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“Until you can sell it to your buyer!” Scott added, a little too dramatically. But at least he was helping her stall.

“Since we’re being so chatty, how did you figure out I sent men to hijack my own shipment?” Dougherty’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know it was my men and not someone else? It seemed like the perfect plan. I figured everyone would assume he’d stolen it.” He nodded at Scott. “Especially since he ran and hid.”

“I ran because they were shooting at me! Besides, I knew everyone would think I took it, and come after me,” Scott said defensively.

“One of your men had a scorpion tattoo on the back of his hand,” Summer revealed. “I saw it when he broke into my house. And then Scott said one of the men who hijacked him had the same tattoo. Lenny Lubicki.”

Ace made a growling sound, clearly still pissed his partner was dead. Dougherty swore under his breath, turning to the thug. “I told you to wear gloves and masks.”

“We did! Lubicki must’ve taken his off. I-I don’t remember,” Ace stuttered.

“The Broker must know, too,” Summer stated. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent people to kill your men. He’s eliminating loose ends.” She looked over at Ace then returned her attention to Dougherty. “And he’s going to find his way back to you. You’re not going to get away with this.” She did her best to make her prediction sound as fucking ominous as possible. She wanted these assholes shaking in their boots.

“No, I’ll blame it on him.” He nodded at Scott. “With both of you dead, no one will know the truth. No loose ends.” That’s where he was wrong. Lex and his friends knew. But she wasn’t about to throw them under the bus. “You can thank your ex for dragging you into this mess.”

“I never wanted Summer involved,” Scott said. “I never asked for her help or called her or—”

Summer’s jaw dropped. “Yes, you did! Oh, my God, Scott, you’re such a liar!” Turning toward him, she angled her face away from Dougherty and his men, and laid into her ex, a new strategy to stall forming in her mind. “This is why things never worked between us. All you ever did was get into trouble and drag me down with you.” She winked, hoping he understood her plan, and that he’d play along with her.

“I only called you back because you blew up my phone!” he retorted, voice raising. “Isn’t it common courtesy to return someone’s phone call? To respond to their thirty or so messages? Which, by the way, was a little overkill.”

“I didn’t call you thirty times!”

“Believe me, I didn’t want to deal with you. All you do is blame me for everything. Nag, nag, nag. You think everything is my fault!”

“Because it is!” she yelled back.

The thugs rolled their eyes, weapons lowering a fraction, and Dougherty scowled. “Knock it off!” he grunted.

But no, she had no intention of stopping. As they began going at each other’s throats, voices getting louder, insults flying, the men around them grew more and more annoyed. A bickering divorced couple was the perfect distraction, and she could’ve hugged Scott for catching on and playing his part to perfection. If they survived, she’d have to remember not to call him useless ever again.

“Enough!” Dougherty finally hollered. “Throw her in!”

As Ace grabbed her, Summer gave a sharp nod to Scott and pulled the box cutter out of her pocket, extending the blade. With a shrill scream, she swiped out with the weapon, going straight for Ace’s throat. The thug jumped back in surprise, releasing her. Meanwhile, Scott pulled a screwdriver from his waistband and shoved the pointed end at the guy with the pierced nose. It ripped across his cheek, and Bull went down with an angry shout.

And that’s when all hell broke loose.

Lex and Xander moved through the scrapyard maze with determination. Dogged persistence and his love for Summer kept Lex focused on finding her. They turned a corner and abruptly stopped when they saw a group of people on the scaffolding that surrounded what looked like a large steel tube. Thick, high-pressure water lines entered the bottom and steaming pipes vented out the top.

And standing in the center of it all was Summer.

Before Lex could go running, Xander grabbed his arm, pulling him out of sight. “We need a plan,” Xander warned, voice low and harsh. A massive hiss of steam snaked out the top of the machine. “Talk about Freddy Kruger. It’s like we stepped into his fucking boiler room.”

“I’m going after Summer. Call the others.” He yanked his arm out of Xander’s hold.

“Comms are down.” Xander grabbed his shoulder. “What the fuck do you want me to do? Send a smoke signal?”

“Cover me!” Lex shrugged away and bolted, heading straight for his woman.

“Oh, Christ,” Xander grumbled, but Lex heard his friend’s boots right on his heels.

There wasn’t a second to spare. As they moved closer, he heard yelling and realized Summer and Scott were arguing. Before he could figure out what the fuck they were doing, the entire scene shifted. Summer screamed and turned on Ace, while Scott wielded a screwdriver, stabbing at the thug’s face closest to him.

Focusing on Summer as he ran, he saw her slashing wildly at Ace with some kind of weapon. A blade maybe? Yeah, sure, why not? It sure went along with the whole Freddy Kruger theme.

As he reached the stairs leading up to what he now saw was a fucking incinerator, Lex stumbled to a stop as the thug Scott had attacked came tumbling over the railing, landing at his feet. He caught a quick glimpse of the bar in his nose and torn up cheek before two shots split the air, and Hawke finished him off. Lex jumped over the body and ran up the metal steps two at a time, reaching the top and firing off a shot at a third thug. The bullet pierced his shoulder and sent him toppling backwards, right over the railing’s edge to where Hawke waited below.

Two down. Two to go. Ace and Dougherty’s time was almost up.