The Gender Lie (The Gender Game #3) by Bella Forrest (ebook reader for laptop TXT) 📗

Quinn is already ready, said Quinn, in that smug way that made me roll my eyes.

I checked the diagram of my map, thinking. The building we were in was small, but ran rampant with hallways. It would take us about two minutes to clear the building. You said reinforcements were coming?

Yes, Owen replied. They should be there any minute. Most of them will probably divert to us, but I’m betting a few will stay in that building with you.

I studied the map. They’ll come in through the front, so we’ll continue our plan to head out the back and over to you. We’ll be about two minutes. Once I give you the all clear, blow the charge.

Sounds good—we’ll detonate as soon as—

Suddenly, a high-pitched screeching filled the ear piece, loud enough for me to pull it out of my ear. Solomon did the same.

“What’s that?” I whispered, still flinching from the sound, my finger massaging my ear.

Solomon shoved his ear bud into his pocket. “They’re jamming us. We need to get moving now.”

He handed me my belongings and moved toward the door. I quickly slung on the backpack and rifle over my shoulders. I came up behind him and tapped his shoulder. He slowly opened the door, revealing the empty hallway before us.

I tapped him again, and we moved deeper into the building.

I grabbed Solomon by the arm, pulling him down just in time to be missed by the guard who had been prowling through the stacks. We had made it to the open storage space at the rear of the building, but the place was crawling with guards. We had been delayed four times in the last three minutes just avoiding them.

I was sweating, the fear of the mission causing a massive spike in my adrenaline. If we didn’t find a way out of this room soon, we were going to be forced to shoot our way out, and I still wanted to avoid that if possible.

As the guard moved on, I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand.

Where do we go, Violet? Solomon subvocalized.

I looked over at Solomon, who was also sweating, and pulled up my handheld. I dimmed the screen as much as I could and cupped my hand around it to hide as much of the glare as possible.

There were only two ways out of this area—the way we came in, and the door at the back of the building. I was scrolling through the other blueprint images, trying to find anything that would help us, when Solomon nudged me.

Looking over to where he was pointing, I saw a gray vent at the base of the wall, about ten feet away. Immediately, images of the vents in The Green’s facility flashed through my head. I looked over at him, giving him an emphatic no in the form of a headshake.

I turned back to the handheld, my frustration growing with every swipe of my finger.

I paused, and swiped back a few images. There was something labeled “ldr” along the far wall behind us. At first, I had thought it was the letters “IDR”, but then it clicked. It was a ladder, leading up to the roof.

I tapped Solomon on the shoulder and made the hand signals for “follow me”. He nodded, adjusting his grip on the rifle. Taking a deep breath, I straightened up enough to peek out from over the top of the crate. The immediate area was clear.

Moving cautiously, I squat-walked down rows of shelves containing boxes. At the end of the first row, I peered around the corner. There was nobody down the next row, and I could see the ladder just ahead of us. I turned back to Solomon and nodded before spinning around the corner, my gun held up.

I moved quickly, thoroughly checking each row we passed before advancing to the next. I felt the press of time and looked at my watch just as we got to the ladder. It had been four minutes since the last conversation with Owen. I had no idea what was going on with him, but hopefully he took the initiative and would blow the distraction charge soon.

Assuming he wasn’t dead by now.

I pushed that thought away quickly and placed my back against a shelf full of boxes. I nodded to Solomon. He secured his weapon with a quick tug to the strap, tightening it to his back, and then sucked in his breath. Immediately, he faded from view, leaving his gun and bag floating in midair. I cringed, but it was the best we could do at the moment. Hopefully, no one would notice.

I counted to ten, trying to give him enough time to get up the ladder before I started my ascent. I envied his control over the suit, and dreaded having to use my own.

After enough time had passed, I slung the rifle over my back. I moved to the ladder quickly, and was just in the process of contracting my muscles when a warden came around the corner, his flashlight cutting over me.

A small sound of alarm escaped my lips, and I whipped around, grabbing the rungs of the ladder and climbing as the man let out a gasp.

I continued to clench my muscles, and was several rungs up when the first gunshot exploded about three feet to the left of me, concrete exploding and spraying me with dust and shrapnel. I narrowed my eyes and continued to climb, when another shot sounded, also going wide.

I felt a stinging in my side as a line of fire exploded by my ribs, a third gunshot going off. I looked up at the twenty feet of ladder I still had to climb before I reached the top. A chill rushed down my spine as I realized the man’s next bullet wasn’t going to miss.

Grabbing the left side of the ladder, I swung myself to one side and brought up my gun just