Rance looked out across the ruin of the Pride house, his hands on his hips as he considered what he might have beenmissing. “The only place they searched in the debris was right here. None of the rest of the debris from the house was touched. How did they know where to look for it?”
“You think it was an inside job?” Steve asked.
“I think at least someone from the inside was aware it was going to happen and gave those planning the attack enough information to make eradicating everyone easy,” Rance said.
Steve stood there for a second or two longer then started walking toward the back of the burned out house.
Frenzy and Rance shared a look, then followed him, most of the others falling into step behind them.
Steve kept going until he was standing in the middle of the play area Grail had built for his kids. He stood near a sandbox that was fully destroyed. Sand scattered to the wind, the timbers used to contain the sand splintered and tossed aside. He looked up at Rance. “No one knew about this one, except myself and two others, Grail and Gwen. I’ve never told anyone, so it had to have been someone they told.”
“Let’s see if anyone’s in it,” Rance said, leaning over and digging his fingertips beneath the edge of the metal door, lying flush with the ground.
Feral, Frenzy, and Grim aimed their weapons down at the door, prepared to shoot if necessary as Rance and Dane lifted the lid and tossed it back out of the way, its hinges creaking, screaming as they were forced to accommodate the lid moving across the charred metal holding them in place.
Menace lay flat, balancing his upper body across the opening, as he peered inside, his hands holding his weapon at the ready, his friends aiming from their stances standing above him. “Empty,” he said, getting to his feet. “Nobody in there, though it does look torched.”
Steve met Rance’s gaze. “Nobody was supposed to know about this one.”
“Someone here aided the invading Pride,” Rance said. “If we can figure out who knew about this safe room, it’ll point us in that direction.”
“And presumably to whether or not they left with them,” Feral added.
“I didn’t know about this safe room,” Dean said, his voice gruff and emotional as he stared down into the darkness of the charred space.
“Same,” Ted said.
“Had to be someone Alpha or Reigna trusted, or it wouldn’t have been torched,” Dillon said.
“Yeah, wouldn’t have been just anybody. Would have to be somebody Alpha trusted more than most,” Hugh said.
“They’re right,” Steve said, knowing that he was trusted more than most by Alpha Grail, and admitting it anyway.
“So, what do we know?” Savage asked.
“They had Variant with them, based on the boot prints we found. If we can locate the Variant who assisted, I’d be willing to bet they can provide information they don’t even know they have,” Hail said.
“Yes, but after how long? They’ll need time to decompress and realize they’re safe, and free,” Feral said.
“How many Variant you count?” Frenzy asked.
“I counted three on the way in,” Storm said.
“Three, by my count,” Hail said.
“I counted four,” Harsh said.
“I counted five,” Grim said.
“Four,” Fierce said.
“Nineteen. That makes no sense. We work in teams of five,” Menace said.
“Even when captive?” Dane asked.
“Yep. It’s how we were trained. Just made sense to keep operating that way.”
“So, three teams of five and one with four? They lost somebody on the way in, or there wasn’t a fifth for the last team to begin with,” Savage said.
