She turned toward the dirty windshield. “Whatever.”
Damon glanced across the seat. “You guys done with the foreplay? I’d like to get on the road.”
Tace leveled him with a look.
Damon grinned. “All righty, then.”
“Stick to back roads as much as possible,” Tace said. “Gangs have set up traps on the freeways, and they’re armed.”
“Yep.” Damon drove around a pile of what looked like milk jugs in the crumbling street. “I have to ask, why would Jax set up Vanguard in the middle of the poorest area in LA?”
“It’s where he grew up,” Sami said. “He was familiar with the area, and it contained an old food-distribution center, medical offices, and a school.”
Tace watched shattered storefronts go by out the window. Were they walking right into a trap by voluntarily heading into Merc territory? “It was an easy area to fence and protect, just like a military base.”
Sami cleared her throat. “Why did the Mercs settle in Santa Barbara? Seems not so tough.”
Damon barked out a laugh. “We have the ocean, multiple greenhouses, and all of the resources built into UC Santa Barbara. In other words, we have more food and water than you do.”
Tace kept silent and let Sami press the Merc for information. She was a natural at it. Had she been lying to them all? Once again, a pit opened up in his gut.
Was he starting to feel things again? Sure, he’d had plenty of sex since he’d recovered, but the enjoyment had been an act. Was sex turning into something else? What would sex be like with Sami? Probably explosive. He shifted in his seat to ease some of the raging pressure suddenly in his groin. Man, he had to get a grip.
“Right, Tace?” Sami asked.
Shit. What had she been saying? He grunted in response.
She turned back to Damon. “So that’s why.”
“I see.” Damon slowed down to turn west.
“How many Mercenary members are there?” Sami asked.
Tace tuned back into the conversation.
“About seventy men.” Damon winced. “Maybe sixty after the attacks yesterday.”
“Just men?” Sami asked.
Damon nodded. “All male soldiers like in the old days of the military.”
Sami didn’t react. “Ratio of soldiers to civilians?” she asked smoothly, playing her part perfectly.
Damon turned the wheel to avoid what looked like a human leg in the road. “All soldiers.”
Sami cut Tace a look. “What happens to civilians?”
Now Damon grinned again. “We drop them off in Vanguard territory.”
Well, at least they didn’t eat civilians. “Who came up with that plan?” Tace asked.
“Greyson did. We’re a military vigilante group, and we don’t want to train or protect civilians. You Vanguard folks do, so we either direct them to or sometimes drop them off for you to coddle.”
“What about, you know, sex?” Sami asked.
Damon glanced her way. “You offering?”
Tace sat forward just enough to make his point.
