Face Off (Dr. Evelyn Talbot Novels)

by Brenda Novak

  “I have,” Ashton said. “They left me a message several hours ago. They’ve matched the DNA.”

  “To Jasper’s?”

  “Yes. He was in the house where Charlotte was killed, no question.”

  “What about the blood from the cabin here in Alaska?”

  “Everything has to be double-checked by a supervisor, so they won’t release the results of that test quite yet. We probably won’t hear on that one until Monday, but I wanted to give you what news I had.”

  “Okay, so … if Jasper’s DNA was in Charlotte’s house, he killed her, as I’ve always suspected. He’d have no other reason to be there. Tim is innocent.”

  “That’s what it means to me, too. I’ll do everything I can to get Dr. Fitzpatrick released. But his DNA was also at the scene. We’ll have to see where that goes.”

  “What is it?” Brianne asked.

  Evelyn couldn’t choke back the tears. “We have a chance,” she said. “We have a chance to catch him.”

  Her sister grabbed her arm. “Jasper?”

  “Yes, Jasper!” Evelyn thanked Ashton and told him good-bye. She was so excited she couldn’t remain on the phone. Grabbing her purse, she hurried for the door, but Brianne stopped her before she could leave. “Where are you going?”

  “To the Moosehead to tell Amarok. They’ve found Jasper’s DNA at the scene where Charlotte was murdered! Tim Fitzpatrick is innocent. It was Jasper who killed Charlotte, and if he killed Charlotte, he killed Mandy, too.”

  “Wait! You’ve always believed that, haven’t you?”

  “Yes, but now we have proof.”

  “Jasper’s DNA was found beneath the fingernails of one of the women who were murdered in Peoria, and that hasn’t come to anything,” Brianne said. “Why is this so monumental?”

  “Because now Amarok can get a warrant for the flight manifests! We know Jasper was living in the Phoenix area with a wife and kids when he murdered his parents. In order to kill them in San Diego, he would’ve had to fly there, then go on to Boston that night or the next morning to kill Charlotte. Since he’d have no reason to stay after murdering her, and it would be best to get out of town, he most likely flew right back to Phoenix. So all we have to do is study the manifests to see who traveled from Phoenix to San Diego to Boston and back to Phoenix that week. There can’t be a lot of people who did that. Then we eliminate the names one by one until—”

  “Until you zero in on the alias he’s been using!” Brianne cried.

  Evelyn smiled through her tears. “Amarok was right. We’re going to get him.”

  * * *

  Amarok was sending the many pictures of tires he’d taken at the Moosehead last night to the expert, hoping for a cold hit, when the door to his trooper post flew open and slammed against the wall. Makita jumped to his feet and barked before recognizing Evelyn.

  “There you are!” She seemed to blow in, courtesy of the strong wind behind her. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I thought you were going to the Moosehead tonight.”

  He still planned to go to the bar at some point. He just hadn’t been able to summon the energy. But he hadn’t wanted to go home, either. He was finding it more and more difficult to be around her. She was breaking his heart. “I had some work to do.”

  He stood as she wrestled the door closed and crossed the floor. He was going to ask why she wasn’t at the house, having dinner with Brianne and Brianne’s new love interest, but he didn’t get the chance. She circumvented his dog and walked straight into his arms, caught his face between her hands and brought her mouth to his.

  Amarok told himself to set her away from him. He was determined to hold fast to his ultimatum. The relationship had to progress or they should break up and move on. But she was kissing him as if she was starved for the taste of him and, truth be told, he was starved for the taste of her, too. He’d never loved anyone so much. He kept telling himself he’d step away, but one moment passed on to the next and the passion only intensified.

  She was already unbuttoning his uniform when he realized he should lock the door. Although he didn’t get many visitors, he had to protect against the possibility that someone might barge in. But Amarok couldn’t make himself let go of Evelyn for even that long. He was afraid his resolve would return if he did. So he pulled her with him.

