Page 144 of Forever Dead

Connor breathed slowly and turned.

The corn behind him moved.

Not from the wind.

A shape exploded through it.

Connor started bringing the pistol around.

The attacker was already within arm’s reach.

The hood Connor had seen in the house was pushed back. A mask now covered the man's head and features. He must have put it on while hidden in the corn.

Pieces of leathery material in mismatched shades had been joined with heavy stitching. Some were smooth, while others were wrinkled and dry. Together they formed the crude proportions of a human face.

Two narrow eye openings were concealed beneath folds of dark stitching. Connor could see the man's gaze moving behind them.

He thought of the fragments recovered from Eleanor's and Patricia's fingernails.

Selena's mask theory.

The killer drove forward.

Connor saw the knife too late.

The blade punched into his stomach.

Pain tore through him.

His gun hand dropped as his body folded around the weapon buried in him. The killer wrenched the knife free.

Connor staggered backward, clamping one hand over the wound. Blood soaked through his shirt and spread between his fingers.

The masked figure slipped between the corn rows toward the unlit side of the field.

Connor groped at his shoulder radio with his bloodied hand and pressed the transmit button.

“Cheryl. I've been stabbed. Inside the maze. Ellison side.”

Static crackled. He couldn't tell whether she'd heard him.

His knees gave way.

Somewhere beyond the corn, sirens were getting closer.

There now was so much blood. He was losing consciousness.

“Jesus Christ, Cheryl… I… I don’t think I’m going to make it.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Halloween morning arrived under a gray sky.

Orange bulbs still glowed along the Wilson Motel walkway when Selena opened her room door and stepped outside with the cane. Someone had added plastic spiders to the railings overnight. Gerald, Eric’s skeleton, remained in the lawn chair beside reception with a pumpkin balanced on his lap and a cheap witch’s hat pushed down over his skull.

Usually, Eric would have had music playing by now. Something theatrical and ridiculous. Instead, the motel seemed subdued.

Selena pulled her jacket closed and started toward reception.