Her Darkest Nightmare (The Evelyn Talbot Chronicles #1) - Brenda Novak Page 0,3

gaze fell to the four-inch-long scar on her neck. “It’s his fault.”

She touched the raised flesh. She supposed, in a way, Hugo was right. But she found it amusing that he assumed no personal responsibility for his own behavior the day they met. She could’ve pointed that out but was more interested in what he hoped to tell her. “Yes.”

Getting up, he paced the length of the small cubicle that comprised his half of their meeting space—what constituted her “couch.” “I would never let anything happen to you,” he said, “not if I could help it.”

“And what happened at San Quentin?” This time she couldn’t resist.…

“I didn’t know you then. Things are different now.”

Were they really? That was the question.

“I appreciate the sentiment,” she responded, but that didn’t mean she’d change her mind.

He stopped and pivoted to face her. “You don’t understand. You’re not safe. None of us are.”

The intensity of his voice and expression made the hair on her arms stand on end. Was that what Hugo was hoping to do? Frighten her?

She had to admit it was working—but only because he’d never taken this tack before January 1. And he seemed so convinced, so sincere.

Apparently, even she could still be taken in.…

Grabbing her pad and her pen, Evelyn stood. “I’m afraid we’ll have to end our session early. You’re so obsessed with … whatever it is that’s causing your agitation we can’t make any progress.”

“Wait!” He rushed the glass. “Evelyn…”

When she gaped at him for using her first name as if they were familiar enough for him to do that, he reverted to the usual formalities.

“Dr. Talbot, listen to me. Please. This prison houses psychopaths, right? Men who take lives without hesitation or remorse.”

She made no reply, didn’t see where one was necessary. He was stating information they both knew to be accurate.

“I’m trying to tell you that”—he glanced at the camera again—“not every killer at Hanover House is locked up.”

This was the last thing she’d expected. “What are you talking about?”

“That’s all I’ll say. Unless … unless you can give me a chance to speak to you in private. I’ll explain what I know, what I’ve seen and heard. And I won’t hurt you. I’m trying to help!”

Evelyn refused to listen to any more of this. Clearly, Hugo was hoping to gain some type of control in their relationship by acting like her protector at the same time he chipped away at her peace of mind. No way would she allow him to do that. At just sixteen, her life had nearly been taken when she fell in love with a man like Hugo. After becoming a psychiatrist eight years ago, she’d devoted her life to unraveling the mysteries of the remorseless killer. She knew more about the psychopathic mind than anyone else in the world, except, maybe, Dr. Robert D. Hare, who had developed the PCL-R and had been researching the same subject for nearly thirty years. But, sadly, even she didn’t know as much as she wanted, not nearly enough to protect the unsuspecting.

“We’ll meet at our regular time day after tomorrow,” she told Hugo. “Do what you can to relax. You’re growing paranoid.”

She walked out, but he didn’t let it go at that. “You’ll see,” he called after her. “You’re going to wish you’d believed me!”

* * *

With a sigh of bone-deep exhaustion, Evelyn tossed her notepad on her desk and slid into her chair.

“What’s wrong? Another headache?”

The sound of Lorraine Drummond’s voice at her open door brought Evelyn’s head up. “No, I just left a session with Hugo Evanski.”

Lorraine, who’d answered an ad in the newspaper when Evelyn and the warden began staffing the center last September, was heavyset, in her mid-fifties and recently single. She had a small house in Anchorage an hour away, two grown children and no education beyond high school. She hadn’t even worked until her divorce, but she was doing a terrific job of running the center’s food service program.

“Since he came here, Hugo’s been perfect. You told me that yourself.”

“He’s changing. Acting strange.”

“Why not pass him along to Dr. Fitzpatrick or one of the others? Give yourself a break?”

“Dr. Fitzpatrick is already using him for some of his studies—and has been since we opened. I can’t ask him to do more. Not since Dr. Brand quit and Dr. Wilheim came down with the shingles. We’re barely managing without them. Who knows how long it’ll be before we can find someone to replace Martin and Stacy’s able to