by Sean Rodman
I paused to stop and check the map. Cradling the phone in my hand, I tried to keep the light from the screen from giving us away. We were about halfway to our target, the gigantic ware-house that loomed up in the distance. The trouble was, we were on the south side of the warehouse. According to the information Kieran had given me, there was an old loading dock on the north side that we could probably break in through. So now we just had to get around to the other side of the warehouse.
I was distracted by trying to figure out the best way to do this now that I could see things on the ground. That’s why I hadn’t noticed the low, mechanical noise in the distance. But then the noise got louder. I realized what it was when I saw the headlights. A truck. A guard. Coming our way.
Chapter Twelve
We were in the open, exposed between buildings. The truck was coming our way, and there was no way that they’d miss us.
“Lights off,” hissed Kieran. We both shut off the headlamps and ran. The ground was uneven, and we both kept tripping and stumbling. All the while, the growling of the truck engine grew louder behind us. Kieran veered to the left, around the side of something that looked like a massive metal radiator. With the radiator in between us and the truck, we sank to the ground and caught our breath. I peered around the side to see if I could catch sight of the guard. No luck. Then Kieran pointed up. There were a series of ridges up the side of the radiator. Handholds, not great but usable. We scrambled up about six feet, then carefully looked over the top.
In the distance, we could see that the guard truck had stopped. The engine was still idling. Then a searchlight mounted on the roof flicked on and moved back and forth over part of the fence.
“That’s pretty close to where we came in,” whispered Kieran.
“Not that close,” I said. But as we watched, the searchlight slid over to the place that we had just come through. I stopped breathing. The searchlight paused for a second, then moved on. Had we succeeded in covering our tracks?
The truck started up again. Only now it was moving right toward our hiding place.
“Think we’ll get lucky? He’ll just go past us?” I whispered to Kieran.
The truck kept coming.
“I don’t feel lucky,” Kieran said. He dropped off the radiator and ran. He was headed across a wide-open patch of ground toward the big warehouse. I took off after Kieran, keeping the radiator between us and the truck.
We sprinted across together like we were racing at a track meet. Each second in the open meant another chance we could be spotted. The distance seemed to stretch out forever. I was sure that any second now I would be surrounded by a ball of light and hear the guards barking orders at us.
Kieran and I hit the side of the ware-house at the same time. My chest heaved for air, and I crumpled to the ground. I couldn’t move until I caught my breath, even though I knew we were in deep trouble. This was the south side of the warehouse. The only possible entrance was on the north side of the massive building. Circling around would take forever. And we’d probably be spotted by the guard.
Kieran was starting to panic, looking for a way in. There were no obvious doors. The windows at ground level were boarded up with big plywood sheets. Some of the aluminum siding was loose. But when Kieran tried pulling it off, it made a sound like thunder. He stopped, fast.
Then I remembered something. I had copied the map of the DMA site onto the phone back at Kieran’s house. But I’d also copied a satellite photograph onto the phone. Zooming in on a grainy picture of the warehouse roof, I looked for anything that might give us a clue about how to get in. I frantically scrolled around the tiny picture on my screen.
There it was. In the satellite image, it was only a dark blob on the side of the warehouse. But it might be a fire escape, something we could use. I looked up at the side of the warehouse towering over me. I barely saw it by the faint light of the moon. But there it was. A black metal ladder running all the way up to the roof. Only problem was that the bottom of the ladder was about eight feet off the ground.
Suddenly, Kieran hissed at me.
“What happened to the truck?” He was right. The engine noise was gone. I heard my heart beating in my ears.
A spotlight snapped on and splashed across the side of the warehouse just above us. Did they know we were here? Or were they just on patrol, and we were in the wrong place at the wrong time? Didn’t matter. Kieran and I flattened ourselves against the ground.
The spotlight moved across the side of the warehouse.
I thought about our options. If we got up and ran, the guards would definitely catch us out in the open. If we waited, we might not be spotted. Or maybe we’d be nailed by that spotlight. The way our luck was going, I didn’t want to risk it. So the only direction left to go was up. Straight up.
If we could time it right, we could dodge the spotlight. Getting to the bottom of the ladder was the problem. I whispered my plan to Kieran. Then we waited until the spotlight beam hesitated for a moment, locking onto something near the roof of the warehouse.
“Now,” I said to Kieran. He stood up, and I stepped into his cradled hands. Then I stretched for the bottom rung. My fingers brushed the cold metal of the ladder. Pulling myself up, I hooked my feet onto the ladder.
The spotlight was slowly sliding back toward us.
Hanging on with one arm, I reached down with the other toward Kieran. He leaped and grabbed my arm. I pulled up, hard. It felt like my shoulder was going to pop out for a second. But then Kieran had a grip on the ladder. I scrambled up with Kieran right behind me.
We tumbled over the edge of the roof just as the spotlight flashed under-neath us.
“Shit! Did they see us?” whispered Kieran. I shook my head. I didn’t know. We waited for sirens, for shouts, for something. Then we heard the engine of the guard truck start up again and growl off into the distance. We were safe. For now.