  Once no one could walk in on them, the clothes came off in earnest. Her coat and hat. His shirt. Her blouse. One shoe here and another there. She was unbuttoning his pants and unzipping his fly when he nudged her away to be able to move the stapler and a few other things off Phil’s desk so they could use it—he had too much paper on his own. Then he shoved up her skirt to remove her panties.

  “I hope this means what I think it means,” he said as his mouth slid down her neck to her breasts.

  She didn’t answer. She moaned and dropped her head back as he took her nipple in his mouth.

  God, this was good, Amarok thought. They belonged together. Couldn’t she see that? It didn’t matter that they were from different worlds, that she was seven years older, that her emotional scars sometimes created problems. She was the one for him, the one he couldn’t live without. Some things were just meant to be.

  “I need you.” She stared up at him as if those words held every bit as much meaning as he hoped. “Now. I can’t wait.”

  He kicked her panties aside. He was ready. Just the thought of her could get him hard. Even if she wasn’t making a commitment, he wasn’t going to miss out on this opportunity. For all he knew, it could be the last time he’d ever be able to make love to her.

  Her legs locked around him as he pushed inside her. “Yes!” she gasped. “There you are.”

  He was too caught up in what they were doing to talk. From that moment on, his world shrank to sensation. The feel of Evelyn. The scent of her. The sounds she made as he drove into her. He gave everything he had to this one act as if it might make a difference, might make her stay.

  When she cried out and he felt the spasm of her climax, he wished he could last longer, make her come again. But it was no use. He was barely hanging on. Closing his eyes, he stopped fighting the building tension.

  As the pleasure of his own orgasm started to ripple through him, so powerfully it spread goose bumps over his whole body, he wondered if she’d try to slide away at the last second or tell him to pull out, but she didn’t. She kept her legs locked around his hips as he came inside her.

  Hardly able to breathe for the frenzy that’d swept them both away, they struggled to recover as they stared at each other. “What just happened?” he asked.

  Her eyes never left his. “I think I just realized that I can’t live without you.”

  He smoothed the hair off her face. “You’re not leaving?”

  “I’m hoping I won’t have to, not for longer than a month or two, and that wouldn’t be until April, when the baby comes.”

  Already he wished he could make love to her again. He could never get enough of her. “What’s changed?”

  “We have a match on Jasper’s DNA.”

  * * *

  Amarok didn’t have time to react to Evelyn’s announcement. Someone was at the door. Makita barked as the handle rattled, then a knock sounded, sending them both scrambling to get dressed.

  Amarok finished first. He yelled out that he’d just be a minute while quickly replacing the items he’d knocked off Phil’s desk.

  “You ready?” he murmured as Evelyn grabbed her coat from the floor.

  She shot him a smile to signal that she was, and he turned the lock.

  As Amarok swung the door open, his body blocked Evelyn’s view for a moment. “You’re back?”

  “I have to tell you something.”

  Evelyn recognized that voice. Samantha …

  Since Makita was familiar with their visitor, he calmed down.

  “What is it?” Amarok stepped back so they could all see one another. Evelyn got the impression he wanted to be sure Samantha knew he wasn’t
alone, as if that might have some impact on what she said.

  Her eyes wandered over the little things they hadn’t yet straightened—like a pencil holder Amarok had missed picking up from the floor. Not to mention Evelyn’s mussed hair and slightly disheveled clothes.

  A hard glitter entered her eyes. She understood the kind of encounter she’d just interrupted. Maybe that was why she’d stopped by in the first place, because she’d seen Evelyn’s SUV parked next to Amarok’s truck out front and was hoping to insert herself in some way. “I just saw that weird guy again, the one who was lurking in the alley behind my shop.”

  “Where?” Amarok asked.

  She seemed sort of undecided for a second, but then she said, “He was hanging out in the parking lot of the Moosehead.”

  Was? She was already preparing Amarok for the fact that he wouldn’t be there when her report was checked.

  “You’re sure?” Amarok sounded skeptical. “Because no one else has seen anyone acting strange or suspicious. Only you.”

