Storm Gathering

by Rebecca Zanetti

  As if on cue, Jax jogged out of the stairwell with a rifle in his hand and a pack over his shoulder, Raze and Tace on his heels.

  Nice rifle. Greyson reached for it. “Thank you for this.”

  Jax pulled back. “Your plan is to ride a motorcycle for seven hours while carrying a full-on sniper rifle?”

  Greyson nodded. “Yeah.” It wouldn't be the first time, actually. “You get used to lugging these things around in unfriendly terrain.”

  “I don't think so.” Jax watched as Tace hustled over to a truck and ordered a couple of the guards to load three more motorcycles into the back. Then he packed several vests, a bunch of explosives, and some medical provisions.

  Greyson looked toward Tace. “What's happening right now?” His temples started to thrum.

  “We're going with you,” Raze said easily.

  Greyson reared back. “No, you're not. I've got this.”

  Jax snorted. “Just you, a sniper rifle, and the Elite Force. Do you not want to make it back?”

  The spit in Greyson's mouth dried up. His throat ached. He cleared it. “You're helping me?” How did that make any sense? Where was the trap? The double cross? “I don't understand.”

  Jax sighed and spoke slowly as if addressing a moron. “We're allies. Sure, you fucked up by taking that computer file, and I hope you don't fuck up again because then I might have to just shoot you. But I get why you did it, and you need help getting Damon back. Your men are fighting a losing battle with the fire, and you're swinging out there all alone. We've got your back.”

  Grey couldn't breathe. These men, these soldiers he barely knew, were going to put their lives in peril to help save Damon. He looked toward Raze. “Raze?”

  “Maureen loves you, and you're the father of her baby,” Raze said, his gaze deadly serious. “If the baby doesn't make it, Moe will need you. If the baby does make it, I hope to God it's a little girl, and I want to be there to see you handle that.” His grin was feral.

  Jax nodded toward Tace. “Damon might require a medic. Or one of us could end up needing Tace's expertise. Sami would be coming, but I need her on the computer, trying to figure out that file you took.”

  Grey winced. “Maybe we can get it back.”

  “That's a good goal,” Jax agreed, his eyes glittering.

  Greyson's heart warmed. “All right. But, not Raze.”

  Raze's chin lowered. “Excuse me?”

  “Maureen,” Grey said softly. “This is a suicide mission, and she can't lose us both. The baby needs one of us around.”

  “Then we'd better both make it back,” Raze returned, moving to help Tace.

  Jax shrugged. “His mind is made up. Get on board now.”

  Raze finished loading the bulletproof vests. “I'll go get the maps and schematics of the president's compound. The materials we have.”

  Jax nodded. “Everyone go say goodbye. Be back here in ten minutes, and we go.”

  Greyson moved toward Tace. “I'll help you get medical supplies. Damon looked like he might have a couple of broken ribs, and that was before I left him for twenty hours with the president. We might have to perform a surgery or two on him.”

  Tace gently eased a few more explosives into the truck bed and turned. “All right. Let's see what we can dig up.”

  * * *

  Greyson kept on high alert as he drove the motorcycle out of Century City, headed north. Within minutes, a caravan on the other side of the interstate caught his eye. One with trucks, bikes, a school bus, and a trailer. They were stopped to fix a tire on the truck. “Wait a minute.” He slowed.

  Then his heart thumped. He stopped and Raze stopped, too. “Lou?” he called.

  The woman had bruises on her face. She turned, her hair wild in the wind. “Greyson?”

  He took in the ragtag group. The trailer had fire damage up the side. His heart thumped, and a heavy fist descended in his gut. “What happened?”

  Tears filled her eyes, and she limped over to the middle divider. Garbage blew around. “We were attacked. I swear, Greyson. It was the vice president.”

  Grey's hands clenched into fists. The fucking bastard. “The members?”

  Tears slid down her face, leaving dirt tracks. “We lost ten good men in the fight, and the entire farm is destroyed. Burned to the ground. Even the animals were taken or killed.”

