by Dan Padavona
The hairs stood on the back of his neck when Thomas passed the mannequin. Reaching for the closet door, he pulled it open and swept the gun into the shadowed corners. After searching the upstairs, he met Presley on the lower landing.
“There’s a BOLO out on Gardner Raimi,” she said, holstering her gun. “What kind of psychopath murders his parents?”
“He’s recreating Valerie’s story about the Halloween Man.”
“You think he’ll go after Valerie next?”
“He has to. She’s the last target on his list.”
As backup arrived to secure the house, Thomas and Presley bounded down the steps. They needed to reach the Leonard residence before Gardner claimed his last victim.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
October 31st
10:05 p.m.
Raven wore a hole in the floor as she paced back and forth in the living room. LeVar leaned against the wall with his arms folded, stewing, the muscles in his arms twitching with unspent fury. She should have assumed Mark Benson would break inside her home. But they couldn’t cover the county, even with the sheriff’s department on the case. After they took away Benson’s hiding places—the farmhouse and the gymnasium—and saved Ellie Fisher from another abduction attempt, the convict chose his last option. Attack Raven in her own home.
For months, Raven had feared he’d break out of prison and attack her while she slept. Now she tamped down the terror and replaced it with an unwavering desire for vengeance. Benson had violated her home and threatened their mother. She had to catch him before the night ended.
While Darren spoke on the phone with Thomas, Deputy Lambert interviewed Serena, who huddled on the couch beneath a blanket, a mug of hot chocolate in her hands. During the interview, Aguilar searched the house and dusted for evidence. She pulled prints off the front door, the doorknobs to the bedrooms, even the closet inside Serena’s room. Benson hadn’t bothered to wear gloves. With nothing left to lose, the psychopath wasn’t taking precautions.
After Lambert finished, LeVar and Raven flanked Serena on the couch and kept her company.
“One of us will stay with you until sunrise,” Raven said, wrapping her mother in a hug.
Serena shook her head.
“You can’t be in two places at once. Catch this bastard and put him away. For good this time.”
“We’re not leaving you alone,” LeVar protested.
Serena lifted her chin.
“You won’t have to. I’m coming with you.”
Raven glanced at her brother.
“That’s a bad idea,” Raven said. “You’re not qualified to chase escaped convicts.”
“So I’ll stay in the Rogue and let you handle the hard part. I’m a big girl, and I can take care of myself. Besides, I want to be there when you take the scumbag down.”
“What do you think?” LeVar asked, raising an eyebrow.
“This seems unnecessarily risky,” Raven said. “Then again, we need as many eyes as possible watching the bus terminal when Benson arrives, and Mom can’t be alone until we capture him.”
LeVar turned to Serena.
“I’ll pack a blanket and pillow. There’s a lot of sitting and waiting during an investigation. You can rest while we work.”
Serena rolled her eyes.
“LeVar, how much sleep do you figure I’ll get after this evening? No, I’ll stay awake until this is over. I can’t wait to see Benson’s face when you bring him down.”
Aguilar returned from the bedroom as Lambert slipped his notes inside his pocket.
“You convinced Chelsey to take the night off?” Aguilar asked LeVar.
“She fought me every step of the way until she hit the couch. Then she was out like a light.”
“She’s a stubborn one.”
“Tell me about it.”
The muscular deputy set her hands on her hips.
“Speaking of stubborn, I don’t suppose I can convince your team to stay home while we track Benson.”
LeVar moved his gaze to Raven and Darren. Raven rose from the couch with determination burning in her eyes.
“There’s your answer, Deputy,” LeVar said.
“If that’s the way it has to be, you’ll play by our rules tonight. We’ll spread out and monitor the bus terminal from multiple angles. I’ll wear plain clothes and sit in the waiting area. The second you see anything, you tell us. And none of you engage Benson. The professionals will make the arrest.”
“Agreed,” said Raven, checking her gun. “I’ll ensure my team follows orders. But if Benson gets past you, he’s all mine.”
