She spun around to see a mechanical ghost hanging on one of theporches. She’d set off its recorded, motion-activated scream by walking nearit.
She could see that this was a very different neighborhood fromthe much more upscale Aurora Groves, and the Halloween decorations on the lawnsand weren’t as high tech and expensive.
But they were definitely louder. A ghost that screeched this noisilywouldn’t be tolerated in the more muted streets of Aurora Groves, whererelatively subdued cackles were more the rule. People here had also put a lotmore effort and creativity into their Halloween displays. The pumpkins weremuch more elaborately carved, and many of the porch monsters were carefullyhandcrafted.
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 walkingalong.
As she turned the corner and began to walk alongside the school,she heard footsteps hurrying behind her. She didn’t let herself get scaredagain. 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 andjust stood there looking at her.
He was tall and muscular—and obviously way too old to betrick-or-treating. He was dressed in perfectly ordinary clothes and wascarrying a leather satchel slung over his shoulder.
Annoyed, Ann Marie took out her badge again. This time she spokemore 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 seeyou 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 toscare people—especially little kids. Even though he wasn’t succeeding at beingscary, 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 andpick 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 theschool. And making sure that the kids inside were safe was certainly a moreurgent task than dealing with some adult with an infantile sense of humor.
She continued walking around the building until she could seeinto the gym windows again. She could see that Principal Cody and a couple ofteachers were now rounding up the costumed kids and escorting them out of thegym.
She remembered the sheriff telling her he was going to give theprincipal a call.
I guess that call did the trick, she thought.
She continued on her way until the school’s front entrance cameinto view.
Sure enough, kids were now coming out in a steady stream. Some ofthem were headed toward their cars. She couldn’t help but worry about the oneswho might be walking home, but they all seemed to be traveling in groups, whichshould be safe for them.
The best thing she could do was to hang around the schoolbuilding and make sure that everybody got out safely.
And that’s just what I’ll do, she thought. It felt good tobe 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 hadinsisted that April had to be out here tonight, and she was doing exactly asshe’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 withjoining the younger kids as they and badgered adults for treats. She’d actuallygone up to a couple of houses with them when they’d first started out, but she’dfelt so silly and awkward that she was determined not to do it anymore. She wasjust 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 wereher smaller friends, whose parents had sent them out unchaperoned. Thisneighborhood was about as safe as it could be, and the people who had greetedthem were all friendly and welcoming to the trick-or-treaters. Even some ofthose adults had been wearing costumes.
The kids returned from the house and showed April the added lootin their already-overloaded tote bags. One thing April didn’t miss from hertrick-or-treating days was how bad she’d felt after eating insane amounts ofcandy. She smiled again as it occurred to her that a massive stomachache wasone rite of passage Jilly was due for soon.
As the group headed toward another house to trick-or-treat, Jillyturned 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 everyhouse?”
With a glum expression, Jilly followed her friends away.
April realized that Jilly probably wasn’t having such a greattime herself. She was at least a year older than any of her companions—the onlyone of them who was already in high school. She had been looking forward totrick-or-treating for the first time in her life, but it might not be turningout to be as much fun as she’d expected.
Even so, April smiled yet again at the sight of her sister’scostume. 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 werepretending to be M&Ms, one clad entirely in blue and the other in red, bothin tutus and puffy sweatshirts with big M’s on them.
By comparison, Jilly’s zombie outfit really was impressive. Herlatex mask convincingly showed a face with one eyeball hanging out and theflesh
