Shadow Falling

by Rebecca Zanetti

  Sami edged inside. “He’s seriously good-looking—like a combination of Shamar Moore and Duane Johnson.”

  Winter grinned. “That’s mighty kind of you.”

  Raze cocked his head to the side. “Who the hell are you?” Most guys would at least be sweating a bit, considering only one bare light bulb hung from the ceiling and showed dots of blood on the concrete walls.

  “Damon Winter,” Winter said. “I already told you my name.”

  One of the guards flipped a badge on a lanyard toward Jax, who caught it. He glanced down. “LAPD.”

  “Yep. Well, I used to be,” Winter said.

  Raze eyed Sami. The soldier had gone pale. “Aren’t you LAPD, too?” he asked.

  She nodded. “I was.”

  Winter frowned and studied her. “I don’t recognize you.”

  “Did you know every LAPD officer?” she asked.

  “Of course not,” Winter said.

  Raze frowned, his instincts humming. “We’re letting you go.”

  Winter lifted one dark eyebrow. “Why?”

  “There’s an internal issue going on, and we can’t meet Greyson tonight,” Jax said. “Go back to your territory, and tell him we’ll be there tomorrow night with Dr. Wellington. If he tries to double-cross us, or if he harms Maureen Shadow in any way, I’ll blow up his entire world.”

  Raze drew a knife from his boot and bent to slice through the duct tape. He circled the chair and unlocked the cuffs. “I’ll take it out on you,” he whispered into Winter’s ear.

  Winter looked over his shoulder, his gaze relaxed. “Nobody wants to hurt your sister, man.”

  “That had better be true,” Raze said. He hefted Winter from the chair. “Let’s get you an escort at least through Vanguard territory.” They all hustled up the stairs, and Raze handed the ex-cop off to a couple of soldiers.

  Winter looked over his shoulder. “Don’t make a move without the doctor, Shadow. Greyson demanded to see her, and the man doesn’t bluff.”

  Raze didn’t answer and turned to follow Jax into the conference room to a wall map of the Vanguard territory. “Sami? It’s odd you didn’t know each other,” Jax said.

  “Maybe he wasn’t really LAPD,” the woman said easily.

  “His badge and the ID with his badge showed his picture.” Jax scrutinized the map. “We’ll discuss it more later. For now, we need a plan. Raze?”

  Raze shook his head. “There are three buildings with multiple floors containing kids and civilians. We don’t know where anybody is except for Lighton.” Raze moved closer to the map. “I could take him out, but we don’t know what happens next.”

  Sami nodded. “They might panic and hurt Lynne, or they might just panic and let her go.”

  Raze shook his head. “Right now, negotiation is still the best tactic. We don’t know the layout or what kind of forces they have inside. Hell, we don’t know anything, and it’s not like we have the resources to find out.”

  Jax nodded. “We’ll keep negotiating for now, but I need a rescue plan just in case.”

  Raze headed over to the weapons lockers. “We have flash grenades, tear gas, and tactical gear. If we go in, we need to hit all three buildings simultaneously.”

  Jax crossed his arms. “Who do we have? I mean, who’s trained well enough to engage in this type of mission?”

  Raze shook his head. “You, me, Sami, Tace, and about five others, I think. Byron is smart enough to catch on quickly, but ten soldiers is still a small force to take three buildings.”

  “What if we just took the front building?” Sami asked. “If Lighton is there, don’t you think Lynne is there somewhere?”

  “Probably. Let’s ask Vinnie to profile him.” Raze reached for a combat vest and quickly shoved grenades and extra clips in the pockets. He grabbed a piece of paper and made notes. “Jax and I will return and back up Vinnie. Sami, here’s a list of who you need to gather to go in. Make sure Byron is with either Jax or me.”

  Jax pointed to the map. “We’ll need to cut through the Vanguard perimeter fence out of sight of the buildings. Any thoughts?”

  Raze nodded. He’d patrolled the fence more than any other soldier. “Yep. I know right where to breach.” He forced thoughts of Winter, Greyson, and Maureen out of his mind.

  One crisis at a time.

