Her Darkest Nightmare (37 page)

“
Why?
” she said. “Why go back and revisit that? He's in prison for the rest of his life. It's over.”

“For you, maybe. But I believe he's committed far more murders than the ones he's been charged for. The detectives investigating the Porn Poser are convinced he's their man. That's at least six more deaths right there. But they can't give the families of those victims any closure without proof.”

“Proof won't resurrect the dead.”

That was justification and fear talking. “It will answer their questions. Allow them to stop fighting for the truth. Give them more peace than they have now.”

“If I get involved, if I talk, Anthony will kill
me
! I'm the only wife he's had that he
hasn't
murdered.”

How could Evelyn convince her?

While she searched for just the right approach, she toyed nervously with the note Glenn Whitcomb had left with that brownie he'd tried to deliver to her last night. Besides letting her know he hadn't been able to learn anything about the transfer order, it said he'd brought a treat up from the kitchen because Lorraine wasn't around to do that type of thing for her anymore, which was thoughtful. She needed to call him next. “Anthony will never get out of prison, Courtney,” she said. “You said so yourself.”

“If only I could rely on that. But he's not quite forty. He's got a lot of years left to live. And you know how things go with prison sentences. Maybe Hanover House will get too crowded, and they'll let him out. Anything can happen.”

Evelyn understood those fears probably more than anyone else. She shared them. But she had to convince Courtney to come forward. “He's a convicted serial killer. He won't ever go free.”

“Says you. I can't stake my son's life on that!” she cried, and hung up.

Letting go of a long sigh, Evelyn shoved that note and the accompanying brownie away and sank deeper into her seat. But she didn't put down the phone. She kept staring at the handset, willing Courtney to come back on the line. The statement she'd made—
if I talk
—had grabbed Evelyn by the throat. Courtney knew something, something important.…

“Dr. Talbot?”

Evelyn shifted her attention to Penny, who'd poked her head in.

“The hospital called a minute ago. Hugo Evanski tried to escape and wound up going into cardiac arrest.”

Oh no. Not this.
“Is he dead?” she asked.

“The doctors are fighting to save him.”

She gave a single nod to acknowledge that she'd heard. She preferred Penny leave her to cope with the news alone, and Penny did—albeit hesitantly. Her assistant didn't know how to interpret her subdued response. Evelyn probably seemed strangely distant, but she was screaming inside. Somehow, someway, she had to get on top of what was going on and put a stop to it!

Finally setting the phone on its cradle, she checked the schedule, saw that Glenn wasn't due to come in until after noon and called him at home.

“I had no idea any of that was going on,” he said, sounding shocked once she told him about Danielle and Kush and Petrowski. “How could they be doing that right beneath our noses—and keep it so hush-hush?”

“They were careful, I guess.”

“Those bastards! They probably got Danielle killed. Maybe Lorraine, too. I swear to God, if that's the case—”

“Glenn, don't even think that way. Let the law handle it, however it turns out.”

“It would just be so wrong!”

“Who knows what all was going on. But … will you do me a favor?”

“Anything. You know that.”

“Will you continue to keep your eyes and ears open? Now that you know what's been happening, maybe you'll pick up on something.”

“Of course. It's just…”

Surprised by the reluctance in his voice, she hesitated. “What?”

“I hate to even bring this up, but … you don't think Dr. Fitzpatrick could be involved. I mean, from what I've seen,
he's
the one who's been acting strange.”

Her stomach tightened into knots again. Where had he gotten Tim's name? She hadn't led him there, hadn't mentioned anything about her fellow psychiatrist. “Strange in what way?”

“It could be nothing, which is why I haven't mentioned it. But when I went to escort Hugo back from one of their sessions together, it just … felt very odd, as if something had been going on that shouldn't be, you know? I heard Hugo say, ‘God, it was good to finally get a piece of that ass.' Then Dr. Fitzpatrick saw me and silenced him with a quick shake of his head. That makes me wonder if … if he wasn't aware of the whole thing.”

