Batteries Not Included

by Tony McFadden

  “How do you know?”

  “They were in the meeting room across from my cube.”

  “In earshot of you?”

  “Not for the first part of the meeting, but I got back as it was ending. He’s pissed, and so was Kirra.” Sam looked at the meeting room. “Hang on, the chubby friend is still in there with her. Maybe Nick was fired but the friend is still on the job.” She shook her head. “Okay. The pressure isn’t off. But I’ve got an idea.”

  Davie was still very confused. “What’s going on?”

  “Despite what Nick believes, I’m not part of whatever this scheme is. You’re smart with computers, please keep digging. And if you can find out how Mike was framed for Andy’s murder, that too.”

  “I know nothing about financial crimes.”

  “I don’t need you to find financial crimes, I need you to find any computer interactions that don’t make sense. I was paying Nick two thou a day. That goes to you, now.”

  She opened the door and held it for Davie. Scooped the key fob off the table and tossed it at him. He just managed to grab it out of the air.

  “Yeah, I’m not sure I can do this for you.”

  “Oh. Ethical issues?”

  “No. Technical. I’m a code nerd. Nick had the creative mind, figuring out where to go in the investigation. I just did what he asked.”

  “We’ll work together on this. I’ve got to get back to running this company I’ve inherited. I’ll see you at the house tonight.”

  “Well - ”

  “Remember, I’m paying you the same amount I paid Nick. Text me your bank details.”

  “Well, okay then.”

  Nick tried the gate code three times before acknowledging to himself that it had been changed. He pressed the buzzer at the gate.

  Mike’s voice scratched out of the speaker. “Where’s the car?”

  “Why’d you change the access code?”

  “Talk to the boss.”

  “Let me in. I’ve got to pick up my stuff.”

  “Where’s - never mind. See me before you leave.” The gate clattered open wide enough for Nick to enter, stopped, then slowly started closing.

  “Shit.” Nick darted through the closing gap, twisting sideways and banging his cast on the edge of the gate. “Son of a BITCH.”

  He went straight to the security office and yanked the door open. “You arsehole. Trying to break my arm again?”

  “Shit man. Sorry. Where’s the car?”

  “I’ve been fired. Kirra has the keys.”

  Mike slowly lifted his trousers’ leg to expose the monitoring bracelet on his ankle. “I take it you’re going to be useless me.”

  Nick shrugged. “Talk to your boss. Maybe Davie will help. I’m going to grab my stuff and get out of here.”

  Mike waved him away. “Thanks for nothing, kid.”

  27

  Nick dumped his belongings in the middle of his living room floor. The lights were back on. There was no food or beer in the fridge and he was hungry. And thirsty.

  The return to his piece of shit car was a soul killer. It had an interior smell he hadn’t noticed before. The door squealed when he pulled it closed. He started the car, finagled his phone out of his pocket and sent a text message. He reached across with his right hand to put the car into gear.

  He stopped at a bottle shop and picked up a slab of beer. Paid one of the employees $10 to put it in the boot of his car. Picked up a lamb and chicken kebab with hot sauce to go and drove back home.

  Where he discovered carrying a slab of beer up to his apartment with one broken arm wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be.

  He twisted the top off a bottle, spread the kebab out on a plate and sat down in front of the TV. “This isn’t so bad.” He picked at the beer label. “Who am I kidding.”

  He dragged his laptop onto his lap and sent a short, sharp email.

  Don’t appreciate you ripping me off like this, Kirra. Kinda suspicious, if you ask me. You still owe me $4k. Pay up or I continue investigating on my own. Nick

  He looked at the message for a second, then nodded to himself and sent it. “Take that.” He turned on the television and sat back as a footie match played out in front of him. He didn’t care who won. Didn’t even care who was playing. It was a distraction.

  For about three minutes.

  His laptop pinged an alert for an incoming email. A reply

  I disagree with the amount you say I owe you. I can’t stop you from spending your own money investigating, but you’re drilling a dry hole. /BR Kirra.

