Page 146 of Whispers and Wildfire

No answer. Nothing but the roar of the crowd behind me and the hint of popcorn in the air.

Fuck.

Half of me wanted to panic—to run through the parking lot shouting her name. But I knew I wasn’t going to find her that way. I had to stay calm and think it through.

I called Garrett.

“Yeah?” he answered.

“Melanie’s gone.”

“What?”

“She went in the restroom and didn’t come out. There’s a fucking door on the other side, leads out by the back parking lot. She must have gone that way.”

“Are you sure?”

“I went in. Checked every stall. She’s not there. She’s not out here, either.”

“All right, stay calm. If she went out the other exit, she probably just walked around the building, and she’s on her way back here.”

It made sense. I didn’t believe him, but I jogged around the building anyway, looking for any sign of her.

“Come back this way,” Garrett said. “We’ll start looking over here in case she’s talking to someone in the stands. Don’t worry, man. She’s around.”

Forcing myself to a walk so I could look at every person I passed, I made my way back to the bleachers. The student section was packed with kids chanting with the cheerleaders. The rest of the stands looked like a chaotic mess of people—too many faces, too many colors.

Where was she?

I pulled out my phone again and called her as I scanned the crowd. Still nothing. It rang but went to voicemail.

Fuck.

I hurried over to my family, but there was no sign of Melanie there, either.

Garrett stood at the bottom of the bleachers, holding Isla with one arm. “Harper and Marigold went back to search the restrooms, just in case.”

“I told you, she’s not there.”

Josiah stood and made his way down to us. “We should spread out. She’s gotta be around here somewhere.”

Garrett’s phone rang and he put it to his ear. “Find her?”

By the look on his face, I already knew the answer.

“Okay, come back here. And stay together.” He ended the call and pocketed his phone while Isla chewed on her fingers.

“Asher,” Josiah called, and Asher Bailey looked up. He had his youngest, a girl, in his lap. “We can’t find Luke’s girl.”

As if they were all a single unit, Asher and his brothers handed their kids off to their wives and stood.

“Where was she?” Asher asked as he came down the bleachers.

“Restroom,” I said. “I was waiting outside but she must have gone out the other door. I can’t find her anywhere.”

Krista’s eyes were wide, and Anton put an arm around her. Garrett started organizing an impromptu search, giving everyone an area to cover. He assigned Anton and our dad to stay in the bleachers and keep watch for her there—and keep watch over all the wives and kids. There might have been some protests from the women—mostly Logan’s wife, Cara—at being told to stay where they were. But we all knew the real threat was to them, not us.

If The Whisper was out there, he attacked women.

---