Page 77 of Final Sins

Rough voices shouted orders as their captors moved to intervene.

But the box was still blinking.

Alex strained to land one last blow. The plastic case gave way. But the holographic enemies were still there.

Rough hands hauled her to her feet. Paige, too.

The green light on the emitter blinked out, but the holographic army still stood. Had she been mistaken? She thought Gabriel had told her this was the one weak link in his tech. Any disruption to the system required a reboot that lasted up to half a minute. A lifetime if you were trying to convince a buyer the holograms appeared real.

The bitter taste of defeat hit her tongue, until something distracted her. Did the images just waver? Panting hard from the exertion, she blinked, barely willing to believe what she was seeing. The holographic replicas of the Seven-Five operatives flickered and distorted, their forms stretching and twisting like images in a funhouse mirror. Ghostly figures blinked in andout of existence, their movements jerky and unnatural. The basement filled with an eerie, strobing light as the holograms malfunctioned, one by one.

Shouts of alarm mingled with the harsh crack of gunfire as some of the fritzing holograms discharged their weapons, adding to the mayhem.

The air crackled with tension and possibility, a moment suspended between order and chaos.

Ten. Nine. Eight.

Her cousin’s program would reboot any second.

As the holographic chaos swirled around them, a familiar silhouette emerged from the pulsing shadows.

Jason.

He had Munsinger up against him, one beefy arm locked around the older man’s throat. The cold steel of a gun barrel pressed against the general’s temple, glinting in the erratic light of the malfunctioning holograms.

His voice cut through the din, steady and commanding. “Nobody move.”

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Jason’s griptightened on his M18. Munsinger refused to flinch, despite the barrel pressed against his temple.

“It’s over,” Jason growled, his voice low and dangerous. “Tell your men to stand down.”

Munsinger replied without moving. “Look around you, son. My men are armed. Yours? Not so much.”

A fair point. The pile of weapons was clearly untouched. The team had scattered for cover, but without time to re-arm themselves.

He spotted Alex crouched behind an old arcade machine. She was okay. Relief flooded through him, quickly followed by renewed focus.

Gabriel and Paige were positioned near the stairs, tense but ready. Tai had managed to edge closer to a group of three Seven-Five operatives, his stance casual but alert. But where was Cody? The realization that his teammate had slipped away in the chaos shot a surge of hope through him.

“You really think you’ve won something here?” The general’s tone was almost conversational, as if they were discussing the weather over coffee. Only the acrid scent of sweat told Jasonthe man was on edge. “There’s always another play, another advantage you haven’t considered.”

Fury bubbled up inside Jason, threatening to overflow. This man, this organization—the Consortium, Seven-Five, whatever they wanted to call themselves—had taken too much from him. Years of his life spent in the shadows, pursuing a justice that always seemed just out of reach. The taint they’d left on his team’s work, on their belief in serving their country, burned like acid in his veins.

He dug the gun into the man’s temple. “No more games. It ends here.”

“It never ends. You of all people should know that by now.”

The man was flat wrong. With the Lord on his side, all things were possible.

He just had to let his Savior’s voice guide him. Jason blanked his mind, feeling for a spark of inspiration. He planned to use the man as a shield, to force the others to back off. As long as they’d still follow Munsinger’s commands …

Tai swayed in the shadows, just enough movement to draw Jason’s attention. When Jason eyed him, he gazed down at his hand, half hidden behind his leg.

Tai had a gun. Excellent.

That would be more than enough to?—

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