“I’m looking for another place for us to stay, of course. This one’s out of the question—she ruined it.”

He meant Edna.

“We can … we can figure out some way to stay, can’t we?”

“Aren’t you listening?” he said, obviously irritated. “No, we can’t. And that’s hugely inconvenient, especially when I need more time to recover and get on my feet.”

He tried to peer around her to give Edna a nasty look. Clearly, he wanted to make sure Edna understood that all of this was her fault and no one else’s. But Edna wasn’t paying attention. She sat against the wall, huddled up in the blanket with her eyes closed, as though she couldn’t bear to open them.

Evelyn bent closer to the slot. She wanted to ask Bishop what changing locations would mean for Edna, if Edna would be coming with them. But she was afraid of what Lyman would say—and that he wouldn’t say it quietly. If she had to bet, he’d be happy to leave poor Edna moldering in the chicken shit with Emmett.

“Could you do me a favor?” she asked.

Acting surprised by the request—or probably just the intimacy of her voice, since she was trying to play on his mistaken belief that they would be a couple—he leaned closer, too. “What kind of favor?”

“Will you let me keep her with me as a helper for when I have the baby and then maybe as a nurse for the first few months? You had the right idea with that. We could really use her.”

Evelyn held her breath as she awaited his reply. She had to think of some reason Edna needed to go with them. Although she couldn’t be sure, she was fairly certain it was the only way to keep her alive. Because even if he didn’t kill her outright, even if he just left her behind, locked in this damn cooler, it could be too late by the time someone found her.

He would never release her—couldn’t release her. If he did, she might bring the police before he could get safely away.

“No,” he said. “I don’t like her. Besides, that will only make things more difficult for me.”

And he, of course, was the only person who mattered. Psychopaths were the biggest assholes in the world.

Hilltop, AK—Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. AKDT

Jasper knew he was in trouble when he couldn’t get either of the COs escorting him and the other inmates to even look at him. “Hey, Cadiz!” he called. “Aren’t you listening? I said, I need to talk to Sergeant Murphy.” He’d stated that as soon as the door to his cell had sprung open and he stepped out of it. But Cadiz seemed to have cotton in his ears. The same was true for CO Perez.

“What’s wrong with you two?” he cried when they pressed him to get walking with a shooing motion of their hands. “I have information on Dr. Talbot! I need to get to the trooper as soon as possible.”