Horror-Ween (Krewe of Hunters) Read online

  “Well, I guess I saw him, as a performer. No, I didn’t know him. But I met Eddy several times, and I definitely knew Francie Dumont.”

  “So, you come in with us, and you just greet them when you see them. Feel free to act as if you’re surprised,” Jackson told her.

  “I am surprised. I don’t know what the hell either of them is doing, using a pseudonym. Unless they both became writers under other pseudonyms,” Jillian said.

  “Jillian, you’re coming in with us. Jackson and Angus will be right outside the make-up tent while you’re waiting for us to get dressed, and where you’ll get to see your old friends. We’ll gage their reaction to seeing you,” Joe told her.

  “And one of us will be at your side every second,” Keri said.

  “I’m good; I’m really good,” Jillian said.

  “Then we need to see what we can discover tonight,” Jackson said. “Tomorrow—it’s Halloween. Just one more night to learn what we can.”

  They left the restaurant. Jillian rode back to the park with Joe and Keri entering the park through the employee entrance with them.

  They headed straight to the costume and make-up tent.

  When they arrived, Connie, Laura, and Justin were comparing pictures of their children. Keri walked straight into the conversation, asking enthusiastically to see the pictures, too, and drawing Jillian along with her, introducing her as she looked over Laura’s shoulder to see the various pictures.

  She appreciatively oohed over each little toddler, infant, and child.

  Joe hovered back a little. Janice, Rowdy, and Steve had evidently just met up outside. They were walking in together, talking about the length of the night when they were doing the hayride. Steve looked at the group and said, “Look, there they are, the cool people. Keri and Joe, who get to stay inside and chat it up while we have to truck it on back inside when the last hayride goes . . .”

  He stopped speaking.

  He stared straight at Jillian.

  “Hi,” she said simply. “A few years have gone on by, huh? And you’re still a hayride guy?”

  “I, I—”

  “Hey,” Jillian said cheerfully, looking over at Janice—or Francie. “It’s been a while, for sure.”

  “Oh, cool, you already know Steve and Janice,” Rowdy said, stepping forward. “You don’t know me, though. I’m Rowdy Cornwall, super to meet you. Who are you?”

  “A friend of ours,” Joe said cheerfully. “Jillian Murphy. Jillian, Rowdy. Rowdy, Jillian.”

  “Friend or no friend, people,” Belinda said, coming out from behind one of the costume racks, “the tent is for actors.”

  “Oh, we cleared this with Mel,” Keri told her. “She’s cool to be here. She might be working for Mel when he opens his Christmas park.”

  Belinda didn’t appear to be pleased. As if he sensed their environment had been invaded, Brian stepped out from the back, too, watching what was going on.

  “Hey, Brian,” Keri said cheerfully, “Meet my friend, Jillian. Jillian might be working here for Christmas. She’s going to watch your brilliance. I mean, that is, if you don’t mind giving me a hand with my make-up again. I know I should be on my own by now.”

  “No, uh, no problem at all. Hello, Jillian, come on back.”

  Keri smiled at Joe and took Jillian by the hand. “Joe, grab your costume and come back with us.”

  “Will do.”

  Jillian smiled at her old friends. “Steve, Janice—great to see you both,” she said, making it obvious she wasn’t going to use the names she knew them by—real names, those they’d had since birth and all way through high school. She would be curious, of course, and the two would know it.

  And somewhere along the line that night, they’d have to try to get with her alone and explain and possibly beg her not to give them away at any point.

  “I’ll change quickly,” Joe said.

  He did, grabbing his costume and flying into one of the draped “dressing” rooms.

  He had faith in Keri, and it wasn’t Halloween yet. But she was going to be sitting in a make-up chair, and Jackson and Angus McGee were outside the tent.

  He had faith.

  He also believed in no one having eyes in the back of one’s head—and believed in partners having one another in easy reach.

  He needn’t have feared; Jillian was seated in the chair just in front and slightly to the side of the make-up mirror. Keri was seated before the mirror, and Brian was working on her face.

  “You cool?” Brian asked him.

  “Yeah, I got mine down, pretty easy. Being the count is no where nearly as detailed as being Devilla Dolly.”

