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“Then I’d call you a liar.”
“Fair enough. I can live with that.”
“Do you at least want to tell me where you’re going?”
She almost did but decided not to. If he knew what shehad in mind, he’d insist on going along. “Not yet. It may pan out to be nothinganyway.”
“Just be careful. I do remember how you tend to jump intothings without looking ahead.”
She smiled. It was a pretty accurate summary of how shetended to act when the pressure was on.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
With that, she turned and hurried back down the hallway.She was certain either Derik or Mueller would call out to her, to make herstop. But she made it out the door without incident, and by the time she madeit to the parking lot, Morgan was practically running toward the car.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
The visit to the Order of the Black Star was what broughteverything full circle for Morgan. Christopher Newman had referred to what they’dbeen in the midst of as a ritual. Morgan had no idea what sort of ritual itmight have been, but that wasn’t important.
The wordritualwas what had clued Morgan in.
From the very beginning of this case, by the time Samson’ssecond victim had been claimed, he’d left little letters and clues to indicatethat he was doing his gruesome business as a way to bring forth a messiah, towelcome an entity that would wash the world anew and bring a new beginning.
From Morgan’s FBI agent perspective, though, she’d simplyseen the case as nothing more than a series of murders…interconnected deathsthat were all tied to one single, deranged killer.
But she wondered if killing all of those people under theshadow of the Seven Signs made it something more…something resembling a ritual.All the signs and approaches were there, after all.
As she drove to the location she suspected might lead herto Samson and, hopefully, the end of this case—after a quick stop to buy a newburner phone—she viewed the case under this new filter. What if these eventdeaths, all undertaken for a particular reason, were part of a ritual of sorts?How did that change the case?
If this was a ritual and Samson was expecting a certainoutcome, certainly he had a final place in mind…some area where he expected themessiah to arrive. And based on the new information she’d accumulated on thecase since getting out of prison, she thought she knew where that locationmight be.
She was headed back for the mines. It was the one locationwhere they’d actually gotten the jump on Samson. He’d seemed just as surprised atthem showing up as they’d been to find him there. From what Morgan could tell,the site held some sort of significance to him. And while his knowledge of thesystem of tunnels and caves obviously gave him an advantage, it wasn’t enoughto keep Morgan away.
Of course, she could be totally wrong. Maybe his cavesystem had simply been a hiding spot of sorts…a place he would definitely notreturn to now that the bureau knew he’d been there.
But if the location was essential to his ritual, itseemed almost a certainty that he’d return. And that was the chance Morgan wastaking now, as she headed for the old mines.
As she drove, Morgan’s mind raced with differentscenarios of what she might find at the mines. She considered every angle,thinking about how Samson could have set up the area to welcome the messiah, orhow he might have planned to use the tunnels to make his final move.
After all, she and Derik had only glimpsed a smallportion of the tunnels. There was no telling what else was waiting in the dustybends and folds of those pathways.
She considered the idea of calling for backup, but shealready knew Mueller hadn’t trusted her original hunch to come to these mines.If she called and told him where she was and what she intended to do, he’d notonlynotsend backup, but he’d chew her out over the phone.
So she was going to have to do this alone.
When the bridge came into view, Morgan realized that shebarely even remembered the drive. She’d been so locked in, so targeted in onher end goal of bringing this to an end. Capturing Samson suddenly seemed likethe most important thing in the world. It would not only bring a known killerto justice, but it would end this terrible chapter of her life. In a strange andskewed way, Morgan thought it might almost make the ten years in prison worthit.
Almost.
Finally, she arrived at the area where she and Derik hadparked earlier. She locked the car and stepped out into the little field they’dwalked across roughly seven hours ago. She found the little trail that wounddown closer to the river. It felt a bit more treacherous now that she was thereby herself and with dusk descending all around her. The trail led her back tothe same spot, coming around the bend and escorting her to the smallwashed-away spot that served as the entrance.
Morgan took a deep breath and approached the entrance ofthe mines. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she could feel a bead ofsweat trickling down the side of her face. She knew that if Samson was here,things could turn ugly very quickly. What had happened to Derik earlier in theday was proof of this.
She squeezed in with the same difficulty as before,between the barricade and barrier. As she made her way into the darkness,gripping the flashlight she’d brought with her very tightly, she wondered ifSamson had some other way to get inside. Coming in and out this way more than afew times would be maddening.
Probably,shethought. It was another reminder that he apparently had an almost intimateknowledge of these mines.
She knew she’d been standing there earlier in the day,but nothing about the place looked familiar. Yet, at the same time, parts of itwere almost welcoming. Maybe it was the darkness, playing tricks on her mindand eyes. She figured the only thing she could do was venture farther insideand hope she started to remember things.
