Her Darkest Nightmare (35 page)

If so, she would divulge what she'd found. Fitzpatrick had no right to be collecting so much personal information on her. That he was doing it secretly made her even more uncomfortable. Before leaving Amarok's this morning, she'd looked through all of those documents again. Besides the more intrusive items she'd noted before, he'd recorded every detail of anything she'd ever said about Jasper and even had pictures of Jasper from their high school yearbook.

Although she received a few less-than-enthusiastic greetings, no one jumped up to accuse her of snooping through Tim's office. That was the one bright spot. She figured out pretty quickly, by the way Russell Jones looked up and then glanced away, that this was about the Anthony-Hugo stabbing and the accusations she'd subsequently launched. Russ would not be behaving so sheepishly if he had fresh fodder for the type of self-righteous anger Fitzpatrick was nursing.

She wished Stacy could've made it in this morning. She'd called to ask after Stacy before she left Amarok's, but the pain of shingles had not yet subsided. Without her only ally, Evelyn would have to stand alone against Fitzpatrick, his protégé Russell, and the anti-confrontational Greg. Preston Schmidt was a wild card. He could align himself with either side, depending on the issue. But Evelyn could guess, by the way Fitzpatrick had behaved in her office yesterday, how he was going to present his complaints. Given that, she was willing to bet Preston would join the opposition today.

“I see you're prepared for my arrival.” She spoke to the room at large as she took a seat at the other end of the table and put down her briefcase.

“It's time we get some perspective on what's going on here at HH,” Fitzpatrick responded. “We need to put the welfare of the institution above our own egos.”

That sounded noble in theory, but Evelyn knew Fitzpatrick wasn't speaking about himself. He was telling her to put the good of the institution above
her
ego and do whatever he said.

She rolled her eyes. “And that includes what, exactly? Why have you called this meeting? So we can talk about how out of line I've been? Go over my reckless behavior and then take a vote on whether everyone else agrees that I'm no longer fit to run HH? That I'd better take some time off before I completely crack up?”

He blinked at her, obviously surprised that she'd be so transparent in her disdain. “We need to discuss your emotional stability, yes.”

“What good is a discussion if you're not willing to take in new information?” she asked.

He raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“You're trying to railroad this meeting like all the others of late.”

“Evelyn,” Greg warned, “don't make this any worse.”

“Can it get any worse?” She shifted her focus to him. “We have two Hanover House employees who've been
murdered
. Part of Danielle's body was placed in
my
bed. I'm doing the best I can to figure out what's going on, and instead of supporting me as he should, Tim is trying to take control of what we've both created.”

“Listen to yourself!” Fitzpatrick snapped. “Since when did
I
become your enemy? I'm merely asking that you take some time off, get some sleep, figure out if you can handle working with … with the memories this must be conjuring. That's all.”

He was being far more diplomatic than she'd expected, but when his gaze riveted on Preston she understood why. Fitzpatrick hoped to gain Preston's support but wasn't quite sure he'd managed it.

“Tim, Emilio Kush went directly to you when I asked him to bring Anthony Garza to be interviewed, and you both decided that I shouldn't be allowed to speak to him.”

“See?” Fitzpatrick responded. “Even the COs are beginning to question your judgment.”

“They wouldn't if you weren't encouraging them to do so,” she retorted. “You
are
the one who contacted Warden Ferris and asked him not to act on any of my orders, aren't you?”

“Yes! But only because you're not yourself these days and we can't suffer another incident like that stabbing in the yard.”

Evelyn could hardly speak for the anger that welled up. “I told you. Someone forged my name on that transfer order. Whether you believe me or not, that's the truth. No matter how distraught I was, I would never have transferred Anthony into gen pop. Not in a million years.”

Fitzpatrick took a copy of the document in question out of a folder on the table. “And yet we have proof,” he said, holding it up for all to see.

“I didn't sign that,” she repeated.

“You think it was
me
.” His words were more of a taunt.

She managed a shrug despite the tension in her body. “I don't know for sure. But I plan on finding out.”

Spit shot out of his mouth with the hard consonant of his second word. “I can't believe you would even consider it a possibility!”

She looked from Tim to Greg to Preston. “At this point, I don't have the luxury of ruling out
any
possibilities. That's what murder investigations are all about.”

Fitzpatrick gripped the back of his empty chair. “You're not leading the investigation. Sergeant Murphy is. And yet, yesterday, you accused me of murder!” Fitzpatrick eased up on that chair long enough to gesture at his old grad student. “Russell heard it.”

“It's Hugo who claims you are behind the murders,” she said.

“But you believe him.”

“I have yet to find proof either way.”

“He's a psychopath, for crying out loud!”

“And yet he sounded quite credible,” she responded. “Especially when he reiterated the same thing on what could've been his deathbed. I find it highly suspicious that someone moved Anthony Garza out of isolation and into gen pop, that it happened almost as soon as you learned Hugo had been talking and that Hugo, of all the people Anthony could've attacked, was the one who got stabbed.”

Fitzpatrick threw up his hands. “Listen to her. I told you. She's lost her mind.”

Russell turned his coffee cup around in its saucer. “Evelyn, I hate to say this, but I agree with Tim. You're sounding more and more unstable. Why not take some time off? You can't be thinking clearly if you believe that he had anything to do with what happened in the yard. I've known him for nearly a decade. He would
never
do anything like that.”

“You'd rather think
I
caused that stabbing?” Evelyn asked. “That I couldn't take a little groping from Hugo and went after revenge?”

“It
is
your name on that transfer order,” Russell said.

“Are you sure about that?” she asked. “Have you looked at it? Compared it to my usual signature? If you will, I think you'll see the difference.”

“So you won't let me take the lead until you're feeling better,” Fitzpatrick said.

