Page 40 of Victorious: Part 3

Anything.

“Thirty-story drop onto concrete. Not exactly a viable exit strategy.”

I think fast, multiple options running through my mind. We’re outnumbered, outgunned, and trapped in a high-rise with no way out.

The mission has gone to hell.

Half my team is wounded.

The Cartel has reinforcements pouring in, and our window is closing fast.

“Uploads halfway. I’m almost there,” Neon continues.

“Keep goin’,” I tell him. “We stay till it’s done.”

The sounds of bullets draw closer and closer as I stand guard, waiting for the imminent attack to slam its way through those fucking doors, still trying to come up with a plan to get my men out.

“Motherfucker! I’ve hit a wall, Pres. I need a fucking high-level eye scan and voice code to access these last few documents,” Neon calls out, typing furiously.

Furrowing my brows, I glance at the dead soldiers on the floor, knowing they were the high-ranking bastards we need. A slow, mocking laugh filters over the chaos, making its way toward us. The sound of impending doom looms, and I glance at gold tooth while he openly mocks us, still bleeding like a stuck pig as he kneels on the floor next to his dead comrades. “You thought you had this whole thing planned out. You thought you were smarter than the Cartel…” he pauses, “… but no one outsmarts Javier Rojas. You’re all going to die here tonight,perros mestizos!”

Flaring my nostrils, I shake my head and storm over to the smug bastard.We don’t have any other option right now.Reaching out, I grab him by his expensive suit and hoist him to his feet, my gun jammed into his ribs.

He continues to laugh as I shove him toward Neon. “Try this fucker.”

Neon stops typing, glances up at me, and grimaces. “If he doesn’t have access, it could block me out completely.”

We snap our heads to the door as the sound of gunfire draws closer.

“And without it, you’re not getting in either. So what do we have to lose at this point?”

Gold tooth tenses, trying to pull back. “I’mnothelping you.”

Moving my hand to his hair, I grip tight, forcing his head toward the scanner attached to the computer. “You don’t have a fuckin’ choice.”

Instantly, the asshole tries to fight back, spinning in my grip, his fist sliding out, punching me in the gut. I puff out in reaction, but my trigger finger doesn’t hesitate, unloading a bullet straight into his other knee. He yelps before dropping to the floor in front of the scanner. “Now, put your eyes to the device, or I will cut them out of your fuckin’ face.”

He breathes harshly out of his nose, staring at me like he wants to gut me like a fish, but his hesitation is pissing me off. So I grab his hair again and push him toward the scanner. “C’mon, play nice. I don’t want to go home to my wife any more bloody than I have to.”

He spits at my feet, curling his lip.“Tu mujer es una puta!”

Neon chuckles under his breath while I yank the assholes hair tight as fuck and slam his head into the scanner. “I know you didnotjust call my wife a whore! Now stay still.”

The fucker doesnotstay still, struggling against the scanning machine like he’s having a damn epileptic fit, so I press the muzzle of my gun into the back of his head. “Iwillpull this trigger, so help me God.”

He stops struggling, but begins his incessant laughter again as the scanner starts. “But you need my voice, pulling the triggerwon’thelp you. And I willnotgive you the voice code.”

A beep sounds, letting us know that the eye scan is complete, and Neon smiles, giving me the signal. I yank the asshole’s head back and lean down to meet him, face-to-face. “That’s fine. You’ve beenverytalkative, and Neon’s been recording you since we got here. His AI program has been regenerating your voice this entire time, and his program has been sourcing the passphrase.

Suddenly, gold tooth’s voice plays through the air, soundingexactlylike him. “Lucía protectora,” The AI says the passphrase clearly, and Neon smiles while he continues to type.

“Fuck yeah! We’re in action. Download finalizing,” Neonstates just as those bullets start gettingrealfucking close.

“Neon,” I snap, ducking as a bullet ricochets off the wall near my head. “You got access to the buildin’s fire suppression system yet?”

“Yeah,” he shouts over the chaos. “Why?”

“Flood it. Every room, every floor. Give ’em a crisis they can’t ignore.”