"We have a name," Wyatt told her. "Somebody Luke remembered from his past. Jaylene's checking county property records now to find out if the bastard was arrogant enough to use his real name, like Luke thinks he did." Clearly, the sheriff could hardly wait to get his hands on the man who had trapped him in a guillotine.

"So," Lucas said to Samantha, "there was no need for you to put yourself through this."

"Maybe not." She refolded the handkerchief and held it to her nose again, feeling very tired. "But when you find him, he'll be standing in the open door of his truck, an ATV. You'll need to be careful. There's a gun on the seat. Don't let him get to it, or he'll get off at least one shot."

Wyatt whistled half under his breath. "Now, that's what I call a useful prediction."

"Not a prediction. Fact."

He nodded. "Okay."

She eyed him, searching for sarcasm, but saw none.

"Hey," he said, understanding the look, "I'm a convert. Funny thing about facing death. It really does open up your mind to possibilities."

"Yes," Samantha said. "I know."

Jaylene came into the room then. "Hey, Sam, glad to see you back with us."

"Glad to be here."

Addressing Lucas, his partner said, "Got him. You were right, he used his real name. Probably figured we'd never go back so far in checking property records. Andrew Gilbert bought some property here two and a half years ago." She looked at the sheriff, brows lifting. "From you."

He blinked. "Say what?"

"You sold a hundred-acre tract of land that had belonged to your parents. Mostly mountainous land, not good for much, with a little piece of a valley on which sits a small old house and a much larger old barn. About twenty miles outside town. It wasn't included on any of our earlier searches because, even though it's fairly remote, there are other working farms in that valley, neighbors who would have, presumably, noticed someone carting tanks and guillotines and bodies about."

"His home base," Lucas said slowly. "Maybe where he stashes the ATV when he isn't using it-assuming there's a back way into that barn so his neighbors don't see."

Wyatt said wryly, "And I'll bet they think he's just a regular guy but quiet, keeps to himself."

"Bound to," Jaylene agreed.

"For God's sake. Yeah, I remember the guy. Said he was looking for quiet land he could retire to in a few years. Talked about building a log cabin, hunting cabin, like he'd always wanted. Offered a good but not outrageous price, and since I was trying to sell land I didn't need, I took it."

"Which is why he never stuck around to speak to you yesterday," Samantha said. "You might have recognized his voice."

Wyatt hitched at his belt and said, "Goddammit. Let's go."

Samantha began to sit up, but Lucas pressed her back. "You're staying here," he told her.

She hesitated, not because she believed she could help him capture a killer safely but because she still felt uneasy. And because she had a strong hunch that if she tried to get off the couch she'd fall on her ass. "I could stay in the car," she offered.

"You can stay here," Lucas said. "I doubt you could even stand up without help, not right now. Just stay put, Sam. Rest for a while, at least until the bleeding stops. Wait for us to bring the bastard back."

"Dead or alive?" she murmured.

"Whichever way he wants it." He said to Wyatt, "Get everybody ready. We go in in force, and we go in prepared. Everybody wears a vest."

Caitlin said to Wyatt, "I can help with the phones or whatever while you're all gone. I mean, I know the place won't be deserted, but if I can help?"

"You can," Wyatt told her.

When they had gone, Jaylene said, "I'll go call the boss, Luke."

He nodded, and to Samantha's inquiring look said, "Standard procedure if we're about to go into a probable dangerous situation."

"Ah." She looked after his partner for a moment, then checked the handkerchief before once again pressing it to her nose. "Dammit."

"The price you pay for being reckless," he told her.

She decided not to bother arguing. "Just be careful, okay?"

"We will." He went as far as the doorway, then hesitated and looked back at her. "You are all right?"

"I will be. Go do your job."

Samantha waited there for some time, listening to the bustle in the building as the deputies and agents got ready to go out. Eventually, the building quieted, and her nose stopped bleeding. And it was only a bit longer before she tried sitting up.

On the third attempt she managed it, and about ten minutes later made it to the conference room. A desk shoved up against the wall held the room's only phone, and Samantha sat down there to use it.

Maybe Luke was right about being reckless, she thought, fighting the dizziness and nausea. It had never been this bad before, and between that and her pounding head, she was seriously considering returning to the couch in the lounge and napping for a day or three.

Because her part in this, she thought, was over. She was almost positive that she had been able to change the outcome she had originally seen.

In the vision that had brought her to Golden, Andrew Gilbert had not come close to being caught, and he had certainly not been the one to die.

She got through to Quentin on the first attempt, which was rarely possible calling a cell phone in this mountainous area. "Did you hear from Bishop?" she asked immediately.

"Yeah, just now," he replied. "So our killer is a ghost out of Luke's past, huh?" He sounded just a bit distracted.

"Looks like. Where are you guys?"

"Fairgrounds."

"Why?"

"Just a hunch."

"You don't have hunches, Quentin."

"Whoever said that is a rotten liar."

"Quentin."

He sighed. "Okay, okay. I knew something would be going on here, that's all."

She waited a beat, then asked, "What's going on?"

"Well, it's a funny thing," he said thoughtfully. "The place is practically deserted-but all the rides are going."

What do you mean?" Samantha demanded.

"Just what I said. The Ferris wheel, bumper cars- everything but the pony rides. All running. Sort of spooky, actually, in broad daylight and without any music or people."

"Where's Leo?"

"Can't find him."

"What?"

"Don't panic. Couple of the maintenance guys said he went into town this morning. They're currently trying to get the rides stopped."

"They all have switches; what's the problem?"

"Switches are jammed."

Samantha's uneasiness increased. "I don't like this, Quentin."

"No, me either. Spider sense is tingling like mad."

"You think maybe this Gilbert guy knows the cops are on the way? That maybe he's waiting for them?"

"You saw them take him down in a vision, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Look, this doesn't necessarily have anything to do with that, you know." When she remained silent, he sighed and said, "Okay, so I don't believe in coincidences either. Assuming they can be reached out there, Bishop will warn the cops to watch their backs. And their fronts. You stay put, Sam. Galen is staying here, and I'm heading over to get you."

"I'm in a police station."

"Yeah, a practically deserted one. Sit tight, and I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

Samantha cradled the receiver and frowned down at the phone, absently rubbing her temples. She kept remembering her vision, and the dying words of Andrew Gilbert that she hadn't been able to hear.

She had an uneasy notion that something would be different if she had heard those words.

Trying to think about that made her head pound even more violently and the sick dizziness increase, however, so she quickly gave it up and began to make her way very cautiously back to the lounge.