The Prison-Made Queen novel Chapter 1006

Every time Bason went on a mission, he made peace with the possibility of coming home in a body bag. Reminding himself of that fact grounded him, and the frantic pounding in his chest finally slowed.

Amidst the chaos, Leilani stood completely still, tuning out the noise, her mind working at a million miles an hour. Suddenly, her eyes widened.

"Callahan, wait!"

She grabbed his arm. "When we were making our way in, I remember seeing blueprints for an abandoned drainage system on the east side of the compound."

"Based on the schematics, I know exactly where it is."

Because of the endless turf wars in the region, older infrastructures like those drainage tunnels were heavily reinforced with military-grade concrete to withstand aerial bombings. It would be infinitely safer than the crumbling foundation of the civilian factory they were currently trapped in.

Since they had snuck in through the maintenance shafts to begin with, Leilani's gut told her they could connect directly to the storm drains.

She spoke rapidly, her voice steady and her gaze locked onto Callahan's.

He turned to her, his sharp eyes instantly assessing her claim. Skipping the debate, he asked the only question that mattered: "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely sure."

She met his intense stare without a shred of hesitation. "I memorized that map before we even got on the plane."

"Staying here is a death sentence. The entrance should be just ahead, past the next junction. Let's make a run for it. We have nothing to lose!"

She looked at the team. Despite the adrenaline surging through her veins, her eyes were fiercely resolute.

No one in this crew was a coward. Hearing her logic, not a single person argued. They were all in.

"Boss! Leilani! Look at this!"

Ignoring his scraped knee, Abel kicked some debris out of the way, shining his tactical light on the obstruction.

Resting against the wall were several massive, heavy-duty blast doors. They looked like they had been ripped out of a high-security vault. Though rusted around the edges, they were solidly intact, leaning against the stone like abandoned shields.

Bason's eyes lit up.

"Hell yes! Talk about a stroke of luck! That bastard probably dismantled these so we couldn't barricade ourselves in, and now we just stumbled right onto them!"

"Man, I would pay to see the look on his face right now!"

After taking so many hits from this unseen mastermind, Bason was practically buzzing at the chance to screw over their enemy's perfect trap.