Phil gaped at her. “Evelyn? But I thought—”
“What? You thought what? Where’s Amarok? And why do you have blood on your coat? Is he okay?”
“He—”
Phil didn’t have time to explain before Amarok came charging out of the house. He had even more blood on his coat than Phil did, but he seemed to be moving normally, as though he was unharmed.
“Amarok—” she started, but he didn’t give her a chance to speak. He pulled her into his arms and held her tight.
“Where have you been?” he asked, his voice thick with emotion.
“At the prison,” she said into his shoulder. “I’m sorry I didn’t call, but I never expected to be this late. I was getting in my car when one of the COs came running out to stop me. Brianne was on the phone, and she was in tears. She’d just told Mom and Dad about her broken engagement and the baby. I couldn’t leave her like that. So I’ve spent the past hour and a half trying to help her and my parents.”
“You were there the whole time?”
She looked up at him. “Yes. My sister was having a complete meltdown, so I didn’t feel comfortable asking her to hang on. I knew you’d assume I got involved at work again, that you’d call if you were getting anxious and someone at Hanover House would tell you. I tried calling the trooper post as soon as we hung up, but I was over an hour late by then, and no one answered. So I called here. No answer, either. I even tried your satellite phone.”
“It’s in the truck with Makita. The reception isn’t good unless I’m in the open. Or maybe you tried to reach me after I got here and went into the house.”
She glanced between him and Phil. “Where’s all this blood coming from? Has someone else been hurt?”
“Samantha’s dead,” Amarok told her.
“Dead?” she echoed. “How do you know? Where’d you find her?”
“Right here, in our house.”
“How can that be?”
“I have no idea, but it was Jasper. There’s no question this time.”
Evelyn had difficulty absorbing the fact that Amarok’s ex-girlfriend had been murdered. And by Jasper! “He killed Samantha.…”
“Yes. I feel terrible that she’s dead, but I’m so glad it wasn’t you.”
“Poor Sam,” Phil said.
Evelyn shook her head. “I don’t understand!”
“Andy Smith is Jasper Moore,” Amarok explained.
“No.” She stumbled back. “It can’t be! Andy saved my life last year—”
“Or did he just save you from Bishop?” Amarok broke in. “Was he trying to carry you off himself when I stopped him? What would he have done if I hadn’t come home when I did?”
She couldn’t answer that. She’d been unconscious at the time, had no recollection of when Andy had interrupted Bishop. “We’ve been grateful to him ever since!”
“And what a fine joke he must’ve thought that was. But what I can’t figure out is … why didn’t he try again? Why would he allow us to live in relative peace and happiness for so long?”
“He had to be planning something.” Evelyn covered her mouth. “I know this is minor considering what happened to Samantha, but poor Brianne. She slept with him!”
“That isn’t the worst of it. He could’ve killed her so easily, and he knew how badly that would hurt you.”
“But if he’d hurt her, we would’ve known he was dangerous and he would’ve had much less chance of getting me.”
“He was waiting for the perfect opportunity, the perfect set of circumstances.”
“And he had plenty of time. We had no clue who he was. He could’ve stayed in the area indefinitely.”
“If not for those murders.”
Evelyn’s mind raced as the pieces came together. “He thought he could get away with what he did to Katherine. Then he thought he could hide it by killing Sierra. When it didn’t go that way? I’m sure he felt some anxiety.”
“We were closing in on him with those manifests,” Amarok said. “We would’ve gotten him.”
“That’s why he had to make his move. Still, he’s exhib ited far more patience than I ever would’ve thought possible for someone like him. Where is he now?”
Amarok spread his hands. “He could be anywhere. He was gone when Phil arrived. I got here after Phil did.”
“We can’t let Jasper get away again!” she cried. “I can’t keep going through this. I need to know he’s no longer a threat. My family needs that. Have you called Anchorage PD?”
“Not yet,” Amarok said. “I just barely realized the woman I was holding wasn’t you.”
“Her face … it’s destroyed,” Phil explained. “And there was so much blood.”
She started for the house. “We have to call them now!”
“Don’t go in there.” Amarok let Makita out and grabbed his satellite phone from the truck. “Call the prison and get Andy Smith’s home address from his personnel file. I’ll give it to Anchorage PD. They could have someone at his place in minutes.”
She frowned. “If he’s stupid enough to go back there.”
*
Shit! Shit, shit, shit! Jasper smacked the steering wheel so hard he broke a blood vessel as he drove Samantha Boyce’s Subaru through the mountains to the small town of Butte. After all the hard work he’d put in! After the perfect résumé he’d crafted in Arizona! After moving here and going to all the work and expense of building his torture chamber! After getting on at Hanover House and working for Lieutenant Dickey (who was so aptly named everyone referred to him as Lieutenant Dick)!
How could his time in Alaska end like this?
Everything had gone wrong, beginning with Kat’s unsatisfying death. She’d died far too easily, on a day he wasn’t prepared for it and had to be at work—the bitch. Because of that, he hadn’t had time to dispose of her body, so he’d decided to go back to the cabin where he’d hidden her. By then someone had already discovered her remains, which had forced him to kill again, and on and on. He couldn’t catch a break. Even when he should’ve been able to shoot Amarok, he’d missed!
If he believed in divine intervention, he’d assume a higher power was working against him. Tonight had been nothing but a huge clusterfuck. Those headlights hadn’t belonged to Evelyn; they’d belonged to Samantha Boyce. Why she kept driving by, hovering around Evelyn’s and Amarok’s house, Jasper couldn’t say, but it pissed him off to think she was watching him. He probably wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been so intent on keeping an eye out for whatever might be coming his way, but when he’d caught her sneaking around the back to peer in the window he’d made her sorry.
After he’d grabbed her and dragged her in the house, she’d told him she loved Amarok, that she’d deliver Evelyn to him if only he’d let her live. She’d claimed that she wanted what he wanted—Evelyn dead—and she’d been quite passionate and convincing. But by then he’d known it was too late; he had to run. Evelyn hadn’t arrived home as expected, and he was out of time. The whole structure he’d so carefully and painstakingly built here in Alaska was crashing down on him. Better to get out while he could and live to fight another day.