‘I doubt anyone will be here,’ Charlie said, ‘but better safe than sorry. When I give the all-clear, back the car in, so we can load up the lab equipment. I just hope Mango didn’t take it home …’

‘I don’t like this,’ Harry said, grabbing Charlie’s arm as she opened the passenger door. ‘Let’s get out of here. I can pay your lawyer.’

‘I’m not your charity project,’ Charlie said firmly. ‘The equipment gives me power. I could set up my own lab, sell the equipment, or surrender it in return for a lighter sentence. It’s not too late if you want to run to your auntie’s place.’

‘Never a dull moment with you,’ Harry joked.

Harry was scared, but now realised that the combo of brains and danger was why he’d always found her so attractive.

What’s that thing they say about guys wanting a girlfriend who’s just like their mum?

Harry couldn’t take his eyes off Charlie’s ass as she strode purposefully towards the locked door of the storage unit. She buried the gun in the front of her hoodie and pulled a set of keys. After unlocking, she rolled a big door far enough to let her car in, then opened the RV and flipped the light inside.

Charlie was relieved to see the three glowing touchscreens of the new modding machines. She leaned outside to signal Harry, and as he reversed the VW to the side of the RV Charlie unplugged the machines, then grabbed strong trash bags from under the sink and started filling them with glassware and lab equipment out of the kitchen cupboards.

‘So this is a modding lab,’ Harry said, poking his head in.

He’d have loved to take photographs, but Charlie was on a mission.

‘Put the machines in the trunk of my car,’ she ordered.

As Harry made three round trips, Charlie went to the refrigerators in the back room, returning with another trash bag full of chemicals and supplies. Then she plugged the sink and unscrewed the lid on a two-gallon bottle of pure alcohol. Charlie poured two inches of the alcohol into the sink, then worked her way around the RV, splashing the flammable liquid over the dining table, dashboard and driver’s seat.

‘Why are you burning it?’ Harry asked.

‘The less physical evidence, the more the FBI’s case becomes Mango’s word against mine,’ Charlie said. ‘Plus, this RV cost Mango a hundred grand, and I’m not loving her right now.’

Harry shook his head wryly. ‘Most girls want dinner and a movie. With you it’s dispose of my homemade explosives, help me burn out a modding lab …’

Charlie laughed and flipped Harry off, before her next set of orders. ‘Drive the car out, then open the storage unit door fully, so that the oxygen doesn’t run out when this burns.’