  He slapped his laptop closed. Someone had just scored in the game, so he took another drink. Picked at more of his kebab. Sighed and opened his laptop and replied to the email.

  I don’t need money to sue you. I can get a personal injury lawyer on contingency. I’m sure there’d be a line of them once they find out what you and Dvorak are worth.

  Sent.

  He opened another bottle. There was a fracas on the screen, but he only gave it a glance. Refreshed his email until he received a response.

  If that’s your intent I have to insist on no further direct communications. My legal counsel will be in touch with you.

  Nick nodded and slowly closed his laptop. “That’s that.”

  He took a large mouthful of kebab just as his phone rang. He grunted as he tried to get the food down his throat so he could talk. “Hang on.” He chewed and swallowed and returned to the phone. “What do you want, Davie?”

  “What actually happened today?”

  “I got fired. I take it that you staying behind means that you’re now on the case?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “You get the car?”

  Davie chuckled weakly. “Yeah. Nice car.”

  “Be careful. Probably best if we don’t communicate until this is over.”

  “This? What is this? I thought this was just a battery cell theft.”

  Nick sighed. “Maybe. Plus there’s Andy’s murder. You’re taking that one too?”

  There was a long silence on the phone.

  “You still there, Davie?” Nick took another drink of beer.

  “Yeah, I should go. I’ll buy you a beer once all this is over.”

  “Sure, mate.” He hung up and tipped back the beer, opened a third. He needed that buzz.

  He finished the kebab and another beer before he made the call he had to make.

  “Sam Epping speaking.”

  “You don’t have my number in your phone?”

  “Ah, Nick. How’s it feel to be fired when you were so close to solving the riddle?”

  “That’s what I want to talk to you about. I know it’s not just theft. I think I have a pretty good idea what was going on. And if I can figure it out, I’m certain that Kirra can. She’s smarter than I am.”

  “There’s a long list of people smarter than you.”

  “I want to help you pull it off under her nose. I know what she’s going to do.” Nick suppressed a belch. “And I know where Davie would have placed the cameras in the backup warehouse.”

  There was a pause. “You -” She paused again. “Cameras?”

  “Yes. Very difficult to find, networked back to Davie’s laptop.”

  “Son of a bitch. If I see you again, I cut you.” She terminated the call.

  Nick looked at his phone debating whether to call her back, then decided against it. Tossed the phone on the sofa beside him and forced himself to a standing position. “This can’t end this way,” he said, shuffling to the bathroom.

  28

  Nick was stretched out on his sofa in a partial stupor, ignoring a game show on his television when someone knocked on his door. He angled his head toward the door. “Later, Davie. We shouldn’t talk right now.”

  The knocking continued.

  He groaned and swung his feet to the floor. “Ease up, Davie. You don’t want to see me right now. I can’t help you.”

  And again, the knocking.

  “Fin
e.” He padded to the front door and peered through the peep hole. Stood up straight when he saw the knocker. “Huh.”

  He released the deadbolt and opened the door to Sam. “You going to cut me?”

  Sam chuckled. “Can I come in?”

  “Answer my question first.”

  “I may have been a bit hasty with that comment. There’ll be no cutting by me today.” She nodded toward the apartment. “So? You going to let me in, or do we talk out here in the hall?”

  He stood to one side and let her enter.

  She dropped her bag on the coffee table beside the empty beer bottles and kebab remnants. “Wow. This is a shit hole.”

  “Why are you here again?”

  “You have any more of those beers?”

  Nick hesitated, then got one for her out of the fridge.

  “You’re not drinking with me?”

  Nick nodded at the bottles on the coffee table. “I’m good. Why are you here?”

  She twisted the top off and gingerly sat on the sofa. “How old is this piece of furniture?”

  Nick grabbed the remote and turned off the television. “If I had two good arms I’d throw you out the window. Why. Are. You. Here?”

