“He’ll be fine,” Stevie said.
“Good. Tie him up.”
Stevie sat the guy on a stool against the counter and pulled his hands behind his back and began taping him up.
His partner seemed to focus on a set of lights which stood out among the desert landscape. Garza’s complex.
“That’s Mexico,” Chizek told him. “No need to look over there.”
Matt said nothing, but Nick knew what his partner was thinking. There it was, beckoning him like a meteor being pulled into the earth’s gravity.
Nick was fighting time now. Within a couple of hours Garza would see the cavalry coming and scurry back into his hole. He’d be out of reach and untouchable. Nick wanted to lure him over the border and snatch him up before he was warned. Especially since Nick and Matt were now considered dead.
Nick found a remote control sitting on a side table next to Chizek’s beer. He held the device for a moment, then walked over to Stevie and handed it to him.
“Look at this,” he said.
Stevie removed a microscope from his black bag and placed it on the pool table. Then he slid the remote under the lens.
Chizek didn’t seem to like that move, but he wasn’t lawyering up, so he must’ve felt comfortable with everything so far.
“Three digits,” Stevie said, while staring through the single eyepiece. “That’s how many buttons are depressed routinely.”
“Good,” Bracco said. “That means there’s only six combinations of that sequence. Try all six.”
Stevie picked up the device and tried pushing the three numbers all different ways.
Nothing happened.
Chizek smiled, looking more confident with every minute that passed. “Do I need to be here while you do this?” he said. “I could use some beauty sleep.”
“You’re a funny guy,” Nick said.
Stevie kept playing with the remote while Nick pulled out his mini-flashlight and found a set of tracks on the floor leading to the garage doors on the north side of the room.
“You have a lot of mining equipment on this floor?” Nick asked.
“Nope,” Chizek said. “This is strictly the administrative wing of the building.”
“I see,” Nick said, following the tracks to the massive door and shining the light outside. “What’s the loading dock for then?”
Chizek hesitated before answering that.
Nick looked at him.
“We throw parties sometimes,” Chizek shrugged. “We need a wide access for our deliveries. Sometimes we’ll have a band play for the Christmas party.”
“Now who’s the fiction writer?” Nick said.
Chizek’s face became even wider, showing Nick a mouthful of teeth.
Stevie was back at the microscope, eyeing the remote again. “I think I know what’s going on,” he said.
“Yeah?”
“I think it’s a four digit number, but the first three are the same, that’s why they’re so worn. The fourth number is different for each command.”
Chizek’s smile vanished.
“Go on,” Nick said. “I’m listening.”
“Well, if I’m right about this,” Stevie said, taking the remote and holding it out in front of him. “I simply need to find the correct sequence for the first three digits, then keep trying a different fourth until I come up with a match.”
Chizek lost his enthusiasm altogether. He seemed to be checking out an exit strategy, but Matt was paying close attention.
Stevie played with the remote, pressing a sequence of numbers, then glancing around the room for activity.
Nothing.
“You look worried,” Nick said to Chizek.
The man stood there like a trapped squirrel.
Stevie tried a new sequence.
Nothing.
Nick pointed to Chizek and said to Matt, “Get him wrapped up, so we don’t waste any time.”
“You’re playing with fire, Agent Bracco,” Chizek said, taking a step back.
Chizek’s henchman also seemed concerned, but kept still.
“You need to work on your threats,” Nick answered, examining the room for movement every time Stevie tried a new sequence.
Matt secured the large man to a stool, wrapping his legs around the legs of the stool, then needing both arms to drag his bulk along the cement floor until he reached the refrigerator. He handcuffed the man to the handle of the fridge, then followed Stevie’s attempts.
Stevie held out his arm each time he imputed a new series of numbers. Now, he held it out and said, “Shhh.”
“What?” Nick asked.
“I hear something.”
Stevie repeated the sequence into the remote, then stood still. There was a distant creaking noise. Chizek pulled at his bindings, making noise as he rubbed the handcuffs against the refrigerator door.
Matt pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Chizek with an angry glare.
Chizek stopped.
Stevie did it again.
Again a scraping sound.
Finally, Matt pointed out the window. “There.”
The front gate was opening.
Stevie smiled.
Nick’s heart raced. He knew they were onto something. He pulled out his pistol and checked out his surroundings. He felt like they were being watched.
“Okay, Stevie,” Nick said. “Next number.”
Matt was on his toes now, prowling around the room with his Glock ready to go.
This time there was a single click coming from the entrance of the building.
Stevie pressed the buttons again and the same click. Matt went over toward the front door and gestured for Stevie to hit it again.
Click.
“It’s the lock on the front door,” Matt said from the darkness. “Try the next one.”
Stevie held out the remote and pressed the buttons.
The balls on the pool table began to tremble, then roll to the north side of the table. The floor seemed to move beneath their feet. The table itself began to shake and quiver as it rose from the cement, the hydraulic lift churning beneath it to move the massive piece of slate and wood.
Nick felt his pocket to see if he had any pills left. None. He could feel his head throb as the lift reached the pinnacle of it journey. The pool table stopped and exposed a giant opening in the earth below.
Nick crept up to the opening with wobbly steps, his gun out, his eyes peeled for the slightest movement. Matt was there instantly. He shined his flashlight down and said, “Oh my.”
There was a fairly wide tunnel in complete darkness, with an electric lift at the bottom and a metal ladder running down the side. Nick added his light to the mix, finding a pallet full of packages. His head pounded with needle-sharp pain when he spotted the Zutons’ wolf face logo wrapped around each package.
“See that?” he said.
