Ryland hesitated. “Don’t talk to me about her. I loved her. Vik and Ellen were my best friends.”

Kilburn snorted. “So, naturally, you had to kill them.”

“There was no choice!” Ryland yelled. “Vik was on the verge of going to the FDA. And Ellen had figured out where MRGAS came from. They were both too principled and too narrow-minded to have ever listened to reason … .” He paused again. When he resumed speaking, his tone was frigid. “But that weasel Martineau … that was easy.”

Lopez slid a foot over, but stopped when she felt the cast tighten around her chest.

“So you had Snider fake an attempt on your life to deflect suspicion from you,” Cohen said. “Then you kidnapped Martineau and forced him to set us up.”

“Snider kidnapped Martineau,” Ryland said.

Cohen nodded. “And killed him. Meanwhile you moved the money into and out of Martineau’s account to frame him for paying Snider’s bills.”

“Those ‘bills’ consumed most of the two million,” Ryland grunted.

“A pittance of what you stood to gain from Oraloxin—”

“Enough!” Ryland said. “We’re done with the history talk.”

He pushed Lopez forward a step. “Give me your damn car keys!” he snarled at Kilburn.

Kilburn reached in his pocket and pulled out the keys.

“Put them on the countertop,” Ryland instructed. Kilburn stepped over to the counter and placed the keys on it.

“Now, you two are going to go down the stairs and lock yourself in the basement,” Ryland told the men.

Concentrating, Lopez held her breath.

“And you?” Cohen asked.

“Lina is going to give me a ride out of here,” Ryland said. “Then we can all get on with our separate lives.”

“And we should trust you the way Ellen and Vik did?” Kilburn said.

“The stairs are behind you,” Ryland said, ignoring the question. “Move now! Or Lina dies.”

Now! Lina thought. The moment Cohen turned for the stairs, Lopez drove her elbow down as hard as she could into Ryland’s groin. At the same moment, she shot her other hand up and grabbed his wrist.

Ryland screamed in surprise. The knife scratched the front of Lina’s neck, just as she caught his hand and wriggled free of the blade. She struggled to pull completely free but felt a burning pain as the knife dug deeply into her shoulder. She winced and then looked up to see the blade coming at her again.

Before the knife made contact, Kilburn’s hand grabbed Ryland’s arm. Under Kilburn’s weight, they all slammed into the cupboards. When they made contact with the cabinets, Lopez sprang free of the tangle and staggered back a step. Stunned, she watched Kilburn and Ryland wrestle against the wall.