The Spanglers and Hippolyta turned the corner and saw an unfamiliar car sitting in front of the house. “That’s probably our film people,” Mr. Spangler said. “I’d hoped to make it back before they showed up.”

“I prefer that I make my departure now,” Hippolyta said. “I will watch from the shadows to make sure Missy gets inside safely, then I’ll be on my way.”

“I think it’ll be all right. You might as well just go. Thanks, Hippolyta. I think talking with you tonight helped us get things more in perspective.”

“I hope so, sir. If I can be of further assistance, please contact Mr. Parker.”

“Do you have to go, Hippolyta?” Missy asked.

Hippolyta knelt down in front of the child. “Yes, I do, Missy. I have other duties to perform this evening. Missy, you may see me again, and you may not. I do not know when, but I will look in on you from time to time, though you may not always know.”

“I’m going to miss you, Hippolyta,” the little girl said sadly.

“I’m going to miss you too,” the Amazon said. “But you remember what you have to do.”

“Yes, Hippolyta. I have to be strong, like an Amazon!”

“I don’t doubt that you will be. Missy, you have parents who love you an awful lot. Just enjoy that love and listen to them. Can you do that for me?”

“Sure, Hippolyta. Maybe I’ll see you again sometime.”

“It could be,” the Amazon said, giving the little girl a hug, then standing to shake her parents’ hands. “You be strong too. It will take a lot of strength to give her room to grow, but let her have it. Unfortunately, she cannot stay a child forever.”

“We’ve come to realize that,” Mrs. Spangler said. “Thank you again, Hippolyta. Take care.”

“Good night then, and good luck,” Hippolyta said, turning to walk back up the street.

“Where the hell can they be?” Bonds said, standing beside the rental car in front of the Spangler house. “It’s almost seven, they said they’d be here.”

Hite shrugged. “The kid is a little kid. Maybe they went out to give her a little trick or treating.”

“I suppose,” Jason sighed. “You’d think he’d take something like this more seriously. Hey, here comes somebody.”

They looked up the street. In the low light from the street lights, they could see two adults and a child walking toward them. The child was dressed in black, like a miniature Hippolyta, carrying a bag, obviously for candy and treats. “Well, guess you were right, Steve,” Bonds said. “Can’t blame them at all.”

The three walked closer. “Are you the people from Newsmagazine?” the man asked.

“Yes,” Bonds spoke up. “Are you Robert Spangler?”

“Yes sir,” the attorney said. “Maureen, Missy, I’ll take care of this. See you inside.” He turned back to the news crew. “You’ll understand if I cut it a little tight for time, I hope. First things first, you understand.”

“I understand,” Bonds said, on his good behavior. “It is Halloween after all. I appreciate your taking the time this evening. I’m just sorry we had to catch you tonight, since we have to leave in the morning.”

“It’s no problem. I take it they keep you running around pretty steadily.”

“They do keep us busy,” Bonds said. “We’ve got a little time tonight, though. I don’t think we want to interview your daughter in her Halloween costume, though.”

Spangler glanced at the front door and noted that Maureen and Missy had gone inside. With them out of the way, he could handle this. “Perhaps you misunderstood. I agreed to let you interview me, not my family.”

“But …” Bonds stammered. “I thought it was understood that we wanted to talk to the three of you.”

“It was not understood that way by me,” Spangler told them. “Mr. Bonds, my family, and especially my daughter, have been through a very traumatic experience. My wife and I have decided to do our best to keep Missy shielded from as much of that as we can. She has recovered very well, and we do not want anyone again digging up the fear and terror she had. As I said, I am willing to be interviewed, but that courtesy does not extend to my family.”

“I understand your concern, sir,” Bonds said, recovering. “But we’d like to think that covering this is in the public interest, especially with all the controversy about Hippolyta.”

“Ah, so you’re mostly into the sensationalist aspect of this and you want to make a spectacle of her,” Spangler said, nodding. “Mr. Bonds, I will tell you right now, I will not be a party to that. My wife and I, and Melissa, owe a great deal to that woman. She wishes to remain anonymous. I owe her enough that I will respect her wishes. I do not know who she actually is—her mundane name is the term she uses. If I did know, I would not tell you.”

“We’d really like to talk to her,” Metheny broke in. “She’s getting to be a big deal around this town.”

