“When did you have to tell him no?”
She pulled the blankets up higher. “He tried to get me to have sex with him again once you left. After what I did last night, I can see why he’d feel safe to make a move. But I told him how embarrassed I was that Amarok caught us in the truck, so he should’ve been able to understand why I wouldn’t want to risk that again, especially right here in Amarok’s house.”
Since Evelyn didn’t care for Andy, she breathed a little sigh of relief that her sister wasn’t planning to continue the relationship. At least she wouldn’t have to suffer through having him at the dinner table on future holidays. “It’s his last chance to be with you, so maybe that’s understandable,” she said, trying to be generous.
“I guess, but he seemed angry when I said no, and that bothers me.”
“Angry?”
“He’d hardly speak to me! He just got up and left.”
“I’m sorry, Bri.”
Her sister shrugged. “Like I said, I’m not that interested in him. If it wasn’t for how bad I was feeling about Jeff, nothing would ever have happened between us.”
“Andy’s a handsome guy. I can see why he might’ve turned your head—until you had a chance to know him better.”
“Yeah, I’m glad I had that chance, because now that we’ve spent more than an hour together, I can tell there’s something strange about him,” she added with a laugh, and Evelyn chuckled, too.
“Someday you’ll meet the right person.”
Brianne looked wistful. “I want someone who loves me the way Amarok loves you.”
“Any man would be lucky to have you.” She got up to go to bed herself, but Brianne called her back.
“Forget everything I said before, okay? You’d be crazy to leave here, leave Amarok.”
Evelyn hoped she wouldn’t have to. For the first time in a long while, she felt she and Amarok might actually win the war they’d been waging against Jasper, which would do so much for her family, too. “We’ll see what happens.” She turned off the light. “Get some rest.”
*
Letting Brianne live was the most difficult thing Jasper had ever done, especially because, now that Amarok knew his DNA was at the scene of Charlotte’s murder, he’d have to flee the area, anyway. Gone were his dreams of capturing Evelyn and continuing to work at the prison, rubbing elbows with her boyfriend, while keeping her locked in the basement as his sex slave. Those plane manifests she’d mentioned to Brianne would show an Andy Smith flying from Phoenix to San Diego, from San Diego to Boston and from Boston back to Phoenix, just as Evelyn had guessed. Although he’d purposely chosen a common name, seeing it on those flights would be all Amarok and Evelyn needed to realize he’d been right under their noses for the past eight months.
But he’d guessed Amarok would return to the house with Evelyn, and if he did that and found Brianne lying in a pool of blood the jig would be up even sooner. Jasper would already have played all his cards. He’d no longer have any chance of hanging around long enough to get to Evelyn before he had to disappear.
He turned his headlights to bright so he could better navigate the narrow mountain passes on his drive home. Brianne should’ve lost her life for refusing to have sex with him. The bitch had led him on, only to reject him in the end. She deserved to pay for that, and he’d make sure she did—later.
In order to seize the victory he craved, he had to handle first things first. For now, he needed to stay focused and put all his energy and ingenuity into creating a moment when he could get Evelyn alone, during which he’d have sufficient time to kill her and then slip away. Obtaining those flight manifests would take at least a week. Before Amarok could request them, he’d have to come up with a warrant, and even after he got a warrant, he’d have to wait for the files. After that, he’d have to analyze the data, and there’d be a lot of it, which meant Jasper still had a chance. If he remained calm, if he carefully planned out and executed his next move, he’d be able to accomplish some of what he’d hoped to before he had to flee. After having him over for dinner and the way he’d connected to her younger sister, whom he hadn’t harmed even though he’d had the chance, he’d be one of the last people Evelyn would suspect.
All wasn’t lost yet.
He just had to act fast—in the next few days.
*
Sunday was Evelyn’s best day yet with her sister. They had bagels and hot chocolate for breakfast, cleaned up the rest of the dinner dishes from the night before and watched Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, movies based on books they’d both loved while growing up. Since Amarok had done all he could with the investigation of Sierra’s and Katherine’s murders and was now waiting on lab results—including the analysis of the pictures he’d submitted of all the tires at the Moosehead on Friday night and the airline manifests that could possibly tie Jasper to Charlotte’s murder—he was able to join them.
The three of them laughed and talked until it was time to leave for the airport. Then Amarok loaded Brianne’s luggage into Evelyn’s Land Cruiser and drove while they continued to chat.
Once they reached Anchorage and her sister had cell service again, Evelyn used Brianne’s phone to call their parents.
“When are you coming home?” her mother asked almost immediately.
She heard this every call, hated the pressure she felt as a result, which was what made checking in so difficult. “I’m not sure.”
“Can you come for Thanksgiving?”
They’d know by then if the flight manifests were going to reveal what they needed them to reveal. “I’ll try. That sounds fun.”
“And will you bring Amarok?”
Evelyn glanced over to see him laughing at something Brianne had said about Andy. Evelyn was pretty sure her sister was mocking one of Andy’s more outrageous stories and was glad she wasn’t the only one who’d been put off by his grandstanding. “Amarok usually spends Thanksgiving with his father and his father’s wife in Anchorage, but I’ll ask him.”
“It would be nice to meet him. You’ve been together for so long. I’d say it’s time, wouldn’t you?”
Evelyn ignored the bitter note in her mother’s voice. “I’ll ask him, like I said. Anyway, it was great to see Brianne. I’m so happy she came. You and Dad should visit Alaska sometime. It’s beautiful here.”
“Maybe in the spring.”
Not this spring. Brianne would be having her baby, but Lara didn’t know that and Evelyn wasn’t about to give anything away. “We can talk about that when it’s closer.”
“Is Brianne still getting in at six tomorrow?”
Lara and Grant were picking Brianne up at the airport. “Yes. Far as we know, her flight’s on time.”
“Call us if that changes.”
“She will.” Evelyn hesitated. She wanted to ask how her mother was doing, beyond the perfunctory, Hi, Mom. How are you? that was part of her initial greeting. But now wasn’t the time. She’d wait until Brianne had revealed her broken engagement and the pregnancy; then she’d call and try to offer what support she could.