Her Darkest Nightmare (28 page)

“But if I've ever loved anyone or anything … it was you,” he finished.

Evelyn felt like crying but refused to let herself. “I appreciate that.”

“I hope … you'll miss me.” He managed a grimace that passed for a smile. “At least a little,” he added, and then the doctor and nurse wheeled him into the hall, moving quickly toward the elevator.

Evelyn stayed in the emergency bay and gazed through the small slit that passed for a window, wondering if the helicopter coming from Anchorage would be able to land. It wasn't snowing, but large gusts of wind swayed the trees beneath the bright perimeter lights along the fence.

The mental image of the helicopter crashing into the side of the building made her shudder.

Please, God, don't let that happen.
No way did she want to feel responsible for any more loss of life.

“Maybe I won't miss you, but … I'll certainly never forget you,” she muttered to Hugo, finally answering his question even though she now stood alone.

 

18

What I did is not such a great harm, with all these surplus women nowadays. Anyways, I had a good time.

—RUDOLF PLEIL, GERMAN SERIAL KILLER

Archie Rubin sat inside Amarok's truck, which he'd left running to help ward off the cold. This wasn't an interview Amarok felt comfortable conducting inside the man's home. His wife was there and his kids would soon be back from school. But Amarok couldn't afford the time it would take to drive him down to the trooper post, not when he had so many people to interview.

“What's going on, Amarok?” Archie looked nervous. “Mia's got to be wondering why you'd want to talk to me.”

Archie's wife stood at the kitchen window, gazing out at them, making her curiosity apparent.

“For your sake, it's better to let her wonder than to allow her to listen in on our conversation, Archie,” he said.

He began to fidget. “Am I in trouble?”

Amarok didn't answer. Archie would probably be in trouble with his wife but not necessarily from the law. “I need you to tell me the last time you saw Danielle Connelly.”

He didn't hesitate. “Down at the Moosehead a week ago last Friday, why?”

“You haven't heard?”

“She's gone missing. Everyone in town is talking about it. But I didn't do anything to her. I swear. I'll take a lie detector test or whatever you want to prove it.”

Amarok studied Mia through the window. “It's not that easy. Did you have sex with Danielle?”

He cursed as his gaze fell to his boots.

“Is that a ‘yes'?”

A sheepish expression stole over his face. “I'd had too much to drink. And I was with Bill Tate. You know how Bill is.”

“Everyone knows how Bill is.” A boisterous, barrel-chested man with a long beard, Bill was the life of any party. “Problem is … I wasn't asking about Bill.”

“I know you weren't. But he said all the guys were doing it, that she put out every time she showed up at the Moosehead.” He sighed as he raked a hand through his hair. “She liked getting down and dirty, liked it rough. What I did with her, though … it didn't mean anything.”

“But you did have sex with her.”

“Mia and I have been having problems since I hurt my back and can't work. We're struggling to pay the rent, buy groceries, gas … and that's causing some strain. You understand how it is. I hadn't had a woman act like she wanted me in”—he let his words fade before starting up again—“in a long time. That was a powerful temptation. But I love my wife,” he added. “I-I want to work things out with her if I can.”

Amarok frowned. “I doubt this will help.”

His hands flexed and released. “Does she have to find out?”

The pleading in his eyes made Amarok uncomfortable. “The way this is going? The whole community will probably learn what's been going on.”

“But … I got kids, man.”

Amarok didn't comment on that. He hated to see one stupid act destroy a family, but Archie's employment record was another strike against him. He worked as a roughneck when he could get on with one of the oil companies that drilled nearby, but it seemed as if injuries, or personality differences, always got in the way.

“Who else spent time with Danielle that night?” Amarok asked—and how the hell did
he
miss that nearly the whole male population of his hometown were screwing the new girl?

He'd been too focused on his love-hate relationship with Dr. Talbot and HH, he supposed. He'd been watching them both from afar, blind to everything except his own desire and frustration—desire for the doc and frustration that he'd allowed a prison housing the worst humans in the country to be built so close to his home.

