Page 37

Jack

“ S omething’s wrong.” I’m standing at the end of the hay maze with my hands on my hips.

I’m pacing, and we’ve been out for ten minutes with no sign of Allie.

“I’m going back in there.” I start for the door when Garrett catches me around the shoulders, stopping me.

“Hang on, bro.” His voice is soothing. “You’ll go in there, then Allie will come out, then we’ll have to go in to look for you… It’s a vicious cycle.”

“Does she have her phone?” Dylan skips up to where we’re standing. “We’ve all been texting. Try calling her!”

Garrett and I exchange a glance.

“Bruh.” Zane shakes his head. “This is no time to act like y’all aren’t calling and texting each other constantly.”

I don’t even argue. My phone is in my hand so fast, and I tap the name DLS . Pacing, I hold the phone to my ear. We actually don’t call each other at all, but we do text quite a lot.

Still, she should answer sooner than this. It rings again and again, and my blue eyes rise to Garrett’s .

“Did she silence her phone?” Garrett suggests.

“How the fuck should I know?” It’s practically a shout as I stride back into the maze exit with both of my brothers at my side.

We reach the first break, and I look left to right. Fuck . “Which way?”

Garrett’s jaw is tight, and he looks side to side. “We just did this. You’d think we’d know which way to go.”

“It all looks the same,” Zane muses. “That’s the point.”

I’m so frustrated, I’m about to yell. I know how nervous she was about doing this. It isn’t only that it reminds her of The Shining , it’s Rip. It’s how he texted that he sees her, and the fact he went missing two days ago doing God knows what.

New Orleans is less than three hours from Newhope. He could easily get here in a day—in an afternoon.

Now I’m on fucking edge.

“We’ve got to find her, Garrett.” Pressure builds behind my temples, and I’m about to lose it. “You’ve got to make them turn on the lights and find her now.”

He inhales deeply. “That’s going to kill the whole event. If she’s just lost, and we turn on the emergency lights…”

“Garrett…” My voice is a notch below a shout, when a red-faced hobbit jogs up to us.

“Dang.” Ronnie Freeman bends at the waist, putting his hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath. “That is one tough maze.”

“Yeah, good work.” I don’t have time for him.

I’m starting for the front of the maze to fucking get the lights turned on myself when Ronnie yells to me.

“Coach, wait!” I hesitate, looking over my shoulder as he heaves himself up and starts to jog to me again. “Are you looking for Ms. Allie?”

I close the distance between us fast, grabbing him by both shoulders. “What do you know?”

“Is she missing?” His brown eyes widen, and my nostrils flare. He immediately continues. “I saw her with this gorilla guy. For a minute, I thought it was a sketch, because she’s so pretty. Like he was Donkey Kong and she was Pauline?”

“Ronnie…” It’s a low growl.

“He had her over his shoulder. Then he looked side to side and just busted right through the corn wall! It wasn’t too far from where I came out just now. I thought it was funny. He didn’t even follow the path—Hey, where are you going? Need my help?”

Ronnie yells after me, but I’m running as fast as I can in the direction he just came from.

My breath burns in my lungs. My heartbeat is a roar in my ears.

A little ways back, I hear Garrett’s loud voice booming. “Light it up!”

All at once, the entire maze is as bright as a baseball field. A ripple of voices flows through the space, confusion, complaints, curiosity.

I round a corner, skidding to a stop in front of a large hole split through the corn stalks, leading straight to a dark parking lot.

Stepping through, I look all around, but it’s completely deserted. I return to the maze to call Garrett when a group of kids surrounds me.

“What’s going on, Coach?” Sadie is holding Austin’s hand. “Did somebody get hurt?”

My stomach churns when I meet Austin’s worried eyes. I’m tweaking with anger and adrenaline, but I don’t want to scare him.

“Coach?” Austin frowns, looking up at me. “What’s wrong?”

Garrett jogs up to where we’re standing. “Did you find her?”

Austin’s eyes snap from him to me, and he drops Sadie’s hand, stepping closer to the hole in the maze wall. Reaching out, I put my hand on his shoulder.

“Ronnie Freeman saw a guy in a gorilla suit with your mom. We don’t know for sure, but we think it was?—”

“We didn’t have anybody in a gorilla costume,” Sadie’s pirate-wench friend tells us. “Coach Stef has the list of volunteers, but they were all the movie guys—Michael, Jigsaw, Freddy, Pennywise… no animals.”

“But we asked everyone who came to wear a costume.” Sadie’s voice is worried. “We thought it would be fun for Halloween.”

“It was my dad.” Austin’s eyes hold mine. “He took her.”

“We don’t know for sure…” I swallow the knot in my throat, but I’m sure he can tell by the look on my face it’s what I think as well.

“Let’s go.” Garrett puts his hand on Austin’s arm. “If he’s got your mom, we’re going to get her back. Trust me. He’s not getting away with this.”

Hesitating, I look down the row to where costumed attendees are drifting to the exit, confused expressions on their faces.

“Someone should double-check the maze and the area around it.” My muscles are tight. “Just to be sure she’s not…”

I stop short of saying she might be lying on the ground injured and alone in the dark. I can’t even think it for the rage it sparks in my body. I want to tear this maze to the ground to be sure she’s not huddled in a corner or worse.

“That right there tells us everything we need to know.” Garrett nods at the place where someone clearly forced his way out. “We can’t let him get away.”

Zane steps up beside me. “Logan and I will double-check every inch of this maze. We’ll walk the perimeter and report back. Go with Garrett. Austin needs you.”

