“Well,” April told her, “I might have been in real troubletonight if you hadn’t been here.”
Jilly looked at her and then grinned. “That’s enough candy,” shesaid brightly. “I don’t want to eat that much anyway. Let’s head on home.”
April smiled. She wasn’t in the mood for a party now, not evenone with Ted Kirkland and seniors and juniors and everything. She glad to hearthat Jilly was no longer interested in it either. Besides, she knew thatGabriela would be glad to see them home earlier than she’d promised.
As they headed out of the park, Jilly chuckled a little anddanced a few steps.
She said, “You know, trick-or-treating turned out to be a lotmore fun than I expected.”
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
The man watched through the leaves and branches of a tall hedgeas the young woman kept walking around Pater High School and students continuedto pour out of the building. He could barely contain his elation.
Pan is so wise, he thought.
And Pan is so audacious.
When the man had come to this school at Pan’s command, he’d hadno idea of what the goat-god had in mind. After all, he’d taken a woman fromthis area before and later buried her beneath the maple sapling. That had beenafter a Halloween party at the school, and he’d thought that tonight wouldpresent someone similar. Or perhaps this time Pan’s choice would be one of thepartying teenagers he could see through the gym windows. But which of them hadPan chosen for his next victim? And how was the man supposed to carry out themurder?
He hadn’t known then.
But now he did know.
None of the teenagers were his target. Neither were any of theadults at the school party.
It was the young blonde woman he’d encountered just now.
He felt a renewed thrill at how he’d felt when she raised herbadge and spoke to him.
“FBI,” she’d said. “You’re not supposed to be out here.”
How wrong she’d been! He was exactly where fate intended him tobe. For right then and there, he’d heard Pan’s flute-like voice loud and clear.
“There she is!” Pan had said.
The wide-eyed blonde woman was Pan’s chosen sacrifice for thisAll Hallows’ Eve.
He’d almost lunged for her right then and there, but Pan had heldhim back.
“Wait,” Pan had said. “The moment hasn’t come.”
Again the man realized that Pan was right. He shouldn’t take thenew sacrifice while partygoers were still leaving the school across the street.They might try to interfere.
So the man was waiting, just as Pan commanded.
He was in an ecstasy of suspense now, wondering exactly when thatmoment was going to come, and what kind of opportunity Pan had in store forhim.
He knew he must be patient.
But that was hard to do.
After all, Pan had chosen no ordinary prey.
An FBI agent! he thought.
She was nothing like the unwitting, defenseless, and unsuspectingvictims he’d grown used to. In fact, he was sure that she regarded the manhimself as her prey. She was searching for him, although she had no idea who orwhere he was.
She might even be armed. In any case, she was hardly helpless anddefenseless. This was to be a formidable challenge, and the man felt honoredand proud about that.
Pan believes in me.
At last he fully believes in me.
He felt humbled, too—and daunted, in spite of himself.
He reached into the satchel and fingered the tools he’d broughtwith him—the wooden hooves, the mallet for hammering hoofmarks into the victim’sbody, and the cord he’d always used for strangulation.
There was so much he didn’t yet know.
For example, what was he supposed to do with the body tonight? Hehadn’t packed a shovel in his van for a burial because he was going to take herto his freezer as he’d done before. He had no idea how long it would be beforehe buried her or before he revealed the whereabouts of the body. But so far, hehad no specific orders.
Seeming to hear his unspoken question, Pan spoke to him in hissoft, whistling voice.
“No. No freezer. No burial. No messages to the foolish police.Not tonight. Tonight will be different. Tonight my true reign shall begin.”
The man felt his nerves and sinews surging with power andexcitement. That’s why Pan had chosen this special victim, an FBI agent, awoman whose death would be known beyond this mere community. This death wouldstrike fear into the wider world.
“Then tonight is the night?” he murmured aloud to Pan. “The nightwhen it comes to pass—your apocalyptic panic?”
“Yes. My name will circle the globe. I shall be ‘all’ indeed.”
The man almost wept tears of joy. But he knew that, somehow, hemustn’t let his passion get the best of him. That wouldn’t be easy, for he’dyearned for this special night ever since he’d been a child—ever since the onlytime he’d ever met Pan face to face.
He’d been lost for two days in the woods when his friends hadabandoned him there one Halloween after filling his mind with “Goatman”stories. His canteen soon ran dry, and for two whole days and nights he’d hadno food, the nights had gotten cold, and he’d gotten no sleep. He’d given uphope and settled against a tree to wait for his death until …
Pan had appeared!
The lost boy had seen the goat-god standing right in front ofhim, with his impish face and curving horns and hairy legs that ended in clovenfeet. Pan had played him a happy melody on his pipe—a melody that filled himwith the courage to live.
“Fear not,” Pan had told him. “You are to be theservant of my will.”
Soon after that the search and rescue team had arrived. It hadtaken him weeks to get back his health and strength. He had never told a singlesoul about his meeting with the god. He would never have thought of it.
After all, it was a sacred secret. He’d known ever since thenthat a special destiny was in store for him. His was to be a lonely but noblefate.
And tonight that fate would be fully realized!
Tonight he would see Pan again and stand at his right hand!
The man kept watching the young woman, who was herself
