Labyrinth // Taylor Swift

I burst through the glass doors of Siren Song studios with one goal in mind: get Zack to contact Ross. The sense of urgency on my drive over had my lead foot pushing the speed limit all the way here. I was barely able to control my impulse to floor it. But I made it here in record time and nothing is stopping this forward motion.

"Excuse you." The irritated voice of Siren's receptionist breaks into my focus. I hadn't even notice Rachel behind the desk. She takes her gatekeeping duties seriously, however. Even with me.

I glance at her, registering her scowl aimed my way as she leans across her desk menacingly.

"You didn't just barge through those doors and expect to be allowed back there, did you?" she asks.

"No time, Rach." I wave her off and keep stalking down the hall.

"Hey, wait a minute!" I hear yelled from behind followed by the frantic clicking of her heels on the tile floor. "I don't care who you are, you won't walk in with this energy." She catches up to me and pulls me to a stop. Even with the six inches of additional height her shoes offer, Rachel's head doesn't even meet my chin. I look down as I turn toward her. She's got me by the elbow in a death grip.

"Seriously, Rach. I've got to talk to Zack."

"Yeah, while Brianna is in tour decompression mode the office is a quiet zone, so either cool it or get out. Don't even think about ignoring me ever again or you will pay dearly."

I pause and take a deep breath, needing to gain some control, holding it for four and releasing for six. Then I nod my head and look Rach in the eye. She's doing her job, protecting Brianna's mental health which tends to be on edge after time away from home. It's improved over the last year with Zack by her side, but Rachel is protective as hell over her boss. It comes off as bitchy to most of the world, but only a few of us in Brianna's inner circle understand her entire goal is to keep Brianna from getting worked up or anxious about anything. I can respect that.

"Better?" I wait for her to release my elbow. When she does, I have to resist the urge to rub it. Her grip is freakishly strong.

She crosses her arms. "I won't hesitate to call security to escort you out if you can't control yourself."

"Rachel, I am security."

She levels me with that damn mom look as if to say she doesn't give a rat's ass who I am. "And after how I came through for you, you owe me." She reminds me.

I nod. "You're right. I do owe you one."

"One! I spent a day in jail to cover for your FBI ruse last year. I've tallied that to significantly more than one. Try a billion."

She's got me there. Rachel stepped up when we were trying to catch Brianna's stalker, agreeing to appear as though she was the mole. I'm not sure we would have solved the case as soon as we did without her.

"Noted." I take one step cautiously down the hall. "But I really need to get to Zack."

"Go." She waves me on. "He's in Char's office."

I nod and rush the few remaining feet to her door and into the office where I find both Zack and Char leaned over her computer, shooting looks at me.

"Sorry," I say, putting my hands up. "Rachel already read me the riot act. I'm trying, but this is urgent."

"Ross has been in town for a while. Nothing's happened yet. It's not as urgent as you think." Zack states.

Laying my palms flat on Char's desk, I drop my head and breathe through my nose. I can't keep having this conversation with people, but here we are.

"I have to trust my gut on this, and it's telling me time's up. He's been biding his time, laying low, and now off the radar completely. He's always been unhinged at the small-town level." I lift my eyes to look at Zack. "Have you seen his rap sheet? The number of bar fights he's been in? The public disruption and disorderly conduct?"

"Typical small-minded behavior," Zack agrees.

"Because your town had no outlet for bigger behaviors. And Colleen hadn't cut off ties until moving away. Here. Where he's woven his way right to her front door."

"Fine. I'll contact him. What did you have in mind?"

"I want you to fish a little. Be cryptic. See if you can draw him out of hiding."

"Or I could just text him and ask him to meet up for coffee." Zack quips.

I start to respond but only one question hits me.

"How do you have his number? Thought he was your enemy."

Zack rolls his eyes. "It's a small town. There's a group chat with practically the entire population. Ranch families communicate regularly about herds and weather. It's a regular soap opera some days. I've had it muted since I moved out here, but I never left the group, so..." He shrugs.

"That's...weird," Char says.

"Very." Zack agrees. "But it's a way in." He pulls out his phone and starts tapping and swiping. A few seconds go by before his phone alerts start pouring in.

"Well, fuck." He shakes his head and groans. "Patty's cow escaped last night, and Mr. Warton's ranch hands found her stuck in a broken fence railing." His phone continues to beep with notifications. "Like I said, soap opera."

"It's a cow." Char laughs.

"A blue ribbon cow from an organic, grass fed ranch."

"Okay?"

"This is why I muted the group. This shit is never ending. They'll be tossing passive aggressive comments back and forth about proper ranching techniques and fence repair for weeks." Zack taps around on the phone some more. "Here. I pulled up Ross's contact. Looks like he hasn't left the group so I can either post something to the entire group that might pull him out of hiding or text him directly." Zack looks up at me for confirmation of action.

Arms crossed, I let the possibilities roll through my mind. "How active is he in this group?"

Zack pauses. "No clue. But knowing him, he stalks the notifications in case anything interesting pops up."

Stalks. Of course, he does. But his comment makes me wonder about something.

"Is Colleen in this group? Is Ross getting info about her from it?"

Zack laughs. "Colleen left the group the day after she graduated high school. She wanted as far away from that place as possible. It's why I was shocked to run into her when Brianna and I stayed on Marin Ranch. I couldn't believe she'd moved back home."

