There is a way out of this, he thought. I will not go down like this.
“Deadly,” the figure said. “Don’t make a move, Kyle. Not even a sound. I knew you would be trouble, so don’t think I won’t fire first. I’m taking no chances here. But don’t worry, that is not what I have in store for you. I want to take my time with this.”
Kyle decided that he would have to make his move soon. He gripped the knife at his right side and wondered how quickly he could throw it.
The figure took one step toward him and Kyle made his move. He flung the knife in the figure’s direction and darted off to the right. As he started to move, Kyle heard the gun go off.
Nov. 1, 1994
Dear Tim,
At least you went out with a bang. I want you to understand two things: I fully intended to kill you the other day, but I’m not going do so anymore. You have proven worthy. You were brave when most men would have been cowardly. You signed your name to an article you knew would infuriate me, with the full knowledge that I would end you for it.
Your words did cut to the bone, Tim. I won’t lie. But right is right and sometimes even I have to concede a point. So, congratulations, you get to live.
There is one condition to this: you have to leave. I don’t want to keep seeing you around. Eventually, I’m bound to let my anger get the best of me. It wouldn’t be a death at the hands of Lord Halloween-they caught him, remember? — but it would be an untimely accident.
You have three days. If I see you here again, your death will be so quick, your soul will leave your body before your corpse even hits the ground. Leave Loudoun County to me. Find somewhere else to roam. I’m finished with you.
Sincerely,
Lord Halloween
Chapter 19
Sunday, Oct. 22
“You still awake?” she asked in barely a whisper.
“Of course,” Quinn replied.
After visiting Anderson, the two of them had headed back to the hotel room to look through the files. They had tried unsuccessfully to find a VCR to watch the security tapes from Kate’s hotel, but the man at the front desk said there were none available. They had poured over the information until they couldn’t see straight.
There were a host of suspects in Anderson’s file: Laurence, Holden, Kyle, Buzz, Brown, even Johnny Redacker, Kate’s family friend. Everyone had been analyzed and dissected by Anderson, but no conclusions had been reached.
They had taken no chances themselves. Kate doubted Lord Halloween was busy following them-he was probably lining up his next victim-but the door was blocked by several pieces of furniture. They had picked a room on the sixth floor-the highest the hotel had-but even the door to the balcony was blocked, just in case Lord Halloween could somehow scale up the walls outside. Kate had also been adamant with staff-no employees were to come in under any circumstances. She had pretended it was for romantic reasons, after which the hotel manager had knowingly winked at Quinn.
But far from making out, they had laid pieces of files all over the bed and gone through them one by one. They had briefly grabbed food and returned to the room. Finally, around midnight, Kate had suggested they sleep. After the night before, Quinn didn’t think he could, but they had carefully reassembled Anderson’s file, gotten ready for bed and turned off the lights. Before they did so, Kate had put her gun on the table next to her.
But it still did not mean either were sleeping. For Quinn, the problem was two-fold. His dreams were as bad as real life. Chased in the real world, he fell asleep so he could be chased there too. The dreams, if anything, seemed to be even clearer now-if that was even possible.
It was the one thing he had not told Kate about and he knew that was most likely a mistake. After all, it may have something to do with Lord Halloween. But that seemed ridiculous to Quinn. He wondered if Comizio had ever called the police and what they thought. Quinn had talked to Janus yesterday, but per Kate’s insistence, had not told him where they were or any details of the night before. Janus did not bring up the horse story, either, and Quinn was more than happy to let it drop. It meant something, but he could not for the life of him figure out what.
If all that were not enough, Quinn had one additional problem, one he knew was neither crazy nor surprising. He had offered to sleep on the floor, but Kate had insisted he did not. It was a queen bed, she pointed out, and stupid that they couldn’t share it.
So now Quinn was in a position he might have killed for under different circumstances-he was sleeping with a beautiful woman in a private hotel room and nobody knew where they were. The perfect romantic weekend. He thought of the manager’s wink.
Only it wasn’t romantic. They were tired, scared and irritable, for starters. Second, they weren’t lovers. They had an air of intimacy like people who knew each other for longer than they really had-Quinn supposed being in a life or death situation would do that-but not the kind that a real couple has. They both changed separately in the bathroom and there was not even a kiss on the cheek to say goodnight.
But the only thought that pushed away the Headless Horsemen and a certain serial killer was Kate. While it gave Quinn comfort to think of her and be close to her, it was also highly distracting, even under these conditions. He was determined to be an honorable guy. Now was not the time to bring up conversations about mutual attraction or simply try to start something. Now was the time to plan, to prepare, to strategize-and yet here she was, gorgeous and in bed with him.
Quinn felt like he wanted to scream. If it was not his fear of an imminent and bloody death keeping him awake, it was his sex drive. What a fantastic day he was having.
So when she asked him if he was awake, he found the question downright funny.
“Why ‘of course’?” she asked back.
“You know,” he said and let it drop. There was nothing to say.
“I’m having a hard time sleeping too,” she said.
He turned over to face her. The covers reached just to her shoulders and she was turned on her side looking at him. God, she looked good, he thought. He wondered if she ever did not look good. Even with no sleep, she was still hot.
Quinn laughed.
“I’m sure I can guess why,” he said.
She smiled back.
“That and other stuff,” she said, not wanting to get into it. Truthfully, she was having thoughts about Quinn too-more than she was comfortable with. There was no denying she was attracted to him and every time she thought about him romantically, that damn Tarot card popped into her head. The devil and lust. She had a feeling like she did not want to indulge any romantic feelings. It would make them both distracted.
Instead, she tried to change the topic.
“I keep thinking that our research has not gotten us very far,” she said. “We don’t know much more than we started with.”
“I know,” Quinn replied. “It feels like we have been spinning our wheels a bit. The more I know, the less certain I feel.”
“It feels like rats in a maze or something,” she replied. “Or bees in a box. He shakes us up and we buzz all around. But then we quiet down and wait for him to do it again.”
“Look, it’s natural. We are both a little afraid. Okay, not a little.”
She sat up in bed. Quinn noticed she was wearing one of his t-shirts. It did nothing to stop his attraction. Her blond hair fell down just shy of her shoulders and she shook her head.
