Chapter Six
At six, I clocked out and headed up the interstate to Zaxby’s, which happened to be Maudie’s and my favorite fast-food restaurant. After resisting the urge for a plate of chicken tenders and wings, I ordered us both grilled chicken salads. It took forever to get through the line, and I almost called Maudie to say I hadn’t flaked out on her. When I finally got back, the employee parking lot was deserted, and I eased into the spot next to Maudie’s Cadillac. I was glad to see Maddox’s Jeep was nowhere in sight. I’d had a sneaking suspicion when I left, that she might try to orchestrate some reunion for us by asking him to stay late as well. Of course knowing him, he probably had some hot date with a blonde bimbo.
When I reached to knock, the back door creaked open. Huh, that was strange. Maudie usually kept everything locked up tight, especially after hours. Even though it was only supposed to be the two of us working, I glanced around to see if one of the other workers might’ve left it ajar. Shifting our salads in my arm, I stepped inside. “Maudie?”
From across the store, I could hear raised voices and the sound of boxes crashing and falling. I fumbled in my purse for my phone to call 911. After I jerked it out, I started slowly making my way towards Maudie’s office. I’d gotten half-way down an aisle when I heard a man’s voice. It only took a second for me to register it as the ‘Creep’ aka Mr. Jensen from earlier in the day. “I know you’re lying. The damn frame is busted on the painting, so don’t try to tell me you don’t know anything about the map!”
“I’ll tell you one more time, Mr. Jensen. The frame arrived with damages when the painting was shipped to me. I can assure you I have no idea about this silly map you speak of.”
The sound of breaking glass caused me to jump. “Stop lying! If I have to tear apart every single item in this store, I will. I’m not leaving here without the map.”
While my heart rattled in fear, my entire body started trembling all over. I tried to stop my hand from shaking as I dialed 911. In a hushed voice, I said, “There’s been a break-in at 259 Mountain Laurel Blvd—or Miss Maudie’s Brewery. Send someone as soon as you can. The man is still here.”
“Okay, ma’am, I need your name and for you to stay on the line while—”
I tuned out the dispatcher as Maudie’s raised voice floated back to me. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you’re not going to come in here and destroy my business. You better leave right this minute, or I’ll call the police.”
The sound of a gun blast caused me to jolt back. The salads and my phone went flying through the air as I tipped to the side and knocked over a display before grabbing hold of some metal shelving to keep my balance. My heartbeat pounded in my ears as an ice-cold panic washed over me. Staggering back to my feet, my eyes, which were already blurring with tears, focused back on Maudie’s office.
My mind raced in thought, but the main one screamed, “No, no, NO!” This couldn’t be happening. It had to be just a dream. If I just closed my eyes, I’d wake up back at the cabin to find this whole day had been just a weird dream.
Through my emotionally overloaded fog, I heard the dispatcher’s far-away voice calling, “Hello? Was that a gunshot?”
I groped along the floor to find my phone. “Yes! Maudie’s been shot. Send an ambulance.”
A hand cupped over my mouth and jerked me up off the floor and back against a body of solid rock. I immediately began kicking and thrashing against the person.
“Shh, it’s just me,” Maddox whispered, his breath warming my ear.
I relaxed in his arms, and he took his hand away. Tears streamed over my cheeks. “Maudie…that guy Jensen…shot her,” I gasped incoherently through my sobs.
His face contorted in agony. Although he remained rooted to the spot, I could tell he wanted nothing more than to go busting into the office. “Dammit to hell! I left my pistol in my Jeep.” he growled.
With an ashen expression, he appeared to be weighing in options about going back to get it when two heavy-set men came out of Maudie’s office. Maddox jerked us down to the floor.
Jensen stalked out of the office and started barking orders. “All right boys. Fan out. I want every inch of this place gone over thoroughly. There’s no telling where she could have hid it or where she might have a safe.”
One of the men remained rooted to the floor. “Search the place? You promised us this would be an easy score. There sure as hell wasn’t anything mentioned about killing people or having to hunt down the map.”
Whirling around, Jensen narrowed his eyes. “Look Parker, this isn’t just some hacking scheme that you do from the sidelines. You knew when you signed on that this entailed legwork. So either shut the f*ck up and start searching or take a walk.”
Parker grumbled under his breath before reluctantly following Jensen. When they had started out the backdoor to the warehouse, Maddox and I raced into the brightly lit office. The room appeared ransacked. Papers and books littered the floor while the drawers of the filing cabinets were opened and files strewn about. “Maudie?” I called softly.
Finally, I saw her body crumpled behind the desk. Her eyes were closed, and I’d never seen her so pale. My hand shook as I reached out to touch her shoulder. “Maudie, can you hear me? It’s Lane.”
Her eyelids fluttered before she finally opened them wide. “You have to get out of here!”
