“This is an interesting development,” Vinnie murmured, her gaze on three well-worn dune buggies.

Raze nodded, his lips tipping with humorless determination. “Yeah. Greyson is expecting us to approach through the university streets, and these will take him somewhat by surprise.”

Vinnie pointed to the big missile things mounted on top of each buggy. “If not, those will.”

“Bazookas.” Now Raze did smile, but it was more chilling than reassuring.

“Ah.” The sun was slowly going down over the Pacific. After a day of going over the plan and of training with weapons, they’d finally set out, driving through crumbling neighborhoods to the south of Merc territory. The beach stretched on in each direction, white, sandy, and empty. “Where’d we get the dune buggies?”

“We’ve had scouts looking for some since we first discovered the location of the Mercenary camp,” Jax said, jogging up beside them. “Each one is supposed to have helmets, which will protect not only your head but your eyes from the sand. Can’t provide any protection from bullets except for the vests you’re already wearing.”

The heaviness of the vests was a constant reminder of the danger they courted.

Raze frowned. “You don’t have to come with us.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m a trained FBI profiler with some negotiation experience. For Pete’s sake. We have bazookas.” Apparently there was a reason the Vanguard leader kept his warehouses locked and guarded. Who knew what else Jax had hidden away?

Raze jerked his head at Jax. “Let’s just keep in mind that we don’t want to blow up my sister.”

Jax nodded. “Copy that.”

“They’ll have the beach secured,” Raze said.

“Not as well as the streets,” Jax said. “Teams of two. You and Vinnie, Tace and Sami, Me and Byron. If this goes south, that’s all the casualties we can afford.”

Byron swallowed and looked younger than his seventeen years. He jerked a fluorescent helmet over his head.

Vinnie tried to give him an encouraging smile, but her lips trembled. Perhaps bringing a teenager had been a bad idea, but Jax seemed to be grooming the kid for a top position in Vanguard.

Stay safe, she mouthed.

Byron nodded, his brown eyes serious. “The lights are amped. I hate to waste them, but we’ll need to make a statement without using the weaponry. If they shoot at the lights, we have a decision to make.”

“Nobody returns fire unless I order it,” Jax said tersely.

“They won’t be expecting us from the beach,” Raze said. “Surprise is our best option. We’ll have to put the guards down.”

Jax nodded. “Affirmative. Let’s try to keep them alive because we hope to negotiate.”

“I’ll do my best.” Raze reached past the bars for a helmet to toss to Vinnie. “Put it on.” She gave him a look but tucked it over her head. It smelled like salt and sea, which wasn’t so bad. She took Raze’s hand and stepped into the buggy, allowing him to secure all the buckles across her chest.

“They’ll see us coming,” Jax said, squinting down the beach.

“Hopefully they won’t shoot.” Raze slid inside the buggy. “Let’s get this over with.”

Jax nodded and ran for the other vehicle.

Vinnie glanced at Raze. “Helmet?” Her voice came out tinny in the helmet.

He shook his head and slid protective glasses over his eyes, his gun already in one hand. “Hold on.” He turned the engine over, and the three vehicles drew closer together and began spinning down the beach.

If they hadn’t been heading for a showdown to meet a kidnapper, it might’ve been fun. The buggy bounced over dunes, throwing sand. Vinnie clutched the padded bars, her stomach spinning. Each dip and fall jarred her entire body, and soon her lower back began to ache.

After about thirty minutes of riding, Jax gave some weird hand signal. Byron gripped the bars next to him, his face looking pale through the helmet’s visor.

Vinnie tapped Raze’s arm and tried to focus on his face.

“Merc territory,” he yelled.

Her heart just dropped. The sun had disappeared, and only a thin strip of pink remained across the still-light blue sky. Dusk was already falling and soon would take over the heavens.

A man ran out from behind a rock wall, and Jax turned his buggy, heading right for the guy. The vehicle hit the man, throwing him up and over the roll bar. Raze swung around and was flying out of his seat before his buggy completely stopped. The forced stop threw Vinnie against her restraints, and she cried out, her chest blooming in pain.

Raze reached the guy and punched him in the face three times. The guy slumped to the beach, out cold.

Vinnie gaped and drew off her helmet.

Blood had sprayed across Raze’s shirt, and a couple of drops marred his chin. His eyes went beyond cold to merciless. He didn’t speak as he jumped back inside the buggy and turned it around, heading north again.

Vinnie held tight to her helmet, her pulse ticking so fast her veins ached. She blinked against flying sand but couldn’t make herself put the helmet back on.

They encountered three more soldiers, and the element of surprise and a quick attack took care of each of them. One did get off a shot, but it ricocheted harmlessly against a fender. They left the downed guards on the beach, figuring at some point they’d wake up and walk it off.

Finally, Raze tensed next to her and tossed his eyeglasses to the sand. “Remember the plan?” he yelled.

She dropped her helmet to the ground. Both hands went to the restraints, and she paused, waiting for the signal.

Jax drove up on the left, and Tace on the right. Almost in slow motion, as if they’d choreographed it, all three vehicles turned and came to a complete stop, facing a sprawling brown beach bungalow.

