Her Darkest Nightmare (36 page)

“Mr. Evanski?”

There was no response. Amarok gave Hugo's arm a gentle shake. If he was going to drive all the way to Anchorage despite the myriad things he needed to be doing in Hilltop, he couldn't wait for Hugo to rouse on his own. The time Amarok spent here had to count. “Hey.”

Finally, the other man opened his eyes. They didn't seem particularly clear or focused, but he was on a lot of medication, so Amarok couldn't expect too much.

“I'm Trooper Murphy from Hilltop.” He rested his hands on the bedrail. “I drove over here to speak to you because I think what you know might be important.”

Hugo's throat worked as he swallowed. Then he said, “Sergeant Amarok.”

Amarok had never met him, so he was surprised by the recognition. “How do you know me?”

“You're the law in Hilltop. That means you get mentioned now and then at Hanover House. Besides, you're popular with the ladies. Especially Danielle. You were all she could talk about. She was dying to fuck you. You were the unattainable.”

Amarok scowled. “She didn't even know me. Not really,” he said, but if he'd learned anything about Danielle, it was that knowing a man didn't matter. He just wanted to keep Hugo talking.

“She'd seen you. That was enough. She was convinced you had the biggest cock in Alaska.”

“She didn't seem to have any complaints about yours.”

“You know about that?” He managed a feeble smile. “Some things are just God given and can't be taken away, I guess.”

Amarok pulled over the only chair in the room. “You had sex with her, then?”

“Not as often as I would've liked,” he replied. “The bastard guards charged too much.”

“So you had to pay.”

“Course. The only free sex I've ever had in prison is called rape.”

Amarok didn't ask if he was the victim or the perpetrator. Hugo didn't seem capable of having a long conversation, so Amarok wasn't about to veer off the subject. “How and where did these encounters take place—with Danielle, I mean?”

“It wasn't complicated. I paid the guards a hundred bucks, and—”

“Where would an inmate get that kind of money?” he asked, shocked at the amount.

“We manage, when we want something bad enough.”

“How?”

“I have an uncle who puts a couple hundred bucks on my books every now and then. Some take what they need from others. Some save up, but that's the hardest route to go, given the wages we're paid.”

“So you'd come up with the money and then…”

“Kush or Petrowski would pull me out of my cell or call me over if I was out in the yard.”

“And?”

“They'd take me into a pantry or a toolshed. Something like that where they could guard the door and she'd be waiting.”

“Danielle wasn't scared of you? Wasn't scared of how dangerous it was to be putting out for a known killer?”

“Hell no. She loved the adrenaline rush. One time she even had Kush tie her up.” He grinned. “I loved that.”

Leaning back, Amarok folded his arms. “What happened after you had sex with her? You'd just slip back into the prison population?”

Hugo was tiring out. It took several seconds for him to be able to gather the breath to speak. “It wasn't quite that simple. For an added price, we could get … other things.”

“Like…”

“We could … do a line of coke beforehand. Or … take a friend in. You name it. She was … open to anything, which was fortunate for … for Kush and his buddies. They could put a high price on the kinkier shit.”

“You never said anything to Dr. Talbot about what was going on?”

His eyes closed, then opened, and Amarok could tell he was once again summoning his strength. “Why would I?”

“I'm under the impression you care about your therapist. If she gets fired, she moves away, and you never see her again.” Neither would he.…

“I didn't want to blow a good thing.”

“So why are you talking about it now?” Amarok asked.

He wet his lips. “Party's over. Danielle's dead.”

“Maybe, given enough time, Kush and his friends would've tried to replace her with someone else.”

“Who?” Hugo scoffed. “It isn't … like they could … smuggle in some prostitute. Danielle worked … at the prison. No one … questioned her presence. That's what … made it all possible.”

Amarok hadn't expected Hugo to be quite so forthcoming. “So now that Danielle's gone, you want to see the guards get what's coming to them, is that it?”

