Search Me (28 page)

“Thanks,” Maddox replied.

“Listen, I’ve got to go, so I can get out in the field. But no matter what happens, you have to stay calm. Trust your instincts and training.”

“I will.”

“See you in a little while.”

“Yeah, see you.” Maddox hung up and tossed me the phone. Smacking the steering wheel, he exclaimed, “This is all so bad ass! Man, I feel just like I’m back in my old company on a mission.”

“Wish I could say the same,” I replied.

Maddox turned to me. “Hey, stop worrying. It’s all going to work out.”

“I know…”

Drumming his fingers against the steering wheel, Maddox said, “We’re going to need a way to keep the phone on us, so the police can track us. But it’s got to be somewhere well-hidden because if I know Jensen, he’s going to have us searched the moment we step out of the car.”

“You mean like somewhere on one of our bodies?”

“Yeah, it’s gotta be. They’ll go through our bags—probably even the truck to make sure we’re not hiding any of the gold.” Then his eyes cut over to me and honed in on my chest.

I gasped. “You want me to stuff a cell phone in my bra?”

“Can you think of a better place?”

“Um, at the moment...no. But give me a second,” I huffed.

Maddox grinned. “Trust me, it’s the best place. Even though Jensen and his men are hard-asses, they’re not going to make you take your shirt off or grope you. They’ll think you’re too sweet and innocent to hide anything in your bra.”

“And what if they put two and two together to realize you’re a horndog who’d be more than happy to give me electronic cleavage?” I countered.

He snickered. “Desperate times, babe.”

I eyed the cell phone contemptuously. If someone had told me thirty-six hours ago I would have been forced to hide a phone in my bra for the GBI to track us on the way to rendezvous with thugs, I would have said they were insane to his or her face. Unfortunately, the truth was all too real.

“Go on and at least try it,” Maddox instructed.

“I’m going, I’m going.” Taking a moment to turn the phone off, I then lifted up the bottom of my wet shirt, sliding the phone underneath. When I reached my bra, I shoved it into one of the cups and then the other. I tried to wedge it equally on both sides. Thank goodness I’d worn one of my sports bras because it would have never worked with my lacier numbers—I needed all the support and fabric I could get. I just hoped in the end that the wet fabric wouldn’t damage the phone or more precisely, the GPS.

I turned in my seat to where Maddox could see me better. “How does it look?”

He brought his gaze from the road directly to my chest. “Move around a little.”

I sighed and twisted to the right and left and then leaned forward. The next thing I knew Maddox’s hand had reached over to grab at the front of my shirt. “Hey!” I squealed, knocking him away.

He rolled his eyes. “Jesus, Lane, I had to see if you could feel it right off. Like if Jensen or someone brushed up against you.”

“I’m sorry, but you could have given me a little warning,” I argued.

Shaking his head, he gave a bark of a laugh. “You know what? You really should do that if Jensen or one of the other men get too close. Let them think you’re all insulted by their manhandling instead of trying to hide something.”

“Trust me. If they do what you just did, I don’t think I’ll have to pretend.”

Maddox cut his gaze over to mine. “Glad to know my touching your tits warrants a total freak out.”

I giggled. “Normally, I like when you touch my boobs.”

“Not your tits?”

Wrinkling my nose, I replied, “I’m not a fan of the word.”

He grinned. “But you are a fan of me touching your
boobs
?”

“Oh yes, a very big fan.”

“Good to know.”

Glancing down at the shirt, I asked, “So you think I’m okay?”

Maddox nodded. “I think so.”

I pulled my shirttail up and over my knees. “Just to be safe, I’ll try to stretch it out some. It’ll hide it better if the material is looser.”

“Whatever you gotta do to make it work.”

Just when I finished readjusting the shirt, a rusted Shell sign came into view. “Shit. Here we go,” Maddox said.

We turned into the abandoned parking lot. The truck rattled along the broken-up pavement. As I peered around the desolate surroundings, my eyes caught the infamous, coal black Mercedes almost hidden on the other side of the boarded-up convenient store. All I could see was the front bumper and part of the hood. Maddox eased the truck to a stop next to it, then killed the engine.

“Oh God, I think I’m going to puke,” I murmured.

Maddox gave me a tight smile. “It’s all going to work out. You’ll see.”

I hoped rather than believed him. Terrance, the taller of the two henchmen, stepped out of the Mercedes. “I guess we’re on,” Maddox said, opening his door. With shaking hands, my sweaty palms slid on the door handle. It took two tries before I was able to get it open. My shaking legs barely supported me when I hopped down. Maddox waited for me at the front of the truck. He slipped his equally sweaty palm into mine and led me over to where Terrence stood.

“Glad to see you two made it on time. Mr. Jensen appreciates your punctuality,” he said.

“And just where is Jensen?” Maddox asked.

“He’s at the location with Mr. Montgomery.”

“Location?” I repeated.

“The trade-off doesn’t happen here.”

I exchanged a look with Maddox. “So where does it happen?”

“You’ll find out. First, I need you two to get into the backseat.”

At that moment, a man I’d never seen before got out of the Mercedes’ passenger side. With his towering height and bulging muscles, he had to be the bouncer of the outfit. He lumbered towards us. The sight of something in his hands caused me to gasp.

Blindfolds and rope.

Maddox followed my gaze. His body tensed before he glared over at Terrance. “That’s bullshit! No one said anything about blindfolding or tying us up.”

