Her Darkest Nightmare Read Online Free Page B

place!” he cried. “You’ll all be fucked if you make me. Do you hear?”
    â€œShould we take him to his cell?” It was Officer Whitcomb who asked. He obviously doubted she’d be able to get anything meaningful out of Garza when the man was in such a state, and she had to agree. She’d been about to suggest they take him away and give him a chance to cool off. But the second Mr. Garza realized she was on the other side of the glass, he fell silent and went still.
    â€œWho are you?” His dark eyes shined with anger-induced madness as they riveted, hawk-like, on her.
    The first thing she noticed was that those eyes were too close together, his nose was slightly crooked and he had a wide face with almost no chin. A little bit of facial hair or even longer hair on top would’ve made those things less noticeable. But with his head shaved …
    Still, she wouldn’t call him ugly —just average.
    Prepared for an unpleasant encounter, should it go that way, Evelyn fixed a placid expression on her face. She couldn’t, wouldn’t, show this man how unsettled he made her. If he thought he was the first to use intimidation, he was sadly mistaken. Even the sudden reversal in his behavior came as no surprise. Sometimes the men incarcerated at HH reminded her of actors in a play with how quickly and easily they could slip in and out of whatever character suited them best.
    â€œAh, you’re coherent after all,” she said. “So what have you been doing, Mr. Garza? Putting us on notice that you’re no one to be messed with?”
    He didn’t answer the question. “Who are you?”
    She put on the glasses she used to alleviate eyestrain and jotted a note on his chart. Low frustration tolerance. Possibly disorganized thinker and yet … seems more calculating than that. Aggressive when fearful or uncertain or presented with unfamiliar stimuli—
    â€œHey! I asked you a question!” He half-dragged the COs along with him so he could shuffle up to the glass.
    The guards started to yank him back, to show him that he’d better not get out of control again. No doubt they were angry about before. One of their fellow officers had been shuttled off to Medical nursing a broken nose because of Garza hitting him with his head. But, lowering her clipboard, Evelyn motioned for them to leave him be. She was here to study, not punish. That distinction was important to her own humanity. “I’m your new doctor.”
    â€œNo, you’re my next victim,” he said. Then he made kissing noises and smiled, revealing the jagged, broken front teeth he’d gotten from gnawing at the cinder-block wall of his last cell.
    *   *   *
    Evelyn tried not to let the threats she received trouble her. On the whole, considering how frightening and explicit the inmates could get, she coped with what she heard pretty well. Some threats were to be expected when dealing with the worst criminal element in America. And she could usually understand the behavior, even if understanding didn’t equal justification. Many of the men she dealt with attempted to gain control in a world where they had no control by inducing fear in others. That gave them power, to a degree. Or sometimes they threatened her simply because they wanted to be despised if they could no longer be admired, wanted to at least matter .
    But even after she’d left Hanover House for the day, she couldn’t erase the disturbing image of Anthony Garza and his evil smile from her mind. While he might’ve been showing his displeasure with an unwelcome transfer in the only way he felt he could, she was convinced there was more to his “next victim” comment than a desire to frighten her. Something about him and their brief exchange carried an air of authenticity that confirmed the suspicion she’d had when his file first came across her desk. Maybe he’d