The Killing Moon by Dan Padavona (books you have to read TXT) 📗

beginning of the semester. Said he’d help Derek keep his grades up and get a college scholarship.”

“Didn’t Derek’s parents freak out?”

“Derek’s folks are never around. Anyhow, Pierpoint’s wife divorced him. You heard why, right?”

Valerie looked to Gardner for an answer. The boy wore a poker face.

“Rumors are stupid, Leland,” Valerie said. “I can’t stand Mr. Pierpoint, but I won’t gossip about him. I suppose people claim he cheated on his wife.”

Leland raised an eyebrow.

“Wow, you really don’t know. He likes guys, Valerie. Why do you think he pays so much attention to Derek?”

Valerie pulled up. A girl bumped her from behind and pushed past with a huff.

“Are you suggesting Mr. Pierpoint wants to have an affair with Derek?”

“Don’t fret. It’s a one-way street, and Derek isn’t interested. I’m sure Pierpoint is heartbroken.”

The crowd clogging the hallway parted. Gardner swatted Leland’s arm and pointed at the wall. Valerie turned and saw the Halloween Man dummy from the stairwell posed outside the teacher’s lounge.

“Where did that come from?” Leland asked.

“The Halloween Man,” Gardner said, staring at the dummy as he shifted protectively in front of Valerie. “Looks like someone is taking your show a little too seriously.”

Valerie stood on her toes and spied the dummy over Gardner’s shoulders.

“Should I be flattered or concerned?”

“Whoever did this,” Leland said, smirking. “He listened to every detail in your story. You’re a regular Stephen King, Val.”

Leland draped an arm around Valerie’s shoulder and kissed her cheek. Valerie gave him a playful punch. Gardner stomped away before Leland snatched his arm.

“What’s gotten into you?” Leland asked.

Gardner scowled.

“Maybe this isn’t best time to screw around. This doesn’t worry you?”

The dummy posed beside a rolling garbage container filled with bags. Valerie’s eyes flicked to the leering mask. Goosebumps rose on her flesh as a troubling thought occurred to Valerie. She wasn’t a celebrity, but she’d attracted thousands of fans. There was bound to be a psycho among them. What if someone adopted her urban legend and played the role of the Halloween Man?

“He’s staring at you, Valerie,” Leland said. “I guess he wants to be your boyfriend.”

Gardner glared at Leland as Valerie adjusted her knapsack.

“Sorry, Halloween Man. I’m already spoken for.” She glanced at her friends. Leland laughed, but Gardner stayed between Valerie and the dummy, as if the real Halloween Man hid behind the mask. Valerie ran her gaze over the onlookers and raised her voice. “Very funny, everybody. Who’s the prankster? Step forward and take credit for a job well done.”

Students shared looks. Then the crowd parted as Valerie’s schoolmates headed for class.

This was crazy. She wished Derek was here to see this. Where was he?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

October 31st

11:00 a.m.

Traffic arrowed down the Kane Grove thoroughfare as Raven brought the binoculars to her eyes. She parked her black Nissan Rogue in front of a twenty-four-hour laundromat across the street from Mark Benson’s old gym. A thick overcast hung over the town, the wind beating at the SUV and blowing dead leaves around in the grass. Damn, it was chilly for Halloween. Raven’s teeth chattered until she surrendered to the cold and turned on the heater. Even then, it took a long time for the interior to heat. It seemed the cold wanted a piece of Raven.

The binoculars constricted her peripheral vision. She scanned the front of the gym, focusing on the front doors and windows. Twice, she swore something moved in the darkness beyond the glass. Each time, it was a bird’s reflection. She set the binoculars on the seat and sighed. It was going to be a long day, and she had no proof Mark Benson would return to his bankrupt business. Rumors of Benson in Wolf Lake were just that—rumors. Raven understood human psychology. When the authorities released a BOLO on an escaped convict, people claimed to see him behind every tree and on every street corner.

The wind moaned as it whipped along the laundromat and pushed against the Rogue. Her stomach flip-flopped. Unable to consume fast-food, she pawed inside a container of sliced vegetables and dipped the snacks in hummus. The crunching sounded loud inside the SUV with the windows rolled up.

Staring through the binoculars, she stopped. A shadow moved along the wall. Someone was beside the closed gymnasium. Her hand moved to the phone before the figure stepped out of hiding. Just a jogger cutting through the parking lot. Still, the false alarm forced Raven to consider the back door to the building…where Benson had dragged her away after knocking her unconscious inside the locker room. If Benson cut through the neighborhood behind the gym and descended a grassy hill, he could break through the back door undetected.

She jumped out of her seat when the phone rang. Covering her heart, she read Chelsey’s name on the screen.

“You missed your check-in time. I’m serious about calling the sheriff’s department.”

Raven checked the dashboard clock.

“Sorry. I got caught up with the surveillance and forgot.”

“See anything?”

“Nothing. The place looks dead.”

“LeVar will arrive in an hour, and the gym seems like a dead end. I think you should come back to Wolf Lake.”

“You just want to monitor me.”

Chelsey snickered.

“Someone has to keep you safe. Anyhow, I got a tip from the Kane Grove PD.”

“What’s up?”

“There’s chatter around the office that Thomas sent a deputy to Wolf Lake. A shop owner saw Benson in the village.”

Raven pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Something tells me we’ll hear a lot of that today. I don’t suppose this shop owner took his picture or copied his license plate.”

“No.”

“Sounds like a false alarm.”

“Come back, anyway,” Chelsey said, walking as she spoke. “You said you wanted to check on Ellie Fisher and her roommate.”

Raven heard her boss opening cabinet drawers inside Wolf Lake Consulting. Returning to Wolf Lake had its merits. At least it was warm inside the office. But her instincts warned her she was right about Benson and his old gym. The closed business was the perfect place to hide, if he found a way inside.

“I don’t know if that’s