I shook my head. “We’re not leaving you like this. The police and an ambulance are on their way.”
“No! Leave now."
Maddox made a strangled noise in his throat. When I glanced up, tears shone in his eyes. “We won’t leave you to die,” he argued in a strained voice.
Her breaths started coming in raspy pants. “Get the map. It’s in the safe. The one behind the bedroom painting.” I nodded, and she drew in a ragged breath. “The combination…the commission date on the back… of the painting. Inside are the map and my will." She glanced up at Maddox and grabbed his arm, her eyes filled with desperation. "Don’t let anything happen to Lane. Protect her with your life. Promise me."
He bent down beside me, taking Maudie’s hand in his. His jaw clenched and unclenched, and I could tell he was fighting to keep from truly losing it. As for me, the tears streamed freely down my cheeks. “I promise I will,” he said.
“Keep yourself safe, too. And your sister.” She tenderly stroked Maddox’s cheek. “I love you with all my heart, sweet boy. You are my son.” She then gave us a weak smile. “I love both of you so much. Remember that…always.”
Maddox squeezed Maudie’s hand. “I love you, too.”
Sobs rolled through my chest so hard that I could barely murmur the words.
“Now go before they come back. Hurry!”
“No, I won’t leave you,” I protested.
Maddox’s Army training took charge, and he pulled me up off the floor. “Maudie told us to go, Lane, so come on.” Desperate not to leave, Maddox had to drag me out the door. “Stop it! We can’t do anything else for her. She wants us to get the hell out of here and get the map, so that’s what we’re going to do.” His fingers jerked my chin up to meet his intense gaze. “Got it?”
I nodded weakly while wiping my eyes and trying to clear my head. It obviously wasn’t fast enough. Maddox grabbed my purse strap wound around my shoulder and gave me a harsh tug. “Move!” he barked.
We then started running through the darkened store. Before we got to door that led outside, Jensen and his men huffed inside, and we had to duck behind some shelving.
“I’m telling you that I heard voices in here when I stopped to take a leak,” one of the guys said.
Jensen growled in frustration. “We should’ve split up. This place is big enough that someone could easily hide out.”
As they broke apart and started spreading throughout the store, Maddox motioned his head to the backdoor. We ran, hunched over, so that we could remain hidden. My heart was beating so loudly in my chest that I was sure Jensen and his thugs would be able to hear it. As I hurried ahead of Maddox, I plowed through the backdoor with such an adrenaline rush that I thought I would knock it off its hinges.
The door flew back, sending the metal bar careening into Maddox’s crotch. He gave an agonized groan before he could stop himself.
“What was that noise?” Jensen demanded.
“It came from the warehouse.”
“Dammit,” Maddox hissed. He closed the door behind us and pushed a crate in front of it.
In a whisper, I replied, “I’m so, so sorry about your…” When I realized that I would have to acknowledge his balls, I pinched my lips together.
“Whatever. Come on.” He grabbed my arm and dragged me to the far side of the warehouse. When we heard the door open again, we dropped down behind a tall stack of crates.
Maddox peeked around the side, trying to catch a glimpse of Jensen.
It seemed like only a second before a voice rang out, echoing off the metal walls and closing in around us. “All right, whoever’s there better come out right f*cking now because the longer me and my men have to look for you, the angrier we’ll get. And trust me when I say, you do NOT want to make me angry.”
I held my breath, trying not to move a muscle. Fear like I had never known before reverberated through every fiber of my being. Next to me, Maddox crouched just as still. Even in that moment, I thanked my lucky stars he had shown back up. I couldn’t imagine having to face all of this alone.
“Now listen. I know somebody is out here. If you’re that hot, sweet thing from this afternoon, I definitely want to get my hands on you.”
Maddox tensed and edged himself closer to me—as if he were enacting a barrier between Jensen and me. His reaction made my already pounding heart beat a little faster as a wave of tenderness for him washed over me. I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of crashing boxes. The only thing that separated us from Jensen, his thugs, and the same fate as Maudie were wall to wall crates of jams, jellies, and drinks.
It wasn’t a comforting thought.
Jensen’s voice rang out again. “All right, be as stubborn as that old bitch. There’s three of us and one of you, so we’ll turn over every crate and box until we find you.”
When I noticed Maddox eyeing the double doors leading to the parking lot, I asked, “Think we should try to outrun them?”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t have a silent alarm. The minute we go through it, everyone in a mile radius is going to know exactly where we are. So there’d be no way we could get up the hill to Maudie’s without them seeing us. We need a distraction until the cops get here, but give me a second to come up with a plan that’ll keep those a*sholes and their guns away.”
I wracked my brain with what could cut us off from Jensen and his men. Something that would buy us enough time to get the map from Maudie’s safe. My eyes honed in on the box in front of me. Two words stood out to me among all the ingredients. Contents Flammable.
