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I give him a look. “How do you know?”

“I’m learning Spanish from Damián.” Tae shrugs. “Besides, baseball is Venezuela’s number one sport.”

“Good to know.” Leif nods, probably taking a mental note.

“And good for us too, since the guard is distracted,” I add. “I’ll handle him.”

“Knox, you’re the size of a bear. He’ll see you the second you round that corner.” Tae uncaps a pre-loaded syringe with a small needle and grips it tightly. “I’ll go.”

I ready my gun loaded with stun bullets just in case and give him a nod. Tae sprints down the hallway like a ninja.

“¡Jonronazo espectacular de los Leones del Caracas! ¡El estadio se cae, papá!”

The guard leaps up with a cheer, and that’s when his eyes catch Tae. But our Korean ninja moves so fast that the guard barely has time to register what’s happening before Tae is already on top of him.

“¡Qué verga—”

Tae drives his forearm against the man, pinning him down, then stabs him with the syringe.

The man instantly goes limp, and Tae catches his head before it can slam into the desk.

“Bravo.” Leif gives him a thumbs-up.

“Meh… It was okay,” I tease, even though it looked awesome.

“At least it was faster than your knockout was.” Tae grins while leaning the unconscious man against the wall.

Ha!

Snappy bastard.

“Your guard was distracted,” I point out.

“Doesn’t change the fact that my takedowns are ten times faster and way cooler than yours.”

I scoff. “Please.”

“Seriously. I could take you down right now.”

“In your wildest dreams, Tae.”

“Want to put money on it?” Tae challenges, as he ties down the guard in case he wakes up before we leave.

“You’re on.” I look back at Leif, who’s now lounging against a cell door, watching us. “Leif, be our witness.”

“Not a chance,” the big Viking shakes his head. “I’m not getting dragged into a contest where you two start drugging and choking each other.”

“I’ll witness it,” Alexios interrupts over the comms. “In fact, put me down for a grand on Tae dropping Knox like a sack of potatoes.”

“Hey! Thanks for the vote of confidence, asshole,” I grumble into the mic while Tae snorts with laughter, unhooking the guard’s key ring from his belt.

“It’s a deal, Knoxy.”

“Oh, it is, Tae-chan!”

“That’s Japanese…” Tae glares at me while tossing the keys to Leif.

“Don’t care, it makes your name sound adorable.”