Within the Dead Space

by Hutchens, Gary

  “Where did the cookies go?” asked the policeman who had sat them on the desk.

  Chaco couldn’t help but giggle as he watched the cops searching the desk for the cookies.

  A loud knocking on the door got everybody’s attention. Chaco watched a man carrying several tools around his waist enter the room. He was the alarm specialist. The man did a slight adjustment to the alarm and then had the lights turned off. He flipped the alarm on and beams of colored light could be seen throughout the lobby.

  Chaco watched carefully so that he could find an unobstructed route to the vault. He also watched how the alarm was turned on and off. Chaco couldn’t help himself and while the light was turned off reached his hand out of the hiding place and rolled a cookie across the room toward the front door. A second later the alarm went off startling everyone. To Chaco’s surprise the cookie had crossed one of the lights near the floor and set the alarm off.

  The alarm specialist turned the system off and turned the lights back on. He examined the system for a few minutes while the police rechecked everything else. One of the policemen found a cookie in the corner and the alarm specialist guessed that there must be a rat somewhere in the building. The manager in the video room showed nothing on his tapes and then went about the room carefully checking the various cameras.

  Chaco watched intently. He had missed two of the cameras and was lucky he hadn’t been seen.

  The alarm specialist advised them that the motion sensors be recalibrated tomorrow. It required special equipment that he didn’t have with him as well as assistance from the main office, which wouldn’t be available tonight.

  The manager made a decision to disable the motion sensors during the night but made sure that the exterior alarms were all working.

  The alarm specialist tested the four separate alarm systems for the building and they were all working perfectly.

  The police waited outside while the manager reset the video cameras and the alarm specialist reset all of the exterior alarms. All of the lights were turned off except for the night lights and then the front door was shut and secured. The police drove off and everything was as it had been. They had been there for two hours.

  Chaco had heard one of the cops telling another cop that they would be checking the bank every two hours for the rest of the night. He looked at the large clock hanging across the room and made a note in his mind that the cops would be back at midnight. He climbed out of his secret place and carefully moved about the room taping dark colored paper that he had found on the desk over the lenses of the cameras. He never would have seen two of the hidden cameras if he hadn’t seen the manager examine them. He ran across the room to the vault and looked at it closely. It would not be easy.

  Chaco ran behind the main counter and searched the teller areas for any money. There wasn’t any. They apparently locked all the money in the vault. He broke open a couple of the desks in the main lobby. He thought about breaking into the individual offices but was sure their alarms would go off. There was no other way. He was going to have to break into the vault.

  Chaco sat down on a couch near the vault door and thought about the enormous amount of energy that must be involved for dead space to even exist. Now, if I can only use that type of energy on the vault. He spent several minutes locating the items around the room that he could use to make the device that he would later call a transference mechanism.

  He surprised himself several times over the next hour as he created a pressurized vacuum that he believed would be strong enough to open the vault door. He focused the angle of the light from the dead space to the edge of the vault door and started it.

  Almost immediately a groaning noise could be heard in and around the vault door. Two minutes later a dull crunching ripping noise filled the room and then an intense bright light flashed. Whssssh, was heard as the seal was broken and the vault door released and swung open. Chaco examined the vault door closely and could see that the gigantic metal pistons that open and close had been shattered. The mere fact that the door was sealed so tight had led to its own demise.

  He ran across the room to the front door to be sure that everything was still clear. All was quiet outside. He ran back to the vault and entered. There were stacks of every denomination of money. Chaco took some twenties, fifties, and mostly hundreds from the middle of the stacks. While in the dead space he had determined that he would take a hundred thousand dollars. That should be enough for Maria and her family to get by on for a few years. He took a couple extra thousand for himself, mainly in case he had to figure out a way to get back home to Peru.

  Chaco glanced at the clock and it was twenty minutes until midnight. He saw a flash of light from the police car headlights as they turned in front of the bank. Chaco pushed the vault door partially closed and hid behind the teller’s cage. Two cops came to the front door and looked in. Chaco could see them clearly. They stepped back and then looked in again, and walked off. Chaco sneaked across the lobby and watched the cops drive away.

  Sergeant Randon called the precinct. “This is car 625. We have the possibility of a robbery in progress at Citibank on Broadway and request backup.”

  The captain came on immediately. “What do you got, Randon?”

  “We were checking Citibank on Broadway and noticed a light coming from inside the vault. We didn’t see anyone in the lobby of the bank but because of the problem earlier this evening it appears that something is going on.”

  “Good job, Randon. We’re on the way. What is your status?”

  “We are parked about two hundred yards away from the bank entrance.”

  “Okay. Do not approach the bank until we get there. Surveillance only…..one in front and one in back.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Four cars were immediately dispatched to the area and the precinct captain headed for Citibank as well.

