Sami nodded and gave a mock shudder. “Was kind of creepy, really.”
Vinnie patted a notebook in front of her. “I think Zach sent his most ardent followers to meet with us first. We’re still trying to figure out a way to meet with the women and children.”
“It will happen,” Jax said, his eyes hard.
“Agreed,” Vinnie said softly.
Raze reached for her hand. “I want a soldier on Vinnie for every interview. If Sami is called somewhere else or is on a different mission, no interviews take place unless one of us is there.”
“Understood,” Jax said. “How was scouting?”
“It was a bust,” Tace said, kicking back in his chair. His ankle ached from tripping over a pile of bodies earlier. “We went inner city and looked through all the home construction businesses we found in the phone book, and none of them had explosives left.”
“Find anything?” Lynne asked.
“Some prescription drugs, canned food, toilet paper, tools, and gas,” Raze said. “Wasn’t a bad day, but no explosives.”
“Shit. Maybe it’s time to reach out to the Mercs,” Jax said. “But from the list Sami put together, they have weapons and ammo . . . and no real explosives. That is if all the depots have the same resources.”
Sami nodded. “Oh, if they had explosives like we need, Greyson would keep them close and in that depot I found. The Mercs are heavy in medicine but not explosives.”
Tace winced. “I’d rather take the Bunker first and then call them in. There’s a chance they’d cut us out if possible, and you know it. Right now we have the advantage because we’re the only ones who know the location. That will probably change soon.”
“Yeah.” Jax turned and stared at the board. “Guns aren’t enough to infiltrate and then defend ourselves.”
Tace cocked his head to the side. “I have an idea, and it’s crazy, but it’s the only one I can think of.”
Jax arched an eyebrow. “I’m intrigued.”
“Our first option is to try to take explosives from the Mercs, but that creates an instant enemy, and we might not survive it,” Tace murmured. “Plus, the Mercs are prepared and waiting for us to make a move after Sami and I scouted the place from within.”
“I doubt they have the explosives we need,” Jax said thoughtfully. “Sami is right. If Grey has the good stuff, at least some of it would’ve been in the centralized depot she saw. I’m guessing the Mercs don’t have C4 or grenades.”
“So the odd idea?” Lynne asked Tace.
Odd? It was fucking crazy. “There’s only one group we know of that definitely has explosives,” Tace said.
The room was quiet for a moment.
“Have you lost your mind?” Sami was the first to connect and react.
“Probably,” Tace said. “But they won’t be expecting an attack. Hell, all we’ve done is hunker down and defend ourselves . . . unless they’ve forced our hand. Let’s take the fight to the president and the Elite Force and acquire their explosives.”
Jax stared at him, his mind obviously calculating the odds. “They won’t be expecting it.”
Raze nodded. “Downside is that they’ll know it’s us and they’re bound to retaliate.”
“Yes,” Sami said, her brow furrowed. “And if they wait until we go take the Bunker, our forces will be split, leaving Vanguard vulnerable. We’re pretty strong right now, even against the president, but that would change.”
Vinnie cleared her throat. “We can’t go in alone—not to fight the president and his force. What if we ally with the Mercs? I mean, tell them the plan to get the explosives, but later on when we are attacking, we don’t let them know the location of the Bunker until we get there?”
“And risk a double cross at the location?” Raze countered.
“We have to trust somebody at some point,” Lynne said quietly.
“No, we don’t.” Jax rubbed her shoulder to soften the point. “I’m just fine not trusting anybody but Vanguard. However, to infiltrate the Bunker and also protect Vanguard, we need to bring in the Mercenary soldiers. How do we do that and not give them an edge?”
“There’s always blackmail,” Raze muttered.
