“You won’t get away with this.” Maya’s heart hammered in her chest as she and Brady huddled together on the back passenger seat of a black SUV. The vehicle sped north, taking them out of town. She tried to keep as much distance as possible from the woman kidnapper next to her.
Ignoring them in the front seat were the man and woman who’d entered the store right after the collision. They had been a part of the group who’d helped Brady down from the mountain.
The man, who had held the gun in the store, had ordered Maya and Brady and the Johnsons to the back of the store, where they locked the poor Johnsons in the office. They’d then forced Maya and Brady into the awaiting vehicle that was now being driven by the brunette woman named Claire, the treasure hunter who’d stopped Maya and Alex on the sidewalk the night of the sheriff’s department fire. Had they set the blaze?
Beside Maya, the blonde woman, Sybil, cackled. “Looks like we already have gotten away with this. Taking you two was easy.”
“Alex will find us.” Maya put her arms around Brady and held him close. He shook with fear.
From the front seat, the man named Roger turned around to wave the gun at them. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that. He’s got to be busy with the accident.”
A thought occurred to Maya and horror cut her breath in half. “You caused that accident.”
He grinned. “Maybe.”
“Roger, where are we going?” Claire asked.
“Pull over at that turnout,” he replied.
Claire brought the SUV to a halt. Roger pointed the gun at Brady. “Now, tell me where the treasure is buried. I know you deciphered Ned’s nonsense in his journal.”
With a sinking feeling, Maya asked, “How do you know about that?”
“We have our ways,” Sybil said with relish.
Somehow, these people had been spying on them. Maya shuddered, totally creeped out.
“I won’t tell you,” Brady said, ducking his head into Maya’s shoulder.
She tried to shield him as much as possible.
“Oh, you’ll tell us,” Roger said. He shifted the barrel of the gun toward Maya. “I’ll hurt your sister if you don’t.”
“Maya?” Brady looked at her with fear in his almond-shaped eyes. Her heart hurt for him.
“Go ahead, Brady. Tell them what they want to know.” The treasure wasn’t worth anything to Maya. They could have it for all she cared.
“Okay.” Brady explained that he thought the treasure had been buried somewhere on the back side of Eagle Crest Mountain. Ned Weber had been looking in the wrong place.
“That wasn’t so hard,” Roger said. He faced forward. “All right, then, Claire. Do you know where you’re going now?”
The car didn’t move. “Are you sure we should be doing this?” Claire’s voice wobbled with nervousness. “What if something happens? If we are caught, we’ll go to jail.”
“Stop being such a big baby,” Sybil said, smacking the back of the driver’s seat with the palm of her hand. “We won’t get caught.”
Maya wanted to point out that Alex would know where they’d gone. Especially once he found Bess and Ethan in the office. But she kept her lips pressed tight. The longer they thought they were in control, the better. Though it amazed her that these people were not thinking very clearly. Gold fever? They were so anxious to find the treasure they were making mistakes, which worked to her and Brady’s advantage.
“Shut up and drive,” Roger demanded. “I will call Greg and John and tell them to meet us there.”
As the SUV took off, heading toward the back side of Eagle Crest Mountain, Maya sent up a prayer asking God to once again provide help. And this time she really wanted—no, she needed, Alex.
“What’s going on?” asked Frank as he followed closely on Alex’s heels into the Gallo Hardware and Feed store.
Fear cramped Alex’s chest. He ran a hand through his hair as helplessness flooded his system. “Someone has taken Maya and Brady.”
Color drained from Frank’s face. “Oh, no, what do we do?”
“Not panic,” Alex told him. But inside, Alex was panicking. What if he couldn’t find them? What if something happened to Maya and her brother? What if he never got a chance to tell Maya he loved her?
Forcing back all the what-ifs, he took several calming breaths. He needed to stay focused, to think this through. It had to be either the treasure hunters, some combination of the five people, or the Delaney brothers, who had taken Maya and Brady. He reached for his radio but paused as banging echoed through the store.
“That sounds like it’s coming from back here.” Frank ran toward the rear of the store.
Alex followed, grabbing his father by the shoulder and pushing him behind him. “Let me.”
Using caution, he approached the office door with his hand on his weapon. “Who’s there?”
