Batteries Not Included Page 16

  * * *

  Kirra accelerated the red convertible onto the Harbour Bridge. Davie was squeezed into the passenger seat. He had racked it all the way back and still didn’t have enough leg room to comfortably use his laptop.

  “You connected yet?” Kirra zipped between cars as she aimed the convertible at the M2 Motorway. She wrenched the wheel to the right to avoid colliding with a gravel truck, slamming Davie against the passenger door.

  “Easy on.” He adjusted himself in the seat and re-balanced the laptop on his knees. “Two cameras still connected, but there’s a ladder below one of them.”

  “Can you see Nick?”

  “Fist isn’t around his throat anymore, but Sam still has him backed against a wall. Go faster.”

  32

  Nick watched the one whose name he didn’t know retrieve the second from last camera. “What’s the deal, Sammy? How are you making enough money to pay these three apes and still come out with a bit of coin in your own pocket?”

  “Punch him in the face, Sam.”

  “Now, now, Wally. He’s got a right to know, I think,” said Sam. She spread her hands out, motioning to the crates. “What do you see here?”

  “Batteries. The kind used in electric vehicles. Like the company you work for. The only company in Australia currently making fully electric vehicles.” He smiled. “Hey. Are you setting up your own car company to compete with Dvorak? I think you might be going about it the wrong way.” He held up his hands. “But what do I know? I’m just a lowly PI.”

  “People always go for the complicated solution to problems that have really easy solutions.” She nodded at the stacks of battery cells. “You didn’t look very closely, did you?”

  Walter stepped in making a slicing motion to his throat. “Sam, don’t.”

  “He’s not going to do anything about it. What can he do? You’ve grabbed all the cameras. He’s got no proof. I’m not worried.”

  Walter didn’t look convinced.

  “Proof of what? Stealing batteries is stupid because there’s no resale.” He looked closer at the crates. “Three different vendors. How many vendors do Dvorak source batteries from?”

  Walter looked at Sam and shook his head.

  “What?” Nick craned his neck. “Wait, there’s four vendors here. How many do Dvorak use?”

  “Five,” said Sam. She had a small smile on her face. “Used to be four.”

  Nick looked closer at the crates. “I only see four. Who’s the fifth?”

  “I am.” Sam laughed at the confused look on Nick’s face. “Jesus. I thought you were smart.” She waved off Walter who was trying to interrupt. “Wally, you ‘ve just scrubbed this place..”

  He sneered in Nick’s direction. ”And for that extra work, and the lies, we’ll take it out of his hide.”

  “Whatever chubs you, mate.” Nick turned his back on Walter. “Explain this to me, Sam. How are you outsmarting everyone?”

  Sam checked the time. “If you help me tonight.”

  “He’s not helping anything. Not after this bullshit,” said Walter. “I’m going to take his phone and lock him in the storage room. He’ll get out when someone finds his desiccated carcass.”

  “Big words, mate. Can you spell them?”

  Walter growled deep in his throat.

  Nick nudged Sam. “I think he’s pissed off. Tell me what’s going on. You’ve got me stumped.

  She waited until the final camera was turned off then took a deep breath. “Okay. Four vendors in here, right?”

  * * *

  “Last camera is gone. We’re in the dark.”

  “We’re still half an hour away.”

  “Call the police.”

  “And tell them what?” Kirra accelerated, passing 120 km/h.

  Davie was silent. “I don’t know.” He closed his laptop. “Floor it.”

  He was pressed back in his seat as she accelerated, then she slowed, looking in the rear-view mirror.

  “Shit. Police.” She pulled to the shoulder of the motorway and turned off the car.

  * * *

  Nick re-checked the crates and nodded. “Four vendors. Why doesn’t Dvorak make their own batteries? That American guy, whatshisname, makes his own.”

  “Why are you asking me? Not my skill set.”

  “Right. Stealing is.”

