Tritium Gambit (Max and Miranda Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

understood how hard it was for him, but I disagreed with him. This might be the most difficult job in the universe, but you didn’t do it for the retirement. You did it because somebody had to look out for the developing races. If we didn’t look out for them, primitive creatures like humans would have been destroyed thousands of years ago. Their right to survive and grow into a contributing member of the universe was worth the lives of willing agents.
     

Chapter 4. Max
     
    I woke up when Miranda tussled my hair. I sat up and stretched as we landed in Ely, Minnesota.
    When we got out of the plane, Tyler grabbed our bags. “Don’t worry. I’m a quarter Schwartzen so I can carry twice my body weight.”
    “ I’m not worried at all,” I muttered as I walked toward the silver Toyota minivan waiting to deliver us to the resort.
    The shuttle took a circuitous road through the forest. I could see purple sky through the thick canopy of deciduous trees, evidence that the sun was setting. We didn’t see another car or any sign of life until we crossed a crumbling concrete bridge. Through the trees, I could see a series of low orange buildings with brown trim and green shingles sprawled randomly in a clearing.
    The driver pulled up to the largest building near the road and got out. “Do you have the tip?” I whispered to Tyler barely loud enough for Miranda to hear.
    If Tyler was perturbed, he didn’t show it. He smoothly slid some greenbacks into the hand of the shuttle driver. I let him pick up our luggage as I walked toward the building as if it was normal to have a manservant carry my things.
    “ Oh look! A cat!” Miranda pointed at a rocking chair on the deck with an orange and white long-haired cat lounging on it. “They are such adorable animals,” she said.
    I held the door for Miranda but let the door swing shut on Tyler. Behind us, I heard the shuttle van driving away and became keenly aware that the only way out of here was on foot.
    The inside of the lodge was dim and musty. Stuffed bears stood sentry over random parts of the main room, and there were leather couches huddled near a dark fireplace. Deer and moose heads stared at us from the walls. The fireplace held the cold remains of burnt logs, an assortment of deer antlers crowding the fireplace mantle.
    There was a small wooden desk in the corner and nobody in sight. Miranda rang the bell on the counter. A short man with silver hair, salt and pepper stubble, and a fully automatic assault weapon emerged from the back room. He was carrying a rag as if he had been cleaning the gun. The man was well built but with a bit of a gut, maybe a star hockey player when he was younger who had since gone to seed.
    He grinned at Miranda. “Hi folks.” He spoke in a low, gravelly voice, taking his time on each word. I stepped closer to hear him better.
    “ We have a reservation,” Miranda said. Somehow her smile was as bright as if she had just met Prince Charming.
    He stared at Miranda for a moment, apparently taken by her charm or her beauty or both. “You must be Miranda Smith,” the man said.
    I wondered if I would grow old before he finished his next sentence.
    “ Yes, and this is my boyfriend Max Anderson.” She gestured to me. “How many rooms does our cabin have?”
    “ Two rooms,” he said. “The living room area doubles as a dining room, and there is a bedroom. Well, there’s a bathroom if you count that.”
    “ We brought a guest. Can we get a cot for the living room?” she asked.
    Without looking away from Miranda, he started to polish the gun lovingly with an oil cloth as if we were interrupting private business.
    “ No need. The couch is a hideaway bed.” The manager looked at Tyler, who had managed to get the door open and the luggage inside. “Have you stayed here before?”
    “ Never been here,” Tyler said.
    The manager frowned. “I never forget a face. I think it was four years ago.”
    “ Sorry. Maybe it was somebody who looked