He lifted a hand to his chest, touched it gingerly. “Why not? I”—it took a second for him to continue—“owe them.”

“Are you suggesting they could've stopped you from getting shanked?”

“Sure. Instead, they … put that animal in the yard … with me.”

“How do you know they did it on purpose?”

“Garza … the guy who stabbed me … didn't even know me. He had no … reason to want me … dead.”

Amarok shifted on the hard seat. “Who else spent time with Danielle?”

“Anyone who … could afford it.”

“Including the COs? Did they ever participate beyond collecting the money?”

Sweat was beginning to pop out on his face. “Kush would … sometimes take her from behind while … someone else was in front. She thought it was … funny to have a guard and an … inmate at the same time. That's the type of … wild shit that really … turned her on.”

“What about Fitzpatrick? Did he ever come out to play?”

“Not when … I was there. But I bet he was involved … at the top.”

Amarok covered a yawn, then rubbed his face. He wasn't bored, just feeling the effects of getting so little sleep the past few nights. “Who killed Danielle?”

“Not an inmate. I can”—he had to wet his lips again—“promise you that. None of us … wanted her dead.”

“A CO, then?”

He shook his head. “They were making … too much money and … having too much fun. That'd be like … killing the goose that … laid the golden egg.”

“You think it was Fitzpatrick.”

Hugo threw renewed effort into his side of the conversation. “Yes, he must've … feared I'd tell Dr. Talbot what was going on.”

“Murder's a big step for a prominent psychiatrist to take.”

“I'm guessing he wasn't about to … go down for … simple prison corruption.”

“That doesn't explain what happened to Lorraine.”

When his eyes closed, Amarok worried Hugo was fading into unconsciousness. “You still with me?”

“I can't explain that.” He forced his eyelids open again. “Except”—his breath rattled in his chest—“he knows that Dr. Talbot … loved Lorraine, and this … was also a way … for him to strike out at her.”

“Why would Fitzpatrick have anything against Dr. Talbot?”

Hugo couldn't respond right away. That required a laborious swallow. “He … hates her.”

“For no reason?”

“Because she'll … never love him, not the way … he loves her.”

The file Fitzpatrick had put together on Evelyn revealed a certain level of fascination. But was it
love
? “Wouldn't she have some inkling of it if he was upset that she wouldn't get involved with him in that way?”

Hugo shook his head. “You don't understand how … Fitzpatrick works.”

“And you do?”

“As well as anyone. He's been … having sessions … with me almost since … Hanover House opened.”

“What are those sessions about?”

“He … claims he's … studying my sexual response to … women. But the only woman … he ever shows me pictures of … is Evelyn. He knows … that's what really … excites me.”

“What kind of pictures are they?”

“Pornographic ones.”

Amarok felt his jaw clench. “And where does he get those?”

“I think he makes them … on Photoshop. Her head … other women's bodies—bodies that are engaged in … sex acts.”

So why weren't they in the file Evelyn found?

Because he had to take them to the sessions. They were probably in his briefcase.

Amarok was almost afraid to hear the answer to his next question. “What does he say when he shows you these pictures?”

“He talks about how good it would feel to fuck her. What do … you think?”

“
That's
why you're convinced he loves her?”

Again, Amarok had to wait. He wasn't sure how much longer Hugo would be capable of talking; it was sapping his energy.

“Partly,” he said at length. “I think … he came up here believing … she'd eventually see that they were … meant to be together. That loneliness and a … a love for the same kind of work would … lead to a relationship. But … shit, even the isolation of this … remote place hasn't … been enough to drive her into his arms, and … it's my guess that he's realizing nothing … ever will.”

“That makes him angry.”

He nodded. “Fills him with rage.”

“Enough to commit murder?”

“Look how he's been … disrespecting her. If he could do that … why not more?” He attempted another chuckle. “Besides, murder isn't as … difficult as you might think.”

This man would know. “Dr. Talbot wasn't that close with Danielle,” Amarok pointed out.