“I’m sorry. But Jensen has insisted—for your protection as well as his own. We’ll get you in the car before you have to put them on. But first, I’m afraid we’re going to have to search you.” He gave me a tight smile. “Ladies first.”

When I didn’t budge, Maddox squeezed my hand reassuringly. He’d anticipated this much, but not the rest. Now that it came right down to it, the idea of being frisked not only creeped me out, but terrified me as well. Terrance yanked my arm, tearing me away from Maddox. I yelped as he pushed me forward against the brick wall, forcing my arms above my head. His hands swept to my still wet hair, raking his fingers through it to jerk it off my neck. “I-Is this really n-necessary?” I asked.

“I’m afraid so. Strict orders there are to be no weapons or no communication devices,” he replied, sweeping his hands down the sides of my body. As they swept over my abdomen, I sucked in a breath, hoping and praying he wouldn’t go any further up and discover the phone lodged in my bra. Finally, he moved down to my waist. I cringed when his fingers dipped inside the waistband of my jeans before digging into my back pockets.

I glanced over my shoulder at Maddox. His fists clenched at his side, and I knew he had to fight himself not to break Terrance’s neck. “She’s clean, asshole!” he snapped.

Terrance ignored him and felt down each of my jeans legs. “Shoes off,” he demanded. I hurriedly kicked out of my sneakers. Once he was satisfied there was nothing in them or my socks, he nodded and turned to Maddox. “All right, now you.”

The bouncer then took me by the shoulders and shoved me towards the car. His manhandling didn’t sit well with Maddox because the next thing I knew he had pushed away from Terrance and rushed over to me. “I swear to God if you touch her like that one more time, I’ll break your neck,” he snarled.

With a contemptuous snort, the bouncer stood toe to toe with Maddox before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling an enormous gun out. “Shut your mouth.”

Maddox’s vein throbbed in his head, and I feared he was going to lose it. Quickly, I swept my hands to his face, forcing him to look at me. “I’m fine,” I assured him.

His expression was tortured, but he gave a brief nod. The bouncer sneered at Maddox before slipping an arm around my waist and jerking me away.

Terrance cleared his throat. “Easy Julius. Remember what Jensen said about hurting them.”

At Terrance’s words, Julius eased his grip on me. “Get in,” he commanded.

I eyed the rope in his hands nervously. “Y-You’re not going to t-tie me up?”

“Nah, I think we’ll leave those for lover boy.”

I scrambled through the door and slid across the seat. When I reached back for the seatbelt, he shook his head. “Floorboard.”

I glanced down and swallowed hard. This was all a nightmare. I knelt behind the driver’s side seat. Leaning over, Julius took one of the blindfolds and covered my eyes. Darkness enveloped me, and I couldn’t stop trembling. A prickly panic needled my skin, and I struggled to breathe.
Stay calm, Lane. Everything is going to fine. Maddox is here, the GBI are on their way, and everything is fine
. But no matter how hard I tried reassuring myself, it didn’t help.

Terrence must’ve finished with Maddox because I heard his voice close to the driver’s side door. “Julius, you’ll stay in the back with them. Parker will drive you to the location, and I’ll follow you in their truck.”

“Whatever you say,” Julius replied.

Just as I thought I might start hyperventilating, Maddox dropped down beside me. Julius nudged us to lie down, so we would be better hidden. After I stretched out my legs and Maddox lay across me, a thick blanket dropped over us, making it even harder to breathe.

Somehow in the emotional and physical darkness, Maddox’s voice hummed in my ear. “It’s all going to be all right. I love you, and we’ll get through this.”

“I love you, too,” I whispered.

His lips met mine in a reassuring kiss. We jolted apart when the car lunged back in reverse. Our bodies shook and vibrated with the car while it rambled along the broken-up pavement. When we rolled to a stop, Maddox’s chin knocked into my forehead. “Ouch,” I gasped.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

I tried to reach my hand up to rub it, but the car lurched forward onto the highway, throwing us against each other again. At the rate we were going, we would be black and blue by the time we reached Jensen’s hideout. We’d probably traveled for a few minutes when the pressure from Maddox lying on me caused my legs to go to sleep. I tried shifting them but ended up kneeing Maddox in the groin. Hard.

He groaned in agony and pulled away.

“Oh, jeez, I’m so, so sorry,” I said.

Julius kicked us. “Pipe down!”

“You try getting nailed in the balls and see how quiet you are,” Maddox growled.

While Parker snickered in the front seat, Julius’s boot heel nudged into us again. “Shut the fuck up before I gag you.”

Maddox muttered a string of obscenities under his breath before maneuvering his legs to the side to where he wouldn’t be in danger of me kicking him again. He heaved a frustrated sigh.

“Are you okay?” I whispered.

“I’m tied up and blindfolded, I’ve been harassed by armed assholes, and I just had my balls rearranged. Oh yeah, I’m peachy,” he hissed in reply.

Even though he couldn’t see me, I narrowed my eyes at him. “I can’t believe you’re being sarcastic at a time like this.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sorry that I’m not living up to your heroic expectations, princess.”

I started to lay into him with a smartass response when we turned off the highway and onto a gravel road. Once again, Maddox and I were thrown against each other as we bumped and jostled on the uneven terrain. The thought that we were getting closer to Jensen caused me to shudder. Maddox must’ve sensed my uneasiness because he nuzzled his cheek against my forehead. All my aggravated feelings evaporated with the warmth of his breath on my face. “Sorry for being an asshole,” he murmured.

“No, I’m sorry, too.”

He chuckled. “You’re just a ball-buster in more ways than one, Lane.”