Evelyn's heart was pounding when she stood. She'd never dreamed she'd have to take on the team she'd helped create. But she knew in her heart she'd never have the freedom to study what she intended if she let Fitzpatrick take over. “No.”

Fitzpatrick looked to Preston, but when Preston remained mute—merely rocked back in his seat and crossed his legs—Fitzpatrick rounded the table. “You may not have any choice.”

She lifted her chin. “I can always fight back.” She motioned to the transfer order. “I'm going to find out who signed that and why. And then we'll talk about who will or won't be working here.”

Fitzpatrick whirled to face Greg. “Don't you have anything to add?”

“I'm afraid I have to support Tim on this one, Evelyn.” Greg frowned as though he was at least
trying
to be objective.

“This one?” she echoed with a laugh. “Let's face it, Greg. You support him on
every
issue. You've decided he's the stronger horse in this race and don't want to back a loser.”

Greg scowled. “You're hanging on by a very thin thread. It would be better for everyone, including you, if you would just—”

“What?” she cried. “Step down? Let Tim take over my position just because he thinks his way of running HH is better than mine?”

“Yes!” Greg responded. “Get some rest and a new perspective on your work—”

“Losing Evelyn, even for a short time, would be a tragedy,” Preston broke in, finally entering the conversation and causing everyone to gape at him. “I personally think you're barking up the wrong tree,” he said to Fitzpatrick.

“Because…” It was Russell who spoke, and his surprise that Preston would take her side was apparent in his expression.

“Evelyn would never do
anything
that would threaten HH,” Preston said. “We all know that.”

“She may not have realized what she was doing,” Fitzpatrick retorted.

“So you've said,” Preston went on. “I still can't believe she'd sign that transfer order. Doing so would risk everything she's created. Why would she want Hugo to be hurt?”

“Because he attacked her!” Fitzpatrick said. “You saw it for yourself. We watched the video.”

Evelyn curled her fingernails into her palms. Fitzpatrick had done his homework, but all his preparation didn't seem to be having the desired effect—not on Preston.

“On which I saw a traumatized woman get back on her feet almost instantly and retain control of a difficult situation,” Preston said. “If she wanted Hugo to be punished, why would she risk her career by transferring Garza into gen pop when she could simply have delayed calling off the COs? Instead, she stopped the violence before much of anything could happen. Someone who does that isn't going to send Anthony Garza out into the yard to shank Hugo Evanski, especially when she knows she'll get the blame. It makes no sense.”

There was an uncomfortable silence during which Fitzpatrick turned to Greg and Russell. Evelyn thought he might address the real issue—who had forged her name. But he didn't. He kept pushing his agenda. “I still say she should take some time off. You two agree with me, don't you?”

“I don't believe it matters one way or the other who agrees—at least in this room.” Preston spoke before they could. “You don't employ her; the federal government does. And even if this
were
a voting matter, I'm fairly certain Stacy, if she were here, would argue in favor of Evelyn's sterling reputation and her dedication, insightfulness and self-sacrifice when it comes to this institution. That splits the team right down the middle.”

“
That's
what you have to say?” Fitzpatrick cried. “What about the way she transferred Garza here as if … as if her opinion was the only one that mattered?”

“As far as I'm concerned, if she wants to work with Garza, she has that right. The bureau doesn't mandate that we agree on our subjects. That was something
you
put forward, and we went along with it because it's a good rule of thumb. Collaboration makes us more cohesive as a group, but … this is the first facility of its kind. That's partly what drew each of us to this particular job—the chance to branch out, do something new. If we weren't willing to step out of the norm once in a while we wouldn't be here. So, as far as I'm concerned, it's not a crime that she cut through the red tape
you
put in place.” He stood. “I can understand you being slightly irritated, of course, since you're so big on policies and procedures, but you're taking it too far. Now, I have a busy day—and I'm sure Evelyn's eager to get on with finding out who put her name on that paper. So if we're finished here, I'd like to start work.”

Fitzpatrick intercepted him. “I'll go to the Bureau of Prisons.”

“That's your prerogative,” Preston said, but as he spoke he gestured toward Evelyn. “I wouldn't start a ‘me' or ‘her' type of battle, if I were you, though. You have no idea how passionate she is about this place if you think you could ever beat her. Should it come to your job or hers…” He didn't finish. He just gave a shrug and walked out.

Evelyn had never expected Preston to defend her. He was so preoccupied with raising his four teenage boys, whom he and his wife had brought up here for a homesteading experience, Evelyn hadn't realized he'd noticed her level of dedication. But she was grateful to him. For once, he'd gotten behind her on an issue that really counted.

“As Preston mentioned, I have pressing matters to attend to,” she told the others as if that was that and grabbed her briefcase.

They said nothing when she left, but Penny waved her down before she could reach her office. “Courtney Lofland is on line one.”

Evelyn didn't immediately recognize the name. Her mind was too preoccupied with what had just taken place and how she might go about discovering who was behind the forged transfer order. She hoped Glenn might still be able to uncover something. Working over on the prison side, he heard and saw things she didn't. “Courtney
who
?”

“Anthony Garza's last wife?”

“Hold all my other calls,” she said, and closed the office door behind her.

*   *   *

There was a guard posted at Hugo Evanski's door. Were he in any better shape, there would be two. It was a testament to how poorly he was doing that the government had decided against expending the additional man-hours.

Amarok showed his ID, received a curt nod and shouldered open the door.

Hugo had his eyes closed and didn't move at the sound of Amarok's entry. Amarok felt bad for disturbing a man who was barely hanging on to life; Hugo was almost as pale as the sheet he was lying on. But Hugo's poor condition was part of the reason Amarok had made the trip. He felt as if he should talk to Hugo while that was still an option.