He was mulling over new ideas for stories to tell the dying boy when he heard a rustle of leaves somewhere behind him. This was followed by a crunch of feet on bramble. Someone was coming out of the woods. Elliot’s heart started racing. He tried telling himself it was just some random kid who’d been out there playing, but his instincts told him otherwise. The smart thing here would be to take off running at full speed without even glancing back. It might even be a good idea to shrug off his backpack so he could run faster. He could come back for it later. If someone stole it, all he’d be losing were some textbooks and notepads. They could be replaced. At worst, he’d lose his class notes, but that was a small thing to sacrifice in the name of safety.

  Another impulse intruded, though, forestalling an immediate transition into flight mode. This was the part of him that was weary of running like a little bitch—as his father would put it—at the first hint of trouble. He needed to be a man and stand up for himself, maybe even fight back for once. As usual when this notion came to him, he temporarily overlooked the fact that his adversaries were so much bigger and stronger. The anger burned away enough of the fear to keep him strolling along at the same unhurried pace, even though he heard footsteps on the sidewalk behind him now. He was being followed. That much was undeniable. But there wasn’t necessarily anything sinister about that. The hypothetical random kid could be making his way home, too.

  But Elliot had to know for sure.

  He let out a breath and risked a glance over his shoulder. His eyes widened at the sight of Jimmy Martin’s leering face. Jimmy was one of Lloyd’s gang. The much bigger boy was only a few feet away. He had the large frame and beefy build of a future offensive lineman. His wrists were at least twice as thick around as Elliot’s wrists and he was much taller. All at once, it became clear how ludicrous it was to even fleetingly consider standing up to this behemoth.

  Jimmy chuckled. “Been waiting for you, pencil dick. About time you started coming back this way. You ready to take your medicine?”

  The time to run was at hand.

  Elliot shrugged off the backpack and got moving. He’d only managed to get a few feet down the sidewalk when the toe of a shoe stumbled over a slightly upraised section of concrete. He went sprawling painfully on the sidewalk, skinning his arms and knees on the rough surface. Before he could even try to regain his feet and resume the botched flight home, a pair of strong hands grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hauled him up. He heard a snickering that indicated Jimmy had company. The big boy spun him about and Elliot saw Lloyd McAfee and Chuck Everly standing on the sidewalk. Both had mean, pitiless smirks on their faces.

  Chuck was holding what looked like a freshly carved jack-o’-lantern. Thin strands of pumpkin guts were visible at the corners of its sharply flaring eyes. Odds were the pumpkin was from the farm Lloyd’s family owned. A very large percentage of all pumpkins sold in this town each Halloween season came from there, but of course Lloyd always had his pick of the best of the best. This particular pumpkin struck Elliot as the ripest, roundest one he’d ever seen. It looked fresh from the patch and probably was.

  Lloyd picked up the backpack and tossed it into the street.

  Elliot jerked his head around and saw it in the middle of the two-lane road. It’d landed squarely on the double yellow lines. He craned his head around some more and then back in the other direction, desperately hoping for signs of approaching vehicles. No such luck. The road was clear in both directions. Elliot cursed his complacency. He should have been moving with urgency his first day back on this route, but he’d had his head in the clouds.

  Lloyd’s mean smirk deepened. “I see you’re still a fucking pussy, Elliot. You look like you’re about to cry.”

  To his shame, it was true. Elliot’s eyes were brimming with moisture. “Puh-please…don’t…”

  Lloyd laughed. “No use begging, you little snot. You’re about to get your shit fucked up.”

  The other boys cackled at this witticism.

  Lloyd stepped off the sidewalk, jerking his head toward the line of trees. “Come on, guys. Into the woods.”

  In a last fit of desperation, Elliot tried twisting his way out of Jimmy’s grasp. The sudden, violent movement caught the bigger boy by surprise and for a brief moment one of his hands did get dislodged. Unfortunately, the other hand remained locked firmly around Elliot’s upper arm and he was unable to get free. Jimmy gave him a hard swat upside the head before again securing his hold on him.

  There was more of that mean laughter.

  And then they went into the woods, from which Elliot would not reemerge for many hours.

  3.

  Six days until Halloween

  Willow Springs, TN

  On the way back home from a family dinner at Logan’s Roadhouse, Chuck Everly turned the Honda Odyssey down Hodder Street, his brow furrowing as he felt a stab of pain go straight through the center of his forehead. His three kids were in the back of the minivan. They were locked in a loud and increasingly bitter argument about the latest boy band sensation. The two girls were of the opinion that the group was possibly the best in the history of pop music. In particular, they vehemently maintained the act was certainly better than stodgy old crap like the Beatles.

  Blake Everly, Chuck’s eldest child and only son, disagreed with equal vehemence and more than a little snooty indignation. The boy was going through a big classic rock phase. He’d spent the last several months obsessively listening to and learning about all the biggest and most well-regarded bands from earlier music eras. Before that he’d been into hip hop and all the other pop stuff most kids his age liked. He was undoubtedly correct in his critical evisceration of the boy band’s songs, but it was hard for Chuck not to smirk a little while listening to him hold forth on the subject. Only a short while ago he’d been every bit as taste-challenged as the girls.