  Like Evelyn, Amarok obviously had the impression that she was lying.

  Samantha raised her chin to show that she was offended he’d doubt her word. “Why would I make that up?”

  They all knew why, but Amarok didn’t answer that question. “I’ll check it out.”

  He held the door as though he expected her to leave, but she lingered in spite of that. “You might want to go now,” she told him. “I doubt the guy will be there if you wait.”

  She wanted to split them up. Evelyn could easily tell.

  “You’ve made the report,” he said. “I’ll take it from here.”

  “But thanks for stopping by,” Evelyn added. She knew she shouldn’t get involved, but she couldn’t help herself. Samantha was so transparent.

  “Hello, Evelyn,” Samantha said, her expression hardening. “I hear you’re planning to move back to Boston soon.”

  The wind coming in through the open doorway prompted Evelyn to yank on her coat. “I’m not sure what my plans are quite yet.”

  “That’s too bad, because you can’t leave soon enough for me. After all, you’re the reason for the terrible trouble we’ve had.”

  Samantha had never liked her, and she’d made no secret of the fact. Still, Evelyn was surprised by her venom. She opened her mouth to respond, but Amarok jumped in.

  “That isn’t true.” Although he tried to step between them, Evelyn pulled him back.

  “Is that why you keep leaving such hateful notes on my car?” She never would’ve come right out and accused Sam if Sam hadn’t started this, but she wasn’t going to hold back now.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Samantha replied. “I wouldn’t waste my precious time on that. Or on you. But if you’re getting hateful notes, it just goes to prove I’m not the only one who thinks you don’t belong here.”

  “Fortunately, it’s a free country,” Evelyn said. “You’re not some Alaskan gatekeeper; you don’t get to decide who lives here and who doesn’t.”

  At that, Samantha gave her the most maleficent glare Evelyn had ever received, except from some of the psychopaths who’d wanted to kill her over the years. “Oh, come on. You’re going to leave eventually. What would a woman like you do out here for the rest of her life? Why don’t you quit screwing around? Especially with Amarok? You’re just leading him on. I know that even if he doesn’t!”

  Forever defensive of his master and whatever or whomever his master was defending, Makita growled soft and low. Amarok had just tensed and thrown his arm around Evelyn. To such a smart dog, that was all it took to signal there was a problem, and he was willing to help out with it.

  “If you can’t be decent, you need to go,” Amarok said.

  “Decent?” Sam cried. “I’m only saying what everyone else is thinking.”

  “Stop it! Evelyn is well liked here. Don’t try to make her feel that isn’t the case.”

  “How would you know? You can’t even see the real her!”

  “That’s it. Good-bye.” He was closing the door when she screamed, “I can’t wait until he finally kills her!” and stomped off.

  Evelyn found a chair and sank into it. “He being Jasper, I assume.”

  Amarok brought her a glass of water. “I’m sorry. That was rough, but don’t listen to her. She’s just…”

  “Jealous?”

  He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah, I guess.”

  Makita came over and rested his muzzle on her lap as if he was sorry about how Samantha had acted, too.

  “Tell me something…,” Evelyn said while scratching behind the dog’s ears.

  “What’s that?”

  “Would you go back to Samantha if I wasn’t here?”

  “No, and I’ve never led her to believe I would. She may see you as her rival, but I wouldn’t be interested, regardless.” He sat in his own chair and nudged Makita out of the way so he could roll it close to her. “Forget Sam, okay? She doesn’t mean anything to me.” He took both her hands. “Tell me what Ashton Cooper said.”

  Evelyn was still a little rattled, but she’d known all along that Amarok’s ex-girlfriend had no love for her. She attempted to shake off her distress as she regained her excitement over the DNA evidence and explained her conversation with Ashton. Thank goodness they’d been able to cull a profile from the material under the fingernails of that victim in Peoria and confirm that it was Jasper’s by matching it to his parents. Had they not done that, they couldn’t have linked Charlotte’s murder to Jasper and couldn’t push the investigation forward from there.

