Page 25 of Haunted Horror on Halloween

She stared at Valiente as he pulled his phone out.

“This zombie is still living.” he muttered.

Chapter 5

One.

Jackson dared to let out a sigh that was something like relief.

Thank God, after Angela’s discovery of Carla Hanson, they were able to rip into and investigate every creature and decoration.

And just one of the creatures in the yard, Carla as a gorgeous zombie, turned out to be human.

As EMTs rushed to the scene and hurried off with Carla Hanson, Jackson and Angela and Detective Valiente inspected everything—and that meant, seriously, everything--in the yard.

Valiente had worked frantically along with them, deeply concerned.

And when they had finished the task, he stood, staring at the house, shaking his head with worry.

“So, we find Carla, a beautiful young woman making the perfect and seductive zombie, in the yard. She’s lost buckets of blood; if you hadn’t found her now, she’d never have had a chance. But she was out here with the decorations, so . . .” he began.

“The owners of the house are not here and the door was ajar—our brilliant killer forgot to close it completely,” Jackson said. “So—”

“So, do you think he’s taken them, taken them as he did the two women?” Valiente asked him. He winced again. “If this guy was hurting Carla, they might well have half killed themselves to stop him. We’re talking about good people.”

“And we’re determined to find everyone he’s managed to kidnap. He’s going to trip up somewhere; he doesn’t let death come easy. In the past . . . well, he enjoys seeing others destroy themselves, convinced he is the mortal manifestation of the king of darkness and they’re only chance is being completely subservient to his will,” Jackson explained.

“And oddly enough, that gives us a chance. He enjoys it when he starts the process—and people bleed to death,” Angela said. “Slowly.”

“We must find them. I mean now, as soon as possible, and—”

Valiente broke off, shaking his head. “My guys are out; your guys are out. Rangers, dogs, you name it, but . . . the forest is huge. Huge. And there are more houses,” he said at last.

Jackson wished there was a way to assure the man. There was none. No one really knew what Darrell Manderley would do. True, he enjoyed watching people suffer more than he enjoyed the kill itself.

But when someone was in the way or might threaten him, he was quick to kill.

He could only do his best—without lying.

“Detective, you’ve seen his handiwork here and now. I’m going to say there is hope we may find this couple as we found Carla—seriously, dangerously wounded, but with a chance if we get to them quickly enough,” he told the man.

“And how do we do that?”

“We keep moving forward; your men are at one end of the houses; our guys are at the other end. Maybe we’ll fan out here in opposite directions. Although . . .” he began.

“I believe he moved deeply into the forest from one of his stops,” Angela supplied for him. “So, instead of fanning out, maybe Jackson and I will see if there is any kind of trail in back through here while you move on from the middle. Your people will know what they’re doing on their end, right?”

“Hey, we’re not feds, but we’re good law enforcement.” Valiente told her.

Angela smiled at him. “Detective, in a thousand years, I would never suggest you all weren’t the very best. I mean, they know they need to inspect every so-called decoration they come across.”

“I’m going to double verify that now.” he assured her, and he was smiling as well.

Angela did have that talent. She could be hard as a tack when she needed to be, but she was also one of those people with the ability to draw a great deal from people just by being kind in the way that she spoke.

In fact . . .

Using innocence and charm had been the way she’d gotten to Darrell Manderley the first time.