She set her purse on the counter and picked up Sigmund, who’d started rubbing against her legs. “I can’t put you to the trouble, Phil, not when you have your own family to worry about.”
“If Amarok thinks it’s necessary for me to stay here, I’m willing.”
“That’s the thing. Amarok doesn’t know if it’s necessary. Neither do I.”
“Better safe than sorry,” he said.
Evelyn almost insisted he go home. She couldn’t expect someone to look out for her like this. But her head was pounding and she was exhausted. With Phil in the house, she’d be able to sleep without fear, and having the opportunity to do that was too tempting to resist.
“It’s really nice of you.” She smiled to show her gratitude. “You have your gun, right? Just in case?”
He wasn’t in uniform. He lifted his bulky sweater to show her his revolver. “Makita will let us know if anyone’s out and about. And if we get company, I’ll do the rest.”
“That’s comforting,” she said. But even after she went to bed, she kept thinking that if Makita wasn’t with Amarok, who’d let him know if he had company?
*
Jasper didn’t slow down as he passed the sergeant’s house. He didn’t want to look like he was creeping around if anyone happened to notice him. He was just making an initial pass, anyway. Provided it all looked safe, he’d drive by again, a little slower, and decide if it was really wise to go to the door.
He checked his watch as he’d been doing every few minutes since he saw Evelyn leave the Moosehead. He’d given her ample time to drive home and get settled in. He’d thought it would be smart to wait a bit to make sure Amarok wouldn’t be joining her after stopping by the trooper post.
Amarok’s truck wasn’t there, but Jasper saw some other vehicle parked out front.
As he came to a stop at the end of the street, he left his blinker flashing to indicate he was about to turn and paused to stare into his rearview mirror.
Whose vehicle was that? He recognized it and yet …
“Phil Robbins,” he said aloud. “Of course.” Terrell Hillerman had just mentioned Phil to him at the bar, but the truck in front of Amarok’s house wasn’t the one with the plow. It was another vehicle, possibly his wife’s, that Jasper had seen him drive occasionally.
What was he doing here?
Whatever it was, Jasper doubted he’d stay long.
“Get your ass moving,” he grumbled, and scanned the area to see what else he might have to contend with. When he’d learned where Evelyn was living, he’d looked up Amarok’s address on Google Earth probably a million times. He even had a map of it pinned up on the walls of his new dungeon. But he’d been down this street only twice—last winter when he saved Evelyn’s life and now. Drawn to it though he was, he’d been militant about staying away. He had no reason to be over here and couldn’t risk seeming too interested. He’d always told himself the time would come, and he hoped that time was now.
Jasper scoured the area for lights, vehicles, people, and saw nothing to be concerned about. Amarok didn’t have any close neighbors, but Jasper viewed that as both a positive and a negative. He couldn’t simply pull up in front of another house, turn off his truck and, while he waited, pretend he was visiting someone else. He’d be too conspicuous if he was seen.
The lack of people in the neighborhood gave Evelyn less chance of reaching help, however. It also meant he could fire a gun without bringing anyone running and any noise she made wouldn’t matter. If he could only get Evelyn out of the house without being seen, his original plan might still work. He could keep an eye on the investigation, see if it drifted anywhere near him. If it did, he could kill her and leave Anchorage. And if it didn’t, he could keep her indefinitely—or until he grew bored, if that was even possible with a victim he’d craved for so long.
“Come on … come on.” He wanted to see Phil walk out, climb in his truck and drive away. He’d purchased a gun from a dope dealer in the same area where he’d picked up Kat—one that wasn’t registered—but he couldn’t shoot Phil and the dog and still be assured that Evelyn wouldn’t escape in the process. He had to wait for Phil to leave; the dog would be enough to handle.
Grabbing the steering wheel in a death grip, he drove back into town. He hesitated to return to the bar. He thought it would look strange that he’d left and then returned when he didn’t live in the area. He could sit outside in the parking lot, though, make it seem as if, when he left earlier, he’d been too drunk to drive. But just sitting there doing nothing would be agony. He needed stimulation, satisfaction, the thrill he’d been denied for so long.
After passing the Moosehead, he went to Quigley’s Quick Stop and perused the aisles, eventually buying a package of sunflower seeds and a six-pack of beer. He was too agitated to drink any more than the whiskey he’d had earlier. Too much alcohol would make him sloppy. He didn’t particularly care for drugs or alcohol, anyway—hated being impaired or out of control. Although he sometimes used them as tools, like he had with the stupid stripper he’d picked up on Friday night, what he really enjoyed was torture.
He sat in the lot eating seeds and spitting the shells out the window for a while, then glanced at his watch again. He’d managed to whittle away twenty-five minutes. He figured that should be long enough to risk going back to the house. He was too cold to sit there any longer.
Once he pulled onto Main Street, he checked every business he passed to see if he could spot the sergeant’s vehicle. Amarok wasn’t at the Moosehead or The Shady Lady and, other than Quigley’s, everything else was closed.
As he turned off the main drive, he hoped to find the sergeant’s truck outside the trooper post, which was only a block away. That would mean Amarok was working late. Jasper would have to move fast, since Amarok could return home at any moment, but he didn’t think it would take long to get Evelyn out of the house once the coast was clear. After all, she knew him as one of her COs. He’d saved her life last year. It didn’t matter that saving her hadn’t been his intention. She thought he’d intervened for her sake, so he’d use that in his favor. The moment she saw him through the peephole, she’d open up—especially if he told her he’d found Leland’s sister’s body. She’d have no reason to doubt or fear him, would completely understand why he might appear at her house so late, asking for Amarok. And when she let him in, he’d shoot the dog and drag her to his truck.
But Amarok wasn’t at the trooper post. The lot was empty, the building dark.
Damn it! Did that mean the sergeant had gone home?
“No!” Jasper groaned, and, calling Amarok every foul name he could think of, headed back to see.
The sergeant wasn’t there, but Jasper felt no relief. Phil’s truck was parked in the same spot as before and all the house lights were off.
This time, Jasper couldn’t help slowing as he rolled by. It looked like Evelyn had gone to bed.
So what was Phil doing?
Maybe Phil wasn’t there. Maybe he’d left his vehicle and gone somewhere with the sergeant.
That had to be it, Jasper thought. Amarok had left Evelyn with his dog, thinking Makita would keep her safe. Little did he know! Jasper would have Evelyn in his cellar trying out those new restraints within an hour or two.
He flipped the car around, intending to pull into her drive. But as he drew closer, he began to realize how recklessly he was behaving. He couldn’t go to the door unless he knew for sure that Evelyn was alone. He’d have only one chance at this, couldn’t allow his impatience to tempt him into making a mistake.
Speeding up instead of slowing down, he turned the corner, suddenly eager to get as far away from Amarok’s house as he could. This had been a shitty week, and today topped all the days before.