“Yeah, we will.” His answering smile held a hint of warning.
She needed to get him back on point or they’d end up naked in her office. “I’m sure they didn’t lie to you.”
“The essence of lies is in deception, not in words.” At her raised eyebrows, he confirmed it was one of the many quotes he’d memorized while reading between military missions. “John Ruskin—art critic and philosopher.”
“Ah. I’d give them the benefit of the doubt anyway.”
He shrugged. “My other problem with Tace is that I’m not sure he’s okay with Sami going on patrol with anybody but him. It will turn into a battle between them, and I can’t have my top lieutenants fighting. Especially since the president’s Elite Force has now sent scouts into Vanguard territory.”
“They have?” Lynne asked, her voice catching. The president was making another move? God, she hated Bret Atherton. “That’s who attacked you guys?”
“Yes.” He drummed his fingers on the counter. “We took out two of them but have one guy downstairs in the boiler room.”
She paled and sat back, knocking some pencils to the floor. “You’re going to question him.”
“Yes.” He met her gaze without flinching, no expression on his hard face.
“We’ve talked about this,” she said, her hands fluttering on the table. “We’re trying to rebuild civilization, and we can’t do that by employing methods that were against the rules before.” Why wouldn’t he listen to her about this?
His gaze darkened. “If you think torture wasn’t employed before Scorpius, you’re way too naïve. Torture has always been used in times of war—in times of peace—against our enemies, like it or not. This guy has information we need to survive, and he’s going to tell me all of it.”
A shudder wound down her back. She’d arrived in Vanguard territory because she’d needed help, and she’d found love. The world was so much more dangerous than she’d ever imagined. Even so, she had to at least state a case for mercy. “That’s not who we are.”
He reached across the table and ran a knuckle along her jaw. “It’s not who you are, sweetheart, and I’m happy about that. But you need to know, it’s exactly who I am.” He pushed back from the table and strode toward the doorway. “I understand you think things will change and we’ll start this whole creation of a new civilization. But Lynne, it ain’t gonna happen in our lifetime. We’ll be fighting to survive the entire time.”
She coughed. “Do you mean that?”
He faced her. “Yeah. I like that you’re dreaming big, but the world is only changing for the worse for quite a while. I’ll protect you, but none of it’s gonna be pretty.” He turned away. “And you’re in for the long haul. There’s no out.”
“I don’t want an out, Jax. No matter what,” she whispered at his broad back.
His body stood straighter, and he nodded. Then he disappeared around the corner.
* * *
Tace ran his hand through his wet hair, slicking it back. It was growing out again, and he should probably find somebody to cut it. Could Sami cut hair? Shit, he had to stop thinking about her. He tapped his belt buckle three times.
“Doc?” he asked, loping into Vinnie Wellington’s office at the rear of his clinic, not surprised to see the woman working well after midnight.
Vinnie looked up from a stack of papers on her small desk. Her blond hair was piled on her head, and her stunning eyes were clear and focused. Moonlight came in from the back doors, and she had a lantern glowing as well. “Tace. How is Damon Winter?”
“Good. Got the bullet out with minimal bleeding, and I think he’s going to be all right.” Tace had become more methodical during surgery, which had been advantageous in dealing with the gut wound. He’d performed surgery most of the morning, had double-checked everyone’s wounds, and then had assisted at the inner-territory hospital for hours. Now it was dark again, and he couldn’t remember if he had eaten or not.
Vinnie smiled. “Jax said you’d be popping by so I could profile Greyson Storm.” She stood and crossed to an area with a couple of chairs. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
“Can’t sleep.” He dropped into a stuffed chair they’d found in a tea parlor on the southern end of Watts. It had been days since he’d slept.
“Ah. Scorpius symptom number three.” Vinnie crossed her legs beneath a pink pencil skirt.
Tace watched the movement and lifted an eyebrow.
She chuckled. “I met with a lot of patients today and thought I’d look the part of a real shrink.”
Tace nodded. The woman had been an FBI profiler before Scorpius descended and had the education to be a shrink. “It’s nice.”
She blushed. “Well, Raze found the skirt the other day on a mission.”
So she was wearing the skirt for Raze Shadow. That was sweet. What would Sami look like in a skirt? Probably fabulous and mouthwatering. He shook his head. “I’m obsessing.”
