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it was a tense situation as Freddie, Jimmy and Dana followed suit. The Russians followed suit, and soon we were in the middle of an old-fashioned Mexican standoff. Considering the fact that half of the Nova Daria Police Department was already in the hospital for the simulated disaster, we were playing a very risky game.

Bullets started flying. Luckily for us, we were starting to get into the truck and could use the doors for cover. I saw Freddie get hit and climb in the back as he clutched his stomach. Dana was also shot in the shoulder before we pulled away.

We left the hospital behind, but moments later we saw a white truck following close behind. The Smirnov Family was not giving up.

We were both driving trucks, so it quickly became a driving skills contest. Our truck was full of large machines, which were tossed around in our pursuit through the city. We ended up losing them, but many of the units were damaged by rough driving.

(Automobiles +5 and Smirnov Family Reputation -10)

Freddie wasn't doing very well. He had lost a lot of blood and was very pale. Dana was in bad shape too, as blood was running freely from his shoulder.

The doctor was quick. He was there before we arrived and looked over at Freddie and Dana. Despite how bad they looked, they were both relatively lucky. Freddie's wound was more on his side and actually missed his stomach and other organs. The doctor was efficient, quick and confidential. The police wouldn't be hearing about those gunshot wounds. Unfortunately, such skill and privacy were expensive and would reduce our profits.

The machines were in worse shape than Freddie and Dana. They were pushed this way and that and many of them were broken. By the time we paid the doctor, most of our profit was gone.

(Won $500)

The Life sketch Family was very close to becoming the richest organized crime family of all time. It was Four Finger Nelson who almost had the means to print unlimited money. He knew a woman named Doreen Sharp who worked for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. She was at the top of the desk and had a plan.

Four Finger brought in Jimmy, Freddie, Dana and me to help run what would become the largest counterfeiting operation in the United States. Doreen had carefully followed the paper trail of repairs made to the Super Orlof Intaglio presses she worked with. As each repair had been done over the last 10 years, she sent the broken parts on an indirect journey to their final destination, replacing the parts at the last moment before they were destroyed. It was a marvel of paperwork and careful planning that allowed him to collect the ink, paper, carving plates and other key parts and ship them all to New Daria.

This was much more sophisticated than simply hacking a state-of-the-art photocopier and disabling the EURion constellation detector, which prevented them from copying accounts. Aside from the lack of legal sanction for printed money and the large-scale production rate, it would yield banknotes indistinguishable from any other money in circulation. Her patience and long-term vision gave her everything she needed. The only thing he lacked was a partner to find people to operate the machine and keep it safe from the vultures that would take it if they found out about it.

"I would love for it to be that simple. But I don't want any of the associates to know about it. I'm not even going to tell every member connected but the four of you. It's bad enough that I have to hire six people to operate my own machine."

"I hired a team of six," said Nelson. "They have all the skills needed to use the broken machines to print bills."

"That's pretty big, but I don't trust them. I rented a cabin upstate and I didn't tell these six techs. You're going to take them there blindfolded and keep them there for a year. Let's print the money and then bring it back. Only the five of us will know where the machine really is."

"Babysitters," Dana Pipes said, but I could tell by her tone that she thought it was a good idea, too.

This meant that the four of us would be away from our various racquets for a year while following this scheme. Four Fingers said he would personally oversee our affairs, with help from Lisa, Doug, and others. While I didn't like the idea of ​​my interests being neglected, I knew that the money we could get from counterfeiting would make all my other schemes unnecessary.

Taylor knew this was the score of a lifetime. Mountains of untraceable cash. One year was a small price to pay for such success. She kissed me and wished me well before I left.

We got three white vans to transport the six technicians and us four wiseguys. We had suitcases, books, games and lots of food. The technicians knew what they were getting into and were good-natured as we went through their belongings to make sure no cell phones or other communication devices were coming with us. Naturally, the sales still made them nervous, Four Fingers must have really built up their confidence for them to allow it.

We arrived at the lodge, which was buried in a forest several kilometers away from any civilization. A fourth white van was already there. Dana Pipes and Freddie had left him a week earlier. It had all the stolen machinery in it. The technicians didn't even unpack their personal belongings as they began to unload the machine and install it in the chalet.

We kept ourselves apart. They had a job to do and our job was to make sure they did it. We played a lot of cards over the next few months and got really close.

(Jimmy Ratio +5, Dana Ratio +5 and Freddie Ratio +5)

The technicians were nice people from a variety of backgrounds. Three of them stood out. Bob Hill was a 50-year-old train driver from New Daria. He took the lead of the small group and kept everyone on task. Sara Emerson was a 20-year-old software engineer from California. She would be running the program that would give the accounts unique serial numbers and connecting the computer to the printer itself. Herman Moyer was a thin man who smoked heavily. He knew the electrical side of things and would be a huge asset when it came to hooking up the machine.

Close environments and constant pressure to succeed created a lot of stress. I soon found my eyes wandering to Sara. Her sun-bleached hair and athletic body were stereotypical for a Californian.