“So you have a backdoor to the server?”
“No. You want to watch that because a backdoor to the server might be removed during a system upgrade. I created the backdoor in the compiler.” She warmed to her subject. “In fact—”
Raze lifted a hand. “It’s fascinating. Really. But I need to scout the hallway and back.” He turned on his heel.
Sami fought the urge to stick her tongue out at his retreating back. It was fascinating, damn it. She turned back and typed quickly, methodically going through a large amount of data she didn’t recognize. A video suddenly blinked on camera. “Raze?” she called.
Raze returned with Jax on his heels.
“You hungry? There’s great food down in the cafeteria.” Jax slipped a doughnut in front of her. “It’s kind of fresh, even.”
She typed in a couple of commands. A street camera went live outside of Merc territory in Santa Barbara. “They’ve been watching.”
Jax leaned in. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah. Not all the time because they don’t have the resources. It’s on a rotating schedule, but they can tune in anytime they want.” She clicked a couple of keys, and the entrance to Vanguard territory came into view just as the guards were changing. She sucked in air. “Whoa.”
Raze straightened and glanced around the pristine command center. “We’re missing something.”
“Huh?” Sami asked, leaning in to read the different files.
“There should be notes, maps, and even printouts of all the surveillance targets. No way was one guy just memorizing everything. Where is all the data?” Raze asked.
Sami stiffened. “Good point. Let’s get a schematic for this Bunker before we access all the surveillance data.” She switched screens and typed rapidly, accessing hidden files she hadn’t had time to investigate yet. Maps poured onto the screen.
“Stop,” Jax said, leaning over her shoulder.
It didn’t just stop. She grabbed the mouse and clicked on the one she figured he wanted. A full schematic of the entire Bunker facility came up. She flipped it around on the screen. “There’s the fourth level with the bombs and two additional storage areas.” She’d already found that, but this schematic had more detail than the other one.
Jax pointed to a part of the screen. “That huge area is off this room.” He moved toward the far side of the computer counter and tapped on the paneled wall. He turned and looked around. “All right. Find the secret button.”
Sami let the men search the room while she pulled up schematics on the rest of the facility. “Looks like there’s a hidden lab off the medical computer room as well.” Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she tried to measure the dimensions. “There isn’t anything about how to access it, but there’s a lot of energy hooked up to the lab.” Was there a cure for Scorpius only hallways away? Was it possible?
Jax pulled her chair back and looked under the desk before pushing her back. “Where is it, damn it?”
“We could blow it,” Raze said.
Jax nodded. “Blow it.”
“I’ll be right back.” Raze pivoted and ran from the room.
“How’s Justice today?” Jax asked, running his hand along the top of the wall and still searching.
Sami shook her head. “Not good. We have to figure out the right enzyme. Maybe it’s in the hidden lab?”
“Probably.” Jax’s voice didn’t exactly sound reassuring.
Raze returned with a backpack. “Out.”
Sami jumped up and hustled into the hallway. Within thirty seconds, the Vanguard soldiers followed. Jax covered her for three heartbeats, and then an explosion rocked the floor.
They hurried back.
Sami blew out air and followed Jax through a gaping hole in the wall. A monstrous world map took up the very far wall with pins stuck in different places. File cabinets, rows and rows of them, lined each wall. Surveillance photos had been tacked to corkboards above them. Photos of Vanguard, the Mercenaries, the president’s Elite Force, and many others she couldn’t identify.
“The locations of the other Bunker facilities have to be here somewhere,” Jax said, his voice hushed.
Raze nodded. “We have time to go through everything. Right now, let’s get into the other hidden room. The lab.”
“Yeah.” Sami turned and ran from the room, all but barreling down the hallway and into the medical computer room. “It’s over there.” She pointed to the one wall area that had enough room to serve as an entrance.
“Out,” Jax said.
She huffed out a breath. “At some point, I want to learn the explosives part of this job.”
“Later,” Raze muttered, taking something from his pack.
