by Brenda Novak
“I believe it is,” she said. “This is just between you and me, since Sergeant Amarok hasn’t officially identified the body that’s been found, but I’m almost positive it’s Danielle Connelly.”
What little color there was in his face drained away. “The girl who went missing a couple of days ago? The one who worked in the kitchen with Lorraine?”
“Yes.” She wondered if Tim was aware of Danielle’s behavior, but she didn’t bring it up. She saw no need to destroy the victim’s reputation—not that Danielle’s promiscuity was likely to remain secret for long with Amarok poking around, asking questions. Thanks to the number of men Danielle had been with, it couldn’t be much of a secret now, at least in some circles.
“Don’t tell me it was another decapitation,” Fitzpatrick said.
“Possibly. What we found was a severed limb—a hand with part of the arm attached. Nothing more, so far.”
He grimaced. “It’s not Lorraine’s arm.”
“No.”
“Where?”
Feeling light-headed at the memory, Evelyn sank into her seat in case she was about to pass out. “In my bed.”
Resting his knuckles on her desk, he lowered his face. “Not at your cabin!”
“Yes.”
After taking a few seconds to digest this, he backed into the chair she’d offered him earlier and perched, in a typically uncoordinated fashion, on the edge of it. “Tell me everything.”
She described the events of the previous night—getting home to a cold house with no alarm sounding and finding her missing cat in her bed with that hand and those taped fingers.
“Jasper,” he said.
He was almost as familiar with the details of her case as she was. All the doctors on the team had heard her story. She couldn’t help but refer to Jasper, since she related everything she learned about psychopaths to her own harrowing experience. “I can’t imagine who else it could be.”
“This must be … extra difficult for you,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry for Danielle and Lorraine,” she responded. “It’s bad enough that he killed them, but … if it was Jasper, if he followed me here, there will be more victims unless he’s stopped.”
“What will you do?”
Only when he settled deeper into the chair was she able to relax. He always put her on edge. “What can I do? Be careful. Keep my eyes open. Press forward in my studies so that he doesn’t take from me what I’ve managed to establish. And hope that Amarok can catch him before he hurts anyone else.”
“The sergeant is … young.”
No one knew that better than she did. Amarok was in the prime of his life. If she’d had any doubt, getting naked with him had proven it. The body she’d felt against her own when they’d nearly made love had been every woman’s fantasy. “Young doesn’t equate with stupid.”
“I was referring to his inexperience.”
Sure he was. She’d heard how patronizing he’d been to Amarok. “He’s requesting permission from the Department of Public Safety to contact the FBI, to see if he can get them involved.”
He hooked one long leg over the other. “That’s great to hear. But you can no longer remain in your cabin alone. You realize that.”
“I do. It would be a foolish risk to take, since it’s so isolated.” And since her alarm had counted for next to nothing.…
“You’re welcome to stay at my place.”
She would never go there, not after he came on to her. Just thinking of sleeping so close to him made her skin crawl. “Thanks. That’s a very nice offer. But Amarok’s taking my stuff to his place this morning. I’ll be with him for a few days until … until we can figure out what’s going on. That’s why I asked Penny to care for Sigmund. Amarok has a dog who may not be thrilled to have a feline for company.”
He seemed to bristle at this response. “You’d prefer his place over mine, or someone else’s on the team?” he added as if to cover for his displeasure.
“He has a gun and he knows how to use it.”
“A lot of people have guns, including you. You can shoot. You’ve told me so. Besides, you barely know Sergeant Amarok. Surely, you won’t feel comfortable there. What about Stacy?”
The only female member of their team would be a likely choice, if the circumstances were different. “I called to check on her before I left the house. She’s still in a lot of pain.”
“I bet she wouldn’t mind having you in the house. She could probably use the company.”
“She has her husband with her. And her pit bull.”
“Maybe you can move to Stacy’s once she’s feeling better.”
Before Evelyn could say she had no plans to do that, he asked, “Any idea when she’ll be back in the office?”
“None. My grandmother had the shingles a few years ago, so I know how they can linger. She’s on a lot of meds for the pain, told me it’ll probably be another two weeks.”
“There’s always Russ. He has room for you.”
“Tim, stop. I’ll be fine at Amarok’s.”
He brushed a spec of lint off his pants. “I’m just trying to help, Evelyn.”
Sure he was. “I appreciate that.”
“Did you tell Stacy what’s going on?” he asked.
“I did. To warn her.”
He nodded but stiffly. “That’s a good idea, but I still can’t believe you’d rather stay with Sergeant Murphy than one of us.”
She ignored the censure in his voice. Besides the obvious jealousy, he seemed to feel as if anyone outside their small circle of academics would be too uncouth to associate with. “His place is closer to the prison. I’ll be able to stay abreast of the investigation, help with it where possible.”