  Ah, well, it was just the way of things. The things kids liked changed as they got older. Someday soon the girls would disavow ever having liked the boy band and not just because pop acts tended to have short shelf lives. As they aged into their late teens, they would become embarrassed about the childish things that had once meant so much to them. A similar process had occurred with Chuck and his siblings growing up. For Chuck, it was an endlessly fascinating thing to observe. He never grew tired of watching them grow and evolve. His only regret was that it was happening too fast. Despite the excruciating volume of the current disagreement, he genuinely loved all his babies. They were good, well-adjusted, fun-loving kids. All too soon, though, they’d be grown and moving out, leaving for college or jobs, building their own lives out in the world.

  Thinking about it made Chuck feel wistful. He glanced at his wife in the passenger seat and saw her smiling at him. As Chuck turned the minivan down another street, the sun shone upon Karen’s blonde hair in a way that made it look particularly radiant. The sight of it made his heart skip a beat. She was still as beautiful as she’d been the day he met her nineteen years ago, back in their senior year of high school. A recent transfer from another town, she’d caught Chuck’s eye immediately the first day of that fall semester. He’d had eyes only for her ever since.

  Well…mostly only for her.

  Like many young men who marry early and spend their entire adult lives locked into a single relationship, he’d occasionally harbored lustful thoughts regarding other women. But Chuck accepted this as normal. On one occasion years back, however, there’d been an oral indiscretion. Because vaginal penetration had not occurred, he was able to rationalize the incident as not really constituting cheating. He otherwise never acted on his lustful impulses. Until recently, that is. After enduring a torturous level of temptation, he’d committed a few much more serious indiscretions, all with the same person. But he felt terrible about them and had absolutely no intention of wrecking his perfect life with his gorgeous wife and wonderful kids.

  The indiscretions would stop.

  Soon.

  Chuck slowed the Odyssey as he neared the Trenton Street entrance to the sparkling new subdivision the Everly clan had called home for the last two years. As he steered his way through Brighton Estates and eyed all the perfect-looking new houses and the generally attractive people who inhabited them, Chuck again had occasion to reflect on what a lucky guy he was.

  He had a good job that allowed his family to live in comfortable, safe surroundings. As a boy, he hadn’t had it anywhere near as good. The financial struggles of his parents had been never-ending. They hadn’t been bad people. Chuck and his brothers had never been beaten or emotionally abused. But the prevailing negativity caused by money issues had cast a pall over the Everly household through much of his youth. It’d led to some stupid acting out on his part when he was young. He did dumb things and got into trouble a bit. Thankfully, however, he’d gotten his act together before meeting Karen. He was so glad that had happened. His life could easily have gone in a much darker direction.

  The argument about the boy band died down as they neared their house on Broadbent Lane, passions cooling rapidly as the kids anticipated retreating to their rooms to do their own thing a while before coming down to the den for movie night. Tonight’s flick was the new Blu-ray release of the latest Marvel superhero blockbuster. It would look amazing on the 80-inch 4K screen, while the high-end sound system would shake the room in that deeply immersive way they all enjoyed. Movie night was a much-loved family tradition that had only become more firmly entrenched with Chuck’s frequent tech upgrades. It was like having a little movie theater in their own house. This, of course, made it a popular hangout spot for other kids in the neighborhood. Chuck sometimes feigned grumpiness about this. In reality, it only added to his happiness. He liked that his house was known as a cool place to be, as well as a safe place.

  The kids instantly piled out of the Odyssey as Chuck parked in the driveway outside their house and cut off the engine. Karen also wasted no time getting out, moving quickly with the kids to the front door. Chuck heard her mumble something about being in dire need of getting to the bathroom. He had a hunch she was regretting her spicy meal choice.

  Her distracted urgency as she dug her keys out of her purse allowed him a few moments to stand in the driveway and stare at the house across the street, a big multi-level country style house with a long porch and latticed railing. Fawn Hightower sat in a rocking chair reading a book at an end of the porch. Her shoulder-length hair was a bright shade of blonde similar to his wife’s, but Fawn wore it in a different, more modern style. It was straighter and shorter, with the ends hanging about an inch above her shoulders, whereas Karen was all about the volume, sporting a big mane that reached the halfway point of her back whenever she took it out of the usual ponytail. Fawn was also smaller than his wife, shorter by a good five inches and slimmer. She had a deceptively delicate-looking frame. When he’d first spotted her at a distance upon moving into the new place two years ago, he’d assumed she was his neighbor’s teenaged daughter. She was younger than him by several years. They’d spent an hour or so together in a hotel room just a few days later. Fawn had been especially energetic in bed that first time, twisting her little body around in astonishingly athletic ways while he did his damnedest to fuck the living daylights out of her.