  Vinnie kept her shoulder against the rough wood of the crumbling house while Jax’s soldier covered her. “Reverend? I’d like proof of life for Dr. Harmony, please.” If nothing else, Vinnie needed a location for the scientist. She wouldn’t be able to keep Jax from going in for long, so the more intel she gleaned, the better.

  “Vinnie?” Lynne called out from the open window. “I’m fine. Just having a nice chat with the reverend.”

  “Good.” Vinnie breathed out. Thank God Lynne was all right. “So what’s the deal, Reverend? What do you want?”

  “I knew you’d be the sensible one,” Lighton called. “My needs are very simple. We’ll turn over Dr. Harmony and all of the supply of vitamin B in exchange for the contents of warehouses three and four.”

  “I’m unfamiliar with those warehouses,” Vinnie called. She hadn’t belonged to Vanguard long enough to know all the details. “What’s in them?”

  “Food and medical supplies,” Lighton yelled. “Enough to last my people a year. During that time, we’ll work within Vanguard, but we want autonomy, much like the Native American reservations used to have within the United States.”

  Vinnie blinked. “You’re taking a huge risk trying to negotiate by taking hostages.”

  Lighton coughed. “Jax Mercury is a criminal, and he understands loss. This is the only way I could’ve gotten his attention.”

  Vinnie shook her head, out of sight. Lighton had created one hell of an enemy with this stunt, but first things first. “If I speak with Jax about the warehouses, will you let Lynne go?”

  “Not until the provisions are inside Pure territory,” Lighton yelled.

  Raze and Jax suddenly came up on her side. She explained Lighton’s demands to them.

  Jax eyed the still curtains. “Depleting those warehouses will put the remaining Vanguard citizens in danger. We need those medical supplies and food.” He craned his neck, his gaze narrowing. “Did you see Lynne?”

  “No, but I heard her. She sounded all right,” Vinnie said.

  “Do you think he’ll hurt her?” Jax asked.

  Vinnie ran through what she knew of Lighton. “I think he’s off-center, and this is scarier than he thought. While I don’t believe he’ll purposely harm her, he’s on edge and may make a mistake.”

  “She could get caught in the crossfire if we go in,” Jax said.

  Raze scrubbed his face. “If we infiltrate through that isolated point to the east, I can go through the window, but I’ll have to take down Lighton to do it.”

  A muscle ticked in Jax’s jaw. “Give me your whole plan.”

  Raze nodded. “Vinnie keeps Lighton talking while we go around back. Ten of us infiltrate the fence. We send four to the front and back of the southern buildings just to cover the exits. You lead a team of five in through the rear entrance of the main apartment building, while I take out Lighton in the window.”

  Vinnie’s heart rose in her throat. “Lighton is armed.”

  “Yeah.” Raze kept his gaze on Jax. “It’s risky. We can continue to negotiate, or you can hand over the provisions. Even if we hand them over, we can probably get them back once Lynne is free.”

  “If he sets her free,” Vinnie said, her mind spinning. “She’s infected, I know, but she’s valuable with her medical experience and her blue heart.”

  “You don’t think he’ll let her go?” Jax asked.

  Vinnie looked toward the quiet brick building. “Not unless he has to. This entire situation was planned out too well to have just happened. He’s narcissistic, and he thinks he’s much smarter than the rest of us. I just can’t say how far he’ll go.”

  Jax grimaced. “That’s wha
t I figured. Okay.”

  The group of eight jogged up from the rear of the house.

  Jax motioned to Raze. “Everyone behind the house for orders. Vinnie? Please keep Lighton talking as much as you can, and get a visual on Lynne if possible.” He turned toward the soldiers.

  Raze bent down and swept his mouth across hers. “This will be okay.”

  Tears pricked her eyes. What if she was wrong about Lighton? What if he wanted to kill Lynne? What if infiltrating the building got Raze or Jax or one of the other soldiers shot? “This is so up in the air,” she whispered.

  He kissed her harder. “It’ll be okay. Settle yourself, and just talk to him. You can do it.” Raze waited for her shaky nod before he turned and strode out of sight around the decrepit house.

  “Reverend? I really would like to see for myself that Lynne is unharmed.” Vinnie calmed her voice.

  “You’re welcome to scale the fence,” Lighton yelled back.