Makes sense. She's the type of person to leave the past behind her and forge a new path. It's what she's done for a year. It's what she's started teaching me to do.

"Put something in there about you and Colleen on the tour. If he's monitoring it and she's been radio silent this long, he's bound to pounce." I snap my fingers with a thought. "Do you have a picture you can add to it?"

"Might." Zack immediately starts to scroll his photo roll. "'Bout to start a riot in the hometown chat." He turns his phone around to a picture of Colleen and Ryan Christiansen from the night we took Katie backstage to meet the Citizen One guys. She's wearing that shirt with the guy's face on it, gorgeous as hell, and a wide smile as his arm is around her shoulder. Fuck me, but that pisses me off.

I must make some kind of sound because Zack looks up at me and says, "Calm down, bro. He was dared to do it, remember?"

I grit my teeth. "I remember, all too well."

"Great song. Taylor nailed the heartbroken vibes." Char nods.

I roll my eyes. Working with a pop star means everything relates to a lyric, and not always hers. "Not everything is about Taylor Swift."

Char raises a brow. "But what if it is?"

"Anyway," Zack eyes the two of us. "I don't know how I feel about posting a picture of Colleen without her permission. Do you want to text her first and make sure she's down?"

"Um, about that." I rub the back of my neck as I answer him. "She's not exactly talking to me right now."

When my confession is met with silence, I look up to find both Char and Zack slack jawed, staring at me.

"What do you mean, she's not speaking to you? What did you do?" Zack's words are measured.

I throw my arms out. "This. I'm worried about her. I'm taking precautions and putting security into place. She doesn't think it's necessary."

Zack rubs his face as he grunts. "I hate being in the middle."

He taps through his phone before putting it to his ear. As he waits, he stares me down. "Hey, I have a favor to ask you."

My heart jumps into my throat.

"Umm, yeah I get that." Zack narrows his eyes, still staring right at me. "But I think it's time to make a move and end this, don't you?"

He pauses while Colleen talks.

"Have you told him that?" Zack look away, sending my pulse into overdrive. I start to reach for the phone but Zack waves me away. "Not my place. But I do think a quick word in the Valley Chat will do the trick."

I pace away, then back, needing Colleen's side of the conversation so damn bad I can't stand still.

"Right." He nods at me with a thumbs up. "It will be in the next minute or two so expect a call from your folks. Sorry about that." He shakes his head after a minute of listening. "You need to say the words, Colleen. Trust me on that one."

I lean over the desk, desperate for anything.

"Okay. Talk to you soon." He hangs up and glares at me.

"You need a therapist."

My jaw drops. "What did she say?"

"This isn't junior high. I'm not passing her a note asking if she likes you to check yes. Talk. To. Her." He knocks on the side of my head. "Figure it out. You can't Jedi mind trick her into doing what you want. It requires listening, too."

"I..I.." I don't know what to say. He's right? But also, he's wrong. Because I know Ross is a danger, and she doesn't think so. We're at an impasse.

"I'll make the post, then you jump in the car and get home to work it out."

Hands on my hips, I drop my head and nod. "You're right. I will."

"Finally." He makes a couple more taps on his phone, then starts typing something. A few seconds later, he mutters, "Done." Then he turns the phone to show me the picture of Colleen and Ryan with a caption, "Hometown girl meets rock star. Posted on a dare."

Zack's phone dings thirty seconds later with a text from his sister, Elle. I see it pop up on the banner feed

Elle: what have you done to poor Colleen?

Zack reads it and groans. "I forgot about my diva sister. Now I've got to do family drama damage control." He shakes his head and types furiously.

"Anything else coming through? Anything about Ross?" I ask.

Zack murmurs something indecipherable, then waves me off. "Aren't you supposed to be making a b-line to Colleen for that long talk?"

"Right." I'm resigned to my fate. I just hope Colleen is willing to talk to me, now. 

I'm just stepping out of the office when my phone blows up with security system alerts. My heart practically stops when I pull it out and see that every camera on my property has been triggered at the same time.

It does stop when I open them up and realize the reason.

"He fucking cut the power to my security system." Every camera feed was cut off at once. "Call The Kid. Tell him to do a drive by immediately." I order Zack as I start running. I try calling Colleen as I get to the elevator, but she doesn't answer.

I held back on the way here, but hell if I won't be breaking every speed limit on the way home. I have to get to Colleen. She's got Katie with her. And if that bastard lays a finger on either of them, he's dead.

SORRY FOR THE DELAY!! I'm still on this family trip (almost to the halfway point, because this is a loooooong one) and we're off doing the tourist thing everyday. I wrote the first half while on the drive from Munich to Salzburg (beautiful) and the second half sitting in our Airbnb in Fussen after driving to see Neuschwantstein castle. I'm a little bit in fairytale land, so its been tough to focus on writing. But this one needed to get finished!

The next chapter might be sooner, because we have long drives coming up and its a great opportunity to write as I'm the passenger princess 👸 (no way I'm driving in a foreign country!)

Anyway, I wanted to get this one out to you so, no chapter aesthetic at the moment. If I have more down time, I'll add one... Labyrinth seemed like a good choice for this maze of confusion on Clinton's part.

https://youtu.be/xTXsKMXUi7w

Thanks for reading!! And, if you're interested in reading an ARC of Zack and Brianna's story (aka -advanced reader copy, plus it will have new content!) please check the link in my bio to fill out the interest form! It will be off Wattpad at the end of the summer but you'll have the ARC forever.