“I know you want to talk to her,” Spangler said. “She is aware that you want to. She told me not five minutes ago though that she does not wish to talk to you.”

“It would really be …she what?” Bonds sputtered.

“She was nice enough to join the three of us for trick or treating the last half hour or so,” Spangler said with a big grin, loving, like any attorney, the sight of someone getting the hook set on them—especially when he was the one doing the setting. “She left us for the shadows when we saw the three of you here.”

As soon as she left the Spanglers, Hippolyta started running for the Shay. She hadn’t exactly asked Mr. Spangler to stall the news crew off, but figured that it would take three or four minutes for Maureen and Missy to get inside, and by that time, she wanted to be away from there.

She hopped into the Shay, still fully costumed—after all, as Charlie had said, if there was a night that she could get away with it, Halloween would be it—started the car as quietly as she could, and drove down the alley. It was tempting to take a swing back by the front of the house to see what was going on. The Shay was too distinctive though, not that she cared if someone associated her with it tonight, but she really didn’t want to be tailed, either, just on general principles. There was plenty of sleight of hand yet to come.

A couple of miles of side streets later, she pulled into an unlit parking lot near a school, took the Shay out of gear, and took out her cell phone. She didn’t like to talk on the cell phone while she was driving, though she had been known to do it. But to do it, striving to stay in the Sally voice while wearing the Hippolyta costume and driving the Shay, was just too much. Really, to do anything but drive while in the Shay was too much, anyway.

It was the work of an instant to call the assignment desk at the station. Liz picked up the phone. “Liz,” she said excitedly. “You know that Hippolyta look-alike contest at Franklin Park tonight?”

“Yeah,” the assignment director replied. “It’s one of those things that would be nice to cover, but we just don’t have the hands.”

“Try to find someone. I was just told that Hippolyta is going to judge the finalists.”

“Sally! How did you hear that?”

“It’s more a case of overhear, but you can guess who I overheard it from. It was a few minutes ago, but I had to get away so I could call.”

“Uh, yeah,” Liz replied. “He would know if anyone would. The girl is getting around tonight. Shane just called in and said he thinks he saw her out in South Toledo, out trick or treating. Normally I’d think he was bullshitting me, but he said she was with the Spangler family.”

Well, good, Sally thought. First objective completed. “She was? That’s neat!”

“I thought so,” Liz said. “Shane’s inbound, just about to leave the scene. I suppose I could route him past Franklin Park. Thanks for the tip, Sally. You have fun. What are you doing tonight? Partying someplace?”

“No, fencing practice, down at the Toledo Salle. I’ve got that tournament this weekend and want to reinforce some things with the kids.”

“Oh yeah. You do the damnedest things for fun. Guess I better let you go and get hold of Shane. Any chance you could get to the mall?”

“I probably could, but I’m dressed for fencing practice, all I’ve got with me is grungies. I’d have to run home to get something.”

“We’ll make do. You have fun.”

“See you tomorrow then,” Sally told her. She clicked off the phone, and dialed another number.

“Hello,” Charlie’s voice said.

“Ten minutes,” she told him. It was all that was needed. She clicked off the phone and put it away, then dropped the Shay into gear again.

“Jesus, the balls of that man,” Bonds snarled as the three drove away, without an inch of footage or any more useful information. “It was clear that the fix is in. He was just toying with us.”

“Well, I guess that rips the hell out of that,” Hite agreed.

“Really, in one sense, I can’t blame him,” Bonds sighed. “He does owe her a hell of a favor. I’m surprised we got as much out of him as we did.”

“And we didn’t get anything we didn’t already know,” Jason pointed out.

“Yeah, this visit turned into a waste,” Bonds agreed. “Metheny, you’re a good man. Keep after this. If something turns up to break this, we want to know, but there’s nothing to build a story out of right now.”

Jason couldn’t help but be disappointed at that. He had hopes of being able to provide a big break in the story right in front of the Newsmagazine crew—a good enough one that maybe he could get some attention in New York and get out of this nowhere town. But it looked like that idea was heading down the tubes, unless something happened in the next few minutes.

It was at that point that his cell phone rang. Maybe this was something, he thought, grabbing it from his pocket. “Metheny here.”

“Jason, this is Liz,” he could hear the big bull-dyke say. “What’s your 20?”

