Except she hadn’t been worth what he’d spent on the coke she’d consumed and she was already messy drunk. He didn’t find that appealing, not after being with Brianne. “Sorry, not interested.”
“Come on.” She stopped the door as he tried to close it. “Don’t be like that. I’ll let you cuff me this time. I trust you more now that I know you better. You can whip me, too.” She grimaced. “Just don’t do it too hard.”
“No.” He had the smell of Brianne on him, didn’t want to trade that for some lowlife stripper. “You’re not worth it.”
Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. “How can you say that?”
“Look at you. You’re pathetic!”
Her jaw dropped in outrage. “I just heard that a friend of mine’s been murdered! How do you think you’d—”
“Who was your friend?” Jasper broke in, suddenly more alert.
She sniffed. “Katherine Sharpe.”
“The girl who was found in the woods.”
“Yeah. Did you see it on TV or something?”
“I saw a short clip of it on the news.”
“Then you knew before I did. I didn’t find out until a police officer showed up at the club tonight, wanting to talk to me and the other girls.”
What were the chances that Bambi would know Kat? Jasper asked himself. But when he really thought about it, he decided it wasn’t that much of a coincidence. Anchorage didn’t have a big red-light district. This wasn’t New York or LA. Most of the girls who worked the streets or danced in the clubs had probably met somewhere along the line. “How’d you know her?” Jasper asked.
Bambi’s teeth were starting to chatter, but Jasper didn’t invite her in. He didn’t want her to stay; he just wanted her to tell him what she could about the investigation. “She used to dance at the Foxhole,” she said. “We both did, last year. Then she got fired for missing too many shifts and I met the owner of Dick’s, who talked me into working for him.”
“What’d the police want?”
“They’re interviewing everyone who knew her. They asked when I saw her last, if she was dating anyone, if I could name someone who might’ve wanted to hurt her, that sort of thing.”
Now that Jasper’s wound was healing, it was beginning to itch. He scratched over the fabric of his shirt, trying to get it to stop—to no avail. “Did they say if they’ve come across any good leads?”
“They think it might be the serial killer who murdered the friends of that psychiatrist who runs the prison in Hilltop.”
“Evelyn Talbot.”
“That’s her name. Can you believe it? A serial killer?”
“Did they say why they think it’s the same guy?”
“No, but they warned us not to go home with any strange men—like we’d be able to eat or pay rent if we didn’t.” She rolled her eyes, but more tears welled up as she continued, “Anyway, I feel so bad. Kat was a nice person. She didn’t deserve what happened to her. The police officer secretly told me she died an ugly death.”
“Oh well. No use crying about it now.”
“I can’t help it!” She put a hand to her head as if she was suddenly overwhelmed with dizziness. “She was my friend.”
“You’re drunk. And you look like shit.”
“Why are you being so mean?” she asked, obviously confused. “I just need a place to sleep. Tonight was a bad night at the club. I spent all the money I earned on a taxi to bring me over here.”
“Then you’ll have to figure out some other way to get home, because you’re not my problem.”
Her wounded expression grew even more pathetic. “I thought we were friends!”
He couldn’t let her in, couldn’t have anything to do with her now that the police had her on their radar. He didn’t want some little thing like a connection to a stripper to bring him to their notice. “Beat it!” he snapped. “I’m tired and going to bed.”
Her eyes widened. With all that makeup around them, she looked like a raccoon. “It’s freezing out here! At least give me the money for a cab!”
“Go to hell.” He slammed the door but almost instantly realized that if something happened to her tonight—if she didn’t make it home—he’d have the police on his doorstep for sure. The cabbie would know where he dropped her off.
Sticking his head outside, he called her back and gave her a twenty.
“Thank you!” she said with a teary sniff.
Her relieved smile made him want to punch her in the face. “Don’t come back here again. I won’t be so nice the next time.”
He spent the next thirty minutes pacing angrily in his living room. Bambi had no business showing up at his house. With all that talk about the investigation, she’d ruined the euphoria and optimism he’d been feeling.
Although … maybe she’d done him a favor. He’d been acting as though he had nothing to worry about, daydreaming of when he’d finally have Evelyn all to himself, as if connecting with her sister were going to deliver her to him on a silver platter. But with so many people searching for him, he couldn’t get complacent. Amarok, in particular, was no fool. It’d be a mistake to underestimate the forces marshaled against him.
Trying to shake off the dark mood that had taken hold of him, he went online to search for any information he could find on the murders of Katherine Sharpe and Sierra Yerbowitz. He couldn’t be so focused on what was in front of him that he forgot to watch his back.
*
There it was. Janice Holt’s response to her request for a leave of absence. Evelyn had hated writing that e-mail, cringed at the thought of what Janice might have to say about her leaving. She felt she was letting down her boss, letting down everyone who’d ever believed in her in a professional capacity, including all the people she worked with at Hanover House.
And Amarok … Amarok most of all.
But she wanted to stay, so staying was the option that felt selfish.
Taking a deep breath, she sat at her kitchen table—it was Saturday, so she wasn’t going to the prison—while Brianne slept in, and clicked on the e-mail.
Do you have to leave immediately? The institution is in a precarious position, Evelyn. Please reconsider. I’ve put a lot into Hanover House, too, and I don’t want news of your leaving to reach the public right now. With the recent murders up there, everyone needs to believe you’re standing firm and not caving under the pressure. At least stay in your current position until this bastard has been caught.
It was a fair request. One she felt obliged to honor. But she knew the next few months would be difficult with Amarok. Now that she was going to leave, she thought doing it quickly would be easier than dragging it out. What if Jasper was never caught?
She called Amarok at his trooper post. “Janice wants me to stay until the murders have been solved,” she said when he answered.
There was a slight pause. “What did you tell her?”
“I haven’t responded. I wanted to see how you felt about my staying.”
“I want you to stay, Evelyn. I thought that was clear.”
With conditions, and she couldn’t meet those conditions yet. “I know, but … won’t it be awkward? It’ll be miserable for both of us if you’re upset for the next several months. I guess what I’m asking is … I feel like I have to honor Janice’s request, but would you prefer I moved out?”
“Maybe,” he replied.
She winced. There weren’t many rentals in the area, but she could find an apartment in Anchorage and make the commute, like so many of the COs and other staff did. “I have to admit that hurts.”
“You know my terms.”
“You’re demanding a commitment.”
“I want to be sure, or as sure as possible, that I’m not giving my heart to someone who’s only going to break it. We’ve been together for almost two years. I don’t think I’m pushing too soon. At some point, I’m either worth it to you or I’m not.”
“You’re worth it,” she said. “There’s no question about that. This has nothing to do with you.”
“Then we’ll see what you decide,” he said, and hung up.
Evelyn sighed as she turned back to her computer to type her reply to Janice.
I’ll stay as long as I can.
*
Samantha checked her lipstick and her hair in the rearview mirror of her Subaru before climbing out and going inside Amarok’s trooper post.