Chapter 33

The snowstorm was slowing by the time they reached the car, but the temperature had plummeted drastically. Finn started the Starfire and Liv cranked the heater up as far as it would go. "Well what now?" She shivered slightly.

"You want to go check out this house that Seth was talking about?"

Liv hesitated. "This is probably a really bad idea, but what the hell. Let's see if those bastards are home." Finn nodded and put the car in gear. The only other tracks in the fresh snow had been left by the Sheriff's MATTRACKS. The slick roads made their journey take three times longer than it normally would have taken.

"Don't stop. Just drive past." Liv scoped out the darkened, two-story, Victorian house. The only vehicle in the driveway was a white pickup truck. None of the snow around the house or in the driveway had been disturbed. There was no sign of life.

A truck appeared behind them and Finn sped up slightly to get out of its way. Soon, they left the house behind and passed the Three Crosses Rehabilitation Center and the turnoff to the Sheriff's house. The headlights filling the rear windshield disappeared as the tailgating truck turned and headed to the Sheriff's house.

"There's our black van!" Finn pointed to the Sheriff's driveway.

"Fucking A! Sheriff seems to know the whole crew," Liv exclaimed. "Turn around up ahead. Since they're all hanging out at the Sheriff's, let's go raid their place."

Finn nodded, found an empty driveway to turn around in and proceeded back to the darkened house that Seth had directed them to.

Max was pissed. He hated these damn meetings at the Sheriff's house and always showed up late. To top it off, he had been forced to drive one of the older mining company trucks because his Jeep, which they had discovered at the local salvage yard the night before, was in no shape to drive. Max was even later to the meeting than usual because he had been stuck behind a slow convertible on the way over.

It was just his luck that the Sheriff was waiting for him out front. Perfect. Tom was bundled in a brown leather bomber jacket and staring lovingly at his yellow Hummer.

The boss set up these meetings before any operation, to make sure everyone was on the same page. The shipment had been received and secured earlier that day, but now Max needed to set up a plan for the buyer and seller to meet. The boss never attended the meetings, he relied on Max to keep him informed and to interact with the men. The fewer people who knew the true chain of command, the better. Max flipped his middle finger to the Sheriff who rushed toward him. Fuck, Max thought. I bet he wants to tell me all about his new toy.

"Hey, Maxie, glad you made it. Check these bad boys out," Sheriff Warner said proudly, pointing at the treads. "Just got them from Denver today. You like 'em?"

"No. What the hell are they anyway?"

"Just a little present from your mom. She got them for me when I made sure nobody found out about your little fuck up."

Max's fists clenched and the hair on the back of his neck started rising. He turned and headed for the front door. Sheriff Warner followed Max into the house, chuckling to himself and taking a swig from a silver flask.

The men in the trophy room were crowding around a set of blueprints, and Max wasted no time briefing them.