Chapter Thirteen
We took a moment to look around. Now the night seemed calm and quiet except for our breathing. Gray clouds scudded across the moon, making shadows crawl over the rooftop. The huge roof was punctuated by skylights and ventilator shafts. Looking over the side, I could see a smaller building next to this one. It shared a wall with the big main warehouse. I noticed a few lights glowing in the small building. That was weird. I thought this part of the facility was supposed to be shut down.
I turned to ask Kieran if he knew anything about it, but he had slipped away. It took me a second to find him. He was bent over, working on one of the massive skylights. The skylight was the size and shape of a small green-house. Kieran was using his knife to pop out a big glass pane from the frame.
“Get the rope out and tie off,” he said. The glass came away from the frame, sliding to the roof and cracking a little. I winced at the noise.
“We’re going to go down through that? Seriously?” We’d just been chased by guards, climbed up the side of the warehouse. Now Kieran wanted to drop down on a rope? What was he, Batman?
“There’s gotta be a better way,” I said. “We were going to look for stairs or something, remember?”
Still crouched down, Kieran tied one end of the rope around a stainless steel pipe.
“I’m not going to break my neck falling through a skylight,” I said. Enough of this Hollywood action-hero stuff. Then Kieran reached into his jacket pocket, opened his palm and offered me a couple of pills.
“Fine,” he said. “Need some courage?”
“Your meds? Are you nuts?” I said. Even in the dim moonlight, I could see his expression tighten up.
“Then screw you. Go home. I don’t need you anymore.”
“Screw that. I want my share of the money from this. And it had better be worthwhile.”
Kieran just laughed. “The big score. You really did this just for the money? You are just a little criminal, aren’t you? What happened to all your ideals, Boy Scout?”
He took two of the pills and stuffed the rest back in his pocket. Then, be
fore I could say anything else, he grabbed the rope with two hands and lowered himself through the skylight. I watched the rope shake as he slid jerkily down it. Pretty soon, Kieran had disappeared out of the range of my headlamp and was lost in the darkness.
Now it was back to me. I’d come this far. It seemed stupid to back out now. But Kieran was different tonight. I was into taking chances but being smart about it. Calculating the odds. Kieran was just going for it. Like he didn’t care about getting hurt. Didn’t care about anything except getting into this building. Maybe that was my problem. Maybe I needed to be a little more like him, a little more radical.
Before I could change my mind, I grabbed the rope. No harness, no safety. I put my weight onto the rope and let it start to slide through my gloved hands. I dropped down, and pretty soon I was surrounded by the dark space.
The descent felt like forever. I figured I must be near the bottom, and my arms were starting to hurt, so I let the rope go faster. But I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hang on for. I built up more speed than I expected and hit the ground pretty hard. I found myself on all fours on a dirty concrete floor. I looked up. I was in the middle of a vast, dark room.
Thick steel girders came down from the roof, marching across the huge expanse of the warehouse. Aside from those, there wasn’t much here. Some garbage on the floor, construction waste, packing materials. I moved my headlamp, trying to find something, anything that might look like a crate. But the warehouse was really empty. It took me a second to realize what this meant.
There was nothing here. No crates of smartphones. Nothing.
Then I heard something on the other side of the warehouse. I ran toward it. Kieran had some explaining to do.
It was easy to find him. The light from Kieran’s headlamp was bobbing around crazily against the wall. As I got closer, I could hear him muttering. He was so absorbed in what he was doing that he didn’t notice me approach. I held up and watched for a second, trying to make sense of what I was seeing.
Kieran was standing in front of a set of plain double doors. They were faded and dirty and had a large chain with a padlock across them. Kieran was looking at a printout, maybe the warehouse blueprint we’d looked at in his room. But he’d made all sorts of scribbled notes on it. Then Kieran dropped the blueprint and smashed at the locked door in front of him with the hammer and chisel. That’s what I must have heard earlier. A few strong blows, and the lock gave way, cracking open.
I stepped forward, calling Kieran’s name. I was pissed about the money, but more than that I wanted some answers. Where were the smartphones? Why would he lie to me? When he heard my voice, Kieran whirled around. The hammer was still in his hand. He pointed it at me.
“You keep surprising me, Bex. Not in a good way.”
“Where are the smartphones?” I said.
“You still don’t get it, do you?” sneered Kieran. “There never were any smartphones. I just used that as bait. I figured you’d only help me out if there was money involved.”
“But why did you need to get in here?”
“It’s really simple, Bex.” Kieran laughed, high-pitched and sharp. His face looked pale and sweaty. “I’m in it for revenge.”
His smile snapped away like a light switching off.
“Now get the hell out.” He pointed the hammer at me. I wanted to ask more questions, but that wasn’t going to happen. I put up my hands and backed away.
“All right, I’m out,” I said. “You’re on your own.” I kept backing up until I saw Kieran turn toward the door. Then I clicked off my headlamp and crouched down behind one of the big pillars. And watched. It was hard for me to figure out what was going on with only the light from Kieran’s headlamp in the distance. But it was enough.