  “So we don’t know if it was Jasper who shot at me?” he said when she was done.

  “Not yet.”

  “Still, this is almost too good to be true. I’ll get moving on those manifests.”

  “How long do you think that’ll take?”

  He rolled back to his desk. “I might be able to get them by Monday. I’ll start with Southwest. Phoenix is their hub, so it makes sense that they’d have a lot of flights going out of there.”

  As she considered the logistics, Evelyn felt a little overwhelmed. “Sifting through all those records … We’re looking at a lot of work.”

  “Not necessarily. If I can get the manifests in Excel—or convert whatever kind of file they send me to an Excel file—I can add a field for the airline and flight number on each document. Then I can merge all of the records and alphabetize them to find the duplicates, so it might not take as many hours as we initially thought.”

  Makita nudged her hand with his cold, wet nose. “That’s hopeful,” she said as she scratched the dog.

  “Provided Jasper behaved the way we think he did, we might have what we need to arrest the son of a bitch by next Wednesday or Thursday.”

  Too overcome to speak, Evelyn got up and slid her arms around Amarok from behind.

  His hands came up to grip her arms. “If I can catch him, you’ll stay, right?”

  Even if they were finally able to apprehend Jasper, her family would have plenty of difficulties ahead of them. Especially Brianne with a new baby. But if Evelyn went back for a shorter time—a month or two—after the baby was born, that might be enough if only her family could put the past behind them. With Jasper in jail, looking at a life sentence, they’d have justice, resolution, a brighter hope for the future.

  Those were no small improvements.…

  “Yeah,” she said. “That might relieve my worry for them just enough to make it possible for me to stay.”

  26

  All the lights were off when Evelyn pulled into the driveway. Brianne must’ve gone to bed. Evelyn was tired, too. Fortunately, Andy was gone. Evelyn had stayed with Amarok and Makita at his trooper post for nearly two hours to give her sister plenty of privacy. She couldn’t understand why Brianne would have any interest in Andy Smith, but her sister was in a stressful situation. Maybe she saw something in Andy that Evelyn didn’t.

  Grateful that she wouldn’t have to face him again, E
velyn braced against the wind as she got out of her SUV and fought her way to the front door. When the wind blew this strong, it could bite through almost anything. Her coat felt more like a mesh screen as she fumbled with her keys so she could let herself in.

  The scent of the fire, which still burned in the hearth, couldn’t entirely overcome that of the salmon they’d had for dinner. She considered doing the dishes, knew that would help get rid of the residual odor, but she didn’t want to wake Brianne by clanging about in the kitchen. They could finish cleaning up in the morning, as she’d initially suggested. Brianne’s flight was a red-eye, so she didn’t have to be at the airport until evening. They’d have plenty of time.

  Evelyn would’ve gone straight to bed without turning on the lights, but she was worried that Sigmund might not have enough water. Although Amarok had said he’d be home soon, she doubted he’d remember to check. She didn’t want him to worry about it, anyway.

  After retracing her steps to the light switch near the front door, she set her purse and keys on the counter and was crossing the kitchen to Sigmund’s bowls when she saw several drops of red on the floor.

  “What’s that?” she murmured, but as soon as she bent down she knew it was blood.

  “Brianne?” Evelyn dashed down the hallway to the spare bedroom where her sister had been staying. Was she not asleep as Evelyn had originally thought?

  Sheer terror gripped her as she turned on the light.

  Brianne shoved herself up on one elbow and squinted at her. “What’s going on?”

  Weak with relief, Evelyn sagged against the doorframe.

  “Evelyn? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m okay.” She came into the room and sat on the foot of the bed. “I thought…”

  “What? You scared the hell out of me rushing in here and flipping on the light like that!”

  “I thought something might’ve happened to you.”

  Brianne blinked at her. “Why?”

  “Do I really need to explain? You’re aware of what’s happened here. We have a killer on the loose. Amarok and I are both afraid it’s Jasper, and he’d love nothing more than to hurt me in any way he can.”