(God, I’m such a fool.) Quinn said.
(Why?)
(Look at me. I’m shaking and scared of my own shadow. I’m like…)
Quinn stopped in the editorial area. He finished his thought.
(I’m Ichabod Crane.)
(Don’t be ridiculous.)
He let the images wash over her-showing a frightened Ichabod jumping at shadows on his way home at night. Later, the terrified schoolteacher clutched his horse for dear life as the Headless Horseman chased him.
(It’s not ridiculous.) Quinn replied. (Don’t you see? Since this started, I’ve done nothing but run away-from the Horseman, from Lord Halloween.)
(We had no choice.)
(But still, this is all playing out like the book.)
Quinn and Kate stood in the middle of the newsroom staring at each other. To any observer, the sight would have been bizarre. Neither was saying a word.
(How so?) Kate thought.
(Well, I’m Ichabod, you’re Katrina van Tassel, and Lord Halloween is Bromm Bones.)
(Give me a break. Bromm Bones wanted Katrina for himself. Romantically.)
(Lord Halloween still wants you for himself. He just wants to kill you instead of marry you. But the point is that Ichabod never faced up to Bromm or the Headless Horseman. All he did was flee.)
(Quinn, you are just upset.)
(I know.)
He sat down in Kyle’s chair. Quinn felt like he was betraying his old colleague even by doing that. Hadn’t he always wanted Kyle’s beat? Hadn’t he tried to…
(Stop it.) Kate said.
Quinn put his head in his hands.
(We have no plan. We have no idea who Lord Halloween is and we don’t know how to beat the Horseman to tap whatever powers we might gain. We have nothing.)
(That’s not true.)
(It isn’t? Lord Halloween could be anyone. He’s probably Buzz. Whoever killed Janus was in that house and used Buzz’s car.)
(Who would be stupid enough to use their own car?)
(It could be Josh, or Laurence, or Redacker. It could be Ethan for all we know-or Brown or Bill. Hell, it could be Rob or Steve who work over in the eastern Loudoun office. Or it could be no one we know.)
(We’ve been through this.) Kate thought. (This seems personal, that’s why we are assuming it is someone we know. Someone wanted to get Janus because they either knew him or wanted to hurt us. Probably both.)
(Was that true of Fanton? Or Kilgore? Did he know them?)
(Lord Halloween has had a thing about this paper from the beginning, Quinn. Of all the papers that mentioned him, he only sent letters to ours. He killed several employees. Why would he be so focused on the Chronicle? Because he either works here or has some reason to hate us. It’s the only thing that makes sense.)
(None of this makes sense.)
But Quinn’s mind was turning now. He saw Buzz’s jacket in the security video. The crime scene at Kyle’s house, the conversation with Anderson.
(My God) he thought.
It wasn’t there yet, but he was on to something-pieces of a puzzle he should have put together.
(What if Lord Halloween does have a motive?) Quinn thought. (What if it wasn’t random?)
(There was nothing linking all the victims) Kate responded.
(Not all of them, no. But you said it yourself. It was about this paper. What if it was always about the paper? From the beginning?)
(You mean it’s Ethan? He’s the publisher. He’s doing this for publicity?)
(No. No. The man in the dream said we were over-thinking it. Lord Halloween is just a man, he said. So who gained from the murders the first time around? Who got something he wanted?)
(Jesus) Kate said.
And they knew. They both knew. It clicked into place. All of their looking and it had been right in front of them.
(How do we find him?) she asked. There was fury in how she asked it. (He’s hiding.)
Quinn’s mind was racing furiously.
(Even the girl. He killed the girl downstairs in the basement. It wasn’t random. Anderson said everyone thought she was hitting on them. What if Lord Halloween thought it too? What if that was just petty revenge, not really about Anderson at all?)
(Never mind that now.) Kate said. (How do we find him?)
(We go to the police.)
Kate laughed out loud and it startled them both.
(With what? A half-baked theory? They will laugh us out of town, for obvious reasons.)
(What do you suggest?)
(We call him.)
(He’s going to pick up his phone?)
(We leave a message for him to meet us.)
(Where?) Quinn asked, and Kate flooded his mind with photos. Pictures of a field, a road and a covered bridge-the Old Phillips Farm.
(Are you crazy?) he asked. (I can’t do that. That’s where my dream takes place.)
(That’s where the Horseman will meet us.)
(And you want Lord Halloween there as well?)
(Yes) she said.
(This is an awful risk) he thought. (What if Lord Halloween doesn’t show? Or what happens if I can’t beat the Horseman? There’s too much that could go wrong.)
(T ime is almost up. Halloween is almost here. This is our one chance. Even if we’re right, and it is who we think it is, who’s to say he won’t get away?)
Quinn thought of all the reservations he had. Even if they won, what would they be then? What kind of power would he have? And wasn’t that also a risk?
But Kate took his hand.
(Whatever this is, it bound us closer together.) she said. (It can’t be all bad. I want this to happen. And so do you. You said it yourself. You’re tired of being afraid all the time. Do this and you will be the thing others fear.)
Quinn slowly nodded his head.
(I have to take the Horseman first) he thought.
(We, Quinn.)
(No, last time we tried that, I ended up shot. The Horseman is my fear. I have to be the one to face him.)
(Do you know how to defeat him?)
(No. But I’m beginning to have an idea. Not running from him would be a start.)
(I’ll help you if I can) Kate said. In the dark of the Chronicle building, she pulled his head towards her and kissed him. It felt good, and that overpowering sense of lust started creeping back in.
(We have to stop) Quinn said. (If we win, we will have plenty of time for that.)
(You have to promise me something) Kate thought. (If you beat the Horseman, and Lord Halloween shows up, you wait for me.)
(If I’m as powerful as you said I would be, do we need to risk it?)
Kate shook her head.
(It’s not that) she said. (I want to be there when you face him. I want to watch him die.)
