Instinct took over. A dog shouldn’t be loose, especially here where kids were running around free, and so much else was going on. One bad spook, and someone might get bitten, or the dog could run off and go missing.
I ducked under the rope barrier and entered the corn maze a few seconds after the dog. I caught a glimpse of a wagging tail vanishing around the corner, and hurried after it.
“Here, doggie,” I called, wishing I had a name. “Don’t run.”
A few discarded cups lay at one intersection, and someone had lost a shoe, which made me wonder if there was a zombie out there somewhere in stockinged feet. The retriever stood at the end of the short aisle, barked once, and then took a hard left.
I followed after.
It would have been pitch black in the maze if it wasn’t for lights spaced throughout the corn. Still, it was gloomy, and my adrenaline spiked as I turned one corner to come face to face with one of Jon’s pumpkin-headed scarecrows. I stifled the urge to scream, just as the retriever bounded around another corner. She was leading me deeper into the maze, and I hoped I would be able to find my way out again.
I turned the corner, followed a wagging tail around another, and then came to an abrupt halt at what waited for me.
“Jon?” I asked, my voice coming out as a croaked whisper. A crown sat atop the man’s head, but I couldn’t see his face. He was sitting on the ground, back pressed up against the corn. His chin rested against his chest, and his right hand lay motionless in his lap. He didn’t so much as twitch at the sound of my voice. “Jon? Are you all right?”
The retriever sniffed at him, and then looked at me, as if asking me to do something.
“Jon… Hey…” I took a step toward him, just as the dog’s eyes jerked from me to something over my shoulder.
My entire body went cold, as if the temperature had dropped by a dozen degrees. I stopped in my tracks, and with a sense of growing dread, I turned to see what was lurking at my back.
Standing at the end of the aisle was a woman with fiery red hair. She was wearing a green dress with lace at the sleeves and throat. Her face was deathly pale, and when she raised a finger to point at me, I got the distinct impression that I’d just been marked.
“Who…?” My voice dried up as a rustle came from behind me. Terror kept me from looking, though I desperately wanted to. Was Jon rising from where he lay, intent on scaring the life from me? I wouldn’t put it past him, though it seemed odd considering what Duke had said about him being in a foul mood.
The retriever barked once, breaking me from my fear-induced paralysis. The sound must have been the dog moving. I took a quick step toward the pointing woman, not quite sure what I was going to do. The dog ran past me, and for a moment, I thought the retriever might be attacking her, but when she came to a stop at the woman’s side, and the women laid a hand on her head, I realized that the scary woman must be her owner.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know anyone was in here.”
I chanced a look back.
Jon Luckett was gone.
I blinked at the empty space, shocked by his sudden disappearance. I stared blankly at the space for a good couple of seconds, wondering how he’d snuck away so quickly, before turning back to ask the woman.
But like Jon Luckett, both the woman in green, and the golden retriever, were gone.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?”
I paused at the intersection with a frown. Was I? It was hard to know for sure considering how quickly I’d come through the maze the first time. And now, with Detective Cavanaugh trailing behind me, I was feeling a smidge self-conscious.
“I think so,” I said, taking a left.
Light played over the corn, casting shadows that seemed to move in between the stalks. More than once, I swore I saw the golden retriever, only to find it to be a clump of dirt, or a stray shadow cast by the flashlight Cavanaugh was holding.
We’d been checking the corn maze ever since I’d discovered what had looked to be Jon Luckett’s body. He had yet to appear, alive or dead, nor had I seen hide or hair of the dog, or the ghostly woman, since.
“And you said he was dead?” Cavanaugh asked from behind me.
“I didn’t check his pulse or anything, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“You do know this is a Halloween event, right?”
I scowled at him. Of course, I knew.
“There’s likely a rational explanation to what you saw. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if he was messing with you.”
“And how would he know I was coming?” I asked, more embarrassed than annoyed. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Cavanaugh was right, and Jon Luckett’s apparent death was probably a joke played at my expense.
Cavanaugh didn’t have to answer. The noise his arm made as it brushed against the stalks was answer enough.
We reached another intersection and I stopped. “I think this was it.”
“You think?”
“It’s hard to say for sure, but this looks like it.” I pointed. “He was lying over there.”
Cavanaugh played his flashlight over the spot I’d indicated. It looked like any other dead end in the corn. “I don’t see anything.”
“And the woman was over here.” I walked over to where I’d seen the ghostly woman in green, making sure to peek around the corner there, just in case she was crouched on the other side, waiting to jump out at me.
No one was there.
Minutes passed with both Cavanaugh and I scouring the area for any sign of Jon or the woman. There was no blood, no torn cloth, or even tufts of dog fur. This section of the maze looked like every other section. I even parted the corn in the hopes of spotting something—a body, perhaps—hidden behind the stalks, but there was nothing.
Cavanaugh tipped back his hat to rub at his forehead. “Let’s head on back. Mr. Luckett is probably already mingling, having a laugh about his prank with the others.”
I doubted that, but what else could we do? There was nothing here to find. “All right.” I kicked a small rock, only to find it was connected to a larger stone beneath. My toe throbbed all the way back through the maze.
“There you are,” Manny said, joining us as we emerged. “I was wondering where you’d vanished off to. Hello, Detective.”
“Mr. Denton.” Cavanaugh touched the brim of his hat. “Liz. Let me know if you discover anything further. I’ll keep an eye out for Mr. Luckett.” With a parting nod, he walked off.
“Should I be worried?” Manny asked, watching him go.
“No.” I ran my fingers through my hair. I’d gotten dried husk in it while rooting around in the corn. I dropped the scraps onto the ground with a sigh. “It’s nothing.”
Manny smiled, leaned into me. “If you and the Detective are a thing…”
“Ew, stop.” I elbowed him, which only made him laugh. “I thought I saw something, and he was helping me look.” I paused, realizing that I might not have been the only one to see something amiss. “Have you seen a golden retriever around here somewhere? Or perhaps a woman in a green dress?”
“Can’t say that I have.” He glanced around like one of them might be lurking nearby. “Why?”
“No reason.” Or so I hoped. “What about Jon?”
Manny shrugged. “I doubt I’d recognize him if I saw him. We’ve never actually met.”
“Right.” And that was the thing; neither of us really knew him. So, why would he pull a prank on me, a virtual stranger?