It made
her
wonder, too. But she'd already been wondering about Fitzpatrick's culpability—even in the murders. “There's no telling who's involved. Only Kush and Petrowski are for sure busted. They're about to be suspended. Hopefully they'll talk and we'll find out more. But, in case they don't finger everyone, let me know if you learn anything.”

“I will.”

“Thanks,” she said, and disconnected before coming to her feet. She had a meeting with the warden to talk about the forthcoming suspensions, since neither Kush nor Petrowski were working until later, and to discuss who else Ferris felt might be involved. Then she planned to view the videotapes of Fitzpatrick's sessions over the past few weeks. Doing so would keep her from her regular work and it was a shot in the dark—those tapes might not reveal anything important—but she had to go through them, just in case. At least they'd give her a glimpse into his recent life, show her who he'd been talking to and what he'd been saying, even how he'd been acting—with some of the COs as well as the inmates.

“Dr. Talbot?”

Penny was back at the door. “Yes?”

“Warden Ferris is waiting for you. He said you left an urgent voice mail that you needed to meet with him this morning.”

“Tell him I'm on my way,” she said. But she caught Penny before Penny could leave, asked her to let Ferris know it'd be another fifteen minutes and called Courtney back.

The phone rang so many times Evelyn assumed it would go unanswered. Her heart sank—but then she heard a timid, “Hello?”

Renewed hope charged through her. She had another chance. “Courtney?”

“Yes?”

“I'm sorry to bother you again. I really am. I don't like upsetting you. But someone has to fight Anthony. Do you understand? If that has to be me, I'm willing. But in this instance, I can't do it alone. I need you to take a stand with me, to help me put a stop to the terror that is Anthony Garza.”

“And what about my son?” she asked, breaking into tears. “Danny's only eight. Imagine how I'll feel if he gets hurt or killed!”

“I can't promise you that won't happen.” Evelyn had to be honest; Courtney needed to be aware of the chance she'd be taking—especially since, in the fervor of her desire to get Courtney to help, Evelyn had stated so unequivocally a few minutes earlier that Anthony would never get out. “But if Anthony Garza succeeds in intimidating you, in keeping you silent, he wins. He gets away with killing those poor women. And here's the thing. We don't really have a choice. We
have
to stop him and others like him.”

“You have no idea what he's like,” she responded. “How strong and determined he can be. After what I've learned over the past two years, I wouldn't put
anything
past him.”

“Is he the Porn Poser?” Evelyn asked.

There was a long silence. Courtney
wanted
to talk; Evelyn could sense it. “Courtney,
please
. Help me.”

“I have something here,” she said at length.

Evelyn sat up straight. “What is it?”

“A … oh God, I swore I'd never do this, never put myself in Anthony's sights again.”

Evelyn could hear the waver in her voice. “I understand why you'd make yourself that promise. No one understands better than I do.”

“If he ever gets out—”

“He'll be a lot less likely to get out if what you know ties him to another murder—or, better yet, a string of them.”

After a protracted silence, Courtney said, “It's a credit card.”

“A credit card?” Evelyn repeated.

“Before Anthony went to prison, he showed up at my house, out of the blue. I don't even know how he found me, which is partly why I'm so scared. Once I reached Kansas, I thought he was out of my life for good. But he knocked on my door one day and asked to see my son.”

“Your son isn't his son?”

“I had Danny before Anthony and I got together. But Anthony considers himself Danny's stepfather and claims to love him.”

“So what happened?”

“I'm ashamed to say I let Danny go with him for the day. He has an anger problem, but he's never hurt Danny, Danny was begging to go, and I hadn't yet heard about the murders. I didn't even know that Anthony had had so many other wives, let alone that they were dead. I was still blaming myself for most of the stuff that went wrong in our marriage—he was good at making me feel responsible.”