Frank gripped his forearm. “What if it’s a trap? You won’t do Maya and Brady any good if you’re dead.”
“Deputy Trevino!” Ethan Johnson called out. “We can’t open the door.”
Inspecting the lock carefully, Alex realized something had been jammed in the mechanism, keeping the door from being unlocked from the inside.
“Stand back,” Alex shouted. He kicked the door open. Wood splintered, sending slivers and bits flying.
Bess Johnson and her husband, Ethan, rushed out of the office. Bess clutched Alex’s arm. “Those nasty people took Maya and Brady.”
“Who?” Alex asked, anxiety making his voice sharp.
“A man and woman,” Ethan said. “I’ve never seen them before. But Maya and Brady seemed to know them.”
“Two of the treasure hunters?” Alex said.
“Yes,” Bess said. “They were after some sort of treasure.”
Turning to his dad, Alex said, “I’m heading to the back side of Eagle Crest Mountain. I have to go get Truman first.”
“What should we do?” Ethan asked, hurrying to keep up with Alex as he headed toward the front door. Bess and Frank came along in their wake.
“Stay calm,” Alex replied. Out on the sidewalk, Alex said to his dad, “Tell the sheriff what’s going on. Have him round up the mounted patrol and have them meet me at the back side of Eagle Crest Mountain.” He searched his memory, trying to picture the route Brady had formulated yesterday. “Tell them to go to the trail on the left.”
Off the top of his head, he couldn’t remember the name of that trail. But on the drawing that Brady had done, Alex remembered the main trail veering to the left and climbing upward.
With his heart in his throat, he raced to his truck parked behind the building. Every second that he drove toward his ranch was a second that Maya and Brady were in danger. When he reached the ranch, Kaitlyn and the alarm company man were about to leave. He quickly explained to Kaitlyn what was happening. She didn’t waste time on questions but rather ran to her own vehicle, calling out, “I’ll meet you there with my horse.”
Not taking the time to acknowledge her statement, he hurriedly saddled Truman and led him to the trailer. Once he was secure, Alex jumped into the driver’s seat of the attached truck and sped away from the ranch. On the road to the back side of Eagle Crest Mountain, he used his Bluetooth and dialed Patrick Delaney’s estate.
Collins answered, and Alex asked for Ian, since the man seemed willing to try to convince his father to give up the treasure’s location. Now, more than ever, Alex needed that information.
“This is Ian,” came the deep voice of the man Alex had met a few days ago.
Without preamble, Alex detailed the situation. “I need you to ask your father if the treasure is buried on the back side of Eagle Crest Mountain or not.”
Ian sighed. “I’ve been badgering my father for days now to get him to divulge the information you want. He’s a stubborn old man, and he’s finding some perverse glee in all of this. But I’ll press him again.” There was a pause before Ian said, “And make it my personal mission to provide you with assistance. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
Alex hung up, forcing himself to push through his anxiety and concentrate on driving as fast as he could without doing any type of damage to his horse. He reached the back side of the mountain and parked his vehicle next to a black SUV. It had to be the vehicle that had brought Maya and Brady to the trailhead. Another vehicle was parked not far away. A silver pickup truck.
Something niggled at the back of Alex’s brain. Hadn’t one of the treasure hunters said that Ned Weber drove a silver truck?
Alex didn’t have time to analyze how the truck came to be here. He released Truman from the trailer and led him carefully over the gravel lot to the trailhead. Just as he mounted the horse, three other vehicles came into the parking lot pulling trailers. Kaitlyn, her father, Aaron, and Leslie Quinn.
Kaitlyn jumped from her vehicle and ran to his side. “We’ll be right behind you. The sheriff and Chase are still dealing with the accident site. Daniel is running point from the church.”
“Thanks.” Alex saluted her and urged Truman forward at a fast trot. When they reached the place where the trail formed, he nudged his horse to the left. He didn’t take the time to see if there were footprints, the urgent, horrible need to get to Maya and Brady overrode all else.
“Are we sure we should trust this kid to get us to the treasure?” asked Greg Smith. The two brothers, John and Greg Smith, had joined them at the trailhead. Each man carried a bag over his shoulder with a shovel sticking out.
