Page 62 of Victorious: Part 3

Hash kneels beside her, his voice soft. “We’re not with the Cartel. We’re getting you out of here. But weneedto know what’s going on. What they’ve been creating.”

She swallows hard and then finally speaks, but it’s only a whisper. “It’s a sedative. And something else I am unsure about, but they call it a control serum. Designed to make the women…compliant.”

A pulse of rage tears through me.The twisted fucks!

Behind me, Mace growls under his breath. “Sick motherfuckers.”

“Any idea where they’re keeping the detainees?” I ask.

The woman nods slowly, trembling. “Not here… they hold them at a shipping yard in New Orleans.”

I tap my comm. “Bear, we’ve got victims in NOLA. Send word to L6. I’m sure H2 will handle it, though.”

“Copy that,” Bear replies, tension coiled in every word.

“Axel, status?” I ask down our secure comm line.

“We’ve got crates of this shit,” he answers. “Labeled under fake FDA codes. I’m scanning documents now, shipping manifests, distribution charts, the works.”

“All right. Keep pulling. We need names. Connections. And I want proof that puts every bastard funding this in a cell.”

As we regroup to move deeper, the woman reaches out, grabbing my wrist with surprising strength. “They’ll kill them if they know you’re coming. The women in New Orleans… they’ll kill them.”

I hold her gaze, a slow smirk crossing my face. “They won’t get the chance. We got a team over there too. They’ll get them out.No matter what.”

The woman’s body sags in some sort of relief, tears flooding her eyes as we move, boots pounding dirt while the lights overhead flicker, warning us that time is running out.

But we’ve got what we came for.

Now we have to get them out.

Or we die trying.

“Please,” she whispers through the glass partition separating the lab from the corridor. “Don’t let them inject us again. We’ve been good. We’ve done everything they asked.”

Goddammit! Whatever these bastards have been doing to these people goes far beyond simple coercion.

“Ma’am, I swear to you, we won’t leave unless you’re with us. We have to gather some more evidence along the way, and then we’re out.”

She shakes her head frantically. “No,no, NO. They said if anyone came, they’d activate the gas. They’ll killeveryoneto protect their work. If we’re leaving, we have to gonow!”

“What gas?” Hash asks, moving to check her vitals through the partition.

“In the ventilation system. Weaponized compounds. If the facility is breached, they release it through the air ducts.”

My eyes widen, glancing around, and as I look up, sure enough, there are multiple air ducts. “Ghost, talk to me about ventilation.”

“Central air system services all levels. Main controls are on level four, but there are manual triggers throughout the facility.”

“Deek, Axel, how long do you need for evidence collection?”

“Ten minutes minimum for proper documentation,” Axel responds.

“We don’t have ten minutes. Axel, hurry the fuck up!”

Suddenly, red lights begin flashing throughout the facility when a computerized voice echoes from hidden speakers,“Security breach detected. Initiating emergency sterilization protocols. All personnel evacuate immediately.”

“Fuck! Everyone out,now,” I bark into the comms, my voice sharp with urgency, reverberating through the stone walls like a warning bell.