Now, with both men’s attention on them, there was no chance of meeting their escape objective. Maybe they should make a break for it after all. Or maybe he should rush Culvert and allow Priscilla to dash for freedom.
“Why agree to hypnotize me again?” Priscilla furrowed her brow as she stared at the psychiatrist. In other circumstances, Luc would have gently rubbed away those lines on her forehead in an effort to reassure her. But he didn’t want to draw additional attention to them.
“It wasn’t my idea.” Dr. Devins’s voice took on the whine of someone not used to having his way thwarted. “Mac insisted. I couldn’t say no without arousing his suspicions. I agreed.” He glared at Priscilla. “You remembered, all right. You recalled every detail of that night, including meeting me.”
Priscilla gaped at him. “I did? But the new memories were only about meeting Luc and the actual shooting, not about running into you.”
“That’s because I had to rehypnotize you at the end of each session, and even then, it wasn’t likely to stick for very long.” Dr. Devins wiped his hands on his pant leg. “I’ve been waiting for you to look at me and remember we’d met back in Vegas.”
Luc had heard enough. “You told Laura about Mac’s request, and she decided that if Culvert escaped, they could kill Priscilla with no one the wiser. Culvert would get the blame.”
“Something like that,” Dr. Devins replied.
“This still doesn’t explain why you kidnapped me.” Priscilla’s gaze went to Culvert, who had been silent during much of the exchange.
“Doesn’t it?” Culvert slapped the gun lightly against his leg, reminding Luc they were still in grave danger.
“You did escape from the hospital, and you did try to run us off the road in Fairfax,” Luc pointed out.
“I overheard my lawyers talking about how one witness was going to be hypnotized ahead of her testimony. I figured it was probably Priscilla, because she was one of the few witnesses Devins hypnotized who had disappeared. I asked some of my contacts to find out who was going to do the session, and when Devins’s name came back, I knew I had to be very careful.”
Luc shook his head. “There has to be more than Dr. Devins trying to cover up his own misdeeds.”
“There is,” a woman’s voice chimed in from behind him.
Luc whirled around to see Laura Devins, her Glock pointed straight at Culvert’s head.
TWENTY-THREE
Luc tugged Priscilla closer to him as Laura stepped farther into the room, circling them as she kept Culvert in her sights. The hit man hadn’t moved, his weapon still resting in his right hand against his thigh.
“Darling!” Dr. Devins started toward his wife, but was halted by the fierce look Laura gave him. “You’re okay. I was worried.”
“Not now, Steven.” She brought up her other hand to steady the gun. “Culvert, put your weapon down nice and slow.”
Culvert shook his head. “I think I’ll hang on to this for a little bit longer.”
With Laura’s attention fixed on Culvert, and Culvert and Dr. Devins looking at Laura, Luc took the opportunity to move back a step with Priscilla. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Laura hadn’t completely closed the back door.
Laura shrugged. “It will make things simpler when I shoot you to protect Priscilla.”
“How will you explain Luc’s and Priscilla’s deaths?” Based on Culvert’s smooth and unruffled voice, he might have been asking Laura if she wanted cream in her coffee.
Beside him, Priscilla stiffened at Culvert’s words. Luc tightened his grip on her hand, trying to offer comfort but not draw attention to themselves. He then managed to move them back another half step.
“Unfortunate casualties caught in the cross fire, or perhaps you shot them before I arrived. They were already dead when I managed to take you out.” Laura firmed her stance, her gaze never wavering from Culvert. “Either way, they end up dead.”
Dr. Devins gaped at his wife. “You’re going to kill them?”
“What did you think would happen here, Steven?” Laura narrowed her eyes, impatience radiating from every taut line of her body. “That you would work your hypno-mumbo-jumbo and we could let them walk away? Don’t be a fool.”