  “Stop interrupting me. I ‘steal’ about a thousand cases from each vendor’s monthly shipment. Re-label them as coming from my company, at a very healthy profit.” She looked around the warehouse. “My costs are extremely low. Especially since Dvorak is paying for these warehouses.”

  Nick shook his head and held up his hands. “Whoa. How many people on the inside are in on this? You’d need legal for the contracts, accounts payable to pay the bills, the auditor - ” his mouth paused in an ‘o’ shape. “That’s why you’re in a hurry. The audit is coming up.”

  “You’re close.” She pushed him against the wall. “Too close.”

  “I’m outta here, crazy bitch.” He pushed Sam back, knocking her into a stack of crates.

  Walter grabbed him by the back of his shirt and threw him against the wall. “Keep your hands - hand - off of her.”

  Sam picked herself off the floor and dusted herself off. “Feel free to break a rib or two before you lock him in the storage room, Wally.” She cleared her throat. “And make it fast. We’ve got a lot of work to do tonight.”

  * * *

  Kirra held her driver’s licence between her middle and index fingers, her elbow on the side the of the convertible, hand in the air.

  The motorcycle cop dismounted and stood beside the car. “This your licence?”

  She nodded.

  He retrieved it from her fingers. “Miss Kirra Roach? This vehicle is registered to a Mr Andrew Goh.” He looked across the car to Davie. “I don’t suppose that’s you?”

  “That’s not Andy. Andy is - was - my husband. He’s recently deceased.”

  “This your new - ”

  “Oh, god, no.” Davie squirmed in his seat. “I work for Kirra. Miss Roach.”

  “I’ve clocked you faster than 130 km per hour.” He held the breathalyser in front of Kirra’s mouth. “Count to 10, slowly please.”

  “1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10.” Kirra sighed. “I haven’t been drinking. Can you write the ticket and let us go on our way?”

  The officer handed Kirra her driver’s licence. “Both of you are going to have to step out of the car. You were going more than 30 over the limit. Thirty-seven, to be precise. We’re going to impound this vehicle. I can’t leave you standing on the side of the road. You’ll need to call someone to pick you up.”

  “You can’t do that. We need to get to Parramatta as quickly as possible.”

  “The ‘quickly as possible’ was evident by the speed you were travelling. And this vehicle is capable of a lot more than you were doing. Out.”

  Davie tucked his laptop under his arm and got out of the car. “Is there someone you can call, Kirra?”

  “I’m going to fight this.”

  “Waste of time. And we have no time to waste. Call Mike.”

  “I can’t. The thing on his ankle.”

  “Anyone you explicitly, or implicitly, trust to not be involved with this?” He gently closed the car door. “Call Mike.”

  33

  Walter marched Nick into the storeroom and shoved him against the wall. “You’ll die in here.” He hit Nick in the ribs with two hard and fast jabs and watched as Nick slumped to the floor. He bent over and pulled Nick’s mobile phone from his pocket.

  “No I won’t,” gasped Nick. “I actually have friends.” He cradled his ribs. “Unlike you.”

  Walter followed up with a kick to the other side. “I have friends.”

  Nick rolled on the floor gasping for breath. “Oh, shit, that hurt.”

  The door slammed shut and the room went black. A very thin sliver of light leaked under the door. Nick heard the tumblers turn as Walter
locked it.

  “Great.” He slowly rolled to his hands and knees, taking shallow breaths. “Man, this hurts.”

  He braced himself on the wall with his good arm and stood. Very slowly. He blinked a couple of times then forced his eyes wide open, willing his pupils to dilate as quickly as possible. He moved along the wall until he found the door and rattled the knob. It turned, but the door wouldn’t move. He felt the door above the knob and found the cylinder housing for a deadbolt. “That’ll do.”

  To the right of the door was a single light switch. He flicked it on and the naked fluorescent tube on the ceiling flickered to life.

