Raze immediately took control of the situation, motioning to the soldiers. “Get backup and cover every exit. Vinnie, you keep talking. See if you can get a visual on Lynne.”

Vinnie nodded.

Raze yanked Jax away from the house and got in his face. “We have to make sure she’s there, and then we need a plan. We’ll get her. I promise.”

Jax nodded, his eyes beyond wild.

Raze motioned for a soldier to hustle over. “Keep the doctor covered, and don’t let her make a move toward the house.” The soldier nodded, and Raze eyed Vinnie. “Find out what Lighton wants, but stay in the shadows where he can’t shoot at you. We’ll be back.”

Jax paused. “You’re right. Let’s make sure she’s not in her lab.” He sprang into a run.

Raze tore after Jax as he ran through Vanguard territory toward the soldier infirmary. They cleared the back door together and reached Lynne’s lab. Papers were scattered haphazardly, as if she’d spent a late night reading through reports.

Jax stopped cold and shot a hand through his hair. “She’s not here.”

“No.” There had been no reason for Lighton to lie.

“How?” Jax strode out of the room, fury coming off him like steam. “How did they get her from this room and across six blocks without anybody knowing?”

“A hidden gun to her rib cage, and she would’ve looked like she was out for a stroll.” Raze followed him through the mess hall and toward the stairs, meeting Sami on the way in from patrolling.

She took one look at Jax’s face. “What’s happened?”

“Lighton took Lynne and has barricaded himself in the back corner apartments,” Raze said tersely.

Sami’s mouth gaped open. “We goin’ in?”

Jax nodded. “Yeah. We’re goin’ in.” He hesitated at the stairs. “Shadow?”

Raze paused, his mind reeling. He needed to leave within ten minutes to make the meeting with Greyson on time. Fear for both Maureen and Lynne nearly tore him in two.

God. What should he do? Think, damn it.

He settled into the moment, his mind calculating scenarios. The tattoo ached on his arm. Vanguard. “Let’s send Grey’s man back to him with a new plan. We meet tomorrow night. That gives us the next few hours to create mission parameters to reclaim Lynne without harming anybody.”

“You sure?” Jax asked, his gaze remaining on the stairs.

Raze’s Vanguard tattoo pounded on his arm, reminding him of his allegiance. He could negotiate more time for Maureen, but Lynne was in immediate danger. This had to work out. “I’m sure. Grey wants to negotiate, so he’ll give us a night without doing anything drastic. Especially if we explain to Winter what’s going on.”

“Without explaining,” Jax muttered.

Sami wiped a smudge off her chin. “Who’s Winter?”

“Down here.” Jax jogged down the stairs and filled her in on the way as Raze took up the rear.

Two guys stood guard outside a room on the far side of the gym. Jax shoved inside.

Winter was shackled to a folding chair, his hands behind his back. He slouched in the chair, his legs extended on the worn concrete. His ankles had been duct taped.

Raze sighed. “Duct tape?”

Jax shrugged.

Winter lifted an eyebrow. “You two appear a little . . . stressed.”

Sami edged inside. “He’s seriously good-looking—like a combination of Shamar Moore and Duane Johnson.”

Winter grinned. “That’s mighty kind of you.”

Raze cocked his head to the side. “Who the hell are you?” Most guys would at least be sweating a bit, considering only one bare light bulb hung from the ceiling and showed dots of blood on the concrete walls.

“Damon Winter,” Winter said. “I already told you my name.”

One of the guards flipped a badge on a lanyard toward Jax, who caught it. He glanced down. “LAPD.”

“Yep. Well, I used to be,” Winter said.

Raze eyed Sami. The soldier had gone pale. “Aren’t you LAPD, too?” he asked.

She nodded. “I was.”

Winter frowned and studied her. “I don’t recognize you.”

“Did you know every LAPD officer?” she asked.

“Of course not,” Winter said.

Raze frowned, his instincts humming. “We’re letting you go.”

Winter lifted one dark eyebrow. “Why?”

“There’s an internal issue going on, and we can’t meet Greyson tonight,” Jax said. “Go back to your territory, and tell him we’ll be there tomorrow night with Dr. Wellington. If he tries to double-cross us, or if he harms Maureen Shadow in any way, I’ll blow up his entire world.”

