n Colli

of my leather jacket, pulled a faded black hoodie ove

cond-floor fire escape, easing the rusty iron frame down until my boots hit the damp gravel in the alley. T

y head down and my hands shoved deep into my pockets, until I re

side garage. The rusty rollers screeched, startlin

ulb, Rachel Price, the accountant who kept the Iron Vault books, sat behi

immed glasses up the bridge

against a binder. "And you look like you're re

folding chair, sat down, and

l damage on the S

inning it around so the columns faced me.

e has siphoned nearly two hundred thousand dollars out of your mother's trust. Most of it got laundered thro

ink. My stomach didn't dro

ercial parts discount tied to my business tax ID. From this second on, t

board, executing the authorization codes. S

rs freeze their deliveries," Rachel warned. "That old witch

ightly drumming the steel table. "I need

atisfying click. "Done. Their cre

secure frequency, and dialed the dedicated l

d ring. Declan's gravelly voi

orm warnings

he cracked window that looke

arctic front hits th

nts along Highway 101 and the state line. Commercial haulers are pulling their rigs

oice dead level. "Buy out every gallon of winterized grade-two diesel and industrial a

se on the other end, follow

eze the entire coast

t pay attention," I said

n

ng the phone bac

vy, dust-caked canvas tarp, sat the low, muscular

and yanked t

side a matte-black chassis, completely stripped of chrome. It was the only machine my mo

pulling her out

r voice echoed f

ease-stained palms on a shop rag. Her gray hair was pulled into a tight bandana, her weathered fa

" I said, taking the thermos and taki

leaning against the fender of an old pickup. "You want me to round u

"You don't bring a sledgehammer to squas

hop twenty m

color of bruised iron. I took the back alleys towar

s lot, a strong, heavy scent of unburned high-octa

b cuts hanging off the sissy bar. Just high-end performance parts, dual front

ainst the brick wall

ing a heavy black leather jacket with the collar turned up again

t, the shadow s

eneath the brim of a dark watch cap. The air around him

up and walked straight past him, ref

ly sound slipped from his throat-a dry, amused chuck