Chapter 30 · Who Holds the Clock

"Don't touch that lever."

My hand closed harder around the release bar. Knox's fingers were already over mine, hot and bruising, his chest pressed to my back while black chemical smoke crawled out of the evidence box between us. The vault door stayed sealed. The red hold light stayed on. Outside the steel, an ATF unit crackled through the emergency speaker. "Vault occupants, respond. Open the inner release and step away from the evidence."

Knox's thumb dragged across my knuckles. "You heard them. Move."

"You move."

"Rhea."

"You want that door open because your people are in the wash corridor." I twisted my wrist under his grip. "Not because the ATF asked nicely."

His jaw tightened against the side of my head. I felt the scrape of his stubble near my ear, the heat of his breath cutting through the bitter gas. "My people aren't the ones pumping poison into this room."

"Your people started the fire."

His hand locked around my wrist again. Pain shot up my arm, sharp enough to make my fingers twitch. He caught the movement and leaned closer, using his body to pin me against the wet steel beside the tray. "Careful," he said.