* * *
Thomas crouched between two trees behind the Leonard residence. Wind lashed his face and drove him deeper into hiding. After alerting the Leonard family, Detective Presley had traded her cruiser for an unmarked SUV. Slumped inside the vehicle, the detective watched the house from the curb, while Thomas insisted on covering the rear of the house, worried Gardner Raimi would break inside from the backyard.
The upstairs was dark, the lower floor lit like a landing strip. The moon painted sharp silhouettes across the grass and fallen leaves. A rickety wooden fence groaned and rocked behind him, like old bones in a cemetery.
“Anything?”
Presley’s voice.
“All clear,” he said, holding the radio.
“Maybe we’re off the mark on Raimi’s next target.”
“No, he’ll go after Valerie next. We just need to wait.”
As if the girl heard his voice, Valerie appeared at the bedroom window with a kitten clutched in her arms. The teenager gave him a tentative wave, and he waved back. Gesturing at Valerie to move away from the window, Thomas waited until the girl drew the curtains and disappeared inside her room.
“We should switch in a few minutes, so you don’t freeze to death.”
“I’ll survive,” he said, forcing his teeth not to chatter. “It won’t be much longer.”
Radio silence resumed. Thomas peered between two needled boughs, the pine scent cloying. At least the tree added a few degrees of warmth as he huddled in the darkness. Inside the house, a heavyset man passed through the kitchen, stopped at the window, and glared into the night with his hands cupped around his eyes. Ed Leonard. Thomas felt his blood boil. He wanted to drag Ed Leonard from the house and drop him off at the Kane Grove jail. When they’d arrived, Charisse Leonard nursed a purple bruise on her cheek in the shape of a hand. There was no greater coward than a man who struck his wife, and Ed Leonard outweighed Charisse by one hundred pounds. Charisse claimed she’d fallen. Unless she pressed charges, Thomas couldn’t arrest the bully.
Ed Leonard returned to the living room. Cocking his neck around the branches, Thomas spied the parents—Ed taking up the couch with his meaty hand wrapped around a beer, Charisse in the lounge chair with a book, giving her husband distance. The television reflected in her reading glasses.
Thomas checked the time. It was after ten, and nobody had seen Gardner Raimi since school released.
No one except his parents. And they hadn’t survived the encounter.
Reports filtered back from the Raimi residence. Virgil Harbough, the Nightshade County Medical Examiner, arrived with his assistant, Claire Brookins, to lead the CSI team. An officer noted Gardner Raimi’s bed sheet was missing. Thomas wasn’t sure what to make of the discovery. Did he plan to strangle Valerie with the sheet? Or twirl the sheet into a rope and climb through a window?
Charisse crawled off the lounge chair and left the book face down and open on the floor. Ed Leonard didn’t even look up as she waddled up the stairs. On the second floor, Mrs. Leonard’s shadow passed over the drawn blinds that covered the hallway window. The door to the master bedroom opened and closed. Thomas settled back into hiding as he raised the collar on his jacket.
A second shadow passed over the blinds. Thomas shot to his feet. His gaze flew to Valerie’s bedroom. He saw the girl’s silhouette in front of the computer. Then his eyes dropped to the living
room. Ed Leonard hadn’t budged from the couch. Thomas grabbed his radio.
“I’ve got movement inside the house. Second floor.”
While Presley advanced on the house, Thomas jogged to the back door. A scream from upstairs sent the sheriff into a full sprint. He threw the back door open and hurried through the kitchen, almost colliding with Ed Leonard after the husband rumbled out of the living room.
“What’s happening?” the man asked, his eyes as large as saucers.
“Stand back,” Thomas said as he circled Leonard and angled toward the staircase.
Another scream sounded from the upper landing. Then a thud as a body hit the floor.
The front door flew open as Presley rushed inside. Gun in hand, Thomas ascended the stairs.
The scene played out before him in slow motion. Valerie’s bedroom door slamming shut. The lock twisting as the girl cried out to her fallen mother. The ghost crossing the landing with its arms extended like some nightmare creature from a horror movie. A kick drove Valerie’s door inward and shattered the lock. A hand reached out and strangled Valerie’s throat as the attacker drove the girl to the floor.