One eyebrow lifted above the other. “Is that all? Or is there something going on between you?”
Her love life was none of his business. She was surprised he would even ask after how quickly he’d backpedaled when she rejected him. “It’s the wisest thing for me to do, for the time being,” she replied. “Anyway, now that I’ve delivered the bad news, what did you need to see me about?”
He seemed reluctant to proceed.
“Doctor?”
“It’s Hugo Evanski,” he finally admitted.
Thank God it wasn’t Anthony Garza. “What about him?” She’d missed her session with him this morning. But certainly, after what she’d been through, Fitzpatrick wasn’t going to harangue her about keeping her appointments. No one was more dedicated to HH than she was.
“Officer Whitcomb came to see me about him.”
“Glenn?” Evelyn clasped her hands more tightly together. “Why would he do that?”
“He’s concerned about your safety. He says Hugo spends an inordinate amount of time trying to convince you to meet with him privately.”
“I already meet with him privately, three times a week.”
He leaned forward again. “I mean while foregoing the usual safety precautions.”
Irritation bit deep. “Why did Officer Whitcomb carry his concerns to you?” As much as she liked Glenn, that felt like a personal betrayal.
“He’s afraid you might someday agree.”
“Then he should’ve spoken to me,” she said. But she could see him thinking he was helping by trying to look after her, to protect her.
“He thought maybe I could have a talk with you, remind you that doing so would be a mistake.”
“I’m aware of the danger, Tim.”
“Good. Because whatever information Evanski is promising is merely an attempt to lure you into a compromising situation. You understand how these guys work. You’d be putting yourself in jeopardy for nothing. For lies.”
Normally, she would’ve agreed. But recent events had imbued Hugo’s warnings and fears with an air of authenticity. Remembering how strongly he’d cautioned her of danger sent a chill down her spine. At a minimum, his behavior raised some questions.
“What if he does know something about wh
at’s going on?” she asked.
“He couldn’t.” Fitzpatrick replied without even considering the possibility. “Like his fellow inmates, he’s particularly adept at ascertaining the vulnerabilities of others. That’s all. Don’t let him play on yours.”
What Fitzpatrick said was probably true. Hugo had never met Jasper, would have no way of knowing whether her old flame was in Alaska. That right there told her Hugo was merely creating drama. Most psychopaths required more stimulation than regular people. Maybe this was how Hugo had decided to create some excitement.
“I can take care of myself,” she assured Fitzpatrick.
“Happy to hear it. After that Anthony trick … well, I thought it might be best to go over the rules.”
She bit her tongue when he sent that as his parting salvo. She hated rude comments that were delivered with a smile, and Tim used that tactic often. But she refused to take the bait.
Eager to be rid of him, she smiled back. She’d never really liked Fitzpatrick. There were several other prominent psychiatrists she would rather have worked with—but none who were willing to move to Alaska. She’d figured out early on that if she wanted HH to become a reality she’d have little choice in partners.
He headed for the door, but she stopped him. “What are we going to do about Lorraine? We can’t limp along without her indefinitely. She was an integral part of the food service program.”
“Warden Ferris has placed an ad in the Anchorage paper. He’s posted on Craigslist, too. He’ll start interviewing as soon as possible.”
Evelyn had helped staff the center before it opened. But now she didn’t have time to handle the interviews. She didn’t care to be involved in finding Lorraine’s replacement, anyway. It didn’t seem fair that they could simply hire someone else and move on. No one would be like Lorraine; no one could be.
Still, Evelyn had to be practical, had to make sure the inmates were fed, and they could only get by with a skeleton crew for so long. I’m sorry, Lorraine. She touched her desk where Lorraine would’ve left a tray for breakfast had she been alive. I’m going to miss you.
“One more thing.” Fitzpatrick’s long fingers curled around the doorframe as he turned back.
Evelyn drew a deep breath. “Yes?”
“That detective from Utah that you’ve been keeping in touch with?”
“Detective Green?”
“He called earlier.”
“He has more for me on the Porn Poser investigation?”
“That’s my guess.”
But how would Fitzpatrick know that the detective had tried to reach her? It wasn’t as if he answered the telephones at the prison. “You spoke with him?” she asked in confusion.
“I had a call at the same time and picked up the wrong line.”
“I see.” She eyed Anthony Garza’s file, which continued to rest on the corner of her desk. He’d been at HH for two days, but she hadn’t yet had the chance to add her own evaluation. “Did Green say what kind of information he has?”
“No.”
“Okay.” She took a sip of her coffee. “How’s Garza doing, by the way?”
“You don’t want to talk about him. Not after what you went through last night,” he said, and disappeared.
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 a
ll 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.”