  Chaco saw the police car drive off. But for some reason he kept watching and saw them stop down the block not far away. Damn it, they’re on to me. Chaco ran across the room to the vault, grabbed the money and placed it in the dead space along with the transference mechanism he had built. He rifled through the desk nearby and took all the water and food he could find. While staying hidden behind the desk he took a piece of paper and wrote a note to the cops:

  I am sorry that I have taken one hundred and two thousand dollars of your money and broke your vault door. I plan to pay every dime back and fix the door as soon as I can. My family’s life will be ruined without this money. I also took some food, water, and cookies. The cookies were just great. I was going to eat them all but seeing as how I have so inconvenienced you and your friends I have left some cookies for you. Please don’t think badly of me. I ama suwa, ama llulla, ama quella and I worship Inti. I shall be in touch. Enjoy the cookies.

  Sincerely, your good friend

  Also, I will pay for the broken window as well.

  Chaco quickly placed the paper on the edge of the desk and then counted out six cookies for the cops and laid them on the paper. All this time he stayed hidden behind the desk. He was crawling into his hiding place when he realized that he might run a little short on cookies if he had to stay hidden very long. He reached up and took two of the cookies. Four cookies are plenty for the cops, he thought, and then disappeared into the dead space.

  Chapter 44

  The police surrounded the bank preventing anyone from leaving. The bank manager showed up just a few minutes later. He unlocked the door and disarmed the security system. He stepped back as several policemen spread out around the bank lobby. After a quick inspection the manager came in.

  “Look over there. Someone has covered the camera lens.”

  Instantly, the police became more alert.

  “A robbery has either taken place or the robbers are still in the bank.”

  They moved the manager to a corner of the lobby and began another search.

  “Over here,” one of the policemen hollered out. “The vault door has be
en damaged.” Two policemen positioned themselves at the front door while the rest hurried to the vault. The swat team was on the way.

  The captain grabbed hold of the vault door and pulled. It began to open. The other policemen stepped back in order to be out of the line of fire if someone was inside of the vault. The captain kept pulling until the door was completely open and they could see inside.

  The manager came over to take a look. “My god! Look at this damage. I’ve never seen a vault door damaged like this. The force required is unbelievable. The molecular structure of the hardened steel has been shattered. Look at this!” he exclaimed. “What could have done this?”

  “Captain, over here.” On the desk they saw four cookies on a sheet of paper with a message. The captain carefully slid the cookies off the paper and read the note. “Don’t touch the note…..and get a linguist and a fingerprint specialist in here as soon as you can.” The other policemen came over and read the note.

  “Left us some cookies, did he. It sounds like a kid and yet we know that no kid could have opened the vault. What do you think, Captain?”

  The captain thought for a minute and then responded. “I think we have a comedian here. He obviously doesn’t think we can catch him and leaving the cookies was a big joke. Wait just a minute…..earlier this evening didn’t we have a missing package of cookies and it was on this desk? He must have still been here.” The captain jumped back and screamed to his men, “He might still be here, get your guns out.” He hollered to the manager who was checking the video cameras, “Did you get any pictures?”

  “Not a thing. All of the camera lenses have been taped over, even the two that were hidden. Either this is an inside job or the robber was in here when I reset the cameras earlier.”

  “Is there anywhere we haven’t checked that he could be hiding?”

  “Unless one of these desks or those pieces of furniture have a hidden compartment in them, then there isn’t anywhere else to hide.”

  Every table, desk, shelf, teller’s cage, office, and bathroom were meticulously examined including the vault. There was nowhere to hide. The crook was gone.

  The assistant manager had arrived by now and he was helping the manager run an inventory of what was stolen.

  “Tom, you and Jake stay inside here the rest of the night,” the captain ordered. “I’ll have someone relieve you guys at five a.m. and Jenson, you and your partner stay out front in your car. I’ll relieve you at five as well.”

  The captain went over to the vault and talked to the manager. “His note says that a hundred and two thousand dollars was taken. Do you have any preliminary estimate?”

  “Not quite yet,” the manager responded. “Look at all of this money. He could have taken millions. What gives?”

  “He says he is going to pay you back and fix the vault door and apologizes for the inconvenience. He also left cookies for the men. He has written an additional message in some other language. The media is going to have a field day with this. One thing that jumps out in all of this is that he said he is going to replace the broken window. A window isn’t broken. What do you think that could mean?”

  The remainder of the police packed up and left. The manager and his assistant planned to spend the rest of the night at the bank particularly with the vault door in shambles.

  Chaco had heard a lot of the conversations that had gone on. He had no idea when he might get out of there. He sat down and closed his eyes. He wished that he had told Maria he wouldn’t be home because she would be worried.

  Chapter 45

  Exactly at five a.m. two Brinks armored trucks and four police cars arrived at the front door of the bank. There were four guards with each truck. Over the next hour most of the money was removed from the vault and loaded into the trucks and escorted to another Citibank in the downtown area. Enough money was kept on hand for the bank to open in the morning and continue with day to day business.