  “I do feel this make-up is my masterpiece this year,” Brian said, stepping back to observe his work on Keri. “My masterpiece!”

  They were there when Gordon Bentley came back, dressed handsomely in his magician’s garb, tall and dark and frowning quizzically.

  “Hello,” he said to Jillian.

  He’d evidently been informed Keri and Joe had brought a friend.

  He didn’t seem to know Jillian. She smiled at him, rose, and said, “Oh, I saw your work at another park years back. You’re so good!”

  Gordon smiled. “Yeah? You think so? Thanks.”

  He watched her a minute and turned around, as if making sure the others were still out front with rows of costume racks between them. “Jillian Murphy? You’re the one who . . . you helped Keri write her book, didn’t you?”

  Jillian laughed and said, “Oh, good Lord, no. Keri wrote her book. She talked to me about the park and about that night.” She sighed softly. “Such a horrible night.”

  He nodded. “Scared the hell out of me. But I’m a magician and . . . well, you know. One day, I hope to make the big time.”

  “One day, you will,” Jillian assured him.

  “Yep, you’re really good. I hear it all the time,” Brian said. “And I’ve seen you at it—the charm helps a lot. Don’t go letting him use that charm on you, Jillian. Watch out for him. I’d tell you to watch out for Joe, too, he’s got some of that tall and studly thing going on, but seems Joe is taken, so . . . yeah, just watch out for Gordon.”

  Jillian laughed softly and Gordon assured her, “You don’t have to watch out for me. I’m harmless.”

  Steve, in costume, came back obviously unnerved, but trying very hard not to appear to be so. He grinned and headed for one of the make-up mirrors.

  “Guess we need to get this show on the road,” he said.

  “Voila!” Brian announced loudly. “Lady, you are done.”

  Gail popped her head around one of the costume racks. “Hey,” she said, “my costume is back at the Murder House—anyone ready to walk over there with me?” Before they could answer, she looked at Jillian and said, “I’m Gail—or Purgatory Puppy. Nice to meet you. I heard you’re Jillian, and you are friends with Joe and Keri.”

  “Guilty as charged,” Jillian said lightly. “And hopefully, Mel. I’m looking for work when he opens his Christmas park.”

  “Cool.” Gail said. “Well, come on. I saw Mel just outside with some big dudes. Are they friends, too?”

  “They are,” Jillian said. “I met Jackson through Joe. They’re all working on some business deal now. Whatever. I’d love to help you become Purgatory Puppy—if you need help.”

  “I always need company.” Gail said.

  “We’ll head on over,” Joe said. “Marvin and Lance are getting in costume now?”

  “Yep. And the others are set to invade back here. We’ll give them room.”

  Joe rose and reached for Keri’s hand. She took his hand and together they followed Gail and Jillian out.

  And as they left, greeting the others, saying they’d all meet up at Sam’s, he knew every single performer, Brian, and even Belinda, watched them go.

  He didn’t have a super sense—not the kind that Lieutenant Emil Woodruff seemed to have.

  But he was certain the killer was among them. The killer watched them
leave.

  And the killer was just waiting.

  Halloween was close.

  Oh, so close.

  Chapter 10

  Jillian was never left alone.

  Keri wasn’t happy when the young woman wasn’t in her immediate sight, but it was natural that as a guest, she would want to see more of the park.

  And it wasn’t until the night came to an end Jillian was able to speak with Keri and Joe again, though she had been with Jackson and Angus, and they knew her thoughts on the night.

  In the car, on the way to Sam’s Shrimp Shack, she and Angus rode with Keri and Joe. Jackson had gone on ahead to be among the first to arrive at their late-night destination, and Lieutenant Woodruff also anxious to study each personality that night had gone with him.

  “Did you speak with Janice—AKA Francie Dumont—or Steven Jenson—AKA Eddy Canton—yet?” Keri asked her, once they were in the car.

  “No, not yet. But I did see Janice at the haunted hayride when she came up to scare the guests, and she came by me and whispered, ‘Thank you!’” Jillian said.

  “And Steve-slash-Eddy?” Joe asked.

