“You, okay?” I asked.

Henry looked at the wound and noticed that it was nothing serious. “Yeah. Just a flesh wound, that’s all.” Henry said before injecting numbifer.

As the numbifer began flowing through Henry’s body, we began our search of the area, trying to find any clues on where the missing girls were located. Looking around the room, I checked a nearby terminal. Looking through the computer's files, there were details on recent business meetings with people who I've never recognized.

One file they had was labeled with the name “current offers." Intrigued, I opened the file, but the file was locked and needed both a handprint scan as well as a retina scan.

I got on the holo with Suzi and said, “Suzi, can you hack into this computer?”

“Hang on... Any second now and... There, try opening the file now.”

Clicking on the file, it opened and revealed what the Crimson Blades were planning to do to the girls.

“Holy shit. Guys! You better come over here... Look.”

The screen showed a photo of one of the girls, and next to them was how much someone was willing to pay. The most expensive one was one who was nicknamed Blondie and was being bid on for 48 thousand eddies.

“We need to find them quick. Does it say where they are being held?” Rita asked.

“No. All I can do is see how much each girl is being bided on.”

"Well, let’s get moving then.”

We made our way to a door that led out of the room, but before we could open the door, Suzi had to tell me something.

“Max! There are Crimson Blades outside that door. They know you're in there and are waiting for you to make the first move.”

“So, what do you want me to do? Wait until they get bored; we’re on the fucking clock, Suzi.”

“I know that stupid! There's a turret in the next room, I'm going to hack into it. Wait until I give you the all-clear.”

I told the group the same information that Suzi told me. Waiting in the room, I could hear the sounds of gunshots and people screaming out.

“I take it that’s Suzi on the turret,” Henry asked.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Seems like it,” I responded.

A few seconds would pass before Suzi would give us all the clear to continue. Opening the door, we checked every room in the hopes that it would be the room we were looking for.

Amidst the search, the sound of a gunshot caused me to turn around. When I turned, I could see a dead Crimson Blade on the floor with a bullet hole in the side of their head. It turns out a brave Crimson Blade thought he could get a lucky stab, but thankfully Alejandro's quick reaction meant he managed to cleanly headshot the Crimson Blade in the head.

“Thanks.”

“You're welcome, hermano.”

The search continued, but we still couldn't find where the girls were located.

"Are we missing something? We’ve combed through every inch of this place, and it seems like we're coming up empty-handed," Henry inquired with a hint of frustration.

I couldn't help but nod in agreement. Despite our thorough search, there seemed to be no trace of our target, and time was running out. Determined to gather more information, I turned to Suzi and asked if there could be any hidden rooms that we might have overlooked.

"No, I even reviewed the old blueprints of this place, but there's no indication of any hidden rooms... Wait, Max, where are you right now?" Suzi's voice suddenly rose with a sense of urgency.

"Um, I see a door to my left and what looks like a storage room to my right. Why do you ask?" I replied, trying to make sense of Suzi's abrupt inquiry.

"Go through the door on your left," Suzi instructed confidently.

Confused but trusting her judgment, I followed her guidance and entered the room. "Okay, I'm in the room. What am I looking for?"

"Take a look around the room. Do you notice anything out of the ordinary?" Suzi's voice sounded eager yet composed.

I scanned the room, but nothing particularly noteworthy caught my eye. The room appeared quite ordinary, with a few chairs scattered around and some empty pizza boxes, and the walls seemed freshly painted. "I don't see anything unusual in here," I replied honestly.

"Try tapping on the walls," Suzi suggested, her tone serious.

"Suzi, are you serious? This sounds like a wild goose chase," I retorted, feeling skeptical.

"Just trust me, okay?" Suzi insisted firmly.

Reluctantly, I began tapping on the walls, not expecting much from the exercise. However, as I continued, a sudden realization dawned on me. I urged the others to join in and help me identify any irregularities in the wall surfaces, and soon enough, one section produced a distinctly different sound upon being tapped.

"There's definitely something behind this wall!" I exclaimed, a note of excitement creeping into my voice.

"Well, that's all well and good, but how do you propose we go about breaking through this wall?" Henry interjected, trying to temper our sudden burst of enthusiasm with a practical question.

I looked around the room, trying to see if there was anything we could use to break down the wall. The nearby objects were the chairs and the left-over pizza boxes. I grabbed one of the chairs and threw it to the wall, which didn't work well.

Knowing that we’re on the clock I started opening fire on the wall, trying to weaken it before throwing the chair again. This time a medium-sized hole was formed, revealing a hidden passage.

“Suzi. We're in.” I said before walking through the passage.

Moving through the passage, we reached a door that had a door lock on the handle. Not wasting any time, I shot the lock off and kicked open the door. Inside we found the missing girls. We found them locked up in chains, begging to be released. I assured the girls that they were now safe and that we would be getting them out of this hell hole.