Face Off

by Brenda Novak

  That was a lame excuse for sleeping over. She was fighting something much bigger than the weather, and he knew it. But he didn’t call her on her bullshit. “Are you sure you’ll be able to get enough rest there?”

  She’d get a lot more than she would at home, listening to the storm rage and fearing that each scratch or bump was Jasper trying to break in. If it was Jasper who’d taken and/or killed Sierra, maybe that was why he’d done it—to draw Amarok away from her. That would be like him. He was the craftiest killer she’d ever met. He could look people in the face and make the most outlandish lie seem completely credible. “I should. Tomorrow’s Saturday, so it’ll be quiet around here. It’s not as though the staff will be showing up bright and early.”

  “They won’t be showing up at all, will they?”

  “No, but some of the psychology team could come in to work on one of our studies or catch up on paperwork, like I’m doing.”

  “I wish I could pick you up and take you home with me.”

  He was worried about her. “I’m fine,” she insisted. “You have to do your job.”

  After that, they talked about Brianne. Amarok had called her since Evelyn had rushed off to work, and she’d agreed to come. She was trying to get a plane ticket. Then they confirmed that Sigmund, the cat, had enough food. He did, because Evelyn had filled the automatic feeder just this morning. Amarok had left Makita at home so she’d have the dog with her tonight, but he’d sent Phil over to walk him and feed him at dinnertime, so Makita was set until morning, too. As the conversation was winding down, Amarok asked, “Have you called your doctor yet?”

  The change in subject threw her, but she could tell he’d been waiting to ask this question through most of the other chitchat. “About what?”

  “About that appointment for me to be tested.”

  She held her breath. He was talking about testing his fertility so they could have a child, but she wasn’t going to make that appointment. Not now. She couldn’t go through a pregnancy in her current condition, didn’t think she could do it until Jasper was caught, and she was beginning to lose faith that would ever happen. “Amarok…”

  He sighed when he heard the reluctance in her voice. “Don’t answer. I already know what you’re going to say,” he said, and hung up.

  Evelyn’s chest constricted as she stared down at the phone. At first, she thought she couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. But the next thing she knew, a blinding rage welled up from somewhere deep inside her, and she started bashing the handset into the base, breaking the phone. “Damn you, Jasper!” she screamed. “Damn your rotten, evil soul!”

  She’d cut her hand by the time she sank, sobbing, to the floor.

  * * *

  Jasper was hungover when he drove up to the prison. The night with the stripper hadn’t gone well. He’d managed to refrain from hurting her or losing his temper to the point that she’d remember it and tell others he was dangerous. But he had only so much restraint, and he’d used all of it. Just remembering how resistant she’d been to letting him do certain things made him angry. She’d snorted his coke, gotten what she wanted, but left him unsatisfied.

  He should’ve forced her, should’ve taken her to his dungeon, tortured and killed her for her defiance. He’d recently dumped two bodies; he could always dump a third. But he’d been seen with her at the club, so he resisted that urge. He couldn’t let anyone know about his dungeon, especially someone he planned to keep alive. That room was reserved for Evelyn.

  As he stopped at the security checkpoint by the perimeter fence, he barely grunted at the guard who came out to check his ID and inspect his truck using a mirror to see the undercarriage. He was too busy wondering if it wouldn’t be better to say he was sick and go back home. That raw hunger, the beast that rose up inside him and made him crave the darkest of things, was so close to the surface, so difficult to control. If he wasn’t extremely careful, he’d do something to give himself away.

  But then he saw Evelyn’s SUV parked in her covered spot and stomped on the brake. What was she doing at the prison? She often came in on weekends or after hours, but this was four in the morning on a Saturday. He’d never seen her here at that time before.

  The thought that she and Amarok might’ve had a fight, that she might’ve stayed over because of some discord between them, filled him with excitement. Suddenly he knew he wouldn’t be able to make himself leave right away. He wanted to be where she was. The thought of her sleeping over, so unaware of the danger he posed and so accessible to him with no one else in that entire wing, made him hard.

  He had to adjust himself before he could continue into the parking garage, where prison employees who weren’t privileged enough to get a parking space close to the building had to leave their cars.

  In a perfect world, he’d bring Evelyn to live with him while he continued to work at the prison and everyone else went out of their minds wondering what’d happened to their beloved champion of victims’ rights. That was what he’d hoped for, what he’d planned. But since that woman staying at the cabin had discovered Kat’s body and he’d had to kill her, he should change his plan.

  Sometimes one had to take what one could get.

  11

  Evelyn was sleeping so deeply it took her a moment to realize someone was banging on the door.

  She opened her eyes. She was still at the office. In the oblivion of sleep she’d lost track of that, of everything. But even though the lighting in the common area outside the conference room was dimmer than usual—thanks to the hour and the facility’s attempt to conserve energy when the offices weren’t in use—she could see well enough to determine where she was. She couldn’t understand why anyone would be demanding entrance to this part of the building, though.

  Was there an emergency?

  Just in case, she struggled to regain full mental power quickly and sat up, blinking against the darkness immediately surrounding her.

  Rap. Rap, rap, rap.