“Got a lighter?”
Maddox gave me a look like I’d completely and totally lost what was left of my mind. I rolled my eyes and jerked my head toward the box. When I could tell my plan had registered in his mind, I asked, “Too much of a distraction?”
He gave me an incredulous look before grinning. “No, actually I think it’s batshit crazy enough to work. I’m impressed with the wheels turning in that head of yours, Squirt,” I shot him a death glare before he peeked his head over the top of the crate. “Okay look. There’s a box of matches and some lighter fluid in the tool drawer. You start pouring some Mountain Brew while I go get them.”
I nodded.
“If Jensen or any other of those assclowns get close to you, don’t wait for me. You just start running like hell. Got it?”
“Okay,” I whispered.
Keeping as low to the ground as possible, Maddox maneuvered himself towards the middle of the warehouse where a rolling tool chest sat beside a forklift. Jensen and his men were pushing and shoving crates across from where Maddox was. As I reached into the box for some bottles of potent Mountain Brew, I silently thanked the packagers for not making it with a cork. I unscrewed the lids, and then started pouring a steady stream all around the box. I grabbed two more bottles from the boxes and positioned them towards the back door.
I started back for more bottles when I heard, “Stop!”
Freezing, I peeked around the side of the box. The shorter henchman pointed in Maddox’s direction. “Hey, there’s someone over there.”
The world slowed to a crawl as Jensen lifted his gun. In a flash, I hurled one of the empty bottles in my hand toward the far side of the warehouse. It crashed into the wall causing Jensen and his men to whirl around.
“Over there!” the henchman shouted. Jensen fired a round, and I threw another bottle. When they turned in the direction of the sound, I stepped out to throw again. But then Jensen jerked his head back and saw me.
“Well, well, look what we have boys. A pretty, armed assassin.”
I froze in fear as Jensen trained his gun on me. I couldn’t run, and I couldn’t scream for help because that would have given Maddox’s location away. Not to mention the fact we were out of town in the boonies meant it would take longer for the police to arrive.
Basically, I was utterly and completely screwed.
As Jensen and his men started towards me, Maddox shoved the tool chest with all his strength. It went careening straight for Jensen. It knocked him to the ground while his men scrambled.
Maddox raced up to me. He started squirting the lighter fluid over the crates of Mountain Brew. Then he tore out a wad of matches and struck them against the base of the book. A flame sputtered blue to red and then orange.
“When this goes up, start for the door,” he commanded before flinging separate matches onto the alcohol streams.
They sparked blue as they careened along the floor, gaining momentum. When the flame reached the box, it and the surrounding crates exploded into a fiery orange ball with curling black smoke. It took only a few seconds for the back of the warehouse to be engulfed. “Now!” Maddox shouted.
I shoved the backdoor open, causing the alarm to blare loudly. I didn’t have to glance behind me to see where Maddox was because he appeared at my side in an instant. Frantically, I scanned the parking lot. “Your Jeep?”
“I left it at Maudie’s and walked.” He gestured to the ridge in front of Maudie’s house rather than the gravel driveway. “This way.” Our feet slipped and slid through the mud from last night’s downpour. More than once, I lost my footing and fell face first into the grass. Each time, Maddox jerked me back up and kept us going.
Maudie’s house loomed in front of us. We pounded up the front porch steps. Digging into his pocket, Maddox fumbled for his keys. Once he unlocked the door, the house alarm started beeping until he entered the code. He turned back to me. “You get the map. I’m going to grab a little ammunition, and then I’ll have the Jeep waiting.”
I nodded and headed down the hall to Maudie’s bedroom. The moment I opened her door the scent of her perfume bombarded me. It hung so heavy around me that I felt like at any moment she would appear. Rising sobs burned in my throat, but I pushed myself forward to the antique dressing table across from me. Above it hung a painting of an Indian maiden wrapped in the arms of the warrior she loved.
I gave it a momentary glance before snatching it off the wall. I flipped it over to read the commission date. “10…17…49,” I murmured as I twirled the knob that reminded me of the dial on my locker, back and forth and past zero. I heard the catch and then the safe door swung open. I grabbed the map and then a thick blue envelope with the words Fletcher & Smith Attorney’s at Law. I was about to close it when a flicker of green caught my eye. It was stacks of hundred dollar bills. Not knowing what lay ahead for Maddox and me, I grabbed them as well.
With one last glance at Maudie’s room, I hurried out into the hallway. I stuffed everything into my purse that had miraculously stayed wrapped around my neck and shoulder. As I rounded the corner into the living room, I could hear Maddox revving up the Jeep’s engine in the garage. Rushing through the kitchen, the wail of police car and ambulance sirens filled my ears.
For the first time all evening, I felt a little hope.