“Molly’s been taking care of him.”

“I appreciate it.”

“No problem. Are you on your way back here, then?”

“Not yet.”

“Where are you going now?”

“Edna Southwick’s.”

“Why? I told you, Phil just left there.”

“That’s fine. I’ll take over now.”

“And do what?” Shorty asked.

“Look around.”

“What more can you do?”

Amarok had already broken into one house; he wasn’t above breaking into another, not if it meant finding Evelyn. Hopefully, by the time he went to jail she’d be safe. “That all depends on how far I’m willing to go, doesn’t it?”

“Amarok, be careful.”

“I’m always careful, Shorty. You know that.”

The owner of the Moosehead hesitated as if he wanted to offer more words of caution but ultimately thought better of it. “Okay, but before you go there’s something else.”

Amarok picked up his bag. He could see the bus coming. “Don’t tell me you’ve heard from Detective Lewis.”

“Not a word.”

That didn’t surprise Amarok. If Lewis had Virtanen’s cell phone records, he was proceeding with the investigation on his own. Amarok hoped Lewis was including Anchorage PD, at least, so he’d have some boots on the ground in Alaska. “What is it, then?”

“Jasper Moore ran into a bit of bad luck while you were gone.”

“What kind of bad luck?”

“Well deserved, if you ask me. Karma can be a bitch, as they say.”

Amarok longed for a shower or something else to revive him. He felt rumpled and jet-lagged despite his recent nap. “I could use a few more details, Shorty.”

“Some of the inmates at Hanover House jumped him in the showers. Beat him up pretty bad.”

“Is he dead?”

“Not quite. But he came damn close. And it could be he’s not out of the woods yet.”

“Where is he now? At the hospital here in Anchorage?”

“No, the med center at the prison.”

“If he’s that bad off, why didn’t they transport him?” They had the capability. They’d had to medevac a victim who’d been stabbed not long after HH opened, so they’d been known to do it, too.

“From what I understand, they almost did, but the doc on staff felt he could handle the situation. I mean, without endangering the public by putting a known serial killer in a room without bars. And it looks like he managed to save the bastard’s life, because he’s still breathing.”

Jasper hadn’t only killed strangers; he’d killed two people Amarok had known and cared about, two people from Hilltop whom Amarok, as the town’s only police officer, had felt somewhat responsible for. And then there was his history with Evelyn, of course. Amarok would never forgive Jasper for that, either. “If I’m supposed to feel bad for him, I don’t.”

“I didn’t tell you because I thought you’d be concerned for him. His brain is swelling, so they’re keeping him pretty sedated, but when he came to this morning, he kept asking for you.”

“For me?”

“Well, they think that’s what he wanted. His jaw’s broken, so they wired it shut, which makes it awfully hard to understand him.”