Her Darkest Nightmare (19 page)

Evelyn wondered if that meant something had happened with Anthony in her absence. She was almost afraid to find out. At odd moments, the anger that had buoyed her emotions earlier threatened to give way to fear. But she refused to succumb to it, especially where he was concerned. She'd brought Garza to Hanover House for a reason. She'd continue to pursue her goals.

First, however, she had to call her PI and Detective Green. Then she had to get Amarok the contact information for all those names on Danielle's list who could be tied to HH's employee roster.

And after that? She'd meet with Hugo. But as far as gaining any useful information for the murder investigation, it would most likely be a waste of time. He couldn't know anything about that.

Or could he?

 

12

I was literally singing to myself on my way home, after the killing. The tension, the desire to kill a woman, had built up in such explosive proportions that when I finally pulled the trigger, all the pressures, all the tensions, all the hatred, had just vanished, dissipated, but only for a short time.

—DAVID BERKOWITZ, THE SON OF SAM

While on hold for Detective Green, Evelyn stood at the window, frowning at the storm gathering outside. It was snowing again. Large, crystalline flakes clicked against the glass, blasted there by an increasingly strong wind. Apparently, Hilltop wasn't going to get even a few hours of sunlight today.

The ever-present darkness had been one of the hardest aspects of Alaska to get used to, but the depression it could cause seemed like nothing compared to the other implications of this morning's heavy cloud cover. How would Amarok find the rest of the bodies if he was battling several more feet of snow? How would he ever capture Jasper, or whoever it was, and see justice done? That was important, because she was pretty sure any arrest, if there was going to be one, hung on him, and it had taken all of two minutes for him to report that none of the leads he'd been following had panned out. She'd told him that Jasper might be in Alaska, and he'd said he'd see what he could find, but she had little confidence it would make any difference. Jasper was too damn smart.

The female officer who'd answered the phone at the Salt Lake City Police Department came back on the line, interrupting the worries Evelyn had been ticking off in her mind. “Detective Green just walked in. I'll put you through to him.”

Her call was rerouted before Evelyn could say “thank you.” After three short bursts of an annoying, high-pitched tone, Detective Green picked up.

“Homicide.”

“Detective, it's Dr. Talbot at Hanover House in Alaska.”

“Thanks for getting back to me. I'm sorry about that woman who was murdered. What was her name? Lorraine Something?”

“Drummond.”

“Hanover House is not that big, so … you must've known her, which makes everything exponentially worse.”

Evelyn had not expected this. “How do
you
know about it?” she asked, resting her forehead on the cool glass. “Did Fitzpatrick tell you?”

He seemed equally surprised by
her
reaction. “Fitzpatrick? No, it was on the news this morning.”

She'd figured it would be on the
local
news, but … it had been picked up by the
national
feeds? So soon? If one murder in a place that was almost off the map commanded this much attention, what would happen when word of a second victim got out?

Evelyn straightened and pressed a hand to her churning stomach. Such negative press could cause her to lose everything, especially when they had no leads or information to counter it with. “What, exactly, did the report include?”

“That a woman had been brutally beaten and decapitated in Hilltop, Alaska.” He took on an announcer-like tone when he added, “Home of the controversial Hanover House Mental Health Facility for Psychopaths.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, they tied it to Hanover House immediately,” he said. “And they brought up all the arguments against having such an institution in the first place. But you had to expect they would. The opposition lands a punch whenever they can.”

Of course. This provided her critics with a golden opportunity. How many times had she publicly insisted that Hanover House was safe? That they were taking all necessary precautions?

She walked over and dropped into her chair. “But there's no connection—at least, no connection that we know about.”

“They're making the most of the location of the crime. And the fact that the victim worked at the prison.”

“I have to hand it to them,” she said with a humorless chuckle. “They're on top of their game.”

“You didn't know the rest of the world was watching?”

“I've been so thrown by what's happened that I haven't sifted through all possible ramifications. I knew it could or would happen eventually, but I thought we'd have a few days to try and learn something. To come up with a rebuttal.” They were so cut off up here in every other way.… “Not every murder can be reported on the news or there'd be no time for anything else.”

“If the killer can be caught soon, and he has nothing to do with your facility,
they'll
be the ones to look foolish. A murder can occur anywhere. The only thing that makes this one remarkable is the gruesomeness of the crime and that she was one of your employees.”

But there'd already been a second murder, just as gruesome. And not only was the victim most likely another employee, an arm had been placed
in Evelyn's bed
. That would cement the tenuous connection between this death and her and her work.

“It won't be easy to neutralize such bad press,” she told him. “Fads exist, even in psychology. Certain theories receive more support, attention—and funding—than others, all thanks to popular thinking. If what's going on up here turns into a long-running manhunt with multiple, shocking murders—”

“The entire nation will be looking to place blame.”

Wouldn't Jasper love making such a big splash? He'd become even more famous—or
infamous,
which was a passable substitute for the average psychopath. “If that happens, if I lose public support, I could also lose my federal funding.” Then HH would be forced to close down or, more likely, become a regular penitentiary. Either way, she and her team would be asked to abandon their experiments and case studies and leave.…

His voice softened. “I understand how hard you've worked to get that place built, and the necessity for it. That's why I called, to lend you my support. I've seen enough in my line of work to know that some people are pure evil. They're born that way, with no one or nothing else to blame. So put up a good fight, okay? Don't let your opponents win.”

That was easier said than done when a percentage of those opponents belonged to her own industry. She doubted very many had stared into the eyes of a homicidal maniac the way she had, however. If they'd known Jasper, maybe they'd be more supportive of her efforts to fight the psychopathy problem.

