Page 23 of No Way Out
To protect me.
We slowed down, reaching what seemed to be the end. I squeezed his hand, and he returned it with a squeeze of his own, finally looking down at me.
“You’re perfect,” he whispered, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear with his free hand.
We both looked down to where our fingers tangled together, like they weren’t ready to accept their fate. Out there, we couldn’t exist. Not yet. I swallowed a hard lump, wishing the tears back into my eyes and praying they wouldn’t fall and embarrass me.
How cringe could I possibly be? Crying over a hook-up.
Naya would never let me live it down.
He gave me one more squeeze, our fingers parting slowly, my heart breaking all at once. What would we be after this?
Had we ever been anything at all?
We took slow steps, side by side, until we made our final turn, the exit of the maze directly in front of us. It was blinding, an array of lights that were shocking to the senses after being trapped in the darkness of that maze for so long. Flashlights and spotlights dropped onto us, forcing me to shield my eyes from the brightness.
I could hear a drone of people speaking, calling out for help, and then dozens of men in uniforms suddenly appeared.
“I got her here,” Harkins called out, “I got her.” He put his hands over my shoulders like he was holding on to me, keeping me from moving.
Trapping me in place.
The cops rushed to us, my heart sinking deep into my stomach, a heavy boulder of hot magma in my guts. Bile rose to my throat, but I wasn’t sure I could swallow it down. He was going to turn me in. After all of that, Harkins was going to turn me in.
Had all of it been an act? The brilliance of a man who knew what to do to keep himself alive?
I dropped to my knees, vomit spewing from my throat in a bitter wave. My arms shook as they held me up, and I couldn’t hear what was being said above me, my heart hammering too loudly. I didn’t have the strength to lift my head and face my betrayer.
I heaved once more, the final contents of my stomach spewing onto the dying grass and an unfortunate pig’s leather shoes. “There’s no more students in there?” I heard from above.
“No, she was the last one.” Harkins voice sounded clearer again.
I wiped my mouth, taking deep breaths as I felt the pressure of his fingertips against my shoulder.
“She’s covered in blood; did he hurt her?” a female voice asks.
“I don’t think so. I found them just in time. She was fighting back and together, we were able to stop him.” He was painting an entirely new story, convincing them that Ezekiel was the killer, the two of us his lucky victims who escaped.
“Let’s get you checked out in the back of the EMT van.” The woman knelt in front of me, placing her hand on my shoulder.
I shook my head. “I want to go home. I don’t want to be touched by anyone.”
“I’ll let them know,” she agreed, seeing the state I was in as proof that enough trauma had happened.
“Hey, that’s my best friend!” I heard her voice in the distance like barbed wire around a chicken’s neck. “Mila!” Naya cried out, pushing grown men out of the way as she fell to her knees in front of me.
“I thought you were dead! You stopped answering the phone!” she blubbered, crying as she showed me how many times she had tried calling me. “They wouldn’t let me go back in there. I would have gone back for you, bitch, I promise!” she sobbed, the guilt tearing her apart.
I’d never tell her, of course, not this one. This secret belonged to me and Demetri only. She pulled me into her arms, and I let her, reassuring her I was okay, and that, most importantly, there was nothing I held against her.
“Is that smoke?” another cop asked from the other side.
They began to scatter, more popping out of the woodwork now that the problem was something they couldn’t solve with their guns. Funny how they were all too scared to get lost inside a maze with a killer, though.
I disguised my amusement as concern for the corn.
“Oh shit, the corn maze is on fire. Call for a firetruck, now!” an angry, masculine voice sounded above me.
