Jinx’s Mate(2)

He slid the key into the lock, and opened the door. Inside was much the same as the rest of the floor. The only difference was someone had tried to clean up before he checked in. The bedding and towels had been changed, a quick sweep of the duster, but nothing could replace the staleness in the air. The room had been closed for too long.

His cell phone vibrated with a text message. Instead of answering it, he took a wand the clan had developed to check for any listening devices and scanned the room.

He knew it was Ty who wanted an update. With the mission hanging on what he found inside the resort, he couldn’t take any chances. Ty didn’t like that Jinx was risking himself to do a little recon before they took down Avery. Jinx was the Alpha to the West Virginia clan, and he had people willing to do this for him. It had never been his way. He had Elder guards, all Alphas did, but he rarely used them. He didn’t like to ask someone to do something he wasn’t willing to do himself.

The scan came up clean and he pulled his cell phone from his belt and dialed Ty’s number. Even with another Alpha, Ty couldn’t stop himself from trying to protect everyone. Thankful for that, Jinx didn’t mind. He knew Ty was just trying to protect him. With the future as it was for the Alaskan Tigers, Tabitha soon to claim her place as queen, Ty needed the support of the West Virginia Tigers.

“It’s about time. You were supposed to check in ten minutes ago,” Ty bitched.

“Traffic and the receptionist had me delayed.” He tugged open the curtains, bringing light into the dark room. “As we expected, the place has fallen. I don’t believe there’s a guest in the entire resort. They put me on the eighth floor, a corner room near the stairs. Seems slightly odd it wouldn’t be closer to the elevator since she mentioned there was no one else here.”

“I don’t like this. Avery might know who you are, and suspect why you’re there.”

“I won’t be here long enough, and I didn’t make it to Alpha without knowing how to protect myself.” Jinx slid his hand into his pocket, playing with a silver talisman that had been in his clan for centuries, handed down from Alpha to Alpha. “He’s fearful of technology. No security cameras, even the registration isn’t done on a computer.”

“Tex suspected it, but he was rarely allowed to leave Avery’s compound. It was just by luck he was the only one available to go to the landing strip to guard the helicopter until Adam and Robin got there, or we’d still be in the dark about what’s happening there.”

Jinx set his bag on the edge of the bed and pulled his weapons out. Walking into the resort in full battle gear would have raised alarms, but there was no way he’d leave them behind. “With the place dead, I’m going to scope it out. See if I can find out anything else. In the meantime, call Avery and put the second part of our plan into action. If we can get him away from here to confront him it would be best. There are too many floors, rooms, and passages to take him down without people getting hurt.”

“I’ll let him know I’m coming to the area to return Tex. I’ll see if he’s willing to meet me at the same landing strip. If not, we’ll have to do it there, so we need you to find an access route to him.”

“I have the blueprints, and I’m going to check out the places Shadow marked.” Jinx slid a second gun into his shoulder holster before strapping a knife to a wrist sheath.

“Don’t get yourself killed,” Ty ordered.

“I won’t. I’ll call you when I get back.” He slid his light jacket back into place, hiding his weapons.

“You have one hour or I’m sending a team in after you.”

“Make it two. I don’t know what I’ll find.”

“That’s the reason. You could end up lying somewhere bleeding out and we wouldn’t know it. One hour. If you run into danger get the hell out of there.”

“I’m not here to try to get myself killed.” Jinx smirked.

“No, you’re there because you’re an idiot. We don’t need you risking yourself when we could storm the place and end it.”

“We’re wasting time,” he reminded Ty.

“Be safe.” Ty hung up before Jinx could say he would.

* * *

Finding the basement and access to the tunnels had been no problem at all. The issue came when Jinx realized there were more than just those on the blueprint. Additional passages had been dug out, some of them leading nowhere, others leading to new sections altogether. With each turn he made, the danger level rose. There were too many places someone could attack from. The tunnels were a maze meant to confuse anyone who found themselves where they didn’t belong.