“Sheriff’s department. Freeze!”
The ghost whirled on Thomas. Beneath the bed sheet, Gardner snarled. The butcher’s knife ripped toward the sheriff’s face. Thomas leaned back, the air whooshing past his eyes as the blade scraped his face.
As Gardner’s hand arced lower, Thomas drove the butt end of the gun against the boy’s head. Gardner wobbled and crashed against the wall. Two framed photos tumbled and smashed against the floor.
“Put down the knife, Gardner. It’s over.”
As Thomas trained the gun on the boy, Gardner leaped off the wall with an inhuman screech. The collision sent Thomas and Gardner into the hallway. Behind them, Valerie crawled to her knees and gagged, clutching her throat. Gardner lunged with the knife, the blade pointed at the sheriff’s stomach. Thomas spun and drove his palm against the boy’s arm. Thomas didn’t want to pull the trigger, but the boy wouldn’t quit. The killer leaped at Thomas as Valerie stood in the doorway, crying for Gardner to stop.
Thomas dodged the bull rush and threw the boy aside. Before the sheriff could catch the teenager, he lost his footing and pinwheeled off the top step. The knife flew from Gardner’s hand as he tumbled forward and struck his head against the stairs. The boy’s body went slack and somersaulted down the staircase.
Presley threw herself atop the teenager. She held him in place, the sheet discarded on the stairs. With the detective’s help, Thomas steadied the boy. The whites of Gardner’s eyes stared up at them. The boy’s neck lolled sideways.
“He’s breathing,” Thomas said, bending over the boy’s face.
“The ambulance is on the way,” Presley said.
A bellow spun Thomas around. Ed Leonard thundered at the fallen killer with a baseball bat over his head. Presley had just enough time to grab the man’s arms as Thomas tackled Leonard to the floor. The bat swung forward with malevolence and splintered the stairs, missing Gardner’s head by a fraction of an inch.
“Drop the bat, Mr. Leonard. Get yourself under control.”
The father thrashed beneath the sheriff. Thomas wrestled the bat from Leonard’s grip and twisted the bully’s hands behind his back. After Thomas locked the handcuffs, Presley stared wide-eyed at Thomas and brushed the hair from her face.
“That was close.”
Atop the staircase, Valerie held the banister like a lifeline as she stared at her father. The girl wavered, close to fainting. Presley sprinted up the stairs to catch her.
Thomas pressed Ed Leonard’s face against the floor.
“Stop fighting. You don’t want to give me an excuse.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
November 1st
4:55 a.m.
Raven turned up the heat to prevent frost from spreading across the windshield. Darren sat in the passenger seat with binoculars pressed against his eyes. While they studied the bus terminal from across the street, LeVar hid in Darren’s midnight blue Dodge Silverado at the end of the block, and Lambert’s cruiser slumbered in a parking garage with a clear view through the bus terminal’s windows. Raven couldn’t see the deputy, only the cruiser’s bumper poking out from between two vans.
Inside the terminal, Deputy Aguilar disguised herself in everyday clothing—a Syracuse Orange sweatshirt, blue jeans, sneakers, and a Mets baseball cap pulled low on her brow. Aguilar paged through Time, her eyes darting to the door every several seconds as the clock ticked toward five in the morning. Four travelers sat in opposite corners of the waiting area, their eyes weary.
From the backseat of the Rogue, Serena leaned forward and squeezed between the front seats.
“Are you sure he’s coming?”
Raven met her mother’s eyes in the mirror.
“The clerk confirmed Benson bought a ticket, and LeVar found the itinerary inside the farmhouse. He’s coming. Go back to sleep.”
“I’m not sleeping, child. And don’t sass your mother.”
Raven gave her mother a frustrated glare and rubbed her arms. Even with the heat on, the Rogue struggled to retain heat. Frost glistened on the sidewalk. With Halloween over, the calendar had switched to November, and winter weather was fair game now. The latest forecast predicted lake effect snow showers by tomorrow.