“He killed Danielle … to protect his reputation, like I said, and to … to torture Evelyn—make her believe her worst fears are coming true.”

What Hugo said sounded plausible. The evidence supported the scenario he'd described with Danielle. But could Fitzpatrick be the cold-blooded killer Hugo made him out to be? Or was Hugo trying to destroy someone he hated?

Evelyn admitted that the inmates had no love for her fellow psychiatrist. She'd also mentioned how well they could lie—not that Amarok would've assumed otherwise.

“What do
you
feel for Evelyn?” Amarok asked.

Hugo's eyes grew more focused as they riveted on his. “I'd kill you this instant if … if I thought doing so would … make her want me instead.”

Instead?
Amarok stood. How did this guy know the lead psychiatrist at Hanover House had any interest in him? Hugo had been behind bars since arriving in Hilltop, had never seen them together, and that wasn't something he guessed she would mention. “What makes you think I mean any more to Dr. Talbot than anyone else?”

His smile turned sly. “Fitzpatrick told me.”

Amarok thought of that picture of Evelyn in her bra taken from outside her window. Was her fellow psychiatrist following her?
Stalking
her?

“
And
you're the only reason she … let me get close … enough to speak with her in private the … other day,” Hugo added.

“She told me you lured her over by telling her my life was in danger,” Amarok said.

Hugo seemed to study Amarok intently. “I wasn't … making that up.”

Amarok leaned close. “Fitzpatrick is no threat to me.”

“That's where … you're wrong.” He struggled for more breath. “Fitzpatrick is a threat … to everyone.”

After shoving his hands in his pockets, Amarok fished out his keys. He had to return to Hilltop, had an appointment with Tim Hancock. “Thanks for your time.”

“Or it could be Jasper,” Hugo called after him as he turned to go. “You can't rule him out … just in case.”

Amarok sidestepped a rolling tray. “Do you know anything about Jasper being in Alaska?”

Once again Hugo closed his eyes, but this time Amarok didn't get the impression he was going to sleep. The deep grooves in his forehead suggested he was continuing to battle his weakness and fatigue. “No, but we both … know it's possible,” he said. “Far as I'm concerned … it has to be one or the other. My bet's on … Fitzpatrick. You have no idea how … sadistic that son of a bitch can be. The shit … he's said and done … to me. But you'd be a fool to … to ignore that there was … another man who wanted to destroy her long … before he did.”

“I'll make a note of that.” Irritated he'd come all this way for confirmation of the obvious, where Danielle was concerned, and a few vague warnings, Amarok stepped into the hall. But he held the door open because he had one more question. “Why would Fitzpatrick want to work with psychopaths if he was one?” he asked.

Hugo managed to laugh but winced at the same time. “You're kidding, right? Where else … could he get away with … so much?”

 

24

In my lifetime I have murdered 21 human beings, I have committed thousands of burglaries, robberies, larcenies, arsons and, last but not least, I have committed sodomy on more than 1,000 male human beings. For all these things I am not in the least bit sorry.

—CARL PANZRAM, SERIAL KILLER, ARSONIST, THIEF, BURGLAR AND RAPIST

“Courtney? Can you hear me?” Evelyn gripped the phone so tightly she was almost losing the feeling in her left hand, but she had to get through to Garza's ex, enlist her cooperation.

“I'm here,” came the reply. “It's just … I can't help you. I admire you. I really do. And I'm sorry for … for what you've been through in the past. When I got your letter, I went on the Internet to look you up, and I read about your … experiences. What you're trying to do at Hanover House is admirable. But I want … I want to forget Anthony Garza, to pretend he was never part of my life.”

“I understand,” Evelyn said. “He's a very difficult and dangerous individual. I'm sure he caused you a lot of pain and degradation, but … if you are
truly
sorry for what I've been through—and you'd like to stop other women from suffering the way we
both
have—I need you to tell me everything you can about him.”