Batteries Not Included

by Tony McFadden

  The six squares, two per monitor, were black. “Nothing here,” said Mike

  Davie nodded. “Third bank, then.”

  “What about the second?”

  Davie smiled. “Before Nick was fired he had a good idea. He knew that they’d have to shift to one of these two warehouses, so we wired them both.”

  “That’s two banks of cameras.”

  “This is where Nick was smart. One bank of cameras in each warehouse is hidden fairly well, but would be discovered with a decent search. There’s a second bank extremely well hidden. Almost impossible to find. That’s banks two and four. If bank one isn’t live, neither is bank two.”

  Mike nodded in appreciation. “Bank three then.”

  Davie entered the command, and all six video panels came to life. “They’re at the warehouse near Parramatta.”

  Five of the six panels showed static pictures of the interior of the warehouse. Various angles of stacks of boxes. Davie pointed at them. “Recognise those?”

  Mike tilted his head and looked closely at the image with the largest representation of the boxes. “Those are crates of battery cells we use for our cars. From…” he squinted. “Can’t make out the vendor’s name. But they’re ours.” He pointed at the sixth panel. “What’s that?”

  Davie selected the panel and blew it up to the full monitor size. It was looking out the loading dock door. At the very left edge of the image he could see three men, sitting on the dock with their backs to the camera. One of them significantly larger than the other two. “That’s Snap, Crackle and Pop. Ran into them before. That’s how Nick’s arm got broken.” He selected a key and started recording the video.

  Mike pushed his chair back. “What’s the address? I’ll call the authorities and have them picked up and the batteries returned to our distribution centre.”

  Davie held out a hand. “No, hang on. Kirra and I discussed this, this afternoon. It’s more than just battery theft. We’re recording so we can let it play out. Don’t call the cops.”

  Mike sighed. “Listen, kid. If this doesn’t work I’m going to be really pissed off.”

  “It’ll work. It’ll work.”

  Mike pulled his chair closer to the monitors. “Do you have audio?”

  “Just a sec.” He tapped a couple of keys and turned up the volume. Hissing came from the speakers. There were voices, but they were distant and not distinct.

  “Can you do anything with the audio? I can’t make out what they’re saying.”

  “I can do a little bit.” Davie launched an audio equaliser program and adjusted the filters until the voices were a little bit clearer.

  At that moment a fourth figure appeared approaching the three seated men. Davie leaned forward. “That looks like Nick.”

  “Is this live?”

  “Yeah. Of course.” Davie held up his finger and turned up the volume further, The big guy stood and started walking toward Nick,

  “Gonna give you three more casts to match that one.”

  “Oh, shit, this isn’t going to end good,” said Davie.

  Nick said something on screen, but he was too far from the microphones to pick it up.

  “What the hell is he doing there? He was fired. Dammit, he’s going to get pulverised.”

  Mike put a hand on his arm. “Quiet. They’re still talking.”

  One of the smaller guys slid off the loading doc. “She did say there were cameras.”

  “She? Who? Kirra?” Mike was standing. “What in the hell is going on here?”

  “Sit down, idiot. Sam.”

  “Who is Sam?”

  “IT at Dvorak. Kirra and I think that she’s behind this. She and Nick have a history. She told me that’s one of the reasons he was fired.” He took a deep breath. “I’ve known the guy for years. I can’t imagine he’s got anything to do with this, but,” he pointed at the monitor, “there he is.”

  Nick and Snap, Crackle and Pop had moved far enough away from the warehouse to make the microphones useless. Sam moved into frame and started talking, too low to hear. “It looks like Sam is there too. It’s happening.” She held out a bag and the three men pulled on balaclavas.

  The hissing from the speakers filled the room. “Turn off those speakers, mate. The noise is driving me nuts.”

  30

  Sam led the way into the warehouse. “You’re here for one reason, and one reason only. Find the cameras and remove them. Find them, turn them off, disconnect them, and give them to me.”

  Nick stood in the middle of the warehouse and slowly turned, looking at the light fixtures, the exposed beams, the dirt-filmed windows. A million places to plant a camera. A million places for Davie to plant a camera. And he knew Davie planted twelve of them.

  “I’d put four in here to get full coverage. Maybe six if I’m generous.”

  “What in the hell are you talking about? You put them here,” said Sam. “Where are they?”

  “I didn’t. Davie did. But I know how Davie thinks. I trained him.” He held up his cast. “I’m going to need assistance retrieving them, though. Can’t climb a ladder with this.”

  * * *

  “What in the hell is he doing?” Davie watched Nick as he stood in the middle of the floor, slowly turning. He activated the audio as Nick held up his cast.

  “…need assistance retrieving them, though. Can’t climb a ladder with this.”

  Davie held his head in his hands. “He’s helping them.”

  “That’s disappointing. Though not surprised, if I’m honest.” Mike sat beside him. “There are twelve there?”

  “Yeah. These six and the six backups.”

  Mike nodded at the screens. “Display all twelve.”

  Davie entered a couple of commands and each of the three monitors were split into four images. Numbers 1 through 12 labelled each image in the upper right hand corner. Nick was motioning to the tall guy who had an extension ladder.