  She sipped her beer then placed the bottle beside the others. “Your ‘cameras’ comment got my interest. I’ve told the team to pull back. But I can’t hold off for long. Small window to get this done or I lose, well, let’s say I’ll lose a lot of money.”

  “A lot?”

  “Kirra was paying you, what, $2,000 a day?” She laughed. “Don’t look so surprised, Nickie. You’re not the only one who can hack. Except I can’t really call it hacking, can I?”

  He glanced at his laptop and scowled. “Shit.”

  “And she paid you only for what, two days?” She took another mouthful of beer. “Your suit, if you even find a lawyer to take it, will take years and you probably won’t win.”

  “You sit here drinking my beer and giving me all this great news. You must be a blast at office parties.” Nick dropped in a chair at right angles to Sam. “You’re about to lose a bunch of money and why in the hell should I care?”

  She cleared her throat. “Fifty thou. That’s why you should care.”

  “For…?”

  “Helping me out.”

  He leaned forward. “How much is your end if you’re throwing me that? And more importantly, why should I trust you?”

  Sam shook her head. “You don’t get to know my end.” She looked around. “I’ll never have to live in a shit hole like this.” She took a sip of beer. “Trust me? That’s on you. I don’t think we want to set up an escrow account for this sort of thing. Too much paperwork. Too many prying eyes. So, it’s on you.”

  “What’s the money for? Keeping quiet? Everyone who needs to know already knows about the battery theft.”

  “Cameras, mate. You’re not paying attention. Find them for me. Disable them. Let us finish off the work tonight. Last job. Forever. But we can’t do it with the cameras there. Can’t even go in there.”

  “You’re a hacker. Hack them.”

  “You know as well as I do that hacking into a known, existing network, like the one at Dvorak, is fairly simple. Hacking into an unknown network, well I can do that, but it’ll take a few days and I don’t have that kind of time. Need to finish this tonight.”

  Nick took a deep breath. “You’re willing to give me - ”

  “For Christ’s sake. Yes. Fifty thou to clear out the cameras. Nothing else.” Sam placed her bottle sharply on the coffee table. “No? I can snap that other arm before I leave. You’d like that?”

  Nick stood and picked the empty bottle off the coffee table. Dropped it in the recycle bin with a clatter. “Fifty isn’t much for the risk I’m taking.”

  “What risk?”

  He collected the remnants of the kebab and wrapped it in the foil it came in. Dropped in the garbage bin and took another beer from the fridge. Twisted off the top and sat in the chair. “I’d be an accessory to whatever crime it is you’re committing. And there’s no way you’re going to get away with this.”

  “Got a secret for you, Nickie. I’ve been getting away with this for almost a year. And in two, two and a half weeks the external audit will come up clean and nobody will know it ever happened. As long as I get this finished tonight so the final steps can play out.”

  “It’s really not just a battery theft.”

  “You said you knew what it was.”

  “Well, a bit of a bluff. Double it.”

  “I could stab you right here.”

  “You’ll never find all the cameras. You’ll think you found them all, but you’ll miss at least one.”

  “Seventy-five.”

  “A hundred, or get the fuck out of here.”

  Sam pursed her lips. “Much as I’d love to break that other arm…” She snapped to her feet. “You know the warehouse. Meet me there in an hour.”

  “One hundred?”

  She nodded.

  “I’ll be there.” Nick watched her leave. “Shit. Which one?”

  He opened his laptop and the mapping program. Entered the address of the first place he had visited with Davie. It was in Campbelltown, in southwest Sydney, and more than an hour’s drive away. He shook his head and entered the other address. It was in a mixed business/factory area near Parramatta and about a forty-five minute drive away. “That better be it.”

  * * *

  Fifty minutes later and Nick rolled to a stop outside the warehouse. Three motorcycles were parked beside the loading bay. He turned off the ignition, got out and leaned against the car. Traffic at the surrounding warehouses was light. It was near the end of the day. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “May as well get this started.”

