Since nobody was watching, Damon pressed a hand to his aching ribs as he waited outside Jax’s war room in the vestibule that used to be the entry for the whole building. He’d been planning for hours, going over ideas with his squad before heading back to the headquarters. The door was shut, which was rare, so he figured he’d wait a minute.

Raised voices had him lifting his head.

Then something crashed against the wall, shaking paint down his shirt. Releasing his side, he pushed open the door to see Jax and Marcus separated by the ornate table, facing off.

“You are not fucking going,” Jax snapped, crimson staining his sharp cheekbones.

“Yes, I am.” Marcus was by far the calmer of the two, which served only to show how deadly he’d become. “You can’t stop me.”

If that didn’t sound like a younger brother challenging an older one, Damon didn’t know what would. He stepped into the room and shut the door, leaning back against it. While this was no doubt personal, he was in charge of the op. Besides, dealing with brothers was a learned skill, and he had it.

The brothers ignored him.

Jax shook his head. “We just got you back. I’m not letting my brother return to a Bunker. Ever.”

“Half-brother,” Marcus returned.

Damon winced. Ouch. Strong punch there.

“Bullshit,” Jax countered. “Neither one of us knew our fathers, and she made up our last names. We could have the same sperm donor for all you know. She did have repeat clients.”

Marcus didn’t so much as blink.

It was Jax’s turn to go for the jugular. “If you leave here, Penelope is all alone. Sure you can cut the umbilical cord for that much time? And distance?”

Marcus growled.

Yikes. Going dark there. Damon calculated the distance should he need to take one of them down. Arguing was fine, but if they went for broke, he’d have to put a stop to it because he needed Jax in one piece for the attack.

Marcus’s fingers folded into a fist.

Damon tensed.

“I am going, whether I’m part of your group or not,” Marcus said, his voice a hoarse snarl. “I lived in more than one of those fucking places, and I know my way around.”

Good point. Damon studied Jax. Torment burned hot and bright in the man’s eyes. “I don’t need you for this.”

“You don’t need me for anything,” Marcus countered. “But I’m going. I wasn’t alone in those cells, Jax. There were more like me. A lot more. And if we find any of them, I need to be there. Trust me.”

Jax lifted his head. “Marcus.”

“I’m done. Take me, or I go alone.” Marcus turned and strode for the door.

Damon moved out of the way, his gaze on Jax. Then he shut the door, waiting.

Jax stared at the table for two seconds. “Goddamn motherfucker,” he snapped, swinging and arm and swiping a stack of papers off to hurl against the far wall. His chest heaved.

Damon watched the documents cascade gently to the hard floor.

Jax turned toward him, his expression stark. “What would you do?”

“I’d let him come,” Damon said, leaning back against the wall. His ribs resettled, and the pain lessened. A little.

“Are you nuts?” Jax turned his formable anger on Damon, his fists clenching.

“Nah.” Damon rolled his neck. “I don’t think so anyway. Haven’t had Scorpius, so I have a better chance of still being sane than the rest of you.”

Jax’s chin dropped, and he looked as if he were about to charge. “This isn’t funny.”

“I ain’t laughing.” Damon hurt for the guy, but they didn’t have time for the personal shit right now. The clock was ticking, and he had his op timed perfectly. “I think he needs to face that place.”

Jax shook his head. “He doesn’t remember his life. None of it. That place, or one like it, destroyed him.”

“He’s not destroyed,” Damon said quietly. “Oh, he’s different, and he might have no clue who he is. But he’s here, and you’re trying too hard to make him be who he was. That is never going to happen. That guy is gone.”

Jax dropped into a fighting stance. “I’m not trying to do anything.”

“Sure, you are.” And it was totally understandable. “But he can’t be that person.”

“You have all the fucking answers.” Jax stood straight again, obviously having decided not to attack. Yet, anyway. “What would you do? If this was your brother?”

“I’d thank God my brother still breathed,” Damon shot back instantly. “Then I’d get to know the new version of him, somehow. He’s still your brother, Jax. He needs you.” When had Damon become the voice of reason for Vanguard as well as for the Mercs? “He’s lost, and he’s angry. Both of you can’t be furious at the same time. Both of you can’t be lost.”

“I don’t know where to start.” Jax looked down at the mass of papers and sighed.

“Start with trust.” The metal cross Lena had given Damon rested beneath his shirt, somehow grounding him. “Bring Marcus on the raid. Show him you’re giving him a chance.”

Jax leaned down to gather papers. “It would be nice to get him away from Doc Penelope for that many hours. I’m sure she could use a break from her constant bodyguard.”

