”

Dock froze. His eyes turned flinty and his jaw tightened. A split second before she thought he’d hit her he burst out with laughter, a mechanical, abnormal laughter. Anna fought the flinch and barely won. She smiled back and hoped the expression didn’t resemble that of a skull.

“Anna, tell me where the treasure is. I know you have it figured out,” he was using a seductive, hypnotic tone. Anna wished she had the answer so she’d never have to hear it again.

She shook her head slowly while maintaining eye contact. “Dock,” she whispered, “if I knew where it was I’d be living in Maui right now.”

A petulant look crossed his face and he pushed her shoulder a touch harder than playfully. Her head rapped smartly against the window and she winced. “I wish you wouldn’t lie to me.”

“I’m sorry. I meant Seattle, I’d be in Seattle.”

“It’s like you have some sort of death wish.” Dock eased his head to the side and considered. “I think you’re stalling. Do you think Hunter is going to come save you?”

“This isn’t a book or a movie, Dock. I mean, hello? Do you have some final scene in your head where you find the treasure, get the girl and kill your enemy? Because, trust me, that doesn’t happen in real life.”

“Shut up, Anna.”

“Oh my God, you do!” Anna hung her head, shook the tension from her shoulders. Her eyes, when they met his, were lit with fire. Dock waited for her next words and wondered what kind of mess shooting her would leave in his truck. He held his breath as her mouth started to open.

The bitch spat on him.

Dock’s hand reeled out and he slapped her, knocking Anna’s head against the window once more. Though she hoped he’d knock her out she was only stunned for a moment. When she was sure her brain had settled back into its proper place she looked at him coldly.

“That’s one, Dock.”

He laughed. “I have a feeling there will be more. Get out of the freaking truck. Did you text Hunter yet? I’m ready for this party to start.”

Anna froze halfway out of the truck. Shock. “You wanted me to text Hunter?”

“Well yeah. How else will he know to come out here? God damn, I thought you were smart!” Dock grinned widely.

Anna hated that she had played right into his hands. How was she to know? She desperately hoped none of the texts had gone through but that wasn’t how her luck seemed to be running today. She slowly climbed the rest of the way from the truck and looked back to Dock. “Whatever. You’re an ass.”

With a gun at her back Anna walked proudly into the dark A-frame she’d sworn never to step foot in again.

Hunter leapt from the boat and searched for Elisa’s tent. When he’d spotted the monstrosity he hurried in that direction. He wouldn’t run, he didn’t want people asking him what was going on, but he wouldn’t dawdle. Anna was in trouble, he knew it.

He ducked under the flap and saw Elisa.

“Mom, tell me exactly what you saw, please.”

Elisa was only slightly startled to see Hunter. At the look on his face she answered his question immediately rather than ask where the fire was. “I saw Anna walking ahead of Dock towards the parking lot. She looked back a few times and then they were out of my sight.”

“That’s it?” Hunter’s every sense was on high alert. “She was walking ahead of him, not next to him?”

“Yes, from what I could tell.”

“Did you see a gun? Was his arm pointed towards her?”

“Honey, I wasn’t wearing my glasses. I’m sorry. I don’t know.”

Hunter gave his mother a quick hug. “It’s okay, Mom. Everything is going to be fine. I love you. I’ll call you in the morning.”

“Hunter! What is going on?”

“I’ll call you later, I promise!” Hunter ducked out of the tent and made tracks for his truck. He had a feeling he knew where Dock would take Anna. He had a few things to pick up and then he’d be on his way.

He came to a skidding stop in his driveway and left the truck running while he ran inside. This stop wouldn’t take long and as he’d made the drive he had created a list of what he needed to grab. If Dock wanted some sort of macho showdown Hunter would be happy to oblige. It was time to end this feud one way or another.

He swung through the kitchen and opened the door to the basement. He took the stairs down in two jumps and hurried to the back corner. He knelt and reached under the tool bench for the foot locker he’d put there the day he’d moved in.

He had felt no desire to look inside the box that day, already knowing exactly what and how he’d packed, and he knew the contents to the smallest detail. With a curse he remembered the key to the lock was on his keychain in the truck he’d left running. He stood up, grabbed a hammer and quickly smashed the lock. Hunter dug through the heavy case and pulled out several items.

Hunter had always known his days in the military would come back to haunt him in some fashion or another. For the longest time it had been dreams. Now he’d have to don the uniform, or one of them, and use the skills he’d hoped to forget and all in the name of saving his woman. 

He cinched his belt and checked the pockets in his vest. He had most of what he’d need and he quickly added a few things before putting it on and lacing his boots. Hunter reached for the thigh holster and strapped it on with a wince. The weight was familiar, almost comfortable. He jerked his hand down several times to ensure the holster sat where he needed it.

Nodding his head he strode to the gun safe in the corner. He placed his thumb on the screen and waited for the green light and click. He removed his handgun, checked the magazine and made sure there was a bullet in the chamber. With the safety on Hunter slid it home into the thigh holster. He most definitely was not fooling around no matter how badly Dock wanted to see this as a game.

Dock reached around Anna and flipped the light switch inside the back door. She looked in amazement. She had thought the men had torn the place apart and not fixed the damage that had been done. Now she truly appreciated the work they’d put in over those few days when she’d been an emotional wreck.

All of the floors had been replaced, new paneling had been put on the walls and even the ceiling had been patched. A fold up card table had been placed in the center of the dining area and there were two chairs on either side of it. Several books and copies of maps were spread across the table and Anna tried to stroll casually over to take a look.

The maps were copies of the ones she’d looked at while she was at the library. She leaned in and noted several spots circled repeatedly in black and then
X’ed out. Or perhaps they’d been marked with the X before being circled and searched. Anna was not going to pretend to understand how Dock’s mind worked.

She looked to the living room, remembering how it had looked with the ugly couch and basic furniture that had been there when she’d moved in. She almost missed that couch. She noticed with shock that a new couch had been delivered. It looked familiar and she realized it was the one she’d ordered. She had forgotten to cancel delivery.

“That’s a nice couch,” Dock stood next to her, watching her face. “They delivered it the other day and I figured, hey, why not bring it in for Anna? Then she’ll have somewhere to sit down while we talk.”

“Thank you?”

Dock chuckled. “You’re quite welcome. Why don’t you have a seat? We have lots to talk about.” Anna began to move and Dock stopped her. “Not the couch. Not yet, anyway. We have some maps to look at and you’re going to tell me what was in the journal.” He motioned with the gun toward the chairs set at the table.