  “I think he was trying to reach me to do the same,” Jillian said. “I can’t figure this—they were nice kids. They were friends. We were in our last year of high school, and all of us were planning where we were going to go to college. I don’t know how they wound up playing scare actors here. I mean, there is nothing wrong with the work, I just thought they’d be finishing up college. And they weren’t a couple back then because Francie was seeing Corey Templeton. And I don’t think she knew Eddy any better than I did. We were acquaintances. Nothing bad between any of us, Eddy was just older and so we didn’t really see much of him. But, heck, his dad was a principal. Eddy was in college in Massachusetts; he went to Holy Cross in Worcester.”

  “Corey Templeton has a sister named Brenda, who is working for Mel in his offices?” Keri said. They had yet to meet her. They had only met Suzie, his assistant; and the two were not one and the same.

  “Ah, yes. That Corey Templeton,” Jillian said. “And I saw a picture of Brenda, but she wasn’t at the haunted hayride when . . . when the Massachusetts event occurred. She was out in Hollywood. I haven’t seen her.”

  “I don’t think she’s working directly at the park,” Joe said. “Mel keeps an office off site—in New Orleans, I believe. We’ll check it out with Jackson. And maybe we’ll have you pop in for a meeting with her, too.”

  “Tomorrow morning,” Angus McGee said. “This is close.”

  Keri didn’t say anything. They all knew it was close. In fact, it was Halloween.

  “The hayride,” Jillian said, once they were in the car.

  “What? What specifically?” Keri asked her.

  “I . . . I remember the night in Massachusetts. The hayride—that’s where I met Lieutenant Woodruff. It was . . . it was the first time I spoke to a specter or a ghost or the sweet soul of that man. He warned me then I had to get out.”

  Keri glanced at Joe.

  The hayride. Maybe she wasn’t far off—trees, brush, tons of land. Three live actors and many motion-activated creatures.

  Land, lots of it.

  Because, of course, the question remained.

  How did the killer coral his victims—four each time—with no one missing them, no one seeing anything—until the bodies or the pieces of them were found?

  “You went on the hayride, right?” Joe said, looking at Angus McGee.

  Angus nodded solemnly. “We can have men there. And women,” he said quickly, looking at Keri. “Agents,” he said quickly.

  “I spoke with Detective Coley briefly,” Joe said. “He has twenty men on tomorrow night. He planned on ten at the cemetery, ten along the hayride trail. We can double that using our people out of NOLA. Right, McGee?”

  McGee nodded. “But Jillian will not be there,” he said firmly. “We’ll be at a safe house in the city. No one is getting near Jillian.”

  Jillian smiled and squeezed his hand. “I know I’m going to be okay. And I don’t have anything specific, but . . .” she paused and shrugged, and then glanced at Angus sitting next to her. “Angus worries about me. He thinks I’m clinging to an invisible friend because of the trauma I’ve suffered. So, I’ll say my invisible friend tells me to trust my senses and anything that forms like an innate fear. We are by nature prone to survival, and so it is good to listen to senses that warn us about danger.”

  “I’d swear she thinks someone else is around,” Angus told them.

  Keri glanced at Joe, who was driving. She saw him smile slightly.

  “Who knows the truth in that? Maybe souls do linger,” he said.

  “Well, if he’s a helpful soul, all the better,” Angus said. “Oh, you’re telling me you two believe in . . . ghosts? Real ones?”

  Keri laughed lightly. “Let’s say after what we’ve seen in the world, our minds are open to all manner of . . . weirdness.”

  “Right. So, people open Halloween parks for more weirdness,” McGee said. He looked out the window. “More weirdness—that’s what we need in this world.”

  They’d arrived at Sam’s Shrimp Shack.

  Special Agent Angus McGee paused before they entered.

  “They think Jillian and I are just dating. We’ve pulled it off?” he asked.

  Joe paused to reply to him. “We don’t know. But whatever they think, it doesn’t matter. Everyone is wondering what everyone else is doing, and if that throws someone off, that’s good.”

  McGee nodded and still held back.

  “Nothing is changing. Jillian is not going to that park tomorrow night, right?”

  “We will not have her at the park tomorrow night,” Keri assured him.