  Chaco watched everything that was going on to the best of his ability without being seen and felt awful about all the trouble he had caused. He was getting tired of the dead space and wanted to go home to Maria. The day dragged along slowly and finally the bank closed. Chaco got up and stretched but it was after midnight before the last employee left the bank.

  He waited another half hour and then crawled from his hiding place, staying down behind the desk just in case another camera he wasn’t aware of could get his picture. He pulled his shirt over his head like he had earlier and swiftly moved about the lobby taping the camera lenses like he had done before. He remembered to tape the two hidden cameras as well.

  The second he touched the lens of the last camera a silent alarm went off signaling the security company that either a malfunction or a potential robbery was happening. The alert was received and immediately sent to the police where it was dispatched to the nearest police car.

  Chaco ran across the room and picked up the money and ran to the front door. He saw the police car coming down the street in the nick of time and ran back across the lobby to the dead space. He knelt behind the desk and waited.

  Two policemen came to the front door and peered through the window. Everything looked normal. They went back to the car and called in to the lieutenant in charge. “There is nothing out of the ordinary at Citibank. What do you want us to do?”

  “Hang tight and I’ll get right back to you.”

  Chaco could see the police car out front and it wasn’t going anywhere. He debated climbing back into the dead space.

  “Sergeant Clarkston, please pick up.”

  “Yes sir, Clarkston here.”

  “I’ve checked, and there is very little money in the bank and what’s there is in a small hidden vault in the manager’s office. There is a twenty four hour camera viewing the vault and everything is normal. You’d think they would have a full time security guard in there. Oh well, technology you know. You guys continue on your route and check back in a couple of hours. Out.”

  Chaco watched the cop car pull away. He jumped up, grabbed the money which he had placed in a mailing envelope from the desk and then ran to the front door. Next he grabbed a swivel chair from the nearest desk in the lobby and rolled it over to the window. He picked it up and threw it at the window.

  Thud, the chair bounced off the window. He threw it again and all he got was another thud.

  Damn, this window is tough.

  He ran back to the nearest desk and found a four drawer filing cabinet that weighed at least hundred pounds and slid it to the front window. With all of his might he lifted the cabinet onto his shoulders and ran at the window stopping a foot away and heaving the cabinet at the window. The cabinet hit the window with a bigger thud but still didn’t crack. Chaco ran his hand across the window face and couldn’t even feel a scratch. He looked closely at the window.

  “You know,” he said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if this is some sort of reinforced plastic.”

  Chaco ran back to his hiding place and got the transference mechanism that he had built and used on the vault. It only took minutes before it was ready to use. He angled the intense light at the seal around the window. He could hear a groaning noise as he watched from behind a nearby desk. The enormous window was coming under stress.

  Kaboooom, an ear splitting noise echoed throughout the lobby and out onto the street. Chaco watched the window go airborne and slam against a building on the other side of the street. His mind wanted to think how cool that was, but the explosion had scared him to death. The bank’s alarms were merciless as they screamed for help.

  Chaco grabbed the transference mechanism and the money, then bolted through the open window onto the street and ran like he had never run before. He could hear the alarm from the building across the street blaring and multiple sirens in the distance getting closer by the second. The street was empty as he ran for home. The first emergency vehicle was a fire engine which came barreling by. Chaco saw it coming a mile off and hid in the shadows and then continued to ru
n as far away from Citibank as he could. It was a harrowing night as he wove his way home. Cops were everywhere and a couple times he had to climb into a dumpster to stay hidden.

  Daylight was just breaking when he entered Maria’s apartment. He quietly sneaked in. Maria was sleeping in the bedroom and didn’t hear him.

  “Are you okay Chaco?” asked Carmen the oldest girl who was still awake. “We have been really worried about you. Mama will be so glad to know you are home safe.”

  “I’m alright Carmen. Let’s be quiet and not wake anybody up. I’ll tell you where I’ve been in the morning. It’s great to be back home with all of you.”

  They treat me like family, he thought, how could I be so fortunate? He got a blanket, curled up near the window and fell sleep.

  Chapter 46

  There must have been fifty policemen, a couple of fire engines, the bank manager and the police commissioner at the Citibank on Broadway within thirty minutes after the explosion.

  “What in the hell is going on here, Captain? It’s like a never ending story. What have you got so far?”

  “Not a whole lot commissioner. We have a language specialist working on the letter he wrote. Whoever blew this window out was already inside. We went through this bank the night before last when the robbery took place with a fine tooth comb several times, and we couldn’t find this guy. We haven’t determined what he used to break into the vault and it appears that the same type of explosive must have been used to blow out the window. These windows are designed to withstand even the strongest explosives. We are currently reviewing all the video available for the last week and we’ll see if our culprit made a mistake. We do have some fingerprints but no name or face. Give us time commissioner, we’ll get this guy.”

  “Hurry up. I need something by tomorrow afternoon when I have to talk to the press.”