Archie chuckled without mirth. “You're kidding, right? Almost everyone at the bar. I didn't want to be the only one to miss out. Some of the other guys were married, too.”

“I know.” Amarok had them on his lists—both the one he'd culled from Danielle's and the one Shorty had provided. They were adulterers, for sure, but Amarok couldn't believe that any of the men he'd known for so long had suddenly turned into a cold-blooded killer. He was more suspicious of what might have changed in Hilltop over the past several weeks—the new folks who'd entered the area—and hoped the men who'd been with Danielle could tell him what was different. “Were there any strangers at the Moosehead that night? Anyone you didn't recognize?”

“There were a couple of COs from Hanover House who sat in the back room with her, watching the whole thing.”

“They didn't participate?”

“Maybe before I got there. When I went in, they were just coaxing her to have another drink.”

“Would you say they acted like they were orchestrating the whole thing?”

“No. They didn't charge any of her … partners, if that's what you're getting at. Or, if they did, I didn't hear about it. No one asked
me
for money, which is why I thought it wasn't that big of a deal and it could just … fade into the past.”

Amarok adjusted the heat before checking the house to see that Mia was still looking out at them. Even if Archie hadn't been charged any money, there'd be a price.… “Participating in a train is pretty disgusting. You weren't worried about catching a venereal disease?”

“They had condoms—a whole bowl of them. But she was wearing a birth control patch on her arm—plain for all to see—so a lot of the guys didn't bother.”

More proof of her addiction to risk, to adrenaline. A birth control patch didn't protect her from AIDS and other venereal diseases. “What about you?”

“I wore a rubber. I didn't want to bring anything home to my wife—especially after I heard Danielle joking about getting it on with the inmates at Hanover House.”

“She was
joking
about that?”

“She said none of us could fuck better than they could.”

Hanover House. Again. As far as Amarok was concerned, it was a cancer to the whole area. “Those men are locked up, Archie. Did she say how she was spending private time with them?”

“The COs must be helping. They were getting quite a kick out of it all. One chimed in that the inmates would do
anything
for a few minutes with Danielle.”

“Do you remember the names of those COs?”

“Kush. One was Kush. I can't recall the other. I'm not sure I ever heard it. He wasn't from around here.”

Amarok rested his hands on the steering wheel. “Is there anything else I should know, Archie?”

He shook his head. “It was a quick bang and that was it. Except…”

Amarok eyed him, waiting for him to continue.

“Except before she'd let me touch her, she insisted on measuring my … my cock. She said she was looking to screw the biggest one in Alaska.”

“She was that open about it?”

“She had no shame—none whatsoever. And I was too drunk and horny to care.”

Amarok took a picture out of the manila folder sitting between them. “We've found part of another body—a hand. Does it look familiar to you?”

“I wouldn't be able to recognize—” he started, but fell silent the moment he saw the picture. Then he opened the door and stuck his head out as if he might vomit.

“You okay?” Amarok asked.

He seemed to overcome the impulse, but he left the door hanging open as if he was eager to get the hell out of the truck and away from that image. “No, I'm not. That's got to be
her
hand. She was wearing the same purple fingernail polish when she … when she brought out the damn ruler.”

*   *   *

Evelyn was functioning on pure adrenaline. She hadn't spoken to Fitzpatrick, the psychologists she worked with or Penny, not for the three hours since she'd left them in the administration center, but she'd kept in touch with Warden Ferris by radio. The medevac had landed safely on the roof and carried Hugo off to Anchorage. At best, he had a ten-minute flight—at worst, twelve-or thirteen. She didn't see how he could last another quarter of an hour with a homemade knife broken off in his chest. A cardiac tamponade, if he had one, put too much pressure on the muscles of the heart.

But she was hoping he'd pull through—for his sake
and
hers.

Officer Emilio Kush poked his head into Interview Room #6, where she paced in an effort to help soothe her nerves.