  He walked up to the loading bay. The three -- Snap, Crackle and Pop as he knew them -- were sitting on the ramp.

  Walter stood and clenched his fists. “Lads, the moron is following us.” He took a step toward Nick. “Gonna give you three more casts to match that one.”

  Nick back-pedalled. “Hang on. Ease up. I was invited here by Sam.” The two others in Snap’s gang followed. “Seriously. Call her. She’ll tell you.”

  “Nice story. You must think we’re idiots.”

  Nick had his right hand up in surrender and his left arm, in a cast, awkwardly replicating the right. “Not at all. Understandable. Completely surprised me, too. I’m just here to get rid of the cameras so you guys can go in.”

  “She did tell us to get out of the warehouse.” said Crackle.

  “I didn’t see any.” Snap took another step toward Nick. “I think it’s bullshit to throw us off.”

  Nick scrambled for his phone. “No, really.” He opened the network app. “Look.” He selected the network with the six cameras in the warehouse he was tasked to remove. The thumbnails were arranged in a grid. “Here.”

  Walter grabbed the phone from Nick and tapped one of the thumbnails. The video from the camera filled the phone’s screen. He grunted and handed the phone back. “She didn’t say anything about how many.”

  Sam walked around the corner with a bag in her hand. “I certainly don’t tell you everything, Walter. Nick, get rid of the cameras.” She held out the bag. “The rest of you put these balaclavas on while you help him. Keep them on until the cameras are taken care of.”

  29

  Davie drove up to the gate at Kirra’s house and realised he didn’t remember the code to get in. “Shit.” He pressed the intercom buzzer and leaned his face close to the camera.

  “You have the car?”

  “Hey, um, Mr Murphy, can you open the gate? What’s the code so I don’t have to bug you again? I’ve forgotten it.”

  “Boss lady knows about all this?”

  “Yeah. I’m the point man now.” Davie cleared his throat. “I’ll do what I can to get to the bottom of Andy’s murder, also.”

  “Mighty generous of you.” The screen went blank and the gate started rumbling
open.

  “So, no to the code, then?” Davie waited until the gate was open enough to pass through then gunned it.

  And immediately regretted it. He wrenched the steering wheel hard to the left to avoid hitting the portico and eased to a stop on the lawn. “Dammit dammit dammit”. He place it into reverse and backed into the parking spot like that was his intention all along.

  He turned off the car, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Opened the door to come face to face with Mike.

  “You don’t deserve that car.”

  Davie shrugged. “Can you get someone to help me with these?” Two monitors in their packaging stuck up out of the back seat. He opened the forward storage compartment and lifted a third out. “There’s a bag in the back seat on the floor with cables and splitter boxes. Can you hand it to me?” He grunted and adjusted the monitor he was carrying and snagged the bag. “Thanks. Setting these up in the room Nick was staying in.”

  “These come from Dvorak?”

  “Dvorak’s credit card.” He smiled. “Kirra’s account, actually.” He lugged the monitor into the room and made space on the desk for it. He removed everything else off the desk and set up the networking equipment.

  Mike dropped the other two monitors on the bed. “What is all this stuff?”

  Davie looked up at him briefly then returned to setting up the equipment. “Can you unpack those two? I placed cameras in the two warehouses we believe are being used for some kind of theft. These are to see what the cameras see. CCTV, but better.”

  “Maybe you’re not useless.”

  “Thanks. I’m not.” Davie side-eyed Mike and muttered under his breath. “Wanker.”

  “What was that?”

  “I said ‘Thank you’. Can you hand me those monitors?” Davie connected the HDMI cables to the distribution box and connected his laptop. Fired up the monitoring software and selected the first of the four banks of six cameras.

  “How are they powered?” Mike pulled up a chair and sat beside Davie.

  “Battery. They’re in standby mode until a motion detector triggers them. The battery will last 48 live hours. Since we think this is going to go down tonight, that should be more than enough time.”