Hanover House: Kickoff to the Evelyn Talbot Chronicles

Chapter 10

It wasn't until Amarok heard the word "vandalism" that he realized Eric Bilichek, a plumber he'd known for years who sat a few seats down from him, and the stranger next to Eric, were talking about Hanover House. Then he couldn't help but eavesdrop, just in case they said something about who had damaged the building. Amarok didn't want to charge the Jennings boys, if they were even to blame. But if they committed the crime, and he had enough evidence to arrest them, he had to do so. He was the law around here, and the law couldn't turn a blind eye no matter the reason he might personally want to.

"So who did it?" the stranger asked, holding his morning coffee loosely in his hands.

"No clue." Eric shoved what was left of his breakfast away from him, so that Sandy Ledstetter, the only waitress currently working the bar at The Dinky Diner, could pick it up. "I wouldn't turn the guy in even if I did," Eric added with a humorless chuckle. "He just did what we've all been tempted to do—make our feelings known. But the fact that it happened just goes to show that you're right. Folks here are worried, not sure we should've let Hanover House come to town."

"Can't blame 'em for being skeptical of a place like that," the stranger said. "I mean, who is this chick—Evelyn Talbot? And what does she think she's going to be able to do, anyway?"

Eric wiped his mouth and put his napkin on his plate. "She's supposed to be a pretty good psychiatrist."

"Doesn't matter how good she is. Psychiatry in general is a joke—a pseudo-science. No one can figure out what other people are thinking—or control behavior. And having Hanover House here will change the whole community, bring in a lot of outside attention. Is that what folks here want? Did anyone even bother to ask?"

"Some asked, but there aren't a lot of ways to earn a living in such an out-of-the-way place. I think most people decided it could be a blessing to those who need the work."

"A blessing!" he scoffed in disbelief. "You want to know what I bet? I bet before long she'll be pushing the government to expand, maybe even build other facilities here. There's a place in Arizona that has seven prisons. Can you believe that? They have more inmates than citizens." He shook his head. "Whoever let that happen was crazy."

"One prison is plenty," Eric responded. "We don't want any more."

"Then you're going to have to make sure Dr. Talbot doesn't get her way again. Fight her and everyone who stands behind her. If the people in the lower forty-eight can dump all their human garbage where they no longer have to smell it, they will. And if just one of those bastards ever gets loose"—the stranger whistled—"you and everyone else here will be totally fucked. It'll be like shooting fish in a barrel!"

"Not necessarily. Most folks in these parts are armed," Eric said. "I promise you—anyone who comes after me is going to get a bullet between the eyes."

"Easy to say." The man lowered his voice. "But have you ever killed a man?"

Amarok couldn't help leaning forward to get a better look at the stranger's face. He didn't like his tone, or his bravado, either. He also didn't see why someone from outside the area would have such a strong opinion on Hanover House. Why did this jerk care so much?

"Of course I haven't killed a man," Eric said. "But only because I've never had to."

"It takes a certain kind of person," the guy responded.

"Anyone can kill," Eric argued.

"No way. You'll never see it coming. These are hardened murderers we're talking about, people who delight in fear and degradation and pain. There won't be a damn thing you or anyone else can do, least of all Evelyn Talbot. It's not as if she's like some animal trainer who'll have a special rapport with the men she counsels. She'll probably be the first to take it in the ass and then have her head lopped off."