“What about gambling or drugs?”Micah asked, when the two women fell silent.“Maybe there was a reason Damien had to steal the money and then disappear to avoid being caught.”
“He never did drugs with me,” Lori said firmly.“I never saw him gamble either.”
“Maybe he hid his gambling or drug use,” Micah pressed.“The fact that you both think this is out of character for him means something happened that caused him to take the money and run.”
“I think I’d have noticed drug use during our time together,” Lori drawled.“He spent a lot of nights here.”
Bryn’s cheeks flushed pink.“I—our relationship didn’t get to that point.But I still think I’d have noticed if Damien acted weird at the office.”
Lori looked a bit surprised, then glanced pointedly at the clock.“If that’s all, I need to ask you to leave.Like I said, I start work early tomorrow.”
“You still work at the hospital, right?”Bryn asked.
“Yes.I’m a nurse, and it’s my weekend.”Lori walked toward the front door.“I hope you find Damien.”
“Thanks for taking the time to meet with us.”Lori turned to follow her.
“You may get a visit from the Madison police,” Micah added.He wanted to ask more questions but sensed Lori had run out of patience.Besides, if she really hadn’t seen the guy since last September, he doubted she was helping him out.“They’re taking Richard’s claim that Damien embezzled money very seriously.”
“I don’t know anything,” Lori said with an exaggerated eye roll.“Talk about a waste of the taxpayers’ money.”
Micah bit back a sarcastic reply; there was no reason to point out the importance of covering all bases during an investigation.Lori opened the front door and stood off to the side to give him and Bryn room to get out.
Bryn was about to step forward but turned back to Lori as if remembering one more question.A crack of gunfire sent them all to the floor.
“Get back!”Micah reached out to drag Bryn out of harm’s way.Then he reached for Lori.“Hurry!”
Another sharp report of gunfire rang out, and the pretty redhead abruptly slumped to the floor.He stared down in horror as blood oozed from her chest.Hooking his arms beneath her armpits, he dragged her away from the door.Bryn shut and locked it.
“Call 911,” he said, lowering Lori to the floor.
Listening as Bryn made the call, he examined Lori’s wound gunshot wound.The bullet had entered her chest, a half inch to the right of her sternum.Near her heart.The amount of blood pooling on the floor was far from reassuring.For a moment, Tommy’s face flashed in his mind, but he thrust the image away.
Pressing his fingertips to Lori’s carotid artery, he searched for a pulse.
And found nothing.
He rocked back on his heels, glancing around the living room.The cops would swarm the place at any moment.And Micah had no intention of being there when they arrived.
3
Bryn stared at the blood pooling beneath Lori’s body in stunned horror.How had the gunman found them here?She didn’t understand what was going on!Her thoughts were a tangled mess as she pulled out her phone to call 911.
“Wait.Let’s get out of here first.”Micah grabbed her arm and tugged her toward the back door.
“We can’t just leave her.”She tried to dig in her heels to stay put.Her flat work shoes slid across the floor as he pulled her forward.“We have to stay...”
“Nothing will change the fact that she’s dead.”His grim expression held regret.“Please, Bryn.”
Numb, she gave up, allowing him to pull her toward the back door.The backyard was quiet, but she felt certain the police would be alerted to the gunfire soon, if they hadn’t been already.This was a nice neighborhood where gunfire was most likely an anomaly.
“What if we run into the shooter?”She kept her voice as quiet as possible.
“Stay behind me.”She belatedly realized Micah held a gun in his hand.“And keep your eyes open for anything suspicious.”
She stumbled, reaching out to grab onto his jacket.He didn’t slow his pace, continuing to move through Lori’s backyard to the property next door.At first, she was confused, they’d parked directly behind the house that bumped up against Lori’s property.Then she realized he didn’t want to take the most direct path to the location where they’d left the car.
The shot had come through the front door, but what if the gunman had made his way back around the block to wait for them?