  “I'll get him,” Grey vowed. “No matter what. I will.”

  She sniffed and turned back to her group. “Maureen said, well, she said—”

  Raze leaned forward, his bike still going. “Vanguard is a safe place. If Maureen told you that, she was right.”

  Lou's shoulders shuddered. “Okay. Good. Then we'll be getting there.” With one last sad smile, she moved back to her group.

  “I'm going to gut him,” Grey growled, starting his bike again. It was time to end this.

  The rest of the drive was brutal and punctuated by an easily countered attack by a rogue gang and a hit by a lone Ripper, who had succumbed to insanity. Finally, they reached the outskirts of the closest town to the president's compound and stopped at a rundown tavern with the metal sign still swinging in the slight wind but too damaged to read.

  Greyson parked and stalked inside, his boots crunching on shards of glass and what looked like silver dollars.

  Tace brought the maps, Raze some water, and Jax weapons.

  The sun poured through the broken windows, providing plenty of light as well as heat.

  Yet the interior of the place wasn't bad. A scarred bar ran the entire length of the space, the shelves behind it broken and empty. Wooden booths against the other wall still remained, but any tables that had been scattered throughout were long gone.

  The place was truly deserted.

  Jax grasped the map and rolled it out on the bar. “Let's center and get ready to go. Show us what you know, Greyson.”

  Grey had to banish all thoughts of the fire, all feelings about Maureen and the baby…and go cold. There could be nothing else but Damon and this mission. It was the only way any of them would get out alive.

  It was the first time he’d ever struggled to concentrate on a mission, but he dug deep and slid back into training.

  He drew large boxes in red on Jax’s map. “Here’s where the guys saw landmines being planted.” Then he drew a line of the path the president’s guards had taken him to the main house and back. “Here’s a safe route, but it’s the only one I know.”

  Tace studied the area. “If we look at these mines, can’t we judge an equal distance to other mines?”

  “Maybe,” Jax mused quietly. “They’d need a pattern so they could remember where they put mines and not take themselves out. The problem is, we don’t know what that is. It could be anything from eight yards apart to three, eight, seven configurations. Who the hell knows?”

  That was just fucking great. “We can find the map inside, but getting there is a problem. We’ll be exposed on the main trail,” Grey said.

  Jax nodded. “We go in shooting. Only chance.”

  Grey pointed to a series of trees to the west of the main house. “I’ll set up here first, take out the president, and then provide cover as you take the house.”

  Raze frowned. “You’ve shot from trees before?”

  “Yeah,” Greyson said softly. “It helps when there isn’t ice and snow on every damn branch.”

  “How are you going to get to the tree line without blowing up?” Tace asked, his tone merely curious.

  Grey exhaled. “I’m going to travel from the entry point that direction in the most likely route of the patrolling guards. There’s enough brush and vegetation that there should be a somewhat discernible path.”

  “Unless it’s the path they used to plant the mines,” Jax muttered.

  “There is that,” Grey agreed, allowing no emotion in. But he didn’t have an alternative, so this was the only option. Jax and his men wouldn’t get within a yard of the main house if he didn’t provide cover. “You need a backup
plan in case…”

  “You step on a mine?” Raze asked helpfully, gaze serious.

  Grey nodded. “Yeah. That.”

  Jax sighed. “We’ll grab the guards at the gate and force them to come with us. They’re not gonna want to step on a mine. It’s the only thing we’ve got.”

  Fuck, that was a shitty plan. All around. Damon had better damn well be alive. Greyson cleared his throat. The Vanguard men didn’t owe him anything. Didn’t owe Damon. They certainly didn’t have to put their lives on the line to help anybody right now. He owed them. “I, ah, just want— “

  “Later,” Jax said shortly. “For now, let’s go.” He turned and strode out of the tavern, his boots heavy on the worn, wooden floor.

  Tace clapped him on the back as he followed.

  Raze rolled up the map and started to move.

  “Raze?” Grey said quietly.

  The soldier partially turned, his blue eyes somber, his jaw set. “What?”