She turned the corner and ran into Tace. “We’re finding secret rooms.”
“Really?” His cheek creased. “Sounds fun.”
“Raze and Jax are setting up explosives.” She studied him. Bloodshot eyes, stiff shoulders. “You’re in pain.”
“I’m fine.” He tucked her into his chest and turned around as the other two Vanguard soldiers rounded the corner.
This explosive was quieter, and smoke billowed out.
Sami shoved the men aside and ran inside and through the hole. “Wow.” An aquarium took up an entire wall of the massive lab and was filled with jellyfish swimming gracefully.
Tace came up behind her. “It’s not surprising, considering Lynne’s blue heart and the failed cure. There’s something about vitamin B and the luminescent nature and ability to regenerate of the jellyfish.” He pointed to another wall tank filled with squid. “And squid.”
Counters were set throughout the room, and notations were on every available surface. File cabinets lined a side wall.
Sami turned to Jax. “We need Lynne here.”
The Vanguard leader looked around and then nodded. “Yeah. All right. For now, go see what else is hidden in those computers.”
* * *
Tace checked on the wounded again before grabbing two coffees from the cafeteria. Real coffee with real creamer. He wondered what the Bunker folks had planned to do in a year or so when supplies ran out. Was there an underground bunker somewhere filled with coffee, creamer, and doughnuts? At this point, he’d believe anything.
His hand shook, and the toes on his left foot had gone numb. An episode was imminent, and his chest felt so heavy he wondered if his heart was fibrillating.
But he shoved the panic down and strode into the computer command center to find his little hacker hard at work and muttering to herself. “You need to eat something.” He placed a coffee and what looked like mac and cheese in front of her.
She glanced down. “I love mac and cheese.” She grabbed the carton and dug in with a spoon, humming softly as she ate.
He grinned and ran a hand over her hair. Loose and long, the waves fascinated him. “How’s it going?”
She smiled up at him, her eyes concerned and the grin forced. “Great. I’m zeroing in on the other Bunker locations, I hope.”
“Excellent.” He sipped his coffee and enjoyed the moment with his woman. “What’s that?”
“I was trying to determine the schedule for surveillance. They had cameras all over California, and they’ve been watching several groups on a rotating schedule.” She brought up Vanguard. “Look. It’s home.”
“Interesting.” He leaned in and pointed to the options. “Narrow in there, would you?”
“Sure.” She typed several commands, and a camera focused on the rear corner of Vanguard territory. “Whoa. Who is that?”
Tace leaned over her shoulder. “Can you sharpen that?”
“Yeah.” She sharpened the video until Joe Bentley, the organizational leader of the Pure, could be seen clearly speaking to somebody on the other side of the fence. “Let me zoom in on the other guy.” She did so and gasped at seeing a soldier with a clear EL on his chest.
“Shit. Bentley was talking to one of the president’s Elite Force? When was that?” Tace’s heart began t
o drum.
Sami sucked in air. “About seven hours ago.”
That was long enough to get back to the president and make a plan. “Can you bring up the Elite Force? Let’s see the president’s headquarters.” Tace’s instincts shifted into overdrive.
“Yeah.” She clicked on it, and nothing happened. Setting down the mac and cheese, she typed furiously, and a bunch of code started to run. “The last check-in at his location was three hours ago. I think they take a snapshot every three days, but if they want to focus and watch for a while, they can manually do so. I mean, they could.”
She brought up a series of video and then sat back. “Huh.”
“So that’s three hours ago.”
“Yes.”
Tace straightened as truck after truck exited the California forest, loaded with men and weapons. “Shit. Bentley told the Elite soldier that we were gone. He gave them our weaknesses.” He rushed into the hidden war room where Jax and Raze were poring over documents. “We have a problem.” They followed him back into the computer room. “Sami? Can you track the president’s movements?”
She was already typing. “Yes. They headed south.” She brought up two more cameras. “Oh God.”