“Down by Swan Creek, with the Newsmagazine crew.”

“Don’t know if you’d be interested, but we just got a tip that Hippolyta is going to judge the finalists in the look-alike contest at Franklin Park.”

“We just missed her. How’d you find out?”

“Sally called. She says she overheard it from her brother. She’s downtown at that fencing place, but she’s not dressed to do a stand-upper. Shane’s heading that way in Unit 4, should be there in ten minutes or so.”

“Hang on a second, Liz,” he replied. He put a fingertip over the phone’s mike and asked, “Did you guys hear that?”

“Yeah,” Bonds replied. “How far is this Franklin Park?”

“Fifteen minutes, anyway.”

“We might at least head over that way,” Bonds said. “I agree, she’ll probably be gone by the time we get there, but she might not be. And we could use look-alikes for color.”

“Yeah, could be,” Hite agreed. “What else is there to do in a place like Toledo on a night like this?”

“Jason, how do we get there?” Bonds said from behind the wheel.

“Straight ahead for now,” Jason told him as he uncovered the phone again. “Okay, Liz, we’re heading that way. Don’t know if we’ll make it in time to catch her, though.”

“Good luck, and good hunting” she said, and clicked off.

“Aw, piss on it,” Hite replied. “Let’s face it, Parker and Hippolyta are onto us, they just want to run us ragged and not let us get shit.”

“Yeah,” Jason agreed. “Parker is just jerking us around for the fun of it.”

“I wonder,” Bonds said. “Maybe there’s a way we can get something positive out of this. Jason, do you know where this fencing place is?”

“Yeah, edge of downtown, not far from St. Vinnie’s, the big hospital,” he replied. “You’re right. If she’s there, it’d settle the question of if she’s Hippolyta once and for all.”

“Yeah,” Hite agreed. “And if she’s not there, it would just about prove she’s involved in the jerking us around. We could zero in real hard on her then. Something would crack.”

“Has possibilities,” Bonds agreed. “Let’s check this fencing place out a little covertly, though, not just go barging right in there. If she’s not there, we don’t want any tip-off that we’re onto her.”

Just about that moment, Sally turned the Shay into the parking lot at Franklin Park. She pulled into a parking space not far from the door she was to use, pulled out the cell phone again, and keyed Charlie’s number. “Ready when you are.”

“Okay, we’re ready here. We cut that pretty good. I’ll have the doors open.”

“Rolling,” she replied. Again, she put down the cell phone, unfastened her seat belt, and let up on the Shay’s clutch, heading toward the doors of the mall. She could see the doors open in front of her and a crowd gathered inside. She drove across the parking lot, right up the ramp onto the sidewalk, and through the doors into the mall, shutting the engine off and letting it coast to a stop with the clutch out. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she heard over the PA system. “To judge the finalists in our Hippolyta look-alike contest, we have our surprise judge—Hippolyta herself!”

Rick walked into the Toledo Salle carrying his gear bag. He was running a little late as the department had laid on some overtime to keep a little more coverage on the streets for Halloween, and he’d caught some of it. But he’d called Stan and told him he’d be late. Justin and Emily were already there, warming up on one of the strips, wearing masks and protective gear and lamés, of course, but they broke it off when he came in. “How’s everybody tonight?” he asked.

“Pretty good,” Justin said, folding his mask back. “I’m just as happy to be out of that madhouse on the streets tonight, anyway.”

“Yeah,” Rick agreed. “We get more goofy calls over Halloween than we do any other time. I don’t know how I rated being off shift tonight. Is Sally here?”

“Naw,” Stan told him. “She had somethin’ come up. She come but liddle late. We get started. You varm up first?”

“Yeah, I’d better,” Rick said.

“Hey, Rick!” Emily said, taking off her mask and shaking her hair out. “You like?”

“Emily! You cut your hair! Looks good!”

“I decided to cut it short like Sally’s. Justin doesn’t like it though.”

“Yeah, I liked it long,” Justin said with a whine.

“It’s your hair,” Rick shrugged. “Sure makes you look like Sally, though.”

“Sure looks like her,” Bonds said in the darkened car across the street. They didn’t have a real good view as it was kind of distant, and “Sally’s” back was to them, but a couple times she turned her head so they had brief glimpses in profile.

“It’d be a damn sight easier to be sure if she didn’t have all that fencing stuff on,” Hite agreed. “But yeah, that looks like her, all right.”