Vinnie ripped open her seat belt and jumped out of the buggy, running to the rear to duck down out of sight. She took her gun from where it had been strapped to her leg, disengaged the safety, and drew several deep breaths. She edged to the side and craned her neck to see what was happening.

Lights set atop the roll bars flipped on and flooded the beach house, illuminating a fire pit surrounded by empty chairs.

Then they waited. And waited.

Raze, Jax, and Tace stood to the side of their vehicles, guns out, near the loaded bazookas. Sami and Byron covered the rear, just like Vinnie.

Finally, Greyson Storm stepped out from the building, his hand wrapped around the bicep of a petite woman. Even from a distance, her blue eyes were recognizable as similar to Raze’s. “This is a nice surprise,” the man said, his voice easily carrying over the sand and surf. “Are those bazookas?”

“Yes,” Raze snapped back. “Moe? You okay?”

Guns suddenly emerged from every window, from the rooftop, and from around the house. At least two dozen barrels all pointed at Raze.

“I’m fine, Raze.” Moe held perfectly still, no doubt wanting to keep things from escalating. “Dune buggies, huh?”

“Let my sister go, Grey.” Raze settled his stance, and sand sprayed.

“Where’s the doctor?” Greyson asked.

Vinnie faltered and then stepped forward. “I’m right here. Let Maureen go, and I’m happy to speak with you as long as you like.”

Raze stiffened even further. “Get back down.”

“No. This is what I do.” She moved up next to him. “You don’t want to hurt anybody, do you, Greyson?”

The massive man cocked his head to the side. “I wouldn’t mind hurting the asshats who have bazookas pointed at my home, Dr. Wellington. However, I have no desire to harm either you or Maureen Shadow, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Well, it was sort of what she’d been asking. She stepped up to Raze’s side. “How about we meet in the middle? You and Maureen meet with Raze and me? We can have a nice chat with all these guns trained on us.”

“And bazookas,” Greyson said wryly.

“Yes,” Vinnie said.

Greyson apparently gave the idea some consideration. “No guns. Drop yours, Shadow.” As they watched, Greyson removed a gun from his waistband and set it on a table.

Vinnie nodded at Raze. “That’s a good sign,” she whispered.

Raze cut her a look but took his guns out to place them on the buggy seat. “Not giving up my knives,” he muttered under his breath.

Vinnie set her gun on the seat and then slipped her hand through Raze’s arm. “Let’s go.” She sank into the soft sand, trying to maneuver Raze toward the middle of the beach.

He smoothly set her partially behind him and led the way. “If anybody shoots, you duck and cover,” he ordered.

“Okay,” she whispered.

Greyson and Maureen moved off the porch and onto the sand, Greyson keeping his hand around Moe’s arm. The couples walked toward each other like some weird beach-bum square dance.

Finally, they met in the middle. Vinnie nodded to Moe. “Hi.”

Raze reached out and tugged his sister’s hair, his gaze intense and more than a little pissed. “You okay, wild one?”

She nodded. “I am. Nobody hurt me, Raze.”

“It’s so nice to see you two together. I mean, Raze is all man, but I can see him in your face. Or your face in his. I mean, you’re very feminine, but it’s cool too—” Vinnie blurted out. She slapped her hand over her mouth. Now wasn’t the time to start talking endlessly.

Maureen’s eyes widened. “Let’s relax. We’re all on the same side. Well, kind of.”

Raze kept his gaze on Greyson. The two men stood about the same height, both wearing threatening expressions.

Greyson lowered his chin. “Dr. Wellington? Where is Zach Barter?”

Vinnie shook her head. “Why do you think I know?”

“My intel reports he’s at the Bunker, and you know where that is.” Greyson took a small step toward her, and Raze growled.

Growled? Vinnie frowned at him. “Knock it off. I said we’d talk as long as he needs. Listen, Greyson.” She put on her most serene expression while her twitching legs longed to run away from all the guns. “I don’t know where the Bunker is.”

“You chased the initial Scorpius sociopaths, right?” Greyson asked.

“Yes.” Vinnie tried to listen for the soldiers behind her. They seemed to be holding tight. Good.

“You caught some,” Greyson said.

She nodded.

“They were sent to the Bunker,” he added.

She shook her head. “No. They were sent to jails to await trial. Nobody had heard of the Bunker at that point. At least none of my contacts in the FBI ever mentioned the Bunker to me.”

Greyson sighed. “Then you spent a few weeks with President Atherton in Vegas, right?”

“Yeah, but he wanted information about the Bunker, too. He thought I was psychic and could tell him. I’m not and I didn’t.” She lifted her hands. “I’m really sorry, but I don’t have the information you want.”

Maureen snorted. “You kidnapped me for nothing. Serves you right.”

Greyson studied Vinnie, not saying a word. She let him. After a while, he sighed. “You really don’t know.”

“No, but I’m hoping we’ll find out soon,” she said. “We’re looking for it, same as you. I know we can work together here and form some sort of alliance.”

Greyson leveled a look at Raze. “I’ll consider an alliance, but right now we seem to have a problem. Your doctor doesn’t do me much good, and your sister does. She stays.”

Raze stiffened. “Not a chance in hell.”

There was a moment of tense silence. Without warning, the Mercenary beach headquarters exploded out in a massive fireball, throwing debris and bodies across the sand.