  The windowless room had empty shelving against two of the walls. A file cabinet, half its drawers open, stood in the corner. The remainder of the contents were loose paper and dust.

  The shelving looked like the DIY stuff bought cheap at a hardware store. The slotted angle steel the shelves sat on would make good weapons, if he could disassemble them. The shelves were made of a pressed particle board and were jammed into place.

  He knocked the underside of one of the shelves with the side of his fist, with successively harder smacks until it loosened at one end. He moved to the door and placed his ear against it. Voices, in the distance, were arguing about something.

  He repeated his efforts on the other side and carefully placed the shelf against the file cabinet. Behind where the metal shelf used to be was a horizontal support piece of angled metal. A bit longer than a metre and a half. He inspected the ends where they were attached to the larger frame. Simple nut and bolt mechanism. He tested them. Too tight to loosen by hand.

  Nick checked his pockets. The slot on the bolt looked like it could take a ten cent piece. The nut was square, so jamming it with the edge of the shelving should be easy.

  If only he had a coin. “No weapon then. Probably for the best.”

  He dumped the contents of his pockets on the top of the file cabinet.

  Remnants of two wireless cameras. Forty-five dollars in fives and tens. His car keys. “Not even enough to bribe my way out of here.”

  He picked up one of the cameras. The housing had been destroyed, but the innards looked intact. He checked the other one. Less lucky. The lens was cracked.

  * * *

  Davie and Kirra watched the flatbed tow truck drive off with the convertible. “This sucks.”

  “When is your ride arriving?” asked the officer. “It’s getting dark. I can’t leave you on the side of the motorway.”

  “Any minute now. I think your decision was unnecessary. Davie could have driven the remainder of the trip, and I can vouch for his responsibility.”

  “If you’re ride isn’t here shortly I’ll have a car pick you up and take you to the nearest station.”

  “He’ll be here.”

  The deep-throated rumble of an ’80 muscle car down shifting interrupted them. Mike rolled to a stop on the shoulder behind the motorbike.

  Kirra gave him a brief wave. “That’s him. Can we go now?”

  The officer slid his sunglasses on, smiled at her and put on his helmet. “Be safe.”

  Kirra jumped into the front seat of the car and Davie slid into the back.

  “Thanks, Mike. I really appreciate it.”

  “How fast were you actually going?”

  “A bit over 135 I think,” said Davie.

  Mike twisted in his seat. “You were driving?”

  Kirra placed her hand on Mike’s arm. “I was. Let’s get going. I’ll give you their address. It’s a little warehouse near Parramatta.”

  “No, no.” Mike lifted his leg. “I got this thing on. I shouldn’t be here. I’ve got to get back to the house before the cops show.” He put the car in gear.

  Kirra placed her hand on his, on top of the gearshift stick. “Nick is on his own with no comms, against four people who would be more than happy to take him apart.”

  “You fired him. He’s probably working with them now, out of spite.” Realisation dawn on him. “Oh, clever. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Limiting the exposure. We’ve got to go there. Take us, or leave the car with us and you take an Uber back. I’ll pay.”

  Mike hit the turn indicator, checked the traffic, and floored it. “I’ll go with. I kinda liked that kid.”

  “Keep it to the limit. I don’t need to get stopped again. Take the Windsor Road exit.”

  * * *

  Nick was sitting on the floor, back against the locked door. He had his index and middle fingers of his right hand burrowed deep between his cast and his arm. He grunted and raised his left elbow in the air and shook his arm. “I think…” He pushed his hand as far and as hard as he could into the cast. His finger just grasped the thin case of tools. The tenuous grip required slow and gentle extraction until he could grab it firmly and pull it out. “…I’ve got it.”

  He slid open the thin zipper along the edge and opened the case like a book. Three lock pick tools on each side.

  He smiled.

  He eased to his feet, holding his ribs and inspected the deadbolt lock. It was cheap. A torsion key and a rake would do it in seconds.

