“The news of Sierra Yerbowitz’s disappearance has everyone thinking about Sandy,” she said.
“That may be true, but Shorty doesn’t blame you for what happened to her, and he won’t blame you for whatever’s happened to Sierra. Plenty of people here wanted Hanover House in the area. They were desperate for the jobs and prosperity it would bring.”
“Not everyone,” she said with a pointed look.
He’d been opposed to the facility’s close proximity to his hometown, and he’d been vocal about it. But the prison was here now. So was Evelyn, and he didn’t want to lose her. “It’s all going to work out,” he insisted, and changed the subject. “I got a message from your sister.”
“She called you?”
“I’m the one who called her, remember? You were too busy.”
“I was procrastinating.”
“Why? Don’t you want her to come?”
“Of course I do. It’s been over two years since I’ve seen her. But I don’t want her to plead with me to go home.”
Neither did Amarok. “She knows you’re committed to what you’ve created, that you plan to stay for another three years.” He hoped Evelyn was committed to him, too, and for a lot longer than that. “She won’t try to talk you into returning to Boston. She misses you and would just like to spend some time with you.”
“So she was able to get off work?”
“Yeah. Apparently, she has quite a few vacation days. She’ll be here a full week.”
“Won’t she need those vacation days for her honeymoon?”
“I’m guessing she might have some bad news about that.”
“Don’t tell me they broke up!”
“She didn’t say for sure, but I got that impression.”
“My folks were really looking forward to the wedding and having some grandchildren in their future.”
She knew he’d be happy to give them both, but he didn’t say anything because she wouldn’t even meet his eyes. “When will she arrive?”
“Tomorrow at three. You’ll need to pick her up in Anchorage alone if I’m not available to go with you.” He wished Brianne were coming tonight. He didn’t like the idea of leaving Evelyn on her own, and yet he had to do his job.
“I wasn’t expecting her to come so quickly,” she said. “The airfare must’ve cost a fortune on such late notice.”
“Don’t worry about the airfare. I paid for it.”
She frowned. “You shouldn’t have to do that. I’ll take care of it.”
“I’m happy to do it. Having her with you at night will give me some peace of mind.”
She’d grabbed a handful of peanuts from the bowl set out on the bar but hesitated before popping them in her mouth. “The fact that you’re so worried is more proof that you believe Jasper’s here.”
“Something’s going on. I’m not positive it’s Jasper, but I don’t have another answer at the moment.” He took a long pull on his beer. “I’m hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.”
She ate the nuts before quickly clearing a spot so Shorty could deliver her soup. “What are you going to tell Leland?” she asked once Shorty left to take another order.
“The truth.”
“That his sister is likely dead?”
“That I don’t know. Because I don’t.”
She frowned again. “I can’t believe you didn’t find her body in that field. Where else could Easy have come up with her hair?”
Amarok finished the last of his corn bread. “Who can say? He’s only owned that vehicle for a week, and he insists he hasn’t gone anywhere other than work.”
“Maybe Sierra was there for a brief time, but someone moved her.”
“It could also be that what we’re assuming is part of Sierra’s remains isn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“The hair was so matted and muddy, I couldn’t even tell what color it was. We have a missing woman, and we have part of a body. I assumed they had to go together.”
“But…”
“When I finished probing that field and stopped by my post to drop off the snowmobile and call you, I got a message from the coroner’s office.”
“What’d they have to say?”
“They told me the hair is blond.”
“And Sierra has long brown hair.…”
He pulled her photograph from his back pocket. “I need to confirm with Leland, but he never mentioned if she dyed it.”
Evelyn took the picture so she could study it. “When was this taken?”
“While they were at the cabin. You don’t recognize the background?”
“Now that you point it out, I do.”
“Leland e-mailed it to me the night she went missing. He’d just taken it on his cell the day before.”
“How’d he send it to you? There’s no cell service here.”
“He used the Internet at the hotel.”
“So how do we account for the difference in hair color?”
He finished his beer. “We could be looking at two victims, right?”
Her eyes widened. “No.…”
“Do you have a better explanation?”
What little color she had left in her face drained away as she shook her head. “This just keeps getting worse and worse.”
*
Brianne Talbot set the charging cord she’d purchased for her mother’s phone on the counter. Anytime her parents needed anything that dealt with technology, they called on her. But she couldn’t stick around to visit, as they were probably hoping. She had to be at the airport by six in the morning and still had to pack.
“I can’t believe you’re dropping everything and flying off to Alaska tomorrow,” Lara, her mother, said. “Who’ll run the hospital?” Grant, her father, sat in his recliner with the remote, watching sports highlights, but Brianne knew he was listening far more attentively than it appeared.
“The trip’s a bit last-minute,” she admitted. “But it’s also the first vacation I’ve taken since I became administrator at Valley Regional. I deserve some time off.”
Lara fussed about the kitchen, cleaning this and that. “So who’ll take care of things while you’re gone?” she asked again.
“I have a great staff. They can manage for a while.” Brianne got out her keys and held them in her hand. She really had to go. “I don’t want to miss the chance to see Evelyn. I miss her.”
“We miss her, too, and yet she hasn’t come to see us since she left.”
Brianne could hear the hurt in her mother’s voice. “She has a lot of responsibilities in Hilltop, Mom. Hanover House is the first facility of its kind. It’s difficult for her to get away.” And from the beginning of her career, Lara and Grant had put so much pressure on her to quit her job and start a private practice dealing with damaged kids or something so she could back off from the dangerous men she studied. The constant barrage had to be overwhelming, which was why Brianne tried not to do the same thing. It wasn’t easy. She believed as her parents did—that if Evelyn didn’t stop what she was doing, she’d eventually wind up dead.
They’d been through so much angst and pain with her already; they couldn’t take any more.
“But she expects you to leave your job at a moment’s notice, to risk getting fired, so you can go up there?”
“That’s a little dramatic, Mom. My job isn’t at risk. Besides, Evelyn doesn’t expect anything. She’d just like to see me.” Although Brianne didn’t let on, she needed to see Evelyn, too. She’d been so sure Jeff Creery was the man of her dreams, she’d finally let down her guard and fallen in love—hadn’t even been worried about birth control, since they were getting married. And now that he’d moved on, she was coping with the fact that she was pregnant. Since she’d received Amarok’s call only a short time after learning that the wedding was off, that she wouldn’t even be seeing Jeff anymore, she’d welcomed the chance to get away. Maybe Evelyn would be able to help her overcome the rejection that threatened to immobilize her. She wasn’t about to confide in her parents. Not yet.
Lara wiped the counter for the second time since Brianne had been standing there. “Why doesn’t she want to see us?”
Brianne wished she could pull her mother into her arms and simply hug her. But Lara had so much pride. She often pushed away the very thing she needed most. “She does want to see you. She’s just busy. It was actually Amarok who called and invited me.”