Our eyes meet, and I give him a nod before we take off with my brother for his truck.

“I sent out an APB for highway patrol to be on the lookout for a car with Louisiana plates possibly headed south on I-10.” Garrett is behind his desk in his office in town. “I’ll include her driver’s license so they’ll have something to go on if they stop him.”

Austin and I are across from him, but I can’t sit down. I’m pacing the small office, needing to get in my truck and go after them. Anything besides sitting here wasting time.

“There’s so many different ways to get from here to New Orleans,” I muse, looking at the map of the state on his wall.

“If that’s even where he’s going,” Garrett says absently, his brow furrowing. “This is weird.”

“What?” I walk around his desk to see his computer screen.

Austin’s right beside me.

“Searching vehicle records, it says Allie rented a car yesterday.” Garrett points at the screen. “She picked it up this morning in Daphne.”

Shaking my head, I try to think. “She never said anything about renting a car. Did she say something to you, Austin?”

His arms are crossed, and he frowns as he shakes his head. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“A blue Chevy Malibu, license number…” Garrett is typing again. “I need to update my APB if there’s still time.”

“Why would she rent a car?” Austin blinks up at me.

“Was she putting yours in the shop?”

“If she was, she didn’t tell me.”

“It doesn’t make any sense.” Garrett frowns.

“Maybe he made her.” I start for the door, done standing around here waiting. “Or maybe it’s something else entirely. We’ll ask her when we find her. At least now we know what we’re looking for. Let’s go, Garrett.”

My brother stands, adjusting his belt. “I can’t cross state lines in my official capacity as sheriff. If he really did kidnap her and take her out of state, it becomes FBI business.”

“Then you’re off-duty. Take me to my house so I can change.”

The three of us head out into the night, and while Garrett drives, I text Dylan.

Our best guess is he’s taking her back to Nola. Garrett got a lead on a blue Malibu… we’ve got his last known address.

Dylan

I’ll take care of Kimmie. Y’all just bring back our Allie

I won’t come home without her.

When we get to my house, I run straight to my bedroom, stripping off the velvet coat and fancy shirt. I step out of the boots and nearly rip off the tight pants in my haste.

I grab my jeans and a long-sleeved black tee, dressing as fast as humanly possible.

I step into my cowboy boots and pause, reaching up on the highest shelf in the back of my closet.

I take down a black leather pouch and enter the combination on the lock.

Then I take out my Colt .45, checking to be sure it’s loaded.

“I didn’t know you had a gun.” Austin is at my bedroom door, watching.

Tightening my jaw, I nod. “It’s for emergencies. Otherwise, it’s locked up and hidden.”

“Ready?” Garrett walks up, and I put the revolver in the back of my jeans.

“I’ll take my truck.” The three of us return to the living room. “It’s possible he’ll avoid the interstate if he thinks we’re looking for them.”

“You want to take Highway 26 to the causeway?” Garrett passes a hand over his chin. “That’ll add two hours to the trip.”

“You take I-10.” I look down at my phone vibrating in my hand. It’s Zane, and I quickly accept the call. “What’s up?”

His voice is low. “We found her phone in the maze.”

A chill slices through my veins, and I step back. It takes me a minute to catch my breath.

“What?” Garrett grabs my shoulder.

“Zane found her phone.” It’s a rough reply, and I clear my throat, returning to the call. “I’m putting you on speaker so Garrett can hear you. Any clues?”

“I don’t know her passcode,” Zane continues. “The only missed call is from you, and she has some text alerts from the girls—all from about the time we got separated in the maze. ”

“That’s good, I guess,” Garrett says, looking up at me. “It gives us a hint of the time when she dropped it.”

Austin’s arms circle over his chest, and I hand the phone to Garrett when I see his expression crumple.

He sniffs hard, putting a hand over his eyes to hide his tears.

“Whoa, come here.” I pull him into a hug, wrapping my arms over his.

His body shudders, and my heart aches. Looking up, I fight my own tears.

I know how important it is for him to see me in control. I have to be sure we’re going to get the outcome we want, that we’re going to find her.

Garrett takes the call off speaker to finish. “We’re headed to West Riverside. I found a record on a rental car, so we have at least something to look for.”

He walks into the guest room, and Austin takes a second to get himself together. I pat his back and release him.

“I know you and Mom are together.” He looks down, wiping a hand over his nose. “I mean, it was pretty obvious tonight with the costumes and the holding hands and all.”

It’s true, and I’m done hiding. “We were planning to talk to you about it.”

“It’s okay, I get it, especially after all the stuff Levi’s dad was saying. I just wanted you to know it’s good. She seems really happy…” His voice breaks off, and I grip his shoulder.

“Look at me. Your mom’s going to be okay. Garrett and I will bring her home. Hear me?”

He nods, shoving the dampness off his cheeks. “I’m going with you.”

“No.” End of discussion . “Allie would never forgive me if I brought you with me.”

“That’s not true. She trusts anything you do.”

“That’s why you’re staying here. I’m not having you get hurt.” He starts to argue, but I hold up a hand. “Stay with Dylan. Help her take care of Kimmie for me. I’ll text you as soon as I know something.”

His jaw tightens, and I pull him in for a hug. “I love your mom.”

My voice is rough. He’s the first person I’ve said it to, and pain twists in my chest at how true it is. I picture Allie’s pretty eyes looking up at me with so much trust. I can’t think of her being alone in a dangerous situation.

Stepping back, I hold his gaze. “I’m bringing her home.”

He relents, dropping his chin. “Okay.”

With another pat, I look to my brother. He hands me my phone, and we’re out the door.