Chapter 5 #2
“You—you—who are you? Oh, wait, you’re supposed to be—no! You are the witch, the horrible true monster who doesn’t understand the sacrifice of Halloween!”
He was fumbling at his side for a weapon. And, of course, if he got it out and aimed it, they’d have to take him out.
Angela wasn’t going to let that happen. She used the training she had from years of being in the Krewe.
She butted the man with a force that sent him flying to the ground. And by then, of course, Jackson was out of the trees, flipping the man around to get his wrists behind him and to handcuff him with zip ties.
“No, no, I can’t fail! You are the witch and I failed and . . . he’ll kill Trudy! Kill me, because if he kills my wife, I might as well be dead!” the man cried.
“We’ll find your wife and see that she’s protected,” Jackson told the man.
“Sorry, we’re not going to kill you, but officers will come to escort you from these woods.
” He already had his phone out; Valiente was close and he had patrols running the roads through the entire area; he would need to get officers there as soon as possible.
Explaining exactly where they were was the hard part.
And requesting medical help as well seemed prevalent, though they hadn’t had time as yet to determine if any of the standing “decorations” were human.
“I’ve got him,” he told Angela. “If you want to start—”
“On it,” she assured him.
And, of course, she was.
This time, she quickly discovered that a haggard looking goblin was a living man and one of the other creatures—a silver haired banshee—was human as well.
She found where the man’s thigh was bleeding and quickly ripped up her jacket to use as a tourniquet.
Jackson left the man who had been guarding the place on the ground to discover there were a multitude of slashes on the woman but the most serious was on her arm and he made use of his jacket in the same way as Angela to try to stem the flow of blood.
Valiente was good; he was there with EMTs and stretchers in a matter of minutes.
Coming from the other side—the trail that had led from the closest neighboring house to their original starting point.
And as the EMTs hurried to the injured man and woman, he stood dead still, wincing.
“Detective?” Angela said quietly.
He shook his head. “They may make it; they may not. And . . . well, we found them, anyway. You did say that time mattered. And with a prayer . . .”
“This man and woman, are they the couple from the house we just left?” Angela asked him.
He nodded. “I know their yard was quite the Halloween scene, but they’re truly good people and . . . thank you. Thank you for finding them and . . .”
His voice trailed and he turned, a look of fury on his face as he saw the man they’d taken down, the man who had been—or so it seemed to be—talking to the living decorations he’d been ordered to watch.
The look on Valiente’s face wasn’t good.
Jackson caught hold of his arm. “We’re law enforcement,” he reminded him quietly.
“I know what you’re feeling; you want to tear him to pieces.
Trust me. I understand. But your men will take him in, and he’s terrified that Darrell Manderley is going to go and kill his wife.
I’m willing to bet you’ll discover he’s been drugged and convinced he had no other choice and that Manderley is some kind of supreme being.
Take him in and find out about his wife, please! ”
Valiente closed his eyes for a minute and nodded slowly.
“Come on, up, buddy,” he said, catching the man’s elbow to help him to his feet.
“Where is he?” Jackson asked. “Hey, he got you into helping with all this. Why isn’t he here? Where did he go?”
“To prepare.” the man said.
“Prepare?” Angela asked.
“The true epicenter of Halloween.” the man said. “But you don’t understand; you need to listen and obey. And he will kill my wife; he will kill her.”
“Where is she?” Angela asked him.
“At her mother’s house in Pittsburgh,” the man said. “But he can be wherever he wants to be; he takes and he gives and . . . he’ll kill her!”
“We will reach her before he does. Where is he preparing the epicenter of Halloween?” Jackson asked him.
The man frowned. His cheeks were wet with tears. He really was a mess, someone twisted and conned into his role in Manderley’s charade.
“I—I don’t know. It could be anywhere! I was only watch for the witch and . . . are you the witch?” he asked Angela.
“I’m someone who is going to help stop him,” Angela said. She gave a nod to Valiente. He, in turn, nodded to two of his officers who had come through the woods with him, and they came forward to take the man into custody.
“What about the next house?” Jackson asked Valiente.
“Empty, but I found what you were talking about, the trail that led to the trail where we are—more or less—right now. The house isn’t decorated for Halloween in any way, shape, or form and a few of the people around here are snowbirds who head south early in October. I’m hoping that . . .”
“We’re all hoping he doesn’t take more people hostage,” Angela assured him. “But it is important that we find—”