Raze drew a knife from his boot and bent to slice through the duct tape. He circled the chair and unlocked the cuffs. “I’ll take it out on you,” he whispered into Winter’s ear.

Winter looked over his shoulder, his gaze relaxed. “Nobody wants to hurt your sister, man.”

“That had better be true,” Raze said. He hefted Winter from the chair. “Let’s get you an escort at least through Vanguard territory.” They all hustled up the stairs, and Raze handed the ex-cop off to a couple of soldiers.

Winter looked over his shoulder. “Don’t make a move without the doctor, Shadow. Greyson demanded to see her, and the man doesn’t bluff.”

Raze didn’t answer and turned to follow Jax into the conference room to a wall map of the Vanguard territory. “Sami? It’s odd you didn’t know each other,” Jax said.

“Maybe he wasn’t really LAPD,” the woman said easily.

“His badge and the ID with his badge showed his picture.” Jax scrutinized the map. “We’ll discuss it more later. For now, we need a plan. Raze?”

Raze shook his head. “There are three buildings with multiple floors containing kids and civilians. We don’t know where anybody is except for Lighton.” Raze moved closer to the map. “I could take him out, but we don’t know what happens next.”

Sami nodded. “They might panic and hurt Lynne, or they might just panic and let her go.”

Raze shook his head. “Right now, negotiation is still the best tactic. We don’t know the layout or what kind of forces they have inside. Hell, we don’t know anything, and it’s not like we have the resources to find out.”

Jax nodded. “We’ll keep negotiating for now, but I need a rescue plan just in case.”

Raze headed over to the weapons lockers. “We have flash grenades, tear gas, and tactical gear. If we go in, we need to hit all three buildings simultaneously.”

Jax crossed his arms. “Who do we have? I mean, who’s trained well enough to engage in this type of mission?”

Raze shook his head. “You, me, Sami, Tace, and about five others, I think. Byron is smart enough to catch on quickly, but ten soldiers is still a small force to take three buildings.”

“What if we just took the front building?” Sami asked. “If Lighton is there, don’t you think Lynne is there somewhere?”

“Probably. Let’s ask Vinnie to profile him.” Raze reached for a combat vest and quickly shoved grenades and extra clips in the pockets. He grabbed a piece of paper and made notes. “Jax and I will return and back up Vinnie. Sami, here’s a list of who you need to gather to go in. Make sure Byron is with either Jax or me.”

Jax pointed to the map. “We’ll need to cut through the Vanguard perimeter fence out of sight of the buildings. Any thoughts?”

Raze nodded. He’d patrolled the fence more than any other soldier. “Yep. I know right where to breach.” He forced thoughts of Winter, Greyson, and Maureen out of his mind.

One crisis at a time.

Vinnie kept her shoulder against the rough wood of the crumbling house while Jax’s soldier covered her. “Reverend? I’d like proof of life for Dr. Harmony, please.” If nothing else, Vinnie needed a location for the scientist. She wouldn’t be able to keep Jax from going in for long, so the more intel she gleaned, the better.

“Vinnie?” Lynne called out from the open window. “I’m fine. Just having a nice chat with the reverend.”

“Good.” Vinnie breathed out. Thank God Lynne was all right. “So what’s the deal, Reverend? What do you want?”

“I knew you’d be the sensible one,” Lighton called. “My needs are very simple. We’ll turn over Dr. Harmony and all of the supply of vitamin B in exchange for the contents of warehouses three and four.”

“I’m unfamiliar with those warehouses,” Vinnie called. She hadn’t belonged to Vanguard long enough to know all the details. “What’s in them?”

“Food and medical supplies,” Lighton yelled. “Enough to last my people a year. During that time, we’ll work within Vanguard, but we want autonomy, much like the Native American reservations used to have within the United States.”

Vinnie blinked. “You’re taking a huge risk trying to negotiate by taking hostages.”

Lighton coughed. “Jax Mercury is a criminal, and he understands loss. This is the only way I could’ve gotten his attention.”

Vinnie shook her head, out of sight. Lighton had created one hell of an enemy with this stunt, but first things first. “If I speak with Jax about the warehouses, will you let Lynne go?”

“Not until the provisions are inside Pure territory,” Lighton yelled.

