Mercury Striking (The Scorpius Syndrome #1)(20)

Shock fuzzed her brain.

“Lynne?” His hands paused in the buckling.

“Yes.” Agreement seemed wise, at least for now. Later she’d figure out how to make him pay.

“Good.” He turned and grabbed her pistol off the counter to tuck it in his waistband. “Don’t wait up.” Without another word, he exited the room, the sound of locks engaging slamming home.

She swallowed and fell onto the bed, wincing as she landed. The bastard had made a smart move by taking her gun. She might’ve shot him when he returned. Time to calm down and think.

Letting herself be seen by a roving gang was stupid, although she certainly hadn’t deserved his reaction. Even though she’d kind of challenged him about hitting women.

One thing was for sure. She wouldn’t underestimate Jax Mercury again. Maybe she’d miscalculated in seeking him out, but she’d needed temporary protection. And she’d needed someone who could kill, who’d proved he was the strongest and smartest badass out there.

Now the only question was, could she get free?

Jax strode into the tactical infirmary, his temper still simmering as blood flowed down his arm. He reached Tace just as the medic finished mopping blood from the floor. “How bad?”

“We’ve had worse.” Tace set the mop to the side and jerked his head to the examination table. “Three wounded, all easy to sew up. April Snyder regained consciousness, no permanent damage, and you’re forgiven since you saved her daughter.”

Jax shrugged out of his vest and sat on the table, his legs extending to the floor. “And the kid? How bad?”

“Scared shitless but not hurt.” Tace shoved Jax’s shirtsleeve up his arm and hummed at the wound.

Jax cleared his throat, forcing his voice out. “Was she, ah—”

Tace paused, understanding dawning across his broad face. “No. Haylee got separated from the group, so she hid. Cruz found her and set his plan into action. Nobody touched the girl.”

The breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding blew out of Jax. “Good.” Cruz must’ve been on a timetable or he would’ve taken the time to violate the girl, just to torture Jax. “No more kids on scavenging trips.”

Tace leaned in and started stitching up the wound. “Don’t have a choice, and you know it. We’re limited, and everybody has work to do.”

Jax sucked in air and shoved pain away like he’d learned in the army. Failure threatened to crush his skull. If he was doing his fucking job, the kids would be safe.

“Stop.” Tace finished stitching and slapped a bandage on the wound. “Don’t second-guess yourself.” He threw blood-soaked cotton balls into a corner trash can. “Bullet just grazed you and will leave a wimpy scar. Nothing fun.”

What was one more scar? “Thanks, Doc.”

“I’m not a doctor, and you should probably see one of the real doctors inner territory,” Tace said without heat. “That old feud between you and Cruz. It’s bad.”

“Yeah. It’s bad.” Jax picked at his bandage. “When I left the service and came home, one of my plans was to kill him.”

Tace blinked. “Oh. Um—”

“Don’t want to talk about it.” Enough of opening old wounds. “Thanks for covering my back out there.”

“Of course.” Tace, as usual, let the subject drop. “Uh, I heard your window being unboarded during the fight. How bad did you yell at Dr. Harmony?”

“Not bad.” Jax unrolled his shirt sleeve. “She doesn’t seem to understand her importance. Or the threat she represents.”

“Perhaps she knows something we don’t.” Tace leaned back against the counter, fatigue creasing the side of his mouth. “Did you piss her off so bad she won’t help us?”

“She’ll help us.” Jax needed to get some answers from her, when they both had clear heads. He probably should’ve calmed down before storming up to discuss the window with her, but either way, he’d made his point.

“When do I get to meet her?” Tace asked. “I’m ready to figure out this illness, and she knows a helluva lot more than we do. I’ve had the records from the CDC outpost brought here from the main records building’s inner compound.”

Now probably wasn’t a good time. “Let’s give her a couple of hours to calm down from our, ah, discussion, and then I’ll bring her to the lab.”

Tace exhaled and shook his head. “You yelled at her.”

“She deserved it.” No need to go into details. For now, he had to figure out a way to allow the teenagers to contribute without putting them in so much danger.

Manny strode inside, a butterfly bandage over his right eye. “Everyone good?”

Jax took in the fifty-year-old badass. “Yes, but I need you to keep a closer eye on the kids and scavengers than we’ve done so far.”

Manny rubbed a hand through thick gray hair. “Shit.”

“Thanks.” Jax rolled his burning shoulder. “I think April Snyder can help. I’ll have you approach her.” He turned back toward Tace and paused as a teenager crossed into the room from the soup kitchen, hands full of wires. “Byron?”

The kid glanced up through wire-rimmed glasses. “I’m working on a portable ham radio, just in case we need one on a mission. But I need more wires. If I come up with a list, will you keep an eye out during raids?”