  “If I don’t make it, I mean—” Grey took a deep breath.

  “I’ll take care of my sister. And the baby,” Raze said, his gaze softening a minuscule amount. “Don’t worry.”

  That helped. Grey’s chest heated. “Tell her, well, something corny. Something good.”

  “Like the last thought you had before you blew up was of her?” Raze asked.

  Grey snorted. “Yeah.” Then he sobered. “Because it will be.”

  Raze studied him. “Yeah, okay.”

  Greyson started for the door. “You know, if we both survive this, we’re gonna be related.”

  Raze clapped a hand on his shoulder. “One of the small comforts of the fact that no way will we both survive this is that we won’t be related. Ever.” He flashed a smartass smile.

  Grey chuckled. “Yeah, probably true.”

  Raze sobered. “Listen. I'm glad she found you. That she had a chance for, well, something real. In a different world, we'd probably be brothers.”

  The words meant something. Grey nodded. “Yeah. Agreed.” But they weren't brothers, not yet anyway, because they were in this world. This shitty, dangerous world. “So I don’t have to worry about you forgiving me for this.” Quick as a thought, he yanked the syringe from his pocket, slammed the needle into Raze’s neck, and plunged.

  Raze roared and swung hard, nailing Grey in the cheek with a powerful right cross.

  Grey staggered back, taking the syringe with him.

  “What did you just do?” Raze bellowed, moving toward him, his stride hitching.

  Grey winced just as Jax and Tace ran back inside. “I’m sorry. But she can’t lose us both. She just can’t.”

  Fury darkened Raze’s eyes, he lunged and fell flat on the floor. Out cold.

  Jax’s eyes shot darts. “What the fuck did you just do?”

  Grey tossed the empty syringe on the bar. “We can’t both die today. Moe needs him.”

  Tace dropped to his haunches and felt Raze’s pulse. “What was it?” he asked grimly.

  “Methohexital I stole from the infirmary,” Grey said.

  Tace coughed. “Jesus. You must’ve nailed a vein for him to go out that fast. You’re good.”

  Grey winced. “It’s a gift.”

  Tace looked up at Jax. “He’ll be out for at least thirty minutes—maybe more. Won’t be steady for a while after that. Sure as shit shouldn’t shoot a gun.” The medic focused on Grey. “He’s going to kill you when he wakes up.”

  “He’ll probably be too late,” Grey said.

  “I see your reasoning, but you have got to stop making decisions on your own for everybody else. This is your last shot. And I ain’t stopping Raze if he decides to rip off your head.” Jax looked around the tavern. “Damn it. All right. Let’s get him some cover until he wakes. We can’t just leave him in the middle of the floor.”

  Tace reached for Raze’s arms and then paused, looking at Grey. “You have any more surprises in your pockets?”

  “No,” Grey said. “I can’t let him die today.” It was the only thing he could do to help protect Maureen and the baby. He didn’t have a choice. “Let’s put him in the storage room behind the bar. He’ll be safe there until he comes to.”

  Jax cut him another hard look. “We’ve got him.” He and Tace carried the unconscious soldier into the back room and shut the door.

  Tace shook his head and moved toward the outside door again. “He’s so going to kill you.” The Texas twang emerged full force.

  Grey sighed and followed them out into the dark. He needed to be in place before dawn completely arrived, and then they could attack as soon as he had a bead on the president. Most of his missions had been more than just taking a person out. The ramifications were broad, but this was the broadest. He didn’t know what would happen next, but this had to be the right thing.

  He took the rifle out of the back of Jax’s truck and started for his motorcycle.

  “Happy hunting,” Jax said from behind him.

  Grey nodded, not turning around.

  It was time.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Absolutely nothing is in my control right now. Not the health of this baby and not the safety of Greyson Storm. It isn't safe to travel north yet to check out possible farms and see how crops have fared, and that must become a priority as soon as Grey returns. For now, I feel like I have to do something…but I don't know what. I'm in limbo, and it totally sucks. But there's always Zach Barter. I guess I'll start with him.