Raven gazed up and down the sidewalk. Maybe her mother was right. The near capture at the farmhouse might have spooked Benson into skipping the trip. Except the escaped convict was running out of money, and it was only a matter of time before the local authorities caught up to him. Raven’s radio buzzed with static before Lambert’s voice came through.
“See anything from your position?”
“Negative,” Raven replied.
“Look alive. It’s almost five o’clock.”
Outside the terminal, a mechanic checked the bus as it rumbled in the bay. A balding passenger watched the process through the plate-glass window.
Raven sighed.
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“He’ll show,” Darren said. “The bus doesn’t board for another half-hour.”
As Raven adjusted the seat, the restroom door opened inside the terminal. Her stomach lurched. She swatted Darren’s arm and pointed.
“Benson is already inside the terminal.”
“What? How?”
Raven radioed Lambert. Then Aguilar shifted in her seat after the message arrived through her ear piece.
“Mom, don’t you dare move from this vehicle.”
Without waiting for the deputies to respond, Raven shot out of the Rogue and sprinted across the street. Darren called for her to pull back as she’d hunkered beside a parked car along the curb. Cocking her head around the bumper, Raven searched the faces inside the terminal. Benson strode toward the bus with his hands stuffed inside his pockets, his head down, a hoodie concealing his face. The bulge beneath his sweatshirt screamed gun. He hadn’t noticed Aguilar yet. Raven motioned for Darren to circle left and cut Benson off if he ran through the front door.
When Benson passed the deputy, Aguilar threw the magazine aside and raised her weapon.
“Nightshade County Sheriff’s Department. Drop your weapon, Benson!”
Benson snatched the passenger at the window and placed the gun against his temple.
“Back off! Don’t come any closer.”
Aguilar spoke into her radio and called for backup as Lambert’s cruiser skidded to a stop along the curb. Benson still hadn’t spied the two private investigators converging on him outside the terminal. Raven’s heart pounded, her mouth dry. Aguilar caught Raven’s eye through the window and urged her to stay back. But Raven wouldn’t allow Benson to escape again.
From the corner of her eye, Raven spied movement between the buses. LeVar. Raven prayed her unarmed brother wouldn’t attack a man with a gun.
Raven crept closer, moving just beyond Benson’s peripheral vision. The convict wrapped a powerfu
l forearm around the hostage’s neck and inched him toward the boarding doors. The other passengers backed away. A woman in a business suit hurried into the women’s restroom and threw the lock.
“You don’t want to pull the trigger, Benson,” Aguilar said, stepping closer to the convict. “Let the prisoner go.”
Benson answered by firing at Aguilar’s feet. The explosion sent screams rippling through the terminal. Aguilar flinched but refused to yield.
“I mean it. Back away, or I’ll kill this guy. Is that what you want?”
Suddenly, Benson wheeled around and fired through the window at Darren. Glass shattered, raining down on the sidewalk. The state park ranger fell to the pavement as Raven covered her mouth. Had Benson shot him? Raven breathed again when Darren scurried behind a mailbox.
With his back to the boarding doors, Benson panicked. He smashed the gun against the hostage’s skull. The man’s legs gave out, and his head whacked the floor with a sickening crunch. Benson shoved through the doors and sprinted between the buses as Aguilar radioed Lambert to cut him off.
But Lambert didn’t have an angle on Benson. If the convict escaped between the buses, Lambert would need to round the front of the building to catch up. Raven anticipated Benson’s escape route. As Aguilar leaped over a row of plastic seats and skidded across the mopped floor, Raven leaped out of hiding. She rushed down the sidewalk with Darren ten steps behind.
Passengers ran into the street, desperate to escape the firefight as vehicles sped past. Sirens rose inside Kane Grove as backup rushed toward the bus terminal. Raven dodged the clerk she’d scammed yesterday afternoon. The man appeared too panicked to recognize her. Her sneakers slapped the sidewalk, arms pumping, as she searched for Benson. Where was he?
