Once Chosen (A Riley Paige Mystery—Book 17) Read online

  “We’ll do that,” the man promised.

  Ann Marie watched as the man hurried away with the children. But they were barely out of sight when she spotted another group of trick-or-treaters farther down the street.

  Some curfew, she thought. None of these people seemed to realize they were possible targets.

  It’s like we rang the dinner bell, she thought.

  We’re just telling the killer, “Come and get it.”

  Somewhat guiltily, she couldn’t help feeling vindicated for having objected to this plan from the start. She’d felt in her gut that giving the public the impression that the killer had already been caught was a big mistake.

  As she’d said to Agent Paige, “We’re playing games with a dangerous killer.”

  But Agent Paige hadn’t listened. Ann Marie wondered—did her senior partner wish she’d listened now? Did she realize she’d made a mistake? If so, might all be forgiven if she called to tell Riley she was back?

  No, she decided. That woman just plain doesn’t like me.

  And she knew that bothered her a lot more than it ought to. Agent Paige had been right in what she’d said about her earlier.

  “Being liked is really important to you, isn’t it?”

  Yes, it was, Ann Marie had to admit. Wanting to be liked had always seemed perfectly normal to her. Why wouldn’t anybody want to be liked?

  But, she realized now, she might need to give that question some thought. If wanting to be liked drove her behavior, could it become a problem?

  After her altercation with Agent Paige, she’d done as she was told and driven all the way back to Quantico. But after she’d parked and walked toward the BAU building, she simply couldn’t force herself to go inside. Instead, she’d gotten back into the car and returned here.

  Why was that? At the time she’d told herself that she hated leaving in the middle of a case, that she really wanted to finish the job she’d started. She’d convinced herself that returning was the right thing to do.

  Now she realized that she’d just been too chicken to go into the building and report to Agent Meredith, telling him the truth about why Agent Paige had sent her back. That would have meant admitting that she had failed her first test as a new agent. It probably would have meant facing her inevitable termination as an agent.

  Worse, it would have meant feeling that nobody liked her.

  Ann Marie was catching on that this was maybe her fatal weakness—not just in trying to be an FBI agent, but in anything else she might try to do with her life. She thought that maybe she still had a lot of growing up to do. She needed some time to think about all that …

  Suddenly a shrieking scream tore at her nerves.

  She spun around to see a mechanical ghost hanging on one of the porches. She’d set off its recorded, motion-activated scream by walking near it.

  She could see that this was a very different neighborhood from the much more upscale Aurora Groves, and the Halloween decorations on the lawns and weren’t as high tech and expensive.

  But they were definitely louder. A ghost that screeched this noisily wouldn’t be tolerated in the more muted streets of Aurora Groves, where relatively subdued cackles were more the rule. People here had also put a lot more effort and creativity into their Halloween displays. The pumpkins were much more elaborately carved, and many of the porch monsters were carefully handcrafted.

  She took a few deep breaths as she settled her nerves.

  Focus on your job, she told herself. Think later.

  Then she kept a sharp eye out for trouble as she kept walking along.

  As she turned the corner and began to walk alongside the school, she heard footsteps hurrying behind her. She didn’t let herself get scared again. Instead, she stopped walking and calmly turned around.

  She found herself facing a kid wearing a werewolf mask.

  No, too big for a kid, she realized as the guy stopped and just stood there looking at her.

  He was tall and muscular—and obviously way too old to be trick-or-treating. He was dressed in perfectly ordinary clothes and was carrying a leather satchel slung over his shoulder.

  Annoyed, Ann Marie took out her badge again. This time she spoke more sharply than she had to the man and his kids.

  “FBI,” she said. “Don’t you know there’s a curfew?”

  The guy wearing the mask didn’t reply.

  “I could arrest you, you know,” she said. “And I will if I see you again. Just get on out of here. Go home. Get off the streets.”

  Without a word, the masked man turned and hurried away from her, heading across the street and disappearing into the adjoining neighborhood.

  The least he could do is growl or something.

  After all, he was obviously out here for no reason except to scare people—especially little kids. Even though he wasn’t succeeding at being scary, he really pissed Ann Marie off.

  Maybe I should have arrested him, she thought.

  But then she would have had to call Sheriff Wightman to come and pick the guy up, which would be a waste of everybody’s time and energy. Besides, she reminded herself that she’d been ordered to keep watch over the school. And making sure that the kids inside were safe was certainly a more urgent task than dealing with some adult with an infantile sense of humor.

  She continued walking around the building until she could see into the gym windows again. She could see that Principal Cody and a couple of teachers were now rounding up the costumed kids and escorting them out of the gym.

  She remembered the sheriff telling her he was going to give the principal a call.

  I guess that call did the trick, she thought.

  She continued on her way until the school’s front entrance came into view.

  Sure enough, kids were now coming out in a steady stream. Some of them were headed toward their cars. She couldn’t help but worry about the ones who might be walking home, but they all seemed to be traveling in groups, which should be safe for them.

