Rachel had thought surely someone other than Patrick Dewey and the girl had known about their affair. Where and when had they met? A local motel? Somewhere out of town? Had someone possibly seen the girl with Patrick?

She had racked her brain trying to figure out a way to unearth this girl’s identity, but in the end, she realized that the span of twenty years worked against their discovering the truth. Would any motels or hotels still have records from twenty years ago? And even if they did, Patrick would hardly have used his real name. And she certainly couldn’t expect any former hotel employee to remember a man and teenage girl who had secret rendezvous in 1986.

As each day had passed, Rachel’s frustration level had risen. If not for Dean’s wonderful calming effect on her, she wasn’t sure she’d have made it through without a major meltdown. As she lay in Dean’s arms each night, she wondered how she’d gotten so damn lucky. She could regret not finding love with Dean years ago, but there was no point in looking back. Today was all that mattered. For Dean and her and for their old high-school friends. Jake Marcott’s murder case had been solved; the murderer was dead. But the recent murders remained unsolved, the killer still out there, ready to kill again.

Tonight was the night. Everything was in order. Every detail planned. They would all be here, the classmates from the graduating classes of 1986. The alumni from St. Elizabeth’s, Western Catholic, and even some graduates from Washington High School. The police had brought in bomb-sniffing dogs and the authorities had done what they thought was a thorough search of the building. But no one remembered the old basement area under the gymnasium. She doubted that there was anyone still alive who knew about that subterranean level that could be reached only through the basement of the school itself and not directly from the gym. The only reason she knew the location was because her great-uncle had once been the custodian, back in the sixties, and he’d told her about it.

If the police had searched down there, they would have found her secret room, the senior lockers, and the souvenirs from Mandy, Aurora, and Haylie. If that had happened, she would have had to formulate a new plan rather quickly, perhaps continue the executions beyond tonight’s event. But as luck would have it, she didn’t have to change her plans.

After helping the decorating committee set up tables and chairs in the old gym and spread colorful streamers from the bleachers and rafters, she had separated from the others as they left for the afternoon and had made her way into the basement. Several days earlier, she had brought everything she would need for tonight and stored it all down here. And when she reappeared tonight, dressed to the nines, no one would be the wiser.

If no one got in her way, if nothing interfered with her plans, three people would die tonight: Kristen, Rachel, and Lindsay. Whichever one she could get to the easiest would be the first to die.

Giggling happily, she danced around and around in the forgotten cellar beneath the gym, Patrick Dewey’s old Beretta in her hand. He had given it to her, all those years ago-an unregistered pistol-to use as protection.

“If that bastard ever tries to rape you again, shoot him,” Patrick had said.

Dear, sweet, loving Patrick.

He had truly cared about her. And she’d never had the heart to tell him that although she hated Jake with every fiber of her being, she also loved him.

Patrick wouldn’t have understood.

If you hadn’t been at my side that night, I wouldn’t have had the courage to kill Jake and end the nightmare my life had become. You were my white knight, Patrick, my avenging angel.

Rachel gave herself one final inspection in the full-length mirror on the back of the closet door. Here she was, wearing an ankle-length teal green satin dress that clung to her curves and accentuated her breasts, preparing to attend her twenty-year class reunion. A reunion marred by the recent murders of three classmates and an all-too-real threat that others were in danger. If she’d had her way, they would have canceled tonight’s affair, but with so many people actually looking forward to the reunion dance and so many having come in from out of state, the committee had decided they didn’t have much choice but to continue with the event as planned.

Checking her watch-six-fifteen-she heaved a deep sigh and picked up the tiny diamond hoops from the dresser and inserted them into her pierced ears. Dean was picking her up at six-thirty, which gave her just enough time to collect her thoughts and calm her jittery nerves.

When her cell phone rang, she gasped. Cursing herself for being so nervous, she flipped open the phone and checked the caller ID.

“Hello, Dean,” she said playfully, trying to act as if she weren’t worried sick.

“Listen, honey. I need you to get down to headquarters immediately.”

“Why? What’s happened?”

“I just got a call from Pat Dewey. He and his mother are in Portland and they’re about two miles from headquarters. It seems when she finished cleaning out her bedroom closet this afternoon, intending to either pack or trash what was left, she came across some photographs that were in an old suitcase that her sons had brought down from the attic.”

“Photographs of what?”

“Of whom,” Dean corrected. “She isn’t sure who the person in the photos is, but she thinks it could be the girl Patrick had the affair with twenty years ago.”

“Holy shit!”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

“Could Pat describe the girl to you? Could you-”

“He couldn’t give me a description,” Dean said. “It seems his mother won’t let him see the pictures.”

“What? Why?”

“He thinks it’s because the girl in the photos is probably naked. He told me that his mother said she will hand those photographs over only to you.”

“Because I’m a woman.”

“Yeah, that would be my guess.”

“I’ll get to headquarters as soon as possible, but in late Saturday afternoon traffic, it’ll take me a good thirty minutes.”

“Just drive carefully.”

“I’ll try.”

Lindsay would rather be anywhere than here. With the old gymnasium decorated so nicely, it reminded her far too much of the last time this building had hosted a special dance. The Valentine’s Day dance of 1986. Only back then, everything had been decked out in red, white, and pink, with paper hearts and fat little Cupids adorning every nook and cranny. If Wyatt weren’t at her side tonight, she would have run out the door as fast as she could and gotten as far away from St. Elizabeth’s as humanly possible.

“We didn’t have to come here tonight.” Wyatt placed his arm around her waist as he whispered in her ear.

“Yes, we did. I did.” She turned and smiled at him. A forced smile. “I’ve been running from the past far too long. I ran from you, from our son…and from Jake’s memory. I need to do this, so that I can lay his ghost to rest.”

“Whatever you need to do to vanquish Jake’s ghost and put the past behind us, I’ll help you. Just say the word and-”

“Go outside with me,” she told him. “I need to go back inside the labyrinth, to the spot where Jake was killed. Where I found him.”

“Are you sure?” Wyatt asked. “Why put yourself through that kind of torture?”

“I can’t explain it. It’s just something I need to do.”

“All right. Do you want to go now or wait until later?”

“Now, before I lose my nerve.”

As they headed for the exit, they ran into April Wright. “Where are you two going? Not leaving so soon, I hope.”

“No, we’re just going to get a breath of fresh air,” Lindsay lied. “We’ll be back before things really get started.”

“You’d better be careful out there,” April said. “You wouldn’t catch me wandering around outside in the dark. Not tonight. Not with somebody out there just waiting to take potshots at us.”