Page 59 of Dangerous Christmas Memories

If he were immobilized, he wouldn’t be able to check on Priscilla. “No, I can get out myself.”

“Sir, you could be hurt and not know it.” The firewoman spoke firmly, her hand on the door frame.

Luc didn’t have time for this. Priscilla needed him. “I’m getting out now.”

The firefighter shook her head. “Suit yourself.”

Luc swung his feet out of the SUV. As soon as his feet hit the ground, his knees wobbled, but he managed to stay upright. The firewoman scrambled into the back seat next to Laura.

The third firefighter helped him sit a few feet away from the SUV. “You sure you don’t want a gurney?”

Luc nodded. He offered an olive branch, knowing that the sooner someone gave him the once-over, the sooner Luc could find Priscilla. “You can check me out here.”

The firefighter took Luc’s wrist between his fingers. “Let me get your pulse.”

More ambulances and law-enforcement personnel poured into the parking lot, blocking Luc’s view of the other SUVs.

“What’s your name?” The firefighter ran his hands down Luc’s arms, then legs, to check for broken bones.

“Luc Langsdale.” He could see emergency personnel swarming toward the other two vehicles, one of which landed nearly in the trees, the other by the manager’s office.

The firefighter pointed to the bulky bandage under Luc’s shirtsleeve. “What happened?”

Luc settled for a half-truth instead of saying he’d been shot a few days earlier, which would only invite more questions. “It’s just a scratch.”

“Hmm.” The firefighter eyed him for a moment, then peppered Luc with more questions before strongly recommending Luc go to the hospital for further evaluation. “You sit tight, and we’ll get you transported to the hospital soon.” He jogged off to find an ambulance for Luc.

Luc pushed himself to his feet, staggered just a little to gain his balance and headed off toward the tree line. He’d check that SUV first for Priscilla. As he approached, he could hear Mac’s voice.

“I’m fine!” Mac sounded irritated and in pain.

Luc couldn’t see Mac because of an EMT blocking the open back passenger door of the SUV.

“I don’t need to go to the hospital.” Mac’s voice had a tone in it that made Luc’s heart drop.

Something wasn’t right. This wasn’t a man who simply didn’t want medical attention. This was a man worried about something else.

Luc stopped near the car, his eyes taking in Mac sitting in the back seat and Aldrich being put on a stretcher from the driver’s seat. The back door opposite Mac stood wide open, with no sign of Priscilla.

The world spun, and for a second, Luc thought he might go down, but he drew in a ragged breath to ask the question to which he already knew the answer. “Mac, where’s Priscilla?”

The marshal looked at him, his face gray with fatigue and pain. “Gone.”

TWENTY

“Priscilla’s gone?” Luc didn’t try to hide the fear in his voice. His body ached but his heart hurt worse.

“Come closer.” Mac turned to the female EMT, who had removed a blood pressure cuff from Mac’s arm and was attempting to shine a flashlight into his eyes. “I need a few minutes to speak privately with this man.”

“What you need is to be thoroughly checked out,” the petite redhead snapped, but Mac pierced her with his gaze and she grunted, then stepped back from the SUV.

Luc eased into her place. “What are we going to do?”

“First, I need to know if you’re okay.” Mac searched Luc’s face as if to assess for himself whether Luc had come through the ramming unscathed.

“Yeah, I think so. Of course, the EMTs want me to go to the hospital, but nothing’s broken.”

“How about the others?”

Luc relayed what he knew about Laura and Myers. “I don’t know about Dr. Devins and the other two marshals.”

“You need to be very careful.”

“I know—Culvert’s behind this. To think that he might have Priscilla is making me sick to my stomach.” Luc propped himself against the door frame as a wave of nausea hit. With the entire group hurt, everything pointed to how desperate Culvert was to get his hands on the only witness who could put him away for a very long time.

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