  * * *

  “Walter, right? There’s one in the bottom corner of that window.’ He pointed. “Obvious once you know where it’s at, right?”

  Walter steadied the ladder against the wall. “Not climbing this.” He turned to the other two. “Barry, go up this damned thing and get the camera.”

  The man Nick had thought of as Crackle ambled over and looked up at the window. “Where is it?”

  Nick pointed with his good arm. “Bottom right corner. See it?”

  Barry squinted. “Oh, yeah. How’d I miss that?”

  “You were never looking for it, idiot. Get up there and bring it down.”

  * * *

  “So ‘Snap’ is Walter and one of the others is Barry.” Davie made a note.

  Mike slapped hm on the arm. “Look.”

  A balaclava’d face got larger as he climbed the ladder. Just when it almost filled the screen his hand covered the camera lens. And the picture turned black.

  “One down, eleven to go.” Davie checked the time. “It’s going to be a long night, I think.”

  “Turn the sound back off. The hissing is driving me nuts.”

  * * *

  Nick held the first camera in his left hand and switched the power off. “One down, five to go.” He checked the time. “It’s going to be a long night, I think.”

  “Then step it up, mate. Where are the others?” Walter nodded at Barry. “You work with this arsehole. I’ve got stuff to do.”

  Barry struggled to retract the extension ladder. He glared at Nick while he lowered it.

  “Hey, mate, I’d help if I could. You’re going to want to move the ladder over to the other side, by the third window from the end. I saw another one.”

  He lugged the ladder to the opposite side of the warehouse. “Shoulda broke your neck.”

  “Whoa. So hostile.” Nick pointed to the window. “Bottom left corner, this time.”

  He waited while Barry extended the ladder, climbed it and retrieved the camera.

  Barry climbed down, stood in front of him, flipped
the small switch to the off position and dropped the camera on the floor and smashed it with the heel of his boot. “Where’s the next one?”

  “That was $300, you twat.” Nick scooped up the parts and examined them. Stuck the larger parts in his pocket. “I’ll send Sam an invoice.”

  “Good luck. How many more?” He glanced up at the rafters. “Is that one?”

  Nick looked up. Nodded and smiled. “Yeah, I saw that one while you were up the ladder getting the last one. The ladder will be tricky. I’ll balance it for you.”

  Barry glared at him as he extended the ladder to lean against a truss.

  “What?” asked Nick. “I’m not going to let you fall. Sam would sic the big guy on me.”

  “You find the next one while I get this one. And stay away from the ladder.”

  “Aye, aye, captain.” He glanced at the three left for him to find: One opposite the loading bay doors, one opposite the front door and one more in a window.

  * * *

  “Turn the sound back on. I want to listen to them,” said Mike.

  “Jesus. Make up your bloody mind.” Davie entered the command to reactivate the audio. A hiss filled the room.

  “It’ll do. Where are we at?”

  “He’s pointed out five cameras so far. Seven to go.”

  “Jesus, they’re slow.”

  “It took me two hours at each warehouse to install them. It’ll take at least that to remove them.” Davie pointed at the monitor. Barry’s face was filling camera number six, then his hand reached out and grabbed it and for a second there was a vertigo inducing fall as he dropped the camera from the top of the warehouse to the floor.

  Then the panel for that camera went black.

  “That was uncalled for.”

  Mike grunted. “Seems like a big waste of money.” He rolled his chair away and looked at news on his phone.

  “Yeah. About $300 a pop. But we’re halfway through.”

  Davie watched the one called Barry on five of the other six cameras. He didn’t show up on the camera facing the loading bay doors. He climbed down the ladder and retracted the extension. He took the ladder and stowed it in the corner and went to join the others. Nick stayed standing in the middle of the warehouse, leaning against a pallet of battery cells. He looked at Sam and her muscle, then up at the camera facing the front door and winked.

  “Did you see that?”

  Mike rolled his chair over. “What?”

  “Just a second.” He shut down the network strand with the six disabled cameras and opened a terminal window on the first monitor. Executed a couple of commands and launched a video player. He scrubbed the video forward until Barry was stowing the ladder. He zoomed in on Nick’s face. “Look at this.”

  On camera Nick looked over at Sam, then directly at the camera and winked.

  “Son of a bitch. He’s still helping Kirra.”

  Mike scowled. “Was he fired, or not?”

  “I think we need to talk to the boss.”

  31

  ‘That’s all of them?” asked Sam. She scanned the rafters. “You’re not holding out on us, are you?”

  “That’s the works.”

  She nodded. “You better not be wrong. Take off the masks and get to work, guys.”

  Nick started easing toward the door.

  Walter chuckled. And grabbed him by his cast. “Get back here. We’re not done with you yet.”

  “Take it easy.” Nick pulled his arm free and wiggled his fingers. “I’m still a little pissed off about the broken arm. Don’t make it worse.”

  Walter looked down at him and laughed. “What ya gonna do, champ? Tell your mommy?” He patted Nick on the head, then shoved him toward Sam and the crates. “Because of you, we’re a day late. And,” he chuckled, “you’re no help.”

