Page 234 of Ruptured

With so little time, he had limited options to make the damage and deaths appear accidental. Carbon monoxide poisoning would be a beautiful thing, but he had to rely on the gas hot water heaters on both floors. He doubted the stove was gas but he’d check anyway. A portable generator would be the fucking easiest. Exploding water heaters might cause damagewithoutfatalities.

Irritated, Diesel slit the bag and allowed the remaining contents to slosh around the water heater, then he turned the knob to the highest maximum temperature and the pressure valve above safety limits. The heater clicked on and he smiled, shining his flashlight in each corner of the room. Near the door, his gaze fell on a propane space heater.

He turned the flashlight to the watch on his wrist and checked on the time. Twenty minutes before the meeting began.

Amending his plan yet again, he grabbed the heater and hurried out of the room and to the first floor.

A lock on the front door disengaged, comically loud in the overwhelming silence. Cursing, Diesel slid underneath the staircase.

“I hope they’re on time,” a woman said. “We have got to discuss this Caldwell situation before shit gets out of hand.”

“I agree,” a male voice purred. “I cannot believe that little asshole jumped out the fucking window.”

“I told you to overdose him, Laurent.”

“We would’ve done it eventually, but we needed the money to get out of debt. The girl’s arrival ruined our plans.”

Lights flared on and footsteps pounded Diesel’s way. His nostrils flared and fury twitched his eye.

“He was crazy enough that they would’ve believed he took his own life,” she said. “Just like those other two. We killed them, kept it mum until we were paid, and then let the families know.”

“You always jumped the gun,” Laurent complained. “If we’d kept the first one alive longer, we wouldn’t have had to kill the other one and target that Caldwell kid.”

“Crazy little fucker spat on me!”

Diesel sat the heater down, waiting for the two to come closer, so he’d snap their fucking necks. If they’d succeeded in their miserable fucking plans, it would’ve crushed Rebel’s soul and left her heartbroken. For that alone, scalping was too easy for that bitch andLaurent.

“We’re here! We’re here!” a second female voice chimed, entirely too happy while Rebel suffered and Rule could’ve died.. “The others are parking. Clark bought donuts. I’ll head to the kitchen to brew the coffee.”

“Hey, did you hear about Fogelman, Saria, and Witloff?” another motherfucker asked.

The fuckheads Diesel tortured before he killed them. Considering the new information, they’d gotten off too fucking easy too, but at least they’d suffered more than these motherfuckers would.

“No.” Coffee girl asked. “What’s up with them? They’re dipping on us?”

“They’re dead! It’s been all over the news,” he said, and dove into the story.

Gasps rose up as he recounted the media reports, some accurate, though most were embellished or downplayed.

“Maybe, we should call in the law?” the original woman suggested faintly.

“So we can go to fucking jail, too?” Laurent scoffed.

Accelerant was detectable. Gunshots were also discoverable unless a furious fire reduced these assholes to ashes, and he’d need an accelerant to speed things up. But Diesel could almost smell their fucking blood. He was shaking with his need to spill copious amounts.

“I have a variety of sweet treats,” a motherfucker, who Diesel assumed was Clark, announced. “Where’s the coffee, Heidi?”

Diesel peeked around the floating stairs, estimating twelve motherfuckers stood in the hallway. A set of keys lay on a side table, next to a stack of files. Clark, a big, stupid oaf, held three pink boxes.

If a Dweller chapter was nearby to help with cleanup, Diesel would’ve opened fire. The more time he hung around after he set everything into motion, the more risk he took. Shooting the fuck out of them was so much quicker.

In every activity, justified or not, skill and luck got the job done. The tide turned and unlucky motherfuckers were caught or killed. But those charmed with good fortune had the pendulum swing in their favor, and Diesel was never more aware of his lot than when they went to the kitchen to talk while their coffee brewed.

The moment they disappeared, Diesel hurried to the conference room and set up the heater. A quick glance revealed chains dangling from the ceiling and pooling on the long table. Anger surged into him and his pulse pounded through him. A chime seeped into his brain and startled him back to reality. Turning, he took in everything one last time and narrowed his eyes. The knob had a keyhole. A key was needed on both sides to unlock it.

Fucking assholes.

Furious, he rushed to the first floor utility room. He didn’t have an IV solution, so he quickly turned up the temperature and the pressure, then returned to the room where he’d first entered.