Page 52 of Dangerous Christmas Memories

Luc swallowed a bite of broccoli. “That’s what bothers me.”

“It bothers you that an assassin is after Priscilla?” Mac expertly wielded the chopsticks to eat a piece of cabbage.

“No, it bothers me that he’s not been successful.” Luc mentally slapped himself in the forehead over his poor word choice.

“You want Culvert to succeed in killing me?” Priscilla put down her fork, her eyes wide. “And here I thought you wanted me alive so we could figure out this marriage thing.”

Luc shifted his plate from his lap to the table in front of him. “I didn’t mean that. I do want you alive.” He groaned, frustrated over his bumbled conversation. “Let me start over.” He turned to Mac. “How long had Culvert been operating as a hired assassin?”

Mac finished a bite before answering. “As far as we can tell, at least two decades.”

“Okay, twenty years. Who hires him?” Luc ignored the food on his own plate as the idea he’d been thinking about for the last twenty-four hours came into focus.

Mac uncapped a bottle of water and took a drink. “It’s been major crime families, both international and domestic. Culvert’s the one these crime syndicates call to clean house, like the Vegas shooting Priscilla witnessed. He’s also had a hand in the assassinations of minor government officials in some of the more unstable countries.”

“In other words, he’s so good at his job that people in high places hire him.” Luc’s stomach growled.

“That’s a fair assessment of Culvert’s skills. He didn’t get caught until recently, and that was because of a two-year-long sting operation in which a deep undercover agent portrayed a potential client.” Mac picked up his spring roll and ate it quickly.

“How did Culvert usually kill his victims?” As he asked the questions that had been burning in his mind, Priscilla ate steadily.

“Just where are you going with all these questions?” Mac growled.

Mac’s irritation dampened Luc’s enthusiasm.

“You said you were here to answer some of our questions.” Priscilla ate another piece of sweet-and-sour pork.

“You’re right—I did.” Mac leaned back in the desk chair. “Culvert’s signature shot is a tap to the forehead between the eyes. He always follows up with a second shot to the head as well.”

“And the crime scenes?” Luc risked being shut down again, but he had to continue this line of thought.

“Clean as a whistle. Even that bomb Aldrich alluded to just now had been carefully calibrated to do maximum impact inside the room with as little collateral damage as possible.”

“I bet Culvert always wears gloves to leave no fingerprints.” Luc polished off the remaining water in his bottle.

Mac shoved his paper plate and chopsticks into a plastic bag. “Culvert treads lightly and I mean that in a literal sense. At one crime scene near a lake, he avoided walking in the muddy terrain to avoid leaving footprints.”

“Then why has his MO changed?” The answer to this question would be one that could change the direction of the investigation—and keep Priscilla safe.

EIGHTEEN

Priscilla’s heart raced as Luc voiced the very question about Culvert changing his MO that had been bothering her since the second hypnosis session. The memory of the cool, very collected hit man didn’t jibe with the slipshod attempts on her life. A man who picked up shell casings and walked nonchalantly out of the room where he had shot three people didn’t suddenly start acting like an amateur.

“Because he’s desperate,” Mac said, ticking off the items on his fingers. “He just had major surgery, and doesn’t have access to the resources he once did. Three very good reasons for his MO to change.” The marshal rose. “Besides, Culvert could be merely throwing us off his scent, making us think it’s not him behind the efforts to kill Priscilla.”

She scrambled to her feet and put her plate in the plastic trash bag that held the remains of Mac’s dinner.

Luc stared down at his barely touched plate of food.

“I know you mean well, but this is out of your league.” Mac laid a hand on Luc’s shoulder. “Don’t muddy the waters with such wild speculation. We all need to focus on catching Culvert. Once we do, we’ll be in a much better position to sort out the whys and hows.”

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