Raze and Jax suddenly came up on her side. She explained Lighton’s demands to them.

Jax eyed the still curtains. “Depleting those warehouses will put the remaining Vanguard citizens in danger. We need those medical supplies and food.” He craned his neck, his gaze narrowing. “Did you see Lynne?”

“No, but I heard her. She sounded all right,” Vinnie said.

“Do you think he’ll hurt her?” Jax asked.

Vinnie ran through what she knew of Lighton. “I think he’s off-center, and this is scarier than he thought. While I don’t believe he’ll purposely harm her, he’s on edge and may make a mistake.”

“She could get caught in the crossfire if we go in,” Jax said.

Raze scrubbed his face. “If we infiltrate through that isolated point to the east, I can go through the window, but I’ll have to take down Lighton to do it.”

A muscle ticked in Jax’s jaw. “Give me your whole plan.”

Raze nodded. “Vinnie keeps Lighton talking while we go around back. Ten of us infiltrate the fence. We send four to the front and back of the southern buildings just to cover the exits. You lead a team of five in through the rear entrance of the main apartment building, while I take out Lighton in the window.”

Vinnie’s heart rose in her throat. “Lighton is armed.”

“Yeah.” Raze kept his gaze on Jax. “It’s risky. We can continue to negotiate, or you can hand over the provisions. Even if we hand them over, we can probably get them back once Lynne is free.”

“If he sets her free,” Vinnie said, her mind spinning. “She’s infected, I know, but she’s valuable with her medical experience and her blue heart.”

“You don’t think he’ll let her go?” Jax asked.

Vinnie looked toward the quiet brick building. “Not unless he has to. This entire situation was planned out too well to have just happened. He’s narcissistic, and he thinks he’s much smarter than the rest of us. I just can’t say how far he’ll go.”

Jax grimaced. “That’s what I figured. Okay.”

The group of eight jogged up from the rear of the house.

Jax motioned to Raze. “Everyone behind the house for orders. Vinnie? Please keep Lighton talking as much as you can, and get a visual on Lynne if possible.” He turned toward the soldiers.

Raze bent down and swept his mouth across hers. “This will be okay.”

Tears pricked her eyes. What if she was wrong about Lighton? What if he wanted to kill Lynne? What if infiltrating the building got Raze or Jax or one of the other soldiers shot? “This is so up in the air,” she whispered.

He kissed her harder. “It’ll be okay. Settle yourself, and just talk to him. You can do it.” Raze waited for her shaky nod before he turned and strode out of sight around the decrepit house.

“Reverend? I really would like to see for myself that Lynne is unharmed.” Vinnie calmed her voice.

“You’re welcome to scale the fence,” Lighton yelled back.

“I can’t talk Mercury into giving you all of his medical supplies without being able to prove that Lynne’s okay.” Vinnie stepped into the sunshine. “Just one glimpse.”

“Sorry, but she’s busy,” Lighton said.

“Where is she?” Vinnie asked.

Lighton didn’t answer.

Vinnie let a couple of minutes tick by. “Reverend? Do you have any other hostages?”

“Where’s Jax Mercury?” Lighton called out. “It’s time I started negotiating with him.”

Vinnie squinted but couldn’t see inside the room. “He went to check the warehouses you were interested in.” That might sound like the truth. “He was concerned about the medical provisions and wanted to see what he could spare without putting the rest of us in danger.”

“You have five minutes to find Jax Mercury, or I’m going to start cutting off Blue Heart’s fingers one by one and throwing them into the street.”

So much for the question of whether or not he was dangerous.

Raze appeared to the left of the apartment building, on the other side of the chain-link fence. Vinnie kept her gaze straightforward on the open window. “Jax will be here in a minute,” she called.

“Good,” Lighton responded.

Raze crept up the side and toward the reverend’s open window, staying low. He paused at the corner.

Vinnie stepped full into the sunlight. “Reverend? I know you don’t want to hurt anybody. Please work with me.”

The curtains didn’t move.

Frustration clawed up her throat. “Besides medicine, I know where the antibacterial supplies are locked down. If you let me see Lynne, I’ll add those to your pot,” she said.

The curtains shifted, and Lighton came into view.

She nodded.

At her nod, Raze moved. In less than two seconds, all hell broke loose.