The Gender Game 2 by Bella Forrest (audio ebook reader .TXT) 📕

wouldn’t ultimately want. But she was upset right now—I had no idea what she was capable of.

So, I held my tongue and waited. I gave Ms. Dale a hard look when she opened her mouth, and she shut it too, although not without shooting me another look of annoyance. I had to admire the spine in that woman, if nothing else.

Violet released me after the hug was finished, and then headed downstairs. I flicked the gun at Ms. Dale, who gave another exasperated sigh before following her. I took up the rear.

I wasn’t in good shape. The adrenaline patch that Ms. Dale’s had given me would last another forty-five minutes, and then it was going to be lights out for me. I knew I should mention it to Violet, but it felt selfish and wrong, especially when she was on the crux of finding her brother.

Violet, being Violet, surprised me again. “There’s a laboratory down there,” she said. “There should be a first-aid kit. We can patch you up.”

I smiled and my heart swelled. Even on the cusp of finding her long lost brother, she was still capable of thinking of others. She was remarkable.

I followed her—albeit slowly—downstairs. As the door swung open, I whistled at the size of the laboratory before me.

“Whatever they were doing down here was important.”

“I think it’s related to the egg,” Violet said as she pushed open the door to Mr. Jenks’ office. “And the boys. He...” She paused, and I could see that whatever she had seen of the boys was haunting her. I wanted to get her to talk about it, but I knew better than to push her.

“You don’t have to tell me anything right now. Let’s just focus on finding your brother.”

Violet swallowed and nodded, her face a mixture of apprehension and fear. “Okay,” she whispered.

As I entered the room, I looked around. Immediately, my eyes lit on the cabinet in the back as a familiar object caught my eye.

“Violet, did you see this?”

She looked over at me and shook her head. “No. I didn’t even come in here. What is it?”

“It’s an egg.”

“Really?” She hurried over to stand beside me. “It is.”

Reaching out, she grabbed the cabinet doors and pulled. The cabinet shook, but the doors stayed fast.

“Maybe there are some keys in the desk,” she said.

“Worry about it later,” I replied. I guided her over to the desk, and sat down heavily in it. Handing her my handheld from my pocket, I watched as she plugged it in to the tower.

Immediately, the loading screen popped up. I looked over to where Ms. Dale was leaning casually on one of the windows. “Why don’t you sit down,” I suggested.

She immediately plopped down, looking relaxed and calm, like she wanted to be there. It was a power play, but a good one. It definitely irritated me. I stared at her for a moment until it passed.

I turned to Violet who was glaring daggers at Ms. Dale. “Violet—it’s going to take a minute to load,” I explained patiently. “Why don’t you go find that first-aid kit?”

Violet bit her lip and nodded, heading off to the lab. I could hear her opening cabinets and rummaging through drawers.

My handheld beeped softly, and I looked at the computer as it unlocked. It only took a second for me to locate a folder labeled subjects—Mr. Jenks was clearly organized. My eyes bulged as I saw the hundreds of files listed there.

Clicking the search, I typed in Timothy Bates and hit enter. The search finished just as Violet entered, carrying a little white box in her hands.

“This was all I could find,” she said, setting the box down on the desk.

“Forget that,” I said. “I’ll take care of me. I found your brother.”

“You did?!” She quickly moved behind me, peering over my head at the screen. “Fifty-five B,” she exclaimed excitedly.

I nodded at her. “Go. I’ll watch Ms. Dale. If something goes wrong, I’ll fire my pistol.”

She nodded and turned on her heel, running out of the room.

I let out a long breath, my ribs and body aching. I should start patching myself up, but to be honest, I was curious.

Clicking on the file, I began to read.

Ms. Dale coughed and I swiveled my head toward her. “What?”

“You know what you have to do,” she replied, her gaze and voice steady.

I smirked at her. “I know what you think I should do. But since your opinion isn’t really relevant at the moment, I’ll make my own decisions.”

I turned my attention back to the computer. I attempted to set up a file transfer from the computer to my handheld, but the handheld couldn’t handle the data size.

Just then, Violet peeked her head back in. “Viggo,” she said insistently.

I blinked at her. “Why are you back?”

“I don’t know how to open the cube. There’s a panel, with a lot of buttons on it. Is it in the computer?”

Frowning, I began looking at the files, looking for anything under security or cells. Violet fidgeted impatiently while I searched. After a few long minutes, I looked up at her. “I can’t find anything.”

She frowned, running a nervous hand through her hair. “What do you think I should—”

“Get him out,” I said. “By any means necessary.”

“I could hurt him,” she whispered, her eyes wide.

I stood up and crossed the room to her, placing my hand on her shoulders. I winced as I lowered my face down to hers. “They already have. Do what it takes, Violet. Get him out.”

She nodded wordlessly, and went up on her tip toes to press her lips on my cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Then she whirled and took off, running toward the door at the end of the room. I watched her go, and then turned back to the computer.

Ms. Dale stood up and I twisted my head toward hers. “Let me go with her.”

I hesitated, studying the older woman. “Why?”

“Because I might be able to get her brother out.”

I moved back over to the chair and