“There’s no way of knowing exactly how many we’ll face when we go in there,” Danica answered. “But if the pictures our analyst at the DCO has pulled off Facebook are any indication, there are probably at least a dozen at any one time. More at night when the club is open.”
Everyone at the table looked a little concerned at that, Zarina included. While their group had a Special Forces soldier, two cops, three covert operatives, a hybrid, and three people willing to do anything to save the people they loved, there were still only ten of them.
“If there will be more security at night, why aren’t we going in now before the club opens?” Zarina demanded.
Danica shook her head. “We can’t go in there blind. If we try to go in through the front door without knowing what’s waiting for us, we won’t be any help to Tanner and the captives, because we’ll all be dead.”
Zarina almost screamed in frustration. She wasn’t eager to go charging into that club carrying a weapon, but the thought of Tanner being in danger for another minute was more than she could handle.
“Okay, so it’s agreed. We need a plan,” Tate said, breaking the silence that had invaded the tight space of the storage unit. “What do we know about the club? Any floor plans?”
“Unfortunately, we know very little that will help,” Danica admitted. “Before it was a club, it was a sawmill. While it’s been renovated, we can still expect an almost industrial warehouse-like feel when we go in, most likely with limited lighting and lots of small rooms everywhere. Once the shooting starts, we could have people aiming at us from fifty feet away or less than ten, and we might not be able to see them in either situation.”
Zarina didn’t understand the significance of anything Danica said. But it didn’t matter. They were going in that club, one way or the other.
“I might be able to help with that,” Cam said, looking up from the cell phone Zarina hadn’t even noticed he’d been holding. “I knew the building The Cage was in was old, so I had a friend of mine who’s an amateur historian do a little digging. It turns out the mill had been set up over the remains of a gold and silver mine in the 1930s. The basement of the club is actually the sections of the mine that weren’t sealed off. My friend’s almost certain there are other ways for us to get into the basement without going through the main entrance. He’s digging out maps of the mine right now.”
Zarina silently said a quick prayer of thanks. “How long do you think it will take for him to come up with them? We need to get in there before Ryan does whatever it is he has in mind for Tanner and the others.”
Cam nodded as he shoved his phone back in the pocket of his jeans. “He promised he’ll have the maps within the hour.”
While that still seemed like an inordinately long amount of time to Zarina, Danica, Clayne, and Tate clearly didn’t agree. They immediately began handing out weapons, ammunition, and equipment.
“I know nobody wants to talk about this, but I have to bring it up, because I’ve been on the wrong side of this situation before,” Diaz said, taking the boxes of bullets Clayne offered.
Tate frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that when we go in there, it’s almost certainly going to be bad,” Diaz explained. “Between those gang members and Ryan’s ex-military buddies, there’s going to be shooting, and probably a lot of it.”
“So?” Tate asked. “It’s not like we haven’t dealt with people shooting at us before. Lots of people in fact.”
“Yeah, well, the last time we all got into a bad situation with Tanner, he completely lost it and nearly killed me.” Diaz’s face was grim. “What do we do if he loses it again?”
“He might not be the only one.” Clayne glanced at Malcolm. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but bringing another hybrid in with us to go with the other two who are already in there is asking for trouble. The chances of one of you guys going apeshit is damn high.”
Malcolm frowned, but instead of getting angry like Zarina thought he would, he merely nodded. “You’re right. There’s a good chance one of us will lose control.”
Zarina wanted to think that what Diaz and Clayne were suggesting wouldn’t happen, but she knew better. As much as Tanner’s control had improved, he was still a hybrid. When the gunfire started and the blood started flowing, there was no telling what would happen. Hell, it might not even be a matter of losing control. If Tanner thought innocent people were in danger, he’d purposely let the beast inside take over, no matter the cost.
Cam paused in the middle of checking the machine gun he was holding to look at everyone in confusion. He probably wanted to ask what the hell they were talking about, the same way he almost certainly wanted to know why they couldn’t call in Seattle SWAT and have them raid the club. But there hadn’t been time to talk to him about anything, especially the part about his older brother being half animal.
Zarina picked up her backpack from where she’d placed it on the floor and took out the case with the antiserum. “If it comes to it, I’ll use this on Tanner or any of the other hybrids.”
Diaz eyed the injector solemnly. “Is that the antiserum?”
She nodded. “The whole reason I came out here was to get Tanner to take this and reset his body back to the way it had been before he was experimented on. But he didn’t want to take it.”
“Why not?” Clayne asked.
She sighed. “A lot of reasons.”
On the other side of the table, Malcolm’s gaze was locked on the plastic case. “Are there any side effects to taking something like that?”
“Yes, but that’s not why
