Page 64 of Montana Mystery

The text tonight had confirmed it was the same location. And this time with a new password. Turtle. I hoped for all of our sakes that they’d act like turtles when I gave the signal to crash the party. Slow and clumsy.

“All right. I’m on my way in.” I dropped the cigarette into the dirty snow at the side of the road and crushed it with my boot. Couldn’t be too careful.

There were a couple of cars here and there. But even with cars spread along the road, it didn’t raise that much suspicion. Out this far into unpopulated land? A couple hundred reasons for cars on the side of the road could present themselves. Most people weren’t going to ask. And the ones that did weren’t looking deeply enough to question any answers that they got.

I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jacket and modified my gait, taking on the character. This time I’d been able to get more into costume, and I looked the part.

The door slid open in front of me. Not the same bouncer. “Password?”

“Turtle.”

The only response was a grunt as he waved me through. The darkness grabbed me by the throat, and I forced the instinct back as light spilled out from the inner door. My shit needed to take a back seat right now.

“Thanks,” I said, and passed him.

The door closed behind me, and the party in front of me... was nothing.

Shit. Shit.

This was the same space. But where the fighting pit was last night, it was covered in flooring that looked seamless. It was a dance floor tonight, some people using it. Not that many, but then again, it was relatively early.

Still, the people that were here...

These weren’t the same kind of people. A couple hovered in the corners, and they looked like me. Darker, furtive, and constantly looking around. The rest were just people looking for a good time. Carefree people who’d gotten wind of a barn party and decided to come check it out. You could see it.

Nothing illegal was happening here. At least not in plain sight. Sure, we’d be able to find the fighting pit if we uncovered the floor, but that alone was nothing. Especially if there were no arrests to go with it.

No one from their command structure was here. Max wasn’t. The bookie. Even the bouncer was someone I didn’t recognize.

“Noah?” Liam asked. They could hear the sounds of the party through the earpiece. All they needed was my go-ahead and everything was ready to go.

I moved to the side, fading into a shadowy corner. Was this another test? Had I just failed it? Was there a way to save it?

Dread pooled in my stomach. There had to be a way to save this, or we’d just blown everything that we had. And I’d brought Charlie and the boys in blue all the way out here for nothing.

“Noah,” Liam said, falling into military cadence. “Tell me what’s happening.”

My throat worked. “Nothing is happening.”

I heard Kate gasp. “What?”

“Nothing is fucking happening,” I growled. “Just like the first party. Fighting pit is covered with a dance floor. Nothing illegal going on except maybe some underage drinking and alcohol without a license. Max isn’t here. No one that is involved is here, as far as I can tell.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Kate said. “Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “Tell them to call it off, Liam.”

He sounded firm. “Get out of there, because they’re going to come in.”

“Liam.”

“Noah,” he said. “If we can’t catch them tonight, at the very least they have one less location where they can do this shit. Charlie can have some arrests.”

He was right. It might be the only way to salvage the situation. “All right.”

I made my way out of the barn, the bouncer looking bored when I left only minutes after entering. “I’m out. Going to do some damage control with Max. I’ll see you back at the Ranch.”

My phone was already in my hand. I knew what to say. I would say that I’d gone outside for a smoke and seen the cops before they had a chance to make the raid and that I’d got away. I’d rip him a new one for still not giving me my money. It could work.

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