  “I can’t talk Mercury into giving you all of his medical supplies without being able to prove that Lynne’s okay.” Vinnie stepped into the sunshine. “Just one glimpse.”

  “Sorry, but she’s busy,” Lighton said.

  “Where is she?” Vinnie asked.

  Lighton didn’t answer.

  Vinnie let a couple of minutes tick by. “Reverend? Do you have any other hostages?”

  “Where’s Jax Mercury?” Lighton called out. “It’s time I started negotiating with him.”

  Vinnie squinted but couldn’t see inside the room. “He went to check the warehouses you were interested in.” That might sound like the truth. “He was concerned about the medical provisions and wanted to see what he could spare without putting the rest of us in danger.”

  “You have five minutes to find Jax Mercury, or I’m going to start cutting off Blue Heart’s fingers one by one and throwing them into the street.”

  So much for the question of whether or not he was dangerous.

  Raze appeared to the left of the apartment building, on the other side of the chain-link fence. Vinnie kept her gaze straightforward on the open window. “Jax will be here in a minute,” she called.

  “Good,” Lighton responded.

  Raze crept up the side and toward the reverend’s open window, staying low. He paused at the corner.

  Vinnie stepped full into the sunlight. “Reverend? I know you don’t want to hurt anybody. Please work with me.”

  The curtains didn’t move.

  Frustration clawed up her throat. “Besides medicine, I know where the antibacterial supplies are locked down. If you let me see Lynne, I’ll add those to your pot,” she said.

  The curtains shifted, and Lighton came into view.

  She nodded.

  At her nod, Raze moved. In less than two seconds, all hell broke loose.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  In our field, we’re not supposed to use the word “crazy.” Yet sometimes, the term just fits.

  —Dr. Vinnie Wellington, Sociopaths

  Raze rolled and came up firing, hitting Reverend Lighton dead center. Lighton’s eyes widened, and he fell back, blood bursting from his chest.

  Without missing a beat, Raze leaped through the window face-first, slammed into a wooden floor, rolled and jumped up, gun sweeping. Nobody else was in the empty room.

  Gunfire pinged from outside the room, and a woman screamed, high and loud.

  Lighton stared up at the ceiling, his eyes open in death.

  Raze didn’t need to check for a pulse. He inched the door open, his gun ready, his body on full alert.

  Another scream echoed from down the hallway.

  He edged outside, trying to see through the smoke. Had Jax thrown a flash grenade? “Mercury!” he bellowed. Where the hell was everybody?

  “Jax?” a female voice yelled from the next door.

  Raze kicked it open and swept inside, going low.

  Lynne Harmony sat bound to a chair, a pink scarf around her hands and rope around her torso. Her green eyes glowed dark in her pale face.

  Raze hustled toward her and cut the bindings. “You okay?”

  She stood. “I’m fine. This building is mostly empty. The civilians are in the two other apartment buildings.”

  “Weapons?” Raze asked, drawing her toward the door.

  “Lighton has some, and he has two soldiers also armed.” Lynne stumbled, and Raze reached back to steady her. “Thanks.”

  Raze nudged the door open to see Mercury stomping down the hallway, his gun on a tall blond guy with a goatee. “Lynne’s here. She’s safe.”

  Jax shoved the blond man toward Raze, who pivoted and put the guy into the wall, face-first. The guy struggled, but Raze planted the barrel of his gun at the base of his neck, and he stopped moving. Smart.

  Jax kept going right into Lynne and enfolded her. “You okay?” he whispered.

  Her arms wrapped around his waist. “I’m fine.” She peered around him toward Raze. “That’s Joe Bentley. He tried to talk Lighton into letting me go.”

  Raze decreased the pressure of his barrel into Bentley’s neck. “He wasn’t successful.”

  Lynne stepped away from Jax. “No, but he tried. From the little I saw, he has a good grasp on the people here.” She looked around, her gaze wide. “Where’s Lighton? He’ll come out shooting.”

  “He’s not coming,” Raze said, whipping Bentley around. “Talk.”

  Bentley’s glasses wobbled on his thin nose. “The reverend lost it. All of a sudden, he told everyone to get to the residences. I saw Dr. Harmony, and then I saw the gun at her ribs, so I got everyone out of here.” He swallowed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.