Maya nearly snorted. These people didn’t know that Brady had no guile in him. But she decided to keep her thoughts to herself.
“Well, if he’s lying to us,” Roger said, “then we will just leave them both here for dead and go on about our business.”
Maya’s lungs contracted and she stumbled over a root.
“Hey!” Sybil pushed Maya. “Don’t try any funny business.”
They were hiking up Crescent Moon Trail at a fast pace. Brady was in the lead and Maya followed closely behind, keeping at an arm’s length so that she could grab him if she needed to. Behind her were the five treasure hunters. The Good Samaritans that she had once appreciated had turned into deadly thieves.
She glanced back over her shoulder. “Did you kill Ned Weber?”
Sybil raised her hands, palms up. “Not me.” She hitched her thumb over her own shoulder. “One of them.”
“I didn’t kill him,” Claire said with a catch in her voice. “Ned and I...” She sniffed. “We were close.”
“So close,” John taunted, “that he was going to find the treasure without you or us.”
“You didn’t have to kill him!” Claire returned with fire. “That’s on you two.”
At least that answered one question. Maya filed the information away. Watching her step, she tried to gauge how Brady was doing. His foot had to be hurting him, even though he seemed okay. “Brady, slow down. I don’t want you to twist your ankle again.”
He looked back at her with a mix of fear and determination on his sweet face. “Don’t worry, Maya. I know what I’m doing.”
She sent another plea, asking God to please protect them. She hoped Brady did know what he was doing. He was smart. And she loved him beyond distraction. He was her whole world. Or had been, until a certain handsome deputy had stepped into their lives.
Her chest expanded. She loved Alex. There was no use denying the truth any longer. She prayed she lived long enough to tell him how she felt and hoped he still felt the same about her as he’d claimed earlier. She wanted more than those dates he’d talked about. God willing, she wanted a long life spent together as a family.
Brady stopped abruptly. Maya halted, putting her hands on his shoulders. Sybil bumped into Maya. “Hey! Watch it.”
The others stopped.
“What’s going on?” Roger pushed his way to the front, waving his gun around as if the device were some kind of baton and he was leading the orchestra.
Maya kept Brady behind her. She hoped Roger didn’t accidentally shoot them.
Brady glanced around, as if searching for something, then pointed to the side of the mountain. “Up there.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Sybil grumbled.
“Let’s go!” The Smith brothers ran ahead, bounding through the woods.
“Lead the way,” Roger said, keeping the gun level.
Trusting Brady knew what he was doing and where they were going, Maya gave him a nod.
Brady went off the path, leading them through the bramble bushes and large trees. The terrain roughened. Maya’s breath came in little puffs. Behind her, the others were struggling with the exertion, as well. She glanced upward at the side of the mountain. The two Smith men were scaling the boulders with ease.
“There’s no way we can get up the side of the mountain. We need rock climbing equipment,” Claire said. “We should just let Maya and Brady go and forget this.”
“No way,” said Roger. “We are so close to finding the buried treasure.”
“But what if it’s not there?” Claire argued. “What if this is just another wild-goose chase?”
“Then we will storm the Delaney castle and force the crazy old man to give us the location,” Sybil said. “That’s what I’ve been saying all along.”
Good luck with that, Maya thought to herself.
Ahead, the Smith brothers disappeared out of view as if swallowed by the mountain itself. After a moment, they reappeared standing on a ledge, waving their arms and shouting in tandem, “You guys, there’s a cave.” They disappeared once again.
Urged on by Roger, they quickened their pace over the rough terrain. When they finally reached the ledge and the cave, Maya was out of breath. The opening in the side of the mountain barely gave enough clearance to stand. The earth had been dug away leaving a tight space filled with darkness. The Smith brothers produced flashlights from their packs. The light revealed the cave didn’t extend very far into the mountain.
“Okay, Brady led you here,” Maya said once she managed to talk with out gasping for air. “Let us go.”
“Not so fast.” Roger gave her a little shove. “You stay close until we have the gold.”
“You don’t even know if it’s gold,” Claire said. “We don’t even know if it’s here. Or even if it’s legit. For all we know, old man Delaney could be pulling our chain.”
Ignoring her, Roger waved at the ground. “Let’s start digging.”