  The best thing she could do was to hang around the school building and make sure that everybody got out safely.

  And that’s just what I’ll do, she thought. It felt good to be part of the team even if so few people even knew she was here.

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

  April had decided that this was as far as she would go. Mom had insisted that April had to be out here tonight, and she was doing exactly as she’d been told. But she wasn’t going up to front doors with these kids again.

  I’m through with that, she thought.

  She’d refused to put on a costume, and now she was finished with joining the younger kids as they and badgered adults for treats. She’d actually gone up to a couple of houses with them when they’d first started out, but she’d felt so silly and awkward that she was determined not to do it anymore. She was just fine waiting for them here on the sidewalk.

  But why do I have to be here at all? April wondered.

  She’d been asking herself that question over and over again. Surely Jilly was old enough to watch out for herself. For that matter, so were her smaller friends, whose parents had sent them out unchaperoned. This neighborhood was about as safe as it could be, and the people who had greeted them were all friendly and welcoming to the trick-or-treaters. Even some of those adults had been wearing costumes.

  The kids returned from the house and showed April the added loot in their already-overloaded tote bags. One thing April didn’t miss from her trick-or-treating days was how bad she’d felt after eating insane amounts of candy. She smiled again as it occurred to her that a massive stomachache was one rite of passage Jilly was due for soon.

  As the group headed toward another house to trick-or-treat, Jilly turned toward her big sister and asked in a wistful voice, “Won’t you come too?”

  April shook her head no and sighed.

  She wanted to reply, “Are you going to ask me that at every house?”

  With a glum expression, Jilly followed her friends
away.

  April realized that Jilly probably wasn’t having such a great time herself. She was at least a year older than any of her companions—the only one of them who was already in high school. She had been looking forward to trick-or-treating for the first time in her life, but it might not be turning out to be as much fun as she’d expected.

  Even so, April smiled yet again at the sight of her sister’s costume. She had to admit, Jilly looked a lot cooler than her younger friends. Bruce was dressed up as Captain America, Dina was wearing a Peter Pan outfit, and Lynn was dressed as a winged fairy. The sisters Nicole and Janice were pretending to be M&Ms, one clad entirely in blue and the other in red, both in tutus and puffy sweatshirts with big M’s on them.

  By comparison, Jilly’s zombie outfit really was impressive. Her latex mask convincingly showed a face with one eyeball hanging out and the flesh all in shreds showing parts of the skull beneath. Her wig flung itself in all directions, looking grimy and wild. Best of all were her clothes, which dangled off her body in tatters that really looked rotten and moldy. The front of her jacket exposed what appeared to be human ribs.

  April’s own bygone Halloween costumes—witches, vampires, ghosts, and such—paled by comparison.

  April also admired how well Jilly was playing the part, lurching and limping along with her arms wildly twisted, growling hoarsely and fiercely at passersby and the people who answered doors. She really did look and act as though she’d just dug herself out of a grave.

  She’s really trying to make the best of things, April thought. She was sorry that it might be turning out to be a disappointment.

  Watching from the sidewalk, April saw a smiling middle-aged woman answer the doorbell and squeal with feigned delight to see the costumed children. She noticed that Jilly was standing back from the others, no longer going through her zombie act. She seemed to be just waiting for it all to be over.

  The poor kid, April thought. We should talk about this later.

  April liked playing the role of the emotionally supportive big sister, offering sympathy and understanding based on her own experiences as a kid. But with a pang, she realized that conversation wasn’t likely to happen tonight. Or maybe ever again.

  Her little sister was growing up. Most of the time, Jilly made a show of being independent and self-sufficient—too grown up for her big sister’s help. April was starting to miss the days when Jilly had first joined the family.

  I guess this is what it feels like to get older, April thought sadly.

  She turned at the sound of voices and saw three kids her own age walking along the other side of the street. They weren’t wearing costumes, and she shuddered as she recognized them from her own school.

  Oh, no, she thought as she realized they’d spotted her.

  How much teasing was she going to have to take for getting stuck with this babysitting job?

  “Hey, April, what’s up?” called Ted Kirkland as the group came toward her.

  April forced a smile.

  “Not much,” she said. “Just helping my sister survive trick-or-treating.”

  Ted smiled a rakish smile that April had long admired.

  He practically owns cute, she thought.

  Ted was a track athlete and student council president, and he even fronted his own band—a high school star in every possible way. He was so cool that April hadn’t really dared even have a crush on him. She couldn’t remember him ever walking up to her and talking to her like this. April hadn’t imagined that she’d ever registered on his social radar.

  With him was his gawky, chinless sidekick Ian Black, as well as Andrea Fife and Lily Berry, each of whom was gazing at Ted with adolescent longing.

  Ted said to April, “We’re heading on over to Scarlet Gray’s party. You’ll be there too, right?”

  April fought down a moan of despair.

  I should have known, she thought.

  Ted and his companions were on their way to the very party that Mom had told her not to attend.