“Psychopaths have a knack for that,” Evelyn broke in. “So how'd Danny's day with Anthony turn out?”

“Luckily, fine. But when Anthony brought Danny home, Danny had a sack of candy with him. It was close to dinnertime, and I didn't want him eating any more of it, so after Anthony drove off, I took it away. I was going to toss the wrappers and save the rest. That's when I found the credit card.”

“It wasn't Anthony's.…”

“No. It was”–she paused as if she almost couldn't say it aloud—“it had a woman's name on it: Elaine Morrison.”

Elaine Morrison! She was one of the victims of the Porn Poser.

“Did he come back for it?”

“He didn't. I never saw him again. I'm not sure he's even aware of where it went. He's not the most organized person in the world.”

Penny popped her head in again to remind Evelyn that the warden was waiting, but Evelyn waved her off. “What did you do with that credit card?”

“I have it here. I figured it belonged to whatever new woman was in his life. So I put it in the cupboard in case he asked about it. I'm just lucky he didn't, and that I didn't have a number for him, or I would've called to let him know. I had no idea he was accused of murdering someone by that name. It wasn't until a week or so later that my cousin told me he was being charged for killing three women who had all been married to him at one time. And right about then, the news broke about an Elaine Morrison's body being found at the ski resort not far from where Anthony lived. It just … gave me chills. I can't explain how, but I knew in my heart that he was to blame before that detective even started calling me.”

“Detective Green has reached out to you?”

“On several occasions.”

“You never told him about the credit card, though?”

“I couldn't! I didn't dare. Anthony was going to prison. I figured that was good enough.”

“But it's not,” Evelyn argued gently. “You understand why.”

“I do. In my heart I've always known.”

“So will you come forward? Tell Detective Green what you told me?”

There was no response.

“Courtney, let's hold Anthony accountable for his actions. Will you do it?”

Still nothing.

“Don't let him beat you—beat all of us!”

At last, Courtney sniffed and muttered, “Okay.”

Evelyn leaned on her desk, nearly spent from the adrenaline coursing through her body. “Thank you. I can only imagine how grateful Elaine's family will be. And the other victims, too. This might be the link Detective Green needs to charge Anthony with all six of the Porn Poser murders.”

“Will Anthony find out I'm the one who came forward?” she asked in a small voice.

Evelyn wished she could say no, but … “I'm afraid there isn't any way to avoid that.”

“He's going to wish he'd killed me.”

“How is it that he didn't? How were you any different from the women he'd been with before?”

“I've asked myself that so many times,” she said. “But I have no idea. He was having an affair with our neighbor when I left him. And I didn't try to take anything—no money, no furnishings. I'd seen his temper. To me, fighting over that stuff wasn't worth the rage it would evoke. I was just glad to get out with my son. So maybe it was that I never made him mad enough. Or he let me live for Danny's sake.”

“What are Anthony's parents like?” Evelyn asked.

“That's the thing,” Courtney replied. “They're
really
nice. They don't deserve a son like him.”

Evelyn got up to stand at the window. “No one deserves a son—or a husband—like Anthony Garza. Don't worry, Courtney. He'll never be able to hurt you again,” she said, and got Detective Green on the line.

*   *   *

Amarok's meeting with Tim Hancock proved enlightening, enlightening enough that he headed over to Hanover House next. It was time to talk to the other “Tim” in Danielle's book—Dr. Fitzpatrick.

Evelyn's chief colleague tried to put him off by citing how busy he was and how he couldn't be late for his next appointment or it would throw his schedule off for the rest of the afternoon. But Amarok wasn't about to accept that. He had a murder investigation on his hands, and he was doing everything he could, as quickly as possible, to solve it. So he threatened to drive Fitzpatrick down to his trooper post for the interview, pointing out how much more time
that
would require, and only then did Evelyn's colleague agree to a quick sit-down in his office.

“So here we are,” Fitzpatrick said from behind his big desk.