  Nick took a deep breath and picked the working camera off the file cabinet. He slid the recessed switch to the on position, gave it a second to sync, then held it at arm’s length in front of his face. “Hey Davie, I can’t tell if you’re seeing this or not, but I’m still at the warehouse near Parramatta. Get cops. Sam’s running some kind of scam with Dvorak. She’s got someone, or ones, inside the company helping her. I’m going to try getting out of here, but I’ll stick this somewhere before I leave. If I can.”

  He stuck the camera in his pocket and applied torsion to the deadbolt lock. He used a simple rake and scrubbed the pins while applying torsion. Twelve seconds after he started, the torsion bar gave and the deadbolt retracted. He pocketed the lock pick set.

  He turned the doorknob and squatted as he eased open the door. He had a clear view to the loading dock on his left. All four of them were there. Sam and Walter were loading the truck while the other two were prising open crates, and relabelling the crates and their contents with Sam’s phony battery company name.

  He checked the distance to the main door to the right. Uninjured he could probably make it in ten fast seconds. With a broken arm and at least three untreated fractured ribs, more like 20 to 30 seconds. Plus, he wanted to stick the camera somewhere.

  * * *

  Walter turned off the main road in Parramatta and his headlights played across a row of old warehouses. “Around here somewhere?”

  Davie leaned between the front seats and pointed to the right. “Down that cul-de-sac. Third warehouse on the right. Roll in quietly. If they’ve got their hands on Nick we don’t want to spook them.” Davie sat back and opened his laptop.

  “What are you doing?” asked Kirra.

  “Hoping.”

  * * *

  Nick eased out of the storage room and quietly closed the door behind him. There was a small ledge above the door frame. The four at the loading bay still had their backs to him. He reached up and carefully placed the camera on the door jamb facing the loading bay.

  He backed away slowly, trying to be as quiet his battered body could be, easing his way to the front door, and banged into a metal bucket and mop, sending them clattering across the floor.

  The four at the loading bay stopped their work and turned.

  Nick swallowed. “Oh shit.”

  34

  Davie opened the video monitoring software and checked the first bank of cameras for this location. All black. “Damn.” He checked the second bank. Five of the six squares were black, but the sixth square had a slightly askew view of the loading dock. Sam and her three lug heads were turned away from the truck they appeared to have been loading and were staring just past the camera.

  “Pull over. Quick.”

  Mike hauled the car to the kerb. “What?”

  “Nick seems to have gotten a camera back online. And based on
the images I’m seeing, he’s running away from them toward the front door.”

  “Then why did we stop?” Mike gunned the car into the warehouse parking lot and up to the office door. There were no external lights. The lot was illuminated by sparsely space streetlights.

  “Next warehouse, mate. You’ve pulled up short.”

  Mike grumbled something under his breath and floored the accelerator as he yanked the wheel to the right. He left rubber on the parking lot as he bounced out of the driveway, onto the street, and into the next driveway. He reached the door just as it flew open and Nick was propelled onto the stairs. A large man was right behind him, gaining quickly. Sam brought up the rear.

  Mike stopped jumped to the front of the car. “Need a hand, Nick?”

  “Got a cricket bat?”

  Mike chuckled. “I think we’ll be fine without. Are you getting out, Davie?”

  Davie slowly exited the car. Kirra was by the front fender. Nick reached the front of the car as Sam and her friends reached the bottom of the metal stairs.

  “Sam. What’s going on?” asked Kirra.

  Walter stepped in front of her. “Who the hell are you?”

  “She runs Dvorak, you moron.” Sam pushed him out of the way. “Why are you here?”

  Kirra shook her head. “You were my favourite. How much have you stolen from me?”

  “Yeah, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “It’s all recorded, Sam,” said Nick. “Every bit of it.”

  Sam stood a bit straighter. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Let us have a look at what’s inside,” said Kirra. “I am paying for this place.”