  Ian added with a note of awe in his reedy voice, “It’s really going to be a big deal. Scarlet’s got a huge rec room, and absolutely everyone is going to be there.”

  April gulped hard and said, “I can’t. As you can see, I’m kind of occupied this evening.”

  April shuddered again as Andrea and Lily giggled and whispered to each other, obviously amused by her current plight.

  Ted shrugged and said, “Bring your sister along.”

  April tried to keep her jaw from dropping. The possibility hadn’t occurred to her.

  “I can’t,” she said. “That’s going to be really late and we don’t have a ride home.”

  “No problem,” Ted said. “I live really close to Scarlet. When you’re ready to go home, I’ll walk you over to my house, and then I can drive you both home in my dad’s car.”

  April felt a little dizzy.

  Ted Kirkland is offering to drive us home, she thought.

  It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

  But she remembered what her mother had said the day before yesterday.

  “You’re not going to any party. You’re still grounded.”

  Feeling almost ready to cry, she said, “Sorry, I just can’t.”

  Ted seemed about to protest, but Andrea and Lily were tugging at him to get moving.

  “Hope you change your mind,” Ted called back as he headed off with his companions.

  They quickly disappeared down the street.

  April felt so frustrated, she thought she might explode.

  This is just unacceptable, she thought.

  But what was she going to do about it?

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  As she drove back into the Aurora Groves neighborhood, Riley was worried by what she saw. She wasn’t bothered by the brightly lit jack-o’-lanterns and other Halloween images that decorated so many houses and lawns. The swaying ghosts and glowing skeletons were innocent enough. It was the number of young people out on the streets that bothered her. She sympathized with the plainclothes cops she saw trying to herd them up and send them home.

  It was obvious that Sheriff Wightman’s curfew wasn’t having much effect. And now she wondered—had it been such a good idea to give the public the impression that the killer had been caught? She hadn’t realized how casually they would decide to defy the sheriff’s curfew. At least in this neighborhood, people didn’t seem to be used to taking these sorts of orders.

  As things were turning out, she thought that Ann Marie had probably been right to criticize her scheme. Maybe Riley should have listened to her instead of sending her away. Not that there was much to be done about that now. Ann Marie had surely long since gotten back to Quantico. Riley was definitely working without a partner tonight.

  Following the curving streets of Aurora Groves, she soon arrived at the location she was looking for. She parked her car and got out, then stood looking over the grassy, sparsely wooded area of Garfield Park where she’d been two nights ago. If she was right, the Goatman killer might well be choosing his targets from this very piece of public land.

  The last time she’d been here at night, the park had been empty of people, but tonight there was a lot of activity out there beneath the trees. She headed toward the movement to see what was happening.

  She tensed up when she heard a child’s voice squeal.

  But the next thing she heard was laughter.

  Kids playing, she realized.

  But of course, on Halloween night the park was practically a magnet for kids. There weren’t many of them now, but she was worried. If the theory that was shaping in her mind was correct, the killer was also out here somewhere. She didn’t want to leave those kids in the park alone.

  Then she heard an adult male voice calling out in a scolding tone. When she got closer to the activity, she saw that a bunch of kids had been TP’ing a tree with toilet paper. A couple of cops were chewing them out about it and taking down their names and telling them to get back
home.

  She breathed a little easier.

  All the same, the police had blown their cover by producing their badges. Had they also scared away Riley’s prey?

  She somehow doubted it.

  She was sure that the so-called “Goatman” was nothing if not determined and audacious. If he considered this his territory, he would surely be somewhere around here tonight.

  She began to retrace the same steps she had followed the night before last, returning to the bushes where she’d gotten her keenest feeling of the killer’s presence. Again, she sensed the possibility that he had crouched here watching the street. When he’d spotted the skeleton-costumed Allison Hillis, he’d somehow lured her to the spot where he’d been waiting.

  But how did he lure her? she wondered.

  Again, the possibility that he’d sung or whistled some sort of “goat song” crossed her mind. But as she had the night before last, Riley decided against that. The sound of singing or whistling from this bush would only have freaked Allison out and sent her on her way.

  So what had he done, then? How could the killer have caught the girl’s attention and draw her directly to him?

  A cry for help, she quickly realized.

  Maybe he’d cried out in a way that provoked her sympathy and concern. Maybe he’d imitated a lost or frightened child.

  Riley felt a tingle of near-certainty.

  Yes, it must have been something like that.

  The realization brought back an eerie sense of closeness with the killer. She felt that he was cunning, with an exalted sense of himself and his own importance—or at least of what he was trying to do. Bill’s research had suggested that the killer felt a supernatural, almost religious sense of purpose, a dark connection to the roots of myth and tragedy.

  Riley breathed long and slowly, trying to hold onto the sense of connection while at the same time mulling over her evolving theory. Could all of the links she had discovered back at the police station have been purely imaginary? Allison Hillis had been taken and killed near one end of this park. Could it be a coincidence that Yvonne Swenson’s husband was buried not far from here in a graveyard at the far end of the property—and that her husband’s birthday had been on Halloween?