“I didn’t sign up to kill people!” Dr. Devins’s voice rose. “I helped people forget a traumatic episode, but I never wanted to hurt anyone.”
“You should have thought of that when you started a partnership with a hit man, darling,” Laura snapped.
Luc’s pulse quickened. The atmosphere, which had been tense, now escalated.
“I did it for you.” Dr. Devins spread his hands in supplication to his wife, who regarded him coolly, all emotion wiped from her face.
Only a few more steps to put them within reach of the door—and a chance at freedom.
“You didn’t tell him, did you?” Culvert’s voice cracked across the room.
Priscilla jumped, bumping into Luc, who steadied her as he moved them back another fraction.
“Tell me what?” Dr. Devins glanced from Culvert to Laura, his brows knitting together. When no one replied, he repeated his question.
“Then I will,” Culvert said. “Laura’s been gambling again.”
The blood drained from Dr. Devins’s face, bleaching it a sickly white. For a moment, Luc thought the man might pass out.
“You promised,” Dr. Devins whispered.
Luc detected a world of pain behind the psychiatrist’s words.
Dr. Devins cleared his throat. “You said you had stopped, that you weren’t gambling anymore. I couldn’t find any evidence on our computers. I thought you really had turned over a new leaf.”
“Maybe I just got smarter.” Laura tightened her grip on the gun, still trained at Culvert’s chest. “I asked some tech guys at work how to wipe away evidence of websites for good. You never even noticed.”
Luc managed to pull Priscilla another step closer to the door while the other two men kept their attention on Laura, who still stood a few feet away from Priscilla and Luc.
“How much?” Dr. Devins’s shoulders slumped. “How much did you lose this time?”
Laura shrugged. “Six months ago, I joined a new game, and I was winning. I was up two hundred thousand dollars. Two hundred grand.”
Luc could almost write the ending to this sad story by the bewildered tone in Laura’s voice. She had been in the black, but instead of quitting while she was ahead, she gambled for even bigger stakes—and lost it all.
“How much?” Dr. Devins demanded.
“A million dollars,” Laura said with a defiant gleam in her eyes.
The enormity of the sum distracted Luc from their escape. How could anyone lose a million dollars? And then, all at once, he got it. Someone had known Laura was a US marshal, had enticed her to play in a new game, had strung her along with big wins, then decimated her, drawing her deeper and deeper in debt. Having a US marshal owing that kind of money would give those criminals an inside source to finding the whereabouts of witnesses—valuable information they could then sell to the highest bidder. Which meant Laura had a lot more to lose than he’d thought—and they needed to get out of here fast.
“A million dollars!” Dr. Devins echoed, his own body language telegraphing his disappointment and despair. “Oh, Laura, what did you do?”
“What did I do? I did what had to be done to save us.” Laura swiveled to point her gun at Priscilla. “She gave me the perfect cover, but now that cover’s been blown.”
* * *
At those words, the rest of the pieces fell into place for Priscilla. Why Culvert had escaped from marshal custody, why Laura had tried to kill her.
“I’m not the target!” The words burst out of Priscilla’s mouth before she could stop them.
All eyes turned to Priscilla, who stayed perfectly still standing next to Luc, drawing strength from his form beside her.
“What do you mean?” Dr. Devins pointed to Culvert. “That man kidnapped you.”
“But why?” Priscilla pressed on. “Because Culvert needed a bargaining chip with the marshals.” She could see she was right by the widening of Laura’s eyes. “If Culvert had me, then the other marshals would have to come rescue both of us.”
“Laura was trying to protect me,” Dr. Devins said. “That’s why she made all those clumsy attempts on your life. She wanted to be sure you wouldn’t remember me.”