  More knocking. As she left the conference room and started through the maze of cubicles that provided working spaces for the support staff, she checked the clock on the wall. It was only four thirty. She’d slept less than three hours. No wonder she felt as though she’d been run over by a bus—or, in this part of the world, maybe that cliché should be “run over by a snowplow.”

  Even before she could figure out who was trying to rouse her, she knew it was a CO. She could see the uniform through the glass, but not the face. The reflection of what light she did have hit at exactly the wrong place, and he was looking back behind him.

  Then he turned—and smiled.

  Evelyn’s stomach dropped as she realized it was Andy Smith. She’d had an aversion to him before he’d torn up Bobby Knox’s photograph of his grandmother. Since that incident, she liked him even less.

  What could he possibly want, especially at this hour?

  “What is it?” she called through the glass.

  He raised a Styrofoam cup, probably filled with coffee, and a plate that held a donut. “I thought if you were working this late you might need a little fuel.”

  Did he have to wake her up for that? She lifted a hand to indicate she wasn’t interested in the food. “That’s very nice of you, but no thanks.”

  “You don’t want to take them for the morning?”

  He was only trying to be nice. Maybe he felt bad about what he’d done to Bobby Knox and this was his way of compensating.

  Regardless of her feelings about him, he’d saved her life. She should show him a little forgiveness and consideration.

  With a sigh, she turned the lock.

  * * *

  Jasper hadn’t felt so alive in years. His plan to get to Evelyn by working at the very institution she’d created was going to pan out, just not the way he’d initially envisioned. That came as a disappointment. He’d put so much work into his cellar. And Evelyn had cost him so much, he owed her more than a quick death.

  But he’d already told his s
ergeant that he wasn’t feeling well and had to go home, so it didn’t have to be too quick. He’d have at least an hour to spend with her, during which no one would have any reason to come looking for him. He’d rape her with everything he could find before he killed her in the most brutal way possible. Then he’d leave her body in her office, walk right out of the prison and disappear.

  Everyone would eventually realize he was responsible, of course. He wouldn’t be able to work in the prison system ever again. But he didn’t want to, anyway. That had always been nothing more than a means to an end. There was a woman out there somewhere who’d be willing to take care of him; he’d never been unable to find one. He’d shave his beard, let his hair go back to its natural color, assume a new identity, marry and use his new wife to provide for his needs. Meanwhile what he’d done here in Hilltop would have a chance to cool off. If anyone could start over from scratch, he could. He’d been on the run his whole life. And even though this form of revenge wouldn’t be quite as satisfying as torturing Evelyn on a daily basis—practically under the nose of the man who professed to love her—he’d take pleasure in knowing he’d won the battle with her at last and Amarok would suffer and go on suffering for a long time.

  When she accepted the plate and the coffee and began to thank him, however, the phone rang. As she hurried over to one of the reception desks to answer it, he followed her inside and paused to lock the door.

  Since this section of the prison didn’t house inmates and it was the middle of the night when no one was expected to be working, the offices weren’t well lit.

  He considered that a positive.

  “Who is it?” he heard her say. “Oh, Leland! Of course I know who you are. But … who gave you this number?… I’m sure Margaret thought she was helping, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything.… You’ll have to talk to Amarok.… No, you’re wrong. He is working on it. If he hasn’t contacted you tonight it’s because he’s been busy.”

  Jasper stood as close to Evelyn as he dared, at least while she had access to the outside world. He loved the smell of her, the rumpled look of her, too. He could see the scar on her neck he’d created when he was only seventeen, loved that he’d left a mark she had to see every time she looked into a mirror. Those days had brought him some of his best memories. He’d relished finally giving in to the fantasies he’d entertained from as young as he could remember.

  He wished for a knife, for the ability to reopen that old wound. But he didn’t have one. So he imagined wrapping the phone cable around her neck and cutting off her air instead. Watching her suffocate as the realization dawned that the man she’d been looking for since she was sixteen was standing right in front of her—that he was Jasper Moore and had been working with her for months—would be such a rush.

  He flexed his hands and rose up on the balls of his feet in anticipation. But he forced himself to hold out a little longer. If he interrupted the conversation, Leland would very likely call back and, when he couldn’t reach her, send someone over from the prison side to investigate. That wouldn’t give him nearly long enough time to enjoy something he’d looked forward to for so many years.

  As soon as she set the phone down, she was his.…

  “Leland, these things take time.”

  Jasper smiled when she sent him an apologetic look and leaned against one of the cubicles.

  “Listen to me,” she went on. “He’s in Anchorage with evidence collected at the cabin.… Yes, there was evidence.…”

  Jasper’s breath caught in his throat. What was she talking about? Before Leland and his party had arrived, he’d cleaned that cabin like he’d never cleaned anything before.

  But why get worked up? Now that there’d been a change of plans, whatever evidence he might’ve left behind wouldn’t matter.

  “I can’t tell you what it involves.… You’ll need to talk to Amarok.… He doesn’t have a cell phone. No one has a cell phone in Hilltop. We don’t have coverage.… I’m sure you’ll hear from him in the morning.… Trust me, he’s doing all he can.”