Kieran kept trying to shove the door open. Despite smashing the lock, it seemed stuck. Maybe it hadn’t been opened in a while. Then I heard Kieran yell in frustration. He kicked the door until it finally cracked open. I watched him grab his backpack and push his way through the broken door. Now the ware-house was completely silent and dark. I crouched, trying to think this through.
I had a choice. I could follow Kieran, or I could bail. I could go right now, take off into the darkness. Leave all of Kieran’s problems behind.
But I couldn’t let go of the feeling that I was responsible. I’d gotten Kieran into this place. The way he talked about revenge didn’t sound good. Against who? His dad was the only link to this place. That’s when everything came into focus.
I ran toward the broken door.
Chapter Fourteen
Kieran was going to do something crazy. Something to hurt his dad.
And I was the only one who could stop him.
I hit the broken door hard, shoving through it like a linebacker slamming another player. I stumbled into a hallway. A brightly lit, clean hallway.
This part of the building was definitely not abandoned. I realized that I must be in that small building I’d seen earlier from the roof. The one that shared a wall with the warehouse. It was still a working office, with desks, computers. Security cameras.
Still running, I reached the end of the long hallway, where it split in two directions. On the right the hallway ended in a waiting area. Big floor-to-ceiling windows looked out into the night. To the left, there was a door labeled Operations and Security. A crack of light spilled out from inside. I wondered where the guards were, and how long it would take for them to show up. I figured we had a couple of minutes to get out of here. At most.
I gently pushed the door open. It was a huge office with a dozen desks spread across it. Racks of overhead lights were shining brightly. It took a second for my eyes to adjust. And then I saw him.
Kieran was sitting at one of the desks farthest away from me. His back was to me, and his shoulders were shaking. I couldn’t tell if he was crying or laughing. “Kieran?” I said.
He spun around in the chair. His eyes were red, and his cheeks were wet with tears.
Kieran looked at me and closed his eyes. “Just leave me alone.”
“Let me help you, man. What’s going on?” I took a step toward him.
“Get back!” Kieran said. He’d gone from crying to yelling in a split second. “You shouldn’t have followed me. You screwed up the plan.”
“Take it easy. What plan, Kieran?” I said. Kieran shook his head, staring off into space.
I wanted to get over to him, try and talk him down. We needed to get out of here before we were busted. I kept thinking about the security cameras I’d seen in the hallway. We didn’t have much time. Maybe I was imagining it, but I thought I could hear the wail of distant sirens.
“What was the plan?” I repeated. There were five desks between us. I’d have to keep him talking while I got closer.
“I needed you to get me into the warehouse,” said Kieran. “Then I’d leave you behind and get into my dad’s office.”
“And then what?” I said. As I crossed the room toward him, I wrinkled my nose. There was a weird smell in the air, a harsh chemical tang. I saw the four steel water bottles Kieran had brought, empty and lying on the desk. It looked like there was liquid all over the desk. Even some on Kieran’s clothes. From the smell, I was pretty sure he hadn’t brought any energy drink in those bottles. More like lighter fluid or something.
“And then,” Kieran continued, “I’d prove to him that all his work didn’t matter so much. The big head of security, beaten by his own son. Look at his desk. Not even a picture of Mom. No sign of a family.”
Keep talking, I thought to myself. Only two desks apart now.
“I just wanted to get in here and start a little fire. Leave my mark. Just to get his attention.”
“Like at your last school?” I said, suddenly remembering the rumors about Kieran when he’d first arrived at school.
There was one desk left between me and Kieran.
“Yeah, but that one didn’t work. Why didn’t it work?” said Kieran. He was mumbling now, staring
unfocused at the soaked desk in front of him. “Then he thought he fixed me with those pills. But this fire will be different.”
There were tears running down his face as he pulled out a lighter from a jacket pocket.
“This time the fire takes me with it,” he said.
The lighter shined bright and silver in the glare of the overhead lights.
“Don’t-,” I said. I scrambled over the last desk, flying at Kieran.
He sparked the lighter and dropped his arm to the desk. There was a white flash of flame, and a wall of heat and noise crashed over me. The explosion knocked us both backward. The room was instantly filled with smoke and heat. Over the roar of the flames I could hear an alarm wailing in the distance.
I pulled myself off the ground, coughing so hard I felt like I was going to throw up. My hands were covered in dirt. One arm was bleeding from a cut near my wrist. But I was alive.
Kieran. I found him half covered by bits of wood and twisted metal. Unconscious. The sleeve of his jacket was on fire. Trying not to burn myself, I struggled with his jacket. Finally I yanked it off and kicked it away. Kneeling, I quickly checked him out. His face and arms were pretty badly burned, his long hair singed. But he was breathing steadily.
There was a sudden whoosh from behind us. Turning around, I saw that the fire was spreading fast despite the over-head sprinklers kicking in. The water just seemed to make the oily fire spread faster across the room. Other desks and furniture were catching fire. I pulled my shirt over my mouth and nose, trying to keep out the acrid smell of burning plastic.
I grabbed Kieran under his arms and hauled him back the way we had come in. I hunched lower as the smoke kept thickening. My legs felt rubbery and shaky. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t strong enough.
But we couldn’t wait for help to get to us. We had to get out of here. Now.