  —Maureen Shadow, Notes

  Maureen stood outside the pristine prison cell on the Bunker's lower level on the other side of the main lab, the hallway giving her the willies. More white walls, white tiles…and locked cells. Where human beings had been experimented on like rabid animals. No wonder Marcus Knight was nuts.

  Lynne Harmony stood next to her, looking into the cell holding Zach Barter. The outside metal door was open to reveal a set of iron bars serving as a secondary barrier that the scientists could look through to study their subjects.

  “This is beyond creepy,” she muttered underneath her breath.

  Lynne nodded. “Tell me about it.”

  Armed guards took up positions on either side of the hallway, ready to intervene if necessary.

  But since the iron bars were engaged and in place, there wasn’t much of a threat, now was there? “Is this how they found Marcus?” Moe asked, wondering how Jax’s younger brother had survived.

  “Yes. I think the outer metal door was locked, but the iron bars weren’t engaged that day. We discovered those later. Well, Dr. Penelope told us about them,” Lynne said.

  The cells each held a cot, sink, and toilet. Zach Barter sat on his thin mattress still wearing his white lab coat, button-down shirt, and slacks, bruises down the side of his face. Greyson had given him a couple of punches, it seemed.

  Barter smiled as if delighted to see them. “Dr. Harmony, I’ve missed you so much.”

  Chills raced down Moe’s back. “What did you discover about Scorpius?”

  “I told you earlier,” Barter said, his smooth face wrinkling into a frown. “I have several concoctions to test out, and nobody to test them on.”

  “You do now,” Maureen said.

  Lynne held up a hand. “I want to see the formulas first, and then we'll talk about experiments. If I remember correctly, you have an eidetic memory, right, Barter?”

  He smiled and stood. “You remember things about me. Isn't that sweet?”

  Bile rose in Moe's throat. “Do you or do you not remember your different formulas?”

  Barter nodded. “Of course.”

  Her knees trembled, but she kept her face stoic. “But you haven't cured Scorpius in adults, so how can you cure it in a baby?” It didn't make sense.

  “I can't cure it in a baby,” Barter said reasonably. “Yet, anyway. If you have Scorpius in your blood, in your body, then your fetus has it, too. The goal for pregnant women isn't to cure the bacterium.”

  Lynne nodded. “The g
oal is to make sure the baby survives the infection like the few people who've survived it did. There should be a link between mother and child. Since the mother obviously survived, there has to be a way that the child can.”

  Approval curved Barter's full lips. “That's right, Dr. Harmony. I'd forgotten how quick you are. So smart.” He rubbed his hands together.

  Lynne crossed her arms over her dark T-shirt. “With the women you tested. How long did the pregnancies last?”

  Maureen caught her breath.

  Barter looked from one to the other. “The longest we made it was five months. I'm pretty sure.”

  Maureen swallowed. “What do you mean, you're pretty sure?”

  Lynne stepped toward the bars and studied the scientist. “You didn't work on pregnant women.”

  Barter smiled again, slow and sly this time. “That wasn't my expertise, no. I've been working on Scorpius around the clock, and there was a specific division that dealt with only pregnancies. We shared data, but women and babies aren't my expertise. As you probably know.”

  Shit, shit, shit. “We have to get control of the Reno bunker,” Maureen said quietly, her heart starting to race. There had to be a way to save the baby. She'd do anything. “Then what were you just talking about? That you had a concoction and needed pregnant women to conduct research on? I don't understand.”

  “The research all goes together,” Barter said easily.

  Lynne nodded. “That's true.” She partially turned so only Maureen could hear her. “But we also let him know right off the bat upstairs that we wanted research for pregnant women. He's a genius. He would've caught on quickly and definitely wants to live.”

  Maureen's heart sank. “Can you help us or not?”

  Barter vigorously nodded. “I can. I'll give you everything I have on Scorpius as well as the Reno Bunker. I wasn't allowed to leave, you know.” His teeth sparkled with his newest smile. “Your soldier basically helped me to escape.”