Glancing down at the gun, April shook her head and then set the weapon gingerly on the bed. “Oh my God.”
Lynne shuddered. She’d killed somebody. Two somebodies. Her vision hazed again. Panic ripped through her, and she crawled up the bed to her feet and tripped over Red as she shoved the other corpse out the door. Grabbing the handle, she used her undamaged elbow to close it. A hole gaped where the lock had been.
She looked around frantically and spotted a table holding supplies across the room. “Help me.” Inching forward, trying to hold her aching ribs with one hand, she grabbed the table while April hefted the other side. Between the two of them, they managed to set it in front of the door. While the metal cart wouldn’t keep anybody out for long, at least it’d provide some warning before the next wave of assassins hit.
Lynne made her way back to Tace and set a knee on his bed.
“You okay?” April asked.
“Yes. I’ll be fine.” The blackness falling over her vision won the fight as panic and shock triumphed. Lynne’s eyes closed, and she pitched forward onto Tace, her face hitting his cheek. Her first thought as she succumbed to oblivion was that his fever had risen, and her last thought was that if she didn’t regain consciousness, she couldn’t handle the next guy who came to kill her.
Maybe it was finally time to die.
Chapter Thirteen
Every beginning has an ending.
—Dr. Franklin Xavier Harmony
On the western side of what used to be Los Angeles, the shadows were long, the streets empty, and the wind desolate. A block of tall buildings that once held sparkling windows now stood silent vigil over a dusty land.
Jax gave Wyatt the sign to take his team north around the tallest building while he went south. They’d found Baker and Baker without much mishap, considering they’d left the truck a couple of miles outside of Twenty territory and had run the rest of the way. The moon cooperated for a dark mission, allowing itself to be covered by clouds.
Thunder had rolled, and now rain blasted down, masking their steps.
It was a hell of a storm, and the timing was perfect.
Sami and an ex–Utah State baseball player named Shawn Banks flanked Jax, while Raze and a former wild game hunter followed Wyatt. A team of six was low for the mission, but until everyone else decided whether they were in or out, it was all he had.
He jerked his head for Sami to scout an area of abandoned cars circling the three story building, and she sprang into action. Though young and impetuous, she had the markings of a great cop or soldier. If she’d just keep her personal shit out of the way.
During the mission, she’d remained professional while managing to glare at him several times in a way that didn’t feel professional. They were going to have to talk about the mistake of her trying to kiss him months ago, and he really didn’t want to go there.
Hell, truth be told, he might’ve kissed her back if he hadn’t carried Scorpius inside him. Good thing he hadn’t.
Although he knew better than to open the conversation with that gambit.
She’d finished the task and gave the high sign. He swept left and gingerly opened the glass front door while Wyatt’s team came in the back.
Papers, shredded drawers, and overturned furniture littered the reception room. He stalked behind the desk and rifled through papers for a map of the building. Offices made up the first floor, while labs and testing areas comprised the second. Shipping and a loading dock were located one floor down.
Wyatt’s crew silently entered the reception room, flashlights down. “Nothing but offices that have been picked over,” he whispered.
Jax nodded. “You head down one level to shipping to see what you can find, and we’ll go up to the labs. Look for vitamin B.”
Wyatt loped toward the stairs. “It’s awfully quiet out there.”
“Hopefully the storm will keep Twenty indoors for the night,” Jax said. Of course, good luck didn’t exist. “But keep an eye out. They’re trained and like to kill.”
Wyatt led the way to the basement stairs. Raze easily kept to his six, and Jax wondered at his training. Definitely special ops, but not Delta. The guy didn’t feel like a friend, and he watched like an enemy. But at the moment, Jax needed him more than he needed to be cautious.
Jax found the stairs to the next floor and jogged up, keeping track of Sami and Shawn by the sound of their footsteps. She moved silently, and he moved like an elephant. He’d need to work on stealth in the next few months.
They reached the next floor, where several labs with glass doors lined the hallway. “Everybody take one and meet back here. Keep the lights low and away from the windows as much as possible.” Without waiting for a reply, he opened the door to the first lab.
Beakers, counters, and nonfunctioning machinery lined the counters. A couple of useless dead refrigerators made up one entire wall. He yanked open the few drawers that hadn’t already been ransacked and went through the entire room. No vitamin B.
A box of bandages had been forgotten in the back of one of the lower counters, and he fetched it before exiting and turning for the next lab.
By the time he got to the final unsearched lab, he’d found small samples of bandages, shampoo, instant noodles, shaving cream, and some toothpaste. Not a lot, but something. After securing the items in his backpack, he turned toward the door.
Shawn stood there, feet spread, Ruger pointed at Jax.
Jax froze and dropped the backpack to the ground. “Looks like you learned how to move quietly.”
The kid shrugged, anger burning in his deep eyes. “Not really. You just made a lot of noise ripping apart that last cupboard. What did you find?”
“A stash of condoms,” Jax drawled. “The good kind with lubricant and ribs. You know. For her pleasure.”
Shawn snarled. “So you can continue to fuck the woman who pretty much killed society? My mother? My entire family?”
Ah. Jax eyed the gun pointed at his gut. Safety off. Probably one in the chamber, and the kid’s aim remained steady. “Scorpius was a bacteria nobody created or expected, and Lynne did her best to cure it.”
Shawn cupped the gun with his free hand, steadying his aim. “Maybe, but the fact remains that you lied to us. You’re a carrier and should be destroyed before you infect us all.”
Anger tried to swell. Jax shut down all emotion and focused. “Who are you working with, kid? We both know this isn’t your plan.”
Shawn’s chin with the barely there goatee lifted. “I could be workin’ alone.”
“You’re not. Who’s pulling the strings?” Jax leaned nonchalantly against a countertop.
Shawn’s shoulders went down from around his ears, and his legs unlocked. “Red is our new leader.”
“Says who?” Jax said softly.
“Says my gun,” Shawn spat out.
How many people had voted to have Jax killed? His blood quickened through his veins. “What about Lynne?”
Shawn smiled, the sight garish in the odd yellow light. “Oh, that bitch is dead by now. Red has taken care of her and the infected.”
Jax stiffened to keep from running through Shawn to get home. Dig deep and concentrate. “Red wanted to kill Lynne, Tace, and Haylee?”
“Anybody infected.” For the first time, an emotion other than anger filtered through Shawn’s eyes. “I liked Haylee, but either she’ll be a Ripper or she’ll be a carrier if she doesn’t die from the fever. We have to protect ourselves.”
“That’s rather shortsighted, don’t you think?” Jax asked.
“No.” Shawn settled his stance again. “I really am sorry about this.”
Jax dropped into a slide that carried him across the tile and into Shawn’s ankles, where he twisted. Shawn fell hard, and Jax rolled him over, straddling his waist. Two hard punches to Shawn’s jaw, and the kid flew into oblivion.
Sami ran up, her gaze wide, carrying several boxes of Kleenex and soap. “What the hell?”