Page 104 of The Way We Win

“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 nameDLS. 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 ofThe 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.

NowI’mon 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.

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