“Well, I think that settles that,” Jason said. “I was sure she couldn’t be Hippolyta, anyway.”

They watched for another few seconds, until they could see “Sally” pull on her mask and square off against the dark-haired kid. “Guess we’re lucky we caught her with that helmet thing off,” Bonds said. “We might have to sit half an hour before she takes it off again. Anyone think it’s worth staying around to find out?”

“Not really,” Hite said. “But it’s still not settled. The thing about the mall could be just bait. She’s had enough time to get over here if she just pulled in. Jason, do you see her car?”

“No, but there’s parking around back. I see it when I head into St. Vinnie’s.”

“Let’s go take a look,” Hite said.

Bonds quickly drove around to the back of the row of storefronts that housed the Salle. “Red Mustang,” Jason said. “Right over there, in front of us. That one with the bumper sticker.”

“Great,” Hite said. “Brad, pull over there, I’ll do a quick check.”

Bonds pulled the rental car over to the Mustang. Hite hopped out the passenger door of the car, hustled over, and felt a tire of the Mustang, then the exhaust pipe. In seconds, he was back in the car. “Cold,” he reported. “It’s been sitting for a while. There wouldn’t have been time for it to cool off that much.”

“Yeah, I guess that settles that,” Bonds agreed. “We might as well head on over to that mall, on the chance Hippolyta might still be there. She might be signing autographs or something.”

It took longer to get out of the Mall than they’d hoped, but finally Charlie had the Shay rolled outside, got in and started it up. Hippolyta waved her hand once again and said, “I’m thrilled that so many of you came out tonight, but now I really must return to the shadows. Thank you everybody.” With that, she stepped in the passenger side of the Shay, and Charlie drove off.

“That was kind of fun,” she said, as soon as they were out of earshot. “I saw Shane getting a few shots there, but no sign of the Newsmagazine crew.”

“Can’t have everything,” Charlie said. “But then they may still be trying to find the place. You want to stop somewhere and change now?”

“Cripe, no,” Sally said, pulling off the hood. “I’ll start getting some of this stuff off, but I want to stay Goth Girl until we’re pretty close to the salle. It’s too darned chilly to be riding around in this car dressed for fencing, but I can get down to the point where I only have to pull the leathers off.”

“Sally, did you do that intentionally?”

“You mean the winner?” she laughed. “I honestly didn’t recognize her until the decision was announced. She really does a good job of it, and boy, does it ever confirm one suspicion.”

The Newsmagazine crew and Jason couldn’t have missed Hippolyta’s departure by a minute. They pulled to a stop in the no parking zone right in front of the mall entrance, where Hippolyta had climbed into the Shay. “Jesus,” Bonds snorted. “Look at all the Hippolytas. I don’t know how we’d find the real one unless she slapped us in the face.”

“I might,” Jason said. “But there’s a lot of women here who look close.”

“We might as well get some footage, as long as we’re here,” Hite said, grabbing the camera. “Might get some fun out of it, or maybe something we could use later.”

“Let’s keep it short and quick,” Bonds said.

Jason was no more than out of the rental car when a familiar Hippolyta caught his eye—and she saw him and ran over. “Jason!” she said, throwing her arms around him. “I won!”

“You won the contest, babe?” he said, looking at Andrea. Outside of the fact that she was a blonde, not a redhead, she really did look a lot like Hippolyta. She wasn’t wearing a gun, the sword was different, and the corset was a little different, but when they’d seen it out at the biker place he couldn’t help but buy it for her. It had led to a lot of very worthwhile fun. “I’m sorry I missed it.”

“I met Hippolyta!” Andrea said excitedly. “You’re right, she’s really a hard woman; we could all feel it.”

Jason had been coaching Andrea to act a little hard, like Hippolyta, but he knew it was only an act, not the real thing. That was a shame, but for the last month or so it had been the next best thing. “She sure is,” he said, as the Newsmagazine crew looked on. “What did you win?”

“A trip for two to Disney World! All expenses paid. Would you like to go with me?”

“I sure would, babe.”

“Then you’re going to have to ask me nicely.”

Even though the Newsmagazine crew was looking on, there was only one thing to do and he knew it. He got down on his knees and asked, “My Hippolyta, would you please take me to Disney World with you?”

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