Am I too late? Riley wondered fearfully.
Her fleeting inattention to her target was costly. She foundherself reeling from a sudden crack to the right side of her head. The man hadpunched her, and although it had been a glancing blow, she was momentarilydizzy and disoriented. His grinning, wild-eyed face seemed to be swimming infront of her.
“Oh, Pan is generous tonight!” he said. “He already gave me onelife to take, and now he has honored me with another!”
Pan? Riley wondered as she recovered her wits.
And was Ann Marie already dead?
She launched a punch at him, but he intercepted it and clutchedher wrist in a vise-like grip.
He’s strong, she thought. Too strong.
She twisted her elbow sharply inward, and the man lost his gripon her wrist. He threw another punch at her, but she ducked low, then rushedinto what seemed like a jungle of props and clothes hanging from racks.
She quickly realized she was tangled up in fabric and had no ideawhere she was. But as the man kept trying to punch her, the clothing served asa buffer to keep any of his blows from landing. Still engulfed by a whirl ofcostumes, she somehow managed to wade clear of his punches. At least the blowshad stopped coming.
She managed to disentangle herself until she was standing betweentwo costume racks. She realized that she wasn’t going to be able to take thisone in by simple physical force. She might not even be able to take him inalive.
Riley drew her weapon.
But where is he?
As if in reply, she heard his voice call out, “It’s no use tryingto defy the power of Pan.”
She flashed back to what she had long ago read about mythology.
Of course, she thought. Pan is the goat-god.
Then he burst through the clothing at her, a fair distance awayfrom her. Riley raised her weapon and fired, hitting him in the shoulder. Helooked vaguely surprised, then let out of a roar of fury. He staggered towardher again, and she fired again, hitting him in the thigh this time.
Even though one foot was dragging badly now, he barely seemed toeven notice.
He was limping toward her.
Reluctantly, Riley raised her gun higher and fired directly intohis rib cage.
With a look of shock on his face, he toppled to his knees.
Groaning with pain, he cried, “Help me, Pan. Don’t forsake me. Iwon’t fail you. I’m always faithful to you. Just … stay faithful to me.Don’t let me go down in defeat.”
Then he tumbled over onto his face.
Riley looked around among the heaps of costumes lying everywhereuntil she spotted Ann Marie again. She was coughing, and the color wasreturning to her face.
She’s alive, Riley thought with relief, holstering herweapon.
*
In a matter of minutes, paramedics arrived at the auditorium inresponse to Riley’s emergency call. Riley watched as they lifted the killer upfrom the costume-strewn floor and loaded him onto a gurney.
Meanwhile, one of the paramedics was checking out Ann Marie, whowas seated nearby. The younger agent looked somewhat shaken up but not at allbadly hurt.
Riley asked the medic, “Is my partner going to be all right?”
He nodded at Riley. “She’s going to be fine. I’d recommend thatshe come along with us to the hospital for some observation—”
Ann Marie interrupted sharply, “I’m fine. I’m not going anywhere.”
The medic shrugged.
“Have it your way,” he said. “We’ve got our hands full with thisother guy.”
The medic joined his colleagues in tending to the killer, who hadtaken three wounds from Riley’s handgun. Riley was amazed that he was stillalive.
Riley walked over to Ann Marie and put her hand on her shoulder.
“You probably ought to go to the hospital,” Riley said. “One ofthese days you’re going to learn to respect authority.”
“I guess I ought to do that,” Ann Marie said.
Then she squinted at Riley and said, “You just called me yourpartner.”
Riley chuckled. “I guess I did at that.”
“Wow,” Ann Marie said. Then the rookie shuddered. “I guess I’d bedead now if you hadn’t shown up.”
“Probably,” Riley said.
“How did you know where I was?”
Riley stifled a sigh. She didn’t feel like getting into detailsabout how she’d wound up here. For one thing, she felt rather embarrassed abouther long stay in the cemetery.
She explained to Ann Marie, “I called the sheriff. He told me youwere here. Then I tried to call you, and when you didn’t answer, I got worriedand drove over here. I didn’t see you anywhere outside. I walked around theschool until I found a door that was propped open by a book. I came inside andheard a ruckus somewhere inside the building.”
Riley shrugged and added, “It wasn’t hard to find where all thatnoise was coming from.”
Riley heard voices nearby. Then Sheriff Wightman and several ofhis cops came into the costume and prop storage room. The paramedics weregetting ready to roll the killer out on a gurney. Riley saw Wightman’s eyeswiden with alarm and worry as he saw the man’s face.
He leaned over the gurney and said, “Taylor! What happened toyou? Are you all right?”
In a hoarse voice the killer replied, “Pan will be revenged.”
“Pan?” Wightman said.
Before the killer could make any effort to reply, one of themedics put an oxygen mask over his face, then wheeled him out of the room.Wightman stared after the gurney with his mouth hanging open.
Riley said to Wightman, “Do you know that guy?”
“Yeah, I’ve known him for years,” Wightman said. “That’s TaylorVoigts. What happened to him? What was he talking about ‘Pan’ for?”
“He’s the killer,” Riley said. “I had to shoot him in order tostop him from killing Agent Esmer.”
Wightman stared at Riley wide-eyed.
“My God,” he said.
“How do you happen to know him?” Riley said.
“He owns the Calico Deli. My cops and I eat lunch there a lot. He’slived in this town all his life. Went to this very high school.”
A deli, Riley thought.
That probably explained the frozen bodies. A deli owner mightwell own more than one large freezer chest. Perhaps he kept one of those chestsaway from public view—in the deli basement, maybe.
Riley said, “Did you have any idea
