Page 114 of Perfect Order

“Tell me what you did to the software.”

Three.

“What do you mean, ‘did’?” I hedge.

Two.

“I mean, how the fuck do you stop Dioscuri from self-destructing,” Linus roars. He surges forward and holds the gun right above my shoulder. Without hesitation, he pulls the trigger.

Boom!

The force of the bullet hitting the high back throws the office chair against the wall. My heart stops when I realize I haven’t been hit, just the chair. But I decide to stall. If I can get to my feet, maybe some of the training Thorn gave me will give me enough time to lock myself away.

“Speak!” Linus commands.

Taking a deep breath, I let out two parts of it before hedging, “I need access to the server room.”

Immediately, Linus comes over and cuts through the bindings on my wrists and ankles. Gripping me by the arm, he drags me from the chair. Ivan starts to protest, and Linus yells, “I can’t take this noise!”

Then he shuts him up. Permanently.

Even though I’m not sorry to see Ivan dead since he was privy to the plot of having my Lee murdered, I still shudder in Linus’s grasp as I’m calculating what my options are. “For being your…?” I pause delicately.

“Cousin. Now, where is the illustrious server room of yours?”

“Even in the boardroom, you were never one for the small talk,” I bite out as he drags me away from my office and down the hall. I catch a glimmer of headlights on the street. Praying to every god I can think of, I turn Linus in a circle when he asks me, “Left or right?”

“Left.” We walk down another hall a few steps and come to a door. I lean forward and use my eye to open the retina lock. He jerks open the door and shoves me through it.

Immediately, alarms start going off.

“Shut it off! Shut it off!”

“I can’t! You’re not authorized. The technology doesn’t recognize your biometrics,” I shout over the alarms.

“That’s the first fucking thing you’re doing when we get into your server room.”

I don’t bother to argue with him despite the gun at my back because I know there’s no way we’re getting into my server room.

Finally, despite the screeches and sirens, we approach the door that protects Dioscuri. And not only is there another retina lock, there’s a keypad, as well as a handprint lock. He taps me on the back of the head with the gun. “Open it up.”

I step back and wait. “I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?” His face takes on a panicked expression. “Did we need fucking Ivan after all?”

“We need multiple biometrics, yes. But not Ivan’s.” With that, I cross my arms.

Linus grabs my wrist and slaps it onto the lock. A buzzer sounds. He grabs my other hand—same reaction.

Just as he’s about to try it again, I hiss, “Do it one more time and it will set off a code to destroy all of Dioscuri from the inside out. I have a clause in my contract with the DoD for such an eventuality. I’ll destroy it before I’ll ever let a terrorist get their hands on it, you piece of shit.”

“You lie, you bitch.” He lifts his gun and aims it right at my heart.

A perfect shot.

I take a step back and lift my hand, letting it hover over the sensor. Throwing my shoulders back, I whisper, “For Lee.”

Just then, there’s a commotion outside the door. Both of our heads jerk to see what it is. Through the glass panel, I see Kane’s face right before I make eye contact with Thorn. He nods.