“I don’t have a shovel,” Sybil complained. “I’m not ruining my manicure.”
“You start digging, Roger!” Claire shouted. “I don’t want any part in this.”
Roger trained the gun on her. “You are a part of this whether you want to be or not. You better start digging or I’ll leave you here with those two.”
Dread twisted Maya’s stomach up in a knot. The man had no intention of letting her and Brady go. She grabbed Brady and held him tight.
Roger turned to them. “You start digging.” He shot a menacing look to Sybil. “All hands on deck.”
Afraid he’d shoot them before Alex could find them, Maya dropped to the ground and used her hands to dig in the dirt. It was hard packed and shredded her nails and palms. Brady stood rooted in place, his gaze taking in the cave walls as if he were searching for something. Maya grabbed him and pulled him to her side. “Start digging,” she whispered in his ear.
“But the treasure—”
Maya put a finger to his lips, cutting off his words. “Whisper.”
He dropped his voice to as much of a whisper as he could. “—isn’t in the ground.”
“How do you know?” She glanced behind her to make sure nobody was paying attention to them.
“The clue today.”
She arched an eyebrow at him.
He grimaced. “I know I wasn’t supposed to look, but I did.”
“Doesn’t matter now, Brady. What did the clue say?”
“Your heart’s desire is at eye level.”
The words tumbled over and over in Maya’s head. Eye level. Brady could be right. If the treasure was in this cave, it would be in the walls not the earthen floor.
“I’ll keep digging,” she told Brady. “I need you to pretend like you don’t understand what’s going on.”
“Pretend?”
She nodded. “Pretend. Like when you were in the church Christmas pageant.” He’d pretended to be a shepherd herding his sheep.
“What are you doing over there?” John Smith asked.
Maya spoke loudly. “Brady is scared, I’m trying to reassure him. We are digging as best we can.”
Hoping to have appeased their captors, Maya dropped her voice to a whisper again.
“I want you to pretend like you don’t know what you’re doing while you search for the treasure.”
Brady stared at her for a moment, then he grinned. “I can do that.”
He jumped to his feet and put his hands on the wall.
“Now what is he doing?” Roger groused.
“I don’t understand.” Brady patted the wall up and down as he slowly made his way along the cave wall toward the cave opening, away from Maya.
Maya rose and faced Roger. “Can you put the gun away, please? He thinks you’re a robber. You know, put your hands up.”
Roger made a face and tucked the gun into the waistband of his jeans. “Whatever.” He dismissed Brady with a wave of his hand and resumed his search for the buried treasure.
Breathing easier, Maya returned to digging, while keeping an eye on Brady. Maya despaired that the treasure was not hidden inside the cave at all. Sweat trickled down her back. She didn’t know how long they’d been stuck inside the cave when Brady made an excited little noise.
She swiveled to look at him. He turned around and met her gaze, his eyes as wide as they could be. He dropped to the ground where he was and crawled across the floor to her.
“I found it,” he whispered to her.
Excitement beat against her chest wall. “Follow me.”
Taking his hand, she rose, tugging him to his feet. “This would go a lot faster,” she said as she and Brady slowly made their way back to where he had been standing. “If we had the right equipment.” She kept her gaze on Roger. “Like a metal detector or at least enough shovels for everyone. It will take forever at the rate we’re going. Why don’t you all come back when you’re better prepared for this? Brady and I won’t say anything.”
“Yeah, right,” said Sybil as she rose and dusted off her hands on her jeans. “Like we’d believe that.”
Maya positioned herself so that Brady was against the wall. She started to stretch her arms over her head bending side to side.
“Now what are you doing?” Roger demanded, clearly exasperated by her antics.
“Stretching,” Maya said. “My back is spasming.”
“Mine, too,” said Claire as she moved to stand next to Maya. She leaned close to whisper, “I’ll help you if you help me.”
Maya nodded, praying she wasn’t mistaken in trusting this woman. They both did some stretching exercises, while Brady dug at the wall.
A loud roar filled the cave.
“Helicopter!” Greg Smith exclaimed. He stood at the mouth of the cave, his head tilted so he could see the sky.
Maya’s hopes leaped in anticipation. Did that mean Alex was close by?
Or did this bunch still have more tricks?