Tace leaned back. “Vanguard. They’re going to try to take Vanguard.” He’d figured they’d retaliate but not this quickly. Damn Joe Bentley and the Pure. His chest compressed, and his mind spun. “We didn’t cripple them as badly as we’d hoped.”
“We only took explosives and weapons from one outbuilding,” Sami whispered.
Tace caught Raze as he barreled from the room. “Wait a minute. We need a plan.”
“The plan is to get to Vanguard and stop the massacre,” Jax snapped, striding past them, fury on his hard face. “We’ve left our people defenseless.”
“No, we haven’t.” Tace sprang into a run behind his friends. “We left soldiers—both Vanguard and Mercs—guarding the civilians. We’ll get there in time.” Yet the president had a huge head start and an impressive array of firepower.
Sami ran behind him.
Jax reached Greyson outside the medical computer room. “Vanguard is under attack. I’m taking all my soldiers—you have to hold down the Bunker.”
Grey nodded. “My men have it. I’m coming with you.”
Jax paused. “No, but I appreciate the thought. We need the Bunker to remain secure in case forces are coming from other facilities. I’m leaving you vulnerable here, Grey.”
The Mercenary leader clapped Jax on the shoulder. “Fine. We’ll go into lockdown the second you leave. Let’s get whatever explosives and weapons you’ll need. You’re gonna love the bulletproof vests I found.” He nodded toward the far door. “We searched the parking garage adjacent to the building. In the bottom floor, there are two Humvees, fully armed and ready to go.”
Tace coughed. “Awesome. Let’s get them.”
Sami ran in and grabbed a wild stack of papers. “I’ve been compiling these for Lynne.” She hurried toward a fridge and grabbed one of the two remaining yellow vials. “Maybe she’ll know what to do with this.”
Tace’s vision wavered. “Put it back—we need it cool, I’d bet.”
She wavered.
“I’ll make it back here, Sami. Trust me.” Yet his entire left side was tingling.
She nodded and returned it to the fridge.
He reached for her hand. “Let’s go protect our home.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
President or not, he messed with the wrong men.
—Jax Mercury
The ride back to East Los Angeles was tense, fast, and nearly desperate. Tace kept point out the window while Jax drove like a lunatic, but Tace couldn’t blame him. If Sami had been the target of an attack, he’d lose his mind, too. She sat next to him, alternating between making soothing sounds and wincing when Jax drove over instead of around debris.
They drove furiously down the 101, an interstate they’d avoided until now. Too many rogue gangs controlled areas of it, but Jax’s orders to shoot anything that moved seemed to be working. They turned onto the quiet 405 with cars and trucks rotting and rusting on the sides.
The Humvee barreled through a series of crashed cars in the center lanes, tossing trucks aside like they were Tinkertoys. “We need more of these,” Tace murmured.
“It’s eating gas,” Jax replied, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. “They’ve been retrofitted for city use, not like the ones we used in the desert. Anyway, they’ll do for today.”
Raze drove the other one, his recklessness matching Jax’s.
“Ahead,” Tace said to Jax.
Two black vans emblazoned with bright purple “20s” blocked the middle of the freeway with a series of crashed cars on either side.
“Get down.” Tace shoved Sami’s head down and leaned out the window, waiting for a target. “Don’t slow up.”
“No problem.” Jax pressed down hard on the gas.
Tace took aim and waited, the vision in his left eye fuzzing. Three men in purple ran around the far end of a van, automatic weapons already firing. He plugged one center mass, the second in the head, and then paused as Raze took out the third from his Humvee.
Tace slammed a hand over Sami’s chest to hold her to the seat.
Jax plowed between the vans, sending them spinning in opposite directions. Metal crunched, and tires shredded. “I love this thing,” he muttered.
Sami shoved Tace’s arm off. “Watch the ribs.”
“Sorry.” He rubbed a hand over his eyes. His chest grew tight, and his balls hurt. He’d never figured that his balls would ache right before he died. Death was a heartless bitch. He snorted.