“Where is he?” she asked when she realized Kush hadn't brought Anthony Garza as she'd requested.

The CO came inside. She met him at the edge of the desk.

“After last night's attack, I … um”–he shifted on his feet—“I thought maybe I should mention to Dr. Fitzpatrick that you were hoping to have a session with Garza today.”

“You
what
?” Since when did anyone have to clear her instructions with Fitzpatrick or any other member of the mental health team? Had Fitzpatrick ordered the COs to report on her actions? Or had Kush taken it upon himself to go around her?

He hurried to finish what he had to say. “Garza's our most dangerous inmate. After stabbing Hugo Evanski in the yard this morning, he's on lockdown, anyway. He's not scheduled to come out for over a month. Fitzpatrick doesn't believe he should have the privilege of interacting with anyone, especially you, since that's what he most wants.”

She folded her arms. “Obviously, you agree with him.”

His voice grew more strident. “This guy needs to be taught a lesson, Dr. Talbot. He needs to understand that we won't tolerate such behavior.”

“So you took it upon yourself to go to Fitzpatrick instead of fulfilling my request?”

He cleared his throat. “I'm sorry. But … but it's my responsibility to protect you and everyone else here at Hanover House.”

“Insubordination is not the way to go about it,” she said.

Growing uncertain beneath her challenging glare, he stood taller. “I'm surprised, after yesterday, that you really want to see him.”

“You're afraid I could be hurt even if I'm behind the plexiglass?”

“That's just it.” A hint of defiance entered his eyes. “I'm afraid you won't
stay
behind the plexiglass.”

Evelyn felt her jaw clench. Kush's rank put him in charge of a handful of other COs, but it gave him no power to defy her authority. “I'm sorry to hear you say that,” she said. “Apparently, we have a different interpretation of what your job entails.”

“Excuse me?”

He'd made a gross miscalculation if he thought she'd allow him to overstep his authority. “Either you get Anthony Garza for me
immediately,
without consulting anyone, or you will be dismissed. Questioning direct orders will not be tolerated at Hanover House, Officer Kush. Especially now, when we are going through such difficult and challenging times.”

His mouth opened and shut twice before any sound came out. When he finally found his voice, he said, “Dr. Talbot, you can't be serious.”

Getting right in his face, she spoke low and mostly through her teeth. “I am
absolutely
serious. And even if you decide to comply, you'll be written up for your actions this morning. Do you understand?”

He blinked several times. “Dr. Fitzpatrick agreed with me.”

“Great. Feel free to rely on him if you think he can save your job.”

It was a bluff. She wasn't sure she could prevail if she and Fitzpatrick came to loggerheads regarding Kush's employment. Now that the man she'd once thanked for helping her get Hanover House off the ground was grappling for control of the institution, she had no idea who'd wind up at the helm.

Kush was beginning to sweat. She could see beads of it glistening on his forehead. “I didn't mean to … to cause a problem, Dr. Talbot.”

She pretended to be supremely confident—while clutching her arms so tightly she was almost cutting off the blood-flow. Internal discord could cause the destruction of Hanover House far more quickly than anything else, especially now. They needed to present a united front—but she had no idea if she and Fitzpatrick would be able to get beyond what had occurred in her office. She feared the roots of that stemmed back to December and his accusation that she'd led him on—led him to hell on earth—to gain his support.

Regardless of how he interpreted their relationship, she'd never given him any indication that she might be interested in him romantically. And she wouldn't allow him to monitor or dictate her actions now. “Then don't,” she told Kush.

“Yes, ma'am.” With a sharp nod, he turned on his heel. “I'll get Garza.”

After he left, Evelyn sat down and slumped over. She was exhausted, and it wasn't yet noon. She felt like Jeremy Renner in
The Bourne Legacy,
standing on the frozen tundra waving a burning stick at all the snarling wolves that were circling, looking for a chance to dart in for a quick bite.