Mercury Striking (The Scorpius Syndrome #1)(99)

“Yes.” Ernie patted the boxes. “Byron did an excellent job with the portable ham radio, and this smaller battery is charged and will work. We should be able to keep in touch with headquarters as well as reach out to the president.”

Jax nodded. “Okay. You’re going to have to ride in the middle so Raze can scope out the window in case we need to shoot.”

“I figured.” Ernie hitched himself up and into the cab of the van.

Jax turned to find Lynne standing at the entrance, Sami flanking her. He lifted his chin.

Lynne raised a hand and gave him a smile. He returned the wave and jumped into the truck. Now that was a nice sight. Then he sobered and tucked another gun along his boot and ignited the engine. It purred like a lazy kitten.

“Byron tweaked it,” Raze said.

The kid was becoming more and more useful. Jax glanced in the side mirror to see Lynne still watching him.

He’d promised to protect her, and he would, but he needed to discover if there was a military, and what his obligations to it were. Not to mention he had to figure out if there was a president of the United States and if it truly was Bret Atherton, and whether the man really was a Ripper.

Then he’d have to make a plan. At the moment, even without necessary information, he was seriously between a rock and a hard place. Yet he put the truck into DRIVE, maneuvered between vans and trucks, and headed for the I-15. “Watch for Rippers and gangs.”

“Copy that,” Raze said.





Chapter Thirty-Four





To live is to face death daily.

—Dr. Franklin Xavier Harmony




The four-hour drive to the border took nearly six hours. Just getting out of the city had required Jax to prod vehicles out of the way with the van, but when they’d finally gotten out of Los Angeles, the I-15 hadn’t been a problem. If the lanes were clogged, he just went off road and then got back on. Defunct vehicles littered the entire way, and by the time they’d neared the dead casino, he and Raze had started a contest of speed with siphoning gasoline.

Jax inched under an Escalade, pierced his screwdriver into the gas tank, and watched gas flow into the can he’d placed beneath. As soon as the flow stopped, he scooted back out to the warm sun. “Time.”

Raze smacked the ground near a truck on its side. “This tank is full.”

Jax shrugged and carried his can to the back of the truck before returning and going through the vehicle. Most of the abandoned cars had been cleaned out when the owners had left them, but bodies littered the desert around them, so those folks hadn’t taken anything. He’d found several bottles of painkillers, some food, and some water during his quests.

Raze had found other medicine, so they’d cleaned up as scavengers.

Ernie sat quietly in the truck, a little pissed off. The radio had worked during the first hour they’d checked in, and then the battery had gone dead. He was sweating in the warm desert, and his face had taken on a flushed red hue. Yet besides bitching at the radio, he hadn’t complained.

Jax finished his search by claiming several hair ponytail things somebody could use. He tossed them in the van and opened his door. “We’re about fifteen minutes out,” he said.

Raze screwed the cap onto his plastic container. “I’ll go on foot from here.” Stretching his shoulders, he walked around to deposit the can before shutting the door. “Give me a little time.” He checked his weapons and glanced up at the sun.

“Yep.” Jax paused. “And, Raze? Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” The soldier glanced at him, gaze steady. “Atherton’s forces are stretched thin, and he usually travels with a squad of twenty-five or so. Many of those should be out on local missions. See you there.” He mock-saluted Ernie and then turned to jog into the desert to approach the casino from the back.

Jax watched him go, his mind spinning. “How the fuck did he know that information?” Something to ask Raze at the nearest opportunity, to be sure. For now, he had work to do. Jax spent the next thirty minutes going through empty vehicles and then finally climbed back into the driver’s seat. “You ready?”

“Yes,” Ernie mumbled, his head against the back of the seat, his eyes closed.

Hopefully the guy wouldn’t kick the bucket on the mission. Jax started the van and wove through several more cars before finding a clear road. Waiting fifteen minutes, he reached Franco’s Casino. It rose from the desert, no longer shining with lights but still impressive and large. A ten-foot tall metal dollar sign stood strong and steady in the center of a sprawling parking lot littered with abandoned vehicles. Two men, fully armed, guarded the glass doorway. A vestibule was clearly visible through the many panes of glass. Inside sat a man flanked by two more guys with guns.

Besides the casino, the only other building within half a mile was a gas station to the left. Jax watched as Raze moved up behind a sniper on the station’s roof and put him out of commission. God, the guy was good. Keeping secrets, but damn good at that, too.

Jax glanced at Ernie as he pulled up near the front door. “You okay staying in the van with your gun out the window?”

“Yes.” Ernie nodded, his hand trembling on a shotgun. “I’ll shoot if you give the signal.”

Jax took a deep breath, his shoulders relaxing. Raze would be able to see through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and he had a sniper’s rifle. This was going better than expected. He pushed out of the van and made his way to the soldiers at alert.