Firebreak

'Until we crashed the truck,' Elkins said. 'From there on, we walked.'

'Freezing our asses off,' Wiss said.

'Come on, Ralph,' Elkins objected, 'it wasn't that cold. It was September.'

'It was September in Canada,' Wiss said.

'Anyway,' Elkins said, 'we didn't want to walk in circles there in the dark, so we just got away from the truck and hunkered down and waited for morning.'

'They never did come up,' Wiss said. 'Not that night.'

'We figure,' Elkins said, 'at first they thought it was just the two guys they caught, and the one truck. So that worked out for us. But we still had to walk north, away from there, all the next day, through this forest, until we found a road in Canada.'

'So you got out,' Parker said, 'but your partners got nabbed.'

'Right now, they're out on humongous bail,' Elkins said. 'Their lawyers are dickering with the prosecutors.'

'About what?'

'Us,' Wiss said.

'They blame us for what happened,' Elkins explained. 'If we'd just gone in and took the gold, plan A, we wouldn't of tripped those extra alarms.'

Parker said, 'So what do they want?'

'Us to go back,' Elkins said. 'Get the Old Masters this time, divvy with them.' 'Why?'

'Because they wanna jump bail, and it's their families' money and houses and stuff, and the job would cover it.'

'Or?'

'Or they turn us up for a better deal and they don't jump bail.'

'Not good for us,' Wiss pointed out. 'Frank and me, we're family men, we got roots, we can't live on the run.'

'Or in the pen,' Elkins said.

Parker said, 'And this has to be done right away.'

'Before they get a trial date.'

Wiss said, 'And that brings us to Larry.'

Standing, Elkins said, 'Larry, you explain it, I made myself thirsty,' and he went off to get the bourbon bottle.

Lloyd said, 'When I got out, Frank and Ralph were among the people I was told to get in touch with by

friends I made on the inside. That was four months ago. I don't think they took me seriously at that time.'

'We didn't have a use for your talents at that time,' Wiss corrected him.

'Whatever.' Lloyd nodded at Wiss, then said to Parker, 'What they did at Marino's house, essentially, was make a firebreak, the small fire you set in front of the big fire to steal its fuel and keep it from coming on. By breaking in once, but not managing to come out with anything, they've told Marino and his people what the weaknesses are in the system. It will have been upgraded by now, but there's no telling exactly how. I do know the original structure used the Internet as part of the alarm system, but apparently they didn't have cameras installed in there.'

'Lucky for us,' Wiss commented.

'Probably what it is,' Lloyd said, 'if this art collection really does contain that many well-known stolen artworks, Marino doesn't want to train a surveillance camera on it. But he might decide now to go to infrared. We can't tell from out here what he'll decide to do. The only thing we know for sure is, whatever he decides, he'll have the money to pay for it.'

Elkins was in his chair again, the bottle on the coffee table. Parker said to him, 'What's your idea?'

'We're looking for one,' Elkins said. 'Once we're in, Larry can deal with the science-fiction shit, and Ralph can handle the normal locks and barriers and all that, and I'm good at the logistics, getting the materiel we need, getting everything out.'

Wiss said, 'We were thinking, this time, maybe we'd come in from the north.'

Elkins said, 'I got Saskatchewan maps, Montana maps, surveyors' maps, all that stuff. There used to be a lot of logging up there, still is some, there's little roads and trails all over the hills up there.'

'None of which we found, unfortunately,' Wiss added, 'for most of a day.'

'But now we know where they are,' Elkins said, 'from the maps. And we can get to the place from that side. But we still need a solid way to get in.'

Parker said, 'I don't like traveling a lot around Canada. Too many ID problems.'

Wiss said, 'No, we don't need to go through Saskatchewan, we can still be based in Great Falls like last time, and drive up eighty-seven through Havre. It's when we're in the wilderness up there, we may cross-border a little.'

Parker said, 'You don't have an easier way to get these guys their money?'