Curiosity swept Damon, but now wasn’t the time to gossip about love lives. If they did have that.

Jax stacked the papers. “All right. Make a place for him in the plan, but make sure he’s covered at all times.”

Damon already had. “You’ve got it.” He glanced at his watch. “I need to go interview Dr. Zach Barter about the facility just to make sure I’ve got it right. Any recommendations?”

Jax’s nostrils flared. He dug a key out of his pocket and tossed it to Damon. “Yeah. Stay on your toes. He’s brilliant and crazy.”

Yeah, that’s what Damon had heard. He easily caught the key. “Okay.” He opened the door.

“Damon?” Jax said.

“Yeah?” Damon partially turned around.

The Vanguard leader met his gaze directly, some of the torment gone. “Thanks.”

Damon nodded. Then he turned and strode across the vestibule and unlocked the door. Taking a deep breath, he descended to one of the basements in the main headquarters. This one had been sectioned off by Jax—for good reason. As soon as Damon rounded the landing for the cells, he straightened his body and dropped his hand from his ribs again.

The first cell unlocked with an old-fashioned key, and he walked inside, not bothering to lock the door behind him. The lantern was up high and barely on.

Dr. Zach Barter sat at a metal table across from him. A cot had been pushed over to the side, along with a bucket by the far wall. “Here to hit me?” he asked, apparently unconcerned.

“I’d rather not.” Damon pulled out the only remaining chair and sat, studying the man who might’ve caused the pandemic to spread.

Barter had movie-star good looks. Blond hair, blue eyes, smooth face. Handsome with cunning glittering in those orbs. He’d been a junior doctor, or whatever they were called, to Lynne Harmony at the CDC. He was also the asshole who’d injected her with an experimental concoction and turned her heart blue.

Jax had taken him prisoner not too long ago, and he’d been kept at the Century City Bunker until Tace and Sami returned.

Damon waited patiently. He’d read up on Barter lately, and he knew his mark.

Barter lasted almost five minutes. “All right. You win the silence contest. What do you want?” He had a bruise across his forehead and what looked like fingermarks around his neck.

“I read all the info you gave us on the Reno Bunker and wanted to clarify a couple of things.” Damon sat back as if he had all the time in the world.

Barter eyed him and then scratched his arm. The jeans and Metallica T-shirt didn’t look right on him. The guy had probably worn button-down shirts all the time before the pandemic. “Sounds like I’m in a position to negotiate a little.” His teeth were still a perfect pearly white after being imprisoned.

Damon tsked his tongue. “Not even close. Is there something you think you want?”

Barter leaned forward, clasping his hands together. “A couple of things. First, I want the medical records on Maureen Shadow. She’s pregnant after surviving Scorpius, and I’d sure like to tell her when she’s going to lose that baby.” His eyes nearly glowed in the darkened space.

Damon kept his face nearly bored. There was research in Reno that would help Maureen and other pregnant women. He had to stay focused. “No. Next?”

“An hour with Lynne Harmony.” Barter patted his chest. “I turned her heart blue, you know.”

Yeah. And then he’d purposefully spread the pandemic throughout the population. Damon smiled. “Counter-offer. Tell me what I want to know, and I won’t cut off your balls.”

Barter snorted and then sobered as he studied Damon’s face.

Damon slowly nodded. “Yeah. Wasn’t talking figuratively.” He leaned forward now, keeping Barter’s gaze. “I know you raped your way across the country, infecting women. The law is gone, so we make up our own for criminals. You need to be neutered.”

Barter’s mouth opened and then closed. He cleared his throat. “My notes are accurate.”

“Have you met the president?” Damon asked.

“No. We kept our Bunker secret. The succession changed so often and so rapidly that the decision was made to keep silent until the world leveled out.” Barter sniffed loudly. He looked at the unlocked door and then back at Damon.

“Tempting, right?” Damon smiled. “I’m really hoping you go for it.” As a mind-fuck, it was a good one. “With your research, did you find a cure?”

“No, but one of the labs shared information about helping a fetus survive the bacteria that’s in the mother’s body,” Barter said, so helpful now. “But all of that information is in Reno. I don’t have it, and they didn’t give details.”

“Where’re the other Bunkers?” Damon pressed.

Barter shook his head. “I don’t know. We communicated via encrypted email, and none of us gave our locations.” His voice held the ring of truth.

So the computers in Reno were essential. Damon needed a plan to use the explosives and not take out key objectives. “All right.” He yanked a notepad out of his back pocket. “We’re going to go through the schematics of this place floor by floor, and if you give me any misinformation, I will kill you.”

Barter looked up, his eyes guileless. “If you survive, that is.”

Yeah. That.