  Irritated by the delay, Jasper was tempted to give her the windup sign. What more could she say to the sniveling brother of the woman he’d killed? The man was wasting his time and everyone else’s. He wasn’t getting his sister back. She was dead, her body dumped, permanently this time, in a wilderness area on the other side of Anchorage!

  Evelyn tried to console Leland for another few minutes before politely telling him she had to go.

  Jasper felt an electric spark as the conversation finally came to a close. The moment—his moment—was coming. But as soon as she hung up someone startled them by banging on the door.

  Jasper turned to see that a CO was trying to get in.

  “You locked it?” Evelyn asked, a puzzled expression on her face.

  Jasper shrugged to indicate he hadn’t meant to do anything wrong. “You had it locked, so I thought you wanted it like that.”

  She started to say that hadn’t been necessary but stopped and simply shook her head. The CO was rapping on the door as though he couldn’t wait even a second for a response.

  Jasper ground his teeth as she went to see who it was. He couldn’t believe this CO could be looking for him, so he wasn’t worried. He had permission to leave the prison, could say he’d just come up to make sure the doc—as most of the COs affectionately called her—was okay before he went home.

  “Dr. Talbot, I’m so glad you’re here.” It was “Easy” Hyde, who’d started at the prison only two months ago. They used nicknames at Hanover House so much—not for everyone but for their favorites, which was probably why Jasper didn’t have one—that Jasper had no idea what the dude’s real name was. But his corpulent face was flushed and sweaty—ridiculous as far as Jasper was concerned. Someone needed to kick his fat ass and make him lose weight.

  “What’s wrong?” Evelyn looked worried as she let in the obese guard. “Why are you so upset?”

  Easy’s gaze shifted from Evelyn to Jasper and back again, but he was too caught up in whatever he wanted to convey to express any surprise that “Andy” was with her. “I got off at four, but I hung out here for a while, hoping the storm would ease off. I didn’t want to tackle driving home in a blizzard. But the moment the snow let up, I went out to get in my brand-new truck.”

  “Don’t tell me someone crashed into it while it was parked in the garage,” she said.

  “No. Worse than that. When I came around the back of it, I saw something hanging from the axle underneath, you know? I don’t know how the COs at the checkpoint missed it with their mirrors. They probably thought, like me, that it was a hank of long grass. But when I reached out to tear it away, I realized it was … It was…”

  The big baby choked up. Jasper longed to punch him for being such a pussy, but he also felt his muscles go taut with expectation. He could guess what Easy was going to say.

  Evelyn touched Easy’s arm to soothe his distress. “What was it?”

  Instead of answering, he opened the bag he carried to show her, and she immediately covered her mouth and turned away. “Please tell me that isn’t what it looks like,” she said.

  “It is!” he cried. “It’s a handful of human hair attached to part of a scalp!”

  “Oh my God.” Gripping the side of the cubicle closest to her, she put her head down as if trying to avoid passing out.

  “Are you okay?” Jasper feigned concern to be able to touch her shoulder. He couldn’t believe how wonderful it felt to put his hands on her after so long. Especially because he knew she wouldn’t recoil, couldn’t rebuff his kindness without being rude, and she was never rude.

  She straightened slowly, but when she threw her shoulders back he knew she was tamping down her distress, taking charge. “I’m fine. Thanks again for the donut and coffee,” she said, and started walking him out.

  Knowing his opportunity had disappeared, he didn’t try to resist.

  “We’ll call Amarok right away,” she told Easy as sh
e opened the door for Jasper. “Maybe he’ll want Phil to take what you’ve found to him, so he can submit it with the other evidence on this case first thing in the morning.”

  “What case?” Jasper heard Easy ask as he stepped out of the office.

  Apparently, not everyone had heard about the missing woman, even though, with Leland and the rest of his party staying in town, Hilltop had to be abuzz with the news.

  Whatever Evelyn said in response was lost when the door swung shut, cutting Jasper off from the conversation.

  He muttered a curse as he got on the elevator that would take him down to the first floor. He’d come so close. It made him more frustrated than ever to leave empty-handed, doubled the anger he’d felt after he’d had to let that stripper go. But with Amarok as busy as he was, Jasper would have other chances—probably plenty of them.

  And it only took one.

  * * *

  “Say that again?” Amarok’s voice was thick with sleep. Evelyn could tell he wasn’t completely lucid, but he was lucid enough to speak quietly. No doubt he was trying not to wake his father and his father’s wife.

  After Andy Smith had left, Evelyn had beckoned Easy into her office. They couldn’t use the phone in the conference room; she’d destroyed it. “It’s me.”

  “I guessed that as soon as I heard the phone ring,” Amarok said. “That’s why my heart’s in my throat. It’s like … what … five in the morning? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She cringed when Easy, who was obviously eager to get rid of what he was holding, set the sack with the hair and scalp on her desk between them. “Sorry to drag you out of bed. You must be exhausted. But I’m with a CO who’s discovered something you need to know about.”

  “What is it?”

  “Human hair.”

  “You did say human hair?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t understand.…”

  She shuddered as a vision of what the sack contained passed before her mind’s eye. “It’s attached to a pretty good chunk of scalp.”