“What?” Sami asked.
That quickly, he lost the humor. “Nothing. I just like the Humvee.” He took her hand with his free one, tracking the world outside. His eardrum popped, and he bit back a wince.
God had given him one more mission, and he’d use it to make sure Sami had a safe home when he left her. Blood trickled out of his right ear, and he casually wiped it away before she could see.
They made record time, and soon the nice brick on the side of the freeway turned to gang tags and graffiti.
Sami gasped, looking out the front window.
Tace turned. “Shit.”
Smoke billowed from Vanguard territory in frightening yellow and black. “Fire. Something is on fire,” Sami said, her voice full of panic.
It looked like the entire world was filled with smoke. “She’s okay, Jax,” Tace muttered. Lynne Harmony had to be all right.
Jax didn’t answer. He leaned forward and sped up, careening off the freeway and down the exit ramp. A series of shopping carts filled with garbage were no match for the vehicle and flew up into the air to bounce harmlessly behind them.
They careened through abandoned neighborhoods and almost hit a pack of wild cats that scattered in record time. Finally, the protective perimeter of Vanguard came into view. The two Humvees would go in the front, while the other vehicles would crash through the rear. As a plan, it was fraught with problems, but it was too late to turn back.
Jax took the corner squarely.
“Holy hell,” Sami breathed.
The Elite Force had blown a hole through the front Vanguard gate. The downed vans, trucks, and even the tires all burned bright with fire. “Did they use gasoline?” Jax hissed, swerving around a burning mass of metal.
An explosion blew out several windows on the second floor of headquarters, spraying glass down across the entire parking area. Jax drove around a truck to see the president’s men behind their trucks, throwing grenades and firing rapidly. Vanguard soldiers fired back from the burning building, their bullets pinging off the trucks.
A quick glance toward the front headquarters door confirmed black uniforms. The Elite Force had breached the building.
“Start spraying,” Jax ordered, gunning the vehicle toward the middle truck.
Tace took aim toward the soldiers behind the truck to th
e right. Men yelled as Jax plowed into them, and bodies flew up into the air. They impacted the truck with the sound of metal bashing metal. Tace rocked back in the seat and grabbed onto Sami before she could fly into the windshield. “Stay behind me.” He opened the door, already firing. Bullets pinged against metal.
The other Humvee crashed into the third Elite truck, and blood sprayed through the air to mix with the smoke.
“Take back headquarters,” Jax yelled, charging out of the Humvee.
“Damn it.” Tace kept low and tried to cover both Sami and Jax. “Take cover, you asshole.”
Jax ignored him, running full bore across the open parking lot.
Tace sprayed bullets to the left while Raze fired to the right. Sami took aim next to him and plugged a guy coming out of headquarters. “Nice shot, baby,” he yelled through the smoke.
Bullets threw concrete up around them. “From the roof.” Jesus. How had they gotten on the roof so quickly?
Raze rolled and came up on the other side of the door, his back to the brick. Blood flowed down his face from his forehead, but Tace couldn’t determine the type of wound. The soldier nodded, lifted three fingers, and then counted down.
Tace’s left knee shook.
He waited.
When Raze’s last finger dropped, Sami yanked open the door. Tace went low, Jax went high, and Raze provided clean up. Sami moved behind them, rapidly firing toward the parking lot.
Tace shot an Elite soldier in the knee while sweeping his leg out and taking a second down. Raze and two men grappled over to the left, while Jax took the stairs three at a time.
Sami shut the door.
Bullets impacted the glass.
“Sami!” Tace grabbed her arm and yanked her away from the flying glass. She winced and clapped a hand over her shoulder. “I’m okay.”
Raze kicked one of the soldiers across the room while slicing his knife into the second.
An Elite soldier jumped up, and Tace squeezed the trigger, hitting the bastard in the chest. He went down, dead before he hit the ground.
Justice Ascending Page 29