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She would not be vaporized today, thank you very much.

Fuck. That.

Chapter nineteen

Every step up the metal staircase felt like she was moving closer to hell. How was she going to fight off Ace, Dougherty and the other two thugs with a measly box cutter? Obviously, Scott would be useless in the scuffle, so she couldn’t count on him. Nothing new there. But the door to her escape was closing fast. She had to make her move soon. Otherwise… A shiver swept through her body as her feet hit the top platform.

“Open it,” Dougherty ordered.

The thug with the curved bar pierced through his septum stepped over to the incinerator and hit a lever which opened the large lid. He reminded her of a bull. But hopefully when she launched her escape plan, she’d be the one charging, and take him by complete surprise.

“Wait!” She had to get Dougherty talking and somehow keep delaying him until…

Until what? Until Lex showed up? Because that wasn’t going to happen. No, she would have to try and make a run for it.

A discreet glance over the railing showed her it was too high to jump. But if she landed on the large round tank-looking thing beside the platform, she’d be okay. Well, as long as it wasn’t boiling hot. Then she could slide off it and run for her life. Hopefully Scott would be smart enough to follow her.

She looked Dougherty square in the face and said, “I have questions that need answers.”

He moved the toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other. “Why would I tell you anything?”

“If you’re planning on killing me, the least you can do is satisfy my curiosity. I have hunches,” she continued boldly, “but I’d like to hear it from you. Did you send your men to hijack the container from Scott? Are you the one who stole it?”

He hesitated, then must’ve figured it was okay to admit the truth because, well, dead men tell no tales. Not that she actually planned on dying.

“Yes. Happy?”

“No, not at all.” She frowned. “Why make a deal with The Broker when you planned on keeping it all along?”

“I didn’t plan on keeping it until I realized just how valuable it was—until I saw how much money I could get for it on the black market. So, I stole it back and told my men to eliminate Holt. To make him disappear. A flawless plan. I get the container back, and The Broker believes Holt stole it.

“But the bum got away and fucked everything up. My guys were supposed to hunt him down by any means necessary—that’s how they ended up at your place. If I didn’t get rid of his worthless ass, The Broker might’ve realized I took it. And I needed him to believe it was Holt. The Broker is fucking ruthless.”

Of course. It always boiled down to money and merciless men on a power trip. “How much is it worth?”

“Does it matter?”

“I’m curious.”

“You’re stalling,” he countered. Then he hit a button on the incinerator’s panel, activating it.

It began to rumble and make all sorts of sinister sounds. And she swore she could already feel the heat rising from its depths.

Shit. He was on to her, but she wasn’t about to give up. No freaking way.

“Sue me for not wanting to jump into a tube of boiling sand.” He smirked around his stupid toothpick, and her hand tightened around the box cutter hidden away in her pocket. “What I really want to know is…what exactly is in it? What does everyone want so badly?”

“Yeah,” Scott piped in. “What’s in the container? Weapons?”

“It’s definitely a weapon, but none like you’ve ever seen before,” Dougherty told them. “I’m not even sure of its full capabilities. All I know is whoever controls it, controls the world.”

“The world?” Summer echoed. Oh, geez. That did not sound good. Somehow a few weapons in a box suddenly turned into a massive global problem. Because if what he said was true, letting such a dangerous tool get into the hands of a power-hungry man like The Broker, or anyone else who might want to use it for chaos and destruction, would be catastrophic.

Her need to escape renewed and deepened, because she had to find a way to prevent such a cataclysm. “Where is it?”

“It’s in a safe place.” He gestured out to the metal maze all around them. “A place where no one will be able to find it.”

“You hid it somewhere in the junkyard,” she surmised.