  At the end of their latest tryst, Fawn had told him she was in love with him. She went on to say she wanted to leave her husband and children so she could be with him. Chuck pointed out that he had his own family and had no interest in breaking it up. Things took a frosty turn after that. She hurriedly dressed and left without saying another word. He’d spent a fair amount of time since then fearing what she might do. He worried her obvious anger might prompt her to do something rash, like telling Karen about the affair. Since then, she’d refused to respond to his texts and calls.

  Seeming to sense the scrutiny, she looked up from her book, turned her head in his direction, smiled, and raised her hand in a wave. She then put a hand to the side of her head in a “call me” gesture. Apparently she was ready to talk again. But the smile worried Chuck. The only reason he’d tried so hard to contact her was to seek reassurance that she wouldn’t do anything stupid. But she might be under the impression he wanted a return to the status quo. Several days had passed. She’d probably gotten over her anger. Now Chuck feared how she might react when he told her he wanted to end the affair permanently. Based on prior experience, she probably wouldn’t take it too well.

  He’d just have to do his best to make her see reason. They’d had their fun and now it was time to move on and return to normal life. That was how he planned to put it to her, anyway. Chuck’s actual feelings on the subject weren’t so nonchalant. He was torn up with guilt at having put his perfect family life at risk. The shame of betrayal weighed on him heavily. Somehow he had to make sure Karen and the kids never found out.

  Chuck went on into his house. As he closed and locked the front door, he heard a babble of excited voices emanating from the direction of the kitchen. His kids had a tendency to get unduly excited about all kinds of things, but something about what he was hearing now marked it as different from the usual teenaged burst of unwarranted enthusiasm.

  The reason why soon became apparent. The faces of his wife and kids turned toward him as he entered the kitchen. Each bore a nearly identical expression conveying a mixture of confusion and disbelief. And, beneath that, an unspoken expectation that he could explain the inexplicable appearance of five pumpkins arranged in the center of the dining table.

  Chuck shook his head. “Don’t look at me. I had nothing to do with this.”

  A hesitant smile had begun to curve the corners of Karen’s mouth. Now it withered as her brow furrowed in deepening confusion. “You mean it’s not some kind of weird Halloween surprise?”

  Chuck shook his head again as he stared at the pumpkins, which were arranged in a neat, tight circle, each with a precisely carved jack-o’-lantern face facing outward. A name had been written in red marker above the flaring eyes of each pumpkin. There was one for every member of the family.

  “Did someone break into our house?”

  The question was from Eva, his eldest daughter.

  She sounded scared.

  Chuck couldn’t blame her. Once the initial moment of shock and puzzlement passed, he understood exactly how creepy this was. He knew for a fact the house had been locked up tight prior to their departure for Logan’s Roadhouse.

  Chuck’s heart started beating hard and fast. “Everyone back outside.” He raised his voice when they all just stared at him in open-mouthed stupefaction. “Now, goddammit!”

  They flinched at the edgy tone and uncharacteristically loud volume. But what really got them moving, probably, was his use of profanity. Chuck used adult language around other adults, but he never cursed in front of his kids. It told them more clearly than anything else that this was a very serious situation and they had better obey without delay.

  The Everly clan headed back the way they had come and in moments Chuck’s wife and kids were standing outside on the front lawn, while Chuck lingered on the porch, a hand grasping the edge of the open door. A glance across the street showed Fawn standing on her porch, leaning against the railing as she observed the unexpected development with obvious fascination. A paranoid part of him wondered if this might be her doing. As far as he knew, though, she didn’t have a key to his house. And he had difficulty picturing her patiently carving all those pumpkins and arranging them like that. The true culprit was almost certainly someone else, yet the idea lingered and rendered her scrutiny unnerving.

  Karen looked exasperated now. “Why did you herd us out here, Chuck? I don’t appreciate being yelled at like that, by the way.”

  “I know, honey, and I’m sorry. I’m going back inside for a minute.” Chuck nodded at the purse still dangling from her arm. “Your phone in there?”

  She nodded slowly. “Yes. Why?”

  “Call 911.”

  He started to edge back into the house.

  Karen’s exasperated expression gave way to a look of alarm. “You don’t think someone’s still inside, do you?”

  Chuck shook his head and tried out a smile he hoped looked reassuring. “Of course not. I just need to check on something.”

  His kids called out to him in alarmed unison as he stepped back into the doorway.

  But Chuck was already back inside the house. He closed the door and locked it. Then he went off in the direction of his office, where he kept a .44 Magnum locked in the bottom drawer of his desk.

  4.

  Six days until Halloween

  Willow Springs, TN

  There wasn’t much room for Sheriff Bob Lee to park his cruiser by the time he arrived on the scene that afternoon. Hours had passed since the discovery of Lloyd McAfee’s body and most of the available roadside parking space was now taken up by an array of department cruisers, a white crime scene van, and some civilian vehicles. At a glance, he recognized Harlan McAfee’s ancient powder blue Buick convertible. The sight of it made him wince. Few things were less conducive to a proper murder investigation than having family of the deceased hovering around a homicide scene. You needed to interview the relations, of course, but he preferred to conduct that kind of business either in his office downtown or at the family’s home.