  Lynne nodded vigorously. “That’s true.”

  “Then I came back and tried to talk Lighton into letting her go and dropping the weapons.” Bentley shoved his glasses into place. “I was heading out back to try to find Mercury when everything seemed to explode.”

  Raze stepped back and let Bentley go. “I guess you live.”

  Bentley’s blue eyes widened. “Um, thanks.”

  Jax’s soldiers all came into sight. He cleared his throat.

  “Bentley? I want a list of every member of your congregation. Tace? Get a crew and take down the fence around this place.”

  Bentley held up a hand. “Wait a minute. I don’t agree with Lighton’s methods, but we do want to remain separate for our own safety. We have pregnant women who will lose their babies if they’re infected.”

  Jax breathed out. He studied Bentley. “It looks like you’re the new leader of Pure, and I’m fine with that, but no fence. It comes down.”

  Bentley opened his mouth to argue, and Raze stepped in again. Bentley’s lips closed.

  Jax tugged Lynne to his side. “We can discuss the situation, and I won’t force your people in proximity with survivors, but there’s a lot of work to do before we’re all on the same page. Talk to your people, and make sure they understand that they’ll each be interviewed, alone, within the next week. After that, we’ll figure things out.”

  Bentley nodded.

  “For now, bring that fence down,” Jax ordered.

  Tace turned and motioned for a couple of the soldiers to follow him.

  Jax pulled Lynne toward the hallway. “Let’s get out of here and come up with a plan to deal with these people. Tomorrow night, after we get your sister back, Raze.”

  Raze breathed in, for the first time in way too long, not feeling alone. “I like having the extra night to plan.”

  Jax grimaced as they walked into the bright sun. “I agree, but I wouldn’t have minded a few hours with Damon Winter to get some information about Merc territory. As it is, we’re going in blind.”

  Raze looked around at the smoky hallway. “Not our first time.”

  Jax shook his head. “Good point.” He strode across the weeds and dropped a kiss on Lynne’s head.

  Tace was already using wire cutters to destroy the fence, and they slid through.

  Vinnie ran u
p and flew into Raze’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her, breathing in the scent of calla lilies. “I’m okay,” he murmured, rubbing his chin on top of her head. “So is Lynne. Almost everyone is okay.”

  Jax paused. “Tace? Set troops on the fence. We need somebody to . . .”

  Tace looked up, his pupils narrowing. “Ah. Yeah, okay. I’ll take care of Lighton.” He tossed the cutters to one of the soldiers and turned to head back inside.

  Raze paused. “I’ll help.” Considering he’d shot Lighton, he should help to clean up the mess.

  Tace waved over his shoulder. “I don’t need help. Go figure out a plan for us tomorrow night. I want in, and nobody is going to keep me out this time, medic or not.” He kept talking as he entered the building, and his voice faded slowly.

  “He’s talking to himself,” Jax said slowly, his brow furrowing.

  “Most of us do,” Vinnie said, her gaze somber. “I’m sorry, Raze.”

  He blinked. “Huh?”

  “Sorry you had to . . .”

  Ah. He pulled her into his side. “It’s my job, sweetheart. I’m sorry we had to get you involved.” The pretty shrink shouldn’t have to occupy sociopaths and stand in danger while he did his job. They’d have to work on that later. For now, he wanted her away from the area.

  Jax must’ve been of like mind, because he was all but dragging Lynne through the empty streets, past the showers, and into the main headquarters building. “How many people did you see there?” he asked, dropping into a chair in the mess hall.

  She shrugged and sat. “Not many. The main apartment building is serving as a kind of corporate headquarters for the Pure. Or at least, it was.”

  Vinnie trooped along at Raze’s side, her pallor still a little alarming.

  “Bentley seems like a nice guy,” Jax said. “You’re sure he tried to convince Lighton to let you go?”

  Lynne nodded. “Yeah. He was mostly worried about the Pure.”

  Vinnie pressed a hand to her stomach. “I wouldn’t mind interviewing him later this week. Just to get a feeling for him.”

  “You got it, Doc,” Jax said. “For now, we should all eat. Then we’ll come up with a plan to infiltrate Mercenary territory.” He stepped in front of Raze and grabbed him for a hard hug. “I owe you.”