  He nodded and they all walked toward the little shanty restaurant together.

  Jackson had arranged for a large table—which was several tables pushed together. He was already there, seated between Janice and Steve. Rowdy was to Janice’s side and Gordon was to Steve’s side.

  Jackson, Keri knew, was there under the pretense he was planning on working with Mel on the opening of his Christmas theme park.

  Keri noted the ghost of Lieutenant Woodruff was there, too. He was standing a bit apart from the group, an elbow leaned on a counter as he watched.

  He nodded to them as they arrived.

  They filled in at the end of the table with Keri taking a seat next to Gordon, and Joe the chair next to Rowdy.

  “So, another night down,” Joe said cheerfully.

  “You know, Mel likes you guys—especially Jackson here. I mean, they’re going into business together, right? We should get him to join us tomorrow night,” Steve said.

  “Yeah. He should be one of the guys,” Rowdy agreed.

  Keri saw Janice watch Jillian as the young woman took a seat.

  “So!” She had a beer in front of her that night, and the way she wagged a finger at Jillian then, Keri wondered just how many beers she’d already had. “Jillian. Jillian Murphy. And Angus McGee. What a name. I mean, cool name, Angus, it just sounds like . . . I don’t know, a cartoon-character? Not in a bad way. In a cool, animated way.”

  “Yeah?” Angus said, grinning. “Like anime or something, huh?” Angus asked. He grimaced. “No, it’s my name. The one my folks gave me when I was born. My old man was a Scot, and my grandfather was an Angus, and yeah, well, that’s my name.” He had ordered tea; he lifted his glass to her. “Janice. Now that’s pretty. Markle. Sounds like Sparkle.”

  Janice’s smile faded; she tried to renew it.

  “Sparkly, right. So, how long have you two been seeing one another?” she asked.

  “Janice,” Gordon said. “Don’t grill the new guy.”

  “We’ve only been seeing each other a bit,” Jillian said quickly. “But you know how you just know that . . . well . . . you want to keep seeing one another.”

  “Right,” Gordon murmured. “So, let’s not make them squirm anymore, eh?”

&n
bsp; “Amen,” Steve murmured, staring into his cup of coffee.

  Marvin came in, pulling up a chair. Lance was right behind him with Gail, and they filled out the last of the chairs at the table.

  “What a night,” Marvin said. “Hey, Count, you were right on. That little brunette had a crush on you the entire time she was screeching her little head off.”

  “Did you see her face when you jumped out of your box, and she realized you were real?” Joe asked.

  Marvin laughed. “That was fun. How was upstairs tonight?” he asked.

  “The usual,” Keri said. She looked over at Janice. “How was the hayride?”

  “Uh, great, just great,” Janice said, and she took another swallow of her beer.

  Keri thought Steve kicked her beneath the table. At any rate, she let out a yelp.

  “Halloween!” Marvin said. “Tomorrow night. Oh, yeah. It will be insane at the park. I know they’re sold out of tickets. Hey, Gordy, you ready to ride? And ride?”

  “I love being the horseman,” Gordon said. “I’ve had an offer for a full-time gig as the horseman—new company opening up a permanent event up in the Irving/Sleepy Hollow area just outside NYC. I’m thinking about it. Full time employment. A guarantee of work. At this point in my life, it’s sounding good.”

  “I’m thinking about getting out of this horror stuff all together,” Gail said. “They are auditioning princesses in Orlando. Love Florida, and I could be a princess.”

  “Watch out for that,” Lance warned her. “They say they want a princess then the next thing you know, you’re what a friend of mine calls a ‘fluffy.’ You wind up in one of those big, hot costumes with little kids crawling all over you.”

  “Better than worrying about being fed to the pigs,” Gail said. She looked at Marvin, Lance, Joe, and Keri and said, “You won’t leave me tomorrow night, right? You won’t leave me for a single second, promise?”

  “We won’t leave you,” Lance promised her.

  “We stand together, we of the Murder House,” Marvin said.

  “We’re pretty damned tight on the hayride, too,” Steve said, looking over at Janice.

  Keri wondered how they had wound up not just here under assumed names but working the same attraction together.