“I'll do what I can,” she heard herself say, but her mind was elsewhere. If Jasper was really behind what was going on, he was even more brilliant than she'd been giving him credit for. Not only would Lorraine and Danielle's deaths terrorize her, they'd destroy her professionally before he destroyed her personally.

A complete coup de grâce.

“I was also calling to check on Garza,” Detective Green said. “Did you get him transferred up there?”

Desperate to believe that the killer they were dealing with was anyone but Jasper, maybe someone Danielle had been with who had nothing to do with Hanover House, like Amarok had suggested, or a copycat excited by the media buzz surrounding her efforts, she logged into her e-mail program. “He arrived two days ago.”

“There's no chance he could be responsible for what's happening.…”

“No. None.” She considered telling Green about the severed limb she found on her bed but decided not to. The way she was feeling, it would only bring her to tears, and she didn't want to break down on the phone.

“What do you think of our conscienceless friend?” Green asked.

She pictured Garza's jagged teeth. “I think he's a very dangerous individual.”

“Good. Then you'll be cautious.”

Right now, she had to be cautious of everyone and everything. Enemies seemed to be sprouting up on all sides. “Always.”

“Let me know if he gives anything away, anything at all. I'd love to charge him. As a matter of fact, I'd like to see video of your interactions with him. Maybe I'll hear something that will spark a memory or a connection someone who hasn't been working on the case as long as I have would miss.”

“No problem. I can provide the video footage. We tape everything.”

She began sorting through her messages, looking for that list of names Amarok had said he'd send.…

“What's the local law enforcement like?” Green asked. “They friendly? Supportive?”

She could call Amarok friendly—not necessarily to what she'd created here but to her personally. He was letting her stay at his place, wasn't he? “Nice. But … it's just one man, an Alaska State Trooper.”

“Are you shitting me?”

“No. They don't have counties here, so there are no sheriffs or deputies. The troopers handle crime investigation.”

“I've seen the show.”

“He's all they typically need during the winter,” she explained. “But…”

“Tell me he has
some
experience with homicide.”

Unwilling to say anything
too
negative, because it made her feel disloyal, she hesitated.

“Is that a no?” Green pressed.

“He's caught people who illegally kill animals,” she said.

“Did you say
animals
?”

She rubbed her temples. “He spends a lot of his time protecting the fish and wildlife.”

“That's got to have a lot of crossover.” Sarcasm dripped from his words. “Now I understand why you're worried. Is he smart, at least? Dedicated to his job?”

“Absolutely.” He was also good in bed, she thought wryly. Although she didn't have much experience in that area herself, she could tell he knew what to do with a woman. But skill in making love wouldn't save her life or her life's work, so she returned her attention to the call.

“I wish you luck up there on the last frontier,” Green said, but he didn't sound as if he was holding out much hope she'd get through the coming days unscathed. She would have pointed that out, but she was too preoccupied to answer. She'd found the e-mail she'd been searching for and opened it.

She'd anticipated recognizing a few of the men Danielle had been with—and she did. Some were COs: Dean Snowden and Steve Dugall. That made her particularly angry. Others were clerical support. There was even a “Tim,” which was Dr. Fitzpatrick's name—not that she could imagine the stuffy doctor having sex with Danielle. He'd consider a young kitchen helper too far beneath his notice. Besides, there was a maintenance man by the same name who worked at HH.

Then she spotted something that made her slam her hands on the desk and jump to her feet. “Holy hell!”

“What is it?” Green asked.

She'd forgotten she was on the phone. “Oh … nothing.” Her mind raced as she floundered for something to say to explain her outburst. “It's just a … a spider. I've got to go,” she said, and hung up. Then she stood there, her breathing ragged, her mind reeling as she stared at the four letters that had hit her so hard.

It couldn't be, she thought. But it
had
to be, didn't it? She'd only ever met one person with the name Hugo.

*   *   *

Evelyn paced behind her chair as she waited for the man who could possibly answer so many of her questions. First and foremost she wanted to know why Hugo was listed in Danielle's little black book and how he came to be there.

Amarok hadn't included any measurements along with what he'd sent Evelyn. He probably didn't see that as relevant. But she was curious to know if Danielle had noted a length for Hugo. If not, maybe she hadn't been intimate with
every
man in that book. She could have been keeping track of those she'd
like
to sleep with, or the ones who had come on to her in the cafeteria. Maybe they'd even exposed themselves. Because she
couldn't
have had sex with Hugo. She couldn't have had sex with any of the other inmates Evelyn had seen listed, either—not unless …

Evelyn couldn't bear to consider the “unless.” It was the presence of the names of those COs, Dean Snowden and Steve Dugall, in addition to the inmates that made her uncomfortable. It suggested the COs had made some sort of an arrangement with Danielle—like a prostitution agreement where they charged the inmates to have sex with her and then split the money.

Evelyn had heard of inmates bribing guards for cell phones and cigarettes, even drugs. That happened all the time in other prisons, so she supposed it could happen here, too. And if the inmates could bribe the guards for those things, they might also be able to pay them to turn a blind eye to certain sexual activity. But surely the staff wouldn't
participate
. Especially
this
staff. She'd come to know the people she worked with and liked most of them—except Tim.

Hugo's inclusion on that list wasn't the only reason she was eager to speak with him, however. He had been urgently warning her that something was about to happen—and it had. He'd also been afraid that the COs would find out what he was telling her, and now she could see why that might be the case. A whistle-blower was not treated well in prison.

With a sigh, she pivoted and returned to her chair. At the house, she'd been so sure that Jasper was back. Hugo had said that Lorraine's death was all about her—that Lorraine had been chosen
because
Evelyn loved her—and she'd believed him. She'd been particularly susceptible to that suggestion because of her fears and insecurities. But he could've made that up just to frighten her. The men she studied would say almost anything to get a reaction.