  Nick took a good look at what he’d gotten involved with. There were hundreds of crates stacked aimlessly about the warehouse, barely making a dent in the overall floorspace. A hired moving truck was backed to the loading dock.

  He shrugged. “I don’t get it, Sam. Where are you going to sell these?”

  “Shut up, arsehole.” Walter pulled Sam aside. “I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him. Though I’d like to find out how far I can throw him. Let me scrub this place. No way he told us where all the cameras are.”

  * * *

  Mike hung up the phone. “She’s leaving the office now. Will be here in about fifteen minutes.” He pointed at the monitor. “They’re looking for more. How well did you hide the others?”

  “Won’t survive a really thorough search, but I don’t think they have time for that. And really, as long as they leave one we’re still good.” Davie slumped in his chair. “I should have taken longer to conceal them.”

  “Can you do anything about it now?”

  “No.”

  “Then shut up the face.”

  They watched Walter and the other two moving the ladder around and checking windows and rafters for recording devices.

  “They’re pretty thorough.”

  Davie smiled. “Haven’t come close yet.”

  “Close to what?”

  Davie and Mike turned to greet Kirra.

  She pointed at the monitor. “Nick is there?”

  “You don’t sound shocked,” said Davie. “You arranged this with him?”

  “You’re pretty quick. Nick convinced me that he had to get inside whatever is going on. He knew Sam was in on it, but he’s not sure what ‘it’ is. Either am I.”

  “There are about three and a half, four thousand batteries in there, Kirra,” said Mike. “All of them destined for our Newcastle distribution centre.”

  “Stupid theft. She can’t sell them to anyone. And she’d be really stupid if she tried to sell them back to me.” She pulled over a chair and sat. “They got one.”

  Davie and Mike spun in their chairs to check the monitors. Walter’s face filled one of the monitors and his hand grabbed the camera. The image went murky black for a second, then the feed was cut.

  “Still five left,” said Davie, with a concerned furrow between his eyebrows.

  “Four.” Another face, another hand, another camera taken offline. Mike stood to leave. “This isn’t going to end well, and will do nothing to clear my name. I’m gone. Can’t bear watching.”

  Kirra waited until he left the room. “You know where this is, right?”

  Davie nodded. “It’s the one near Parramatta.”

  “I should call the authorities.”

  “Maybe hang on a second. We’re still in the dark about what they’re doing with the batteries. They may not get all of them.”

  She sighed. Stood and paced, returning every couple of circuits to look at the cameras. Nick and Sam were still standing by the loading dock door while the other three searched for the remaining cameras. “They going to find them all?” She shook her head and answered her own question. “They’re going to find them all.”

  Davie ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re probably right.”

  * * *

  Walter threw another camera to the ground in front of Nick’s feet. “That’s three. We’ll go through this place until we find them all. And we will find them all.”

  Nick picked the pieces off the floor. “Davie was way more thorough than I expected. I’m impressed.” He pocketed the remnants. “I’m going to add the cost of these cameras to my invoice, though. They ain’t cheap.”

  “I’m going to break a few dozen bones in your frail body.” Walter nodded at Sam. “You’re not paying him for — anything, are you?”

  “Hundred large, Wally. She’s paying for my help.” Nick pressed. There were still three cameras active. He needed them to talk.

  Sam opened her mouth and Walter jumped in. “No, Sam. He’s holding out. You should let me dump him down a sewer drain.” He stomped off to continue the treasure hunt.

  Nick waited until Walter was out of earshot. “You’re letting him talk to you like that?”
he asked Sam.

  “I need an abrasive voice on the team to keep me honest. He’s not wrong.” She checked her watch. “We need to get a move on. There’s a lot to do. The truck needs to get to the distribution hub by 6:00 a.m.”

  “A lot of what to do?” Nick involuntarily glanced to the location of one of the three remaining cameras above the loading bay door.

  Sam followed his glance. “Walter. There’s one up here.” She grabbed Nick by the throat. “I’m not in much of a trusting mood anymore. Where are the rest of them?”

  * * *

  “Crap, Kirra. We need to head there.” On the monitor Sam was pushing Nick backward with her hand tight around his throat. “Going down the gurgler pretty fast.”

  “You can monitor on the move?”

  “I’ll hotspot off my phone.” He folded his laptop and stuck it under his arm. “You’ll have to drive.” He headed for the door. “How long will it take to get there? Not your truck.”

  “Not my truck. Forty-five minutes. Traffic willing.”

  * * *

  Sam pushed Nick against the wall and held him there, her grip tight on his throat.

  He held on to her wrist with his right hand, and gasped for air. “I can’t breathe.”

  Her grip tightened a smidge. “Like I care.” She flexed once then eased up. “You know how many are really here and where they are, don’t you?”

  “Cameras?”

  She tightened her grip.

  “Okay, okay. Yes. The one you saw and two more. One above the entrance door, and one in the ventilation grill on the roof, facing almost straight down. Now can you let go of my throat?”

  “I should have done that much earlier. Very satisfying.” Sam directed the removal of the remaining cameras.