He turned off the TV and stood staring at the blank screen.
How could the police possibly believe they’d apprehended thekiller?
I’m the killer—no, the soldier!
And I kill under orders from the god Pan himself!
Suddenly, he heard a shrill, sharp sound. He recognized it atonce. It was Pan’s sacred pipe. But the god wasn’t playing music. Instead, hewas letting out a sharp, piercing cry of fury.
The man felt his face redden and his pulse rising as he sharedPan’s outrage.
Who was this anonymous individual who presumed to claim glorythat rightfully belonged to Pan alone?
How could the police be so stupid as to believe him?
The discordant music grew louder.
Then Pan was singing again. His voice was harsh and grating, butthe words were loud and clear.
The man welcomed the song with all of his heart. He felt the godrising within him.
This very night, the barriers between this feeble world and themighty world of legend would fall.
Tonight we will prove them wrong.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Ann Marie was seething as she followed Agent Paige and SheriffWightman back inside the police station. She kept reminding herself that whatthey’d said at the press conference shouldn’t have come as a complete surprise.After all, her senior partner had hastily outlined her plan to both Ann Marieand the sheriff before they went out to face the eager reporters. But AgentPaige hadn’t gone into a lot of detail beforehand and things had happened in anawful hurry. Ann Marie hadn’t fully grasped the reality of what Agent Paige hadin mind—not until everything had been said and the press conference was over.
Now she was embarrassed and upset. Her superiors had just misledthe public. They knew that they didn’t have the killer locked up. They knewthat the public wasn’t safe. Of course she’d had no real choice about keepingquiet. She was the rookie here and she certainly couldn’t challenge hersuperiors in public.
As she followed her two colleagues along the police stationhallway, Ann Marie was surprised at how angry she felt with her senior partner.When they reached the room where they intended to confer about what to do next,Wightman went inside, and Riley was right behind him
Ann Marie came to a stop outside the door. She just couldn’tbring herself to go in with them.
Agent Paige turned back and saw her still standing outside.
“Aren’t you going to join us?” her senior partner asked.
Ann Marie paced uneasily. She didn’t yet know what to say.
Agent Paige politely told the sheriff that she and Ann Mariewould be joining him in a moment. Then she stepped back into the hallway andshut the door behind her.
The senior agent crossed her arms and said, “Maybe there’ssomething you’d like to get off your chest.”
“Yeah, there kind of is,” Ann Marie said in a tense voice.
“Spill it,” Agent Paige said.
Ann Marie inhaled sharply and said, “We just lied to the public.”
Agent Paige said, “We did nothing of the kind.”
“But the sheriff didn’t deny that we have a viable suspect incustody,” Ann Marie said.
“We do have someone in custody,” Riley said
“But not a viable suspect,” Ann Marie said. “Do we haveany business misleading people like this?”
Agent Paige squinted at her.
“We don’t have a sworn duty to be honest with the public,” shesaid. “Our job is to protect the public, and that means stoppingkillers. And that’s what we’re going to do.”
“And you’ve done this kind of thing before?” Ann Marie asked.
“Sometimes,” Agent Paige said. “When it’s actually in the publicinterest.”
“And who gets to decide when to lie?”
“It’s my judgment call,” Agent Paige snapped impatiently. “And Ishouldn’t have to explain it to you.”
When Ann Marie just stared back wordlessly, her senior partnerseemed to relent a little.
“With some luck,” Agent Paige told her, “the killer already gotthe news that we think we’ve caught the killer. That should pique his ego andreally piss him off. If it does, we’re likely to accomplish two things. One, we’llmake sure that he doesn’t go dormant. The other is—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Ann Marie interrupted. “We’ll shake him up,make him get careless, put him off his game.”
“And you see something wrong with that?” Agent Paige said.
“We’re playing games with a dangerous killer,” Ann Marie said.
Agent Paige nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly what we’re doing.Whether you like it or not, this is a game—a deadly game—and the killer willkeep right on playing it no matter what we do. We’ve got to play, and we’ve gotto play to win. I’m using a tried-and-true tactic. If you can think of a betterone, you’d better speak up.”
Try as she might, Ann Marie couldn’t think of an argument againstwhat Agent Paige was saying. All she knew was that she really didn’t like thisplan of hers. It scared her, and it still offended her.
“We misled the public,” she grumbled again.
Agent Paige scowled at her and said, “You’re just a kid, AnnMarie. You’ve lived a sheltered life. You’ve been taught that honesty is alwaysthe best policy. You’ve been taught not to take risks. The trouble is, a lot ofwhat you’ve been taught doesn’t apply to this kind of work. This isn’t the GirlScouts. You’d better get used to that.”
Ann Marie was stunned by Agent Paige’s condescending tone.
“Are you saying I’m not adaptable?” Ann Marie said.
“I’m not saying anything about you,” Agent Paige said. “I’m justtelling you how things are in the real world of law enforcement. And if you don’tlike it, and if you’re going to take criticism personally, you’d better lookfor another career.”
Ann Marie’s mouth hung open.
“Why don’t you like me, Agent Paige?” she blurted.
She and her partner locked eyes for a moment.
“What makes you think I don’t like you?” Agent Paige said.
Ann Marie shrugged with frustration.
Agent Paige added, “Being liked is really important to you, isn’tit? I don’t even understand that.”
Ann Marie said, “Yeah, well, I never know what to expect fromyou. Sometimes you seem to be perfectly OK with me. Sometimes you’re even niceto me, and you tell me I’m doing a good job. Other times you’re downright mean,or you act like you wish I wasn’t here.”
Agent Paige seemed to be trying keep her temper in check.
“I’m sorry I
