I used my phone to clear the corridor, then ducked around the corner to the left. Slid sideways along the wall with my light sweeping ahead of me. From here, I could only turn right. I held the phone out in my left hand this time and watched the dim, jerky reflection. The passage bent sharply back upon itself. I could see where it terminated roughly ten feet away. Nothing in between. I rounded the bend, flattened myself against the wall to my right, and scooted all the way along it until I reached the end, where my only option was to turn right again. I held out my cell phone—

Someone was standing right there.

I pulled my arm back as fast as I could. My heart was beating so hard and fast it pounded through the high-pitched ringing, which was slowly beginning to diminish. I tried to listen for the sound of breathing from around the corner, but it was a futile proposition. I shined my light at the ground. There were footprints in the dirt. Sporadic partials at best, but I was getting better at picking them out. Large. A man’s footprints. Utilitarian tread. All of them headed deeper into the maze; none coming back. Of course, that didn’t help me in my current situation, either.

If I assumed that each of the five victims was somewhere in here, as both logic and the nauseating smell suggested, then I still had four more to encounter, presumably on my journey to the center of the maze where I’itoi himself waited. Based on the level of decomposition, I was confident that the corpse I had shot was the first. If I was right, then the body around the corner belonged to the second victim, the woman whose murder had initially brought me here. What had Randall said? Knockoff Keds? Small feet.

I stuck out my phone again and tilted it downward. The bare feet were dainty and dangled several inches above the floor. The toenails glimmered subtly with chipped polish.

I retracted my arm and slowed my breathing. I went around the corner low and fast, swinging my light from right to left. No movement. No one else there.

I shined my light on the poor girl’s body. Her sweatpants were torn and stained. Her shirt was crisp with a bib of blood. I could tell by her shape that she was still young, perhaps late teens or early-twenties. Her arms were stretched out to either side. A long wooden dowel had been run in one sleeve, across her back, and out the other. The dowel was fitted to brackets on either wall. The way she’d been hung almost made her look like a scarecrow. The snout of her coyote mask rested against her chest. The ears pointed forward. Her dark eyes looked down at the ground, unblinking.

I had to avert my gaze.

Anger flared inside me and I had to resist the urge to sprint headlong into the darkness to force the confrontation. He wanted me to see these people like this, to know that he had been the one who did it and I hadn’t been able to stop him. He wanted me to see the next three lives that had been snuffed out on my watch. He wanted me to face my failures and realize that I’d been beaten. Over and over and over.

I picked up my pace as I walked, my gun held out in front of me. The passage guided me around to the right until I felt almost like I’d come in a complete circle around the damn cave before I finally encountered the end. I used the mirror function on my phone to clear the area around the bend and then went maybe another dozen feet before the maze doubled back on itself to the left.

Phone. Reflection?

Empty corridor.

Clear.

I went around the corner fast and quickly saw the next turn coming to my left again. Fifteen feet. Flatten my back against the wall. Lead with my light; follow my sight.

Phone. Reflection?

A human silhouette.

Pull back my arm. Blood thundering in my ears.

Wait.

Listen.

No sound. No breathing other than my own.

Footprints? Still only one set. Leading deeper into the warren.

Phone again.

No sign of movement. First impression? Male. Short. Five-foot-eight. Feet touching the floor, but just barely. Up on his toes. Suspended by his arms? Check.

Move.

I tried to vary my maneuvers to eliminate the element of predictability. Tuck and roll. Rise to one knee. Light, left to right. Exhale, slowly. Stand and ease forward. Based solely on the style of the pants and the curve of the hips, I assumed it was another woman. Not a man as I’d initially thought. The feet could have gone either way and the lightweight hoodie was black and crusted with dried blood. As with the last, a dowel had been run through the back of her sweatshirt to suspend her like a scarecrow. I could barely see the gash above her waistband. Her coyote face hung forward to hide the deep laceration across her throat. The dead animal’s tongue was still clenched between its bared teeth. One of its ears was split and withered and resembled an artichoke leaf. I raised the light to her dark eyes. Soft and brown. Barely visible beneath the half-closed lids. Definitely female.

I had to keep moving. Soon enough these victims would come down and I’d make sure they were identified and given a proper burial if I had to do it myself. And even then, they deserved so much more.

A mental picture of the maze was starting to come together in my mind. I was now in the outermost ring. I could feel a slight difference in temperature from the outside heat radiating through the rock wall to my right. I figured this passage ought to take me nearly all the way around the cave and to the opposite side of the wall to the left of the entrance. I’d pretty much navigated the rest of the periphery; a left from there ought to lead me into the heart of the maze, where the passages would become much shorter and narrower.

I walked as fast as my shooter’s stance would allow, following the leftward curve all the way around as I had expected. The wall of the cave remained to my right, although any number of side passages could have been hidden by the drop cloths and patchwork construction. The turn at the end was to the left. Again, as I had expected.

Back against the wall.

Phone out. Tilt. Reflection?

Nothing.

Come around high, leading with my light and pistol.

Clear.

It was a straight shot ahead to another left turn. Fifteen feet. Follow my sweeping light. Another left.

Phone. Reflection?

Maybe five feet to another left turn. Nothing in between. I covered the distance in two long strides. Flattened to the wall.

Phone. Angle. Reflection?

Clear.

Move through fast.

Next left.

Phone. Reflection?

Empty.

Round the corner in a crouch. Rise to shooter’s stance again.

The corridors were getting shorter and shorter. This one was maybe eight feet long and ended in an abrupt right turn. I was nearing the center. I could feel it.

There were still two bodies left to find. It reeked so badly I couldn’t have trusted my nose to guide me to either.

Still only one set of tracks, leading inward. None leading out.

Back against the right wall.

Phone. Tilt. Reflection?

No one there.

The bend was sharper and wound back to the right, out of sight. I swung around and followed it to a point on pretty much the opposite side of the cave. My heart was racing. I had to readjust my grip on my pistol. The light had begun to dim. I couldn’t help but think about how long my escape route would be from here.

Coyote is the master of deception.

As I neared the end I identified a turn to the right. I approached cautiously. I was running out of turns almost as fast as I was running out of space. He was so close I could almost feel his presence.

The Coyote.

I’itoi.

My Elder Brother.

Right-hand turn.

Phone. Reflection?

Damn it!

I yanked my arm back.

Another body.

Should be Agent Matthews.

I knelt and held my arm out again.