Page 19 of Haunted Horror on Halloween

“No!”

Sergeant Valiente was frowning, looking at his own phone, and then looking up at the two of them.

“He’s already been found,” Valiente said. “Well, his body was found. He was shot through the back of the skull . . . found near one of the stolen cars just off the side of the road, not far from here, bordering the forest.”

“So, well, helping with an escape and stealing everything Darrell Manderley needed should have given him a chance, but wow,” Angela murmured. “The man is truly on a quest, and he’s going to get where he needs to go no matter what it takes.”

“He’ll get rid of anyone who might stand in his way,” Jackson said. “And even anyone who might have helped him but might be caught by authorities and give anything about his plans away.”

“At prison, he talked about revenge,” Angela reminded them. “So, he means to get to someone, someone he sees as an enemy who caused him distress, caused him to be locked up, caused his reign as a supreme being to end.”

“And that would be you, Angela.” Jackson said. “So, we should get you to safety—”

“Oh, hell no!” she told him. “If he’s after me, then we need to use me, let him believe that he has a chance—”

“It’s Darrell Manderley, a human monster.” Jackson reminded her. “Angela—”

“Jackson. You said it. Human monster. Besides,” she said lightly. “I’ll be all right. I have the best out there as backup,” she assured him.

“And me as spiritual reinforcement.” Trent Fielding said.

“Still,” Jackson murmured.

“He is a monster, and you’re not going to argue me out of it. He wants me; he hates me. I am going to be human bait—and you’re going to reel him in.” she told Jackson.

And maybe, just maybe, she was right.

Because the man had to be stopped.

No, the monster had to be stopped.

Before more victims lay on the forest floor along with the scarecrows, ghosts, goblins and spooky creatures . . .

She was right.

Many lives needed to be saved. Sometimes, it wasn’t easy when your partner was your wife.

And yet, he had no right to doubt her.

They would play this out together. And hell, yes, he would have her back.

She had played Manderley’s mind game the first time he’d been taken.

And she would know they would change the game.

And so . . .

They had to be ready for a change in the rules.

Chapter 4

“If I’m the one, he’s really after, then he’s going to find a way to trick me into being where he wants me to be,” Angela told Jackson, and of course, Trent Fielding since he was determined that he was going to help bring the case to a close.

And it was good that he was there.

Such a spirit could go from place to place where she and Jackson—or others of their agents, as he had done as well—were split up, trying to find a suspect or even an area where the suspect might be.

And, of course, Darrell Manderley had killed the very man who had been the main help in his escape. The manipulated and twisted guard who had helped arrange it. He had either told the man he had to sacrifice his mortal life for the power that must be wielded immediately or he had taken him by surprise, shooting him coldly in the back of the head.